Teotihuacan Pyramids

Mexico City 25 to 29 May 2018

Teotihuacan Pyramids

In our last day in Mexico City, we decided to do a day trip to Teotihuacan pyramids, one of the most important places that we visited while in Mexico.

We rented a car with a driver that costed us about $50 for the full day! It might sound cheap for US prices, but it’s not for Mexican ones.

We woke up early in the morning and went down when the taxi arrived. First thing we did was to stop by a Starbucks to buy breakfast, then we headed to Teotihuacan.

It took us around an hour to arrive to the pyramids. The Taxi driver parked the car and waited for us. I felt sorry for him because of the extreme heat, but he didn’t seem to care much. He might be used to it.

Before climbing the pyramids we started the visit by learning about the plants (mostly cactus) and rocks in that region. It was impressive to me to see the importance of IXTLE and MAGUEY plants in Teotihuacan. It was also striking the many uses these plants have. For example, the guide explained us that the tip of the plant was used as a needle and thread to sew. They also make Tequila from it, and if I remember correctly they also used it to make weapons to hunt animals… that are only some of the things that I remember from his explanation, which included other applications.

After learning about these plants we headed to the pyramids. There, we hired a guide to learn more about the site. He was very informative, patient and it was a pleasure to spend 3 hours with him. I would certainly recommend to hire a guide to make the most out of the visit. Our guide was a former English teacher so he had no problems explaining things fluently in English.

I climbed to the top of the Sun Pyramid which wasn’t as difficult as it looked. Thankfully, they have a rope that you can hold on to. It’s a fairly steep climb, and is more dangerous coming down. The views from the top were super!

The day we went was super hot and sunny. There is no shade at the site (many guides are wearing big hats, long sleeves and sunscreen), so I would suggest you to come prepared for the sun and bring lots of water.

We also went through the museum which had many interesting displays and information. It is worth to do the 30 minutes tour. Your imagination runs wild when you start thinking about how the people of this civilization lived thousands of years ago! Having a guide helped us to learn much more than we would have if we had gone on our own I am still talking to my friends about what I learned in this tour. The guide was very knowledgeable about Mexican culture, an he had an awesome sense of humor.

Now I guess I should tell you a little bit about the history of Teotihuacan and its incredible pyramids. I’ll keep it short. The name of Teotihuacan is also known as the “City of the Gods” and is home to some of the largest and most magnificent ancient pyramids in the world. These Mesoamerican pyramids were built in the pre-Columbian Americas and date back to around 300 BC.

To me, the most notable features were the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun as well as the central Avenue of the Dead, the cities main artery lined by smaller, yet still monumental pyramids.And that’s about where my expertise ends, so if you’d like to know more about the ancient city of Teotihuacan and its pyramids, you can check, for example, the UNESCO World Heritage Center (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/414)

After climbing the Pyramid of the Sun, we took some pictures and enjoyed the views, then we climbed down. There were many people selling souvenirs and I bought the Jaguar!! You can see a funny video on my Instagram.

Later we went to climb the Pyramid of the Moon. If you take the main avenue until the end, you reach the Pyramid of the Moon, a similar but smaller temple than the Pyramid of the Sun.The steps are steeper, but at the top of the pyramid you’re rewarded with a really great view of the venue of the dead and the Pyramid of the Sun.

In front of the Pyramid (Plaza of the Moon) are twelve smaller pyramid, but large enough to host thousands of the former city residents to witness the spiritual rituals that took place at the top of Pyramid of the Moon.

After a few hours exploring the site, enjoying the views and climbing up both the Sun and Moon Pyramids, it was time to have lunch.

We had lunch in a cave!! Yes a CAVE!! The place is called La Gruta, the restaurant is 5 min by car from Teotihuacan Pyramids and the waiting time to enter is approx 1 hour (at least in high season). The restaurant is a cave with very nice decoration. They serve traditional Mexican food, but it wasn’t very yummy, not that I expected good quality food in such a touristy place. The service was good, but the place was understaffed and we had to wait for long before having our food as well. I’d recommend you to visit this restaurant!

At the end of your lunch the tradition is to light up a candle and put it in the stairs. The waiter explained us that it’s a way to recharge your body with new energy.

Teotihuacan is an amazing site. I really enjoyed my visit.

A while later, while we were heading back to Mexico City we decided to stop by Guadalupe town. If you’re interested in Catholic sites, then Guadalupe is one of the main attractions in Mexico..

There isn’t much to see except the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and its surroundings with other churches and shops to buy catholic souvenirs.

After visiting Guadalupe, we got back to Mexico City, it was so hot that the first thing we did when we arrived at home was to go to the pool and chill there. Then, two hours later, we went out to have dinner at a restaurant called La Docena, which is a seafood restaurant. If you like oysters then you are at the right place. Food was good, I recommend this restaurant.

And that was our last night in Mexico City, we spent such a great 3 day vacay!

The next morning, we woke up early and headed back to Boston!

I hope this post will help you plan your trip to Teotihuacan Pyramids, because this amazing site should be on everyone’s bucket list! Please let me know in the comments below your thoughts and what you want to see more of when it comes to travel blog posts.… I’m open to suggestions.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

XoXo Khouloud!