This is the first in a series of posts about Tony's Mayan drive trip.

I catch a JetBlue flight out of New York's drab JFK that lands me in a bright, sunny Cancun by early afternoon. My mission this trip to the Yucatan is to visit Mayan ruins that are not that well known while staying in former haciendas that have been converted into luxury hotels.

I head west from the airport along Mexico’s Route 180, the excellent toll road that runs the 150 miles between Cancun and Merida. This well paved two lane highway sees very little traffic, a surprise considering the quality of the road, the service areas available and the comforting presence of the Mexican Federal Police. I drive for about an hour and half through the Yucatan jungle until the turn off for Vallalodid and Tizimín. A 20 minute drive north on a well maintained road from the highway brings me through the small village of Ek Balam (good place to stop for cold refreshments) to the Mayan ruins of the same name.

When I arrive, there are only about ten cars in the parking lot and no buses. A small souvenir area is set up but no one approaches me with offers and I realize this is no ordinary tourist attraction. After paying the entrance fee of $31 pesos ($2.50 US, English and Spanish speaking guides available for an additional fee) at the ticket building, I head towards the entrance arch along the “sac be” (sock bay), a slightly raised road of white gravel that is part of a network of roads built by the Mayans to connect their cities throughout the Yucatan. Ek Balam (Mayan for 'black jaguar') is an archeological jewel whose many unique characteristics are just coming to light. Enjoying its heyday during the late classic period  600-900 A.D., construction of the city actually began around 100 B.C. (you do the math) and abandoned to the jungle around 1200 A.D. 

The city was covered in vegetation for hundreds of years until restoration was begun in 1997. The resulting excavations have uncovered beautiful examples of Mayan architecture in amazing condition, all built without benefit of the wheel. Entering the grounds through an opening in a unique waist-high stone wall roughly four feet thick (the only other walled Mayan city is Tulum where the much higher wall was built for defense).

I first come upon a traditional Mayan arch with its four openings to the cardinal points of the compass where earlier travelers would have left small offerings. It amazes me to think of all the people that have passed through this arch over the centuries. Just beyond the arch, the south plaza is surrounded by several large structures most notably the Oval Palace with its series of rounded levels as opposed to the usual angular technique, and the Twin Pyramids, individual buildings atop one platform at a right angle to the Oval Palace.  

Walking towards the north plaza, I’m struck by how accessible these structures are and how few people are visiting this amazing place. At 480 feet across and 180 feet wide, the Acropolis Pyramid is enormous. The climb to the 96 foot high summit is challenging, up steep angular stone steps in the hot sun. On a level about two-thirds of the way up is the opening to a tomb or temple measuring about 25 feet high and designed to look like a stylized jaguar head. Flanked by life size stucco sculptures of warriors, the actual doorway is the jaguar’s open mouth complete with enormous teeth lining the entrance. I can’t help thinking how terrifying it must have been for the average Mayan to be brought up to this temple and have to walk into the jaws of the jaguar.

Adding to this intimidating effect, the base of the entrance is adorned with carved skulls about 3 feet tall. I continue to the top of the Acropolis to find a view that encompasses the jungle for miles around. I also realize that the two jungle covered “hills” just across the plaza from the Acropolis are 2 more unexcavated structures as the surrounding land is flat, at least for the 30 miles or so one can see from up here. It’s refreshing in this day and age to think that there is still much to be discovered. Tomorrow: my luxury hacienda.