Mexico » Travel Photography » Teotihuacán Pyramid Complex & Hot Air Ballon

This week, we’re taking a look at one of Mexico’s largest and most well-known archeological zones: Teotihuacán. This massive complex includes the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, a Temple of Quetzalcóatl, and a whole city of smaller structures. The highlight of this trip: viewing the layout of the site from the vantage point of a hot air balloon, shortly after sunrise!

Teotihuacán is by far the largest archeological ancient site tourist attraction in all of Mexico, due to the pyramid complex being one of the most amazing historic sites this side of the world, and its close proximity to Mexico City. As it’s such a heavily documented site, I won’t go into all the historical details, as I have with my previous pyramid photo blogs (here and here), because the history, both generally accepted and debated, are the topic of countless books and resources online. But I’ll be sure to sprkinle a few interesting bits of information throughout.

In regards to the balloon ride: This was such an amazing experience! I’m a frugal person. Since moving to Mexico and traveling since December 2021, all of our travel and activities have been really affordable, and carefully selected. I almost didn’t book this hot air balloon ride, even though I was dying to see the pyramids from above, simply because of cost; it was about $150 per person to book with a local Mexican company. In the end, Evan convinced me that I would always regret it if we didn’t go… And like usual, he’s right. The focus of our whirlwind road trip prior to the start of our house-sitting was to see as much of Mexico as we could, and also, as many pyramids as we could. So, it was a big expense. But as you’ll see, I came prepared with three cameras: one camera body with my mid-range zoom lens, to capture wide shots and somewhat telephoto; one camera body with my tilt-shift lens, to capture some non-traditional photos; and my trusty little PaperShoot camera, which is always a wild card.

Once our balloon was in the air, it was only moments before we were flying above the complex! I was relieved that I overcame my slight embarrassment, and wore my standard wedding photography getup: the HoldFast Gear dual-camera harness keeps both of my heavy D-SLR cameras easily accessible, hanging at my waist, and ready to fire. I was correct in the assumption there would be no time for changing lenses. All these shots from the hot air balloon were taken in a short period of time. In the photo below, the larger Pyramid of the Sun is on the left, and the smaller Pyramid of the Moon is on the right.

This tilt-shift shot minimizes the depth of field, to throw all that urban expansion in the foreground nicely out-of-focus. Please remember that this lens, and the tilt-shift technique, is still new to me. It’s a manual focus lens, with four additional dials on the side, to control the ’tilt’ and the ‘shift’. The lens actually swivels, so it’s not a constant 90-degrees from the camera. I’ve written two other photo blogs (here and here) discussing the lens, and sharing my learning process during our travels through Mexico.

The top of the Pyramid of the Sun on the left, and the Pyramid of the Moon on the right.

The Pyramid of the Moon, at the end of the Avenue of the Dead. Note that the backsides of many of those small structures remain embedded in the dirt. Only the fronts and sides (from the visual perspective of the courtyard) have been fully excavated.

Perhaps my favorite curiosity that arose from the balloon ride, is seeing this unusually pyramid-shaped mountain nearby, surrounded by flat lands. According to historians, the entire Teotihuacán complex was once buried in dirt, and completely disguised as small mountains. So I certainly hope someone has checked under that third one too!

Here, we have some more tilt-shift fun.

My attempt to make a direct line of sight from the Pyramid of the Sun to the strange third small mountain.

Catching the shadow of our hot air balloon on the Pyramid of the Sun.

Playing around with the dramatically short field of focus that only the tilt-shift lens can achieve from this distance.

This shot was taken while flying over the city, on our descent to the balloon landing site. This part of the experience was really enjoyable as well, but for a different reason: all the dogs in all these backyards were going crazy at the sight of the airborne intruders. The balloon operator told us these dogs see dozens of balloons every single day, so they probably anticipate their daily fly-over. It felt invasive peeking directly into people’s backyards, as we slowly drifted overhead. But when we landed, the people in the nearby homes came out to watch the balloon spectacle, waved, and took pictures and video on their cell phones. They didn’t seem to mind. Maybe it’s considered a perk of living so close to Teotihuacán.

Shortly before our smooth landing.

Now that we have our feet safely on the ground, let’s walk the Teotihuacán pyramid complex! Upon arrival, we immediately noticed that this was the most tourists we’d seen at any archeological site! This was also the first time we noticed overhearing bits of conversations in English and other languages besides Spanish. Many of the places we’ve been spending time in, we only hear and communicate in Spanish. Of course, Teotihuacán is a short drive from Mexico City, which is the largest city on this continent, and a major tourist hotspot, so that makes sense. Seeing the high number of tourists also made me thankful that I got up at 4:00 am for the sunrise balloon ride, so the photos from the air didn’t have tons of tiny people in them.

I was super excited to explore the whole site, so we started by walking alllll the way down to the end of the Avenue of the Dead, then slowly working our way back to the entrance from there. The recommendation to bring a good hat, sunscreen, and water, is good advice to follow, as the site is very long. It can take a whole day to look at every nook and cranny.

Here are my last few tilt-shift photos, before I switched over to a regular lens, and focused on documenting the amazing and massive Teotihuacán site in front of us. This is the smallest of the pyramids at this site, but my favorite: Pyramid of the Moon.

I guess I have no chill when it comes to taking photos of people taking selfies or ‘influencer’ type shots. Sorry, not sorry.

Details of the Pyramid of the Moon: the front steps on the left, the pyramid structure on the right. You’ll see the theme of my photos at this site focus on showing the patchwork of various reconstruction projects over the years, which each had their own different techniques and level of accuracy. More than any other archeological site (that we’ve seen) in Mexico, it was difficult to tell how much of the surface areas are original, and which of the many different reconstruction eras were responsible for which style. It’s both interesting and frustrating that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information available in this regard, as I would think there would at least be drawings or documentation of of the various reconstruction phases available for reference. But the best information we found was on the very faded (and in some cases, out-dated) signage around the complex itself.

Of course, one of the first things I noticed was the orange construction fence stretched from the left side of the Pyramid of the Moon, to the nearest small structure lining the end of the avenue. What’s back there? I had read that, only recently, after so many years, tunnels were discovered underneath both the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon, and their plazas.

Peering as far past the fence as I could, we can see the edge of the Pyramid of the Moon on the right. Next to that is a little structure that must be used for storage or something utilitarian. And towards the left of the frame we see an entirely un-excavated small structure, similar in size to the (what was once twelve) small structures lining the end of the avenue. It still has trees and cactus growing on it! Interestingly, it looks identical to the illustrated depiction of what the Pyramid of the Sun looked like, covered in a thin layer of dirt and shrubs, prior to it’s first excavation stage in the early 1900s.

A curious addition to this Butterfly Temple structure in the center of the avenue. You can see people congregating on the platform in the center of the Plaza of the Moon, which makes a great vantage point for photos of the Pyramid of the Moon, now at my back.

At this point, we already needed to take a break under the shade of a tree. We’re sitting just beyond the edge of the Avenue of the Dead, looking at one of the twelve small platforms. Here we clearly see that the backside is still covered in dirt, and only has been reconstructed on the sides facing the avenue. I could compare this moment to the feeling of being immersed in a theme park or a haunted house, but you see one of the cast members go in a door, and for a brief moment, you see their break room. It’s strange.

Another odd little view between structures. Did that chain-link gate get attached to an ancient piece of wall, or was it built into a modern reconstructed wall, made to look ancient? How much of this is original?

This little covered area (Palacio de Quetzalpapálotl) instantly felt a little out of place, as it was in contrast with the otherwise perfect symmetry of the Plaza of the Moon, and made of wood. While I thought for sure the archeologists had taken some liberties with the reconstruction (as we have seen at the Great Pyramid of Cholula, and numerous other sites). But upon further reading about this particular building, the wooden structure itself seems to have been reconstructed quite accurately.

I sure hope the wood survives!

I would love to know which of these two stair designs are original.

We can see a lot of different reconstruction styles in this one small structure.

What’s going on here?

At the top of the previously pictured set of stairs, we can see a large stone and cement “capped” un-reconstructed section. Beyond that is the long vendor booth area, a gauntlet that leads to the parking lot.

Back in the center of the Plaza of the Moon, we’re ready to walk back down the Avenue of the Dead towards the much larger Pyramid of the Sun. Looking down the long avenue, we can see the massive pyramid on the left, peeking over the small structures in the foreground, which make up the edge of the Plaza of the Moon. See the lumpy looking structure on the right, that really detracts from the symmetry and beauty of the avenue? We’ll take a look at that reconstruction at the end of this photo blog.

The Pyramid of the Sun is really quite beautiful! Like the Pyramid of the Moon, it also has a small platform in the center of the large plaza, and a number of smaller pyramid structures along the outside edge. Itsureis a sight to behold! According to the sign in front of the Plaza of the Sun, historians have recently decided that there were originally *five* terraces on this massive structure, not the *four* terraces we see from the early 1900s reconstruction. Nevertheless, a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to climb to the top. This was the only part closed for ‘pandemic’ restrictions.

The smaller pyramid-like structures around the edge of the Plaza of the Sun had all been damaged, so were also “capped”.

An interesting detail on the side of the Pyramid of the Sun, which historians say were created to act like buttresses on the massive structure. I couldn’t find any information as to whether some of these had been lost over time, or if they were designed this way.

Back out on the Avenue of the Dead, which is broken up into various large-scale plazas, lined with symmetrical structures.

Turning back around to see the Pyramid of the Moon, at the end of the long avenue.

The Pyramid of the Moon on the left, with the Pyramid of the Sun on the right. The structure in the center damaged and “capped”.

The Pyramid of the Sun can be seen from all throughout the complex!

Cement-capped areas are fairly common throughout the archeological zones.

Even for large areas like this!

These next two photos show what’s called the West Plaza, featuring a really cool stone serpent. Many carved heads like this can be found on the Temple of Quetzalcóatl, which I did not get photographs of. This phase of reconstruction used what seems to be asphalt, to create a ring around this sunken courtyard, which allows tourists to peer inside, without getting close.

I really can’t get over this strange staircase on top of staircase, with the addition of the asphalt ring in between. I wonder if the top part was reconstructed correctly?

But that’s not the most confusing part of the complex. The next three images show one of the reconstruction projects that really, really make me scratch my head. What on earth do you suppose is going on with these cinder blocks and this weird mish-mash lumps of poured cement?? It was a very strange sight, detracting from the otherwise near-perfect symmetry of the area. The signage near this structure indicate that it was the first building in the complex to be searched in 1886, and restored in 1922. It doesn’t, however, mention how strange and different this one small section looks from the entire rest of Teotihuacán.

One more cool stone carved head, to end on a high note!

In conclusion, Teotihuacán is amazing. I absolutely wanted to spend all day there, and we pretty much did. I’ll end with one more “behind the magic” comparison photo, to illustrate the difference between expectations and reality. Like photography, it’s all about perspective! Pyramid of the Sun, as seen from the corner of the Pyramid of the Moon’s plaza. One unsightly photo with construction fencing, but just a few steps forward, and we can get a cool, clean shot.

As a bonus, here are two images taken with my PaperShoot camera, from the basket of the hot air balloon. I’m continually impressed with this little circuit board in a paper case, and just love the vintage look.

You can find more of our travel and house-sitting adventures, here:
Dani & Evan Benton | Benton Homestead | www.bentonhomestead.com
Currently traveling Mexico » Soon, rebuilding our homestead in Japan »
YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Buy Me a Coffee

Mexico » Travel Photography » Teotihuacán Pyramid Complex & Hot Air Ballon

© copyright 2009-2023 Dani Benton Photography | Japan | All Rights Reserved | Previously Dani Mouser | Previously Located in Oregon, Louisiana, Mexico