Mexico and clouds - Coba

Coba owes its name to the five "cenotes", sacred water cavities of the region, a term which in the Maya language means "living waters". One of the oldest places on the peninsula, Coba is located within the lands of the State of Quintana Roo, 43 kilometres from Tula. An important place of the civilisation, the city knew its apogee between 600 and 900 AD and had about 50,000 inhabitants, spread over an area of 70 km². The pyramid of Nohoch Mull, 42 metres high, emerges like a small island from the jungle, towering over the ocean of vegetation. You reach it via a maze of white paths in rough limestone, called "Sacbes", ancient sacred roads that connected the cities to one another. At the entrance of the site, one crosses the Juego de pelota, or Tlachtli: the ball game was practised by the Aztecs and has its roots in the Maya religion.

More than a simple spectacle, the ritual stages two teams of athletes who must bounce a heavy rubber ball, made with sapodilla (the latex tree of the region) on two low stone walls. The members of the elite bet lands and other goods, or human slaves brought for sacrifice. As testimony to this, the skulls carved at the foot of the monument. The rules of the game vary according to the period: the "players" had their hips protected by armour and this seems to indicate that the ball was not to be touched with the hands. Giant stone rings, cemented along the walls, appeared in the post-classic period, from 600 AD onwards. The technical feat, which consisted in making the ball pass through the opening just wider than the ball itself, assigned definitive victory to one team.

This excursion too was excellently organised by Iguana boat, unfortunately we were not accompanied by Elena but by Paolo, a die-hard Inter fan.....very well prepared although a little unengaging.