Day Trip- Los Guachimontones – The Circular Pyramids Outside of Guadalajara
Los Guachimontones
By Sara Alexander
About an hour outside of Guadalajara on the road to Ameca is the wonderful site of Los Guachimontones. The site is on a hill with an amazing view of the lake. This is one of the most interesting archeological sites that I’ve visited in Mexico, not because of the grand buildings, but for the design of the city. Not like anything I’ve ever seen before. There are many circular step-pyramids, each with an even number of rectangular temples circling it. A temple will connect two pyramid circles, much like the gears of a wheel. There are also two ball courts, one of which was the largest in Western Mexico for it’s time. They also connect the pyramid circles. There is also a large museum building on the site, but unfortunately there weren’t a lot of artifacts in it.
Note: On September 21st highway 15 from the outskirts of Guadalajara until the Galerias shopping mall was closed for renovation/repairs. All traffic from both directions was rerouted to the laterals and it was bumper to bumper the whole way. Hopefully it will be finished soon.
Ball Court
Hi,
We’ll be coming to PV from CA the end of this month (February 2015).
1) I’m interested in visiting Guachimontones. Did you drive? How long did it take? Do you know if there are any tours from PV. Speaking no Spanish we’re a little nervous about a public bus. 2) My friend has heard Lake Chapala is a great U.S. expat site. Any thoughts on that? What would be the best way and how long would it take to get there from Pueto Vallarta? Many thanks for any assistance you can provide.