Traveling is nice, resting is nice too! We settled for five days in a campground near Mexico City where we spent our days... doing nothing! Well yes, we did visit the famous city of Teotihuacan, a must-see site in Mexico.
Friday, February 17th, 2023
We want to see the "Popo" tonight. Popo is the nickname of the Popocatépetl, the second highest summit of Mexico, with 5,426m. It means "smoking mountain". And smoking, it is! For a few days, we have been following its massive form which stands out on the horizon, always closer. The Popo threatens several tens of millions of inhabitants of the agglomerations of Mexico City, the capital, and of Puebla. Its lastest explosion was in 2020: a cloud of ash was expelled up to 8,000 meters. A week ago, we received an alert message on Ariane indicating that the volcano was particularly active at the moment. A safety perimeter of 12 kilometers has been established around the smoking crater 🌋 We settle camp near the volcano's national park. How beautiful and impressive it is, with its perfect cone and its cloud of smoke that regularly escapes from it!
At 9:30 p.m., we are watching a series. Flashing lights and a police siren wake us up. Rémi goes out. The two policemen are very nice, but they don't want us to sleep here. According to them, the place is not safe. Not because of the volcano, but because of the "people". We are escorted, all lights flashing, in the night to the nearest village. The police car stops on the side of the road and the policeman tells us we can sleep here. Here, at the edge of the narrow road, in a slope, next to a dark and deserted village. Are we supposed to be safer here? We check the IOverlander application and we find a Pemex gas station near by. The policeman agrees to escort us there. We park between two trucks. The police station is just in front of the station! Everybody is happy.
Saturday, February 18th
Our first night in a gas station was surprisingly calm and we slept well. We go back in the opposite direction to go to the Parque nacional Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl. We can see the smoking Popo on one side, and the Iztaccíhuatl, the third highest summit of Mexico with its 5 215 meters on the other side. We want to climb it next week. We take some information about the climb with the rangers. The ascent is difficult and we need to book a night in the base camp. We then go for a 4 kilometers hike which offers spectacular views on both volcanoes. We wait, we wait until we can see a beautiful cloud of smoke coming out of the Popo!
Back in town, we briefly stop to buy a chicken grilled in wood fire and we eat it in a gas station. It's difficult to find nice places to eat in Mexico. There is no rest area and the roadsides are busy, noisy, dusty and dirty, which isn't ideal for a bucolic picnic.
As we plan to stay several days in a campground to rest before the ascension, we stop to do some shopping. Our base camp for the next days is Mi Lindo Mexico campground, near to Mexico City and even nearer to the big city of Teotihuacan. When we arrive there, a big surprise awaits us: Tom, Alison and their three kids from the Youtube channel Nesta autour du monde are here, with their overland combo Defender and trailer. What a setup! As soon as we arrive, we're invited to Enoha's 12 birthday party ! Strawberry pie, crumble, drinks, we are really spoiled ! 😊
Sunday 19th and Monday 20 th February
Life is sweet at Mi Mexico Lindo, very sweet. The days are hot, very hot. But the shower is cold, very cold! We don't do much, but the days still pass very quickly. Rémi takes care of the Jeep while I take care of the blog. We wash and repair our gasoline stove and it needed it! We do some workout, but not too much, because the ascension of the volcano in a few days will be hard. We also show the Jeep to our neighbors Tom and Alison. And they also show us their setup. How! 😂
10 minutes walk away from the campsite is the entrance to one of the most touristic sites in Mexico: Teotihuacan. Every morning, we are awakened by strange noises, that we take at first for gusts of wind. But impossible, the tent doesn't move. We get out to check and we find ourselves in front of a magnificent spectacle.
Hot air balloons! Dozens of hot air balloons. They fly over the temples of Teotihuacan at sunrise. And they pass just above the campsite, sometimes very close. So close in fact that one of them even ends up landing on the soccer field!
We also go to town. We need to go to the lavandería and to the zapatería because Rémi's hiking shoes need some love. We also go to the mercado to buy some fruits and vegetables.
Tuesday, February 21st
The city of Teotihuacan flourished from 100 BC to 650 AD. At its peak around 450 AD, it was the most powerful city in Mesoamerica and probably the largest pre-Columbian city. There were nearly 100 000 inhabitants (which was huge at the time!) and had a surface of 25 km2. Teotihuacan was founded by the Teotihuacan civilization, about which little is known today. The Aztecs arrived much later, in the 13th century, when the city had already been abandoned for a long time. They gave the city its current name of Teotihuacan, which means "the place where the gods are born". The archaeological site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
The Temple of the Sun is the most imposing building of the city. It's 65 meters high with a base of 244 meters. A temple was built at its top, of which nothing remains. Contrary to what the archaeologists who gave it its name thought, it was dedicated to the god of rain Tlaloc, and not to the sun! The Aztecs made it a place of pilgrimage. The interior of the pyramid has still not been completely excavated. Perhaps there are still some mysteries to discover about this mysterious civilization?
The Temple of the Moon is 43 meters high. Unlike the Temple of the Sun which was built in one phase, the Temple of the Moon is the result of the superposition of several monuments, added at different times. Human remains were discovered inside the pyramid during excavations, probably sacrificed during religious rituals.
Both Temples are connected by the Alley of the Dead, the main avenue of Teotihuacan, which is 2 kilometers long. It was named so by the Aztecs who thought wrongly that the temples along the avenue were tombs. They were in fact administrative buildings and temples dedicated to secondary gods.
The Temple of the Feathered Serpent, or the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, is the most richly decorated building in the city. The whole building was painted in rich colors. The temple is decorated with carved feathered serpent heads. Their eyes were once set with jade stones. Human remains were found during excavations, hands tied behind their backs and accompanied by precious objects, making it possible to think that they were ritual human sacrifices. The reasons of the brutal collapse of the city around 650 AD are still mysterious. Several hypotheses are evoked: a foreign invasion, an epidemic, an impoverishment of the grounds, a climatic change or a revolt of the poorest populations.
Back at the campsite, we are exhausted by the heat. But we have to go back to town to get our laundry and hiking shoes. Fortunately, Tom must also go to town and he proposes to drop us there. We get a tour in the Déf'! We then eat all together and we spend the evening speaking about journeys, vehicles, travels, Youtube. We tell them about our adventures in Alaska, where they intend to go next summer!
Wesnesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd February
Twice a week, a baker comes and delivers fresh bread and pastries to the residents of the campsite. The Nesta have been in the campsite for 1 month and a half so they are very used to the process! They order for us two baguettes, a loaf of bread and two chocolatines. Needless to say that we enjoy the breakfast very much!
We spend the day working and strolling in the campsite. The day is a little more "fresh" than the previous ones and the cold shower seems even more colder than usual. Too bad! We have to take one, because the ground is rather dusty.
Besides, the next morning, it's time to dust and clean! We take out most of our things for a deep dusting of the JP and the rooftop tent. We then eat quickly because we must take the road at the earliest in the afternoon. After five days resting in the campsite, we are ready for an epic adventure on the volcano. We say goodbye to Tom, Alison, Saona, Énoha and Natéo! Maybe we'll meet again one day on the roads of the world. In the meantime, we will continue to follow them on Youtube!
3 commentaires
Très intéressante visite archéologique.
Bisous.
Toutes ces couleurs m’impressionne à chaque fois ! Profitez de ce beau soleil Mexicain et courage pour la randonnée sportive qui vous attend 🙂 Gros bisous de nous 3.5 😉
Génial de rencontrer ceux qui ont été votre inspiration.
Ces villes mexicaines sont colorées animées et j’adore ces grosses lettres !
Site magnifique, civilisations précolombienne mystérieuse….
Bisous.