After lunch, we were allowed back into the air-conditioned van for the ride to the ruins in Coba. Everyone agreed that it was lovely to be back in air conditioning.

At the ruins, we were told that another guide would take over for this portion of the tour. Apparently, the government issues special licenses for tour guides. Our guide was pretty good, though a lot of his tour was about the differences between Coba and Chichen-Itza (which I had seen when I went on the cruise). There seems to be a great deal of rivalry between Coba and Chichen-Itza.

The ruins are only 5% uncovered in Coba, so the tour was relatively short. It does look very much like Chichen-Itza, only smaller. Coba is much, much larger, and when all of it is uncovered and restored, it's going to be quite a sight to see.

The smaller of the two large pyramids.

The ritual ball court. Unlike Chichen-Itza, no human sacrifices were done after the game was complete.

After the short tour, we were given a choice to make it to the biggest pyramid. We could walk, but it would take about a half-hour to make it. We could rent bicycles and pedal to the pyramid, or we could grab a ride on a two-seat tricycle that a driver pedaled for us.

I chose option 2, because I've been feeling like a fat slob all week, and I thought it might be cool to bike along the dirt trails. I paid my 300 Pesos (approximately 3 dollars) and took a bike. The ride was very nice, not hilly at all, and the air moving around cooled me down some.

Beth and Jeremy ahead of me on the bike path.

We arrived at the largest pyramid; the only one we were allowed to climb. Some people climed, others didn't. Though I was hot and sweaty, I wasn't especially tired, so I hiked up the steps. The effort didn't tire me out, but the heat made me stop twice along the way. At the top, I realized just how high this pyramid is.

I sat inside the top of the pyramid for a bit, because the sun was beating down on me and it provided the only shade. Others joined me when they got to the top.

Renee asked if I wanted my picture taken, and I handed the camera over to her, even though I tend to look like an elephant in pictures (and probably in person, as well). I did want to document the fact that I made it. Luckily, I was wearing a dark color, because otherwise, this photo would be a study in sweat.

Sing it with me: "The dork went over the pyramid, the dork went over the pyramid..."

Miguel made it to the top after everyone who wanted to climb did, and offered to take pictures of the group with all our cameras. I told myself I took this shot because he looked funny with all the cameras draped along his arm, but really, it's because Miguel was super-hot with his shirt off.

I haven't asked for an okay from everyone to put their pictures in my journal, but we all know we're online, so I'll do it anyway. I think everyone looks good in this shot, especially me, because I'm hidden behind everyone.

From the left: First row: Amanda, Mo, Renee, Lisa, Maya and Frank.
Second row: Ian, Jeremy, Jared and me.

After climbing down and biking back to the entrance, we got back into the blissfully air-conditioned van and drove to the cavern for a swim. I must have gotten mixed up along the way, because I originally thought it was going to be a rapell down into the water. It wasn't; we walked down some slippery stairs into the cavern and then jumped into the water.

Not the best of pictures, but this was the coolest thing I did on this tour.

The cavern was amazing. The water comes from rainfall filtered through about 50 feet of limestone. The bottom is another 50 feet down, a straight shot from all sides. There are parts of the walls that jut out so that you can stand and there are also some safety ropes strung across the cavern so you have something to grab onto if you get tired. Still, it felt just a little bit dangerous, which made it even more fun.

The water was a little cold, but I think everyone welcomed that after our long trip. I would have liked to stay there for about an hour, but we probably got a 20-minute swim out of it. Eventually, Miguel told us it was time to go and we reluctantly left the wonderfully cold water and made our way back to the van.

After all that, we stopped off at the Alltournative headquarters for a toast with tequila and to buy some souveniers. I bought a t-shirt and some candy, because while I'm a moose right now, I was hungry and needed some sugar.

We got back to our hotel, where dinner was being served. I didn't have time to go to the reception desk for a voucher for Kailuum, so I had dinner at Lafitte (there's a shared-meal program between the two resorts, but you have to get a voucher before 1pm to get the meal at the other resort). Afterwards, I called Mom and then went to my room for a quick nap.

I woke up at 10:30am the next day. I guess all that walking, biking, and swimming tired me out after all.