Mexico City, Day 4 - Teotihuacán

Today was our tour of the pre-Aztec ruins at Teotihuacán, which we explored by air and by land!

Dave found a cool balloon tour, which about a dozen companies offer. It was the first time in a hot air balloon for both of us.

Getting ready as the balloons are inflated

The air was full of them as we took off, like a hot air balloon festival! We started very early in the morning, around sunrise.

Tons of balloons inflating

We approached the pyramid complex and got very excited - the other balloons even look pretty cool in the shot.

Balloons and the sun temple

Tons of balloons in the air - I estimated about 40 total. It was hard to tell, as some were above, behind, below - you get the picture.

Tons of balloons in the air

I had initially resisted the hot air balloon ride, but Dave was interested and I thought in the end it was probably really fun and safe. There was really only one moment when we got so high I started to get the heeby jeebs. It was a highlight of the trip for sure, certainly Dave's main highlight.

Once we landed back to earth, we had a buffet breakfast, then our guide took us on a walking tour of the pyramid complex, which predates the Aztecs - apparently the Aztecs showed up and they were already abandoned. 

The sun temple, which you can see "reflected" in the mountains beyond

The temples and other homes line a street where a society lived.

The moon temple

We started to feel a little funny at this point, and I wasn't sure if it was food sickness, tiredness, or too much booze the night before. At any rate, once we got back to Mexico City, Dave and I laid down for the rest of the day and watched bad TV, including a truly amazing telenovela where a woman consoled her ex boyfriend as he bled to death in a barn!

We ultimately decided that the likely culprit was not drinking enough water, and maybe also a guava that wasn't 100% sanitized. At any rate, we rested up to bat cleanup the next day.