Ek’Balam, Maya City of the Jaguar

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 definitely worth the effort. It is, quite literally, a view fit for a king.

It’s also somewhat eerie. Like Chichen Itza and a number of other sites in Mayan Mesoamerica, a thousand years ago this was once a thriving city; actually, covering about 12 square kilometers, it was the largest regional center for about three centuries from A.D. 600 to 900, more than half a millenium before the Spanish arrived.1 No-one lives here now, and the mounds of stone remnants are largely overgrown with the forest, except where the forest has been peeled back in the past few decades to make way for archaeologists and tourists. It’s a marvel in itself that the jungle could have been tamed a millenium ago to make way for sophisticated crop farming and such extensive engineering feats.

Located about 32 miles northeast of Chichen Itza, Ek Balam is among the half-dozen largest Mayan sites of the Yucatan northern plains. Ek Balam, in particular, is both more intimate and has more personality than its better known brethren, and it has only been fairly recently that the site has been open to visitors. Calm and serene and lightly visited–the only way in and out is by foot–it’s a world away from the glitzy, luxury resorts of Cancun; the hordes of hard-drinking, hard-partying tourists in Cancun often miss out on one of the world’s great spots just a couple of hours to that commercialized beach resort’s west: the spectacular ruins of the Mayan civilization that once thrived on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Chichen Itza has received pretty intense attention since the late 19th century. But it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that archeologists turned more of their attention on the Ek Balam. As a result, it retains its rather unkempt feel, something that just adds to the charm.

The most striking aspect of the site is the Acropolis, at once a temple and a palace, which features remarkably well-preserved carvings about two-thirds of the way up, decorating the exterior of the Tomb of Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’. Rising over 100 feet and measuring about 540 by 210 feet at its base, the Acropolis dominates the area and rises well above the surrounding forest. It was up here that the king and his family lived, with a 360 degree view of unbroken horizons. A recurring motif is the jaguar–Ek Balam itself means “dark jaguar.” Large stone teeth create the impression of a massive jaguar’s mouth protecting the tomb, and frescoes and carved warriors remain uniquely well preserved among modern-day Mayan sites. To get there is a very steep climb on uneven steps without a handrail. It’s only a matter of time before Ek Balam follows several of the other Maya sites in banning visitors from climbing the structures, but for now one can freely scale the temple and not only see the fresco up close but also get a spectacular view of the surrounding region with unbroken views to the horizon.

Visiting

About a half hour drive north of Valladolid, you need to keep your wits about you lest you miss the turnoff or crunch into a pothole. The site is not yet ready for the tourist buses, something that helps preserve its charm for the time being. There’s also a village of Ek Balam nearby. And don’t expect an arrival fanfare–this site is as low-key as you can get.

With a central core of three large structures, including the impressive temple (Acropolis), surrounded by a series of a few dozen smaller structures, Ek Balam is much more compact than Chichen Itza, although there are some outlying structures are up to a mile away.2 But it’s easy to take it all in in an hour or two and makes for a great day trip from Cancun (tip: stop in the nearby colonial town of Valladolid for lunch). In the past couple of year there’s a shiny new welcome center with a ticket counter and bathrooms. It’s nothing like what you’ll find at Chichen Itza, but it serves its purpose nicely. The site is not very accessible for wheelchairs and there are no paved paths, but the ground is mostly flat. Climbing the buildings–especially the Acropolis–is definitely only for the ambulatorily able, though.

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