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Published: April 20th 2014
Black Jaguar XJS Has Stood the Test of Time
Other black jaguars were more common and popular with the Mayans.The third set of Mayan ruins that I visited after Palenque and Tulum were at
Ek' Balam situated ~30 kms north of Valladolid. The ruins don't get near the traffic of nearby Chichén Itzá which is a major part of their appeal. Ek' Balam means "Black Jaguar" and although it's been eons since any jaguar prowled the premises there is a tomb with an incredible carved doorway depicting the mouth of a jaguar-monster.
US$ ≈ 13 Mexican
pesos (M$)
Playa del Carmen
Secondary beach resort to Cancún/Cozumel but purportedly not as built up as either. I stayed a few blocks back from the beach which has a totally different ambiance than around "La Quinta" where all the schwanky hotels and restaurants are located. I really just wanted some beach time (which is beautiful all along the coast) and I liked it more than anticipated.
Accommodation and food First headed to Viva Hostel since it seemed to be a good deal on hostels.com. I did not make a reservation because they had plenty of dorm space and I wanted to suss the place out first but when I got there the walk in price was more than the hostels.com
price (even though the property loses 12%!a(MISSING)s commission to the booking site). Moreover, the price was the same for a fan dorm or AC dorm (it was full) which ran counter to my experience all over Central America and Mexico as there is normally a significantly lower price without AC. I had passed the nearby Posada La Doña so went back and took my own huge single fan room with private hot water bathroom, WiFi, and drinking water for M$350 which was pretty, pretty good for Playa. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from the beach despite the hotel's location on Avenida 35 (avenue blocks oddly in increments of 5, street blocks by 2). Hotel's restaurant is inexpensive but breakfast was not that good. Awesome breakfasts and
menú del día (M$50/45) at Tostadas de Carmen around the corner from the main
colectivo stop (for Tulum and Cancun) and Antojitos Sandra is great for late night munchies serving
empandas and
horchata for M$7/10 but beware of their hot sauce.
Transport Comfortable, AC, fast
colectivos leave frequently from the center on a fill-up-and-go basis to Tulum, Cancún and intermediate points starting early in the morning until evening. Both termini are
M$40 one way and heading to Tulum takes ~1 hour. For Valladolid I wanted to take a second class bus but the departure times from Playa were 8:30 and 14:30 neither of which were ideal. So I took a
colectivo to Tulum ~12:00 thinking there would be another from there to Valladolid. The only shared transport were taxis for M$120/person but I didn't want to pay that much. So I first fruitlessly tried to hitchhike for an hour and a half on the shadeless scorching highway before relenting and taking the 14:30 Playa bus anyway for M$80, a few
pesos more with the
colectivo cost than if I had just taken the bus to begin with. We left Tulum at 15:36 and arrived at Valladolid's convenient central terminal a bit more than 2 hours later.
Tulum Somewhat of a mistake to visit Tulum right on the heels of the amazing ruins at Palenque 2 days earlier. The ruins are much smaller and roped off so climbing on any of them is strictly
prohibido which led to my new rule that climbing to the top of the highest structure at any ruin site is a prerequisite for me to visit.
Atop the Oval Palace
Caretaker was not overjoyed when we stood here, Ek' Balam. M$59 entry fee, beautiful beach below the castle, but the ruins are horribly overcrowded.
Colectivos from Playa drop you about a 10-15 minute walk from the ruins. Only buy entry tickets at the ticket booth at the ruins and not from anyone along the road.
Valladolid
Good base for the ruins at Ek' Balam, Chichén Itzá, and numerous
cenotes. Relaxed, friendly town with a lot more tourists than I expected. A 10 minute walk from the center of town is Cenote Zaci, probably not the most amazing
cenote but close by, crystal clear water, and only M$25 to get in.
Accommodation and food Dropped by Hostel La Candelaria but the dorms were way too hot so I tried to get a dorm bed at Hostel del Fraile which had much more comfortable beds and was way cooler, literally. Unfortunately they could only offer me space for one night so I had to suck it up and stay at Candelaria in an 8 person dorm for M$120 (asked M$130 but paid 2 nights in advance for the disc). There's a decent breakfast included with real coffee, potable water, WiFi/PC but the mosquitoes were out of control in
One of "The Twins"
Also technically called Structure 17, Ek' Balam the common areas. Don't remember much about the dining scene except the roast chicken place down the street from the hostel where half a chicken with sides went for only M$35. The best deal in town was at La Michoacana juice/ice cream bar on the main plaza where a one quart Big Gulp® of
aguas (not water, per se, but
horchata or juice with water) cost M$20 but only M$10 to refill the same cup. The drinks were kept in the ice cream cooler so watch out for the ice cream headache after slurping one down too quickly. Take advantage of the refills to beat the intense heat; I haven't seen another juice bar offering this deal.
Transport I left for Mérida on Oriente's 2
nd class bus at 9:30, arriving 3½ hours later for M$102.
Ek' Balam Really enjoyed these ruins. Bit of a production to get there as sharing a taxi or taking a tour is the only way aside from your own car. I suppose it would be possible on a bicycle but it's scorching hot on the road out there. Taxis near the bus station were asking M$200-250 but we (4 of us, max capacity
The Twins and Acropolis in Background
Basketball court behind the Twins, Ek' Balam. for a taxi) eventually flagged one in the street away from the terminal for M$150 one way. Entrance was a bit steep, M$122 total, as there is a M$65 state tax added to the M$57 national entry fee even though I'm sure the state has nothing to do with the maintenance of the site. Hard to be shocked at these types of blatant thefts anymore but still gets my goat.
There were hardly any people, especially compared to the hordes at Tulum, and there aren't many buildings so when a tour group does pass by it is easy to latch on in spots and hear what the guide is saying. There was one very interesting explanation of a carving with one arm much shorter than the other and each hand having only 4 fingers. The Mayans did not permit fraternizing between the royal and lower classes and since there were so few royals there was frequent interbreeding (hello West Virginia!) leading to birth defects which the Mayans attributed to a gift from a god. The lower classes also interbred but at a lower rate so produced less birth defects. But when a lower class child was born with a
Structure 10
Not sure of its purpose, Ek' Balam. birth defect the royals thought it also a divine gift so that child was promoted to the royal class.
It's good to be the king! Mérida
Very nice city with a well preserved colonial center. Just used the time there to chill even though my first day there was 102°F. I skipped the ruins at Uxmal once I found out that I would be unable to ascend the highest structure there (see newly adopted rule under
Tulum). Can also be used as a base for Chichén Itzá but a bit further away than from Valladolid. Several
cenotes in the area.
Accommodation food Booked 2 nights at Nomadas Hostel on hostels.com in a cramped, clearly afterthought constructed single room with fan, share hot water bathroom, swimming pool, WiFi, and a decent breakfast for M$239 which was the same price booked directly through the hostel for my third night. Plenty of restaurants for a
menú del día: La Habana for M$49; El Trapiche for M$50; and La Doña, right next to the hostel, also for M$50. For lighter fare, Quekas close to the
zócalo has M$13
quesadillas as does the adjacent El Hildalguense but the latter's better deal are M$12
tacos pastor on
2 for 1 Tuesdays. As in Valladolid (and every place I've visited in Mexico) there is a La Michoacana juice bar. Quarts go for M$23 and there is no discount for refilling the cup.
Transport I took a very long and expensive bus ride from Mérida to Puebla on ADO departing at 18:30, arriving at 12:40 the next day with a stop at 8:00 for breakfast. Ticket was M$1386 and I was able to change the destination without penalty. I probably could have flown from Mérida to Mexico City in 2 hours for ~US$130 had I preformed due diligence on kayak.com. Then it would have been a quick 1½ hour bus ride to Apizaco which was my ultimate destination from Puebla.
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