Trip report part 2: Hotel Labnah and Coba

[Tanaratige]

On Tuesday we left the Bahia and traveled by taxi to Playa. I think the cost was about $25.00 for
the taxi. We stayed at the Labnah hotel in Playa, our favorite little launching point in town. The
Labnah is halfway between the beach and 5th Avenue, and looks down on a quaint courtyard with
a reproduction of the Labnah arch at one end of the pool. The rooms are no-frills, but many have a
wonderful view of the sea. The room fee includes a continental breakfast of fruit, croissants and
jam, coffee, and juice. We love to get up early and eat breakfast there before most of the people
start stirring. You can see and hear birds all around and everything is so quiet and peaceful.
We walked that evening up and down 5th avenue, and had dinner at Palapa Hemingways. We
really liked the restaurant because it had tons of atmosphere. I had tacos pastoral and my husband
had some kind of fish. We both really enjoyed our meal. It cost us approximately $20.00, but we
only had cokes to drink. I was amazed at how touristy and grown up Playa has become in the last
year and a half since we were last there. It kind of made me sad to see it like that. The beach in
front of the hotel down to near Porto Real was so jam packed that you couldn't have wedged
another person in with a shoe horn.
We had planned to take the Alltournative tour to Coba, but never made it down to their office to
confirm with them the day before. On Wednesday we got up and still weren't sure what we were
going to do. We really wanted to go to Coba, but neither of us felt comfortable renting a car and
driving. We walked down to the taxi area and spoke with them for awhile just to get an idea of
what it would cost us to hire a taxi and driver for the day. We finally agreed upon $120.00 for the
day, so we loaded up and set off to Coba. The taxi driver was young, and although his Enlish
wasn't great and our Spanish is not the best, we talked about all kinds of things on the trip. We
weren't sure whether we should pay him half of the money when we arrived and save the other half
for later, just to make sure he waited on us, but when we arrived at Coba he showed us where he
would wait and sent us on our way and didn't want us to pay him yet. We paid about $10 total for
our entry into Coba and the video camera permit. Coba is very primitive and jungly, and much
shadier than any other Mayan site we have been to. At first we thought we could walk to the big
pyramid, but then decided to get the guy with the "bike taxi" to take us. Good thing we did,
because it was 2 kilometers to the big pyramid. If you want to climb the pyramid, you will probably
not want to also walk all this way. The roundtrip bike taxi was $7.50. We climbed the big pyramid,
and it was very scary for me. I am afraid of heights, but really wanted to do it. It took me about 4
times as long as everyone else, but it was worth it! The view is incredible. You can see the nearby
lake and other ruins in Coba. After we came down from the pyramid we wandered around looking
at the other sites. It is really neat because some of the ruins are restored on the front, but not in the
back. It's like looking at a before and after picture. Our bike driver kind of acted as a guide also
and told us things about the ruins. We thought this was a much better thing than getting a guide and
then later a bike taxi, so we gave the driver a good tip for his help.

When we went out in the parking lot, our taxi driver was exactly where he told us he would be.
There are several little souvenier stands and food stands in the parking lot, so we went and bought
us and the taxi driver a coke. He acted as if we had given him a million dollars. It's really amazing
how much he appreciated what we thought was just a small jesture. On our way out of Coba I
asked him if the lake really had crocodiles. He assured me it did, and then proceeded to ask the
local people where he could find me a crocodile. A little way up the dirt road 2 kids were playing
and the taxi driver pulled up and got out of the car near them. I thought he was just asking them
(where the crocs were) as he had some of the other people, then I realized that there were 2 full
grown crocodiles near the water's edge. It was a really neat experience!

On the way home the taxi driver offered to take us to Tulum for no additional charge. We had
already seen Tulum, and were super tired, but it was really sweet of him to offer. I would highly
recommend hiring a taxi if you just have a couple of people in the group. It gave us a more
authentic experience and introduced us to someone really nice. Plus it was a lot cheaper than going
on a tour.

That evening we went to Limones for dinner. We both had shrimp, which were huge and good.
After dinner we had banana and mango flambé ice cream. We filmed the waited who did the
flambé, and then showed him the video after we were done. I think he got a huge kick out of
watching himself perform. Dinner at Limones, with desert was about $50.00. The sunken garden is
really beautiful and worth seeing even if you aren't eating there.

We spent our last night in Playa walking on the beach and then sitting on our balcony looking out to
Cozumel. We really enjoyed the time there, but as I said, Playa is growing up and changing very
fast. We were glad to have seen it earlier.

(Next trip report on El Dorado Royale coming soon.)

[Becky]

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and Hotel Labnah. It's one of my favorite hotels, and Room Uxmal is my favorite room there. It's one of the junior suites on the top floor... very romantic. I keep trying to stay there on one of my return trips, but I keep getting kidnapped by that ryberg guy over at Playa Maya. :P

Thanks for posting the amount on hiring a taxi for the day. This question has been asked a lot lately, so it's good to have the info. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Becky

[caramba]

Tanaratige, thanks for the report. We really enjoyed Limones too.
Becky, the price does vary on hiring a driver for the day- we agreed on $80.00 for Jorge to drive us around (details in my trip report- January 4th was the last post) but tipped him another $20.00. He was great and wouldn't take us up on our offer for lunch or even something to drink.
Maybe it was more expensive as they went to Coba- the furthest point we drove to was to Gringo Dave's......