Hotel Marina Copan

... of the buildings and stucco work not yet uncovered.

The next day we head back to the Archeological Park to see the museum as we ran out of time the day before, this is an extra $7 each on top but worth seeing. Many of the more fragile statues in the outside park are actually replicas and the originals are here inside. In the afternoon we walk the 2km up the road to the Les Sepultures which is the ruins of the village. The entrance fee is ...

... they make the coffee. On the way he showed us the coffee bean shaped swimming pool and the tiny little chilis that they grow there. Lauren was the only one brave enough to try one and judging by her red face and watering eyes, Iīm quite glad that I didnīt. The way they make the coffee is absolutely fascinating. We bought some fresh coffee to bring home.....if we can get it through customs.

On the way back into town, we stopped at some hot ...

... to Honduras. I almost stayed a day in Tegucigalpa. There was just something to the city that drew me. The thing with Honduras is that nearly everybody you meet says itīs not worth spending time in, besides the Copan ruins and the Bay Islands. I donīt know about that, it really seemed like it was worth a look. Really friendly people too. I even got a ride from the border crossing to the town of Danli with some really nice Hondurans. Okay, flat out: Nicaraguans are doubtlessly the ...

... adventure. I chose to take them to Puhlapunzak because of its incredible beauty and the extremely unforgettable experience of going through the waterfall into caves and back out to jump off big rock cliffs into deep pools of water. I went twice last year because it is truly one of my favorite places/experiences on Earth. $7 covers the entrance fee and a private guide. (Last year ...

... Oh la la ... I have so many things to tell you that I don't know where to start ...

Schedule:

As I said in my previous post, after several sedentary weeks:

- learning Spanish in Xela
- working as a volunteer Antigua,

I am for 4 days (May 15-18) in Honduras, in the small town of Copan that has one of the most beautiful ruins of the Maya world.

But let's do things orderly and start at the beginning:

Volunteering ...

... einheimische Touristen dort und die Landschaft drumherum ist auch sehr schoen. Copan ist hauptsachlich fuer seine Skulpturen und Inschriften beruehmt, die Tempel sind nicht so dolle. Unter anderem gibt es hier die lanegste Maya Inschrift (auf ca 600 oder so Stufen, beschreibt mehrere hundert Jahre einer Dynastie). Ein komisches wildes Etwas (sieht aus wie ein Riesenmeerschwein mit zu langen Beinen) und ein paar ...

... wearing these t-shirts in Honduras and Guatemala, surely donations from well meaning but nonetheless idiotic westerners.

So without further ado, the top 5 most hysterical novelty t-shirts worn by Mayan children, in ascending order:

5. "My Boyfriendīs Out Of Town" - as worn by 8 year old Delmi.

4. "Dadyīs Little Girl" - as worn by 10 year old Walter.

3. "My Dad Is A Viking" - funny regardless of who wears it.

2. A picture of a barcode ...

After internetting in Copan I met Saul again our guide from Copan, the 51 year old ex rocker who invited us for a private concert. He kindly offered to walk me back to my hotel and then invited me back to his house to see where he lived. The nosy estate agent still inside of me ment that I was pretty interested to see how Hondurians lived so I accepted the offer. It was a 2 story house with the ground floor lived in ...

My god, Failbus did a really good job of stopping us getting to Copan but we got there in the end! After about a hour of terrifying mountain roads with a nutjob driver, the boot flew open with a crash (we were sitting in the back, it was a bit sketchy for a minute! Who knows what was keeping the seats in!). Psycho-driver refused to acknowledge that the bags were falling off and set off again ...