El Tepozteco
Walking north out of Tepoztlán, city gives way to country, and the street becomes lined with scores of vendors, some offering souvenirs and handcrafts, but most selling food and drink. Fluids are important because the climb is hot and arduous, and hikers cannot obtain water along the way. I bought two liters: they barely lasted till I reached the summit.
Vendors' tarpaulins create a welcome tunnel of shade. I once thought the ubiquitous booths that spring up next to important archeological sites and historical monuments were a desecration. Today I welcome their presence. Hungry? Thirsty? Forgot your hat or jacket? No need to do without. The little shops along the way are inviting, comforting. How much friendlier would be the mall between the Lincoln and Washington monuments if it were lined with kiosks selling fresh fruit cups, paletas and aguas de sabor?
The path to the pyramid consists of a crude stairway. You have to climb 400 meters of steps. It's like ascending to the observation platform of the Empire State Building in the stairwell, except the Empire State Building isn't as high and the steps aren't as treacherous.
Oh yeah, keep in mind you're climbing at mile-high altitude, so you need a good cardiovascular system. A sign at the bottom warns people with heart problems not to attempt the ascent. So of course, even though I have a scarred heart and an implanted defibrillator, I took the sign as a challenge, not a warning. I set off to prove I could do it. Dumb, I guess.
The stairway ascends through clefts in rocks where a seasonal creek runs. In this view, you can just make out part of the town of Tepoztlán
The trail ascends through pleasant woodlands. I would have enjoyed them more if I hadn't been gasping for breath and seeing spots before my eyes.
Pictured below is the last fifty feet of the climb. The building at the top of the stairway is—you guessed it—a refreshment stand.
What appears to be rubble here are actually walls built to support a score of narrow switchbacks. Any steeper, and you'd need ropes and pitons.
A fit, young person can make the climb in 45 minutes. I needed an hour and a half because of stops to catch my breath. For all that effort, this is what I got.
If you are looking for a spectacular, or even a mildly interesting archeological site, you'll be disappointed. El Tepozteco is small and most of the carvings and paint are long gone. You can cover the site in five minutes. But nobody visits the pyramid for sightseeing. At least smart people don't. They come to experience whatever energy exists here. They come for a spiritual experience, perhaps for some kind of enlightenment.
People sit and meditate, or pray, or just gaze at the view for an hour or two. One man blew notes on a conch shell. I sat and tried to feel the presence of the old gods that once inhabited this place.
Some visitors came to talk on their cell phones. Go figure. Before I get too superior about telephones, I have to admit that I called Paul (El Guapo) from up here (he was at the beach in Manzanillo) so I could share the experience with him.
To climb the pyramid itself, you pay a $35 peso admission fee at this ticket office. Heaven help anyone who makes the climb without bringing enough money to pay it.
The ticket takers, the snack stand employees, the maintenance employees make the climb every day. They are thin and look fit. I forgot to ask how all those bottles of water and Coca Cola at the snack stand got to the summit. I think they were packed in on the backs of people. Parts of the trail seem too steep and narrow for mules.
Site workers need at least one meal during their shifts, and nobody in Mexico thinks a ham sandwich is a proper lunch. The midday meal is supposed to be hot. Here a crude fireplace and a comal constitute a kitchen where proper meals can be prepared. I see this arrangement all over the country, especially at construction sites.
Mexican people are more energetic and strong than their norteamericano neighbors. This toddler was carried up the mountain, as were several others. I was hauling just my Nikon SLR and managed to injure my back.
Maybe this little girl will forget to pick up her dinosaur (on the ground next to her right foot). What might future archeologists think if they found it in another thousand years? I wonder if they'll attach too much significance to it: a ritual image, a shaman's fetish, an offering to the gods.
I wonder if we get any of this stuff right. Signs tell us priests lived here. What if they were just rich guys, living in a posh view neighborhood?
As I sat on the pyramid, resting for the descent (really tough on the quads), none of this mattered. I had a couple of hours in a high place, allowing my spirit to join with all of yours. Which was why I made the climb.