The equipment is deceivingly simple – just a rickety old wooden frame, that does not quite stand square, and a wooden bobbin. The mechanism is purely human.
And yet, from such simple equipment, such a variety of hammocks! The colours vary tremendously, and so do the weave patterns. The simple weaves are almost like a fishing net, the more complicated ones give the effect of a two-layered weave.
If you’ve ever looked at a shirt with lots of fine embroidery (I haven’t, it’s not my thing), you might wonder how it is made. You might assume it was made, almost magically, in some factory somewhere, or a sweat-shop in Asia. While this may be true in some cases, much embroidery is done in unassuming little stick huts in tiny villages like Ek Balam.
Making tortillas is a basic daily chore essential to every Mexican meal. In small towns and large cities, the residents can buy from a store that does nothing but make tortillas by machine and sell them by the kilo.
In the tiny hamlets, there is not the population to support such stores, and people have less money, so they make them by hand.
A small Mexican village, with only a couple dozen tiny houses looks and feels sleepy. A visitor can bi forgiven for assuming that no one does anything here. On second thought, the residents must do something for a living! Its just hard to tell what by walking down the street.
Here is what is happening at just a sampling of houses in Ek’ Balam:
Making Tortillas
Shirt Embroidery
Hammock making
The above three articles describe each.
I’d spotted Ek’ Balam in the guide book weeks ago. Uncharacteristically for me, I actually did some reading about where I was traveling to before arriving there.
A large part of the appeal to Ek’ Balam is the Eco Genesis guest house. It sounded like a real sanctuary, and so it is.
Eco Genesis is set in a tiny village which is great – usually it is impossible to stay in a small village. It is close the the ruins of Ek’ Balam – described by the guide book as a fine specimen amongst Mayan ruins, with relatively few visitors. I am not disappointed.
The first order of business is to chill out. 
After months of having an agenda (more things to do in a day than I can possibly manage), I need a rest. The first day at Eco Genesis I do nothing, except lay in the hammock in front of my room, talk to other guests (an interesting lot), eat an enjoy the garden.
