The Pyramids of Teotihuacan…!!

After visiting the Pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt in 2010, I figured that any other pyramids I would see would not be nearly as impressive… Until today, I had been proved right…!!

The pyramid like structures of the Mayans of Tikal in Guatemala, Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, and Palenque in southern Mexico, while all very impressive, never measured up to the grandeur of those in Egypt…

That is until I stepped through the gates of Teotihuacan and gazed at the awesome Pyramid of the Sun…!! While it is not nearly as high as the Khofu Pyramid, it is nonetheless one of the largest ancient structures ever built…

My first view of the Pyramid of the Sun.... My only regret was that this early in the morning, the light from the sun rising directly behind the structure, made it difficult to take any decent photographs...

At 8.00 am in the morning, I was the first, and for the next hour or so, only visitor on the site, and was able to stroll around and climb the various structures without being pestered by curio sellers and security guards, who would not have been too pleased to see me slip behind the “Prohibido el Paso” signs, to check out places that very few visitors will ever get to see…

Atop the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, with the Pyramid of the Moon in the background, a long walk away...!!

Narrow steps meant having to be very careful when working your way down from the top of the pyramid...

The climb up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, took longer than I expected… I arrived at the rounded platform on the top of the structure, where once a temple had stood… Despite the cool breeze, I was sweating profusely, and gasping for air…

It is a stiff climb, up hundreds of stone steps; some so narrow that the heels of my trainers seldom touched down on the climb to the top…

On arrival at the top, I sat watching a few hot-air balloons drifting around below me, as I waited for my heart and lungs to recover from the climb…!!

Once I had my breathing under control, I turned towards the rising sun and stood with my arms spread wide and my eyes closed, feeling it’s rays warming my face, energizing me…

For a brief moment it felt as though I would burst out of my skin… I felt bigger, taller… The weariness of the past few days of riding seemed to slip away, leaving me a little light-headed…!!

I imagined what it must have felt like to be a high priest almost 1 500 years ago, when Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in the world, with over 150 000 inhabitants… Far below in the main arena, up to 100 000 people could gather to watch the special ceremonies where the sun and the moon, were worshipped… And the occasional human sacrifice taking place…!!

The original city of Teotihuacan covered almost 30 square kilometres, and is situated about 40 km north-east of the centre of present day Mexico City… Despite the distance, a later of smog blocked out the horizon in every direction, and the sight of this made me glad that I had not ventured any closer to this enormous city…

Early morning balloon flights are a popular way to view Teotihuacan... While I stood recovering from my climb, I watched three colourful balloons drift over the ruins...

Teotihuacan began as an agricultural settlement around 100 B.C. and was enlarged over the next four centuries to house the influx of many cultures that were attracted to the site… The Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon were completed around 100 A.D., and became an important religious centre for the many diverse cultures that populated the region…

It is thought that this was one of the first multi-ethnic cities in the Americas, but there is also evidence that suggests the rulers had used their strength in numbers to control vast areas as far south as Tikal in Guatemala…

Many of the Mayan customs originated as a result of the powerful influence of the Empire surrounding Teotihuacan…

The immediate area around and including the Pyramids, was adopted by the Aztecs long after it was abandoned in the 7th century, but only used to celebrate ceremonies linked to the beginning of each new year or season… The Aztecs never actually occupied the site…

The reason for the abandonment of this huge city remain a mystery, but it is thought that a long and devastating drought over a number of years, caused the population to scatter and move further south in search of more fertile areas to live in…

The Pyramid of the Moon, where the Goddess of Water, Earth, Fertility and Creation itself, was worshipped...

The Pyramid of the Moon, while smaller than the Pyramid of the Sun, is no less impressive in its design and scope…

Despite the heat that was already building, I was determined to climb to as close to the top of the Pyramid of the Moon as was allowed, or as I dared...!!

I strolled down the Avenue of the Dead, which leads directly to and from the steps leading up to this pyramid… On either side of the avenue stand large flat-topped structures, which were altars used in ceremonies… Small temples once stood on each one, each dedicated to a different deity…

The climb to the middle level was not nearly as arduous as the one up the larger pyramid had been and after seeing that the security guards were standing in a group about 400 metres away, I slipped through the roped off area and climbed as close to the top of the pyramid as I could, without being spotted…

The area has been closed to tourists because the upper levels are rather unstable, and archeologists are still pottering around up there…

View down the Avenue of the Dead from close to the top of the Pyramid of the Moon...

The ceremonial altars with the Pyramid of the Sun in the background... You can just make out a few people standing on top of this huge pyramid...

The remains of smaller temples and buildings that housed priests and other visiting dignitaries....

Walking back past the Pyramid of the Sun, I marveled again at the trouble ancient civilisations went to, to build these massive structures to worship on... Can you imagine something of this scale being undertaken in our modern times...??

After a brief rest, I carefully made my way back down the pyramid and made my way towards the main entrance of the site… Apart from the two large pyramids themselves, and another much smaller one at the very far end of the Avenue of the Dead, there was not a lot more that I wanted to see…

The many murals that once covered the walls of the smaller temples are so faded with age that they are difficult to make out, and with the heat now beating down on my shoulders and neck, I decided to make a bee-line for my hotel, and catch up on some writing…

I walked the 2 km back to my hotel, and made straight for the sanctuary of my air-conditioned room… Later that afternoon, when the temperatures began dropping, I walked into the centre of town and found a restaurant that was crowded with a busload of tourists that had just come from Teotihuacan…

Lunch...!! Who would have thought it...!!

All that remained was the decorative stuff that people should not bother eating...!!

While I ate the salad I had ordered, I listened as they complained about the heat and the flies, never once making mention of the amazing structures they had just visited…!! I was tempted to ask some of them why they had bothered to visit the site in the first place…!!

Later that evening, I went over the new routes that I had been advised to take by the members of the Venados… My original route was thought to be “too dangerous”… Martin had made a few calls to other motorcycle clubs in the central parts of Mexico and received updates on the various drug wars that were taking place there…

I was advised to keep a low profile over the next week or so, and to check with the bikers from Morelia, as to which would be the safest route north of their city…

Recent reports of 40-odd headless bodies being discovered, and another of a torso being dropped off outside a school, had me heeding their advice…!!

Early the following morning, under a sky grey with cloud, I slipped out of town and headed back to the Arce Norte, to make a fast ride to Morelia…

©GBWT 2012