The residence of Gods, that is the name the Aztecs gave to this area, as they found the remains of a culture that spawned this zone a thousand years before. Lot of people make the mistake to think that Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan belong to the same people; in fact the Teotihuacans were contemporary of the Mayans and ruled around year 900 B.C., while the top of the Aztec Empire is dated to 1300 B.C.

A walk amid the ruins of Teotihuacan is invigorating as you have to reflet on how it was all this constructed (and much more that is lost in the history of time) without metal tools, with no wheel and pulleys, and with no cargo animals involved. That is the amazing part of the pyramids.

What you see is just the remains of incredible buildings rich in color and decorations. When thinking of pyramids you should envision a tall building decorated in red, blue, and ochre, and with lots of geometric shapes, not just a pile of stones forming a mound.

We were fortunate enough to have good friends from Mexico City take us to the pyramids, and also fortunate enough to have great weather. We climbed the pyramids and shopped a little, as there are many local vendors in the area. We bought jewelry and local souvenirs. We also had lunch at one of the many local restaurants.

These grand pyramids, Pyramid de la Luna (Pyramid of the Moon) and the Pyramid del Sol (Pyramid of the Sun), are amazing reminders of a civilization long past. On either end of a long "street", Calzada de los Muertos (Street of the Dead), sits the two large pyramids. We were first led to La Ciudadela (the Citadel). We walked through the ruins, where our guide conveyed some of the history of the site. We were shown some paintings that were found in the excavations of the site.

We were then given free time to walk around, climb the pyramids if we so chose, and visit the museum. I opted to skip the smaller Pyramid of the Moon and to attack the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world. On the long walk down the Street of the Dead towards the pyramid, I was approached by many vendors trying to sell their wares. They are extremely persistent, so you may need to be a bit more forceful than a gracious, "No gracias."

The stairs to the pyramid were steep and the air thin due to the high altitude, so needless to say, I took my time getting up the steps. There is a railing to hold on to if needed. The climb was definitely worth it for the views of the site that can only be seen at the top.

After my descent, I decided to go take a peek into the museum on-site. The museum was informative and interesting, but after having spent a day at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, I was a bit overloaded on historical information.

I had wanted to visit the pyramids at Teotihuacan, but traveling to the site is a bit difficult if you choose to go by yourself. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a hotel, Hotel Estoril, that books tours for tourists. They had a one-day trip to the pyramids with a couple of other stops along the way. I paid my deposit and left, planning to embark on the tour the following day. The price of the tour was 330 pesos, which includes the price of tickets for the sites.

The following morning I was picked up by a van and brought to a holding area. This is where all of the tours meet up and are sorted into the correct group. At this point they asked for the rest of the money. There was a disagreement about how much the tour costs, and I ended up paying more for the tour than originally agreed upon. If you don't speak Spanish fluently, be ready for this type of occurrence. I decided to stop arguing and just enjoy the day as the difference was only $5US.

We met our tour guide and driver, Ramone, and set out. All of the tour guides are Spanish and English speaking. As we drove out of the city, Ramone would tell us historical tidbits about the statues and sites that we were passing. Our first major stop was at the la Basilica de Gaudaloupe, Mexico's religious center. For more information see my entry on Basilica de Gaudaloupe. Ramone then brought us to an obsidian factory where they demonstrate the use of indigenous plants for dyes and the art of obsidian sculpture by artisans on premises.

Beware before being herded into the store on site, as they will try and ply you with some liquor. They have samples of different tequilas, and then they will try and pressure you into buying a lot of their merchandise. I had the feeling of a stereotypical used car salesman when one of the sales women made her way over to me. You can end up spending a lot of money here if not careful. Most of the merchandise can be found in the city for less. The final stop is at the Teotihuacan. For more information, see my entry on Teotihuacan.

When the tour is over, you will be dropped back off at your accommodations.

I would recommend this tour as a means to get to the locations you want to visit, if you don't have a car. Otherwise, I would suggest just venturing out on your own.

Buses leave form the main bus terminal at Mexico City every half hour or so (there is a metro stop at the bus terminal, walk the length of the tunnel to gate J). It cost $50 pesos each, however, I think that this varies and be careful of getting short-changed. The bus journey itself is interesting, taking you past much of Mexico City you wouldn't see otherwise. Teotihuacan really is worth a visit. It is crowded but really impressive and on a massive scale. It would take a day to walk around the whole site, however, I just visited the main 'pyramid of the Sun', (along with everyone else it seemed). I was back in Mexico City by 1pm, although others may prefer to spend longer there.