Bright warm sun in January, rare Mezcal and a chance to explore ancient ruins—does that make you want “to rise and go”? It certainly did to me.

It was December 2022. My son Jeet was visiting just before Christmas. One day as I picked up the mail, I saw a bright, colorful brochure from Caravan Tours advertising their very affordable tours to Mexico and other Central American countries. It had a large picture of a toucan on the cover. That brought back fond memories when, years ago, we had taken a Caravan led trip to Costa Rica and liked it. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to some place sunny and warm, a nice change of scenery and climate from the cold, grey winter of northeastern USA? And so, the plan gradually took shape.

I asked Jeet if any of the trips in the brochure interested him. He chose ‘The Ancient Civilizations of Mexico’. I am interested in history, especially the rise and fall of civilizations. In particular, what causes ancient, well established, powerful empires to suddenly and unexpectedly crumble at the onslaught of a few upstart adventurers and conquistadors. So, I jumped at the opportunity to visit the land of the ancient Aztecs and Mayans.

Plans were finalized and tickets booked. I took the bivalent COVID 19 booster as a precaution. No point in falling ill on the tour.

Jeet and I landed in Mexico city, the starting point of the tour. From the airport we took a prepaid taxi to the Barcelo Mexico Reforma, a nice, comfortable, modern hotel where we stayed for two nights. That evening after dinner we attended a welcome briefing and met our fellow travelers and our tour guide Jose (Pepe) Adams. He gave an informative explanation as to the origin of the name Pepe, a very common name in Mexico. It involved the Testaments, Mexican history and some knowledge of Latin which is beyond my ability to reproduce here. Suffice to say it involves the letters PP which in Spanish is pronounced PePe. We called him Pepe.

Next morning, we were to visit Teotihuacán, a complex of impressive pyramids and temples. After breakfast as I was crossing the hotel lobby, the front doors slid open and in came a blast of bracing, cool air. I remembered that Mexico City is at an elevation of over 7000 feet, and it was January, that is, winter. The air was refreshingly brisk until the sun gradually warmed it to a comfortable 80 plus degrees Fahrenheit. I was glad I had my fleece jacket with me.

We bundled into a large green tour bus with Pepe leading the way and headed towards Teotihuacán, about thirty miles north-east of Mexico City. En route, Pepe gave us the history of the place. Throughout the eight-day trip he narrated the history of Mexico; the Olmecs, Toltecs, Aztecs, Mayans and the Colonial Period right up to the present day. He answered as best as he could the many questions we had and, on occasion, gave us his honest opinion on a controversial subject, for example, border issues, immigration and drug smuggling, to name a few. Mexico and the USA have been neighbors throughout their history and sometimes, as often happens between neighbors, there has been friction including wars. In the news we hear and read the opinion of one side, our side. It always amazes me how much you can learn when you hear the other side of the story. It forces you to think and sometimes to even change your opinion. I remembered an essay I had to write in high school titled “Traveling—a part of education. ” How true, I thought. This was an educative experience for me.

Teotihuacán was built from 150 to around 600 AD, by whom is still not known. It was ancient Mexico’s largest city and had people of many ethnicities with a peak population of around 200,000. Eventuality, the simmering social and economic tensions between the different groups led to internal strife and the abandonment of the settlement by 800 AD. Some archeologists postulate a fire destroyed the buildings but careful study of the systematic, deliberate destruction points to internal discord. Whatever the cause, it is a lesson for today’s world—the destructive effects of division and the value of living in harmony.

The Aztecs discovered it around the thirteenth century and believed it to be a holy place where the gods gathered to create the sun, the moon and the universe. They gave it the name Teotihuacán which meant “The place where men become Gods”.

Hernán Cortés came upon this complex in the sixteenth century AD. Mercifully, he did not raze it to the ground as he did at Tenochtitlán.

Today many New Age devotees make the annual trip to soak in the mystic energies that supposedly emanate from the place during the equinoxes.

We drove into the large parking lot and alighted with our hats, sunglasses and daypacks, cameras at the ready. Pepe went to get the entrance tickets while we stretched and looked around. An incongruous site met my eye. In the distance I saw a modern hot-air balloon hovering over the top of an ancient pyramid. Obviously, the balloon riders had a good view of the Teotihuacán complex. Thank God they did not fly over the pyramids and soon disappeared from view. I breathed a sigh of relief. I did not want that contraption ruining our once-in-a-lifetime photos. I am an avid photographer and am very particular about the composition of my pictures. Unfortunately, for some of the pictures, e.g., the Pyramid of the Sun, the sun was behind the pyramid shining directly into my lens leaving a slight haze. There was not much I could do about it.

Pepe returned with our tickets and we entered the complex. We were joined by a local guide—Jack, in a black suit sporting a trim white mustache and wearing a finely-carved amulet of obsidian around his neck. He claimed he was the second oldest tour guide in Mexico. Perhaps. But his knowledge and experience were considerable, proportionate to his age.

First stop was the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl, thought to be the palace of a high priest or dignitary. Quetzalpapálotl is the feathered serpent, one of the major gods in the vast pantheon of ancient Mexican deities. Here we found the original red coloration on the walls in places. The roofs were supported by wooden beams. Trees and hence wood did not seem plentiful in the immediate vicinity so had to be transported from afar. How, I wondered.

There were intricate carvings on the vertical pillars with holes placed for holding obsidian pieces. These were supposed to have unique properties. I confirmed this fact again with Jack and noted the one around his neck.

We then stepped outside into the bright sun and came to a sudden halt, mesmerized by the immense Pyramid of the Moon (Pirámide de la Luna) at the north end of the spacious, well laid out Plaza de la Luna. I took several pictures. I then gingerly descended down the steps carefully holding the handrail onto the Plaza. The steps were unusually high.

Climbing and especially descending several of these steps would take a toll on my knees. A section of the steep steps can be seen on the far right.

Starting from the Pyramid of the Moon at the north end, a wide, 1.2 mile long Avenue of the Dead runs in a north-south direction connecting the palaces of the elites and temples like the enormous Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world.

On one of these buildings a fresco of a jaguar was still visible. Most of these handsome buildings were destroyed as explained earlier. But from the little that is left, one can imagine the might and sophistication of the civilization that once was.

I closed my eyes and imagined the wide street full of people, singing and dancing at the religious ceremony taking place on the large central altar. Music from drums and flutes mingled with smoke from ceremonial fires as the priests performed the religious ceremony. Suddenly I woke with a start. What if there were human sacrifices? I knew the Aztecs performed such sacrifices, often in large numbers, but it is not known if the original builders of Teotihuacán also did. That was the end of my pleasant reverie.

From the Pyramid of the Sun, I pointed my camera toward the Pyramid of the Moon to capture the grand vista. The ruins today are an impressive sight. How impressive would it have been at the civilization’s zenith!

I spent some time exploring the ruins. Some of us bought souvenirs from the ever-present vendors on site. I avoided them and spent my time taking pictures and just absorbing the vibes of the place. Soon it was time to board the bus and head back to Mexico City.

On the bus I pondered the following puzzles. I was told that in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica there was no metal, no beasts of burden and no wheels (except in toys). How did they transport these large stone blocks from great distances, and carve such intricate patterns in stone? How did they fashion large rectangular blocks with perfect, right-angled edges and put them together to build these enormous structures that are still standing today?

Further, how did humans on two different continents (America and Africa), separated in space and time (by an ocean and by thousands of years) decide upon the same geometrical structure, a pyramid, as the mausoleum for their dead? I do not have an answer. No one does. Which leads some to speculate that advanced aliens must have come to help us puny humans at some point in the not-too-distant past. I will deal with this topic in a later post.

I was hungry and looking forward to lunch and then seeing the Plaza de la Constitución (commonly known as the Zócalo, or ‘base’) and the famous Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City containing many well-known artifacts from these ancient civilizations.

To be continued. Next post: The Plaza de la Constitucion (Zócalo)