Ek Balam and X’canche

I was ambitious in thinking that we will be at Ek Balam  and X’canche by 8AM. We got up earlier today and had breakfast at 7:30 am. It was already 8 am by the time we left.

Google said it would take less than an hour from Chichen Itza to Ek Balam. By the time we got there it was already around 10am. We did do a couple of stop-overs. One, we had to have gas… had to take a nasty turn going against the traffic of the one-way highway. Here in the Yucatan, I wondered how one finds a way to turn around the very long stretches of one-way highways. Pretty much a thick jungle of vegetation separated the lanes. I guess we had our answer. Two, we stopped by at a local store in the town of Piste and grabbed a 24-bottle stack of mineral water. Oh, and third, we did get a bit lost…took a turn to Ek Balam Pueblo, instead of heading straight to the archeological site. The little town reminded me of Cabagan where my grandparents lived, at the time where there was no electricity nor running water. There were houses with thatched rooves of grass and bamboo walls. Striking colorful hammocks being sold by the locals hung in front of their homes. We passed by a couple of houses where women were busy hand-weaving. At the municipal center, goats munched on the overgrown grass… natural lawn-mower.

Exploring Ek-Balam

Ek Balam We paid 220 pesos each for the entrance, which by then I realized was fairly standard for archaeological sites. We got two sets of tickets which were then barcoded separately at two different checkpoints. Apparently, 65 pesos goes to federal government, the rest to the state. I take it, Federal gets their revenue straight away. Same with the state. Separation of accounts at the point of sale. Neat system!

Three Mayan ‘warriors’ in their “gears” greeted us at the path headed to the site. They were all tattooed head to toe, wearing nothing else but their loin-cloth cover. They looked fierce! It was a great free photo opportunity — but not for free!

At the entrance, the first thing I saw was an arch with a triangular tip. Unlike Chichen Itza, the whole place was accessible. Not many tourists, so it was nice. The first part, the Oval Palace stood directly across the Acropolis (what looked like the main pyramid) was an easy climb. The second part, the Acropolis – was a tougher climb. It’s just as high as Chichen Itza pyramid, 30 meters. But it’s much steeper, I had to hold on to the steps with one hand when I stepped down, foot by foot. I found that while Chichen Itza was primarily a temple for warriors, Ek Balam was a palace. Through the searing sun, we finally reached the top. The breathtaking view revealed a flat jungle, covered with lush vegetation. Jutting out of the canopy were the other two ancient structures – one of them, the distinct Oval Palace. Other than that, the 360-degree view was simply a sea of green forest as far as the eye can see over the horizon. Satisfied with the climb and selfies, we made our way down. We walked around and in less than 15 minutes, covered the whole area – the place was much smaller than Chichen. From there we headed back to the entrance where we turned to the right for X’canche cenote.

Plunging into X’canche

X’canche – I found X’canche more intimate with just a handful of mostly locals hanging out, compared to the busloads of tourists that raided Ik’kil cenote. We opted for the general entrance tickets of 30 pesos over a pedicab with tickets for 100 pesos. It was a fairly solitary 1.5km walk to the cenote. The trees lining the path shielded us from the relentless midday sun. There was no escape from the heat! By the time we got to the cenote, we were ready to plunge in! The waterhole was almost the size of Ik-kil Cenote. The midday rays of the sun hit the water at just the right angle revealing to us a crystal clear blue-green color. Saw black fishes swimming! The water was probably 20 meters deep like Ik-kil, but we couldn’t see the bottom of it no matter how clear the water. Around the edges of the cenote, the rocks a couple meter or so deep were highly visible beneath the water. I saw a rope hanging, swung from it and took a plunge! So refreshing. Did it twice. Then just hang out at the edge enjoying the stunning scenery. Mr. Cowboy not only took to the hanging rope, swinging and plunging countless times, he went up the 10-meter high platform and jumped from it. His landing proved painful so he didn’t do it again! He was sore he didn’t get to do it with his GoPro. I jumped in from a jutting rock one last time and swam to the middle of the cenote. I hung on to a rope that ran across the cenote, and enjoyed the water longer. We were ready to leave by 2pm when it started raining. So random! The skies were clear with just a bit of clouds hovering the rain was certainly a surprise! It then abruptly receded into a soft rain while the sun was still shining. We walked the 1.5 km back and was almost dry by the time we reached the car park. A coconut vendor was enterprising enough waiting at the right position. The coconuts smiled at me! Not only did it quench our thirst, the coconut meat also staved off our hunger.