Coba

I'd like to talk about my excursions in Mexico. The Dude and I dropped nearly $200 a piece on leaving the resort for awesomeness and adventure. The first one was a trip to Coba, where there is this massive ancient monument, dangerous as all Jebus heck to climb and even more nerve-racking to get down from. My uncle and my younger cousin went along too.

Oh yes. Uneven steep steps and no rails.

I climbed up those steps, if they can be called that, the way a toddler would scale the stairs at the Scotiabank Theatre. Practically on my hands and knees, I trudged up, looking up occasionally and whimpering that I had so much more ground to cover. I also had a shoulder beach bag with me, which hindered my progress and gave me an edge of fear for my life as I escaped tripping over it multiple times en route.

The tour guide had said, "At your own risk you go up. I wash my hands."

But when I got to the top... wow. Dude. What a view.

Seeing this at the top filled me
with so much joy and accomplishment.

Everyone got there ahead of me. We marvelled at the sight for awhile, and the climb up was worth it. However, going down was... rough. Yeah, it was a bit of a journey. I went down on my rump, not in an incompetent skiing way, but with slow purposeful movements, designed to keep my sorry ass alive. Each step was as high as my knee and about the depth of my foot. Width was my only advantage, and those coming up and down went around me. I stayed close to the rope in the middle, in case of dire need. Good thing I don't get vertigo.

I really don't think these pictures truly capture
the magnitude of this place.
I don't think that's possible.

After the ruins, we ate at a Mayan restaurant. Good food. There was this chicken that was wrapped in banana leaves, which had been cooked in the ground. It was pretty tender, juicy, spicy and full of heaven and rainbows. Eating real Mexican food for the first time made me realize how diluted our Northern version is. Which is kind of a bummer because the Northern version is all there is up here.

We ended the day by going to a cenote. It wasn't a cave type, which at first bummed me out, but actually is kind of for the best. To go swimming we needed to wear life jackets. At first I scoffed, but when I realized there was no shallow water, I was grateful everyone needed to wear one, and not just me. 'Cause I really needed one. My cousin and I took a dip.

The water was like crystal.

Growing up in Ontario, I've never seen water like this. Discoloured, sure, but due to pollution, not nature. It was essentially a huge mineral bath. When I got out, I felt amazing. Part of it was no doubt the refreshing swim, but it was more than that. I was energized and I just felt... great. My cousin agreed. It was hard to explain the difference we felt, only that we felt better.

And yet this wasn't my favourite excursion. That came the next day. The Dude hasn't loaded up the pictures yet, so I'll wait to get into it.

My uncle was lamenting he was out of shape after resting from our jaunt up the mountain of steps. Way I figure, if you can climb that thing at all, you're in reasonable shape. Also, pretty sure I worked off some of my vacation snacking and drinking. Validation plus justification plus undeniable exercise. Worth every penny.