Climbing Nohoc Mul - Coba - (part 4)

Okay, back to Mexico (btw - hit that link to see all of the honeymoon in order on a single page if you need to catch up as it's taking forever to go through all the pics) briefly now (and just to catch you up) we had just been warned - "Nohoch Mul is just ahead, you have 30 minutes, the transport will leave without you if you do not get back in time. Please keep in mind it is 40 degrees centigrade, or about 104 Fahrenheit, you will have to climb almost vertically 140 feet on uneven, slippery polished stone, humidity is close to 98% and your insurance is unlikely to cover you, so please, think carefully before you walk through those trees"...and I had turned heels and stepped towards the stones at the foot of the pyramid just visible in the distance...the trees parted (and the photo can't do it justice) our task was ahead of us...

Talk about a ruin compared to "El Castillo", it's hard to imagine it ever had any right angles...each step varied in depth, height, inclination and grip by a colossal amount, sometimes a step up would be a foot and a half, onto a two-inch deep 30 degree slope of glassy rock covered in a light dusting of fesh-fesh like sand (only the creaking rope being gripped firmly with both hands giving you any hope of making the next one) -

- the next step would then be perfectly straight, comfortably deep and a mottled surface affording you the perfect grip (meaning you are constantly, and literally on your toes the whole time)...it took about six or seven minutes to drag myself to the area just below the top, absolutely dripping with sweat now, my clothing soaked through, fingers slick, my camera banging into my back looped around head and arm (just in case)...but actually, getting up here hadn't been too bad (I thought to myself, with a considerable amount of relief)...certainly not an exercise to undertake without total concentration, but not too bad...that was (and I'm sorry for no pictures, but both hands were used for *proper* climbing at this point) until I saw the *tiny* ledge (big enough to hold about half of my footprint) over the 130 foot drop I was going to have to navigate next...this in order to reach the final three 1.5/2-foot tall steps that also loomed over the void that had to follow...people were *very* cautiously gripping on with all their might to the top of the sheer wall (about 5 feet high) and tip-toeing along this ledge and around the corner, doing a very passable impression of Lara Croft...only one person at a time could traverse this section...I had *very* serious second thoughts (my feet are much larger than most peoples)...I pictured myself slipping on sand and tumbling off pointed rocks all the way to the bottom...I had some very deep breaths...and then some third and fourth thoughts, none of which were very encouraging either, and then (uh oh) a gap appeared in the people and I just gulped and went for it (without looking down), scrambled incredibly inelegantly up the three dusty giant stairs and there I was - standing like a Mayan Elite - on the top of the Yucatan peninsula (I've still got no idea how I managed it)...! I could have cried (had I not been petrified of falling off and completely shattered)...so I contented myself trying to stop myself shaking and carefully getting the camera off my back without dropping it to smash below...

This was about as close to the edge I could get myself to take a picture (my powers of self preservation being considerable) - at the top right of the shot you can just see one of the water sources I spoke of earlier (the reason why the city is here at all), some kind soul has made a panoramic view though, which is well worth a look, but we didn't have time to be mucking around (unfortunately), next I decided to take a look in the temple on the top -

- with obligatory falling god above the doorway -

- and it was actually quite disappointing, I'm not sure what I was expecting to be there...the space was incredibly small, and absolutely nothing was inside (just about a 10 foot tall Mayan arch-shaped empty space - entrance and corridor in a T shape), just enough room for about 5 people to stand comfortably in elaborate costumes (perhaps a box or two of bottles of wine, some snacks, maybe a rack for sacrificial weapons...that kind of thing), but nothing at all there now, not even any decorations...

Anyway, starting to get breath back, it really was time to be heading back down now, had I had a choice I probably would have delayed that horrible gap as much as possible and got myself in a state, but the clock was ticking, so stashed my camera, waited my turn and then scuttled back across...turned around and took a peek at what I had to do next and absolutely reeled with vertigo...it was so steep...coming up had been absolutely fine simply because you didn't have to look at what you were stupid enough to be doing...shit! I have *never* been good with heights...what on earth did I think I was doing? I get reactions sometimes to heights when playing sodding video games...!

What can I say? Thank God for time constraints...? What choice did I have in the matter, we had to get down (although "I'll be fine, I'll just stay up here" did sort of cross my mind in a ridiculous way)...so I started to lower myself, one step at a time, perched on my arse...(at least, I thought, I am cleaning the slippery sand off the the people coming after me)...but it was incredibly slow going, my final solution was to cross (crab-like) over to the rope and then sneakily come down *backwards* (no view of bone smashing fall? No problem!) using the rope to support myself...when I got to a comfortable height (fracture rather than shatter sort of level) we paused for Flyingpops (who was having no problems at all) to take a quick snap (still about 70 feet up mind you) -

- and then I resumed my reverse descent until we finally reached Terra firma (and my heart-rate was allowed to return to normal)...

Jeez...did I really just do that?

We found a small stall selling ice cold water, bought and glugged down two bottles in about 60 seconds flat and then returned to where the guide was waiting (after promising each other we could get a bike back through the jungle)...he was talking as we were waiting for the stragglers to complete the climb - "So now I wish to explain to you, put the jigsaw together, how did these people rule? How did the elite control the people? It was simple, they ruled by..." and here, he hushed his voice, ducking down with a sparkle in his eye..."Magic!"...he stared directly at the little girl whose ears he had covered earlier (who looked incredibly shy and hid behind her mum)...

He smiled and stood up - "Put in your mind, these people, their heads deformed, looking not like the regular Mayan people, dressed in elaborate costumes, hidden at the top of the pyramid in the temple, word has been sent out to the people to come along on a certain day. They come, they assemble in their thousands, on this particular day the sun rises directly behind the pyramid, the top of the pyramid is covered in obsidian, when the sun strikes it the gold colour in the rock bursts out at the correct moment, out step the ruling elite, it looks from here as if they have walked directly out onto the top of the pyramid from inside the centre of the sun"..! "They have used their incredible mathematics and astronomy to create this illusion, the people are in awe already, and then, thanks to the acoustics of the pyramid, their voices are boosted to a booming level, they can be heard from miles away"..."What do they say? They use their calendar to announce the movement of the moon, the timing of the next eclipse, to these people it seemed that the Gods were manifested before them! Speaking the secrets of the heavens!"...it's all suddenly so clear...there is no mystery here, the Mayans were ruled through a combination of clever science and showmanship...

...and as we paid our money and collapsed into our taxi bike my mind spinning with everything we had already seen and done it came back to me that this day had much more left to offer - on the bus (at about 8am) we had been asked to choose what we would like to eat for lunch (chicken, pork or "vegetarian") as it was going to be cooked in a pit, wrapped in banana leaves in the traditional Mayan manner (which would take 3 or 4 hours)...and then after we would be privileged enough to go and visit a real Mayan village, not a tourist reproduction, but a current living breathing settlement taking it's first faltering steps towards integration with modern Mexico (but more on that later)...

Coba - Jungle Trek (Part 3)

...and so off we set, sticking to the shade as much as possible (it helped, but not a huge amount), everyone was absolutely dripping with sweat (guide included) -

- some people sensibly decided they wouldn't be able to make the trek and hired a taxi bike (which cost 95 pesos for the round trip or about £4.60 - very reasonable) -

- as we staggered through the heat, so the guide would periodically pull the group together to show us interesting things -

- this plant, for example, the Mayan people would pick off some of the peeling bark and chew to help with tooth ache and headaches -

- when scientists got hold of some and worked out what the active ingredient was, the world was given ibuprofen (Nurofen or Advil in the US)...I sneakily pulled some off and ate it, but spat it out - nasty bitter taste - we'll keep the pills I think...this next one -

- he said a certain flying insect had laid eggs on the leaves, later the offspring would work their way to the interior of the tree and feed there - the tree is felled and the creamy matter left behind was used to treat diseases of the stomach - this was where the world outside found "Milk of Magnesia"...next up, something we had been waiting for, these two tiny patches of apparently white coloured mould -


- burst into brilliant colour when the guide spat on his finger and rubbed them vigorously...this is the source of Mayan pigments (and these patches were few and far between, the amount of foraging required to colour even a tiny handkerchief would be considerable)...next he stopped us by a very sorry looking stick (with one tiny leaf just peeping out the top) -

- this, he explained, wasn't surprising...it was "Salvia divinorum", an extremely potent (in fact the most potent) naturally occurring psychoactive compound known to man...specimens further from the beaten path would likely have a few more leaves... ;)

This next plant, he said, was infected with something (and actually I'm not sure I needed him to tell me that), the wound that was still bleeding (two weeks later) on his hand occurred when he accidentally brushed against just such an infection during an earlier tour (suffice it to say we kept our distance) -

A short distance along the path, our attention was directed to a dark mass up in the trees, this is said was another signal used by the Mayan people to predict severe weather, the termites apparently have a sixth-sense for severe weather conditions and up-sticks (literally) the entire hive into the branches (quite why I'm not sure, maybe to be closer to their food supply), if people noticed new hives appearing up in the air, it was another clear signal bad times were neigh and to make sure everything was securely tied down...

Later we passed a funny looking tube, sticking out from a tree trunk, some people pointed at it and the guide ran in, looking very closely it was possible to see tiny (about a third of the size of UK bees) Mexican bees sitting inside (it was safe to go near, we were told, as Mexican bees have no sting) -

- so I took a macro shot while they patiently put up with my lens blocking the entrance (we hadn't noticed a single flower the whole time we had been walking, so they probably didn't have too much to do anyway)... ;)

The rest of the walk was conducted as quickly as we could, considering the conditions...we walked over one of the "sacbe" (the raised, white walkways that connected the various Mayan cities that we learned about when we visited Tulum), but it was now just a (many kilometre long) bump in the ground, completely overgrown...we passed the entrance to the other ball court (which was in a considerably worse state than the one we had seen already, so we skipped it)...Oh and noticed one thing the guide didn't point out -

- some Epiphytic plants (called "air plants" in the UK) living comfortably without soil while hitching a ride on a rather taller cousin...funnily enough, extracts from these plants are used to make most common hay fever remedies (lots of medicine in the jungle)...

We pulled up into a huddle in an area of tiny trees just a little way further on and the guide settled everyone down, and then said "Nohoch Mul is just ahead, you have 30 minutes, the transport will leave without you if you do not get back in time. Please keep in mind it is 40 degrees centigrade, or about 104 Fahrenheit, you will have to climb almost vertically 140 feet on uneven, slippery polished stone, humidity is close to 98% and your insurance is unlikely to cover you, so please, think carefully before you walk through those trees"...

I took a peek through the trees to the base of the largest pyramid on the peninsula, greater even than El Castillo at Chichen Itza but in a state of terrible ruin...Flyingpops turned to me and said "Are you going to do it?"...I fixed my gaze, reeling slightly with anticipation of vertigo, gritted my teeth and then strode purposefully towards the bottom step...

No way was I coming all the way to Mexico and not climbing to the top...

Coba Mayan Ruins - a walking tour - (part 2)

...and so we pulled into the car park at Coba, the difference to the other site we had visited was pronounced, this was basically still in the middle of the jungle -

- our guide handed out water, took people to pay camcorder tax (blah blah blah), warned us that the walk was very long (4km to the main pyramid) and that in the jungle we were to make sure we touched *nothing*

- showing us a wound on his hand where he touched a tree by accident, it had been two weeks now, and the bleeding still hadn't stopped (ulp!) -

- and then in through the "entrance"...trees proving rather difficult to avoid, being pretty much everywhere, on the other sites we would (by this stage) have been walking on well bordered paths, not so at Coba, the archaeology is still going on -

- believe it or not, this pile of rubble is actually what a lot of Chichen Itza looked like when the archaeologists first arrived, seeing the ruins in this untouched condition the plant-life they have removed and the jigsaw puzzles they have then solved are all the more impressive, the reason why this site is so overgrown and in comparatively poor condition is that it was only *really* examined in any detail by archaeologists in 1926, and serious work on the site only started in the 1970s (so you can really get a feeling for what it would have been like, spotting the mysterious piles of stone for the first time off in the jungle as an early adventurer - pretty exciting!) -

- anyway, we picked our way carefully through the brush, stopping briefly for our guide to draw a map of the site in the sand and tell us the built up area here is the largest in Yucatan at around 80(!) square kilometres (about the size of Plymouth), it sprang up here because of the proximity of two huge fresh water lagoons (and three smaller ones), the lands all around the city were an agricultural centre...estimates for the number of city dwelling inhabitants seem to put the elite at around 55,000 strong, with an unknown (but probably significantly greater) number of agricultural workers working the lands around...first stop proper was the Coba Group complex, starting with the main pyramid -

- the revelation here being that the archaeologists did a bit of digging (as this site was a bit of a state anyway) and discovered what was underneath the pyramid, the answer? Another pyramid -

- it was explained that the Mayan's used their amazing powers of mathematics to work out (and I think it was on a 22 year cycle, but I could be corrected on that number) when it was time to add another layer onto the pyramid, so not just one pyramid but many, many pyramids, each more impressive than the one before (in order to appease the Gods)...another amazing feature of *this* pyramid are the grooves cut in this one side -

- the guide explained that when the (annual) great storms threatened as the winds start to pick up so these channels in the side set up a resonant hum, warning the residents in good time (in and no uncertain terms) that now would be a good moment to tie everything down...they had also uncovered a few tunnels -

- eating into the base of the pyramid, but there wasn't a lot to see down there (a few very dark, tiny, empty rooms)...from here we made our way to one of the two ball courts (the best preserved one) -

- where our guide showed us a very interesting carving (you will want to zoom right in, which may mean logging into Flickr/Yahoo!) -

- here he showed us (and it's very clear) the elongated head - the physical sign of the ruling elite (and here the rep reached out and turned a little girl's head away and then covered her ears, whispering to the adults), in his hands a blade, between his legs his erect penis, and he has used his knife to cause a river of blood to pour from his member to fertilize the land. The thought being, two teams of elite played this game (*not* sitting on high watching - actually playing) fighting for the honour (by thrusting the ball with their hips, aiming to get it through the circular opening) of being the one who has earned the right to give the divine blood from his penis to guarantee the rains and harvest...puts rather a different perspective on it, doesn't it...? Being a farmer looks a bit more attractive now... ;)

The last thing we were shown here, before starting the trek proper through the dense jungle were the skull carvings -

- not with hollow eyes, but staring - a sign, he said, that these people found no fear in death as they believed in life after...

All incredibly interesting, but there was much, *much* more to come...

Pulparindo - Mexican Tamarind Candy

So, bought this while I was over in Mexico (it being manufactured there), thought I would bring it back into the office for people have a little go of (if they were brave), it being described as a "Hot and Salted Tamarind Pulp Candy" it seemed like it might be interesting...quite a few people did have a go (after I did) only one refusing point-blank, and the (by far) most popular description of the taste was "Oh, it tastes like Dates", followed immediately by "...and it's a bit salty...", and then "...and there's a bit of fire there too"...(mostly as it said on the packet, but) I was suprised at quite how fruity it was, for me I got about half dried dates, half sultana, (plus the after-zing) which persisted for a good 5 minutes after eating (even only a tiny little taste of) it...perhaps a *little* hardcore to be referred to as "candy" in the UK though... ;)

One American colleague said - "Mmmm...this tastes exactly like Fruit Roll, do you guys have Fruit Roll over here?"...but no-one had any idea what she was talking about...another thing to try perhaps... ;)

Lupe's East LA Kitchen, New York - Review

So for lunch, I left the choice of the venue to my NY colleages (we were expensing lunch for everyone as it was a celebratory meal to welcome a new team member) and they chose "Lupe's", which is an unassuming little Mexican place (staffed by what appear to be genuine South Americans) situated on the Avenue of the Americas...(and was packed with lunchtime guests (an excellent sign))!

We started off with a plate of nachos with guacamole (which was wonderfully fresh, creamy and sweet) and an extremely ripe tomato salsa...

...which I followed up with Chicken Tamale (had to have it, I had Googled it after Brent Spiner used the phrase "The Full Tamale" in the movie "Indepenence Day" and was always curious to taste one), as it turns out, it's spiced chicken and something unidentifiable, (but definitely vegetable-ish) which is brown and mushy moulded into sausage shapes and steamed in the green leaves that normally surround corn on the cob - I probably didn't make it sound that amazing but it was actually delicious, especially with the addition of some sticky, spicy BBQ chilli sauce drizzled over the top...it came served with a little salad (could have done with some more tomato in there) and the best refried beans I have ever eaten (the last few times I have had them basically put me off them completely), but these were amazingly creamy, actually had good texture and were perfectly seasoned, oh and a little rice (that tasted vaguely of tomatos, but didn't make up for the salad)...
If every Mexican place was as good as this, I would be a convert, but I think the cuisine requires a level of skill to get *right* that most people who actually sit down to cook it really don't either appreciate or possess (especially if they start by picking up an Old El Paso box, criminally if they are doing it professionally ;) incorrectly thinking they can cover up their lack of skill with loads of chilli...this place really is a diamond in the rough (especially for Manhattan, which certainly isn't famed for it's Mexicana)...Try it! ;)

Oh, and just opposite where we ate is what has to be the narrowest restaurant in the world, it doesn't even look like there is even room for the customers to go inside, they have to huddle under the blue plastic awning!

In other news I got a text from my sister, she has arrived safely in the city, so tonight we go to eat pizza at Lombardis! Hurrah!

More later... ;)