Getting to Copan in Honduras was a major pain. We had to take about 5 buses and cross the boarder twice (once from El Salvador to Guatemala and once from Guatemala to Honduras). Unfortunately, we arrived at the last boarder crossing a bit late (about 6pm), so we ended up having to pay the bus much more than we should have to take us from the boarder to Copan (only about 10k away). But, if we get swindled out of $20 only once on our trip, its not so bad.
And, it turns out Copan was wonderfully cheap, clean, and cute. We stayed in a private room for only $6 a night. The next day we visited an awesome bird sanctuary. We saw dozens of brightly colored Macaw parrots (the reds ones, blue and yellow ones, and green and blue ones). We also saw adult and baby toucans up close. Their beaks are truly spectacular. We even got to hold a few parrots at the end of the tour-- luckily no bird poop on our shoulders. The bird sanctuary also had a great little swimming hole made by creating a damn in the river than runs through the jungle. It´s pretty great to cool off surrounded by beautiful trees and even more beautiful birds.
The next day we took a microbus down a very rocky and windy road for about 1 hour to get to a natural hot springs. We skipped the concrete pools out front and headed straight for the river. A small water fall of scalding hot water pours into the river. We alternated sitting in the hot water near the falls and the laying in the cool river flowing around it. We had a bit harder time getting back to the city. After waiting for 45 min for another microbus, we end up hitching a ride in the back of the pickup. Hitching is the main method of transportation for the locals. At one point, I think there were at least 20 people in the back of the pickup. Luckily, Greg and I had 2 of the best seats so we didn´t have to hang off the back or anything. I sat on a bag of corn in the middle, and greg sat on the edge near the cabin so hat plenty of things to hold on to. Surprisingly, it was more comfortable and less nauseating going down the unpaved road in the back of the truck than in the microbus.
We got back to town then walked about 1k to the ancient mayan ruins. The copan valley was once the center of a mayan kingdom with over 20,000 inhabitants. The stone altars, carvings, and pyramid like towers were incredible. (wait and see some of the pictures). The buildings are literally built one on top of each other, as the successive kings tried to outdo their predecessor. This results in a series of courtyards, tunnels and squares among the various piramids, carven stair cases, and other buildings. There are also a bunch of statues that look similar to North American totem poles depicting the various kings. Most of these, though, depict King 18 Rabbit (which, btw, isn´t even the weirdest king´s name) who seemed to be quite the megalomaniac.
After decades of success, historians aren´t quite sure what happened in the demise of the mayans in this area-- they theorize that over-population led to a lack of food. Interestingly, when the ruins were discovered by a Conquistador, and then again by an American explorer in the 19th centure, the natives who lived around the ruins were as clueless to their significance and origins as the foreigners were. Also worth note is that Copan had a larger population in ancient times than it does today.
After a hot few hours wandering around the ruins, we went back to the swimming hole at the bird sanctuary for another swim. as i mentioned, we love our swimming!
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