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Copan Ruinas 21st April to 24th April
Journey started off well not. The Ferry from Utila to La Cieba is supposed to leave at 6.20 so we were there early just in case. The captain and the ferry turn up at 7.20 and eventually leave at 7.30 - Oh well that's Honduras for you.
Bus from La Cieba to San Pedro Sula leaves at 8.45 takes 2hours 30 mins and costs 115 L
Bus from San Pedro Sula to Copan Ruinas leaves at 13.20 takes 3 hours 40mins and costs 130L
eventually arriving in Copan Ruinas at 5.00pm. It was a very smooth journey considering, with very little hiccups and our limited Spanish got us through. Although we were accompanied by Erwin and Marijke a Belgian couple we became very close to whilst diving and they speak Spanish - great company.
Once in Copan Ruinas we booked into Hotel Don Moises, a couple of blocks off the main square. Cost £11 per night. We had a private double room with ensuite. At first we thought it was a little dismal room under the stairs with very little natural light, but this proved to be good as we were not disturbed by the sunrise or dawn chorus. The bed too was very comfortable and we both slept very well here. It is a family run Hotel and after school 2 cute little boys and an older girl appear. Very little English is spoken so this could have been challenging but we managed.
Copan itself is a charming little town very close to the border of Guatemala, the guide book says it's arguably one of the best preserved and most pleasant towns in Honduras and we would agree as we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. There is lots of colourful buildings designed around a central plaza, which is used as a meeting and greeting place by locals and so is a great place to sit and people watch. There are also street sellers. An indoor market selling fresh fruit and veg, clothes and an assortment of cowboy hats and boots plus a food hall - a great place to sit and eat a very cheap breakfast or lunch and watch the world go by.
The national dish is Papitas - these are a tortilla wrap filled with refried beans, scrambled egg, cheese and avocado - they are very tasty, filling and cheap. We tried them on several occasions.
Sunday 22nd April
Visit to Copan's Mayan Ruins declared a UNESCO site in 1980. The Copán site is known for a series of portrait stelae, most of which were placed along processional ways in the central plaza of the city and the adjoining acropolis, a large complex of overlapping step-pyramids, plazas, and palaces. The site has a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. In two parallel buildings framing a carefully dimensioned rectangle lies the court.The site is divided into various groups, with the Main Group and the Cemetery Group in the site core linked by a sacbe to the Sepulturas Group to the northeast.Central Copán had a density of 1449 structures per square kilometer (3,750/sqmiles), in the area of greater Copán as a whole this density fell to 143 per square kilometre (370/sqmiles) over a surveyed area of 24.6 square kilometers (9.5sqmiles).
We spent a good 4 hours here enjoying the peaceful and serene setting.
Monday 23rd April
Chilling day, catching up with sleep, emails when we had internet connection and people watching.
Dinner at Picame - restaurant and travel agency run by a Dutch lady. The meals were a little on the expensive side compared to other local restaurants but there were true plate full so I guess were value for money.
Tuesday 24th April
We had planned to leave today and travel to El Salvador but we booked a shuttle and it only runs alternate days, so we leave tomorrow instead. Which is just as well as this gave us a day to visit Macaw Mountain - a park for rescued Parrots, Parakeets, Macaws and Owls. It is about a 10 minutes Tuk Tuk ride out of the main town up into the mountains and is all very tastefully set out with the birds housed in large cages with lots of natural vegetation to fly around and climb. In with the cost of the ticket is a bilingual guide who explained about the species of bird, their natural habitat and where and how they became to be in captivity.
Did you know that macaws can live upto 80 years and are monogamous?
The park aims to breed and release birds back into the wild. The guide also pointed out indigenous plants and flowers along with birds and spiders.
There was a river running through the park and at one point a damn had bee n built to form a natural swimming pool, so I couldn't resist the chance of a swim.
Next stop the Pacific coast El Salvador.
- comments
wayne See you guys are having a wonderful time. Keep enjoying and writing and I enjoy reading and wishing I was there too.