My food arrived at 6:45am. Which was fine, but slightly annoying. I had just put on my clothes 2 minutes before the knock on my door - why do they ask for a specific time if they are just going to show up early? Ah well, no harm done. Breakfast was pretty good - fruit and eggs and toast and something unidentifiable which tasted ok.
I exchanged a few bucks into pesos and waited to be picked up. Eventually a friendly English-speaking Mexican man arrived and whisked me off to the tour van. We picked up some other people who were also going on tours (not the same one as me though) from France and Peru. While we were driving around town picking up people I noticed that the little man who indicates that it's time to cross the street is green & animated. First you see him walking and as the time counts down closer to the end, he walks faster and faster - he kinda seems to break into a run. I found this rather mesmerizing to watch. I wish I had gotten some footage of it.
We went through the main square of the Zocalo area, and our guide explained that it was fairly quiet in Mexico City today because of it being Good Friday and many of the people are out of town. I noticed large groups of police everywhere, and in particular, a group of cops on horses with sombreros - the Mexican version of RCMP. Quite the sight!
Anyways, we headed to the tour office, paid for our tours, and split off into different groups depending on what we were doing that day. My group was heading to the famous Teotihuacan pyramids and a few other places. It turns out in my tour group that I am the only native English speaker. The driver & tour guide are Mexican, a family of 4 is Mexican, and a group of three sitting behind me were all from Germany. We all managed to communicate pretty effectively by the end of the day - although it started off rather lonely for me.
The first stop on our tour was to see the ruins at Tlatelolco. They were located right in the middle of the city and were many centuries old. We took some photos but did not stay there very long. Off we went to the Basilica of Guadalupe, and it was rather busy since it was Easter weekend. There is an "old" basilica and a "new" basilica - the old basilica is rather like the leaning tower of Pisa, and it is very off-kilter. From the outside you can tell things are not level, but from the inside it is even more apparent as you try to gain some solid footing.
Inside the new basilica there is a painting of Lady Guadalupe (the virgin Mary) on display at the front of the altar. There is an underground level right underneath the altar, and there are 3 or 4 escalators that go back and forth underneath this painting, so that people can pay their respects to it without disturbing whatever service is going on above. Photos are even allowed - with no flash.
The next & last stop on our trip was out to the pyramids. We drove for an hour to get outside of the city limits. Before the actual pyramids, though, we headed to an artisan shop where individuals gave us a tour, information about their craft, and then invite us to do some shopping. This seems to be a popular and convenient (and probably lucrative) arrangement for tours - I remember it from when I travelled to Egypt.
Anyways, we saw how they carved obsidian, how they did craftwork with silver & beading, other souvenirs and how they used the local plants. We had samples of a few drinks made from plants - the only one I recognized was tequila, and no, it does not taste any better down in Mexico. They did point out though, that it's not supposed to be salt, tequila, then lime - like so many in Canada do, but that it's supposed to be salted lime, then tequila. The lime juice "prepares" your throat for the tequila and make it easier & smoother to take.
After we had a good look around the shop, it was time for the big ticket event. We were heading straight to the Teotihuacan pyramids! These ruins are different than the other ones in Mexico in that people are allowed to walk on them. You used to be able to climb up Chichen Itza, but no longer - I wonder how long it will take Teotihuacan to follow suit. I imagine that having thousands of people trod on the archaeological sites does a fair amount of damage.
Once we arrived at Teotihuacan, our guide took us to a few places and we climbed up a pyramid to have a look at the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. It was harder than it looked - the steps are really high & steep. Going down wasn't much fun either - you had to go sideways, and it had a bit of the dizzying effect. I can see people just bailing down the steps to certain injury.
Then he let us go and have free time to walk around the huge site - apparently it was about a 1km walk from one end to the other end. It didn't sound like much to me, but in the heat of the afternoon it seemed to go on forever. The walk was punctuated by the huge Pyramid of the Sun and ended with the Pyramid of the Moon. There were people everywhere and lineups to go up and down each pyramid.
After that our guide met with us again and talked about the frescoes in the Patio of the Jaguars and then we were off to have lunch. By this time we were starving! We went to a little local place, and we all ordered various authentic Mexican food. I had chicken tacos - they were okay. We had a great time talking and laughing. The Mexican family that we were on tour with didn't speak any English but their two kids were uninhibited and adorable. We all bonded over food & drink and our shared experience.
Happily fed, we chatted all the way back into Mexico City. We parted ways at our various hotels, and even promised to share photos online. How fast we make friends when travelling!
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