In spite of the pouring rain, we hired a van and two guides (really one guide and one driver, but it was sort of a 2-for-1 deal), and set out for the pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacan. As with all guided tours in Latin America, our first stop was a "good friend's" store where we could "wait out the rain". We received a brief presentation on the 1000+ uses for the agave plant, followed by three shots of tequila, mezcal and some kind of fermented "cactus juice". Sufficiently liquored up, our merry band of tourists was set free to shop. Once we had purchased enough 100% genuine cactus-hooch and onyx statuettes, our guides "earned" their kick-backs and we completed our drive to the pyramids.
Our guest lecturer demonstrating how to make a needle and thread from a cactus.
From this one agave plant, you can make:
1.) Booze!
2.) Parchment paper!
3.) Poison darts!
4.) Designer fabrics!
5.) Y mas!
An offering to the gods...?
Our destination at last!
I was going to get this piercing too, but I thought it might be a bit too much...
I heart skele-puns!
Pyramid of the Sun
A bit steep!
Our bleach-blond guide didn't take her stiletto heels up these babies!
Autumn and the ladies of Mexico!
Party at the peak!
View from the top...Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon.
Wee!
Spiky!
Yep, we climbed it.
When you come to visit, we'll be waiting at the bottom for you!
Pyramid of the Moon
The pyramids weren't always just "ugly piles of rocks", they used to be painted!
View from the top...we climbed a lot of old shit on this visit!
Say "Hola"
So, it was time for a lunch break according to our guides, and they had a "great place" in mind. I however informed them that I had already picked out the place we were going. It's a really cool restaurant built in a cave! We could combine two passions in one meal: spelunking and great traditional Mexican/Aztec food! Our guides thought that the tripadvisor.com #1 rated / appears in every guidebook / 5 star dining experience that we had planned, wasn't quite right, and was, in fact, probably the worst, overpriced food that they had ever come across in their lives. Instead they suggested that we should dine at the 80 peso-all-you-can-eat buffet TRAILER around the corner....that was also owned by yet another "good friend." We insisted on our original choice, and were rewarded with one of the best meals of the trip. Our guides' entrepreneurial spirit could not be crushed, and they spent a major portion of the lunch break trying to squeeze a commission out of the staff at La Gruta, claiming that they had generously delivered 8 cash filled American pinatas right to the restaurant's cavernous doorstep.
Free mariachis included!
Back on track with carved jaguar heads!
Detail of carvings.
Final glimpse of the pyramids.
Autumn in cactus-heaven!
Everyone napped on the way home, and we headed over to Polanco for dinner, and discovered some of the best sushi in Mexico City: Torobi!
A beautiful sashimi rose!
UPDATE: 9/10/2010, We returned to the restaurant a week later, and while the sushi was super-fresh and delicious again....we got some bad / raw potstickers and were unable to leave the house for the next two days!
Our guest lecturer demonstrating how to make a needle and thread from a cactus.
From this one agave plant, you can make:1.) Booze!
2.) Parchment paper!
3.) Poison darts!
4.) Designer fabrics!
5.) Y mas!
An offering to the gods...?
Our destination at last!
I was going to get this piercing too, but I thought it might be a bit too much...
I heart skele-puns!
Pyramid of the Sun
A bit steep!Our bleach-blond guide didn't take her stiletto heels up these babies!
Autumn and the ladies of Mexico!
Party at the peak!
View from the top...Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon.
Wee!
Spiky!
Yep, we climbed it.When you come to visit, we'll be waiting at the bottom for you!
Pyramid of the Moon
The pyramids weren't always just "ugly piles of rocks", they used to be painted!
View from the top...we climbed a lot of old shit on this visit!
Say "Hola"So, it was time for a lunch break according to our guides, and they had a "great place" in mind. I however informed them that I had already picked out the place we were going. It's a really cool restaurant built in a cave! We could combine two passions in one meal: spelunking and great traditional Mexican/Aztec food! Our guides thought that the tripadvisor.com #1 rated / appears in every guidebook / 5 star dining experience that we had planned, wasn't quite right, and was, in fact, probably the worst, overpriced food that they had ever come across in their lives. Instead they suggested that we should dine at the 80 peso-all-you-can-eat buffet TRAILER around the corner....that was also owned by yet another "good friend." We insisted on our original choice, and were rewarded with one of the best meals of the trip. Our guides' entrepreneurial spirit could not be crushed, and they spent a major portion of the lunch break trying to squeeze a commission out of the staff at La Gruta, claiming that they had generously delivered 8 cash filled American pinatas right to the restaurant's cavernous doorstep.
Free mariachis included!
Back on track with carved jaguar heads!
Detail of carvings.
Final glimpse of the pyramids.
Autumn in cactus-heaven!Everyone napped on the way home, and we headed over to Polanco for dinner, and discovered some of the best sushi in Mexico City: Torobi!
A beautiful sashimi rose!UPDATE: 9/10/2010, We returned to the restaurant a week later, and while the sushi was super-fresh and delicious again....we got some bad / raw potstickers and were unable to leave the house for the next two days!
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