When my family and I booked our trip to Mexico, we had looked but not booked any trips or activities as we wanted to see what was available at our hotel when we got there. At our welcome meeting with our TUI rep, we booked a fantastic day trip to Coba for a traditional Mayan adventure.
We had an early start; our hotel pickup was at 6:30am. We then had around 3 hours on the coach, picking others up from various hotels and making our way south to Coba.
We arrived at the Zona Arqueológica de Coba at around 10am when we were given our entry tickets and had a toilet break. We were given an introduction to the site where our tour guide and, the local guide from the site, gave us lots of information about the working being carried out around the Zona Arqueológica in order to preserve and restore some of the ancient Mayan artefacts and buildings. We then had the option of walking or getting a rickshaw-like “taxi” ride through the jungle to the various Mayan ruins.
We head for the largest Mayan pyramid in the complex, Nohoch Mul. This was one of the most complete and largest pyramids that archaeologists are currently working on and restoring. Fun fact – Nohoch Mul is taller and larger than Chichen Itza but no way near as famous (when we found this out, we were glad to have chosen the trip to Coba). You used to be able to climb to the top of the pyramid which gave incredible views of the surrounding area, however, since 2020, the pyramid is roped off and you can no longer climb the 120 steps to the top – although on seeing the pyramid, you’ll see that it’s not exactly safe and as our guide said, if you took a tumble, you wouldn’t stop. After visiting the pyramid, we walked back through the jungle making stops at various other ruins we had passed along the way. After learning more at each stop and having a bit of time to explore each ruin, we head back to the starting point where we had lunch before it was time to go on to our next activity.
A short journey on the coach, we went onto our second activity – a Mayan Shaman blessing and cleansing ceremony. This spiritual moment took place in a cenote (more about cenotes shortly) surrounded by trees as the rain started and rumbles of thunder overhead began. We gathered together in a clearing with trees behind us and a cave opening in front of us. The ceremony began and the Shaman moved between us, chanting and sprinkling water on our hands to cleanse us – once we had the water in our hands, we had to wipe it over our head and face. We were then invited to cleanse ourselves with the incense on his table as we left the clearing, each other us taking turns wafting the smoke over us. The whole ceremony lasted around 30 minutes or thereabouts. We were very struck by how everyone in the group took part, with maybe only one or two people being a little hesitant during the ceremony.
After our blessing ceremony, we walked a short distance to the Ruina en Cenotes for a swim in the “refreshing” waters. The ancient Mayan language is onomatopoeic (meaning it’s more sounds than words) and the word cenote means “sinkhole” in the Mayan language and comes from the sound the ground makes as the cenote forms, “cee-not”. There are several different types of cenote – dry, open, closed, underwater, and underground. The cenote we visited was an underground cenote. When we got to the cenote area, the heavens opened, the thunder got louder, and lightning began.
We all got changed into our swimsuits and donned lifejackets (essential equipment and they would let you in to the cenote without one) before scrambling down the rickety, uneven, slippery steps spiralling down into the cenote. Because you are concentrating on going down these crazy steps, you don’t really realise how incredible the cave is until you get to the platform. The platform is usually about a foot above the water but due to an increase in rain recently, it was actually a foot under water. We all said the water wasn’t as cold as we expected it to be, but it was very “refreshing” (cold). The refreshing swim was very much needed after the hot and sweaty walk through the jungle earlier. We took so many photos and floated/swam in the water for around 25 minutes. It was magical to see the incredible formations of stalagmites and stalactites with the clear blue-green water in the cave while the thunder rumbled on outside and the rain poured through the small openings in the roof of the cave. We emerged from the cenote into torrential rain and all scurried for shelter nearby as huge crashes of thunder and pops of lightning surrounded us. Eventually, we’d all managed to change out of our swimmers and put dry(ish) clothes on to quickly run back to the coach.
The rain let up a little as we made our way to our final activity – a visit to a traditional Mayan Village. We had to make a brief stop to rescue a tiny turtle our driver had spotted in the road. After he’d shown it to us, he moved it to safety and we continued on to the village. We learned that TUI supports Mayan families through their charity and we would be visiting one of the families they help. We were welcomed into the family home when the mother of the family had made flour tortillas and green chilli salsa – it’s a symbol of friendship and hospitality to spread the salsa on the tortilla, add a pinch of salt and then share it with someone. It was quite nice! We were shown products they make such as woven bags, and produce they sell such as corn and avocados. They also had chickens and a dog. We were so welcomed by the family, and it was kind of sad to not have spent more time with them.
After a long day learning about Mexican culture and visiting the amazing places we had been to, we boarded the coach for the return journey to our hotels. It had been such a great day and we had experienced and learned a lot.
Fun facts from our day trip:
The leaders of the Aztecs were called Mexica which is where the name Mexico and Mexicans comes from.
Mexico was ruled by two civilisations – The Mayans in the southeast from 250-1697 AD and the Aztecs in central Mexico from 1300-1521 AD. We tend to think they are ancient civilisations when really, they were ruling Mexico around the same time as the European Renaissance.
In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico there are 3 cenote systems in the area – the largest of which is over 350km long.
We were so glad we picked to do this day trip! We felt that it showed us the real, authentic Mexican culture and history as well as some iconic Mexican features. Coba’s archaeological site featured a much more complete and larger pyramid and there were people on the tour that said they had preferred it to Chichen Itza, which is far more famous. Being blessed and cleansed by a Mayan Shaman before swimming in a cenote in an almighty thunderstorm, was truly incredible, and actually felt quite spiritual. It was a fantastic day out!
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