Hoy es Domingo. It’s Sunday, January 06, 2008, and I am now in Honduras. I’m in the department (it’s like a county or parish) called Copan, in the town of Copan Ruinas, and I’m staying in the Posada de Blessy. The preferred hostels were full so instead of paying $4 per night, I’m now paying $13. There is a lot to do here in this tranquil, friendly, hillside village. The roads, well the ones in the center of town, are paved with stones, and the others are dirt. It only took a short time to realize that the people here are a heritage mix, not Mayan like in Guatemala, and in my opinion much nicer. The Mayan archaeological site ($15 entry fee) here is the main attraction although I’ve discovered many other things that I want to do here. I spent hours yesterday in the main park and took a lot of photos. Our guide (which cost each person in our group $4) was Saul and he was very informative, talkative, and friendly.
The park is divided into various areas: The Ball Court, The Great Plaza, The Hieroglyphic Stairway, The Aeropolis, Temple 16, and the Tunnels. There are actually three parks: The Main Site, Las Sepulturas and Los Sapos. I hope to visit the other two today, as the ticket is good for them today. It was amazing to walk through ruins and imagine (we all know what a vivid imagination I have) what the city looked like all painted and fixed up, full of people and ceremonies, and what a city like this was like to live in. Everywhere you looked there were large hills, which are actually ruins that have crumbled over the years. They have only just begun (in 1980) to treat this area as an archaeological site, thus only certain areas have been cleared or restored. One interesting note about the restorations is that when they started clearing the jungle away from the ruins things started disentigrating rapidly because of the sun exposure, so now they only clear away the trees that are required for certain areas. Being on top of the mountain you can see for miles. It’s hard to describe everything I saw here so I’ll let the photos speak for me, however, it was a great experience.
Yesterday was overcast and a bit cool, but today the sun is shining and I hear music from a nearby church. Even though the words are in Spanish I recognize the music so it must be a protestant type of church. I’m curled up in my bed typing and will soon take a shower and head out for the day. One of the things I have to do today is decide what clothes to remove from my large back-pack as it was overloaded and very heavy. I didn’t have any cold weather clothes so I bought some in Guatemala. Now I am over loaded and need to shed some things so my load is something I can carry. I found a nice place to eat breakfast nearby so I will go there to start my day and then go venture into the other areas of interest here.
After enjoying a cup of coffee, a coffee flan, and a juice drink with Ariel we ventured off to see the ruins of Septulturas. It was quite a walk, but the day was cool and the walk enjoyable. As we walked we enjoyed the sites of the hillsides, river, and occasional farm. At first there didn’t seem to be much at the site, but after walking for a bit through the forest we came upon the first set of ruins. It was the area where the locals lived. It was very relaxing, quiet and not covered with tourists. We talked about what each of the buildings could have been and how they lived. After a bit of walking around we decided to explore the rest of the forest trail, which turned out to be a good thing because we found many other sites with ruins, including the temple of the scribes. This area was incredible as it was very close to the river and would have been completely walled in except for the grand stair case and avenue that lead up to it. Some of the photos you’ll see show the underground cisterns, sewage systems, and some unknown aspects that were all under ground. There is also a photo of how water was sent around town through little stone troughs. Because some of the treasures were in risk of being damaged they were removed from the site and put in a wonderful museum, but they replaced them with replicas. Thus, after walking back towards town we stopped by the museum to see what was there. You enter through the mouth of a mystical being and into a very dark tunnel that winds around and then you see a bit of light at the end.
When your eyes adjusted to the light you couldn’t help but notice the star attraction to the museum, the true to scale replica of a temple found under temple 16 at the main ruins. They found this building completely intact under the other temple, which was built on top of this temple. The museum provided even more insight into what each item represented and how the Maya civilization lived and worked. The museum was a treat. By this time it was closing in on 3 pm so we decided to walk back into town and catch a snack before dinner.
Fried vegetable balls with a cold curry sauce, some curry fries, and carrot soup and we were off to the hotel to grab some things before our next walk up another area. Hacienda San Lucas took 35 minutes to get to by foot, but the walk was incredible as we went by the river, through agricultural areas and then up a large hill. We had hoped to be able to eat dinner at this incredible lodge, however, we didn’t have reservations and couldn’t get a seat for dinner. However, we did get to sit and watch the sunset, enjoy the wonderful views of the valley, and get to hear the story from the owner of how the place came to be. They only used electricity in certain areas so most of the restaurant and lodge were lit by candle light and torches. After spending several hours just relaxing we paid our bill and asked them to call for a tuc-tuc. Once back into Copan Ruinas we found a nice comedor for dinner before retiring to the hotel for the night.
Ariel is now fast asleep in the bed next to me as she decided to stay the night and share my room to cover expenses. She’s a nice girl here to do some volunteer work in agriculture. She’s from Montana and has spent one month in Guatemala learning Spanish before coming down here to do the volunteer work in rural areas. It was nice to have someone to hang out with today, but like her I’m very tired and ready for bed. My poor legs ache from all the walking, but I’m sure it’s good for me. Tomorrow we may head off to another town called Gracias or Santa Rosa de Copan. She has to be in that area to start her volunteer work and asked if I would join her. It looks like a nice place to visit.
