Rosie mentioned that Valladolid was going to be a hub for us to visit some of the big archaeological sites, Ek Balam is one of them and we are off in the rain to visit it. Did I mention it was raining…oh yes, its pouring again…Rosie sounds abit like a broken record so far these holidays. LOL
A 45 minute drive away, this remote site located in dense jungle has a similar story to that of Coba, where it was only discovered as existing in the 1850s. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the site was mapped and then, because of its remote location just left. A road was bulldozed through the jungle to it in the 1970s when archaeological teams moved in and started uncovering the amazing glory that is Ek Balam. It is an ongoing excavation and vegetation still covers much of the site, having only opened to the public in the 90’s, yet it has yielded some of the most amazing pieces in the area.
Ek Balam translates as Black Jaguar, the site was settled about 700 AD and people lived here for about 1000 years. It is estimated at its height there was a population of 18,000 people living here. The remoteness of the location has lead it to being one of the best preserved sites around and it is incredible.
We started with the twin palaces – it is not really known what these buildings were for specifically but they looked impressive in their clearing rising up out of the jungle.
Up went The Operator to the top of this relatively little staircase. ‘Come on Rosie, come up for a look…its not steep’. Rosie hates heights, that’s heights she has to scale herself. Going up is never a problem, Rosie went up pretty quick too….then she turned around to survey the kingdom and vertigo kicked in.
Rosie was frozen to the spot cursing The Operator for ‘making’ her climb this in the rain. Lucky there was no one else around…The Operator got an earful from Rosie as she crabbed ever so slowly clutching onto The Operator all the way down.
Most impressive is the gargantuan acropolis, who’s well restored base is 160 meters long and holds a gallery of separate chambers. The roof structures you see on the pyramid would not have been there back in the day they say. They are there now because archaeologists want to protect the carvings and entrance way to the inner temple from the elements.
Built atop the base of the Acropolis is Ek Balams massive main pyramid reaching a height of 30 metres it stretches up into the gloomy, misty sky. Rosie and The Operator were the first ones there again bright and early, better armed this time for the persistent rain than previous ruin encounters.
Plastic ponchos and umbrellas let us be dry and relatively cool in the humid wet heat of 29c. There was no way Rosie was climbing the narrow steep steps of this pyramid in the pouring rain after the last encounter, but, like usual The Operator was racing up like a plastic clad mountain goat.
The Operators reward for climbing the pyramid is the ceremonial chamber atop the pyramid. Entry to the closed off temple is through the gaping Jaguar mouth, fangs and all.
This temple houses the tomb of the powerful ruler Ukil-Kan-Lek-Tok the highest official during the cities peak in 850AD. Inside was discovered full sized warrior sculptures, wall carvings, paintings and murals.
From this vantage point atop the pyramid of Ek Balam, The Operator also snapped Rosie’s favorite view. Looking down the steep stairs with Rosie at the bottom are the images of the twin palaces in the temple grounds surrounded by the jungle that had swallowed them for hundreds of years. Pretty amazing.
Only the centre of this site has been excavated. The entire settlement is said to cover 12 square kilometres but only 1 square kilometer can be viewed.
As The Operator descended the pyramid at a nice slow pace, others clad in plastic had turned up in the rain. We left, walking slowly around the other buildings and were relatively dry on the way home thanks to the plastic coverage.
Rosie and The Operator were lucky enough to be in Valladolid when Mexico had its World Cup Soccer debut against Germany. What a game, we got to the small air conditioned bar down the road just before the end of the first half after our visit to EK Balam. We were just settled in our seats when Mexico scored the first goal of the game putting them in the lead 1-0. The roar that went up was incredible! Rosie is sure she can hear the whole town cheering.
We ordered breakfast and settled into watch the rest of the game, it is official, Corona is the acknowledged breakfast beer of Mexico…everyone was drinking it with their rancho huevros or refried beans. This opens up a whole new world of justification for The Operator.
Mexico were lucky enough to keep that score and win the game against the current world cup champions…..Mexico went wild again after the nail biting extra time was played. Leaving the bar and doing a lap of the town in the rain, horns were tooting everywhere, people were cheering and trucks were doing laps of the town square with flag waving patriots on the back of them.
Rosie and The Operator were on a quest…was the Tulum sign a one off, or did every town in these here parts have one? Score! We found the Valladolid sign in front of the Templo de San Bernadino. Funny San Bernadino himself was pointing the way.
The Temple is a big, squat hulking church with an attached convent about 700 metres from the main square. Both church and convent were built in the 1550s and the original interior of the church features soft rose coloured walls and a small image of Mary on the alter.
To get to the church we walked from the town square up the restored colonial street of Calzada de los Frailes which links both sights.
This perfect street is beautifully painted and re plastered and has a lot of restaurants and galleries…..it is so far removed from the rest of the town…talk about showing your best side. Valladolid itself is quite down to earth and basic, real people live in this town and go about their day to day lives. The footpaths are crap, the paint is peeling off everything and as you get further and further out from the city center it gets grimmer and grimmer. Rosie realises that this little circuit from the beautiful town square out to the convent is all some day trippers will see of the town, hence the rave reviews on TripAdvisor on how beautiful it is. Rosie is glad she can pick the ‘fake’ areas of places now…cause she much prefers the ‘real’.
Dinner was another beautiful experience upstairs overlooking the park, the waiter was certainly getting a real workout going up and down the stairs….this was our tray and its pretty light weight….he was carrying up to ten plates at a time sometimes.
Tomorrow we are heading out to Chichen Itza. Mexicos finest and most popular ruin. Rosie cannot wait to touch this most ancient and famous piece of stone.
