Despite the girls’ protests, we woke up in Valladolid, and set out for the Ek’ Balam pyramids (yes, more pyramids…come on…I know you’re thinking it, too)!
I guess you could say that we were a bit pyramided-out by then, and we didn’t appreciate them fully. Nevertheless, we took a nice walk through the grounds and took many photos…
We climbed some pyramids with the kids…
And got some great photos of the complex.
Needing a break from walking we watched some workers treking some large stacks of palm leaves up the staircase, and we watched about a dozen workers lay them on a new palapa.
As usual, these palapas were constructed as a safeguard for the carvings that are left in-tact on the ruins.
On the way out, a young man asked to take a photo with the girls for the price of any tip we were willing to give (Maiya was too scared to take him up on it). I don’t know if his costume was at all indicative of what they wore…but it still caught our interest, as did the conch he blew into for the photo. We gave him a small tip, and I later worried that perhaps I should have given more. I appreciated the fact that he let us name our price, but then again, decisions like that make me worry that I give too much, or too little!
Looking back at the photos, I think the Ek’ Balam pyramids look cooler than I remember. That particular morning, they just didn’t do that much for us.
We had quickly become pyramid-snobs
If you’re visiting the Yucatan, and you don’t have time to see spectacular ruins like Uxmal and Kabah, Ek’ Balam is a fair option. No…really…probably better than fair. But watch out…if you see too many, you’ll quickly finding yourselves turning up your noses at even so-called “spectacular” pyramids like Chichen Itza. It comes with the territory…
