Side trips in Q-Roo

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After the barage of traveling woes it was nice to set up shop in the luxary of Cancun for a few nights. However, while recharging the batteries with copious amounts of beers and chips and salsa has its upsides, it is difficult to not get a bit of the travel bug. I visited both Coba and Ek Balam a long ways back, but wanted to see what the progress was at both of the sights in the recent years. So, I built up the courage to put down the bloody marias and I convinced some of the fam to rent a car for the day to make the trip.

First we headed out to Ek Balam. It is still in a state of disrepair... as the government comes up with the funds they remove a little more of the jungle or put up some more of the stucco they believe covered the buildings so long ago. Since we visited years ago not much has changed, but it is still one of my favorite sights due to the lack of massive crowds.

Then we headed on to Coba, which is one of my favorite ruins in Mexico. The place is massive and home to the largest pyramid in Mexico. You can rent bikes to make the trek between pyramids a bit easier, but strolling between the sites, enjoying the shade provided by the massive trees surrounding you, enjoying the company of your family... it seriously is a fantastic place to lounge around.

Anyway, I´m not going to say much on these since it was about seven months ago and there are more interesting stories to tell! Check out the photos, or my older blog on times spent in Cancun...

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Photos

Ek Balam
Entering the city

Ball Court at Ek Balam
Traditional Mayan ballcourt you see at all of the ruins

Ek Balam
View from the second pyramid

Ek Balam
Big pyramid in the distance

Ek Balam
Nature making its way in here

Ek Balam
I liked the stone work above the door way

Ek Balam
Thatched roofs were put in to protect some of the plaster work going on below.

Ek Balam
The following plaster work was put on more recently. This is what they think the pyramids once looked like, with the exception that it was brightly painted.

Ek Balam's Angels
The angles here have some sort of significance. I can't remember why, but our cab driver mentioned something about them

View from Coba's Pyramid
View from the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan

Skull
This was on the ground in the ball court in Coba. Kind of an intimidating reminder of the consequences of the game...