Visiting Copan Ruinas in Honduras
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
6
156
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Copan,
Honduras
Friday, August 27, 2004
So, while in Guatemala, I realized that I have to see Copan Ruinas, an UNESCO World Heritage Site
and one of the most distinguished cultural monuments in the world
Court
. Copán ranks among the most important of Maya sites for many reasons, but foremost among these is its vast number of hieroglyphic texts. For its relative small size (many other sites in the Maya lowlands are physically larger), the amount of inscribed materials at Copán are truly astounding, suggesting that in some way the elite culture of this ancient kingdom was particularly interested in literate culture and whatever that entailed. It comes as little surprise, therefore, that Copán has long been a focus of intensive epigraphic investigation. The large number of texts at Copán, nearly all on large stone stelae or altars, have given scholars a large amount of texts to be compared and studied, and these texts have played a significant role in the overall effort to break the Maya code.After having survived the trip from Antigua, Guatemala to Honduras without being robbed and assaulted by armed men (which just happened two days before my departure from Guatemala to two Japanese tourists and their guide), I arrived in Copan where I am staying at a little hotel called "Los Gemelos". After two days in the town of Copan, I have yet to see the Copan Ruinas (which I will do tomorrow). I enjoy my stay in this little town, surrounded by lush green scenery. I spent lots of time in two of the museums in town, explored some of the souvenir shops and spent about 2 hours watching the Olympic games at a small restaurant
Small Pyramid
. Since beer is so cheap here (one bottle for 12 lempiras which is about 80 cents)I am seriously thinking of living off beer for the next couple of days (I know Karen and Billy would have a grand old time here with me). In order to blend in with the local community, I watched a local soccer practice yesterday complaining to the coach that i can't distinguish the teams since everybody wore different colored shirts. he assured em that this is only a practice game and that on Sunday, all players will wear their respective team outfits. So, I may have to hang out here until Sunday to see the game and cheer for the local team.It is noon here and I am sitting on the computer. I will be exploring some the neighboring mountains now before heading to the ruins tomorrow.
And explore I did. I went to the Copan River and met a guy on his horse whose dog was collecting about 6 horses that where hanging out at the river. We ended up talking for about an hour or so and decided that he will accompany me tomorrow after i visit the ruins to Los Sapos in the hills of Copan. Him and his horse and his dog. I already bought carrots for the horse. While walking through town in the evening to find a place to eat and have my beer, I noticed a couple of things...... There are less stray dogs here than in Guatemala, the dogs that are on the street are picky with their food as i have saved leftovers to feed them. The little rag doll I fed today did not eat the tortiallas, only the meat. Spoiled little brat. I also noticed that Honduras seems to have any and all kinds of ants that exist in this world. There are ant nests hanging from trees, they are in my room and they inhabit pretty much every house and old wood parts. I got to see my first Ceiba tree today.
