Teotihuacan - more than just pyramids!

The bus, which was not of the high standard we had come to expect, from Mexico City to Teotihuacan took about an hour.  The scenery didn´t make for pleasant viewing - the surrounding mountains were covered, some to the very summit, with shanty town style housing.  There were literally thousands of small concrete structures crammed together in a rather haphazard fashion.  It was really sad.  An hour out of the city, and the trend had continued, although that far out they only went halfway up a mountain, and in some cases a wall had been built at that point, perhaps in an effort to prevent further construction.

We arrived at our hotel, and decided that it was probably a bit late to go see the pyramids, so we would just chill out for the evening.  We headed into the town of San Juan de Teotihuacan to a restaurant that was recommended to us by the lady at the hotel.  I´m thinking it was her mate´s restaurant, cause she certainly didn´t recommend it on the basis of the cuisine.  Nikki´s lasagne came out still frozen in the middle.  I got the vegetarian pizza, and I think they had just poured a bag of frozen veg on some bread with cheese (they don´t seem to put tomato sauce on them here).  Seriously, I´ve never seen a veggie pizza with broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots and potato on it before!

After that fiasco we headed to an internet cafe to decide upon our next destination, then back to the hotel, where I spent the evening listening to the Spanish cds and chatting the others.

The next morning we got up early to head to the pyramids.  After a hotel breakfast (explaining how we wanted our eggs done was a bit of a struggle), we hailed a cab and headed the mile down the road.  This is when I got a bit annoyed.  I have no problem paying for things, but I hate being ripped off.  We got to the entrance gate of the pyramids, and went to get out of the taxi, but the taxi man told us he would drive us right in.  The guy at the gate then charged us the $220 (don´t worry, that´s pesos) entrance fee, but it was only when we were driving off that I noticed the price list.  At the top, it said $45 per person, and then further down the list, it quoted a $40 fee per car.  So I reckoned that the taxi man and the guy at the gate had some kind of deal on, whereby he turned around, and picked up his $20 on the way out.  My Spanish wasn´t quite up to explaining his clever scam, and it was only the equivalent of 2 pounds extra, so I left it.  But sure enough, as the cab left the car park, he stopped at the gate.  Git.

Anyways, back to the pyramids.  They were amazing.  Not as big as the Luxor pyramid that we stayed in in Vegas, or as new, but, you know, they were still good.  Construction of the first, The Pyramid of the Sun, began around 100 B.C., and the structure was completed by about 200 A.D.  Across from it, at the other end of the ´Avenue of the Dead´is the Pyramid of the Moon, which was completed by 250 A.D.  The pyramids echo the shape of the surrounding mountains, and cover even earlier structures beneath.  All around them are other Mayan ruins, which look like they may have been smaller tombs.  And no, I didn´t just copy all that from somewhere.

We walked up the first little structure to admire the view, and then was when we spotted our first famous person.  Not Vegas, not LA.  Teotihuacan.  And feck it, I was going to go talk to them.

"Excuse me guys, I´m sorry to bother you, and I hope you don´t mind me asking, but are you Dom Jolly?"  (Anyone who attended the 2002 Trinity Ball should note that I was way more dignified than during my last conversation with a celebrity.)

There was a bit of a pause.  I think he was considering saying no, but he eventually replied that he was.  So I asked if we could have our photo taken with him.  He didn´t seem best pleased, but obliged anyways.  We thanked them, and left.  I thought of a million things afterwards that I could have said.

"Are you Dom Jolly?  Do you mind if I had my photo taken with your friend, he´s pretty hot." (He really was.)  At least then he mightn't have been a bit of an ass.  I was pretty glad I didn´t mention anything about a large Nokia though.

We headed up to the pyramid of the Sun, and saw some weirdo white people (they looked English) doing some class of worshipping thing.  The steps to the pyramid were really steep, so I only ran up some of the sets, which was freaking Ricky B out a bit, he´s not so good with heights.  The pyramids were pretty cool, and the views were great.  And we got to watch Dom Jolly, who had followed us up with some other guys from his show, record some material.  You´ll have to watch out for the episode with a guy with a Lucha Libre mask on, yielding a small axe, with Mr Jolly lying below him.  Just behind the top of the pyramid, recording the action, is where we´re standing.  Honest.

We spent a couple of hours wandering round the ruins.  We were quite lucky because, other than the aforementioned T.V. star and a few dozen tourists, we had the place to ourselves - the crowds can get insane during summer weekends.  And we didn´t get hounded by anyone selling stuff, which apparently is the norm.  I also climbed up the Pyramid of the Moon (the others stopped a little after halfway), and we took some photos of us falling off pyramids, hiding behind pillars, the usual.  We had a look into the Palace also, where some pictures had been painted on the wall.  I guess I should have read up a little more on the history to fully appreciate it.

Back to the hotel, we grabbed our bags, and got back on the bus to D.F.  Well, you see one pyramid, you´ve seen them all!

Mozzie bite status: I only saw the one, and I got him before he got me.  Ha ha!

Click here for all the Teotihuacan photos.