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Published: March 9th 2011
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Copán
The village Copán... More ruins. I'd heard about it in the same sentences as Tikal and understood this was the biggest Mayan site in Honduras, so needless to say I had high expectation. After a couple of unremarkable days in Utila (the diving might have been good but the island itself didn't set my heart alight), I was hoping to get a more Honduran flavour, although I realised I was heading for another super-touristy site in the country.
I left Utila on the 6.20am boat - lucky I don't mind the early starts too much. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the ferry ticket was slightly cheaper this way (L400) and hooked up with a couple of people I'd met the night before, one of which was heading to San Pedro Sula (so was I). We got on the boat, hoping for another smooth sailing. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes in, we stopped. We didn't really know why and no explanation was forthcoming, but in the following few stationary minutes, it became apparent that there was a problem with the boat. It turned out that there were issues with the engine. After a little while, they managed to get it restarted and we
Copán
Main square started heading back towards Utila. They clearly didn't think we would make it to La Ceiba... Then, we stopped again. I had to laugh when a member of the crew started shouting at everyone: “Don't panic! You're on a boat! If you're on a plane and the engine goes down, you panic! Here, you're on a boat, you'll be OK!”. A little while later, the sick bags started being distributed, but I wasn't feeling too bad. Eventually, the engine was restarted and we made it back to Utila.
Once off the boat, we were told to get on another boat if we still wanted to go to La Ceiba (some of the locals had given up by then), so we jumped on the next boat, which happened to be a lot more luxurious, with individual seats and even televisions (which they didn't bother turning on for us). I was feeling sorry for one of the guy who had a 1pm flight home to catch and when we finally disembarked at around 9.30am, we wished him good luck in trying to catch his plane and he jogged off. We then headed to get a taxi to take us to the bus
station. 2 Austrian girls grabbed hold of us and suggested the 4 of us shared. That was all good to me and we got to the bus stop for L30 each.
The bus from La Ceiba to San Pedro (L90) was supposed to take 3 hours but it was busy and in the end, it took closer to 5 hours, but I was chatting away with Tracey (the Brit I'd met the previous night) so it didn't feel like too much hard work, despite the heat. Tracey was stopping in San Pedro so when we arrived at the station we said goodbye and I carried on towards Copán. The 2 Austrian girls and a Finnish guy were also going this way, so we all booked our tickets (tried the group discount tactic again but it didn't work) and got on the 3pm (last bus of the day) going there. I chatted for a while with the Austrians, had a bit of a snooze too and it was dark by the time we got to Copán. The bus driver pointed me in the direction of my hostel and the Finnish guy tagged along as he didn't really know where to stay.
When the owner announced it was L115 I wasn't too impressed because the guide book said L95, but it was too late to go looking for something else so I settled in for the night. The next morning I moved to another hostel (L120 but with wifi) and went to have a quick look around the village. It wasn't big but it was very charming and I liked walking along the cobbled streets. Soon enough, I headed for the ruins, about half a mile walk away along the main road. The entrance was L285 which I thought was a bit steep, but I could only hope it would be worth it. The first thing I spotted was the nature trail, a half an hour walk through the trees. It wasn't particularly exciting and by the end of it I really wanted to get stuck into some Mayan stones.
The ruins were nothing like Tikal. They were similar in so far as they were pyramids, but the site was in comparison very small, both in surface area and in height. However, it was a lot more detailed, with a lot of sculptures and stone work.. I still was a little disappointed
by the scale of things and could have easily walked around in an hour and a half. But as I realised this quickly, I took plenty of time to stop and sit in the shade (it was a hot day) and soak up the atmosphere. I then bumped into one of the 2 Austrian girls and we agreed that we were both expecting more from Copán and that if it had been on the other side of the border, in Guatemala, there probably wouldn't be such a fuss made about it. We had a good chat about all sorts of topics for an hour or so and then we headed back to the village.
Back at the hostel, I had a pleasant discussion with one of my German room-mates and then decided to go up to the fort, from where according to the LP, I would get a nice view over the town. It was only a few blocks away and although the fort itself was pretty (it also housed a museum but I didn't go in), the view over Copán wasn't so impressive. So after a few more snaps I walked back down the hill and sat in the
Copán
Me!!!! main square for a bit of people watching. It really felt like I had done what was to be done there and I was ready to move on. Although a nice and pleasant place, I wouldn't have been able to stay around for a long time. So as the evening unwound and I planned my next move (to El Salvador) I was left with mixed feelings about Honduras. I didn't particularly like it but I couldn't put my finger on the reason why. But at the same time I couldn't help but feel that maybe I hadn't given it a fair chance by only visiting 2 of the biggest tourist centres in the country.
The one thing that I noticed most though was the difference compared to Guatemala in terms of the population: in Honduras, the people were a lot taller and generally fitter than in Guatemala. There was no sign of any traditional dress as everyone seemed quite neatly and “Europeanly” turned out. People's faces also looked more European (for lack of a better word). I would say they were better looking but this is just because my judgement is clouded by what I perceive to be normality so
it would probably be an injustice towards the people of Guatemala.
So after just 4 (expensive) days in Honduras, it was time to pack my bags again and go to Santa Ana, a few hours away in El Salvador.
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delphine
non-member comment
ahahah je peux voir les piqueres de moutisques sur tes jambes! le paysage est joli.