During our time in Coba, we were able to see a dozen or so unique Mayan ruins. A little history about Coba – this Mayan city is located in the state of Quintana Roo. The word Coba is defined as “waters stirred by the wind.” This settlement is one of the oldest Mayan cities that are rested on the Yucatan Peninsula. Enveloped in the deep green of the tropical jungle, Coba rose between two lagoons. While I was taking pictures of the sights around me, an older married couple had come up and approached me. Instantly, I could tell they were tourists with their bright “Hawaiian” matching shirts and ridiculously large camera lens. The happy couple asked me to photograph them in front of one of the ruins, which I gracefully accepted. After I took their photograph, the gentleman had begun explaining the history behind Coba. It sounded like he definitely did his homework! Wow, I was totally blown away with all the “fun facts” that he told me. 

I remember a few of them for which he stated, “During its history, Coba had more than 50,000 inhabitants, and scholars believed that it was as important as Tikal in Guatemala, with which it maintained tight cultural ties. Coba exercised economic control over the region through a complex network of elevated stone and plaster roads, known in Maya as sacbe, radiating from the center of Coba to many other Mayan cities. The longest of these ran over 100km and led to the city of Yaxuna. Coba traded extensively with other Mayan communities, particularly the ones further south along the Caribbean coast in what is now Belize and Honduras. It utilized the ports of Xcaret, Xel-Há, Tancah, and Tulum.” After he finished emphasizing a few main points, he expressed that he did thorough research before he came to Mexico and used “Lonely Planet” as a guide. This was really good advice, which I never leave without my “Lonely Planet” guidebook (more on this in future post). 

Visiting all the Coba ruins took a lot of effort due to the long distances between each landmark, but it was very worthwhile. Astonishing, we trekked a little over a mile to witness one of the most popular and highest attractions, the pyramid of Nohoch Mul. Funny story, I was never truly fond of heights when I was a kid. I had a traumatic accident, which involved me almost plummeting down 2 stories into some shale and trees underneath the rock that I was climbing at the time (more on this in a later post). Nevertheless, it was time to face my fears and “Be a doer, not a thinker!” As I tilted my head back to see this gigantic structure in plain sight, I realized that this was a really large formation, 138 feet of nothing, but stone! My eyes seemed crept further up the structure and soon as I knew it I barely could see the top! The design of this structure was beautifully crafted; the 120 narrow step stairway composed of seven, round-cornered platforms. I knew in my heart that I had to make it to the “top,” regardless of my phobia of heights and the inappropriate footwear on my feet. As I had begun walking up the narrow steps in my flip flops, I noticed there were mothers with a baby latched on their back as they walked and crawled up this structure. I remember thinking, “If mothers with newborns on their backs can climb Nohoch Mul, then so can I!” 

The smaller crevices in between the steps made me a bit uncomfortable as I trekking up Nohoch Mul. When I reached the stone vantage point, I felt a rush of sheer adrenaline overcome my body. I leaned quickly against a rock and caught my breath for a brief second. To my surprise, there was a brilliant view of the treetops of the jungle right in front of my face which spectacled the entire Yucatan Peninsula! The humidity left no air to brush against my sun-burnt face, the birds obnoxiously made loud noises as they flew in the mist of the clouds directly above the treetops, and piles of sweat poured off of cheeks as I stood there examining the jungle that extended to infinity beneath me; however, none of that mattered, because I had defeated my “Acrophobia” (fear of heights) and this moment was blissfully mine.