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The breakfast was really
good; they have a buffet with all the things you can think of. The coffee
in Mexicois good as well. After breakfast I went to the concierge to book
me a guided tour for today. I decided to take the tour to the
pyramids of Teotihuacan. I walked back to my room and passed by the
pool. Perhaps I might take a dive some morning. I needed to be down in
the lobby at 8:30 for the tour guide to pick us up. So I had some time
left, so back in my room I put all the things I would not need today,
like my notebook, in the suitcase and locked it. Around 8:00 I was back
in the lobby waiting. Mexicans do take things easy. There were a couple
of hotel guest missing so we waited some more, and some more. Finally
we took off in a little van with about 10 people from the Camino Real.
We were going to a transfer place were people would be assigned to the
tour busses based on the trip they booked. On our way there we picked
up some more people from other hotels. I had the idea we were driving
around in circles, but at last we arrived. Mexico City is swarming with
the old model Volkswagen beetle used as taxi-cabs. A lot of very old cars
are driving around and the whole city looks like a big dumpsite, litter
everywhere.
The transfer place was at the office of this tour operator. More small
vans arrived and all people going to the pyramids trip were directed to
this big old yellow coach. There were no more empty places left except
in the back of the bus. Here the bus had a couple of tables with seats
opposite to each other. I got acquainted with the men that were sitting
there already. As it appeared they were all on business trip as well.
We got along very good during the day. There were a lot of nationalities
represented on the bus, people from Canada, Peru, Spain, France, Denmark,
Germany, USA, Netherlands and Mexico. There were 2 tour guides on the
bus. One guide for the Spanish-speaking people and Mannuel who spoke English.
We drove to the north of Mexico City and stopped at a few places were
the guides gave some explanation. Our first stop where we would leave
the bus was at La
Villa de Guadalupe (The Shrine of Guadalupe).
It was very crowded because it was Sunday; my guess is there were over
30,000 people there. We walked around the place trying to not get separated
from the group.
After that visit we got back on the bus and drove on. We came to the outskirts
of the city and saw a lot of houses built against the mountains surrounding
Mexico City. This went on mile after mile. The houses were all grey and
most of them appeared to be not completely finished yet. We drove further
north for about 20 miles and could see the pyramids from far. We didn't
drive to the pyramids though, but went to a little craftsman shop first.
A guide called Jesus explained to us about the Agaves
and all the things the Mexicans do with it. Then he showed us artwork
made of this really black volcanic glass/rock called Obsidian.
We got to taste pulque and tequila and Jesus showed us the correct way
how to drink tequila. Then we visited the gift shop (of course, what else
did you expect), where we all bought souvenirs and drinks. We were very
close to the pyramids but got back on the bus because it was going to
bring us even closer. We drove all the way around it and we were dropped
off at the end of the road leading to the pyramid of the Moon. The road
is called "Calle de los Muertos" or the Avenue of the dead.
There we visited La Ciudadela (The Citadel) and Mannuel explained a lot
about the excavations. All the time people tried to sell us souvenirs.
It was really annoying after a while. The pyramids were on the other end
of the Avenue of the dead and still to far away to walk, so we got back
on the bus and we were dropped off at the pyramid of the sun. We all climbed
it to the top and the view was really magnificent. We were going to be
picked up in front of the pyramid of the moon and had plenty of time until
15:15. So we walked the Avenue of the dead towards the pyramid of the
moon and climbed it as well, it's not so high. Around 15:00 I walked back
to the bus and when everybody was back at the bus we were brought to a
restaurant where we were going to have a lunch. It was just a little distance
to the restaurant; we could have walked. It had been cloudy all day and
a strong wind had been blowing. It was warm enough to be outside without
a coat and climbing the pyramids got you warm all right. When we were
having lunch it started raining. There was a nice buffet and live music.
After we had lunch we all had tequila shots on the house.
We left the restaurant to get back to Mexico City, but there were some
problems with the bus. The 6 of us in the back of the bus were joking
and making conversation so we didn't mind the delay. Finally the driver
got the engine started and we were off. We drove straight to the hotels
to drop of people. I was back at the hotel around 18:00 because I was
in the second hotel we stopped. I went to my room and took a shower. I
was tired and dirty of all the climbing and all the dust blowing around.
After that I worked on my diary for a while. I went to have dinner at
20:00, and then I sat in the lobby for a while enjoying a coffee. A lot
of people were running around in the lobby, I recognized them as orthodox
Jewish, and it appeared to be a wedding celebration going on. I sat and
watched the whole thing for a while and when it was quiet again I went
back to my room at 21:00. There I worked on my diary until 21:30 and then
went to sleep.
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