The ruins of Copan is always my favorite part of a trip to Honduras. You can keep the family cookout and the trip to the marketplace and learning how to drink water out of a bag. The Mayan City of Copan has been amazing since my first visit in 1993. A lot of things have changed since then.
I never remember the long drives much but I remember the long drive for my first visit to Copan. It’s about three hours away from the city center in San Pedro Sula, located on the boarder of Guatemala. We set off early this morning after I ate as much breakfast as I possibly could. On our first visit 25 years ago we stopped at a roadside burger place where the entire family, except yours truly who got a funny feeling about the food when I saw a stray dog refuse to eat it. The memory of being so sick must have still stuck with my dad after all this time because he declared to the family that we would be taking no chances and would not stop for lunch near the ruins. That seemed fine with me since breakfast food is the best food. After our hearty meal we all packed into the van for the drive, which was further enhanced by all of the construction going on on the one road from San Pedro Sula to Copan. Based on what we could briefly read on the signs as we drove by it looks like it is thanks to a grant from the EU to replace the mostly dirt and gravel road with a one foot thick, smooth concrete one. Unfortunately that meant traffic coming to a complete standstill for up to fifteen minutes at a time since there was only one lane available on the two lane road for all the traffic.
Having finally made it to the visitors center of Copan I was thrilled to be out of the car and back on familiar soil. A guide found us in the parking lot, along with a bunch of kids trying to convince us to buy their random stuff, and then we were off. There is a short walk from the visitors center to the ruins and along it were a ton of macaws, the national bird of Honduras. We watched as they ate lunch and hung out in the manmade swings in the trees before stepping into the city square. Our guide explained how the area was built according to the cardinal directions which the Mayans figured out by studying the stars. The whole city would gather there and pay homage to the king and the gods. The king would be on the top of a small step pyramid (which you’re allowed to climb so EJ and James did) and enjoy the adoration of the crowd. The amazing part was how sound perfectly echoed in the area, amplifying a single clap to sound like two dozen.
We continued through taking a look at all the statues of the Mayan Kings who ruled Copan and took a break to look at the larger step pyramid. I remember it being covered in pictographs, and the guide confirmed that there were over a thousand different symbols on it, but what I looked at today barely resembled the pyramid I remembered. There were so many steps missing and a bunch of the statues that were along the ground were gone. In fact it looked quite bare. The guide explained how pieces had been taken or given as gifts to the different archeologists and museums. We told the guide that we had been here in 1993 and he was shocked because that was around the time when they had uncovered it and began studying it.
The tour continued through the stadium where they played ancient soccer and up a giant switchback staircase in the mountain. There we saw more temples, including one that was built above 3 others which are buried underground, and the royal residence which I remember watching the archeologists dig up when I was a kid. The crumbling stone homes are nestled in a pocket of the jungle and it looks just like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. Next we moved on to another temple which had the Mayan version of the White House next to it. It was where the king would make his own blood sacrifice and watch the sacrifice of animals to ensure different weather outcomes. Our guide said that some of the Mayans still do it today by sacrificing and burning the blood of different animals to get different things. Such as burning oriole blood to clear an overcast day. I had no idea that there were still people who tried to follow the traditions like that.
We made our way back down the mountain side and out of the park, having seen pretty much everything. We bought some cold drinks and snacks then piled back into the van. The ride home felt so much longer then the ride there. I think it was because it got dark so quick I couldn’t see any of the landmarks I used to track our progress on the way there. Finally at 9pm we got to the hotel. We were all exhausted and more importantly hungry. My large breakfast from 7:30am had done well but time makes hungry people of us all. Eating at 9pm can be a hassle around here but at least we have the cafe in the hotel. Everyone got milkshakes and we wolfed down our dinner. I was just happy to be out of the car.
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