Another Stamp in the Passport!

We left Thursday night and stayed in Antigua so we would be ready to head off to Honduras the next morning.  The shuttle picked us up at 3:45 AM (Yes, like the morning.  I am ready to be done with these early morning trips!) and off we went.  The trip was LONG and the shuttle was FULL.  Every single one of the 14 small seats was filled.  Finally, around 11:00 we made it to Honduras! 

It took another hour to get all of us through immigrations, and after another 15 minutes in the shuttle we finally made it to Copán!  We found a hostel, dropped our stuff off, found lunch, and headed straight for the ruins!

The ruins at Copán are the southernmost Mayan ruins from what I understand.  The style and structure are similar to the others we have seen, though each place has it´s own unique feel and look.

The Copán ruins are fulled with the most intricate and beautiful stone carvings.  They are everywhere you look!  You could sit and observe the details for hours and hours.  It is truly amazing! 

The Copán ruins are smaller than Tikal, though larger than Iximché.  We were there in the afternoon, which turned out to be really nice.  They weren´t overly crowded, and the weather (while warmer than we are use to) was not bad at all! 

The coolest part of Copán is the tunnels that they have found under the city.  You have to pay extra to go in them, but it is worth it!   They turned out to be our favorite part.

The first tunnel we went in was small, but the second one was quite large!  The carvings continued in the tunnels, and led to a very impressive and luxurious feel.  The work that went into these places never ceases to amaze me!   

The other thing I LOVED about the ruins at Copán was the parrots flying around directly over our heads.  I have never seen such beautiful birds so close to me in the wild!  I couldn´t get enough! 

After we left the ruins we wandered around the town for a bit.  I really enjoyed Honduras and the feel of it.  It is so close to Guatemala, and yet the feel was so differerent.  The traditional clothes you see on many Guatemalan women was not there.  Cowboy boots and hats could be found on most of the men.  The people were not nearly as short, and had a distinctly different look about them.  They were not Guatemalan, and you could tell (they are very beautiful, they just look more latino then Mayan)! The food was different, the spanish was different, it was such an amazing thing to observe! 


We went into a market and made friends with some Honduran women.  One of them commented that Krista´s skin looked like milk.  Then she looked at me and told me I looked like a banana.  A banana?!?!?! Yes, I am pale, even when standing next to Krista, but I am not yellow!  Maybe she meant a peeled banana . . . that would be far more accurate! HA! 

We went to bed early and got up the next morning to go on the nature hike by the ruins.  We had heard that it was beautiful, and it truly was!  Once again, we were surrounded by jungle on every side!  These trees are refered to as ¨The Tree of Life¨ by locals.  They are HUGE.

We really enjoyed the walk (and even found another ancient Mayan ball court ruin in the middle, the sign said it was probably used as a practice court, very fun!) until about half way through when the bugs became super intense!  We were getting bitten on every side, regardless of the bug spray we had put on.  Krista smashed a spider in her hair, and then I smashed one on my face that led blood and guts down the side of my face.  I couldn´t get it off, I made Krista help me after she was done remarking how disgusting it was! We are not squeemish girls, but we were DONE! We were grateful to find the exit and get out! 

We wandered around the city a bit more before packing up our stuff and catching an afternoon shuttle back to Antigua, and then our busses to get home.  It was a quick trip, but a really fun one!