Cobe

Ruins of Cobe

After leaving Tulum we made the trek over to Cobe.  We had an authentic Mayan lunch which was very delicious.  After lunch, we made our way into Cobe.  The shade was very nice.  We had to ride bikes up to the main temple which was about a mile into the site.  The city of Cobe apparently was a lot bigger than the city of Tulum.  Meow-meow and I and got the royal treatment of riding in a taxi bike.

Ahead of us through the trees is the main temple at Cobe.

We learned that the Mayans were a conquering people.  They would settle an area and build their temples, then when a conquering army would come in and conquer them, they would build their temple over the previous temple.  It was a way of showing them who "ran the show".  The temple of  Cobe is two temples actually.  It's solid, and from what we learned, some temples are solid and some temples aren't.  Some have chambers and passageways underneath.  They allowed us to climb the temple at Cobe.

The main temple.

Nathan climbing with meow-meow

Half way up!

Nothing, and I mean nothing was going to stop me from climbing that temple.

View from the top of the temple.

In the distance you can see some trees that are elevated, those are more ruins that haven't been uncovered yet.

 I asked our tour guide how long it would take for the jungle to overrun something.  He said really quickly.  Every month they have to go clear jungle away from the roads.  He said it would take about three months for something to be left unattended for the jungle to completely overtake it.

There's some trees out there that look like they are on a hill, but it's just more ruins underneath.

Looking down the steps of the temple.

On top  of the world!!

Carving of the "Descending God"

Catching a breather on top of the temple.

Selfie on a temple.

I'm making my descent.

You can see me coming down.  Going down face forward was a lot easier than anything else.  The woman in the white shirt next to me was terrified of heights.  I have no idea who she was as she wasn't part of our tour group.  But since I had to move slow because of my fused spine, I told her I would stick with her and make sure she made it down okay.  I encouraged her and helped her the whole way.  The lady right behind her was in our tour group and she too was afraid of heights so I stuck with her as well and made sure she got down.  

In the Book of Mormon we read about the roadways they built.  These roads can be found all over the place, they are called Sacbe's.  There is a road in Cobe that goes all the way to Chichen Itza.  They have found many Sacbe's that connect to other ruins.

It's hard to see with the jungle in the way but that is a roadway.

As a matter of fact, this is the roadway that goes to Chichen Itza.

Camouflage tree.

The deadly game of Pok-a-tok.  One of the ways that the Mayan peoples competed against each other was by playing what has been called the Ball Game. They used a rubber ball, about 20 inches in diameter, to play the Game, which was played on a stone "court" whose measurements varied. (The largest one found so far measures 459 feet by 114 feet.) The court had walls that sloped inward, and hanging high on the walls were stone rings.

The goal of the game was to pass the ball around, without having it touch your hands, and then get the ball to pass through one of the rings. Since the rings were so high and players were not allowed to use their hands, it was extremely difficult to get the ball through a ring. In fact, when a player did manage to get a ball through a ring, that usually ended the game. The game ended otherwise when the ball touched the ground.

The Mayan Ball Game was a solemn experience, filled with ritual importance. Religious leaders attended, as did most chieftains and other government leaders. Sacred songs were sung and played. Other religious activities took place as well.

The winners of the game were treated as heroes and given a great feast. The penalty for losing a game was sometimes unusually harsh: death. The leader of the team who lost the game was sometimes killed. This fit in with the Mayan belief that human sacrifice was necessary for the continued success of the peoples' agriculture, trade, and overall health. 

This information is from:

 http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/mayanballgame.htm

We did also learn that there was a ritual game that was played where the winning captain was beheaded in a ritual.  They believed that it would allow not only him to go to heaven but that he would be allowed to take his ancestors with him to heaven as well.  Below are the pictures of the ball court at Cobe.  We didn't see one of these at Tulum.

They have these bees down in Mexico that don't have stingers.  The honey is said to be devine.   We stopped and were able to see one of the hives.  They are Meliponines bees.

Mayan arch

Another temple.

After we finished at Cobe, we were able to do some gift shopping.  I've never bartered before.  I let Nathan handle that part of the adventure.  After Cobe we went to the Cenote called Tankach-Ha....but that's another story for another day.......