Pobres, Pero Felices: Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan

Fanged jaguar ( left) and Roger (right)

Friday was s special day for Roger. Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities ever built in prehistory, and we got to visit its ruins.

With a population of between 150,000 and 250,000 souls, to one degree or another, the city influenced other cultures for hundreds of years. It was founded c. 150 BC, and grew to its high point c. 450 AD, and finally collapsed sometime in the 7^th or 8^th centuries. You can get some details at the Wikipedia article for the site < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan >.

One of the real pleasures of this trip is that we have taken Omar and his family to places they have never been before. The Castillo de Chapultepec, one of the most treasured historic places in Mexico, and the Anthropological Museum are examples in Mexico City. They had not been to Oaxaca before, and we visited the boyhood home of Benito Juarez, a man who rose from penniless orphan to become perhaps Mexico's greatest reformist president in the mid-19^th century, and a Zapotec - the first Indian to serve as president.

So it was with Teotihuacan, Omar and his son had never been there, and Karina had not climbed the pyramids. What the hell, we even paid the taxi-driver's way in – he was the son of a friend of Omar's. Since we hired him to drive us there and wait for us, we had to pay his way in so he could park in the shade. He said he did go in the park, but it's hard to say how much he wandered around.

Teotihuacan is enormous. The so-called Avenue of the Dead, where most of the structures have been restored, is 2 kilometers long, meaning a round trip of 2.5 miles in a straight line – and we did not make a straight line. There is a small museum that is comparable in quality to the artifact collections in the National Museum. We passed by and climbed into and over temple platforms and residences in what seemed an unending stream, before we finally came to the pyramids.

Even from the far end of the archaeological zone, the Pyramid of the Sun fills you with Awe and Dread. It is enormous, just enormous. Karen looked at it and began to have doubts about an ascent. Roger, with his terrible dread of heights, shared her thoughts. But we said, we'll try for the first level and see how it goes.

Pyramid of the Sun, from the bottom. Those dots at the top are people.

Luckily, most of the steps are on about a 45 degree slope. Unluckily, these steps are somewhat taller than what we usually climb, so it was a slog. They have a handrail for the descent, and some of the ascent, covered wire ropes strung on strong posts. We stopped at each level, and often sat on the steps in-between levels to catch our breath – remember, we're at 7,500 feet above sea level and still not adapted to the altiplano.

If one stays away from the edge and does not contemplate the height at which one is standing, the fear of heights subsides. After 4 levels, we climbed the last set of steps and reached the top, another terrace topped by a low mound of stone. Roger pulled out a cigar and lit up, burning tobacco as the ancients did. For him it was fulfillment of a promise to himself from 40 years ago, when he saw a photo of the site for the first time. Another moment in Mexico.

Pyramid of the Moon

Flush with their triumph, Ivan and Karina declared on the spot that they were going to climb the Pyramid of the Moon. Roger liked the idea of a two-for-one, Karen and Omar blanched at the idea. As it turns out, they only let you halfway up the other pyramid. As it also turns out, the steps are narrow and the slope is steep. Karen used the steps in front of her for handholds as she crept the entire way up the face. The rest stops, while frequent, were brief, since everyone climbed next to the handrail and you had to move away from it to let others pass. Neither of us sat for long, looking down at certain death. But, it was worth it. The view was stupendous, all the restored ruins of Teotihuacan were laid out in front of you.

View from the first level of the Pyramid of the Moon

We toured the site for five hours and still missed some of the highlights. Our legs wore down to a nub. Rehydration took a while. But, we ate like kings afterward (our driver too) and slept like babies.