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Published: March 4th 2011
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I started my day with an early morning bumpy ride from San Pedro Sula to Copan Ruinas. I was dropped off by taxi at the bus terminal (about a 20 minute drive) and took a Casa Sola bus at 8am. The bus was about $8 US and was one of those comfortable charter buses. No bathroom and the air wasn’t turned on but was a pretty comfortable 2.5 hour ride north.
I took the advice of a fellow woman blogger and sat next to an older woman in the waiting area and sat with her again on the bus – right up front. She helped me understand how long it would take, what to expect and when vendors came on board to sell soda, I know I didn’t get ripped off.
Looking up at the mountains through the window, I got that feeling when you realize you are traveling. I smiled to myself and had the most content feeling just being in this moment…there is nothing like it. Freedom, adventure, new experiences, new places, beauty, life…perfection.
There are a lot of potholes and washed out sections of the road on the way to Copan. I took q Dramamine
before my cabbie picked me up and was grateful for the foresight. We swerved all over the road the whole way.
Copan is full of road travelers. I saw a lot of people with day packs walking toward the ruins as our bus drove in. The town is small and has a really cool Spanish feel to it. Lots of hills and cobblestones and lots of vendors and people in the streets.
I found my hostel after only walking around the block twice (even with a map I seem to be directionally challenged…) The front door was locked but a sign read to push the bell button to get in. The bell button was located about 2 feet above my head with no pull string. For a NORMAL sized person this might not be a problem. For me, reaching it was out of the question. I banged on the door until someone answered. When traveling, must innovate solutions…
The hostel, La Manzana Verde, is fairly new. The place has a really awesome front courtyard with a couch and lounge chair and a lot of foliage. The rooms are clean, big and the beds nice. I took a
dorm room for $7 a night. The only downfall of the place is no internet, computer, or wi-fi. I had to travel elsewhere to do some research for tomorrow’s traveling and to post this.
I have learned to save my blog post often…last night the internet cut out right as I was finishing the blog post for day 1 and had to start ALL OVER. It took a lot of diligence to start over. I was frustrated and tired and couldn’t recreate some of my writing…
I hiked out to Copan Ruinas after locking my pack in a locker in my room. I brought my own lock but they had some available, too. Copan Ruinas doesn’t allow big packs so a good thing I learned in SAP to leave the pack behind. The 20 minute walk would have been a bummer to do twice.
You have to purchase a ticket at the first building before walking down to the ruins. I learned that backwards. I got a ticket for the ruins and the museum but skipped the tunnels. I was told its not really worth the trip.
The museum had a lot of relics from the
site and had placards in English and Spanish so I opted for no guide.
I walked down to the site and spent a couple of hours climbing up and down the different buildings. Words and pictures can’t describe the feeling of being surrounded by ancient trees and buildings with large mountains in the background. It was breathtaking and so much fun. I searched for the highest points to climb and the farthest points to look out to. I wanted to feel small. I wanted to feel insignificant. I wanted to think about something bigger and more interesting than me. I got lost in feeling the dirt under my feet and picturing the palace and surrounding buildings as it must have been…hungry and thirsty, I made my way over to the restaurant onsite. After a beer, water and beleada (tortilla with replied beans and white cheese) I headed back to town.
I was pretty wiped out from the day so I took a siesta, woke up and headed out to find wi-fi.
I have been a little self conscious of traveling solo. It’s not common to see and you really have to go out on a limb to
meet people. Most everyone sticks to their own group or pair. I haven’t really “ran into” people here so I am not sure what to expect this evening.
I have decided to only stay a day here. I have had a hard time slowing down and I struggled at the ruins to not rush through. I want to spend more time in La Ceiba and Utila diving, hiking and laying on the beach. I need to learn to make that time to go slow and try to accept that I don’t have to have purpose!
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