The border crossing from Guatemala  to Honduras is very smooth though the immigration  officials try the usual scam of trying to charge extra for entry tax. The sign on the wall clearly state $3US but they demand  $4.  As it happens, we only  have $6 US  between us and none of the local Lempira as yet so we stick to our guns and remarkably they let us off. The others in the queue behind us  call us over to ask what is going on and when we start to warn them of what to expect, the official roars at us to move on. We take the hint but are pleased to hear shortly afterwards that most of our fellow travellers have followed our example and denied the officials of their ilicit bonus. 
As it happens, we were not quite so smart. The emigration guy on the Guatemalan side charged $1 departure tax which we find out afterwards was unofficial and it went straight in to his pocket.

The present day town of Copan Ruinas  is about 2km away from the Mayan ruins and we have found a nice hotel here for 4 nights. We decided to treat  ourselves to something slightly upmarket after a 4am departure and a 6 hour shuttle bus trip from Antigua. The helpful  receptionist here, Brendie doesn't speak English and has a giggle every time she hears  our own efforts with Spanish.  Great hot showers here and for the first time since we have arrived in Central America,  the hot tap in the wash hand basin actually produces hot water.

Copan Ruinas is a neat little town with numerous cafes and restaurants to entice the tourist. A lot of the local guys wear cool straw cowboy  hats and cowboy boots to match giving the place a rustic feel but there are no horses around to accompany them.  Everything  seems to move at a slow pace which suits us nicely as we wander the cobbled lanes.

We take a moto taxi to the ruins  a few minutes away . The original Copan was one of the great centres of Mayan civilization over a thousand years ago. The beautiful ruins have  impressive stone carvings and  massive stone buildings.  We  spend a few hours here  taking shade under the trees where possiblle from the hot sun.  There are hardly any tourists (40 that day we find out later) so we have the place much to ourselves apart from two armed soldiers patrolling inside the boundary with rifles.

At the entrance we get close up to scarlet  macaws which we find out later have  been released here in to the wild from a nearby sanctuary.

The next day we visit Macaw Mountain, a bird sanctuary  which  rescues  birds which have been confiscated from illegal traffickers , donated as unwanted pets or found  injured in the wild. Wherever possible  they  try to rehabilitate the birds and release them in to a suitable environment. Any birds which  are hatched in the sanctuary are likewise released where possible.  Various species of macaws  and parrots plus toucans are in the aviaries  and also some flying wild through the surrounding  forest.

There is a good selection of restaurants to choose from in Copan. One of them is run by a Belgian  who has set up a project to help local dogs, some of which are stray but others are not very well cared for by their owners and roam freely through the streets. As well as vetinary treatment, he has set up a sterilisation  programme  and there are a  few very lucky dogs which he has adopted.