From Tula, we drove to another major archeological site, 40km North East of Mexico City: TEOTIHUACAN. (see below extract from Wikipedia)
“Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built before the arrival of Columbus, namely Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the first millennium ( up to 500 CE), Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world during its epoch.
its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented. Evidence of Teotihuacano presence is found at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with the Teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects of their culture.
The main monuments of the city of Teotihuacan are connected to each other by a central road of 45 meters wide and a length of 2 kilometers, called “Avenue of the Dead ” (Avenida de Los Muertos), because it is believed to have been paved with tombs. East is the imposing “Pyramid of the Sun ” (Piramide del Sol), the third-largest pyramid in the world. It has a volume of 1 million cubic meters. It is a gradual pyramid, with a base dimension of 219.4 x 231.6 meters and a height of 65 meters. At the top of the pyramid, there was a huge pedestal, where human sacrifices were made. At the north end of the city, the Boulevard of the dead ends in the “Pyramid of the Moon ” (Piramide de la Luna), surrounded laterally by platforms-ramps and lower pyramids. In the southern part is the “Temple of Quetzalcoatl”), dedicated to the God in the form of a winged serpent, which gives life and fertility. Sculpture representation of the God Quetzalcoatlland twelve Heads of winged snakes adorn the two sides of the uphill scale of the temple.”
We stayed in the grounds of a restaurant which allows camping and overlanders like us to stay for a fee and we had the use of toilets and showers( cold). We met Peter, parked next to us, travelling from Calgary and had a nice evening discussing our experiences of the road. The restaurant is 10mns walk from the Archeological Park so was ideal for us. The site is vast and we spent half day there exploring and wandering with the many other tourists!
NB:It is now forbidden to climb on the Pyramids, following the fall and death of a tourist and also for the site preservation.
[click on picture to open gallery]
The next morning we were woken up early by a loud noise coming from a field near us: it was the sound of the gas being pumped into air balloons. They flew right above us in the direction of the pyramids!
