City of the Aztecs

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Day 329 - Sunday 24 August

We'd arrived into Mexico city international airport at midnight and checked into our hostel. Its quite expensive here compared to South America so we'd had to book an 8 bed dorm. However on arrival they've put us in a 4 bed room and we've got it all to ourselves. Result.

With lots to try and fit in today we forced ourselves up at 9am. Were actually staying right next door to the main plaza and the aztec ruins of Temple Mayor. Mexico city used to be the capital of the Aztec civilization and right were the main plaza is was templo Mayor. A huge temple and the centrepiece of the Aztec capital. Unfortunately the Spanish demolished it and covered it with various buildings so now theres just the base left. Being a sunday its free to visit so we went to take a look.

To be honest its just like the Inca ruins in Peru so i probably didn't appreciate it quite like most other tourists did. Even the museum on the site had pottery and ornaments just like the ones I'd seen in the museums of Cusco and Quito.

We were done by lunchtime and headed over to the Bosque de Chapultepec a huge park in the city. As we've now left the winter of south america behind its a good summers day, ideal for a stroll. They've also a big zoo here and its free so we spent a couple of hours in there.

We were going to visit the museum of Antropologia as our guidebook says its free on sundays but on arrival we discovered its now only free for Mexicans. For us foreigners its 58 Pesos (3 quid). I've seen enough old pottery in museums now so decided to skip it. Instead we went to the bus staion to get some bus info.

It had been quite a long and tiring day so I stayed in the rest of the evening doing some more research on Mexico.

Day 330 - Monday 25 August

Another day with a lot to try and fit in. I was up at 8 for breakfast then went over to the post office. I'd like to send a few things home rather than carry them for another 5 weeks but just like Quito the postal service is quite expensive here so I didn't bother.

I had a quick walk around the main plaza and took a few photos before it was time for me to check out. We headed over to the bus station bought our tickets for tonight and then after dropping our bags off at the left luggage we went and caught a bus to the pyramids of Teotihuacan. An Aztec city full of temples and a site that the Spanish haven't destroyed. Theres also two enormous pyrmaids that you can climb. I'd be interested to know how they compare to the pyramids of Egypt.

We didn't have much time but managed to see everything in a couple of hours before racing back to Mexico city and taking the night bus to Palenque.

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