Teotihuacan

After the difficult driving through the Sierra Gorda, the Teotihuacan Trailer Park was a pleasant relief. The trailer park is the first we’ve stayed at that has had grass parking that is in reasonable condition, and it was quiet enough that we could unwind our awning and relax in the shade. The trailer park has three dogs (and several Dalmatian puppies awaiting homes), one of which was adamant that Boris would be her best friend; this meant that every time we opened the truck door, Boris would run out and exercise himself with his new friend until he was tired out. Walking Boris forces us to get out and explore our surroundings, getting to know the places and people around us, but it made nice change for him to get all the stimulation he needed without me getting out of my chair.

The trailer park is in San Juan de Teotihuacan, which is well situated for visiting the famous pyramids nearby, and also for taking day trips into the behemoth which is Mexico City, and so it seems to be extremely popular. I’d hazard that almost everyone overlanding through Mexico will pass through it at some point.

After three months of living on the road, we hadn’t met a single European doing the same kind of trip as until we got to Teotihuacan. It seems that there are a fair number of Europeans driving through the Americas, but most seem to follow a similar route – arriving in Newfoundland, driving across Canada to Alaska, traveling down the US Pacific Coast into Baja, through Mexico and the rest of Central America and into South America, shipping home from Argentina. During our three nights at Teotihuacan Trailer Park we met four sets of European travellers, all doing pretty much the same route, and none of them knew of any who had started as far south as we had. Shipping roro to Halifax in Newfoundland is slightly cheaper than shipping further south (the bunkerage surcharge is reduced), but the weather in Canada means that anyone doing this route needs to start in spring or early summer to avoid the bad weather. Am I the only one who was too disorganised to organise a start date inside of the necessary three month window?

I love meeting other travellers on the road, finding out their story, learning about the route they’re doing, and seeing the vehicle that they’re travelling in. All travel homes are interesting to me; there is no perfect travel vehicle for all situations, places and circumstance, and I enjoy seeing the infinite ways in which people choose to travel, and the ways in which they adapt their vehicles to improve their comfort. Nevertheless, I like nothing more than seeing the extreme expedition trucks that seem to be popular travel vehicles for Germans, Austrians and Swiss travellers. Whilst we were at Teotihuacan Trailer Park an awesomely impressive Unimog arrived. The quality of the finish inside and out was awe inspiring, and I have the utmost respect for the craftsmen and fabricators able to build something to this quality. In many ways I aspire to own such a desirable vehicle, but I’m not sure I could ever persuade myself to spend the money needed to buy one, knowing how many of years of travelling could be gained by using a cheaper vehicle and using the money to live on the road.

The day after arriving in Teotihuacan we visited the nearby archaeological site. The ruins are a short bus ride from the trailer park, or a 20 minute walk; we walked, but anyone visiting Teotihuacan will do a lot of walking around the archaeological site, and in hindsight, getting the bus would be a better idea. The site is hugely impressive in many ways, and slightly underwhelming in others. The pyramids are huge, the extent of the surrounding temples, plazas and platforms is also huge, and the condition of the whole site is great, but the surroundings are pretty sterile and make the site loose a bit of the romance it might have in a different location. Teotihuacan’s proximity to Mexico City puts it firmly on the agenda of every major tour group, and consequently the ruins are extremely busy, and almost totally surrounded in roads and car parks. In addition the huge crowds attract a swarm of persistent tat vendors that follow you around trying to make you buy whistles and paperweights.

When we first arrived at the site there were few people there and I’d re commend that anyone thinking of going, gets there as early as possible to escape the crowds and avoid the worst of the sun in this shadeless, dusty site. Most visitors seem to be content climbing the pyramids, getting their photo, and then heading back to the coach, as the south side of the site, and the awesome mural museum, were almost deserted when we were visiting, even at the peak of the day.

We  had already decided before we arrived in Teotihuacan that we couldn’t be bothered to venture into Mexico city, it’s too big to explore in a few days and we decided that we may feel better prepared on the way back up to the US in a couple of months time. We spent the day after visiting the ruins relaxing around the trailer park, using the great internet connection, getting our laundry done (most Mexican lavanderias are not self-service), enjoying the company, and making use of the nearby market, shops and restaurants.