But have you seen the pyramids?
The pyramids of Egypt and Mexico
It’s fair to say I’ve been quite lucky to travel the world and see some amazing historical sites. I never intended to go to Egypt but found myself there in 2019 after meeting a lover of sorts in 2018. I stayed in a family apartment in the city of Tanta, roughly half way between Alexandria and Cairo. Towards the end of my time there, when I was preparing to return home to Australia for a work conference, I ended up staying at Giza for a week or so before my flight home, only spending limited time in the main area of Cairo where most tourists are centred.
These pyramids were impressive, as they should be. Knowing I was seeing the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one that still exists today, there was always an air of mystery and awe when I looked upon them. I saw them by the light of day, by the dark of night, at sunset and amidst a light and sound show. While you can see the pyramids from almost anywhere in Giza, including the rooftop KFC opposite the back entrance, they are a formidable backdrop to everyday life. Getting up close and personal to these enormous structures is something I will never forget. During my time in Giza an enormous museum was being built nearby that was to house ancient artefacts recovered from the pyramids of Giza and other Egyptian archaeological sites. The Grand Egyptian Museum will officially open to the public on 6 July 2025. Spending time wandering through that museum would be time well spent.
More recently I visited Mexico and the many Mesoamerican pyramids from Chichén Itza in the Yucatan to Teotihuacán near Mexico City. While Chichén Itza is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World, I found the Teotihuacán pyramids more fascinating, maybe because I saw them for the first time from a hot air balloon, or maybe because the tour guide on the ground was a lot more knowledgeable than the guide I had at Chichén Itza. The construction and alignment of the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon is worth the experience, especially walking down the Avenue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon, which was a burial site and a place for rituals with a platform in front of it.
I didn’t really learn about these ancient civilisations at school, as we mostly studied Australian and Asian history. So getting to travel and learn about these amazing places has been a real eye-opener nad has led me down many a Google rabbit hole. The fact that they were built to align with the sun and along the cardinal points of north, south, east and west is mind-boggling. So it was with a sense of awe that I learned the powerfulness of the placement at Chichén Itza from the snakes appearing at equinox to clapping in certain places that produces an echo like a Mayan bird chirp. How crazy is that?
The pyramids, both Egyptian and Mesoamerican, fascinate me and it really does make you wonder about ancient civilisations and the skill they had to build these structures with none of the technology we have at our disposal today. It really is a sight to behold from the the sky and on the ground. I would even contemplate some of the conspiracy theories about aliens providing guidance to these ancient civilisations in building these enormous structures.
Of all the pyramids and ruins I saw in Mexico, from Chichén Itza and Teotihuacán as described above to Tulum by the Caribbean and Palenque in Chiapas, the Palenque ruins were by far my favourite for the backdrop alone. Definitely not for the sheer number of hawkers onsite. Instead of being dropped at the top where all the tourist buses gathered and you had to fight your way through the crowd of hawkers (as I discovered the following day when I went on a different tour that collected other people at this spot), I entered at the bottom and walked up through the jungle/rainforest past some amazingly stunning waterfalls and trees - I love trees as you will come to discover. I spent the first hour or so of my time walking up through the jungle, over old ruins and did not see a single person until I got to the top, where the main ruins are located. But you will see or at least hear plenty of howler monkeys!
The Mayan ruins at Palenque had various pyramid structures that were built for specific purposes such as the Temple of Inscriptions (the tomb of King Pakal), Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Foliated Cross and the Temple of the Sun. King Pakal’s mother, the Red Queen, was also buried at this site but only discovered in 1994. If you go to Palenque be sure to head up or down the several paths that lead through the jungle. It’s simply stunning.
If you arrive at the top at the main entrance, my tip is to head to the relatively new toilet facilities furthest away from that entry and keep going. There are paths and steps that will take you down to older untouched ruins and you will see the stunning jungle and waterfalls, a sight so many tourists miss. Palenque was also the only site where I was able to climb one of the structures, enabling me to take some great pictures of the ruins.
Also, a Mayan train was being built while I was visiting Mexico and is now fully operational. This will surely make it easier to head to all the Mayan pyramids and other ruins throughout southern Mexico.
If you haven’t seen the pyramids, Egyptian or otherwise, I highly recommend visiting these fascinating structures. The sheer magnitude of the Giza Pyramids is breath taking. The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán is just half the size of the Great Pyramid at Giza. And just like visiting religious and sacred sites, it awakens a spiritual side of me that is just in complete awe. If you know the feeling, you know the feeling. Some have captured it in books, but I have no words to describe it. It just makes it great to be alive!
If you like reading my stories please consider shouting me a coffee:
What I’m reading: I read this some time ago but in keeping with the theme above I highly recommend pursuing awe in your life. Phosphorescence by Julia Baird.
What I’m watching: And in the completely opposite direction of finding awe and living with trauma and grief, I’m currently watching Severance on AppleTV+. I really hope technology does not go this way!
