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Cobá Pages by micas_pt
Tips 1 - 8 of 8 Cobá Things to Do
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Things To Do: Cobá Ruins
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Cobá ruins are still mostly undiscovered. They are in the middle of the dense jungle and it is believed that beneath all those trees and vegetation there is still so much to discover and explore.
It is somewhat touristic, as these ruins have the tallest piramid of Yucatán, but not as crowded as other ruins i visited. It is very hot, so you'd better take some water with you and wear light fresh clothes made of natural fabrics such as cotton and linnen. And take confortables shoes as the main pyramid is 2km from park entrance, you will do at least 4 km plus going up and down pyramid (128 steps, times 2!!).
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Things To Do: Town of Wind-Ruffled Water
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There are some ruins by the park entrance, where the guide took some time to explain what we were about to see.
Cobá ruins are very extensive (70 square km) and buildings are mainly grouped around the lakes - 2 big lakes and 3 smaller. This water abundance brought many people to Cobá and it is believed that almost 40.000 people lived in this city. Cobá means Town of Wind-Ruffled Water and was inhabited until the 17th century (Spanish conquests).
Some say that there are around 10.000 buildings in this mayan city, still so much to be discovered underneath green vegetation. Cobá used to be a major city, with religious and commercial activities and these ruins where first time discovered by and Austrian researcher in 1891.
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Things To Do: Heading for the big pyramid
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After the explanations about those ruins is time to visit the main pyramid. The guide didn't go with us, he explained what we were about to find and waited for us at the park entrance. The main pyramid is about 2 km from the ruins we just visited, and there are 3 ways of getting there:
> walking
> renting a single bycicle
> renting a bycicle with a man to pedal it, ...
We opted for the single bycicle. It is not expensive but i don't remember how much i paid for it. There are some arrows that show the way, so there will be no problem finding the pyramid, as there are also other people walking and riding their bycicles. Most people were walking on the day we visited the ruins.
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Things To Do: A nice spot to rest
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On the way to the main pyramid, there is a small pyramid.
We made a stop there, both to rest and drink water (it was so hot!!) and to take photos. It is a nice place to stop since most people walk straight ahead for the big pyramid and that way you can enjoy your time there.
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Things To Do: The big pyramid
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The big pyramid is huge (42 m high) and slope but easy to climb. At least on the way up, since i have vertigo and the way down was not so easy for me. But i sat once a while and all was ok. I got down without any problem. There is a rope all the way so that some people can grab it and feel safer, although most people weren't using it, not even me with my vertigo.
The view from up there is amazing, ... you can see for km and km, since the ground is plain and all you can see is green around you. Ocasionally you can notice some other buildings emerging from the green. Once you finish climbing the steps there is nothing else to see but the awesome view. The pyramid has nothing else on top and the access to the other side is restricted.
Enjoy the view, take beautiful photos and drink some water, it is really hot up there, ... and rest, since there are 128 steps down and 2 km waiting for you, under hot weather.
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Things To Do: La Iglesia
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This pyramid called La Iglesia (The Church) is an important building in this Nohoc Mul Group we were visiting.
The big pyramid also belongs to this group, the only one we visited in Cobá.
La Iglesia is a pyramid shapped building, 24m high. There is a staircase leading to the temple (top of pyramid), which is in poor condition.
This pyramid wasn't built all at once. Frequently these pyramids start as small buildings that grow accordingly to population needs. And sometimes they grow with different styles, since there were several ephocs in Mayan civilization each ruled by different caracteristics.
Just in front of the pyramid you can see a curious kind of shelter that hosted some goddess.
In the side of the pyramid there's an entrance to a small room that is open to visits. Actually it is very small and somewhat dark, so there's not much you can see. This room had religious activity.
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Things To Do: Coloured houses
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I got used to see ruins look like stone coloured, ... and i guess i imagined they have always been that way. I was so wrong!! These buildings were colourfully painted with pigments that Mayan people extracted from nature, such as roots.
If you look closely at some stones you can still see traces of colours, such as the one on photo, where you can still distinguish some reddish and blueish spots.
Also, if you look closer at some stones you can see shelves and traces from marine life. Apparently some million years ago this place was covered by sea.
This coloured stones can be found on right side of La Iglesia pyramid, on a kind of square where formerly were built several houses. Probably these houses hosted some "government" and religious services. Actually some vestiges of these houses are quiet good, but as mentioned earlier Cobá is not the best well kept Mayan ruins.
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Things To Do: Pelota game
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There used to a game played by Mayan people called Pelota. This game was played in a proper field that is still visible in several Mayan ruins. Cobá has a small (compared to the one in Chichén Itzá) pelota "courtyard". This place consists of a kind of corridor between walls with some Gods designed on walls and a kind of hole, ... louzy description, please see the photo!
Actually there are some versions as to the rules of this game, each believing to be correct one. The version i was told it's about men playing this pelota game with a stone ball weighting about 4 kg. Apparently they played the game with the ball on their hips, which seems strange to me since ball is hard and heavy, but that's what i was told.
One of the game versions says the winner (a man not a team) died at the end of the game. This was his prize: a sacrifice for the Gods, ...which was a great honour back then.
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More Cobá Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 8 - Photos: 8 | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | Transportation | Local Customs | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
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 Comments for micas_pt about Cobá | | | | |
HORSCHECK Fri Jul 7, 2006 21:10 UTC
Fabulous little page ...hmmm, I have never heard of this pelota game.... the rules seem to be odd anyway ... :-) | RedEaredPanda Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:19 UTC
great pictures and tips. Sounds like a lot of fun to visit the ruins.. Will have to try.. | acemj Thu Jul 22, 2004 20:00 UTC
i would definitely try to lose that game of pelota! ;-) | Paul2001 Sun Jun 27, 2004 21:53 UTC
Very good tips. Both well written and photographed. |
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on Nov 9, 2003
