We cross the border at El Florido. We must get out of the car and go into a building where we get stamped out of Guatemala at one desk and then queue to get stamped into Honduras, at a cost of $3USD each at the next desk! It’s a fairly loose border but there are some military around who take a look in the car. We arrive to the down of Copà n Ruinas and are staying at Casa de Cafe which is a beautiful little Bed and Breakfast with a beautiful terrace.
We don’t have a whole lot of time here so after a cup of tea, which we’re told is available at anytime during our stay and I’m delighted to report is hot and served in a mug, we head out to explore this little town.
We check out the narrow streets of this cute if not a bit chaotic town. Most people greet us in some fashion as we walk by which is lovely and it feels very safe.
We walk a very short distance to the main square where the museum and church are.
Lonely Planet mentions a bar that is nice for sunset and has good cocktails so we stop for a drink. As we walk in a man greets us and welcomes us to CopĂ n. At first I think he must be the bar owner but he seems to be just a local who speaks English and wants to chat! The sunset is nice but the cocktail is crap. Apparently a mango daiquiri is the drink to have here but the sullen waitress tells me it will take ten minutes to make so I opt for a margarita which honestly is not a margarita. It has orange juice in it!! At least we get to see the sunset.
Lunch was big so we’re not overly hungry but we eventually make our way to Mary’s restaurant where they have pupusas on the menu. A pupusa is a thick griddle cake or flatbread from El Salvador and Honduras made with cornmeal or rice flour. It is usually stuffed with one or more ingredients, which may include chicken, cheese, loroco buds, chicharrón, squash, or refried beans. It is typically accompanied by curtido (a spicy fermented cabbage slaw) beetroot and tomato salsa, and is traditionally eaten by hand. I love it! I also get a proper margarita at Mary’s so I’m happy!
Next morning we meet our driver before 8am so we can get to Copán Ruinas National park early ahead of crowds (we haven’t met any so far on our whole trip) and to avoid the heat!
There are many birds in the national park especially the scarlet macaws. They are extraordinary looking, so colourful they almost look fake. We learn that they are monogamous and mate for life, hence why we see two together every time and also that it’s almost imposible to differentiate whether they are male or female without a DNA test.
Walking around our guide Oscar tells us lots of information about the Mayans, how they lived and which buildings were in this complex. Most of these buildings are low structures, not high like in Tikal but what makes them really interesting are the carvings or hieroglyphs on them. This structure below has writing on energy step! It’s covered over now for protection as in the past it was climbed on and even some archeologists back in the day carved their names into it!
In all the Mayan ruins we’ve explored there is a ball court. They were big on their games and the courts have a coliseum feel to them. Oscar leaves is to explore more of this impressive complex of buildings.
When our tour with Oscar is finished and we’ve explored all of the park and watched the macaws (I could watch them for hours) we check out the museum. It’s in a really interesting building built downwards in a cave which is open at the top. When we walk in, the centrepiece of the museum is a replica (true to scale) of the temple, nicknamed “Rosalila” which was discovered in nearly perfect condition by archaeologists in 1991.
Considered the favourite statue at the park, this toothless “Old Man of Copán” is one of two that formerly stood either end of one of the temples. We saw a replica out in the grounds but this is the original.
Our driver drops us back to the hotel and we have the rest of the day free. It’s 30 degrees and I’m melting so we have a bit of a cool down before walking into town and grabbing a light lunch. We find this fabulous local eatery serving pupusas and they really hit the spot.
Back at the hotel I’ve booked myself a massage and it’s an hour of pure bliss in the outdoor “massage pavilion” – delightful!
Refreshed and rested we take a walk into town for a final look around. The church is open so we have a look inside and it’s fairly plain.
It does have crazy statues though. Not sure if these are supposed to be the Virgin Mary or saints… they are so bizarre looking with the dresses and wigs!!
Shane scoped out a nice bar (Fusion) to watch the sunset from and as we look down we see street vendors selling what smells like delicious food – corn on the cob, tamales and other delicious looking grub.
I love this paining on the way up the stairs!
I’m sticking to beer tonight (oh the disappointment of last nights cocktail fiasco!!) and we have a couple while we watch the sunset over this little village and out to the mountains.
Shane has a beer from San Pedro Sula which is the murder capital of Honduras and at one point, of the world! They make good beer up there apparently!
After a couple of drinks we manage to avoid the temptation of having street food and go back to our hotel for dinner on the terrace. It’s a lovely setting, albeit quiet and we have delicious tilapia fish for our final dinner in Honduras.
We wake next morning at 5am to the sound of heavy bombardment. I’m picturing a coup and wondering when we should start to panic but apparently it was just bangers for someone or something’s birthday… WTF, I’m not the better of it!!
We have a 7am departure and the lovely ladies at “Casa De Cafe” give us tea and coffee before we leave and a takeaway breakfast of pancakes and fruit. It’s a short drive to the border and we see workers already out and about on their commute!
We cross the border at the same point as we entered Honduras, at El Florido, and as we approach we see a trail of trucks queueing to get through… the line goes on for at least a mile!
It’s the same drill at the border to leave Honduras as it was to arrive and within a few minutes we are back in Guatemala. It was a short stint in this country as there are many places that are not safe enough to visit but Copà n was a worthwhile place to visit and we really enjoyed it.
Adios CopĂ n!
odohertyelaine 