Filed under: Mexico
So we never got up super early like we had planned, lol. We did manage to crawl out of bed by 9:30 or 10 to have breakfast at Hot Baking Company just off 5th. Talked to Genero at the front desk about if he could arrange a taxi for us to go to Coba…he was on it and within no time we had a private taxi arranged and we were en route.
Coba is about an hour and fifteen minutes or so from Playa on the main highway south. Our driver today was Martin (the other guy, Guillermo, we’ve been using was in Cancun on a run today so Genero put us in touch with Martin instead), and he spoke great English and was really nice. He gave us a great deal of 1200 pesos return trip including waiting at the site while we explored and any stops along the way – more than half the price of a typical ‘tour’. The four lane highway around Playa quickly turns into a two lane highway just past Tulum as you enter rural Mayan jungle area. We passed through a few small Mayan towns where it seemed everyone had their own tiendas (small convenience-type stores) and sold lots of handmade stuff (hammocks, pottery, etc.). Finally we arrived in the town of Coba which sits near a small lagoon that is full of crocodiles. We saw one from the road, but when we stopped on the way back there was none in sight.
The ruins at Coba are a huge site and originally comprised of thousands of buildings and monuments, but only a handful have been excavated and recovered from the jungle. We could see lots of temples that were still covered in a thick jungle growth but they were still easy to identify. Once we paid the fee to get in (around $5) we decided to hire a guide for part of the site. He was a young Mexicano that had an odd grip of the English language, but we managed to get what he was talking about. Unfortunately we already knew most of what he talked about so we probably could’ve saved ourselves the 300 pesos and did it totally on our own. He only showed us the first few buildings as we only paid for that part of the site. Once we were done visiting the ball court and some other important buildings we rented a ‘Mayan limo’ for the rest of the tour. It was essentially a guy on a tricycle (bike) that had this huge cart thing in front of it and we managed to squeeze our fat gringo asses into the seat (albeit with a butt cheek each hanging over the side, lol) and this little Mexican guy peddled us around the rest of the site. A sight to be seen, I’m sure, lol. As we would come to the various structures he’d stop to let us off to take pictures and explore. It was so damn hot we didn’t stay long at each place. Because the site is so spread out I’m glad we chose ‘transportation’ because we’d still be there trying to walk it all and likely would’ve died from heat exhaustion. The ‘piece de resistance’ of the whole site is the temple of Nohoc Mul, which is the tallest pyramid in Mexico and second in the Americas only to Tikal in Guatemala. It’s 120 steps to the top and these haven’t been restored in quite the same way at Chichen Itza thus making them quite dangerous to climb…but the descent proves to be even more difficult. With the combination of heat and physical exertion (both of which we know I don’t do too well with) I only made it about 1/2 way up before feeling kinda overcome. I stopped and sat down on a step for a breather while Scott continued up to the top. I managed to to the sideways climb back down and found a shady spot under a tree while I waited for Scott to reach the top so I could take photos. He didn’t stay long, as you can imagine the heat and exhaustion puts a damper on the enjoyment of reaching the top. He slowly sidestepped his way down, using the ‘safety’ rope at points. It was definitely an experience and I love that we could pretty much fully explore the site and even climbing on things, unlike many of the other sites. Even though I only made it half way the view was amazing with the jungle all around us and other structures poking their way through the trees…I can only imagine what Scott’s view was like from the top through his photos. We quickly grabbed some cold overpriced Gatorade from the only vendor on site and enjoyed our tricycle ride back to the parking lot. I felt so bad for the little driver guy who peddled our fat asses around half the day so I tipped him well. Our taxi driver, Martin, was waiting for in the parking lot and we decided to head back toward Playa. He asked if we wanted to stop off anywhere else, and while I know we could’ve found some great places we were just too tired and hot to even entertain the idea. Since we had not yet had lunch (and it was now after 4 p.m.) we asked him to stop by McDonald’s on our way to the hotel. I know, I know…but at least it was quick, cheap and always satisfying! lol Martin made me do the drive thru order in Spanish so I could ‘practice’ and I actually managed quite well with a little help (jeeze, and they say Newfies talk fast…have you spoken to a Mexican lately?! lol). Back at the hotel we settled in for a siesta and to call Scott’s family via Skype (to get the latest on the swine flu news, lol) before heading to PG’s Sandbox Bar & Grill just 2 blocks down for some live music, snacks and beers. We had planned on going to John Gray’s Place for our fancy schmancy dinner we’ve been planning, but we decided to save it for tomorrow night instead as we’re both tired as hell. Tomorrow is our last full day in Playa so we’ve planned for some beach time in the morning, some shopping and food…lots of food! lol (photos to be posted later…they take soooo long to upload and shrink)
Leanne
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