Mayan days - Mexico's Caribbean coast

Before the recent oil spill disaster, Penny Batchelor had close encounters with ancient Mayan culture and crocodiles when she holidayed on the Yucatán peninsula, part of Mexico’s Caribbean coast

It was the Mayan idea of a football match, except only the elite were allowed to spectate in the ball court. The Ronaldos and Beckhams of the day competed in two teams to keep the rubber ball in the air using only their hips, thighs and arms. Kicking with feet or throwing with hands was banned.

A team won by pitching the ball through a small hoop high up in the air at the side of the court. The jury is still out on whether it was the winners or the losers who got the booby prize: some scholars believe that the winners won the privilege of being sacrificed to the gods!

Today, the only actions seen at the ball court at Coba, on the Yucatán peninsula in the east of Mexico, are by tourists taking photographs. A prime photo opportunity is a stone carving of a kneeling man with a head of a sacrificial victim on his back.

The ruins are in an excavated part of the jungle, with temples still being reclaimed by archaeologists from nature. It’s a long four kilometre walk round but I took the easy way out, hiring one of the many cyclists to ferry me round in comfort on the front seat of his tricycle.

We passed the tallest climbable pyramid in the state, at 137 feet, with visitors clinging on to a rope struggling to get back down. “Going up is easy” our guide had warned. “Coming back down is the hard part”. It was far more fun to watch than do.

Coba’s remains are one of many ancient ruins scattered across the state, dating from before the Spanish colonisation of the country.

The Yucatán is Maya territory. The Mayan people, whose descendants still live in the region today, reached the pinnacle of their empire around 900AD. Their cities were not only in Mexico but also in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

I stayed in the small resort of Tulum, an hour and a half away from Cancun, the area’s main tourism centre. Tulum’s hotels hug the Caribbean coast and most have access to their own stretch of beach, with lapping waves of surprisingly warm water. Indeed, the sea was warmer than the hotel’s pool!

Lying on a beach lounger between sightseeing trips was a great treat. In Mexico August to October is the season for tropical storms, but outside of that period you’re almost guaranteed balmy sunshine.

Mexico as a country doesn’t have the same high standard of disability access as its northern cousin the USA, but provision varies. International hotels, such as Dreams, where I stayed, tend to cater for all their clients. Being newly built they have the ramps and facilities you would expect, with nothing being too much trouble. They are, however, much more expensive than locally run, smaller hotels and you do feel that you could be staying anywhere in the world. Ask before you book your accommodation so you know what to expect.

A short taxi ride from the resort’s hotels is the original site of Tulum – the Mayan ruins. In the Mayan language Tulum means fence or wall. The first Spanish explorer on record to see the fort, surrounded by the coast on one side and walls on the three others, thought it more entrancing than Seville. The town was an important trading port in the Mayan civilization.

Whilst the ruins at Coba (a UK health and safety manager’s nightmare!) sprawl through the jungle, Tulum is a much smaller and tidier site, with set paths to follow and climbing prohibited. There’s even a wheelchair ramp, although its steep gradient makes it only for the more adventurous.

The buildings at Tulum include the Temple of the Frescoes and El Castillo (the castle), which is the tallest building in the site. Wandering round the paths of the 800-year-old town I got a glimpse of what life would have been like for the original inhabitants. Only the stone platforms remain of where their houses would have been – the wooden structures and their gardens where they cultivated their crops have long since gone. Yet the structure and layout of their town remains.

The site’s exit has a few steep steps. I found it easier to go back to the ramp and leave via the entrance. From the car park there’s a short walk to the site’s entrance but there’s a tractor pulling a road train on hand to take those who prefer to ride instead. I received both a free ride and free entrance to the ruins – it’s worth asking for disability discounts.

Nearby Tulum and all over the Yucatán peninsula are cenotes, areas where the top rock has collapsed to reveal a swimmable-in sinkhole underneath. The Maya believed they were sacred entrances to the underworld. Today they are a great way to cool down after a long, hot day’s sightseeing, although being natural and surrounded by rock they are not that easy to clamber into.

A 45-minute taxi ride south of Tulum is the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve, a sustainable development and ecotourism area. Sian Ka’an is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has 1.3 million acres of land by the coast. From mangroves, savannahs and tropical forests there’s a multitude of habitats to explore and wildlife to spot. Entrance to the reserve costs four US dollars per person.

We headed for the visitor centre and chose to go on an hour’s boat tour to explore a small part of the reserve. Sadly the manatees living in the water didn’t come out to play but, as we motored past yet another Mayan ruin, we did spot a crocodile lazing on the shoreline and many birds going about their daily business. This, away from the crowds of tourists in the resorts, was another side of Mexico: the natural habitat that has existed for thousands of years.

Sian Ka’an means “where the sky is born” in the Mayan language and as we sped out to where the lagoon meets the ocean and the blue sky I could see where that name came from.

That calm and serenity is the opposite of everyday lively Mexican life. Back in the real world, in the scrum at the airport to fly back home, I was reminded of the fierceness of the ball court. Surrounded by lots of pushing and shoving to check in and get through customs I nearly lost my head: not literally, but my temper!

Don’t miss: 
• Chocolate fans shouldn’t miss tasting chicken mole – chicken in a delicious, spicy sauce with a hint of chocolate.
• A traditional Mexican mariachi music band with trumpets and guitars.
• Sunrise or sunset over the shore and ruins of Tulum.

How to get there: 
Penny travelled with Virgin Holidays from London Heathrow to Cancun in Mexico flying via Miami. Other airlines also fly to the city, including charter flights on package holiday tours.