Ek Balam Archeological Site

Black vulture, at the very peak of the Acropolis, showing off its impressive wing span.

Ek Balam (Mayan for Jaguar Star) is an archeological site about 25 minutes from Valladolid. We took a taxi out there early and arrived shortly after they opened. This turned out to be a very good plan, not only to be there when there were few other visitors but to avoid the worst heat of the day. 

Rather than wandering on our own, we hired a tour guide who showed us around and told us much more of the history and interesting tidbits of information than we would have gotten otherwise.

The excavation and restoration of Ek Balam started in 1994 and continued until 2015 when government funding went to other projects. It was open to the public in a limited capacity before this (about 1986) and, as work progressed, became more of a tourist destination in the late 1990’s. There are still two large buildings that haven’t been excavated and looking at the very large “hills” where you can see rock peeking through the grass and weeds provides just a small glimpse of the tremendous amount of work that was involved in what’s currently been restored. 

Ek Balam is one of the few Mayan sites that still allows visitors to climb the stairs to the top of the ruins. And really, that was one of the highlights! 

Welcome arch

Tree of life

Stairs of the Acropolis structure

Steep stairs!
It was interesting to see the various comfort levels of people going up and down.

At the top of the stairs

Rooms and carvings half way up the Acropolis

Shell fossil in the stone

The ball field - viewing platform can be seen at the top left.

The game was played with a solid rubber ball weighing about 6-9 lbs. Players could use forearms, hips, and thighs to keep the ball in motion. Hands and feet were restricted. 

This is a small part of the building that hasn't been excavated yet. So much work involved! 

We saw quite a few iguanas sunning themselves in the heat.

And a small lizard.

I always love murals and these were at the public entrance to the ruins. 

Valladolid, Mexico

From Akumal, we headed back to Cancun for a night to leave our diving gear behind and packed small backpacks to continue the rest of our trip with a short tour of the area via the Mayan Train. 

Our first stop after 1.5 hours on the train was Valladolid. We stayed at the Hotel Meson del Marqués which was right on the central square. Saturday night was very busy with music, dancing, food and other vendor booths. The church on the other side of the square was lit up and a wedding ceremony was taking place. The music lasted late into the night and we were woken very early Sunday morning by the church bells. 

Courtyard of the hotel from our breakfast table

Wedding in progress

We wanted to have supper one night on the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. We chose the one night it rained for a bit so we sought shelter in this fancy conference room. It cleared up in time for us to eat outside. 

View of the church from the rooftop restaurant at the hotel. 

Sunday morning, we got a taxi to Ek Balam, an archeological site about 25 minutes from Valladolid (separate blog post on that). 

Chocolate Story

In the afternoon we went to “Chocolate Story”, a museum very near the hotel. The history of chocolate and the transformation of chocolate to what we know today, was interesting. From providing chocolate to the man just home from hunting, to its growing popularity amongst the elite, to having a “Molina” maid, moustache cups for any friends with moustaches, to the vast commercialization and per capital consumption. 

Chocolate for the man who has just come from a hard day of hunting.

Chocolate consumption by country. Not surprisingly, Switzerland and Belgium top the list!

Various types of cacao beans.

We think the McKinlay family needs a Molina! :-) 

Copper, ceramic and silver chocolate pots. 

"Mustache cups" to prevent men from getting their mustaches in the chocolate. 

A more modern-day stamp for marking chocolate.

The next day we went to Rio Lagartos for a birding tour by boat (also a separate blog post).