Mayan Ruins of Ek Balam

Located just north of Valladolid, this is a yet little known site and therefore never overwhelmed with tourists. Ek Balam in the Mayan idiom stands for "black jaguar". When the Maya abandoned Ek Balam, the site became hidden beneath the dense low-lying jungle. As with all of the Mayan pyramids, these ruins were discovered when archaeologists noticed a group of hills with trees and bushes growing out of them. Carefully excavating the mounds, they uncovered buildings and artifacts which had remained hidden for hundreds of years.