Day 52 : Ek Balam

Ek Balam is located about 30 mins by collectivo from Valladolid.  Again, I was shocked at the entrance fee, not as high as Chichen Itza, but still a slap on the wrist with a state fee of MXP127, on top of the “standard” MXP 65 entrance fee. 

There wasn’t much crowd at this site, since most of the attention goes to Chichen Itza, but there were still a couple tour groups that came through while I was there. 

The excavated area of Ek Balam is rather small, and could be easily covered in 40mins, with almost every monument climbable. 

The key attraction is the Acropolis, a huge wall like structure, measuring 151m long, 60m wide and 30m high, with the only way of getting to the top is by climbing a steep flight of 106 steps.

It is worth the climb, with a few good stops that can be made on each side of the steps leading to the top, to see the impressive well-restored full figure statues in great detail, albeit with the colour of the restored pieces creating an artificial feel to the items.

Upon reaching the top, the view was spectacular, as the site is surrounded by the jungle, and in the distance, one could see a couple of the other temples in Ek Balam peeping through the green.

Located just 1.5km from the entrance of Ek Balam is Cenote X’Canche.  It is a huge Cenote with its own beauty and charm.  For some reason, most tour groups avoid bringing their groups here, so the Cenote was fairly quiet, with only about 10 people in the Cenote when I was there.  There is also a rope swing at this site, for those seeking some fun. 

Met 3 other people (Jake, Tamara and Deb) at the Cenote, which I later found out that we stayed in the same dorm. 

Coincidentally, I also found out that Jake (Aussie guy) is also travelling towards Costa Rica with very similar timelines, so likely we will be seeing more of each other along the way.