Mexico-Teotihuacán-Pyramid of the Sun-Pulqueria los Insurgentes

No visit is complete without a detour to Teotihuacan, an architecturally wonderful ancient city that is located about 40km away from the center of Mexico City. This area is most famous for the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, as well as the Avenue of the Dead that connects different parts of the city. It’s like the American analog to the Palatino ruins of ancient Rome. We paired a day-trip to the ruins with a night out with food and drinks in Mexico City.

To get to Teotihuacan, there are a few options, like guided tours, or buses — but what worked easiest for us was just catching an Uber to drive there. It came out to around $22 USD for a comfortable one way trip for the both of us, and had the advantage of conforming to our own schedule. There were also plenty of Ubers available to take us back (be careful that certain cell carriers may not have great signal in this area).

See & Do

• Teotihuacán Pirámide(Pyramid): The main attraction in the city of Teotihuacan, and the reason you have come this far. You can walk up and down the 2km Avenue of the Dead and view the many different attractions — the main attraction, the Pyramid of the Sun, being right in the center. The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest pyramids in the world, and is quite a sight to see. The weather was a bit hot and oppressive (there’s no shade anywhere), even in the middle of January, so be especially careful if you go in the summer. It’s a decent climb up but most people shouldn’t have any issue. There are a few platforms along the way to take a break if you’re winded. Personally, I found climbing the Pyramid of the Moon to be much more difficult — it’s much shorter, but the steps are much steeper.

Eat & Drink

• Bravo Loncheria: Very cute hipster cafe serving breakfast near Zona Rosa. Popular among younger crowds and foreigners. The waitress knows a bit of English and was very helpful in explaining everything on the menu. They also have fresh squeezed orange juice.

Torta De Queso Y Huauzontle-House-made rolls with cheese and Pre-Hispanic plant(Huauzontle ) drenched in red sauce. Huauzontle was once used to pay tribute to the Aztec Empire

Sandwich Guajolote

• El Ranchito: This was a traditional Mexican restaurant near the pyramids. We were able to get here by just walking. It is not too far. They have an outdoor seating area with children’s playground. The tables are circular with several seats surrounding it that reminded us of the ones in Asia.

• El Tizoncito Tamaulipas: This place claims to be the first taqueria that invented Al Pastor. Watching the guy preparing the taco is an art. He first takes a warm tortilla and shaves the meat onto the tortilla. Then he meticulously shaves that pineapple that is sitting on top of the tower and catches the bite-size pineapple onto the tortilla. Then he adds onions and cilantro and it is ready to be served.

• Pulqueria los Insurgentes: Pulque is an ancient Mexican alcoholic drink invented by the Aztecs Only priests and kings were allowed to drink pulque. It is made by fermenting the sap of the agave plant. It became scarce when the Spanish came over with beer( those Europeans!). Pulque has been revived by hipsters and we saw only cool people at the pulqueria we were at. It’s like drinking cloudy water with lots of pulp. The taste is rather sweet.

Stay

• Hotel Marquis Reforma: Top tier hotel for very reasonable prices. Room was really nice (not too huge, but nice). People seemed very attentive and friendly, and also fluent in English. There was a bit of a mixup with the bill as they seem to choose the currency that gets them the most amount of money (either dollars or pesos, and they use their own made up exchange rate — make sure you do the math yourself), but besides that, for this price it’s in a great location and the service and quality of the room is truly excellent for the price.

Visit Date

• 1/13/2018