Tags
Coba, Mexico, photography, photos, travel, Yucatan Peninsula
Sur le chemin du retour vers Playa del Carmen, nous avons fait deux arrêts pour visiter des sites archéologiques de la civilisation Maya: Cobá et Tullum. Deux sites fascinants et très différents.
Pour arriver au site archéologique de Cobá, nous avons suivi à la lettre les instructions données par notre GPS. Après avoir tourné plusieurs fois à droite et à gauche dans des rues de plus en plus cahoteuses, nous avons réalisé que notre application voulait nous amener directement au pied de la grande pyramide! Le problème, c’est que Cobá est situé dans la jungle. Nous avons finalement trouvé l’entrée officielle du site quelques minutes plus tard.
La visite du site est en fait comme une balade en forêt tropicale. Les ruines, que l’on découvre à travers la végétation, parsèment une grande superficie; le site est d’ailleurs si grand qu’on peut louer des vélos pour le parcourir ou se faire transporter en triporteur! Les monuments restorés montrent encore la présence d’arbres qui poussent dans les ruines. On peut imaginer le travail titanesque pour dégager ces monuments de toute cette végétation luxuriante.
On the way back to Playa del Carmen, we made two stops to visit archaeological sites of the Mayan civilization: Cobá and Tullum. Two fascinating and very different sites.
To reach the archaeological site of Cobá, we followed the instructions given by our GPS to the letter. After turning right and left several times through increasingly bumpy streets, we realized that our app wanted to take us directly to the foot of the Great Pyramid! The problem is, Cobá is located in the jungle. We finally found the official site entry a few minutes later.
The visit to the site is in fact like a walk in the tropical forest. The ruins, which you discover through the vegetation, dot a large area; the site is also so large that you can rent bicycles to roam it or be transported in a scooter! The restored monuments still show the presence of trees growing in the ruins. One can imagine the titanic work needed to free these monuments from all this lush vegetation.
Cobá
[Auteur/Author: Pierre & Suzanne]
Les voyages de Suzanne & Pierre 
Très intéressante série un peu différente de ce que l’on a l’habitude de voir de ce pays. C’est sans doute aussi moins fréquenté… et j’aime bien. Belle fin d’année à tous les deux
Merci Marie. C’est effectivement un peu différent mais la peninsule du Yucatan est couverte de forêt tropicale donc c’est un paysage assez important de la région quoique la majorité des touristes ne quitte pas beaucoup la zone des plages. Cobá est un peu moins visité quoique de plus en plus populaire. Pendant plusieurs années, c’était le seul endroit de la région où il était possible de monter la pyramide mais lors de notre visite, la montée était interdite. A regarder l’état de la pyramide je dirais que cela sera permanent et je ne suis pas certaine que je me serais risquée même si cela était permis…
Meilleurs voeux pour la nouvelle année à toi et ta famlle…
That second photo on the fanning leaves is my favourite. No surprise, my next is the group showing tree roots. The ancient ruins are remarkable for their location and longevity. Yet another great post.
Thanks Jacqui. The nature was truly amazing on that site. We had a great time walking around and admiring the different variety of trees…The ruins were also quite interesting as well.
Luckily you realized that the GPS was trying to get you directly to the Great Pyramid before you went further into the jungle! It looks like you went on a perfect day weather-wise, and there wasn’t too much crowd in the ancient site. I appreciate that you include photos of the trees around Cobá as they look equally fascinating as the centuries-old structures they envelop. Looking forward to your photos on Tulum, and Happy New Year to both of you!
Thanks Bama. The road was becoming very narrow and bumpy. Our car wouldn’t have been able to get through it. That is when we look closer at the map and realized what was happening. As for the forest, you are right that it is as interesting as the ruins. It was indeed a nice morning though it clouded over and became very threatening during our visit of Tullum as you will see in our next post.
GPS is not always as clever as it thinks it is! Looks a very interesting site. Happy New Year!
Thanks Anabel. You are totally right…you have to take its instructions with a grain of salt. We always have another map to confirm the GPS… It was indeed a very interesting site.
Happy New Year to you as well and may 2022 be the start of new adventures.
We have had similar adventures with GPS–much too literal. Your photos are beautiful, I can feel the light coming through the trees. Thank you.
Thanks for your note. I think we all have similar story about following GPS too closely…Glad you enjoyed this series. It was a nice site.
What an amazing place – the ruins in the midst of all those trees!
Thanks Rosemary. It was indeed a very interesting site. Actually, at times, we found the tropical forest as interesting as the ruins. It was a very pleasant walk.