Copan: Part 1

We haven't posted about this before now because we've been too busy trying to remember Spanish after our weekend away from class! :) So, settle in for a couple of nice, long entries, complete with plenty of pictures.

We arrived in Copan after a twisty turny bus ride, complete with several sheer drops beside the road...with no guardrails...that was Robin's favorite part of the drive. (Don't worry, we took a very nice, safe bus with a nice, safe driver who knew the road well, and all was fine).

When we arrived at our fancy hotel (fancy here = $20 each per night for our triple room, sweet) we were greeted by Bismark, our phone friend who's fond of giving fun new names. Our rooms were very nice and comfortable, and the hotel was beautiful, especially the views.

View from Hotel Posada Real de Copan

View from the outdoor patio at the hotel restaurant

After we got settled in we took the hotel shuttle van into the town of Copan Ruinas (about a 5 minute drive). On the way Loren was chatted up by young Honduran who invited her to several parties. She casually mentioned that she was going to become a priest and he got a little wary...then Robin said we both had husbands, and he stopped talking to Loren completely. Robin meant to say that we COULD have husbands someday, but, as we'd only had 2 weeks of Spanish, she missed something in the translation...but in the end got the right point across anyway...we went on to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called The Blue Light Grille, which was recommended by 2 of the volunteers at Our Little Roses. There we had pizza and beer. Mmm, cerveza. We also talked to a well-intentioned but slightly lost American ex-pat who moved from the island of Roatan to Copan because he was tired of being around so many gringos. We didn't have the heart to tell him that he actually fell into that category himself. The food and beer (did we mention the beer?) were excellent.

After a good night's rest we headed out to see the 3000 year old Mayan Ruins located just outside of the town of Copan Ruinas. We were met by a great guide named Juan, who was all decked out in jeans, a studded black belt, red bandana, white cowboy hat, a diamond stud in one ear and a bottle of Gatorade in his back pocket. Awesome. He took us on an all access backstage tour...which meant that we got to go through the woods and see some neat side items instead of waiting in long lines behind school groups. We really liked Juan...he knew tons about the ruins, was funny and recommended a restaurant to us for our lunch on Sunday. One of the neat things we did was to sit in a cedar seed shower (say that 5 times fast!) When you sit under a grove of cedar trees the seeds fall all around and sound like a gentle rain...and they smell SO good, kind of a mixture of onions and garlic (which we found surprising given what cedar wood smells like). Below are some pictures from our great tour of the ruins...we really enjoyed our morning there. (If you want the scholarly account of the lives of Smoke Monkey and 18 Rabbit, google Copan Ruins).

To see more pictures of the Ruins click here

On Saturday afternoon we rested at the hotel, enjoying siestas and time at the pool. The rest of Saturday afternooon and evening was an event in and of itself, and will be receiving its own post in a moment. Stay tuned.

On Sunday we got ready, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, packed and headed for Macaw Mountain, a bird sanctuary on the other side of town...sort of easily reached by Tuk-tuk (small, 3 wheeled taxis which are quite plentiful in Copan...and which are not quite comfortable on the quaint cobblestone streets)...(Loren likes alliteration). Macaw Mountain was really wonderful. We had a very nice guide who sings happy birthday very well...even though he couldn't Ronnie the parrot to join in...Ronnie was shy. In addition to macaws and parrots we saw owls, hawks and toucans (we were disappointed at the lack of Fruit Loops in the gift shop).

To see more pictures from Macaw Mountain click here

After Macaw Mountain we headed to a much recommended restaurant called Carnitas. We were expecting something pretty spectacular. We were presented with your basic dive bar, complete with old license plates, Harley-Davidson memorobilia, and Guns n' Roses on the radio. We had melted cheddar cheese on toast with french fries. The waitresses are famous for carrying orders to tables on their heads. Ours dropped Loren's on the floor. It was like college!

We had a 3 hour bus ride back, complete with a movie in Spanish with teeeeny English subtitles, which kind of lent itself to bus-sickness on the curvy road. We slept.

When we got to San Pedro Sula, Loren, Robin and Hunter took a taxi to Our Little Roses. And what a taxi it was...it seemed to have been built before cars were invented. After SHE flagged it down and realized what it was like, all Robin could muster was a defeated "wow..." As we rode to OLR we took a sharp turn at a relatively reasonable speed...and Loren's door flew open. The driver simply stuck his hand out his window and slammed it shut and kept driving. Loren held the door closed for the rest of the drive while Hunter almost passed out from an intense case of the giggles. It was a great ending to our trip.