Determined not to suffer another food crisis my first visit was to the supermarket next to the hotel. In many ways it looks more like a cash and carry than a supermarket, with goods piled high on industrial shelving and no pretence of marketing but it does have a good fresh food section at the back and I purchased a massive ham roll for very little. The hotel kitchen seemed to be inactive but a few stalls were set up on the street corner and there I obtained a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for 8 pesos (40p) and a huge breakfast roll with a pineapple filling for 7 pesos.
Our guide for the pyramids at Teotihuacan arrived on time and we piled into a van and were driven off to a hotel where we had to pay for the trip. We left on the Avenue Insurgentes, the longest continuous avenue in the world at some 30 kilometres, with a brief stop at Tlatelolco. The so called site of three cultures had an Aztec temple and was where the Conquistadores won their decisive final victory over the Aztecs. The Spanish destroyed much of the Aztec site and used the stone to build a church to commemorate the victory. As this victory was attributed to the divine intercession by Saint James the building is the Iglesia de Santiago. More recently, the site has become infamous as the place where 300 student protesters were murdered by the government in 1968. Inside, the church is surprisingly simple with white walls and only some ornate statuary for decoration.
The next stop was a visit to the Shrine of Guadalupe, the third most visited shrine in the world after Mecca and the Vatican. the site covers a considerable area with a number of churches, some of which show evidence of the most recent earthquake (or perhaps previous ones). Certainly, they are not all completely vertical.
The new basilica is an impressive building and can accomodate 7,000 for mass although there seemed to more than this as we passed through.
From here, a main toll road took us out to Teotihuacan past hillsides crowded with housing. Before entering the site we were introduced to a brief talk about the magical powers of the agave plant and got to taste tequila, mescale and pulpe, which is the first stage of producing the spirit. I think we were then expected to buy some but although we checked out the gift shop, nobody did. The temple site has two main pyramids, the main one dedicated to the sun whilst the other was for the moon. The whole site was massive but we are told that the entire complex contained 250,000 people at its height.
Apparently the Aztecs didn’t build it but were happy to take it over. I can see that trying to follow the history of Meso America is going to be a complicated process. Being a Sunday the site was thronging with people and there was a lengthy queue to scale the steepest bit of the pyramid. At first it was impossible to stand on the summit as it was thickly covered with Mexicans paying homage to the sun god.
The views from the top were glorious and a gentle breeze made conditions ideal. From here we made our way to the pyramid of the moon negotiating our way past the hundreds of souvenir sellers. Lots were offering carved obsidian ornaments. “Only a peso, virtually free!”
Visit over, we were taken to a cantina for lunch which proved to be a lengthy and noisy experience as we were entertained by Aztec dancers and matriarchy singers. The singing was OK but the accompaniment would have been improved had the violin been played in the same key as the guitars and with greater accuracy. The taco I had was OK but I fail to see why some rave about Mexican food, perhaps things will improve.
Back at the hotel I caught up with this account and relocated myself into a shared room. I then decided to walk to the HSBC on the assumption that I might avoid bank charges. This proved partially true but I did see loads of people on the Ecobikes. As I still had the lunch I’d bought I consumed that before going to a nearby bar where Mauricio and several others had gathered. The bar owner was very friendly and we stayed for quite a while whilst the others waded their way through an enormous plate of ribs. A pity I’d already eaten. Before we left the owner pressed us to share a tequila with him. I had the best night’s sleep in ages, perhaps tequila is the answer!
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