Donell M.
Google
Ok, this is a tough one. Of course, Teotihuacan is an amazing place. A Mesoamerican wonder. Towering pyramids and dramatic friezes.
The wonder is worn off by the administration of the site.
Having made the mistake of going on a weekend, I found the site was as packed as a shopping mall at Christmas.
The scene at the entrance gates was total chaos. Private vehicles and buses jammed the narrow streets, all trying to force their way into a single lane into parking areas. Foot traffic is funnelled through excruciatingly long, slow lines beside the traffic along the dusty, trash-strewn road.
Although a bargain at 100 pesos to enter on any day, I recommend to go on weekdays. Avoid holidays and weekends. Those days are swamped.
After entering, a long dusty walk to a promenade lined with trinkets and souvenir shops leads to steps and ramps up into the site.
Throngs of people shuffled up and down the avenue of the dead, and swarmed up the pyramids where climbing was allowed.
Hawkers selling everything from whistles to masks to Jaguar growlers, horns, and other trinkets demonstrate their noisemakers and aggressively push their items on you, adding to an overall din.
It’s so crowded and noisy, if you really stretch your imagination, you can feel like you’re back in time when the city was vibrant and populated…
…nah. It was chaos.
The public washrooms are missing seats in the men’s room, at least one was flooded, and the paper towel and toilet paper is meted out in small squares by an attendant. Adequate for the men, but the poor ladies appeared to have to stand in line for up to an hour to use any of the facilities. Ladies, be sure to potty before you enter the site!
Take an umbrella for shade, and pesos to buy water from hawkers.
Recommended on weekdays only.
The official body that runs the site should eliminate the on-site hawkers, provide some shade, refurbish the restrooms and create an electronic app-based entry system to streamline purchasing parking, tickets and hiring guides.
An app-based on-phonescreen “virtual tour guide” with interactive virtual reality paired with a mapping app would be outstanding as there is little by the way of signage.