It's out of the way, difficult to reach, and not as well-restored as the other big city sites of Mexico... And yet, it deserves a place right beside Teotihuacan, Palenque, Monte Alban, Uxmal and Chichen Itza. It's a city as much as the others are, with its own unique architecture styles.
The heat and humidity of the place envelop you from the start, the Market Square amid 4 pyramids. Then you pass to Menor Plaza, with several pelote ballcourts (18 in total in El Tajin). The greco mozaiek in the side walls of the first pelote ballcourt attract the eye.
Onwards, you come across the middle platform of the plaza. West stands a grand pyramid with a statue representing the god El Tajin. South of it another pelote ballcourt with 6 engraved reliefs (3 on either side): a pelote player being held down by another, while a third figure holds up a dagger to strike him, all flanked by the death god and Quetzalcoatl; the initiation of a warrior into the order of the eagles; a pulque ceremony; a penis piercing ritual, ...
Northwest of the plaza menor stands the unique Pyramid of the Niches. From the bottom to the top the pyramid tabluras are divided into niches, big enough to crawl into. In total they should number 365, but several are hidden underneath the later built staircase.
Then you come onto the big plaza, with a pelote ballcourt in the middle of it. It's big enough to allow for a large crowd, the lower classes in the hotter and equal elevation level, the higher and richer classes from above the pyramids and higher and neighbouring Tajin Chico.
As soon as you arrive up on Tajin Chico you can feel the lucky breeze that would have cooled down the houses of the rich dwellers. Several of these houses reminded me of Mitla with the mozaiek patterns en grecos. One of the houses with murals such as those in Cacaxtla is being restored.
El Greco is a large walled plaza, the wall forming a caracol with pelote ballcourts inside. The Greco (the name of this caracol pattern) is the symbol of Quetalquotl.
They're still restoring parts of the site: part of El Greco, the plaza of columns in El Tajin Chico en the house of Rabbit 13 (famous king of Tajin)
It's forbidden to climb most pyramids or buildings... but in that heat of the region that's not regrettable.
Price: 38P
Video Camera: 30P
Transport:
Reachable from Papantla by microbus, which stops right at the entrance, and picks you up there: 9.5P (one way)... Catch the microbus behind the cathedral of Papantla.
Restaurant: moderate price, but rather fat and greasy
Voladores: in front of the entrance, each day
Weather: HUMID AND HOT... The earlier you get there, the better... I arrived at 10 am this morning and felt a bit dizzy because of the heat and humidity. A slightly bigger crowd arrived at around 12.30.