Copán Ruinas

'Something must have gone wrong for you to be stuck in La Entrada' says the Lonely Planet. Naturally, Irina and I end up in this grim town in Western Honduras. One of the centres of narco-trafficking in the country apparently. We blame a tourism officer in León for giving us bad information, based on his estimates we had no chance of making it to Copán Ruinas by nightfall. As we board our (last resort) bus to La Entrada, a man tells me that the bus is packed with military men. 'Is that a good thing?' I ask cautiously. Yes, yes he assures me - they will protect us in case anything goes wrong..

Bus drivers and conductors in Central America are exceptionally and consistently helpful, but when they are hungry they stop & eat...no matter the time, the place or the hurry! We passengers look on longingly as a lady magically produces a fine-looking meal at a bus shelter on the side of the road.

Note flowery tablecloth upon which the bus drivers dine!

We "treat" ourselves by staying at El San Carlos - a miserable, overpriced motel. There is one blessing, the restaurant serves noodles (food which I have not eaten for months and which I was craving earlier this afternoon). There's only one thing on our mind over dinner - what time does the first bus leave in the morning?

My first & lasting impression of Honduras? All men wear hats!

We arrive to the beautiful, tranquil town of Copán Ruinas and dance with delight! Cobblestones, white-washed buildings, ample restaurants, artesanal shops, friendly people. At the hostel (En la Manzana Verde) we have been placed in the 'world-famous' dormitory - Irina's got Madonna and I've got Al Bundy!

Copán Ruinas

We ride horses for the afternoon (only $15 for three hours), along the river, over the hills and towards San Lucas' farm. This is good riding country and I am relieved to see that the horses in the area appear to be well-fed. Our guide, Carolina, is great fun (she is self-reportedly mad!) and never fails to stop laughing! She is thrilled that we speak Spanish and are of similar age.

Carolina, our guide around the local countryside

Irina & I letting the horses cool down in the Copan river

Pretty scenery all around

The three of us chat for three hours solidly!

The Ceiba tree, the national tree of Guatemala

Giant Lemons

Pineapples grow on low bushes...in case you were wondering?!

From up here, we can look down upon the ruins of Copan

We have a great afternoon, and stop off at the Jardin de Mujeres Tejiendo, Maya Chortia workshop - a small-business run entirely by women working to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their children. We take a look at the looms used for weaving and buy one of the beautiful scarves (the money is used to buy school supplies for the children).

Loom used for weaving

Lots of feminine scarves handmade in the workshop - a celebration of women's creativity

Hondureña weaver & her daughter

Back at the hostel we make friends with a sweet Canadian, Jay, who also got stuck at La Entrada last night - phew, maybe we are not so ridiculous after all!

Next morning, it is time to visit the Copán archaeological site, situated one kilometre out of town. Many people overlook visiting Copán ruins, believing that the Tikal ruins are more spectacular - in actual fact, Copán are intriguing in a very different way and were one of the most important of all sites where Maya civilizations lived, prospered and mysteriously crumbled. During the Classic period (AD250-900) this city culturally dominated the region for centuries, now often labelled the 'Paris of the Maya world'. Tikal is celebrated for its very tall temple-pyramids. Palenque is renowned for it's limestone relied panels. But, Copán is unique in the Maya realm for its emphasis on sculpture.

The unique features of Copán;

1. The most numerously carved commemorative stelae and altars.

2. Many complex stone sculptures decorating the buildings.

3. Elaborate stucco facades (for example, the four decorated sides of the Rosalia)

4. The monumental Hieroglyphic Stairway that has the longest inscribed text at any Maya site.

5. All of the above are sculpted in a flamboyant style, and frequently in deep, nearly full-round relief.

Beautiful grounds around the ruins

Macaw (noisy creatures)

We hire a guide from the main office at the ruins for $25. She turns out to be terrible with very poor English and minimal historical information. In hindsight we wondered why we didn't ask her to speak in her native tongue, perhaps she would have been more informative? Nevertheless, the site is beautiful - filled with well-maintained lawns (this is very exciting for me, I have not see proper grass since Ireland!), huge Ceiba trees and brighly-coloured macaws. I was quite surprised to learn that a fair amount of the site has been reconstructed, many of the originals are kept inside the museum.

The ball court - the loser of the game was sacrificed on one of the ornate altars

Lovely lawn - the sweet smell of freshly cut grass

To help us imagine what the ball game may have looked like

To give a sense of perspective

Symbolising "The underworld"

Jay & Irina try to listen enthusiastically to our "guide"

Eventually we ditch the guide. Our desire to learn more about the Maya people not yet satisfied, we visit the on-site museum which displays a large selection of original sculptures from the central ruins, as well as from outlying household areas.

Inside the museum of Copán

Conservation of the stone sculpture and stucco decoration is a primar concern for Copán, a World Heritage site since 1980. Inside the museum the themes include: underworld symbolism, scuptural art masterpieces, warfare and ritual, fertility and cosmology, scribes and sculptors, community and council, nobles and residences. The quality and preservation of the original scuptures is incredible.

Later, we walk another 2km to La Sepulturas to see the ruins of the residential housing of the middle class. With the surrounding scenery, this must have been a wonderful place to live.

Tuk-tuk back to town (the heat is unbearable!)

I wish I could stay longer here in Copán, it is such a charming place. I would love to stay at the El Cisne farm in the highlands, do more horse-riding and sample all of the various restaurants in town. I would like to get to know more Hondureños, who by all appearances are friendly and jolly folk. The alarm clocks sounds early the following morning, we must catch a bus and cross the border into Guatemala.