Pyramids of Paralta

When driving to San Miguel Allende with Jared's parents, we kept seeing blue signs along the highway, announcing upcoming pyramids. We thought the pyramids must be coming up really soon, and at every exit would chastise Jared for not being willing to turn off (this never happens in our car, normally, of course).

After 20 or 30 minutes, and miles and miles (and even more kilometers), we finally saw the definite exit for the pyramids. We took the exit, and then went much further than expected looking for more pyramid signs. We stopped a few times to ask people on the roadside where the pyramid was. One looked at me like I couldn't speak a lick of Spanish (seriously...my Spanish isn't that bad...is it?!), and the other two sent us back in the direction we came. Finally, on our return to the freeway, we finally saw the sign we were looking for. It was well posted on the return, but the arrow had been removed from original direction we came from. Relief!

We paid the small fee, and started the short hike to the pyramid.

A grounds keeper began following us around, trying to give me a tour in Spanish, and I tried to translate what I could understand for the group.

This "pyramid" really was more like 2 pyramids. There were two separate structures, and they were quite large in size.

I caught that there were 22 pyramids in the area...And that they found heads in jars...and...well...that was about it! Surely there was more...but this is what I remember, now!

The lower part (lighter) on the steps seemed to be new construction, although it was a pity they covered up the very old stairs. There was obviously a barrier in front of the stairs, but the "guide" insisted we climb up to take a photo.

The larger pyramid was a giant structure with a huge inner courtyard and multiple levels. This was one of the "hallway" entries to get inside. We didn't have to climb far to get to on this one, as most of it was still underground, and hadn't been fully excavated.

The guide also took us to an area where he bounced a small rock off of a big rock. He had us listen to the sound of the small rock impacting 2 different rocks. They had very different sounds, and one sounded almost hollow. Why? Well...it was our turn to guess. We decided it was because one large rock was detached, and one wasn't?....There was a perfect indentation of the small rock in the big rock. So maybe they used it for food preparation? Hmm....I guess we'll never know! Never made it past that language barrier for this particular question...

I took photos of the Spanish informations signs, so that I could return home and look up more info. To learn more about the Paralta Pyramids...go here!

When the tour was done, we tipped him for his time, and he returned to his real job!