Big Bike Trip!: 10-10-08 My Birthday and the Ruins of Coba

Today is my birthday (29), so i though i should go to some ruins. To avoid the scalding heat i left Valladolide before 5am, hours before sunrise, making it to the ruins before they open again. Just before getting there there was a nice rainbow. Coba is very close to to Tulum, so it is a tourist trap second only to Chitzin Itza, so getting there early is a good idea, but still there are a ton of guides who can be a bit in your face. Ive visited Coba before, like Ek Balom, so this was not the most intersting visit. Work has continued at Ek Balam, so there are new things to see, but Coba is the same.

The ruins of Coba are situated around a number of lakes, some of which are believed to be artificial, created when the Maya exctrated huge amounts of lime stone for their construction projects.

A bit about the ruins:

Coba is probably the largest ruin in Quintana Roo. It has the tallest pyrimid this far north (42m), but the most remarkable thing about the ruins is a network of raised roads that radiate out from the center of the site. The longest goes halfway across the Yucatan. Truly remarkable consitering the Maya had no wheels and these roads were for walking only.

Most of the architecture is from the middle and late classic period (550-800AD). The architecture and masonry are really quite unlike Ek Balam which exposed architecture mostly dates to a later period. Nevertheless, Coba is believed to to have closer links to the south than to the north or west.

You can ride bikes on the ancient roads at the ruins. They let me take mine in, but tryed to get me to pay$3 to go any distence into the ruins. Of course i would not on princable, plus the furthest group is only a 15min walk and there is increadable nature everywere so what is the rush?

Along an ancient road.

On of the few standing vaults you can go into. There are actually a few, a good amount. Most are in the largest cluster of ruins that are not only off limits, but because of the dense vegitation you cannot even see them. Bummer because i would have loved to walk though that area.

The tallest temple at Coba. You can walk up this (if you dont mind out of shape tourist complainin about the heat).

The view from the top is almost unbelievable.

Its hard to see the scale of this, but this butterfly is bigger than most birds at home.

I drank 2 beers for my birthday and it was too much, it is very hard to stay hydrated here. I had some of the best Maya style BBQ chicken. The was an increadably hard afternoon shower, a weather pattern that will become eveident as i continue south.

The beers were made better by this: one of the young waiters tossing a chunk of meat on a rope to a large aligator. The tourists love them, so the locals have basically tamed them by attracting them with food. this one would not take the food though, but was still hanging out.