Teotihuacan

pyramids and stairs and tourist traps

--

As we board the bus, there is excited babbling amongst the passengers. Some are here with friends, while others strike up conversations with strangers. We pile in and out of the bus like little schools of sardines, tight-knit and fluid.

Mexico City is one of the cleanest cities I have visited, despite the heavy use of disposable products and a surprising scarcity of trash cans.
On this early bus tour to the pyramids, we get to see the effort it takes to maintain this cleanliness. Teams of street cleaners work tirelessly, gathering trash by hand, not just in the polished city center but in neighborhoods outside.

The further away we travel, the clearer it becomes just how many people have to drive into Mexico City for work each day. While our outbound lane is traffic-free, the incoming lanes are locked in a complete standstill.

The land unfolds as we leave the city, stretching toward the horizon. Familiar billboards gradually give way to simpler ads—large, clean letters painted onto aging walls. The roads are freshly paved, but the occasional bumps still turn my stomach.

We enter the archaeological site through Gate 3. Before reaching the plaza in front of the Pyramid of the Moon, we pass through remnants of housing. Though we're slightly disappointed to find out that the pyramids were largely reconstructed by archaeologists in the 1960s, their scale is awe-inspiring. It’s amazing just how much space was devoted to worship and sacrifice.

Our guide is knowledgeable and speaks through a little microphone, alternating between Spanish and English. The temperature is cold, but the sun burns fiercely, baking our group of mostly pasty white Europeans and US Americans. By the end of the day, my skin is ever so slightly burned, my body sticky with cold sweat, and my energy utterly spent.Read more