Today we're gonna talk about three really cool things to do that are just a
short drive outside of Mexico City
so good afternoon ladies and gentlemen from Parque Mexico here in Mexico City
and welcome back to the channel so if it's your first time to the channel my
name is Kevin I spent 20 years in the military I retired I went to law school
and became a corporate lawyer in New York City I got tired of the
nine-to-five in the grind so I quit my job to travel full-time so if you're
interested in following my full time travel journey and maybe getting
inspired to do the same thing please make sure you subscribe below all right
so I've been in Mexico City for about three weeks now and it's a really
awesome city to explore but there are some really cool places just outside the
city so today we're gonna talk about three of those places so the first cool
place we're going to talk about exploring are the Teotihuacan pyramids
and we're not going to talk about exploring them from the ground we're
gonna talk about exploring them from the air in a hot-air balloon
so the Teotihuacan pyramids are just a little bit over an hour drive outside of
Mexico City I went with a few of my buddies from remote year and you cannot
beat exploring these beautiful ancient pyramids from above the Teotihuacan
pyramids are a unesco world heritage site and they're shrouded in mystery
unlike most of the archeological sites in Mexico City that were built by the
Aztecs or the Mayans nobody really knows who built the Teotihuacan pyramids there
are two main Pyramids at teotihuacán there's the pyramid of the sun and the
pyramid of the moon-- those pyramids were named by the Aztecs thousands of
years after they were built so the Pyramid of the Sun is actually the third
largest pyramid in the world only the Great Pyramid of Cholula here in Mexico
and the Great Pyramid of Giza and Egypt are larger than the Pyramid of the Sun
like I said before no one really knows the purpose of the Pyramid of the Sun
but it was probably built to honor some deity the other large pyramid here and
Teotihuacan is the Pyramid of the moon and it was actually built before the
Pyramid of the Sun there's a little bit more evidence on what the Pyramid of the
moon was used for archeologists have discovered evidence that there was
animal and human sacrifice in this pyramid
after our amazing hot-air balloon ride we went ahead and explored the pyramids
from the ground here's a little pro tip do not go on a Sunday we made the
mistake of going on a Sunday and it was ridiculously crowded another group that
we're traveling with one on a Saturday and there was a fourth of the crowd and
I'd be willing to bet that there's a lot less people on the weekday as well so if
you're gonna go to Teotihuacan make sure you go Monday through Saturday and don't
make the same mistake we did and go on a Sunday okay so the next cool thing to do
just outside of Mexico City is to go on a boat ride down the canals in the
neighborhood of Xochimilco just like Teotihuacan Xochimilco is a unesco world
heritage site it's the remains of historic chinampas which were developed
during aztec times chinampas are man-made floating islands that were
primarily used for agricultural purposes today Xochimilco is known for its
colorful gondola style boats called tre henares these wooden boats are
beautifully painted and float along an intricate system of canals the
atmosphere on the canals is a cross between the floating markets of Bangkok
and the gondolas of Venice there's a really festive vibe when you're riding
on one of these boats so bring a group of friends that are ready to drink dance
and be festive while floating down the canals you'll get to enjoy live mariachi
band music and you'll get to buy food drinks and souvenirs from local vendors
who are on smaller boats okay so here's a little pro tip there are no bathrooms
on these boats so make sure you bring some coins because you'll stop with the
little chinampas the little islands and they have bathrooms but they'll cost you
five to ten pesos and they usually don't have change they won't be able to break
your large bills so make sure you bring some coins with you because you're
definitely going to need to use the bathroom if you're drinking all the
beverages and eating all the food okay so just a really quick break before we
move on to the next cool place just outside of Mexico City if you're
enjoying this video so far I'd really appreciate it if you hit that thumbs up
button it helps more people find the video okay so my last recommendation of
a thing to do just outside of Mexico City is to
go to the town of Tepoztlan and hike to El Tepozteco is about
90 minutes outside of Mexico City and it's a wonderfully quaint little town
that's surrounded by mountains and you can hike to the top of one of those
mountains to see some beautiful views of the valley below and explore a really
cool small Aztec pyramid that was built to honor the god of the alcoholic
beverage of pulque so if honoring a god of an alcoholic beverage is your cup of
tea this is the perfect hike for you so the hike up to the top of the mountain
takes about 45 minutes and while it's short it's uphill almost the entire time
it's very steep so you'll definitely get winded and it's a little bit more
challenging that you think a 45-minute hike would be so definitely come
prepared with some water and some comfortable hiking shoes here's a little
pro tip you need to go early but not too early the gates that let you up to the
top of the mountain and the pyramid don't open till 9:00 so make sure you
get to the start of the hike at about 8 a.m. so you can get up to the top of the
mountain in the Pyramid at about the time they open it so once you get to the
top of the mountain you'll get to explore that pyramid and you'll have
some beautiful views of the valley below after the hike make sure you go down and
explore the town of tuplets lon it's a beautiful little town lined with
cobblestone roads and beautifully colored buildings and make sure you go
to lock hole arena and get a quesadilla you won't regret it
okay so those are my three places to explore just outside of Mexico City
if you have any other recommendations please make sure you comment below.
Thanks for watching!