…” Travelling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it”…
Cesare Pavese.
THE WORLD OF PYRAMIDS
The world of the Pyramids we began to explore from Teotihuacan, a paradise for historical geeks …
Once a city, today one of the world’s most famous places of iconic archaeology. Located about an hour’s drive from Mexico City towards east. The history of this area dates back to the second century, and the flourishing to the turn of the fourth and fifth centuries. Teotihuacan, initially located on the island, owes its name to the Aztecs who came to already abandoned city. The buildings they found, with their size and perfection, delighted the newly arrived settlers so much, that they began to believe, that only the gods could build and inhabit this land … This became the source for the absolutely amazing Aztec mythology.
Writing about the beauty and majesty of the Pyramids: the Sun and the Moon, now seems banal to me. Really… Why? Because the view of this place is literally breathtaking. It is challenging, to describe the impression what it makes on, I bet every man, who puts his foot there. The dignity and uniqueness of Teotihuacan you can feel with every sense, even the sixth one. Even if you’re not a historical geek…The admiration rises not only by the fact, that the whole area was built without any metal tools, but also by the precision of details, and the effort, what the people who created this place, had to put into their work. And we must remember that we still know so little about them. Still not enough … Their knowledge and skills, unfortunately, has been taken not only by the power of time, and buried…
What is left in Teotihuacan, in a city where gods are born (although there is also a version of another translation: a place where people become gods), in addition to two pyramids, we’ve got there : the famous Calle de los Muertos, the Road of the Dead, which is located along the Quetzalcoatl temple complex , ruins of temples, and places of former burials. To this day, according to local beliefs, it was here, where the world was created, and the light separated from the darkness. The uniqueness and mystery of this place literally changes the view of the world we live in. The stories of local guides can even change the way of thinking, for anyone who is able to spend some with the natives and have the conversation with them…
Depending on who you engage the discussion about Teotihuacan with, you will have incredibly wide range of ideas about this place…
Some will condemn human sacrifices, cannibalism, others will be delighted by the fact, that the temples here, were built according to the stars layout … Others, going up 248 steps to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, will catch shortness of breath and wonder where it’s magical energy is?… 😀 And , by the way, if you want to climb to the Pyramid of the Moon, there you can only reach to half way through.
Anyway, so far, no one knows who really built this city …. There is no point to write to much about Teotihuacan history, everywhere you can read about it … And despite the controversial history of this place, the fact what happened to them during the conquistadors times, raises the same, if not greater objection ….
Fact, that I have not read anywhere before our journey , is butterflies presents, they’re flying on top of the pyramids. I did not notice them at all, in the lower parts of the area … Beautiful, large butterflies, probably from the so-called „monarch” family … There are a lot of them up there 😀 they create an amazing aura around the top of the pyramid …
The admission ticket costs 75 pesos, if you travel on your own, you can get there by bus. I decided to book guided tour, with GetYourGuide. The price included a meal, entry tickets, a visit to Teotihuacan, a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadelupe, and the support of guides during more than 9 hours of the trip. The price was very affordable, you can also choose the language . Our group was small, about 7 people, the atmosphere was very friendly, and the guides really had a lot of knowledge and a great sense of humour. Yes, you have to stop from time to time for so-called „commercial purposes”, but there is nothing to dramatise, everyone wants to make some money 😉 … I have to add, that tasting local alcohols was really worth an effort 😀
Chichen Itza.
This is a pre-Columbian city on the Yucatan Peninsula. The land, which belongs to the Mayan civilisation, that is more than two thousand years old. Spanish colonisers, named it – Palenque. The main tourist attraction here, is the Kukulkan Pyramid, currently on the list of „seven new wonders of the world”. And although it is half the size of the Sun Pyramid, it also has its majesty. It’s a stepped structure, together there are 364 steps, the last – 365th is the entrance to the temple. The absolute perfection of the architecture of this place, in along with numbers, astronomy, space, acoustics, even such a mathematical failure, like me, makes you literally dizzy … 😀 It even arouses interest in science and technology …
Altars of skulls, old reliefs, a football pitch where bloody sacrifices were made, everything is so amazing, that it seems unreal …
From practical knowledge, it’s worth knowing, that you can’t climb anymore up Kukulkan. But you can take beautiful photos, although I warn you – drones are prohibited. As for shopping for souvenirs, our attention was drawn to the fact, that out of all such places, Chichen Itza, prices are very affordable. So if you have the opportunity, buy all souvenirs there. Personally, I even bought myself a traditional Mayan Birth Certificate.
And before all the enemies of astrology, horoscopes start selling their hatred here, I would like to draw your attention, to one of the many fascinating facts about this community. The „destiny” of each member of this population, was „read” according to complicated calendars, on the day of birth, and whatever appeared in the „stars”, this was how the whole life of that man was shaped, from his earliest childhood years … And I don’t have to remind you, that civilisation inhabiting this part of Yucatan undoubtedly belonged to brilliant architects, mathematicians, warriors … They had astronomical knowledge, the level of which in some matters exceeds our modern …
Probably the most famous element of Mayan culture in the world, in addition to architecture, of course, is the calendar they developed. Or more precisely, two calendars: liturgical and traditional. They met once in every 52 years on the same day. The guides, which we visited Chichen Itza with, tried to explain the rules of these complicated calculations to us, but unfortunately only one information remained in my head, or rather the question, was : how was such calculations made several thousand years ago? ….
The admission ticket also costs 75 pesos. Access, like to Teotihuacan, can be organised individually as well as in groups. Being in Tulum, or Cancun, or Playa del Carmen, the distance to Chichen Itza is about the same from each of these places – about 2 hours. If you are going on your own, it is good to check local buses, which are very well marked, but their timetable changes seasonally ( price around 140 pesos).
From my side, I can definitely recommend a guided tour, which details you can find here.
Next stop: Coba.
Another pre-Columbian city, which occupies over 70 sq. km. It is probably the least depleted place on the Yucatan Peninsula. From over 6000 thousand structures, only a few dozen have been discovered and restored so far. The rest awaits their time under the jungle carpet. The buildings are high and quite steep. I experienced it myself … Thinking, that as I successfully climbed Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, nothing will surprised me, I was well prepared conditionally and „strategically” to climb Ixmoja, the highest of the complex in Coba – Nohoch Mul 😀 it seemed to me easy. With an emphasis on „seemed” … 😀
Good footwear, a bottle of water, no unnecessary backpacks or other handbags, a hat, sunglasses. And strong will 😀 This is generally enough … Beating 120 stone stairs, at about 35C degrees , I recommend measure your intentions carefully :p I advise you not to impose too fast pace, just because this pyramid it is much lower than the Pyramid of the Sun, and it is „only” 42 meters..But … The stairs are high and irregular, and extremely steep, plus the time undoubtedly left its mark on them. And despite the fact, that I was ready for all this, and cautiously distributed my strength, another surprise was waiting for me at the top 😀 Well, although I have never had a fear of heights, for the first time in my life I understood what it felt like 😀 What came to my mind up there was the question: how the hell will I get down? And: what are they doing here with people, who are afraid to come down ??? Do they have any helicopters or something? … 😀 Believe me, the angle of inclination of this building really makes you dizzy …
I even forgot to ask our guide, if anyone had ever fallen from this pyramid … From the news, later on, I read that in recent years, there have been two falls …
Anyway, overcoming my fear of steepness, I decided to use the method of going backwards down, holding on to the rope placed on the pyramid. The view from above is unearthly … Beautiful jungle, as far as the eye can see, smaller buildings, and this perspective below …. I recommend you to climb there, but be very careful !!!
The ticket to Coba is at a similar price: 75 pesos, and you can get there on foot, or you can rent a bike or „rickshaw”. Our guide, because of the time, recommended a rickshaw (a fee of about $ 2, but you really need to give more), which caused my great remorse … I just felt really awkward, when I realised that the man, who was on the bike, that kept our rickshaw moving, had to pull two elements like me and my other half … The remorse however, paled a little after leaving the pyramid, especially for the first few seconds, when my legs felt like thin cotton, and I thought: oh God, I managed to come down … .where is our rickshaw? … 😀
Definitely recommend the excursion from this website 😀
The world of the Pyramids in Mexico is literally unearthly … Stories of their details, myths, theories, could be told endlessly … And this is the charm of this place. And this is the moral, that flows from it : there is no such thing as an end. There is only infinite repetition …
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