Vacation in Ruins

Two days visiting four sets of ruins can really do a person in. Here are the reasons why you need to see more than one.

You can climb all the ruins at Ek Balam and get the jungle view from the top. And Ek Balam has the best preserved artifacts, considering they were only "accidentally" discovered when an outer wall fell and the main tomb was discovered. (The palm frond roofs are to protect the carvings. They were never part of the original design)

The king's tomb, or Jaguar's Mouth.

For all you Elizabeth Peters fans, you can see real archaeological techniques: emptying the ruins to discover what they are, then sealing them back up with rocks or iron gates until they have time to return for full excavation.

Cenotes, or underwater lakes, are also an interesting phenomenon in the Yucatan. Since there are no rivers or lakes in the region, these places were once considered sacred, as they were the only source for drinking water. This one probably provided better water when the cave was sealed, but it's pretty to look at, and a nice refuge for several hundred pigeons.

Another cenote outside of Valladolid. This one has a tree growing at the top opening. Those are the roots growing all the way to the bottom. Incredible.

You can't climb the main pyramid, but everyone visits Chichen-Itza. We did too.

A typical vendor's table. They are everywhere--rows and rows of them--and will call out to you to buy their things no matter how many times you have said no, or even if you have already bought something. The bravest souls will leave their tables and approach you in person, promising unbelievable deals, until you decide to take them up on it, then the price goes up.

More for the Elizabeth Peters fans. If you look closely, you'll see that this section of wall has every stone numbered in chalk and placed in order, just as the archaeologists pre-assembled the wall after sorting the stones.

Chichen-Itza has a nightly light show. Who could miss that?

Coba has the tallest pyramid on the Yucatan penninsula. The only one taller is in Guatemala, almost twice as tall as this one. You're not allowed to climb that one, and with good reason. The stairs are treacherous.

Coba is one of the least excavated sites. Jungle-covered hills are all around the 26 square mile site, concealing ruins yet to be cleared. Unfortunately, the Mexican government only allows money for 3 months of excavations a year, and with the time it takes to keep the jungle from taking back the discovered ruins, there just isn't a lot they can do.

Coba is very spread out. We got a bike guy to pedal us around and save our feet. The poor guy. He earned his money that day.

Tulum had some of the least impressive ruins, and you can't climb anything, but it has the advantage of being the only remaining ruins on the seashore, which makes for some stunning photo ops (but also draws the most tourists. This was by far the biggest tourist trap area we found with respect to ruins).

Find the two iguanas.

After all that walking we needed a rest. Back to the beach for some R&R.

And that's our trip. A great week with the one I love.