On the border of Honduras and Guatemala is the small town of Copan. Set in the middle of several mountain ranges, it is the site of the most southern of the ancient Mayan cities.
To get to the city from the Caribbean city of Ceiba we had to drive to San Pedro Sula.
On the way we passed several sights!
We were glad we could'nt pack one of these.
Were anxious that the ropes didn't break.
And were amazed at the money spent on the exterior of the Technical college!
San Pedro Sula is a typical Central American city.
It's been destroyed by earthquakes, old American school buses rush around belching black fumes,
Electricty lines loop crazily across the streets and the buildings look as if they are very temporary!
The prettiest building was our hotel.
Which was imported from the USA! right down to the plastic molded shower unit.!
Then next day saw us in a luxury bus we didn't have last time.
After climbing up and over about seven mountain passes.The scenery was beautiful by the way!
We arrived in the town of Copan Ruinas. Called this we suppose, because the Mayan Copan are here.
The town is an old colonial mountain village, where the native inhabitants are direct descendants of the Mayans.The church is typical of all churches in the area.
Inside very old statues.
They are preparing for the road to Easter!
Taxis are Tut Tuts!
The ruins are very old and unfortunately they are not very well preserved.
It is a World Heritage Site, but excavation is progressing slowly.A lot of the buildings still look like rubble!
The stone carvings are spectacular when you look at them close to.
Some still have their paint.
The Mayans used to play a kind of ball game in court like this.
If you lost or won, they are not sure which, you were beheaded!
They believed that sacrifices, animals and humans,
were necessary to ensure the gods gave them good crops.
The heart was cut out, placed in the dent on top of the bowl,
and the blood collected at the bottom of the runnel! Nice.
The main plaza is huge.
Entrance to the Royal apartments high up.
The valley is very beautiful, we could see why the Mayans settled here.
As we discovered there are lots of Americans making their living in Central America.
We visited the local bird park.
Magnificent parrots!
Al the birds had either been rescued or given to the American who ran the park.
This young toucan had been rescued from people selling him beside the road. They gave it to the park.
As we left we thought the birds had very good homes now!
The gardens were beautiful too, this passion flower caught our attention.
Really great blog keep it up.
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