Day 13- Mexico City Part 1: Views of the Past

When I visited my first Precolombian ruins, the relatively small Mayan site of Cahal Pech in Belize in my first week in the Peace Corps, I learned fully appreciating ruins involves a combination of knowledge and imagination. It can often be hard to know what the function of a building was, especially if it has deteriorated. If you take the time to learn what you are looking at, and then let your mind go back to that time and imagine the building in its full glory, painted in bright colors and full of activity, then you will get the most out of your visit. When I visited my second ruins, I had a different experience, because Lamanai was composed of just a few buildings, but the focus was on large temple that you could scale and get a breathtaking view of the jungles of central Belize. At Lamanai the experience of absorbing Mayan history was secondary to amazement at the structure itself.

My visit to Teotihuacan combined the two lessons of Belize into one incredible experience. Teotihuacan, which was once a large city north of Mexico City owned by various groups over history, contains the intimate history that captures the imagination along with the wow factor of two amazing temples. These temples and the buildings are connected by the Avenue of the Dead.

The first part of our visit was to the smaller group of buildings that surrounded a large open area where ceremonies dedicated to rain would have taken place. At the head was a building with magnificent sculptures- another group had built a platform in front of it, but fortunately you can climb the platform and view the temple as well as see the whole area. The sculptures were magnificent, and there are hints that they were once in bright reds, greens, and yellows.



After taking a lunch break nearby at a location that included an obsidian workshop and agave plants (and our first taste of pulque, the fermented drink found inside the large cactus), we returned for the main attractions- the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon. After touring through a building with some amazing paintings that were still preserved in the original colors, the reds, yellows, and greens that would have been dominant throughout, we climbed up the Temple of the Moon, the smaller of the “pyramids “ (we were informed that they are not technically pyramids) and the one at the end of the long line of structures. The view from the top (not the exact top, the stairs don’t go all the way up, but over halfway) was amazing, the way it looked over everything else.

After we enjoyed the view peace of the view, the final mission was to conquer the larger Temple of the Sun. It was not the easiest climb, but after everything else I had done nothing was going to stop me. The view from the top (this time I was indeed at the top) was beyond words, and was the perfect ending to the visit.

From the ancient city of Teotihuacan we drove into the large city of Mexico City. I will comment more on the city itself in tomorrow's blog, but on the drive in I saw some of the worst of the slums. I was struck by the fact that some of the worst houses I saw were built going up the sides of the hills and mountains, places that in the United States are usually reserved for fancier houses so that people can take advantages of the views. In Mexico City, it seems, the edges of the city are where newcomers build where they can, and if they must go up they go up. It was a very sad scene, in stark contrast to what I observed more clearly the next day.

We finally arrived at our hotel, which leads me to my final story, that will give a preview for tomorrow's blog. I went to the window of my hotel room to see my view, and at first didn't know what to make of it. The top was clearly the cathedral. The middle was construction. The bottom? I never had it confirmed, but the group consensus was that it was an archaeological dig, due to our proximity to other known Aztec ruins. Mexico's past, present, and future, all outside my window.



Note- I took over 400 photos in 3 days, so I will post a few in the blog, and the rest will be uploaded in my photo album as I have time...