One of the highlights of a recent trip to Puebla, Mexico was exploring the Cantona Olmec ruins. The combination of scenic desert mountains, beautiful clouds, and ancient pyramids would make anyone want to visit this incredible place.
Standing on top of a pyramid in Cantona, Mexico
Workers clean the 10% of uncovered Cantona Olmec ruins
Cantona Olmec Ruins only 10% uncovered
What is amazing is that only 10% of the city has been uncovered. Even this small percentage illustrates how vast this complex was. Walking down the aisles among pyramids, causeways, courtyards, and ball courts you can almost close your eyes and feel the buzz of what life must have been like back in 1000 A.D. when this desolate stretch of mountain desert was once a thriving city. At its peak, the population here reached over 80,000.
Our guide introduces the Cantona Olmec ruins to us at the beginning of the tour
This is the best part about visiting ancient ruins during your travels. It helps to know the history of the areas you are visiting, but in a way ignorance can be bliss. The more you know the more accurate your visions are; on the other hand, the less you know, the more imaginative your visions are. If the ruins perk your interest, you can always bone up on the history later.
Beautiful stark landscape
The surrounding landscape at Cantona was just as interesting as the ruins themselves. It kind of reminded me of the Big Bend Area in Texas or Death Valley in California as the flora consisted of desert type shrubs, but mountains loomed in the distance. Interspersed among the site was also a few stands of hardwood trees. Despite looking desert like, the climate was mild when we were there in June with a cool breeze and temperatures in the 70s.
We proceed to enter the complex at the Cantona Olmec Ruins
Access through Puebla or Mexico City
The best way to access the site is through Puebla, Mexico. There are no tours set up, but one could easily be arranged in Puebla. You would need to secure a taxi for the ride out there, which will run about 500 pesos (about $38.00 usd), so it would be advisable to find another tourist or two to share the costs.
Cantona walkways
Courtyards on pyramids on the right as we continue to walk
The landscape work here is as beautiful as the ruins
The sun made a few spotty appearances to make the photographs a little more interesting
Blue sky peaks out from the clouds over an Olmec pyramid
The surrounding scenery is also amazing
The village of Cantona is in a desolate part of central Mexico
Olmec pyramid
The Cantona complex from the top of a pyramid
Clouds roll in over the desolate landscape
A mountain looms over the Olmec ruins
The arrival of dark clouds create a different photographic mood over Cantona
Olmec pyramid
Another shot of the surrounding landscape
Cantona, Mexico
Cantona, Mexico
A shot of people on top of the pyramid
Clouds, pyramids, and mountains at Cantona – saving the best for last
This trip was sponsored by the Mexico Tourism Board, but this post, opinion, and photographs are purely my own.
Adventure on!
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Awesome pics…crazy to think that only 10% of the complex has been uncovered!
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Where Should We Stay in Las Vegas – You Decide
It must have been a sprawling city. It may have been the Las Vegas of the Olmec world.
Agree with DJ – beautiful photos. Wonder what it will look like when the rest of it is uncovered.
Jeremy Branham recently posted..Thanksgiving: my favorite holiday
Good question. I wonder if it will be more of the same or if the part that is uncovered is more metro. Maybe they have just dug up the downtown and have not gotten to the suburbs yet.
Stunning! I love the views and that there’s so much more that hasn’t been uncovered. Thanks for the tips on how to get there and how much it should cost.
Thanks,
Glad you enjoyed the tips. Unfortunate that the tourism is not big enough to warrant more regular transport and tours because it is definitely deserving of a visit.
Even being there, it was hard to fathom how little of it was uncovered. It seemed to go on forever. You captured some very good photos of the site!
Happy trails,
E
Erika recently posted..Don’t become a tick-borne illness statistic…like me
I felt like grabbing a shovel. I think if I worked hard enough that day they would now be saying only 11% of the city is uncovered, but I never got the chance.
Very cool. Your photos are awesome! I like what you say about learning the history of a place vs. going the “ignorance is bliss” route. I can totally get behind either notion.
Francesca (@WorkMomTravels) recently posted..This week’s #FriFotos theme: PEAKS
I think the best option is going with a little knowledge and then if it perks your interest, hit the books. I hope this post perked your historical interest Francesca, because I am emailing you a quiz in two weeks. Study up on the Olmecs.
More proof that I need to head back to Mexico. Why didn’t I know how wonderful it was?!
The World Wanderer recently posted..Encountering Great White Sharks in Gansbaai.
Because you are the World Wanderer Erin. You don’t know how wonderful things are, you just wander 🙂 And there is nothing wrong with that.
Yep, I think it looks like parts of Big Bend too and that makes this place pretty cool to me.
Leah Travels recently posted..Italy’s Amalfi Coast: Cruising with Enzo
Anything remotely resembling Big Bend is way cool.
Mexico has eluded us and it’s so high on our list to visit. Maybe it’s because they’re so close. LOVE the part about the ruin and how much history you should know. I’m a history buff and usually like my facts ahead of time, but some times, not knowing can really make an experience too. 🙂
Kieu ~ GQ trippin recently posted..Seeing Prague on Segway
It is the old cliche that places that are closest are never visited even though like minded traveler from around the world come to see it. I am a history buff too, but I am a more modern guy. I like my World War I and II era much better, but I appreciate the ancient days too.
Amazing city, Ted. It’s hard to believe that a place like that supported 80k people – that’s as big as the city I went to school again!
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It is hard to believe they had 80,000 person cities back in the day. We can only imagine how interesting they were.
this is so cool! you and craig are really making us want to re-think mexico.
the lazy travelers recently posted..no travel required
I really enjoyed Mexico, and it is nice to visit a place that seems so different, yet is not a 12 hour plane trip.
Great shots. I love pyramids in Mexico, there’s some aura about them, hard to explain. Only 10% uncovered?! Wow. Too bad I didn’t get to see this site when I was in Puebla.
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