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Coba: So Near and Yet So Far |
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 Although much has changed on the Coba Road in the past several years, much remains the same. The new width of jungle being torn from its lodgings to create a faster ride to points north has displaced trees and a few Mayan palapas and homesteads several miles past the Highway 307 turnoff. But in spite of the new lane being added, a feeling of settling into Maya country prevails once you make the turn westwards. Now more handicraft shops dot the landscape and a couple places sell cold drinks or beer, but the pot holes are forever real and still unforgiving on tires, hidden by shadows on the road just as you feel sure the blacktop on which you're driving is beyond reproach. No more spider monkeys or tarantulas, and no more blue Morpho butterflies grace this stretch of road, at least not within eyesight, but once at the Coba crossroads some 40 miles inland, the draw of the pyramids and the lake make it easy to forget the coast. It's a close escape from the Riviera Maya. Coba is the perfect get away. Although not hit hard by Hurricane Wilma, both the water surge and 60 inches of rainfall dropped by the storm were enough to raise the level of the lake a full meter. This also occurred in 2003 after Hurricane Isadora, and at that time, one of the adjoining lakes (there are five total) rose high enough for Coba's lagoon to now have a full-blown flotilla of crocodiles that swam over from a neighboring lake and never left. "No Wading" signs are everywhere.  A breather from the teeming masses of tourists at Tulum, Coba (which means "water stirred by wind" in Maya) is apparently last on the list of must-see spots for travelers. But Coba exudes a "romancing the stone" feel, perhaps because it is only ten percent excavated, or maybe because it's located in thick, low jungle. But recent years have brought forth more INAH funding and many more pyramids are now viewable, including a ball court that is almost totally restored. Walking the few kilometers through shady jungle paths (bring mosquito repellent) past the Coba group of pyramids with a large temple dedicated to Chac, the Rain God, and the Chumuc Mul Group, which has barely been excavated, Coba's real treasure is the Nohoch Mul pyramid. This is the tallest at Coba and the highest in the Yucatan with 120 steps at 138 feet. The Descending God is depicted on a facade of the temple at the top, and the view from on high is well worth the climb. Large vistas of jungle stretching for miles and miles can be seen and nothing else, a rare thing in this day and age. Most likely few others will be there to share this with you, another benefit, as reaching the top does take some effort. This Maya city once covered 70 square kilometers and because of some 16 elevated sascab roads (called Sac-Be’s), which spread out like spokes on a wheel with Coba at the center, archeologists believe it exercised economic control over the area. One road measures 100 kilometers in length and was possibly used for trade between other city-states. Population at Coba reached as many as 50,000 inhabitants between 800AD to 1100AD. Coba is also noted as the site at which archeologists found the Maya stellae with the now famous hieroglyph depicting the end of the world (as the Maya know it) at December 23, 2012 AD.   With recent events on the coast, Coba seems barely touched by Wilma's tirade, and although the pueblo was without electricity for eight days after the storm, it's fully up and running now and even has phone service restored. Two other restaurants are worth mentioning, the Nicte Ha (water lilly in Maya) which has excellent local food at great prices. It's very close to Villas Archeologica and La Pyramide on the corner before turning towards the villas, which is where most tour buses stop. (Jeanine Lee Kitchel lives in Puerto Morelos. Her nonfiction book Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, can be purchased at local bookstores or from amazon.com). |
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© Sac-Be International, Inc.
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