Copan Ruinas, Honduras

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From Santa Ana in El Salvador, we had decided to duck through Guatemala to Copan Ruinas in Honduras. The first leg is our arranged ride with the guys in the truck, who take us out of their way to drop us at the Guatemalan frontera (border) before their work, which is great. We pas through Metapan, known for cement works, and glimpse beautiful lakes and lush forests with little rubbish. Immigration at the El Salvador/Guatemala border is straight forward, and we walk over a small bridge back into Guatemala to jump on a public micro bus. We travel through nice mountain areas, which strangely seem drier than in El Salvador. By the time we get off that bus we are in sweltering heat and waiting for the next micro bus at an intersection called Vado Hondo.

Each micro bus is the size of a small van and our packs are thrown up onto the roof rack and tied on and we cram into the bus with the locals. The guy taking our money is hanging out of the side door as we bump along the road, stopping anywhere someone is standing on the side of the road to be picked up. Usually just as the absolute capacity of the van seems to be reached, a couple of people get off and the remainder breath out and shuffle over a little until the next lot get on.

So we squash into another one of these, which we think is taking us to the border. Unfortunately when we reach the end of the line at El Florido, we are told that isn't the border and we are waved into another even more crowded micro, packs thrown on top again. By this stage we have no Guatemalan quetzales left, so when we offer US dollars for the ride they tell us it will be US$25, but then to our amazement they laugh and say there’s no charge at all! The Guatemala/Honduras border crossing is straight forward as well, with plenty of money changers walking around offering to exchange Guatemalan quetzales and US dollars into Honduran lempiras.

We grab another packed sweaty micro bus to the town of Copan Ruinas and in our exhaustion take the 1st posada accommodation we find. We dump our bags and zip out for a quick look at the town while we get some food. On the narrow cobbled streets near the parque central we scoff pincha de rez (beef kebabs) cooked on mini BBQs at tables on the pavement. We return to our posada just as a thunder storm arrives which takes out the town’s power for the night, so no water at all for a shower, and we lie around sweating in the candlelight beside the idle fan! Others are out in the dark in the pouring rain attempting to wash themselves.

The next morning we are up early to book into another posada and leave our bags there. A much better place for same price with a communal area with hammocks on the top floor. We walk down the road to Copan, the famous Mayan ruins, and manage to arrange to share an English-speaking guide (Juan) with a couple of German tourists. The ruins cover quite a large area partially covered in jungle where the Mayan people lived when this place was the capital city of the kingdom from about the 5th century to 9th century AD. Thats many hundreds of years ago. The royalty lived in the central area of Copan and the lower classes further out and along the river. There are the stone remains of residential areas, temples, stellae (single carved rocks), a famous hieroglyphic staircase with carved rocks that supposedly tell the history of the Mayan people, and even a ball-court. They believe the Mayans played a ball game that involved keeping a heavy ball in the air, played in an area with sloped sides, and a big game played for the royalty would result in one of the players being sacrificed afterwards. We heard differing views on whether it was the winner or loser who was killed and offered to the gods. Apparently they also sacrificed animals to please the gods, luckily I make it out in one piece!

Juan shows us a number of plants used by the locals for insecticides, cuts, soap and beads and after our guided walk we spend a few hours wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere in the beautiful peaceful site. The Mayans built on top of the old so there are lots of layers of history on top of one another in that place. I do a bit of conversing with some very colourful and vocal macaws (large parrots), we spot a number of agoutes (cat-sized rodents) and I check out the hugest caterpillars I’ve ever seen which are grouped together on trees. The thunder is starting in the distance as we begin the walk back to the town, and we just make it back to the new posada before the rain starts. There are rivers of rain pouring down the cobbled streets by the time we venture out for food. We huddle on stools under umbrellas on the street eating our pollo (chicken) and tortillas, jandaled feet in the running water.

The next day is a quiet one looking around the town, checking out the market, reading and planning the next adventures. Unfortunately Keith gets hammock trauma injury - semi-permanent armadillo patterns on his back that have to be covered by a t-shirt! His recovery is aided by fresh mangoes, licuados and our discovery of baleadas (thin large tortillas folded over containing beans, veges and cheese). Yum. In the evening we chill out to the sound of singing in the next door church. What a great little town with its steep cobbled steep streets, beautiful hills and layers of history!

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Photos

Chatting with Mr Macaw
Couldn't understand a word he said...

So many caterpillars!
And each one is huge!

Ball court, Copan
Imagine the Mayans playing here to entertain their royalty

The Hieroglyphic Staircase, Copan
Juan explains symbols and history of the staircase

Another new friend, Copan Ruinas
Sheltering from the rain while we eat

Wow. Copan.
A beautiful tranquil spot and so much history