I've spent the past few days in Northern Honduras at a place called Copan Ruinas. It´s a town that seems to have been specifically designed to house the tourists, as well as the industries that meet tourist´s needs, who are coming to visit the ancient Mayan city of Copan. The Copan Ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in my opinion it doesn't take much time there to figure out why.
It took most of the day to get there from Tegucigalpa, and I didn't arrive until after dark. I actually had about a 20 minute conversation in Spanish with my seat partner, which made me feel good about myself. He was understanding of all my mistakes and told me that speaking was the only way that I would learn. In the end, I must have done OK, because he was the one who kept asking the questions.
I met a British girl named Jenna upon exciting the bus, and we walked up from bus station up into the town together. After dropping our packs in the dorm of the Green Apple Hostel, we went out and had some food, sitting next to a table of Swedish study abroad students. It seems to be pretty universal that females study abroad more than males, as there was not a single male student in their group. Jenna and I ended up having a lot in common, and conversation flowed easily from one subject to another. She had been a corporate lawyer for several years before deciding to backpack for a year. Her ultimate goal was to make it to Cambodia to volunteer doing human rights law for several months. We would spend the majority of the next two days together touring, eating, and getting to know other backpackers.
After a good nights sleep and morning cup of coffee, we set out for the short walk to the actual Copan archaeological site. Not knowing much about this place before arriving, I was absolutely blown away! There were so many ancient structures, temples, steleas, and reliefs all over the manicured grounds. It is hard to even know where to start explaining everything that we saw. The temples are basically built like step pyramids, but the lawn is covered with statues that were commissioned by the Mayan rulers (with funny names like 18 Rabbit). There are also tunnels that have been excavated, and they are finding temples under temples, some of which are still standing. Maybe it is because it is so fresh, but I was more impressed with this sight than with the Pyramids of Egypt. Or maybe it is because the sight is so large, and I wasn't having to fight off people trying to sell me things. The guards just left you alone!
The following day was filled with nothing in particular. Some really great Canadians and a German man who had been working as a medical student in Guatemala City moved into the dorm. We all hit it off and ended up cooking supper together. We also had a good joke of all five of us being basically six feet tall or more. In a place where most people are shorter, we felt like a tour group of giants going around buying or supplies for that evening.
After a full day on the bus, I am now back in Tegus. Tezra will meet up with me tomorrow for a day, and then Saturday it is off to Nicaragua for a full week!
No comments:
Post a Comment