Thursday, November 10, 2005

(Part Two)

Lunch took longer than we had planned, so we had to rush over to the Pyramid of the Moon. The good news was that the light was excellent. Quality of light is a big topic of discussion when your boyfriend is a photographer. Also the air was cooler. Temperature of air is a big topic of discussion when you're me. So the climb wasn't as much of a strain. The view from the Pyramid of the Moon was also very lovely, and very impressive since we could see down the whole Calzada de Los Muertos. And all the souvenir stands.

When we had climbed down, we had just enough time to duck into the Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl (Palace of the Quetzal Butterfly) which I loved because the colums were all gorgeously carved and I really like carved stone, I don't know why.

I was a little sad that we didn't get to see more, but I don't regret the hour we sat on top of the Pyramid of the Sun. I might regret sleeping in an extra hour a teeny bit, but we were really exhausted, so what can you do?

The evening was coming in quickly as we walked to the gate to catch our bus back to Mexico, and I was glad to have my fleece. The last bus was scheduled to pass by at 6:30 pm and we had cut the timing pretty close, so we had to walk fast, both because it was almost 6:00 pm and because Michael's such a big worrier. Convinced there would be no more busses, he worried all the way back down the Avenue of the Dead and out the gate at 5:45 pm.

He worried when a group of Mexican girls who we thought had been waiting for the bus got in a car (a taxi?) and left, leaving behind just three men, also tourists. He worried when a bus came by that we all thought was ours until it drove past us, and when the same thing happened again five minutes later. He worried even more when the men got in a taxi and left and it was just us. He talked of stranding and how we were the only ones left. I insisted our bus was coming.

At 6:10, a taxi driver sidled over to us and told us it would be "difficult" to get a bus at this hour, but that busses left the station in town every 10 minutes. I was chilly to him, according to Michael, and he told the taximan that if the bus didn't come, we'd talk. But I knew the bus was coming. Another bus passed. Michael tried to wave it down, and the driver waved back and kept going. The next bus to pass was a tour bus. A bus for a tour for which we hadn't paid, so it also passed us by. Mosquitos gathered. The taxi driver lurked. Michael looked at me sideways.

Then our bus came, like I knew it would. Ok, I was starting to have tiny doubts, but I didnt dare let on. We made it back to Mexico City just fine. But sometimes Michael's paranoia over missing transportation pays off. The secret departure of the Mexcaltitan combi, for example, which we would definitely have missed without Michael's near pestering of our neighbors. So sometimes faith and patience are the key, and sometimes persistant doubt is the key, so I guess we make a good team.

Anyway, Teotihuacan is amazing and we had a nice, long, busy day for a change. Tomorrow we are going to Oaxaca. Probably.

 

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Piramide de la Luna, from the ground.

View from Piramide de la Luna, with Piramide del Sol in the distance.

Piramide de la Luna gets a little precarious near the peak.

Climbing down Piramide de la Luna.

Carvings in Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl

Another carving. A quetzal bird?

Remainder of a mural of a puma, along the Calazda de los Muertos.