On the way there from Chichen Itza we saw a couple little towns that Mosiah called "real Mexico".
I wish that I could have jumped out of the car to take pictures. This little towns were so beautiful in their own way. They were sweet and quaint with a virgin Mary on every corner. I wanted to capture the way that the town was and the way the people lived but we were on a schedule.
I wish that I could have jumped out of the car to take pictures. This little towns were so beautiful in their own way. They were sweet and quaint with a virgin Mary on every corner. I wanted to capture the way that the town was and the way the people lived but we were on a schedule.
This is us entering the city. It was walled much like Tulum.
When we left Chichen Itza, it was intensely busy. Mosiah told us that in a month, Chichen Itza will see a couple thousand tourists but Ek Balam will see a couple hundred.
It was so quiet when we got there. There were about 10 other people walking around inside. Ek Balam was also very very beautiful because it was still grown over with vegetation. Whenever you see hills or large mounts in Mexico, you know that it is really a ruin underneath. And there were still tons of mounts needing to be dug out in Ek Balam. And the ones that were uncovered, were amazing.
When we left Chichen Itza, it was intensely busy. Mosiah told us that in a month, Chichen Itza will see a couple thousand tourists but Ek Balam will see a couple hundred.
It was so quiet when we got there. There were about 10 other people walking around inside. Ek Balam was also very very beautiful because it was still grown over with vegetation. Whenever you see hills or large mounts in Mexico, you know that it is really a ruin underneath. And there were still tons of mounts needing to be dug out in Ek Balam. And the ones that were uncovered, were amazing.
This is a Mayan arched door way. When we finally got the chance in Ek Balam to go inside a building, we saw that the ceilings inside the buildings were arches like this also.
This is a picture from the bottom of the building that was most likely the observatory.
This is Aaron on the observatory with the view of the city behind him.
This is a view of the main temple from a top a smaller building that was probably the observatory at one point because it has some rounded rooms. We hiked up a lot of stairs that day! This is me at the top of the observatory.
In Chichen Itza you can't hike up the main temple because too many people have fallen down them and hurt themselves but Ek Balam is still open for people to climb since there are some beautiful original carvings under the thatched roofs.
Right at the base of the large temple was a ball court. Since we were on an LDS tour, our guide said, "Once, someone asked me, 'Why would the temple be right next to the ball court?'. I told them, 'Why do we have a basketball court in all of our chapels?' The church is the same. We like to watch and play sports with our family." Aaron agreed that if young men don't have something to keep them busy, they will get themselves into trouble.
This is Aaron on the observatory with the view of the city behind him.
This is a view of the main temple from a top a smaller building that was probably the observatory at one point because it has some rounded rooms. We hiked up a lot of stairs that day! This is me at the top of the observatory.
In Chichen Itza you can't hike up the main temple because too many people have fallen down them and hurt themselves but Ek Balam is still open for people to climb since there are some beautiful original carvings under the thatched roofs.
Right at the base of the large temple was a ball court. Since we were on an LDS tour, our guide said, "Once, someone asked me, 'Why would the temple be right next to the ball court?'. I told them, 'Why do we have a basketball court in all of our chapels?' The church is the same. We like to watch and play sports with our family." Aaron agreed that if young men don't have something to keep them busy, they will get themselves into trouble.
Here is one half of that court. As you can see, the ring is missing. Those had apparently broken off hundreds of years ago. These ruins date back to 100BC so....you really can't expect it to stay in mint condition.
It was time to start walking up the stairs to head to the top of the temple. 114 steps. Lucky there are things to see and look at every 40 steps.
Underneath all of the thatched roofs were places with the original plaster. HOW AMAZING!? It was so well preserved even after hundreds of years. I mean....we were able to look at something that was walked by all the time and touched by the Mayan people who lived there. Not a restoration but the ORIGINAL.
This is the Jaguar mouth at the main door of the temple. It is meant to represent a portal to another world. Can you imagine hunting in the woods and looking up and seeing this brilliantly white beacon in the sun leading you back home?
Aaron thought of that while we were up there. And I think that it is an amazing thought. The top of this temple would have been so bright, you would have been able to see it for miles.
It was time for the last stop. We had to get to the tippy top of the temple. After zig-zagging like a mountain goat all the way to the top. It was was well worth the hike for THE VIEW!
We were hot, tired and extremely happy. It was the perfect end of our trip. We are so happy that we got to meet Mosiah at Tulum and go on another adventure with him. I can't imagine our trip any different. Everything happened to make Mexico an awesome vacation for us.
Now where should we go next? ;)
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