Cobá

Cobá is a magnificent and ancient Maya city deep in the jungle of Quintana Roo. It's also a modern, rather luxe couple of villages, one to the north and one to the south of the fantastic Laguna Cobá. The name, in Yucatec Maya means simply murky water or mossy water. The entrance to the celebrated archaeological zone is just about exactly in between the villlages, on the side of the lagoon, with a second, equally deep and mysterious lake, the Laguna Macanxoc, just a few steps off the roadway. 

People visit for the ruins. But what they find is a couple of little towns where people ride bikes to work beneath the trees and life moves at an altogether more inviting pace. The ancient city dates from between 200 BCE and 900 C.E. It peaked in the last 300 years of its civilization. That's the late Classical period when Cobá grew to be among the powerful of ancient Maya cities. The population was beyond 50,000 people at its biggest. It remains a remarkable an evocative place deep in the jungle, but miles away from anywhere you've ever been. 

Cobá's unique jungle location was reached by the white stone roads called sacbés. These extended some 100 kilometers into the surrounding country. At 42 meteres in height the Nohoch Mul Pyramid is the tallest on the Yucatán Peninsula. The atmosphere is wild and exotic, but the relative civilization of the couple of modern villages make it an ultra-comfortable place to stay and enjoy. Visitors rent bicycles and bicycle taxis make getting around easy and fun. And services are spread nearly equally between the two little developments, making exploring and learning a good part of the entire colorful experience. 

Today, visitors arrive to Cobá from Tulum, some one hour to the east. (The trip from the Tulum airport can be up to 90 minutes.) But increasingly, travelers arriving from Cancun on the Tren Maya will disembark at the Nuevo Xcán station. It's just about 45 minutes to the north.