Magical Valladolid
Tuesday 13 November, Bacalar
Already 10 days have passed after my last post... After a night out in Merida on Saturday (3rd nov;) where I could practice my Salsa skills and a lazy Sunday morning I took a bus to the town of Valladolid in the center of Yucatan. I arrived at 9pm in my really nice Hostel, had a good chat with the receptionist and went to sleep in the empty 4persons dorm. Valladolid is very close to the famous Chichen Itza, which is a big Mayan temple complex. I, being a bit skeptical about wandering around in tourist masses, decided to visit a lesser known archaeological site first. So in the morning I took a shared taxi to 'Ek Balam' and in the taxi I met Ana and Memo, a belgium/french couple. At the entrance to the site we paired up with other people to share a guide who gave us a lot of information about the old city and it's king. Some of the ruins of the city are restored but a lot is still hidden under the jungle and only a hill and a few bricks give an idea of the building underneath. After the tour I was walking around by myself, getting lost in time and feeling weirdly connected to the place. I stopped to ask an old man who was working there for some water (which turned out to be from a cenote) and we started talking. He was a Mayan, living in the nearby village and having no idea of the world that was further away than his 10 km radius. He was stunned by the fact that I came 14 hours in a plane and paid a fortune for the tickets. His life was caring for these ruins. eating beans and be with his wife and kids in the village. I felt so peaceful talking to him and had this connected,energetic feeling again. At some point I thought it was time to leave but on the way out I got stopped to take a picture with a guy dressed as a Mayan warrior. Then the weirdest thing happened: he told me he could see my positive energy and invited me to a sort of ritual and maybe because of the weird feeling I already had I followed him to a small cave. There he gave me two small, white stones and he moved my hands around in circles. Afterwards he told me to relax; breathe and do the same movements with my hands. So I followed his instructions and when I lifted my hands to do the movement they started moving by themselves. It was a very strange but good feeling... my hands and later my whole body started swinging from the energy. And no; I wasn't on drugs and I tried this a few times afterwards with the stones he gave me and every time it worked and I felt this kind of energy flowing. So I guess I had an ultimate spiritual Maya experience at Ek Balam.After I emerged from the cave and into reality again I met Ana and Memo and we went back together to Valladolid.
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| The mayans liked ball games. Every city has a ball pit like that one the picture. The ball could be played with the whole body, except hands and feet. The players would be on the stone ramps, trying to get the ball into a ring on the opposite site. I have no idea how they ever scored a goal :D |
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| The grave of one of the powerful kings of the city. |
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| What might be hidden under there? |
I really liked their vibe so we arranged to meet the next day to rent bikes and go to the nearby cenotes. So the next day we spent cycling around, swinning in the clear water of the cenotes and getting in contact with some village people. A really relaxed and nice day.
As I am writing this post I am in a quiet town next to the beautiful Lagoon of Bacalar. Today I will continue my adventure alone. to a small town called Xpujil. From there I ave booked a tour to explore the wild ruins in the jungle of Calakmul. I have a vague idea how to get to the town, I don't have a place to stay yet but thats part of the adventure :D I hope I will be able to give some updates soon!
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