Coba, Coba, Coba...

The same day that we went to Telum, we also went to Coba.

This now much more do-able than it used to be as they are updating and upgrading all the roads in the area. For instance as we drove into Coba we had to stay to the left on the old road as they worked on creating a new double lane road on the right. I remarked, "Wow, the next time you come here this could be a four lane road." As we left, we drove on the new road and the work crew had already torn up the road we drove in on which prompted me to say, "If we had stayed two more hours this would already BE a four lane road!"

Coba is an archaeological site that features a number of Mayan ruins. In years past you could climb many of them, but now to preserve as much as possible you can only climb one. From what I am told there are many more ruins like Coba and Chichen Itza but they have yet to be uncovered, literally. When these temples and the surroundings were abandoned, the jungle took them back. Now they sit out in the distance, little lumps in the otherwise flat landscape waiting to be discovered.

As we toured through the grounds we found that the climbable pyramid was about 4 kilometers down a path. That would be fine, we are young and hearty. Except we did already do our whole tour of Telum that morning. And it really as "down" a path which meant that the return trip would be "up" a path. And we would have climbed to the top of pyramid in between.

Then I saw the bicycles you could rent. Which led Lyle to see the pedi-cabs with drivers you could rent. How much? About $20. SOLD! And off we went into the jungle.

We arrived very fresh and smug at the pyramid.
Uh, people? It's tall. There is a rope down the center of the steps to help you if you need it.

Of course we did not use it. We are young strapping hearty men who just made some poor souls pedal us here so we could save our strength.

About halfway up. As you can see the steps are tall and rather narrow. As you get closer to the top they become more narrow and taller. This results in a net effect of forcing you to bow to the gods at the top of the pyramid.


The view from the top... Just between Lyle and Brad's shoulder you can see the other pyramid that has been uncovered on the Coba grounds. And if not for being uncovered, you can also see how the jungle could obliterate the discovery of these temples.

After our hike in the jungle, we stopped at the lake in front and paid a young man a dollar for each of us to have him throw chicken bits into the lake and feed the resident alligators. They freaked me out but here is good photo. I kept begging Lyle to not dangle his hand over the railing.
This was the pier. Made completely of medium sized sticks. Weathered and old. I kept shouting at Lyle and Brad, "DO NOT STEP ON THE SAME STICK AS I AM STANDING ON!"

And then we drove home.