The yardstick for all future stairs

Trip Start Jul 01, 2005
1
6
Trip End Jul 28, 2005


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Flag of Mexico  ,
Thursday, July 7, 2005

Today we visited Coba, our first Mayan ruin. It is supposed to be one of the more remote of the commonly visited ruins, and, as we were frequently hiking through the jungle paths alone, I would concur. I'll attach a clip I took while standing awestruck and still in the jungle, trying to capture the birdsong and light filtering through the developing canopy. It's really a very poor representation of what it was actually like. We only got through two-thirds or so of the ruins in the time available before the bus back to Tulum, but those parts were pretty neat. We saw the major section with La Iglesia and the ball courts and the Nohoch Mul group, where we climbed Nohoch Mul (138 ft). The view was pure green except for the spots of white that were Xaibe and La Iglesia. Imagine being the one to stumble across that while hacking through the jungle. We missed the section with the painted murals, though.

The only thing that was really disappointing was that the stela were virtually illegible. They had little signs next to them of what they were 'supposed' to look like, but we thought it was kind of a stretch. Kind of like constellations. The only ones that resembled anything were the ones carved into the ball courts.

Another odd thing we've found about Mexico - they use Nutella instead of chocolate. Deserts involving melted chocolate have melted Nutella instead.

I did ended up going out last night while Sarah was napping and getting ice cream and wandering around the town square, watching kids play soccer and adults take a promenade. Then I got a little too bold and took a walk all the way to the edge of town, got kind of freaked out and took a cab back. The guy blatantly stole two dollars. I´ll live. In town´s okay, like a tiny town anywhere, but I passed a cabaret-looking place on the outskirts, and some guys who may or may not have been trying to break into a police station who actually noticed me and said something (I´m not sure what) and I decided the taxi was the better part of discretion.
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