Coba, Mexico: Children of the World, Life Lessons and New Friends

By Jarelle

The Pure Innocence of Children

I want to start this article off on a lighter note. I wanna talk about “kids”: they are so awesome and precious!
I remember the day I gave my two-year-old little brother a Skittle for the 1st time. It was as if his world lit up! I could literally see his brain processing this new flavor (aka sugar) in his head, I laughed so hard that day! This stands out to me because I was able to give him that new experience and I have the power to provide more on a larger scale.

I am 25 now and I look at children totally differently since I was 15. Although I do not desire children yet – I do wish to replicate the bond I share with my brothers and pass that to my children.

The Children of Mexico

On our way to Coba, we spotted various kids playing outside their home. It was refreshing to see children playing outside using their imagination instead of being immersed in technology.

Here in the United States and in most technologically advanced countries, it is safe to say that children do not play outside like they used to! My mother always would tell me “be home before the streetlights come on.” Spotting these kids brought back some great memories.

Romain, just like myself, loves children. The 1st photo above, he captured.

Seeing the kids outside playing, we jumped on the opportunity to take photos of them together.

Have a look for yourself with this video:

Just around the corner we found more children playing and captured more photographs:

These are small moments in time, but these moments provide you with a larger view of life and its true meaning.

As a kid, your parents would always tell you the cliché saying “I was a kid once” AND YOU NEVER BELIEVED THEM! Cause you were small and they were big and you hated them for being bigger than you and telling you what to do!

As a child, you are constrained and stuck in the perspective of “kid to adult” so it is nice to now be an adult and look at the world through the lens of “adult to kid.”

COBA!

The smell in the air was fresh, Romain and I were ready to explore these ancient ruins. This was the 3rd Mayan archaeological site we visited during our time in Mexico and after learning about the rich history of Ek Balam and Chichén Itzá we couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us.

Quick History of Coba

The Coba Mayan ruins were built in early 300-600 A.D. Coba contains 43 structures of courtyards, grand ballrooms, private room and three ball courts. It is estimated that they had a peak population of over 50,000 citizens. Here we found many tall stone carved monuments, called stelae; a few represented women, inferring that the city had many female rulers.

The ball courts on site were used to play a traditional Mayan ball game called ōllamaliztli. The object of the game was to bounce a rubber ball through a stone ring using your hips.

Quick Tips When Arriving

Entrance fee is rather cheap, only 55 pesos, so $3 USD

We suggest you get there early for two reasons:

1. It can be quite hot during the day and the ruins are in the direct sunlight.

2. This is a very popular tourist destination so you don’t want to be caught in the crowd. It can ruin the enjoyment of this historic place.

Pro-Tip

Also, make sure you’re in-shape: remember this was a city. Traveling from ruin to ruin can be quite tiresome. Romain and I decided to run from place to place, plus we needed to burn off all those calories from the all-you-can-eat buffet we had earlier in the day. But if you don’t like running they do have bikes you can rent or hire a bike taxi. Lastly, wear running/hiking shoes as well.

Coba’s largest pyramid is called Ixmoja, with 120 stone steps and it is 42 meters tall (138 feet). A great place not only to enjoy the view but also to get some great photos.

Views, Cabo, Mayan Ruins, Ixmoja — Romain and I at the top of Ixmoja

On my climb up Ixmoja, I was meeting other travelers from Cyprus and Argentina. For some reason my brain correlated journey up Ixmoja with “The Journey of Life”.

And I write this not only for myself but for anyone who reads this and feels life isn’t going in the right direction. Life is hard, YES, it is! You will be rejected by that job, denied by that girl or boy, family members will pass, you will experience injuries with disabilities, but you have to keep going!

Jarelle in Coba, Yucatan Mexico

The other option is to quit, but you know that’s not in your DNA, right?

Not going to lie, going up the pyramid was tough, 120 steps is tough, but the only way to climb a mountain is to put 1 foot in front of the other and avoid the path of least resistance.

New Friends!!!

On my way up, sitting at the top of the pyramid, we met a fireman from Buffalo, New York named Ramon Suarez Jr.

Not only does he dedicate his life to public service and saving other peoples lives, he is also an adventurer, a world traveler himself and a pretty cool dude as you can see below LMAO!

We bonded and continued our adventures with him onward to Tulum and Playa del Carmen (so you’ll hear more of him in our next articles). The following morning, as we were meeting him on Tulum beach, he was even the 1st person to recognize us by saying out loud to everyone “Hey, it’s BROography”!

Ramon, we thank you for the memories and the service and sacrifices you make daily!

Thank you all for reading 🙂

We have plenty more stories to come from Mexico, so if you haven’t already please subscribe to our onewsletter.

Check out our previous article here.

And to all our fans thank you for all your support in advance!

Jarelle

Welcome to BROography! I am the Co-Creator, Jarelle. A 25-year-old Fitness Entrepreneur in Silicon Valley with a goal to make people healthier. IG @NerdWithAbsOfficial I met my best-friend, co-author, business partner & all around bad ass, Romain, in Brisbane, Australia while studying abroad in college. Since then, we have traveled to over 15 countries and 5 continents. We're so narcissistic we decided "Hey, other people should care about our "BRO-Adventures" so "BRO-ography" was born. Romain and I are from 2 different worlds yet, we find harmony in our worldly differences and find brotherhood. My writing style is purely from the heart and soul. I aim to be as authentic as possible for all my readers to enjoy. I think human beings are fascinating, so I will always write through a lens of empathy and compassion to connect with you. I fear the opinion of no man, which this allows me to be open and vulnerable with myself and you all. Please share any and all articles of your choosing & thank you for all the support in advance :)