Day 2: Teotihuacan, Mexico

My destination of today was Teotihuacan - the place where gods were born' in the Mayan civilization. Before going out I did not forget to ask for direction. The hostel staff Otho was so funny, he drew a very ridiculous-looking car on the map for me to recognize the bus in real life. I felt so shocked of his drawing. But I did bring it with me to start off my journey of today.

On the way, I passed by a street selling computer accessories. This street looked so like those computer centers in Hong Kong, the setting was almost the same, with tons of SC cards and portable USBs hanging everywhere. At first I thought the technology in Central America quite fell behind, yet it was just me being totally ignorant.

When I got to Av. Lazaro Cardenas, I already saw the bus. However, the actual bus was very different from the drawing of Otho's. If he draws the same bus for every single tourist, I wonder how many people can not go to Teotihuacan because of his funny drawing?

The bus driver was nice enough to assure me that the bus was going to Terminal de Norte. After getting a seat, I suddenly recalled my first bus experience in Cancun in 2006. At first I felt quite scared due to the strange faces, in the end I could perfectly merge into the local culture and was sardined in the bus with the local people. This time I did not feel scared anymore, perhaps I had already experienced a lot in these 5 years, I even tried hitch-hiking, therefore this bus journey was as easy as pie. In the middle of the bus ride, a handicapped guy hopped on. All passengers of the whole bus had no intention to leave their seats for him, except me being the only one standing up, what the hell!

Otho was right, the bus took around 20 minutes to get to Terminal de Norte. He said metro would take an hour, if I did not ask him in the first place, I guessed I would faint on the metro (it would feel like the same as taking metro from Tsuen Wan to Chai Wan!).

When I stepped into the terminal, I had no idea where to begin. I decided to start from the right, in the mean time I was stopped by 4 officials in uniforms. They requested me to show my passport. I was doubtful if they were liable. Since I knew there were many fake polices in Moscow when I had read the travel information of Russia, how did I know these people were legit. At that moment, I wanted to turn around and just go. They showed me their official passes to prove their identities at once, yet I forgot to bring the photocopy of my passport. As a result, I needed to show them my original passport. It's lucky that they just jotted down my information and then let me go.

The security of the bus company could be considered as both strict and loose. On one hand they needed to open my bag to check if there were any metal equipment like weapons. On the other hand, they just took a quick glance after I opened it. What's the point of checking then?

Teotihuacan was not at the final stop of the bus route, but the driver was very nice to yell out the stop when we got there. After getting off the bus, I followed the sign to walk to the sight. It looked so desolated and made me a bit worried if I got off at the wrong stop. Then I saw the ticket counter, it did not look like an entrance but a very dodgy pavilion. When I walked more deeper inside, I finally could see the typical touristy spots like souvenir stores and bathroom!

The first stop of my Teotihuacan adventure was the relatively small Templo de Quetzalcóatl. Don't ever underestimate this small temple, it already made me very tired after climbing the stairs. On top of it I could overlook the Pirámide del Sol/ la Luna, I could not wait but climb down at once. Then I headed to the museum, the way to there was long and boring. I could only see the direction signs and some road workers along the way. At last, I spent almost 30 minutes to just walk to the museum.

Templo de Quetzalcóatl

Looking Pirámide del Sol from the museum

Sculpture in the museum

Adorable stone tablet outside of the museum

After the interesting museum I instantly walked to the the highlight of the world famous ruins - Pirámide del Sol. Looking from the base to the top was already very exciting. The temple is divided by many levels and there are over 10000 steps of staircase on each level. I felt so exhausted after the first level and needed to take a long pause before starting the next level. The staircases of the final level are almost straight as a right angle, OMG!

I surrounded the square and walked a circle on the top of the pyramid. Then I took the big breath to climb down again, it was always easier to ascend than to descend. Because the staircases were rugged and the armrest by the side was very unstable, I thought I was actually the slowest person ever moving on Pirámide de Sol.

Afterwards, I walked along Calzada de los Muertos (Avenue of the Death) to Pirámide de la Luna. I finally got to know why it was for the death, as I was exhausted to death after I reached Pirámide de la Luna. Looking from the base of the pyramid to the top gave me another excitement. If I did not climb all the way up there, I must lose all my energy and volition like a deflating balloon. On the halfway I already felt dizzy, but an old guy nonstop encouraged me to keep going. In order not to lose face, I took my last breath to climb to the top. It was inevitable for me to collapse on the floor and needed to take instant rest by the staircases.

Vendors could be seen everywhere in Teotihuacan

This little kid wore one very big sombrero

Overlooking Pirámide de la Luna from Pirámide del Sol

Calzada de los Muertos (Avenue of the Death)

After 30-min rest my body started to have feelings again, I decided to take some quick photos then left Teotihuacan. When I got to the main street, I could not see the bus stop nor people waiting for the bus. Hence I asked the restaurant promoters for help. The guy was very nice and took me to the place to wait for the bus. And he showed me some foreign coins he had been keeping with him. To thank you for his help, I gave him one 1 cent coin. He shouted happily 'collection, collection', I then felt quite embarrassed and did not know what to do. When there seemed to be some spare time, I went to buy a bottle of coke. Yet the bus arrived at the same moment, those nice restaurant boys enthusiastically stopped the bus for me, again, I was very thankful to them and felt bad not eating there.

Overlooking Pirámide del Sol from Pirámide de la Luna

Tourist climbed up to Pirámide de la Luna regardless of the hot weather

The front view of Pirámide del Sol

Then I spent some hours to wander in Centro Historico after I got back. I visited the same restaurant I went last night again and ordered a dish of roasted pig leg. It was actually a sliced pork meat with gravy and mashed potatoes, super delicious!

Afterwards I went back to the hostel to do research for tomorrow's trip and checked the weather, I got to know one hurricane was approaching and the weather would become bad in the later days. I felt so upset and made the decision to go to Taxco tomorrow!

At night I went out to take some night photos, as I knew the weather would be back later and I might not be able to take clear photos. There were crowds and many food vendors on Zocalo, I was tempted to buy a grilled corn, the good appearance of it did not mean the taste was good, what a trap!