Being a Tourist....

Being a tourist: March 20 -21, 2011

After a long week of visiting different sites of the YMCA and learning of the many programs that are offered here in Honduras, we had a chance to be tourists.  Our host treated us to a visit to the Mayan Ruins in Copan. We left on Sunday morning at 8am., and arrived in Copan at 2:30. The bus had two flat tires as we arrived at our hotel.  We didn’t get to the ruins, but they were celebrating the last day of a five day celebration.  The town square was set up with vendors and we managed to do a little bit of shopping.  We also visited a church that was next to our hotel.  We had a meeting to discuss the partnership agreement that was written in 2007 and made some preparations for our meeting on Tuesday.  We stayed inside after dark because of the crowds in the streets, but most listened to the festivities from the balcony.  The music was so loud that we didn’t get to sleep until after 1am.



Going back home from the fair...



The village church...

One of the streets around town...



Now which one of these will we buy?



Got up this morning (Monday) at 6am and was out the door and at the ruin site before it opened.  We learned a lot about the Mayan people who had lived in this region until 822 A.D.  This region went through the rein of 16 different kings before the people moved to more fertile land for survival.

This was one of the parrots that greeted us to the site...

Some of the group way up on one of the ruins...

There were lots of snake heads, these three were on the soccer field, the teams score when the ball hit one of the heads. Then the captain of the winning chose one of his team to be sacrificed to the Gods!!

The trees were enormous!!

Of course there were lots of stairs...



The carvings were amazing, considering how old they are!!!



One of the kings...

After the visit we had lunch and went to a school where students were participating in a ACJ/YMCA program.  This program iWe viewed a Power Point Presentation, that explained the programs that were offered in this region. We were in a hurry to get back on the road for a six hour drive back to Tegucigulpa so we could not have a question/answer period with this group.



The new computer room...



One of the students in the program...



We got on the road at 1:30pm, on the drive back most of the group had a big nap.  We decided to wait until we arrived at our destination for supper, but just outside the city, the bus blew another two tires (bad road conditions, under construction).  After a long day, we arrived safe and sound, it was after 8.  Deborah and I opted out for supper as we never napped today and were exhausted.

Bev`s Thoughts:

The last two days were filled mostly with driving.  We had a chance to see the magnificent countryside: the view of the endless mountains, rolling fields, dense wooded areas and the most beautiful flowers plus endless cattle, donkeys and horses.  The animals here are free to roam, even the horses and cattle, on the sides of the road, on the highway, next to shops in small rural areas, it was quite the treat. Houses are erected all throughout the countryside, near the highways, in the thick of trees and on the sides of steep hills.  I was very excited about the ruins from the word go and our tour guide did not disappoint me, to learn about such a special people in their environment and to see the hieroglyphics and carvings up close was more than I could have imagined.  Overall the drive was long but I enjoyed the scenic beauty, the shopping at the market was fun and not so expensive and the ruins were definitely were the two day trip.

Debbie's thoughts:

As Bev indicated we had a day to play tourists and get an opportunity to see the Copan ruins and they were very interesting. Not as well preserved as the ones I saw at Chichen Itza in Mexcio but certainly more artistic. The guide told us that in the period in which the Mayans lived in Copan was the Classical Period when their art became more developed. Also enjoyed staying in the town of Copan which was the first place sicne we came to Honduras that we actually saw any tourists. Copan because of his proximity to the Mayan ruins has become quite a tourists town with many hotels, shops and restaurants catering to outsiders rather than the locals. The drive back was long and when we had to stop on the side of the highway in the dark it was not a pleasant experience, though we never worried since our hosts were always there to help us. However we were glad to finally get back to the city.