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Published: June 18th 2009
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We decided last night that there was not enough to merit staying a second night in Puebla so we made a change on the fly (called an audible in American football speak) to our original itinerary. We headed back over to the street with all the talavera shops and picked up a couple of items that hopefully will go with the bathroom in my house--can't remember the color at all, but hey, at least the toothbrush holder and soap tray will look nice. Also picked up some local sweets for the kids--hopefully those make it back without spoiling inside the car over the next week (or getting held up by our ever-vigilant customs officials when entering the US).
Just as we were heading out of Puebla the police blocked off the main road so a demonstration march (have no idea what the issue was) could pass by. That forced us to head back into the centro, going around and around the same area a couple of times till we finally found a one-way road heading the same direction that didn't get blocked off by the Zocolo. All told, I'd say we lost about a half-hour cause we were just a minute
or two late getting to where the march crossed the main road. Oh well.
Finally got onto the right highway and heading in the right direction, toward Mexico City, before turning north before actually reaching the D.F. We were on a brand new highway, so new that the Pemex gas stations were still under construction. Also so brand new that the signage wasn't as good as the other highways. The town we were looking for never appeared on a sign so I'm cruising along at 75 mph checking my map trying to find the towns that are on the signs to figure if I should take an exit or continue on. I guessed wrong once. I guess we were making up today for the excelling travel day we had yesterday coming in to Puebla.
Anyway, it took us almost 2.5 hours to travel a bit less than 100 miles--arriving at the ruins at Teotihuacan at about 1:30 PM. The ruins themselves are pretty impressive. At its height between 100-450 AD it was home to over 100,000 people (some estimates as high as 175,000); the site itself stretches over 14 square miles. Its influence stretched as far south as Honduras and
Pyramid of the Moon
View from atop Pyramid of the Sun Nicaragua. Following its downfall, later civilizations such as the Aztecs continued to make pilgrimages here to worship the Teotihuacan gods. OK, so much for the history lesson; just that I find this stuff interesting.
I'm adding some photos to give an idea of the structures. The Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world after Cheops in Egypt and Cholula in Mexico, which we passed by but did not stop to see--it's about 30-45 minutes outside Puebla heading toward the D.F. It was completed around 100 AD and used 3 million tons of stone without the use of metal tools, pack animals or wheels. Pretty impressive.
For those keeping score at home, the trip odometer now reads 1297, today's mileage was 99 and we spent $132 MXN ($9.82 USD) in tolls.
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