Valladolid- September 19-20

Yesterday 2 friends and I took a trip out to Valladolid in the Yucatan. The city is located close to both Ek Balam and Chichen Itza which are both large Mayan sites. We arrived in Valladolid at around 4pm on the 19th and headed straight for a cenote. There we met up with a friend of one of the guys I was travelling with. He then took us to a small restaurant in town that was owned by a friend. The dinner was amazing as usual (I don't think I have had a bad meal yet in Mexico, unless I've made it :P).
The next day we woke up early, had a traditional Mexican breakfast and headed out to Ek Balam. Unlike Chichen Itza we were allowed to climb and explore the ruins which was really neat. The view from the top of the larger pyramid was impressive.

We drove back to Valladolid after Ek Balam for some food and to see the main square. There was a hotel there that was once the home of the Spaniard who I think founded Valladolid, but unfortunately we were not allowed to explore inside.


We then went to Chichen Itza. I'm glad I was able to go a second time because there was a large part of the site I was unable to get to the first time. I was able to appreciate a little more the extent of the site, and that's without even seeing the living quarters of the commoners that surrounds the main area. We then realized at the end of the day that we were there on the day before the fall equinox and went back to El Castillo to see if we could see the feathered serpent illusion. The Mayans designed El Castillo so that on the day of the equinox, the shadow along the side of the stairway with the feathered serpent looks like a snakes body. It wasn't as good as pictures I've seen of the day of the equinox, but it was still pretty cool.