BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Articles Tagged ‘Aztecs’

More articles about ‘Aztecs’
« Home

People of the Sun

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Day 16
The piece of history that impresses me most about Mexico City is that since the 1st century A.D. this metropolis has been one of the most improtant cities in the Ameicas. From Teotihucan, the great Aztec capital, then renamed Mexico by the Spanish and capital of New Spain and it`s current incarnation as capital of Mexico. For so long a sophisticated civilization has inhabited this city.

Today we are heading just north of the city centre to the ruins of Teotihucan, the largest of Mexico`s ancient cities and capital of Mexico`s largest pre-hispanic empire. Once again I am in awe at the sheer size of the city as our bus snakes through traffic to the northeastern suburbs. The bus comes to a stop at a roundabout just outside of gate 3. We pay our 45 peso entry and as soon as we enter the hawkers decend on us. Never have I seen a site where people are allowed to sell right on the site. These are lazy sellers however and a simple no gracias and they move on. Maybe if they were selling something interesting we would look, but so many are selling buddhas! Huh? Wrong people, wrong religion and wrong hemisphere.

Teotihucan is huge, we walk out to the first temple, Templo Quetzacotal. Turning left from here is the start of the “Avenue of the Dead.” The main street of the city. Back in the day this must have been quite a sight, over 2 km long and lined with palaces and temples, all painted red and covered in frescoes. Then about the mid-way point is the pyramid of the sun, the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. At the end of the drag is the smaller yet more beautiful pyramid of the moon, it`s setting, terraces and detail make it very impressive.

Today you can still climb the pyramid of the sun and half way up the pyramid of the moon, we do both and the views are great. However I can`t help but wonder what kind of damage is being done by allowing thousands of people to walk on these daily. Besides that apparently pollution is weakening the structures every year.

Even though the crowds grew and the mid-day sun really took it`s toll on us we enjoyed the ruins. Although both Jordana and I agree the hi-light of the day was about 3km from the main site. We walked to a set of smaller former palaces with some excellent murals. Over 120 walls covered with jaguars, serpents and eagles. We were the only ones wandering this site and it was silent save for the barking of a few dogs and a distant tv from the nearby homes. It was our Indiana Jones moment of the day.

Posted in Mexico | 1 Comment »

Olmecs, Aztecs and Toltecs…Oh My!

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

Day 15
Today was a day to learn about the great ancient peoples of Mexico. We plan to visit the Aztec Ruins of Teotihucan tomorrow, so a trip to the anthropology museum was in order. All I really know about the Aztecs is they liked to sacrifice people and rip out their hearts as offerings for the gods. See, Mexico used to be way more dangerous than today!

First we had a fabulous breakfast of huevos rancheros and a cafe americano. The coffee in this country is fantastic. I`ve rarely had a bad cup and it`s so strong, just the way I like it. No need for cream or milk. Today was also our first stab at Mexico City`s massive metro system. 175 stations, 177km of track on 11 lines. At about 20 cents U.S. it`s also one of the worlds cheapest. We made our way the the station and easlily borded a train, it was busy but not the horror stories of packed sardines I had heard about. We went 4 stops and had to transfer, the transfer was about a 15 minute walk through tunnels and I have never seen as many people in a metro before, even more than the tube in London. This train was pretty packed but we noticed people love to stand right in front of the doors and the centre of the trains is virtually empty. 20 minutes later we were a 5 minute walk from the museum and the metro may be busy here be it`s easy to use and unbelievably cheap.

The museum was one of the best I have ever seen anywhere. Tons of information and artifacts on the Olmecs, Aztecs, Toltecs, Mayans. Plus information on the unique cultures of current day Mexico. With so much information in english it was one of the few times we have visited an ancient city and were able to learn about the people before hand. In the Aztec hall we saw the famous sun stone, it was unearthed under the Zocolo in 1790. It was quite interesting to note that as each of the ancient empires fell the suceeding ones seem to take on some of the beleifs and even gods of past cultures. Even when the Spanish showed up and began to destroy the cities and cultures of the indigenous peoples. Certain aspects of the ancient cultures remain right up until today.

Besides all the history, in the centre of the museum is a giant stone umbrella like water fountain with water raining down on the courtyard below. Very beautiful fountain and the building was yet another fantastic modern building in Mexico City. Even though the amount of information was overwhelming I left the museum with a greater knowledge of the Aztecs and was exicted to see the ancient capital in the morning. Although they did do a heck of a lot of sacrificing.

Posted in Mexico | 1 Comment »

The Essential Urban Experience

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
Day: 14 Peering out over the city from our 6th floor balcony I had a great view of the huge cathedral to my right. Turning left down Ave 5 de Mayo were towering skyscrapers. A perfect representation of Mexico City, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Mexico | 4 Comments »