Teotihuacan

We decided we still had a little more space left in our brains for some more ruins and history, so we caught a bus out to Teotihuacan, about an hour and a half out of the city and home to the worlds third largest pyramid. Mexico also has the worlds second largest pyramid, which I did not realise before coming here...

It was an absolutely amazing walk through history. I could easily imagine it as a bustling city, which, in its peak covered over 20 square kilometers. It was the Capital of Mexico´s largest pre-hispanic empire. Apparently the City plan was plotted out in 1st Century AD and the piamide del sol was completed (over an earlier cave shrine) in AD 150. The rest of the city was developed between AD 250 and 600, before it collapsed in the 8th Century AD. Even after its collapse it remained a pilgrimage site for New Age Aztexs, I am not sure what they call themselves, but they still turn up to celebrate the vernal equinox on March 21 and soak up the energies here.

In order to get to the bus station, we caught the metro along with the locals, which was so easy to use. Easier than Sydney´s public transport system. Plus cleaner and prettier, with public art works and murals everywhere.... and way way cheaper! For US 20 cents a ticket, to get anywhere in the greater metro region, it must be the worlds cheapest public transport system. Maybe it is part of the Governments effort to curb pollution and emissions. It also halves the amount of traffic, by only allowing cars with certain number plates to drive on certain days, which is a pretty good idea. Hard to imagine twice as much traffic on the roads than there is already though! But the government must be doing something right, because the sky looked relatively blue and we could walk around without getting headaches...

The travel by bus through the suburbs was also interesting. We got to see the real Mexico City, or how it is for the majority of the population, public servants, and rich immigrants aside. Even in some of the poorer areas, houses were still painted in bright colours though, which made it seem a little more cheerful. Some areas though did not even have houses, just tents and shacks, leaning into 30 to 40 degree slopes with litter and rubbish covering entire roads. There were also some Mexico-style locked gate communities. Though, very far from the huge brick mansions in Australian housing estates, these houses were neat matchbox like units, painted all the same colour, bright pink seemed to be common, with neat little pebble lined gardens out the front... and little cars parked in the little drive ways. An american style hummer parked there would probably make the unit look even smaller than a match box.

For dinner that night we bought corn cooked in a lime juice soup with coriander and chili, soooo yummy, and finished it off with a cup of fresh papaya, but the search for whole fruit continues. We managed to buy some plastic wrapped and overpriced apples at a 7 eleven to help ward off the cravings.

---

---