When Mexico City was Tenochtitlan...

The Day 3 started with a small fiasco. We were really keen to see some more of the archeological history around the city, hence our target was the Museum of Anthropology. We wanted a slow morning and started off around 11.30 am for the museum. Little did we know that there will be almost 2km long queues at both the entrances! We circled the venue, thinking if there will be some alternate entrance for foreign tourists. There were none. We took another taxi back to the hotel, but there were road-blocks all around. The main roads were reserved for the skaters and cyclists on Sundays till 2pm, and it took 45 minutes to reach back. We were 400 pesos poorer and dejected at wasting the morning.

The Templo Mayor ruins were left to be seen, so we headed straight towards the site, after a brief break at the hotel room. En route, we entered the compounds of the Mexican Supreme Court and clicked some pictures of the interesting building structure.

Our major pain point was lack of English speaking crowd. The entry-point to the temple ruins also had a long queue, so we decided to have lunch instead and then head back. Both of us wanted some light lunch and searched for an unnamed street food that everybody seemed to be having. Finally it was located at those super-small 'thelas'. We ended up having chillis and bacon, and enchiladas at a local Bar-cum-Restaurant. The cheese could have been lesser though, no wonder the people (specially women) have such huge tires around their bellies.

We gawked at some local street dancers and the traditional dancers on the way. Curiously, the Mexicans seemed quite superstitious, similar to our culture - we came across enchanters on the road to drive away evil spirits, and people actually flocked to them. We reached the ruins around 4pm. It was another enriching experience. The huge area almost declared to us its past glory. The magnificent architecture has had lots of meditations, offerings and self sacrifices to the God, a tradition quite rampant during the Aztec era. The killings were abolished instantaneously with the Spanish conquest.

There were small boards with details written at each corner of the ruins. Interesting was the fact that there were quite a few teenagers, writing down notes from these boards, and clicking pictures on a Sunday afternoon. They all seemed to be on some school project. It kind of touched us since this seemed to be an ideal way to inculcate the importance of your own historical significance from an early age. You learn to respect that feeling throughout your life and pass it on to the next gen as well.

The temple used to have seven layers to maintain the inner sanctum. It was brought down by the Spanish soon after the invasion of the then Tenochtitlan (old name for Mexico City). There is a museum attached to the ruins that contains artifacts from the early age. With eight levels and hundreds of beautiful artifacts on display, we took almost an hour and a half to even scan through. Closing time was nigh and we did not have another day to come back.

We sometimes notice weird facts on our trips. One of them were the entry fees of each of the tourism sites - they are a standard 57 pesos, with no difference between locals and foreigners OR between the sites. This maybe to maintain equality of historical significance, or maybe we were deducing too much.

Late in the evening, we went to the local market again to experience the evening communal dances and smell the local food. Then we walked to the Monument of Revolution that we could see from our hotel room, and were curious to see it up front. The building is 52 mts high and was made during the first centennial celebrations. The colourful dancing fountain in the front had many people having a fun time in the water. We clicked some pictures and went up in the glass elevator, to the top of the building. The evening wind and the night-scape welcomed us with all its serenity. Some half an hour later, we came down from the building, only to see something totally unexpected. There was an open-air projection theater and Iron Man II had just started. Pleasant surprise there!

We headed back to the hotel room with warm thoughts of the day, and 312 pictures of the day in our camera. The entire city is a wonderful amalgamation of modern civilization with old architecture, all within walking distance. As I already said, the local people respect their own culture. There are various musicians on the roads as well. The people like to spend quality family time on Sundays, encourage their performers, eat to their heart's content, and live life in their own terms - no less than King size!

Our flight was in the early morning. A quick dinner later, we tucked in for the night and headed back to LA the next day.

Pre-Aztec era in Mexico

A lot of 'Gracias', 'Senorita', 'Por Favor', 'Amigo', and 'Hola' throughout Day 2's tour, we finally picked a few of the in-vogue words. I cannot put my finger on the highest point, yet I would say the experience at the Pyramids were supreme, along with tasting deer for the first (maybe only) time ever, and the Latin dance at the local market in the evening. I almost felt like joining the dance, where there were people from all ages moving to the lovely tunes.

The day started at 10.30 am. We had booked a day-long private tour to Teotihuacan, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Considering it was $160 for both of us, a quite reasonable deal for an entire day's trip. A brief and pleasant 45 minutes' drive later, we reached the grounds of the Pyramids.

Our chauffeur of the day was Roul, an 'English-speaking' Mexican, as specified by the concierge. Yeah, he did manage to communicate with us and take us through various anecdotes and historical significance of the country. The first stop was at the artifacts emporium, which was information galore! The rock formed as a result of cooled magma (the parent material) is called Obsidian. Found here in abundance, the various colours of the rocks were formed due to the difference in pressure level. The black version is the hardest and was used to make weapons by the Aztecs. Then there were quartz, purple, etc, along with the golden rock that is the rarest of the lot. The artisans still make beautiful mementos and sculptures out of the rocks, which are sold at government approved prices.

The next set of admiration was reserved for the multi-purpose cacti that are grown here, most of which were used for survival. They used to get fruits and juices from a cactus that gives it's produce for 2-3 months, after that the leaves and thorns are used for papyrus, threads, aloe vera, and needles used for anesthesia and stitching. Larvae deposits on the cacti leaves were crushed to get a red hue and some leaves give the yellow colour - these were used by the Aztecs to colour their murals. The juices are used to make the local alcohol called pulque, which is still made here to taste and sell. For me, the most interesting fact was that Tequila is made from these juices and the Spanish method of distillation results in modern day version of the alcohol.

While we were still processing the gallon-load of information, Roul drove us to the actual destination. We did not really know what to expect, and you cannot make out anything from the parking lot, mainly because of the tall, thick, stone boundary that cordoned off the area. By the time we reached the top of the wall, we forgot all about the cacti and rocks, blown away by the grandeur in front of us.

Standing tall at 70 meters high, with 248 steps (each approx 1 feet tall), the mammoth structure of the Sun Pyramid welcomed us in all its glory! To the left of the Sun Pyramid, almost a kilometer away is the Moon Pyramid, which is not as tall but possesses it own beauty in structure. The pyramids were made by pre-Aztecs, potentially the Olmecs around 400 BC to 700 AD. The very top of the Sun Pyramid was a temple, which was blown away by a dynamite during excavation.

I somehow managed to huff and puff to the top, with sufficient breaks of course. We were lucky to get a clear blue sky, which accentuated the Pyramids even more. A circle around the top and we decided to climb down. It was tougher, with the sheer height of the steps, the extra tangential pyramid slope and the broken rocks. Needless to say, I did not have enough energy left to climb the Moon Pyramid.

Besides the Moon Pyramids, there is a large excavation of a palace with beautiful murals and advanced architecture. Even the sewage system was nicely organised, with indoor toilets in the living quarters. Next we spent some time at a comparatively smaller pyramid that proved that they were an agriculture based clan. There are lots of the head structures on the walls of Rain and Thunder Gods, and Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent or Precious Twin - God of intelligence and self-reflection), with more murals to highlight the sculptures. And yes, the Pyramids have been recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Quite a few clicks later, we left for a sumptuous late lunch. Roul told us that in Mexico, the restaurants that are most crowded are the ones with the best and authentic food. He recommended deer for me and we took rabbit as well - the kind of food we do not get everywhere.

The final halt of the day was the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, known as the Virgin of Guadalupe who was a celebrated Roman Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary. The first church of Lady Guadalupe could hold only 700 people, even though it is huge structurally. The Aztec symbol is an eagle sitting on a cactus and devouring a snake, which stand on both sides to the entrance. The foundation of this church is sinking and it actually stands at an angle now. A new church was built with modern architecture besides the old one, and this church holds 10,000 people. The richer Mexicans who stay in Canada send money for the Independence month's celebrations (September, and the year was 1810). Also, the inside ornate ceiling design is made of wood that they have sent. An interesting factor of the new church is that it has moving walkways in front of the deity to avoid cluttering of the people.

A small visit to the local market and we went back to the hotel, after the tiring, yet exciting day amongst Mexican history. The final day lay ahead of us.