Xochicalco Archaeological Site (Morelos), 13.01.08

This ride started at the late hour of 08:30 having as target the visit to the Xochicalco Archaeological site, in the southern state of Morelos. Departing from the center of Mexico City, we (Gabriela and me) took Tlalpan to the south all the way up to the Caminero Monument, and then we took the free Cuernavaca highway. At 2700 m altitude we made a little stop at the El Mirador restaurant, but ir was still closed (since it was early), so we had to take a view of the city from a near location.

Once resuming our trip, we made another little stop in Parres to buy some water, and, in the up-downs that exist between Parres and La Cima summit my frontal derailleur felt down and I had to repair it. Thank God I was carrying some Gabriela's Allen keys, since I do not use to carry any tools :-) Being myself not the best mechanic in town, I lost precious time in that reparation, but anyways, we could continue our trip.

Another little stop at La Cima summit to take the compulsory photograhs and we were ready to descend to Tres Marias. Since neither of us had ever visited the center of Tres Marias, we decided to have a look at that picturesque town. So we deviated to the left in Tres Marías and got to its little center. A small yet precious church is all that stands up in the center. We also decided to make good use of the stop and got a delicious hot meal (in front of the church) of fish broth, with sea food quesadillas. Could you believe that: Sea food in Tres Marías ? :-)

Once armored with that hot meal, we started the descent all the way up to Cuernavaca first, and then to Alpuyeca, via the free Acapulco highway. As for Gabriela these are her firsts cycling rides along inter-state highways, she uses to descend very carefully, so I use to pass her on the descent, but in order not to abandon her, I make svereal stops in between, so she can pass me again. Meanwhile I am waiting for her, what better thing to do than to take pictures of her descent ? :-)

We reached and crossed Cuernavaca, passing also in our way to Alpuyeca the towns of Temixco, Acatlipa and Xochitepec. Once arriving in Alpuyeca, we bought some water, as the ongoing way to Xochicalco was one of pure ascent, and the worst of all: we had to make it against the clock ! We had less than forty minutes to make a 300 m ascent along 12 kilometers (grade: 2.5 %), since the site closes its doors at 17:00. Making an exceptional effort we were able to reach the site in only 35 minutes, arriving just five minutes before closing (with an average speed of 20.6 km/hr, in that steep hills). Nothing bad for Gabriela. My most sincere congratulations to her for that final fast ascent to the site :-)

Once inside the Xochicalco (nahuatl for House of Flowers) Archaeological Site, we proceeded to have a quick look of all the buildings that comprehend that precious site. I hope the presented photograps could communicate a better meaning than my humble words when I try to describe that fabulous site. So I would recommend to have a look at the pictures so you could have a better view of all the pyramids and buildings that are located in the site.

Once concluded our visit to the site, we proceeded to start the descent back to Alpuyeca, almost in the middle of the dark, as it was already 18:40. At the beginning of the descent there was some twilight light, but as we were descending, the dark became more and more present, so we had to carry out that final descent with no light at all. Fortunately, we were finally able to arrive again in Alpuyeca in one piece :-)

Once in Alpuyeca, we proceeded to visit its simple yet beautiful white church (located at the top of a staired hill) and the main Plaza, where a picturesque green clock tower stands. Once finishing that small stop we cycled to the junction where the bus stop is located. To our disheart, we discovered that the buses that passed there had only small boxes to carry the luggage. We were not going to be able to load our bikes in those buses. So we had to rely in a big taxi to get back to Cuernavaca (taxi fare from Alpuyeca to Cuernavaca, with two bicycles and two cyclists: 130 pesos, driving along the toll highway).

The taxi drove us to the Cuernavaca Cathedral, in the center of the city, where we had a glimpse of the last part of the last mass (merely five minutes). But we were able to have a look at the interior of that precious Cathedral. Once the lights were turned off, we exited the Cathedral and started a small turn around the exterior of that gigantic church. After having taken the compulsory photographs, we rode towards the Pullman bus terminal, just a block away, where we bought our return tickets back to Mexico City (ticket fare: 65 pesos).

As we had still half an hour free, we decided to pay a quick visit to the center of Cuernavaca, to have a look at the Cuauhnahuac (Cortes Palace), Government Palace, Main Square, Clock Tower and the Morelos statue. Once our free time expired we cycled back to the Pullman terminal, where we boarded our bus back home at 22:15. For some reason (mostly traffic) the bus arrived at 00:00 in México City, so we had to cycle back our ways to our final destinations: home :-)

As usual, all the pictures of this travel are available at the following photoset. And the GPS track is also available, in both formats: GPX or KMZ .

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel !

Xochicalco Archaeological Site + Cuernavaca (Morelos), 14.01.07

Map Navigation: This dynamic Trackmap shows the GPS track (red line) and some geo-referenced photos (red dots) of the cycling tour. Wheel up and wheel down your mouse to zoom in or zoom out the map. Click on any point in the map to center it on that point. Or just drag the map with your mouse. To see the photos, hoover the mouse over the red dots. Click on the photo to go to the picture page.

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

GPS Track: GPX (MapSource, et al), or KMZ (Google Earth)

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 160 Km, Ascent: 1827 m, Time: 6:48 hr, Average Speed: 23.5 Km/hr, Energy: 26.95 MJ, Cycling Power: 275 W, Specific Power: 3.66 W/Kg.

Travel Report:

The road to the Archaeological Site of Xochicalco (House of the Flowers), in the neighboring state of Morelos, was our usual road to Cuernavaca: the free highway. After arriving at the equestrian statue of Zapata at the entrance of the city, I took the Libramiento in order to turn around the city (avoiding its traffic jam). Once surrounded, I retook the free highway to Acapulco, passing Temixco and Acatlipa, arriving at Alpuyeca. In Alpuyeca I turned to the right in order to arrive at the town of Xochicalco. The entrance of the archaeological site is located just a few kilometers after this town, but after a step ascent of ca. 15 % !

This archaeological site is really fabulous. For starters, its size is overwhelming. The visit to the site starts with a corridor that sides with a big pyramid. There is a small palm hut where a label with the name of the site can bee seen, along with a beautiful vista of the Lake El Rodeo. Raising the stairway appears the astonishing view of the Plaza of the Two Glyphs Stela. The two glyphs depicted in the stela erected in the middle of the Plaza (10 Acatl and 9 Reptile Eye) are related with the cult of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. The Plaza is an imposing ritual and ceremonial center, which is surrounded by the four sides by impressive religious and civic temples. The stela is located in the middle of the plaza, on the top of a square basement.

Continuing our tour on the left side of the Plaza, we arrived at another enormous stair cased pyramid, which will enable us to arrive at the following upper level of the site. It is a pity that I did not get the name of this last pyramid. After finishing climbing up, I arrived at the following level, where is located (among other buildings) the magnificent Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent). It features frizies (on all lateral slopes of the pyramid) depicting the Plummed Serpents (eight of the in total) colling around the sizes. There are even representations of Mayan peoples in the frizies of this pyramid ! I think this shows the clear influences (or even its creation) of the Mayan cultures (Olmecs-Xicallancas) in the building of this city. There is a recurrent glyph represented on the pyramid's slope: the 9 Reptile Eye, which is related to the New Fire. The New Fire was a ceremony performed every 52 years here, that symbolized the cyclic nature of the Universe, and its re-starting every 52 years, in the Aztec cosmogony.

Going to the end of the site, I arrived at the Acropolis, its highest area. This place was the residence of the rulers of the city. The Acropolis is clearly divided in two areas, one residential (where rooms and beds can be appreciated) and another ceremonial area (with four large areas and a central courtyard). After this points, I started walking back my steps in order to gain access to the exit of this beautiful and enormous archaeological site.

At about 17:00 I left the archaeological site, cycling now towards Xochicalco, Alpuyeca, Acatlipa, and Temixco, arriving finally at the city of Cuernavaca (Morelos state capital) at about 19:00, after an interesting ascent of more than 600 m, my last leg from Alpuyeca. I took the bus back home (at the Pullman Centro bus station, 63 pesos) at 20:00, after sightseeing some of the city, arriving safely 2 hours later in Mexico City.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey !

Xochicalco Archaeological Site + Cuernavaca (Morelos), 08.10.06

Map Navigation: This dynamic Trackmap shows the GPS track (red line) and some geo-referenced photos (red dots) of the cycling tour. Drag the map with your mouse. To see the photos, click your mouse over the little red dots. Click on the photos to go to the picture page.

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

GPS Track: GPX (MapSource, et al), or KMZ (Google Earth)

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 150 Km, Ascent: 1760 m, Time: 6:29 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.2 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 62.7 Km/hr.

Travel Report:

This journey was started by the author in Mexico City (2,240 m alt) at 12:20, a relatively late hour. But anyway, it is always a pain in the neck getting up early on Sundays ... The route we took was Tlalpan to the south, and later, the Free Highway to Cuernavaca. The plain terrain lasts about 15 Km (it was a little boring), but once the ascent starts, things got funny. The initial part of the ascent is the most demanding: But the traffic on the highway was smooth. The landscapes in this time of the year are beautiful, since the rain season has made all the hills greener and the tree foliage denser.

At 2,700 m elevation, we arrived at the Restaurant El MIrador, a place with a beautiful vista of the Mexico City Valley. Unfortunately, this vista was obstructed by a dense smog layer that impeded us from having a clear view of our valley, sorry. After taking some pictures, we continued the ascent to the summit, named La Cima (for a weather station in the surroundings), reaching it at 3,025 m, after 2 hours of cycling. This summit is nearly unimposing, because there is no clear indication where the peak is, so lets say that the Km 44 would mark the summit.

Descent starts and nothing could stop us before reaching the Zapata, in the entrance of Cuernavaca. This Zapata is an equestrian statue of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who fought (among others) Porfirio Díaz, the perennial president of the Mexican republic between 1876 and 1911. Zapata's motto was: "Land and Freedom". He is also quoted as stating: "The land belongs to those who work it". After taking some picture of his statue, i took the Toll Highway in order to avoid the bulk of Cuernavaca, preferring giving a big bypass to this city.

We took the road to Temixco, and Villa de las Flores, because I have planned the route to the archaeological site at Xochicalco going through the way to the airport and Tematla, preferring this route to the classical route to Alpuyeca first and then to Xochicalco. Now, I am not sure if this was the best approach. After a town named Acatlipa, we took the road to the airport, and then to Tetlama. This way was really hilly. Just ups and downs between hills and rivers. But heck, what else could i do but continue cycling ? At the end i arrived at Tetlama, a curious town in the middle of nowhere and at the top of a mountain. The cattle (big cebus) roamed here freely on the highway! I have never had to pass so near from a big cebu (1 m, and in a bike) so it was frightening to me, but somehow i managed to declare myself harmless to the big cebu that was standing in the middle of the road, so I could pass with no problem at all :-). At the end of Tetlama there is a road that took me straight to the archaeological site of Xochicalco.

I visited the museum and the entrance to the pyramids, but i could not continue further because i had arrived 20 minutes later than the last entry allowed hour. So, again, i took some photos of the place and decided to continue ahead the return tour to Cuernavaca. Taking now another path, this time I decided to go back to Cuernavaca using the road to Xochicalco and Alpuyeca. This one is a beautiful descent (300 m descent) with a highway in previous conditions. In the exit of Alpuyeca we stopped for some food (as i was starting to feel hungry). Alpuyeca has an elevation of 1,050 m, so we need some calories before we made the following ascent to Cuernavaca (at 1,550 m). The good news were that for this 500 m ascent we needed to ride 20 Km, so the slope would be only of 2.5 %. Certainly, something needed after 125 km and more than 1,500 m of gain ascent. Bad news was that again, we were losing solar light. The night loomed and it would be dark before we could arrive at Cuernavaca. But, what the heck, this wouldn't be our first (or last) ride in the night: alone and with no lights ...

This last leg of our journey was a little tricky, because there was a lot of traffic in Temixco, so i needed to bypass the cars using the middle "lane" (between both directions), but after Temixco, there was no more car jam. Our arrival at Cuernavaca was at 21:00 hrs, just in time to take some nocturnal photos of the Cuauhnahuac Museum in the center of the city. I proceed later to the Pullman Bus Terminal in order to take my bus back to Mexico City, arriving at 23:30. I could even manage to take the subway in order to be comfortably at home at 00:00 :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.