Coba is the centre of the Mayan empire, believed to be the largest Mayan city of the Yucatan.
Mayan Pyamid Temple Steven on top with arms up
Our day began on the pier on the Island of Cozumel.After disembarkingfrom our ship our tour group boarded a ferry boat for the 45 minute ride to the mainland of Mexico.
The fast ferry ride took us to Playa to link up with our awaiting coach.Once on arrival at the port of Playta on mainland Mexicoour group was gathered and introduced to our bilingual Tour Guide for the day.Once aboard our air conditioned comfy coach; we were off on our adventure with a very informative narrative on the history of the Mayan people’s culture and history.
After a 30 minute stopover at Mayaha Community Centre for the usual souvenir shopping . The Mayan people make beautiful cotton embroidered clothing and artefacts for purchase. Unfortunately since we came fully loaded to the max in our suitcases I Trish had to look and not buy.
As we drove past vacant land you could not help but notice all the limestone everywhere. Interestingly the Mayan peoples past diet involved derivingtheir protein source from corn as the soil is no good here for breeding animals or other crops due to the highlimestone content.
Limestone rocky surface
The Mayan peopleare short in stature also due to low protein diet and calcification of their bones due to the very high limestone content in their only source of water, underground spring water.
Once at Coba we followed our guide through the Mayan ruins weaving through the Yucatan jungle on welltrodden pathsto marvel at the mathematically designedPyramid Temples and ancient writings carved in stones. The Mayans had sophisticated calendars, written languages and an elevated stone road network howeverthese huge stones which were brought to the site were hand carried by hundreds of people due to the lack of a wheel.
Mayan Temple
Steven climbed the highest pyramid in Yucatanwhere he was able to see other remains of this impressivecity emerging from the jungle below. Trish volunteered to stay at the bottom and take photos as she was not keen on climbing on the steep steps.
The heat was similar toDarwin however thejungleafforded some relief from the intense sun for the walk back tothe coach.
There are still many stone mounds which are entwined with tree roots. While they just look like a pile of rocks they are the remanents of Mayan buildingsthat still contain artefacts for the archaeologists to uncover . since they are painstakingly cleared by toothbrush type implements it will be many years before any more are fully uncovered.
Once on board the coach we were provided with a cold bottle of filtered water and a pack of good old plain crisps. Along with a coach load of now sleepy tourists we set off for a quiet 90 minute drive back to Playa to catch the ferry to take us back to Cozumel andthe ship.
The evening saw us dining with our nephew and a sharing of our day’s adventures.
Beach next to Pier Rough ferry ride back to Cozumel
