Ek Balam, Mexico

Continuing the rundown of my recent trip to Mexico, this post takes in the spectacular nature reserve of Rio Lagartos and the ancient ruins of Ek Balam and Uxmal.

MERIDA – 23-24/11/12

From Chichen Itza, we headed back to Valladolid, before setting off the following morning for Rio Lagartos on the coast.

Valladolid itself is an unremarkable town. The central square and surrounding streets are worth a visit if you’ve got a couple of hours to kill.

In Rio Lagartos, we took to the water and went in search of local wildlife. First up were flamingos – and plenty of them.

That wasn’t all: eagles, hawks, cormorants, pelicans and a crocodile. A good trip in this well looked-after sanctuary.

Ek Balam was the next stop after Rio Lagartos. It’s not as large a site as Chichen Itza, at some 12 square kilometres. The main ‘acropolis’ construction is one of the largest in the Yucatan state and you can scale its steep steps if you’re feeling energetic. The view at the top is impressive, looking down on the vast expanse of jungle all around.

From Ek Balam we headed to our next overnight stop, which was the town of Merida. The ‘El Governador’ hotel was our home for the night.

In a central location, the El Governador has a restaurant attached that coped well with our group of 20 and the various demands that this brings with it (from vegetarians, to no fish and even no peppers – I’m not sure the Mexicans have ever contemplated the latter, but a dish without peppers duly arrived following the request).

Breakfast at the El Governador hotel in Merida was good, too. Served ‘American’ style at the table, there was fruit followed by either eggs or pancakes.

We had just enough time to explore Merida and its multi-coloured streets. While not exactly glamorous, it does have something of an attraction about it. Perhaps it’s that it seems ‘typically’ Mexican. From the cars to the people and the things they sell and do, it just seemed to fit the stereotypes. Worth a visit, if not a prolonged stay.

UXMAL – 24-25/11/12

After leaving Merida, Uxmal was our next base. To be precise, it was the Hacienda Hotel in Uxmal.

The Hacienda Hotel has in impressive pedigree, with many a world leader and personality having stayed there over the years, albeit not it seems in the last 20 years. HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip take pride of place in the entry hall, having visited back in 1975. They’re joined by Princess Grace of Monaco and Henry Kissinger, among others.

The Hacienda Hotel is handily located for the archeological site at Uxmal – literally no more than a stone’s throw away across the road.

We made two visits to the site at Uxmal – the first in daylight and the second in the evening for the ‘sound and light’ show (more on that later!).

In the light, Uxmal impresses from when you first enter. The first monument you see as you enter is a pyramid-style construction. The first view you get is actually the rear, but you wouldn’t necessarily know.

There are numerous ancient Mayan buildings at Uxmal, but you inevitably end up in the four-sided theatre-style area, complete with ornate stone carvings all around.

There’s plenty to see here and it’s well worth looking around. This part of the site is also the venue for the sound and light show that we returned to see in the evening.

The sound and light show at Uxmal was set up with sound on speakers and coloured light illuminating the various monuments within the vicinity.

The main voiceover was in Spanish but you could opt for the 39 Peso (£2) audio headset. The 45-minute show was a walkthrough of various historic events that happened in the area, but it lacked any real substance.

The synchronicity between sound and light was ok, but didn’t really achieve anything. It would have been much easier to just read the information in about 10 minutes. One to skip if you’ve got any better offers.

Further posts to follow. This trip was booked through Archers Direct. The local tour company was ‘Best Day Travel’.