Thewesternprovinceblog

Day 18 – Pyramids at last!!

So we finally got to Teotihuacán to see the pyramids after being distracted by our drunken side quests over the weekend!

I had made plans with Simon’s friend to go to the pyramids together but unfortunately he was a no show last night and so it was left for me to sort things. Per si’s suggestion plan B was to get an Uber up there so that’s what I did. It cost about 35 quid in total to go there and back this way but it was worth it as both drivers were cool guys and I had an hour of chatting all in Spanish both ways. 

From this I learned there is another protest planned tomorrow so I will have to be getting out earlier than planned. Will give details tomorrow of this. It was a quick visit into Teotihuacán town for some street food breakfast then over to the pyramids.

This place is absolutely incredible. Talking to Simons friend and in the Anthropology museum it is believed this ancient city goes back to 1000BC or even earlier, which would mean it goes back to the time of the Bronze age collapse in the ancient eastern Mediterranean. Which is absolutely insane to think about. The civilization with the Toltecs, and we’re the first to settle in the Mexico basin or so I believe.

I will be making a video on this along with some of the other places visited to give it the proper coverage it deserves. Will start getting them out next admin day which will be coming soon.

Today is my last day in CDMX, hopefully all goes well getting down to Puebla. I’m looking forward to it and from what everyone has told me I have a feel I’ll be staying there longer than planned!

Video and overview of Teotihuacán:

Teotihuacán – The City of the Gods.

About an hour north of Mexico city can be found the remains of an ancient metropolis that is said in Mesomerican folklore to be where the gods were created. This is Teotihuacán – the place where the gods were created.

This city once housed around 200,000 people at its zenith at around 100 AD but it’s origins go way back further to 200 BC and possibly even as far back as 1000 BC. 

By around 750 AD the city was almost totally abandoned and the reasons for its decline are unclear. By the time the Mexica – the people who would later become the Aztecs moved into the region around 1250 AD this place had been abandoned for centuries. It is from them it gets its name as the city of the gods with local legend implying some kind of divine punishment was met out for decadence on its founders.

The remains of this city feature 2 huge pyramids, the pyramid of the moon which is climbable and the pyramid of the sun, which is the 3rd largest in the region after Tikal and Cholula.

Within can also be found the 4 mile long ‘Avenue of the dead’ which leads to the place around the moon pyramid which would have been a pilgrimage site.

There is a lot to learn here and I think I’m only scratching the surface.