Cobá, Valladolid, and Cenote Xkeken

I planned an ambitious day for us, and we started out at 7 a.m. in order to avoid the crowds and heat later in the day at the ancient Mayan ruins in Cobá, 45 kilometers inland.  We got a parking spot in the shade(!) right by the gate.  Once past the gate, we rented bicycles to explore the site.  I dithered on whether to hire a guide, but we finally decided to do it.  He turned out to be a well-informed and articulate native Mayan, so we were pleased.

Cobá was settled around 100 B.C. (earlier than the more famous Chitzen Itza).  Over the centuries, Cobá, situated by two lakes, emerged as one of the most important and powerful cities in the northern Yucatan.  Between 200 and 600 A.D., Cobá dominated a vast area, controlling farmland, trade routes and water resources.  (The population at its peak is estimated to have been 55,000.)  After that time, the emergence of Chitzen Itza  created political changes in the Yucatan, and Cobá's power eroded until by 1000, it only maintained religious and symbolic status among the Mayan.  This, however, allowed it to regain some political power between 1200 and 1500, but it appears that Cobá was abandoned, possibly because of severe drought, before the Spanish conquered the Yucatan Peninsula around 1550, and became covered in thick jungle growth.

During its early period, the city had close connections with regions now in Guatamala and such powerful cities as Tikal.  The architecture of Cobá is similar to that found in Tikal.  Archeologists believe that there were over 6000 structures covering about 30 square miles.  Most of the site remains unexcavated.

Cobá was an important trading center for the coastal and inland cities.  There are many temples, but the most significant part of the Cobá ruins are evidence of the sacbe (white road) system.  The sacbeob (plural) are wide, raised road, about 15 to 30 feet across and 3 to 6 feet above the surrounding terrain, with low limestone curbs on both sides.  It is not known why the roads were raised but it is possible that it was for protection against flooding and marauding jaguars that were much more numerous in the jungle at that time.  The roads would have been paved with lime derived from burning the local limestone.  Dozens of these roads connected to other cities.  One road makes an almost perfectly straight line over a distance of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the base of the main pyramid to the town of Yaxuna.

At Cobá, there were three classes in society:  the kings, who had direct connections to the gods; the middle class, which included people with special learning or skills such as astronomers and mathematicians; and the lower class, who were mostly farmers.  The kings lived in the center of the city and the lower class lived along the perimeter with the middle class in between.  The area we visited was the place of the kings.

We passed by the first large group of structures near the entrance in order to go directly to Cobá's largest pyramid, in the Nohuch Mul Group, and climb to the top (at 42 meters) before the heat became oppressive.  This also meant that very few other people were there.  Limestone, the only type of stone available in the Yucatan, is easily eroded, so the steps are uneven as are the heights of them.  Matthew the mountain goat was already at the top of the structure while we were half-way up, but we all made it.  Although there are pueblos every few miles throughout the Yucatan, from the top of the pyramid in all directions, all that can be see is the flat top of the verdant jungle.  While we climbed it for the challenge and the view, Mayan kings (and no others) climbed the steps to perform spiritual rites.  Notable along the frieze above the entrance to the altar are carvings of the descending god, which look like men standing on their heads.  Although sacrifices were performed here, our guide assured us that the Cobá Mayan did not sacrifice humans (as the Chitzen Itza Mayan did).

Matthew nearly to the top of the pyramid, with Katya far behind

The Descending God

Peter, Katya and Matthew beginning the descent

Matthew, Sherri, Katya and Peter after climbing the pyramid

We stopped at many places to see smaller pyramids and many stellae.  On most of them, the carvings have been totally eroded, but some still show signs of human figures, numbers and historical references.  Stele 20 is the best preserved and depicts a figure in elaborate clothing and headdress holding an ornate scepter in his arms, signifying that he was a ruler.  He appears to be standing on the shoulders of two bound slaves or captives, and two other bound figures are in the bottom corners.  The stele is dated to November 30, 790.  We also visited a conical structure, Xiabe, near the intersection of four roads.  It is believed that the solid structure was a watchtower.  Another stop was the Paintings Group, where the Temple of the Frescoes reveals traces of red and blue pigment.

We returned to the main entrance to the site and the Cobá Group, the oldest part of the city with about 50 structures.  Many of the sacbe begin here.  Cobá's second highest pyramid, called La Iglesia, rises 22.5 meters (74 feet) above its low platform.  All of the pyramids found so far at Cobá are solid structures, built incrementally.  Every 52 years, in alignment with the Mayan calendar, a new layer was added around the previous one, so the pyramid becomes wider and higher.  La Iglesia has 9 layers; the last appears to be unfinished.

Cut made to show how one level was added on top of another

The Cobá Group also includes one of the two ball courts that have been excavated.  Some of the ball courts were practice courts.  Among the Mayans, the official courts were used only in competition between cities.  The winners often gained political power or won a dispute.

Stela depicting the face of a ball player

Round goal on the ball court

Our guide also pointed us interesting trees, including a large ceiba.  For the Mayans, this tree represents the concept of the central world tree, connecting the planes of the underworld, the terrestrial world and skies.  He also showed us the chechen and chaca trees that almost always grow side by side.  The chechen (black poisonwood) tree gets blackish, round openings on the light brown bark of the trunk through which a poisonous sap seeps out.  Luckily, the antidote can be derived from the bark of a tree with reddish bark, the chica (gumbo limbo).

Chaca and chechen trees

We were sweaty and tired by the end of our guided tour.  My suggestion to continue to ride the bikes through the Cobá site was quickly and emphatically vetoed.  We bought ice cream bars to cool us off and abate our hunger, turned up the AC in the car and headed to Valladolid, an old colonial city northwest of Cobá.  Valladolid was also a Mayan city at one time, called Zaci.  It was conquered in 1543 by Francisco de Montejo, who crushed the Mayan temples and used the stones to build large churches and homes for the Spanish invaders.  The Caste War, the Mayan rebellion against the Spanish colonizers, began in this city in 1847--a war that the indigenous people were winning until 1849 when early rains forced them to decide between a final assault on Merida and Campeche or planting their corn.  They retreated to their farms.  Valladolid was also played an important role in the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.  Today, the large central square is surrounded by two story buildings painted in shades of blood red, deep gold and cream.  Along one side is a long colonnade where Mayan women sell embroidered shirts and other items.  We enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cantina before heading off to our last stop.

Mayan women selling embroidered clothing

We were looking forward to a refreshing dip in one of the thousands of cenotes (underground caves filled with cool, fresh water from the the underground rivers that snake under the Yucatan).  After we found the one we were looking for, Xkeken, we weren't sure where to park.  In asking a man about this, I inadvertently and unsuspectingly hired him as a guide.  (Since he never offered his services directly, I thought he was just being helpful.)  Peter was angry with me since this meant that we had to pay him for doing very little.  Of course, I didn't grow up in Africa, where, apparently, one cannot just rely on the kindness of strangers, one has to pay for it!

Despite this, we enjoyed the cenote very much.  For the Mayan, cenotes were not swimming pools but sacred portals to the underworld.  However, the current Mayan population seems fine with making money from them.  This particular cenote has many stalactites, although the tips of those that are within reach have all disappeared, and the stalagmites are entirely gone.  There is a single circular hole in the ceiling which sheds light into the interior (aided now by a few electric lights on the cave walls).  Birds fly in and out and nest along the upper reaches.  Black catfish swam around us and tiny fish nibbled at our skin when we rested on the edge of the water.  Unfortunately, Peter's swimsuit didn't get put into the bag of stuff for the cenote, so he could only sit on a ledge and dangle his legs in the water.

Katya watching fish nibble at her while a catfish watches her

The hole in the roof of the cenote cave

Sherri, Matthew and Katya under a flame tree outside the cenote

As we emerged from the cave, thunder was rolling and the sky had darkened.  We made it back to the condo before the storm, with high winds and heavy rains.  We would have been drenched if we had gone out to dinner as planned, so we survived on wonton made with ramen noodles and fresh eggs we had purchased on Monday at the supermarket.

Tomorrow we rest!