 |
| Teotihuacan, Mexico. Pyramid of the Sun. |
Fifteen years ago, in April 2011, I launched The Intrepid Tourist. Its original purpose was to publish my accumulated travel writing, but soon expanded to include articles by friends and family. With a new post once a week since then, there are now more than 600 posts on the blog. And the total number of views is now more than a million. I thank all my guest posters and my dedicated readers who inspire me to keep it going.
This week’s post comes from a long-lost folder,
recently discovered when cleaning out my file drawers. Every trip leaves its
impressions—of sights, sounds, smells, people, animals, places—all the things
that make a place and an experience unique. In 1992, I was in Mexico, researching
my book City of the Gods: Mexico’s Ancient City of Teotihuacan. The notes I
found in the file folder are my first impressions after arriving at the site, a
short distance outside Mexico City. None of the information in my notes appears
in my book, which is about the pre-Aztec civilization that thrived at
Teotihuacan nearly 2000 years ago. I’m not sure why I kept them. But as I read
through my notes I am transported back to that day. They encapsulate what I
like most about travel—the richness of all the little things that make each
experience unique and memorable.
(Notes from the field.)
Tent restaurants along the road—each with someone
waving at passing cars—a woman in a red dress with a white apron.
Families picnicking on the grassy area along the fence
around the pyramids—making a rope swing from tree, playing soccer, drinking beer.
Vendors on road by traffic circle with buckets of
oranges, cactus fruit, large woody objects like coconuts.
Old man and child with donkey cart stopped in the
shade, looking through the fence at the garden of our hotel—green lawns, white
iron tables, flowers, children’s play equipment.
Dogs and puppies everywhere. Also, chickens, a family
of ducks, sheep, goats, donkeys--all randomly grazing along side of road.
Wildflowers—little yellow and orange ones; tiny purple
fireweed.
Whirling men on a pole seen from a distance.
Donkey drinking beer in front of a craft shop.
Man offering a maguey demonstration.
Children driving green and orange plastic go-carts on
the cement plaza.
A parade—chanting with banners.
Parking lot jammed with cars and tour buses.
Young couples more interested in each other than the pyramids—laughing,
touching, kissing.
Children racing up steps of pyramids and crawling
through irrigation holes in walls.
Vendors slipping out of their pockets obsidian heads
and knives, clay figures—“good price”, “very cheap”, “genuine”. Also selling blankets, necklaces, plates,
flutes, harps. A constant repetitive
trill of flutes and simple tunes on harps.
Japanese group posing for photo on Sun Pyramid, taking
turns with each camera. “Say whiskey!”
Met an Australian couple pushing a stroller with two children—had been told to walk 1 km down wrong road. They didn’t speak Spanish. We were parked by a cactus garden on road leading to Sun Pyramid. Dick was taking photos of the hundreds of people going up the steps of the pyramid with his 500 mm lens on a tripod. [Richard Hewett was the photographer of my book.]
Passed by two soldiers leading girls on horses—later
soldiers returned alone.
All day there was the sound of fireworks—later found
out it was from a fiesta celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Streets in the town of San Juan de Teotihuacan
decorated with strings of paper decorations.
Soccer game on field within the archeological zone.
For more about Teotihuacan read my post of Jan 29, 2018 about the fabulous exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
