Advertisement
Published: January 14th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Its just one thing after another down here,and my brain cannot remember it all. So, where I left off... going to copan. We had a lazy morning, and our shuttle arrived at 1pm for a 5 hr trip to copan, honduras. Well, it arrived at our house at 1, but then we drove all around town picking up what ended up being 14 other tourists-all piled in to what was basically a minivan. It was a little tight, but not too bad. After a stop for gas, i think we finally left antigua around 2 or 2:30. The beginning of the trip was relatively uneventful, minus feeling like I was at the carnival on the scrambler the whole time. Again, I was soooo car sick. We stopped about 4 hrs into the trip for a dinner break, which we werent expecting bc we thought we were only an hour away. Lex and I went to Pollo Campero(Central American KFC) to grab something to eat. The guy behind the counter informed us it was another 5 hrs to Copan from there!!!! So, back in the van, it was after dark, and we were off. Next, a bus was broken down and being
backed on the highway, so that was a stop for a while. Then we came to a stop again, and another tour bus was stopped in the road, but it didnt appear that there was a road behind it... odd??? our driver got out and helped a bunch of men push this huge tour bus out of a massive hole. This holewas about the size on a van, and then the road was torn up behind it. It was a horrible dirt "road" but it was not smooth AT ALL. So then we trudge on, and basically go off roading for about 10 min. Finally we arrive at the border. There is not supposed to be an exit fee for guatemala, but surprise, surprise, the guy at the border needed some money. Then entry to honduras and we were back in the van. Once we are all loaded up, what a shock, the van doesnt start! We all get out and the men push the van back and forth a few times while the women take pictures, and it finally starts. We all have to basically jump in bc we are afraid that if it stops much it will die
again. The last little bit was uneventful, and we arrived in copan. We found a great hotel with a bar and a resturant for $16 per night for both of us. Wonderful! We had a drink, were harassed by a local drunk, and the resturant "guard dog" ,whom I loved, scared him away. Apparently the dog was trained to get the drunks out, i dont know, but it was entertaining. Then we were off to bed. The next mornign we woke up early to get to the ruins when they open and avoid the crowd. I hadn't showered in 4 days, but I knew I would be gross after a day at the ruins, so I opted for a shower that evening... bad idea. Anyway, we walked the probably half mile out to the ruins, and decided not to hire a tour guide. Lex had the lonely planet guide, so she was my tour guide. The only problem is that I didnt charge either camera, and i didnt bring the chargers to honduras, so the videos and pictures had to be taken very quickly. The ruins were amazing, as you will see from my videos when I get back. There
were beautiful macaws at the entrance to the park, so we also took a lot of videos of them. After a morning at the ruins, we walked back to town for lunch. We had lunch at a cute little cafe, and there was this man there, don. He was wearing a US veterans hat, and talking with a southern accent, so we had to ask him what his story was. He seemed like the old men you would see in shelbyville at a cofee shop , and he definately didn't fit in in honduras. When we asked, we realized he was quite the interesting fellow. He had joined this group that hooks up US men with central american women-but he swears they arent prostitutes and arent looking for a green card(even though the group has a catalog to choose women from). After that awkward conversation of trying to act like this was a completely normal way to meet someone, he and the woman working at the cafe told us we HAD to go to this bird sanctuary. We stopped at a travel agency, and they told us to take a tuktuk(basicly a taxi, but its like a 3 wheel motorcycle),
as it was about 3k from town up a mountain. Well lex and i thought we were great hikers, so we started the climb. There weren't any tourists anywhere, and at some points lots of people were staring, but an exhausting 3k later, we arrived. Great choice!!! It was amazing and beautiful. Beautiful river, flowers, and the birds were amazing. They were all rescued, and released if they were able to be. However, they were all in cages. Finally the regular camera died, and then we got to the end, and there was an interactive part-I wish we had a working camera. We managed to get a short clip and 2 quick photos on the video camera of lex and i holding 4 macaws each. they were so heavy we thought we would drop them. There were adorable toucans just jumping about and playing. The hike back down was much easier, and we stopped off to watch a bunch of people playing soccer. When we arrived at the hotel, we decided on a place for dinner, and had a drink at our hotel first. While we were having our drinks, the lights all went out... all over the whole town.
So, after finishing our drinks, we ventured out into the darkness on the cobblestone streets to our resturant 3 blocks away. Apparently this happens relatively often, so they were prepared with candles. During our open air dinner, an impromptu parade passed by with everyone holding a bunch of candles and singing. pretty neat! It was a stumbling walk back to the hotel in the pitch dark, but we made it. When we got back to the room, we discovered that not only do we not have lights, but we also do not have water. Brushing our teeth and washing our faces was interesting, since we did it with bottled water. Then we discovered that no water means that the toilet doesn't flush, which was a lot of fun. The next morning, still no water or lights. Oh well, day 5, no shower.... i'm getting into this guatemalan lifestyle. We took a nicer shuttle back to antigua, but nicer meant that it could go faster around the mountains, and literally 5 hours of being on the scrambler later, I was on the verge of death, but we were back in antigua.
Advertisement
tobias
non-member comment
Sharing Copan Ruins Photos
Hi Everyone! Hope to enjoy this and try to be there at least once in your life. http://www.onejungle.com/mayan-temples/37-honduras/75-history-copan