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Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico

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Maybe this title is misleading. I always thought of the whole complex is called simply: Pyramid of the Sun. It sure is the main draw, in the sense that it is the largest thing in the whole park, but maybe Teotihuacan is more correct term of this place.

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One of the better panoramas I took at the park

What you get there is an old pre-Columbus city filled with pyramids built around a main walkway called the Avenue of the Dead. Dead only by name. It is a nice 1 hour bus ride to the northwest of Mexico City, and takes about half a day for a nice and easy trip. Budget 2-3 hours for the transport (return trip), and another 2-3 hours for for Teotihuacan itself. 

Before we start, please remember that the altitude at Teotihuacan is 2300m above sea level (measured on my GPS), so unless you’re from Quito, Ecuador, it is most likely you will tire a lot more easily than back home. So bring water, walk, rest, climb a bit and rest even more. 

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Tom Bihn Packing Cube. I love their goods. 

During the trip, I packed a Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 Packing Cube backpack which is light and has this nice bottom compartment that fits a 1.5L bottle of water easily. Tom Bihn makes great stuff. Other than that, I had my camera, sketchpad, portable battery and a down jacket in the bag. 

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CDMX/Mexico City, Mexico

Welcome to Mexico City

When I was a kid, I was introduced to Mexico by this game on the Apple ][ called Montezuma’s Revenge. Apart from this, and the tex-mex style “Mexican” food, there’s not really much that people from Asia know about Mexico, apart from the drug-thing in the news. I was sure that there’s more to it… Mexico is so far from Asia, it is not one of those places that we make up our mind to go for a holiday. It is far…

And now here I am, in the part of the world I never expected to be. Thus I cannot miss the chance to visit Mexico City, what they call CDMX, and find out more about Aztec history and Mexican food. It’s just too bad that the reputation of CDMX is not really that great with all that is in the news, but I figured that if I stick to the right part of the city, I will be fine. 

In the 3 days that I have to spend, geography-wise I doubt I will have enough time to cover the entire city. Very quickly I knew that I had to stick to the CBD area, around La Condessa and Roma Norte and perhaps make a trip to the historical center. That should allow me to visit some nice restaurants, spend some time in the museums, etc. Quick Google search tells me to avoid anything north of Tepito, if I want to keep my head intact, so my imaginary border starts north of Centro. CDMX is so big I will not run out of things to do. As for food, I had to see what the fuss is about about Tacos, I need to get deep into Moles and Mezcals. 

As for reading materials, I started reading up on “Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican” Volume 1 & 2 by Brantz Meyer. Always a good thing to read up on history and visit the areas of historical interest. I am never a fan of Instagram tourism.

Got to drop this image of Cancun – on the way to Mexico City
CDMX – Roma in the background where the office buildings are

On the map, the international airport looks it is right in the city, a little to the east. Apart from the high altitude, I do know that CDMX is one of the largest cities of the world, so I was expecting a long trip to Reforma, on the  western part of the city. No disappointment there. 

Entrance to Bosque de Chapultepec
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