We arrived in Mexico City from Lima, thankfully without any surprises from the Latam airline, like last time. We got a taxi to the hotel (Hotel Casa Gonzalez), and took some rest. We went out for dinner and short walk around the hotel. The district we’re staying (Zona Rosa) looks upscale and nice. The weather is mostly cloudy with some drizzle in the afternoons. It’s the typical weather for this time of the year.

The next day we woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel (where we talked with two other couples from Pacific Northwest), and headed to Zocalo - the historical city center. But to our surprise, everywhere was closed or were just opening up! Apparently people start their days pretty late here, around 10. So we went to the Torre Latino which is the tallest skyscraper in downtown Mexico City, and all the way up to the observation deck. As far as the eye could see in any direction, it was Mexico City! We then went to the cathedral, which is the largest in Americas, but they were holding a mass (we came in another time, and they were again holding a mass. Apparently the Mexican are pretty religious). We also went to the Presidential Palace, and saw the murals done by the famous Mexican artist, Diego Rivera (Frida’s husband). 

After lunch, we went to the Museum of Anthropology, which is the largest museum in Mexico. It had a fantastic collection of pre-Columbian artifacts, including full tombs and temples. It definitely deserves a full day visit in the least. One of the best museums I’ve ever visited.

The day after, we went to the Teotihuacan outside the city to visit the important pre-Columbian pyramids. A civilization by the same name built this city, and the two massive pyramids of sun and moon around 200 BC to 650 AD. This is around the same time as the Romans, and given that these people were secluded from the old world, and did not enjoy from the same flow of knowledge that the people of the old world had, makes it a lot more mind-boggling. The pyramid of the sun is the largest pyramid in Americas, and it is 230m in base and 71m in height. It’s a stunning solid 1.2 million cubic meters of soil and rock which was moved all by humans, as they did not have load-bearing domesticated animals. If we assume the average density of soil and rock is 2 tons per cubic meter, this would be equal to moving 2.4 million tons of dirt and rock to build this pyramid. It’s unbelievable. 

The view from the top four Pyramid of Moon

The layout of the city of Teotihuacan Above shows the layout of this ancient city. The main road is called the Avenue of the Dead. Like almost all other ancient civilizations, Teotihuacans had a serious fascination with death. They also used to sacrifice humans to the gods at the pyramids, as they have discovered symmetrical patterns of burials around the pyramids belonging to sacrificed groups of people (check out the movie Apocalypto, though that story happens in the Mayan culture at the dawn of Spanish conquest).

The last day, we checked out of the hotel, and went to Chapultepec Castle. Apparently it used to be presidential palace, and it very much looked like European palaces like Versailles. But unfortunately it did not have a single explanation in English. 

Well, this sums up my travel blog to Peru and Mexico! Here are the highlights of the trips:

  • We got familiar with the two ancient civilizations of Incas in Peru and Teotihuacans/Aztecs in Mexico City. We saw their ancient cities, temples, artifacts, and got familiar with their histories and cultures. It was a fantastic learning opportunity, as well as being very new and exciting. During this trip, I also read (i.e. listened to the audiobook of) “The Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” which was highly relevant and enlightening. I highly recommend this book for gaining a new perspective on the history of humans.

  • We visited Machu Picchu, an experience that will always stay with us!

  • We tried local food, and found a few favorites! Hopefully we can find them in Seattle. 

We are going to take the flight back to Seattle soon. We’ll have a day to relax, and hopefully I can start working on the photos. I’ll try to write another post about my thoughts on the trip and my photography. Stay tuned!