We took off this morning and drove most of the way across the country of Honduras. We agreed that since our work was done, or as much as we could get done on this trip anyway, we wanted to see the Mayan ruins at Copan.
The drive took us almost to Guatemala and over mountains that passed 1000 meters, but we finally got here. Took about 6 hours, a couple more police stops (where they actually made us all get out of the car this time) and a protest on a bridge that stopped traffic for about 20 minutes, and we finally got here.
We did make one quick stop along the way, too, to grab some breakfast at a roadside stand. Very traditional meat, eggs and cheese on a tortilla. And boy was it good.
It was an interesting progression across the country. The eastern end of Honduras is very green and lush with palm trees, jungle-like. As we moved west, it got slowly browner and dryer as we moved into the hills. It began to remind me more of Mexico or even southern California (at least the undeveloped areas) than the other side. The people, too, seemed to have a bit more of a Mayan influence, physically, than the eastern Hondurans. It’s beautiful country side though and I would like to spend more time here.
There weren’t any English speaking guides around, but Matias was good enough to help me out. Pretty breathtaking place. It’s not the biggest of the Mayan ruins in Central America, but it is an exceptionally nice one. Our guide Eduardo was great and very informative. You’d almost think he was there when the place was occupied. But, he must have been much younger than me, because he wasn’t out of breath at all leading us up and down the ruins, when the rest of us were breathing hard. That’s the only solution I can come up with anyway…. Copan existed with 16 kings over 400 years of continuous rule. Many of the structures represented one kind in particular, 18 Rabbit King, the 11th in the line. Like most of the Mayan world, no clue what caused it to disappear. Even these trips, though, give you an insight into the culture that has existed in these very lands for 1500 years, or more. That is nothing to ignore.
There will be more posts from Honduras in the weeks and months to come. This has been a great beginning to a new project that will open the eyes of many divers around the world. As its still developing, I don’t really want to talk about it yet. I believe I’ll be coming back here in June and from there I’ll be able to move things forward. I will say, though, that this trip definitely qualifies as an Adventure with a Purpose.
Until then, tomorrow Matias and I begin a 24 hour odyssey to get home, landing around 8 am on Sunday morning. Wish us luck..