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Honduras - another country I am very ignorant of. I didn't even know its capital city (it's Tegucigalpa! ). Anyhooo, it's about the size of England with a population of just over 7 million. It's a country that struggles with some of the biggest social inequalities in the western hemisphere and it recently slipped to 117th in the world developing rankings and according to the World Bank, it's the 3rd poorest country in the western hemisphere after Haiti and Nicaragua. It uses to be known as Spanish Honduras, to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize, as you will know if you've been reading my blogs!!). You may also remember that last year there was a major coup here which culminated in a transfer of power which hardly any countries in the world now recognise.
Right, back to the trip. After a very early start (where my new roommate Jen had panicked as she had set her alarm for 3.30am for a 5am start and it didn't go off. What? That has to stop right now!! Thank goodness it didn't go off otherwise I would not have been a happy bunny) and a hot and cramped bus ride, we crossed the border into Honduras where our first stop was Copan which is a little cobblestone town and it is home to the famous Mayan ruins of the same name. These ruins are not on the same scale of Tikal in Guatemala but the difference is that where this one lacks in size, it gains in some of the intricacies of the stonework, the sculptures and the hieroglyphics. Tikal is often nicknamed the New York of the Mayan world (full of tall buildings) while Copan is Paris. 6 of us took a guide for the site, who was an absolute nutter called Marvin! On the way in, there were a whole load of beautifully brightly coloured macaws who were squawking for attention but as soon as you tried to take a photo, they turned their backs on you!
One of Copan's most famous structures in the hieroglyphic stairway which catalogues the achievements of the dynasty until 755 AD. It bears the longest inscription ever discovered in the Mayan kingdom. We also learned the counting system of the Mayans which is very simple but effective - they use 3 symbols and the various combinations of these (which are not logical at first glance) form numbers through to infinity.
The history of Copan is still being uncovered today as archaeologists continue to dig the site. So far, the remains of 3,450 structures have been found in an area of 24 sq kms and 4,509 structures have been discovered in 1420 sites within 135 sq kms of the ruins. Historians estimate that by the end of the 8th century, Copan had a population of 20,000, a number that was not reached again in the area until the 1980s. The kings of this city had some great names, like Waterlily Jaguar, Great Sun Lord Quetzal Macaw, Moon Jaguar, Smoke Jaguar, 18 Rabbit, Smoke Monkey - much more interesting than Janet and John don't you think?!
Anyway, after all of that culture and history we went for a group dinner, from which Jen (new roommate), mysteriously disappeared (I was at the other end of the table so missed all of the action!). In a nutshell, she had paid USD300 for a tour at a travel agency in Antigua and she had paid in travellers' cheques. The signatures had apparently not matched up so they had sent someone to track her down. They had gone to our hotel in Antigua who had told them where we were heading so they had tracked our hotel down in Copan (by this time in a different country!) who had told them which restaurant we were eating at and this guy suddenly showed up and demanded the money in cash! By all accounts he was very threatening and said the police were heading down from Antigua to arrest her if she didn't pay up (I suppose you don't really want to call their bluff in countries like this?!) so she went with him to an ATM and handed over the cash, no receipt, nothing. Me being the cynic I am thinks there is more to this story than meets the eye but I guess we'll never know.
Woke up on Tuesday (before my alarm) to Jen patting me on the shoulder asking if I was going to have as shower. Well, yes but not until my alarm goes off in half an hour's time. Maybe I've been on the road too long…. and the room-sharing is finally getting to me?!!
Latest photos on picasa as usual: www.picasaweb.google.com/lindylou73
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Kerenza Brown Hey Linda! Another great update - I can't wait for the next one! Love all the historical info and other facts you're sharing - I'm learning rather a lot - thanks!!! And bookmarking places to visit myself one day.......!! Definitely think your room-sharing might need a re-think......sounds like you need some 'me time' .....I admire your patience - I would have cracked by now!