Mexico, vacation... Ek Balam, part 4

To read previous part click here - Mexico, vacation... Passing the town of Temozón, part 3

Ek Balam is not as famous as Chichen Itza but this doesn't make it less interesting. This place wasn't even discovered until the late 80s and excavation started only in the late 90s, so this is relatively new and unexplored.

But this location is not as crowded as other places and one still can climb up to the pyramid and have the breathtaking view from the top (this is not possible anymore in Chichen Itza, by the way). And you don't feel like someone else is breathing into yours neck :) By the way, the pyramid here is even taller than in Chichen Itza, just a bit, but :)

 

The parking lot is small there and the archaeological zone office is also not big. There are about 5 sq.miles area discovered but only .4 sq. mile excavated and available for visiting. We passed a small trading plaza and dove into a deep jungle. 

Even walking along the path we barely could see further than a few feet, so we definitely weren't surprised this place remained hidden for hundreds of years.

Ek Balam means Dark (Black) Jaguar in Mayan. This place was occupied for more than 1000 years and some researchers think the people still were living there after the Spanish conquered the continent in 16 century. But later this place was abandoned (reasons are unknown) and eaten by the jungle, overgrown with trees and plants and remained silent and hidden until very recently. When we later walked around the main building we immediately left open space and were lost in the jungle with no idea that we were staying next to a huge ruin... it looked like it was just a high hill and wild jungle surrounded the walls.

We passed twin towers and some other buildings and stopped to see the El Torre - the main temple or pyramid. It was huge... Its massive size of over 500 feet long and 200 feet wide easily makes it one of the largest structures ever excavated in the Yucatan. It is so big that one wonders how this could have been built without the aid of iron or the wheel. 

"It’s a deceptively hard climb considering it’s only 106 steps. The stones are old, worn, and uneven. It’s steep–surprisingly so–and there are no railings running along the side of the wide steps and nothing else at hand to hang on to. It might not be for the vertigo-challenged, but getting to the top of the Acropolis at Ek Balam is well worth the effort. It is, quite literally, a view fit for a king." I do not fully agree with this description, but it gives you a good understanding of what climbing up to the pyramid feels like. And... the view from the top was just amazing. You can see an endless carpet of jungle, all green and lush, breathing and living its own life. Breathtaking view from about 100 feet high roof of the temple!

You can see some other buildings if you look one direction, but if you turn 180 degrees all you can see is an endless jungle...

Ek Balam is the place where archeologists discovered gypsum plaster, used for decoration and that was in a perfect condition. This décor makes this place so unique and different. It gives us an idea how the ancient Maya decorated the king's palace and sacred places.

 

The Tower houses the tomb of Ek Balam’s powerful ruler Ukil-Kan-Lek-Tok, the highest official during the city’s peak in 800 A.D. There are full figure statues decorating the tomb that exhibit great detail. Hair braids, loin cloth patterns, and skulls carved into the belts of warriors can be seen on the statues that protect the Tomb. In some places you can view wall paintings and murals that remain.

As I mentioned before, we tried to walk around the pyramid and were really impressed by how wild the jungle became just around the corner. So we decided we better not leave the beaten path and turned back.

We passed the ball game court, some other building and stopped to take a look at the beautiful arch connecting to a sacbe (ancient road). In ancient times, these sacbes connected the Maya kingdoms. The arch is found where these sacbes intersect the entrance to the city. 

 

As we were really tired from the heat and climbing the tall steps, we just slowly walked back to the car, moving along the trail through the jungle, thick walls of trees and plants making it impossible to take a shortcut and cut a few feet...

To read the next part click here - Mexico, vacation... Sandos Caracol Eco Resort, part 5

Pictures were taken in March 2018.