Teotihuacan, birthplace of the gods

Our guide Miguel from Insólitours picked us up at 8am, the early start justified by the fact that this is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico.

There were only a handful of people there when we arrived, and the experience of Miguel was priceless as it felt like we had the place to ourselves (and this, despite the many coaches in the car park).

We started in the museum which was excellent, well captioned and full of artefacts which gave us an idea of the workings of the place. At its height, Teotihuacan was the epicentre of culture and commerce for ancient Mesoamerica. Yet, its inhabitants abandoned it suddenly for reasons still unknown.

The main thoroughfare, the Avenue of the Dead, runs north to south and if you were to follow it, you would end up in Tikal, Guatemala. This gives you an idea of the trade going on at the time.

When the Aztecs ‘discovered’ the abandoned site, they appropriated it and the site enjoyed a new lease of life.

Teotihuacan is located at an altitude of 2,121m. Slightly jet-lagged, covered in factor 50 (this you probably didn’t want to know), we made our way up the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (where remains of 260 human sacrifices were found). That’s a lot of steep steps.

On the way back, we stopped briefly at the ex-convent of Acolman. We spent a good twenty minutes there, enjoying the shade of the garden and the coolness of the church. Oh, have I mentioned how hot it was today?

Our final destination was the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is one of the most important places of pilgrimage for catholics. And on 12 December, millions of people will descend on the place, with pilgrims currently making their way to the site. Already, there were easily a couple of thousands of people there today. There are various churches on site; the biggest one can hold up to 10,000 people and is earthquake proof. Which is a big thing. The oldest church will probably go when the next earthquake strikes. That was an odd experience, going into the church and walking down hill! We did not expect that. We’d come in through a side door. Which is just as well, as from the front, you can see the building leaning.

Culinary experiences of the day: we tried cactus paddles, sopes (tasty!), frijoles negros, cactus flowers in syrup (too sweet) and pulque.