Being the somewhat jaded and cynical traveller I am, when someone or something tells me that a place is the number 1 tourist site in a country, the most foreign visitor friendly place on offer, a place where all amenities required by a foreign visitor are available, I am immediately wary.
Think of all the pathetically over-marketed, tout infested, tour infested under-whelming places you have been to. Brighton with a million people fighting for beach space on a rare hot sunny day, the incessant (2 for 1 dollar) kids that plague you for hours at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the horrendously pushy touts in Marrakech, the pushy beer girls in Phuket, the list is almost endless.
Fast forward to Copan Ruinas in Honduras, THE number 1 tourist destination in this fascinating country. It is an impossibly quaint village nestled amongst low mountains a few kilometers South of the Guatemalan border in North West Honduras. The streets are cobbled stoned, steep and uneven. Buildings are Adobe or very simple modern with clean lines and nothing above 2 or possibly 3 stories. Prices are fractionally higher than elsewhere in the country but still at least 30% cheaper than Costa Rica. Very little English is spoken but people are very friendly. There are so few foreign tourists here it is almost as if this place has yet to be discovered. In simple travel terms, this spot is amazing!
There is zero hassle here, not from the tuk-tuk drivers, not from the restaurants, not from the souvenir shops and not even from the trinket sellers who hang around the actual ruins themselves. Yesterday when I walked out of the ruins towards the sculpture museum an old dude tottered over to me and very politely in English asked me whether I would like to pay $1 for a stone carving of a Mayan symbol of sorts. Not wanting to start carrying the extra weight of trinkets I said no thanks. This dude the says "OH OK" and trundles off. I have NEVER had such an easy exit from a curio peddler ever. I almost gave him the $1 just to say thanks for being so cool. Even the tuk-tuk's are regulated here, $2 to the bus station, $1 anywhere in town, prices double after 9pm, insane, how cool is this place!
I'm staying with the nicest old lady, not 1 word of English spoken but I now have enough Spanish to get by. She is so kind and helpful it is awesome to stay here. Her place is up on the hill and there is a great balcony overlooking a part of the village where I get to chill out. The room is diligently cleaned and put back together every morning after Forrest has messed it up, almost unheard of in a budget accommodation place, so cool. She serves a mean breakfast as part of the deal too, so cheap at $28 a night for private en-suite breakfast included. I wish I had more days here.
The ruins themselves are very interesting and are known for the exceptional quality of the Mayan stone carvings done in 2 and 3D relief on numerous stelae dotted across the park. There is also an amazing staircase engraved with hieroglyphs detailing Mayan history. Unfortunately is is degrading badly and is now being protected as much as possible so getting a picture is tricky. The history of the Mayans is a fascinating story for anyone with a penchant for Mesoamerican history. Do yourself a favor an do a google search on "18 Rabbit" and see what comes back. I'm looking forward to Tikal in Guatemala which is supposed to be the mother of Mayan ruins, should be cool.
There is a Macaw sanctuary just outside of town called Macaw Mountain where they rescue and rehabilitate injured or confiscated birds. Wherever possible these amazing creatures are released back into the wild, often the the free flying colony that live at the ruins complex. It was so cool, I got there early in the morning and was the only tourist on site. I had the ruins to myself and was surrounded by about 15 screeching, colorful birds flying overhead. It's almost as if they are saying, "yo dude, thanks for coming to check out the ruins!". They also have loads of rescued Amazon parrots and even owls, very cool place. Best of all, pukka home grown Honduran coffee from their plantation, $1.10 a cup, Starbucks, get stuffed.
Loving Honduras after leaving Tegucigalpa.
Hasta Luego.
Andrew
Think of all the pathetically over-marketed, tout infested, tour infested under-whelming places you have been to. Brighton with a million people fighting for beach space on a rare hot sunny day, the incessant (2 for 1 dollar) kids that plague you for hours at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the horrendously pushy touts in Marrakech, the pushy beer girls in Phuket, the list is almost endless.
Fast forward to Copan Ruinas in Honduras, THE number 1 tourist destination in this fascinating country. It is an impossibly quaint village nestled amongst low mountains a few kilometers South of the Guatemalan border in North West Honduras. The streets are cobbled stoned, steep and uneven. Buildings are Adobe or very simple modern with clean lines and nothing above 2 or possibly 3 stories. Prices are fractionally higher than elsewhere in the country but still at least 30% cheaper than Costa Rica. Very little English is spoken but people are very friendly. There are so few foreign tourists here it is almost as if this place has yet to be discovered. In simple travel terms, this spot is amazing!
There is zero hassle here, not from the tuk-tuk drivers, not from the restaurants, not from the souvenir shops and not even from the trinket sellers who hang around the actual ruins themselves. Yesterday when I walked out of the ruins towards the sculpture museum an old dude tottered over to me and very politely in English asked me whether I would like to pay $1 for a stone carving of a Mayan symbol of sorts. Not wanting to start carrying the extra weight of trinkets I said no thanks. This dude the says "OH OK" and trundles off. I have NEVER had such an easy exit from a curio peddler ever. I almost gave him the $1 just to say thanks for being so cool. Even the tuk-tuk's are regulated here, $2 to the bus station, $1 anywhere in town, prices double after 9pm, insane, how cool is this place!
Loving Honduras after leaving Tegucigalpa.
Hasta Luego.
Andrew
Okay, you're behind with your updates! Stop having so much fun and write something!
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