Exploring Teotihuacan From Mexico City

We took a day trip to the ancient city and pyramids of Teotihuacan, also known as the City of the Gods. The UNESCO heritage site was located on the outskirts of the capital, about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. The public transportation to the pre-Columbian city, Teotihuacan, was comfortable, easy and cheap.

On the way to the pyramids, we had to visit the ADO office to buy our bus connections to Puebla, Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende. The ADO website was pretty damn good but supported none foreign credit cards. Therefore, a visit to their tickets booth in TAPO (Terminal de Autobuses de Pasajeros de Oriente) was a necessary stop.

After completing our duties, we hopped on the metro and got off at the station ‘Terminal Central del Norte’ (line 5). We paid 104 pesos for a round trip bus ticket. The first bus departed at 6 am and they were leaving about every twenty minutes thereafter. Before the departure, an employee came aboard the bus to videotape each passenger's face. Weird! The same behaviour also happened on the return journey where policemen accompanied the gentleman for another photo shoot.

The smooth journey to formerly Mesoamerica’s greatest city took roughly an hour long. Enough spare time to keep practising our Spanish. The bus dropped us off by the main entrance (Puerta 1 / Gate 1). We bought our admission ticket at 70 pesos which also included the entry for the museum. Few fellow passengers stayed on the bus to be dropped at Gate 2 and 3 which were closer to the main and biggest pyramids. We didn’t mind walking and exploring the huge archaeological complex at our own pace.

Upon arriving at Teotihuacan, we were impressed by the size of the complex. Our first sight was the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. Surrounded by an acrid, flat and dusty area, the temple was the most preserved with its iconic carved heads adorning the eastern side. The hundred sacrificial burials showed off the importance of this religious centre.

We strolled down the Avenue of the Dead to reach Pirámide del Sol (Pyramid of the Sun). We climbed up all the way to the top of the third largest pyramid in the world. After 248 steep and uneven steps, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon.

We walked halfway up the pyramid of the moon as visitors weren’t allowed further. Still, we could see the entire site including the Pyramid of the Sun and the main street of Teotihuacan lined up with many smaller temples.