Ancient Maya Came From Atlantis

According to the psychic readings of Edgar Cayce, the ancient Maya were Atlanteans who traveled from Atlantis to the stable lands of the Yucatan before Atlantis went down into the sea.  

Therefore, their amazing astronomical abilities and their very accurate calendar system, including the Long Count Calendar,  originated in the technological prowess of the Atlanteans.

Carol Chapman

Ek Balam, Another Fantastic Mayan Ruin

Like Edzna, Ek Balam is another great ruin that few people visit. It is so little visited that the sign is just a wooden board with “Ek Balam” painted on it. Of course, because it is so relatively unknown, it was especially on my list of places to visit.

If you’re visiting Chichen Itza, and have your own way of getting there–in other words, if you are not in a tour group and therefore can go places other than wherever the bus takes you, I highly recommend a side trip to Ek Balam. It’s about 30 miles north and east of Chichen Itza. The well-paved road heading north of Valladolid takes you to the Ek Balam archeological site.

Unfortunately, the turn off and driving directions were not very clearly marked. I find it imperative to have a map when driving in the Yucatan Peninsula. From the map, we could see there were two turn offs from the main highway that would get us directly to Ek Balam.

Incidently, while driving on the highway, we say fields of agave plants which are the raw ingredients of tequila.

Getting back to Ek Balam, like Edzna, it has a pyramid you can climb, something you can’t find in the more popular ruins of Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Tulum.

Like Chichen Itza, Ek Balam has a marvelous ancient astronomical observatory. For me, the big attraction at Ek Balam are the amazing stone carvings of men with wings two/thirds up the largest pyramid. Some people believe these carvings represent angels. If they are angels, the winged men look like ancient Mayan men rather than our ephemeral European images of angels.

We love the Moon Travel Guide but it did not list the only restaurant we could find near to Ek Balam. A fantastic Italian restaurant in the small village of Ek Balam near the ruin. As you’re leaving the ruin, you’ll see a sign with an arrow directing you to the Italian restaurant. The food was wonderful. Absolutely scrumptious. The restaurant also has an adjacent motel.

Carol Chapman

Edzna Maya Mexico Ruin

During this year’s January 2008 travel to Yucatan, Mexico, we visited a ruin I hadn’t even heard of  before. It turns out that Edzna is the location Mel Gibson chose to stage scenes from his movie about the ancient Maya, Apocalypto.

Edza is located south of the popular ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. Unlike the more popular ruins, convoys of buses filled with tourists do not descend on the archeological site. Nonetheless, we discovered it to be beautiful. The main pyramid was built in five levels and is filled with chambers you can explore. It is one of the few pyramids in the Yucatan you can climb. Most of the more popular ones have been roped off.

Carol Chapman