Thanks to our Cancun hotel concierge, who was helping us arrange for a driver to go into Yucatan’s Valladolid, we ended up also working in a side trip to Ek Balam for the day. The Mayan ruins of Ek Balam were on my list of places I wanted to see, but we didn’t really know the proximity to Valladolid, and this was handily worked out with our driver. We took the toll road to Ek Balam, and rounded out the day with time for a late lunch and visit in Valladolid. Perfect!
I had heard that Ek Balam was small, and not many tourists made the effort to go there, and this is what I wanted after our visit to Tulum that was so very crowded.
There were a few other people here, I think maybe seven or eight at most! This is exactly the way to really enjoy seeing something like this of such significant history.
Ek Balam, meaning Black Jaguar in Mayan, was at the height of its importance between 600-900 AD. It seemed to have quickly been deserted, and we were told by a guide, that it may have been because of drought, or it could be also because of invaders in the area.
Another wonderful thing about these ruins is that to date, one can walk around and climb most of the ruins, they have not as yet been roped off as at Tulum.
I will put the rest of the photos I’ve selected for this post into a gallery. Click on any photo to open up the gallery of photos.
Again, as at Tulum, there was such a feeling of spirit here, of those who once walked these grounds. To be able to go into the structures, and to touch the stones once touched by the Maya was quite a feeling for me.
During the week, I will post some photos of the few vendors that were at Ek Balam.
AngelineM's Blog 
Beautiful photos! We are planning a trip to that area…specifically Playa Del Carmen in June and seeing your pictures intensifies my excitement. Any advice or recommendations on the area would be welcomed. 🙂
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Thanks, Karen. I cannot recommend highly enough the place we had lunch in Playa; Fusion Beach Bar and Grill. A great wrap around covered deck with tables and also tables and umbrellas on the beach. Totally relaxing, and the food was fantastic! It is on Calle 6 at the beach. We were only there during the day, but I bet the night life is fun at all the bars and restaurants we saw on 5th Avenue.
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Ah Thank you!! Where did you stay??
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We were staying in Cancun at the Marriott. Next trip I want to stay right in Playa del Carmen!
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What beautiful carvings! And the depiction of the game is so vivid! Is that the original Angeline?
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They are wonderful carvings. The photo of the depiction of the game is just a copy of a painting that the guide had in his notebook to show us. That helped us visualize.
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Beautiful photos. Looks like a great experience!
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Thank you! It was a very extraordinary experience in this remarkable place.
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Beautiful photos!! I loved it there but we were literally eaten alive by mosquitos! Did you have that issue? We arrived later in the day?
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Thanks! No, not one mosquito. We were there the first days of December, and we arrived at Ek Balam late morning; it was very dry, which is what probably saved us. At Tulum there was a lot of standing water on the way in to the ruins, but again, no mosquito bites for us there either.
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LUCKY , LUCKY YOU ! I AM HAPPY TO KNOW THS..oops : )
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🙂
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Beautiful and interesting place. I’m sure it was an experience being among those walls.
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Thanks. Yes it was extremely interesting and to be inside some of the little “rooms” within the structures was incredible, knowing that the Mayan people were here at one time, in this same place.
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I can only imagine the feelings you had walking around and exploring this site. Pretty amazing I am sure.
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It’s hard to describe the feelings, but very spiritual. Just to know I was walking on the same grounds of my ancestors was truly amazing.
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