Copán

The breakfast was fried plantain and baleadas which were too big to finish. We tried the two ATMs in town but both were Visa-only so we couldn't get any money out. Luckily we have some dollars left.

We walked the 1km to the main Copan ruins and were able to pay the $15 entry fee by credit card. On entering the complex, we were deafened by the squawks of scarlet macaws, the national bird of Honduras - there were loads of red, blue and yellow coloured birds in the trees above us. Sadly we'd only bought Anna's phone so couldn't get a decent photo. We also saw a ‘guinea pig on stilts’, first named during our trip to Mexico a few years ago.

We wandered around the ruins for about 3 hours. They aren't as impressive as Chichen Itza but they do have the advantage that you are allowed to climb on them. They date back to the Mayan period when rulers were called things like 18 Rabbit and Moon Jaguar. Some of the ruins, such as the big stairway, are covered by a huge tarp to protect it from weathering. Apart from a school group which we kept our distance from, there were only a handful of tourists around. The majority of the time we seemed to have the place to ourselves giving the place a lovely, tranquil feel. It was a drizzly day and we had our ponchos and umbrellas out for most of it. Neither of us had thought to put on bug spray and we both got thoroughly munched :( We saw some tiny toads and a squirrel plus some bright yellow birds - maybe Quetzals?

When we thought we had seen everything we headed back to the entrance and headed down a side road looking for guinea pigs on stilts. A lady told us to follow her and led us to an info display and a whole load of more ruins! The place could really do with some signposts and maps!!

On our return to the main entrance we noticed a couple of the macaws were on the feeding troughs (they run a breeding program). We tiptoed over in the hope we might get a closer photo. They didn't seem to mind us getting right up to them as they munched happily on their fruit - until Anna took her hood down for a selfie and they took flight. A few of them did fly-bys right over our heads which was pretty awesome.

We left the park and looked for a few trails that were on the big map. A lady told us they were muddy and said we could see some other ruins as part of our ticket. We walked a further mile away from town (along the yellow brick road) and came to Las Sepulchras. We walked through the woods and came across some more ruins - smaller, residential areas for the commoners. We were the only ones there, until 3 machete-laden men joined the path behind us! Luckily they were just finishing work and not trying to rob us. One of the sites near the entrance was being excavated and we couldn't go in. A man came and told us very proudly he was in the National Geographic for the 5 year project.

We walked back, exhausted from a day's wandering. We had some nachos in the hostel bar and then washed off all the mud in the shower which was hot today :)

After a rest, and once the rain had died down, we went on one of Anna's quests to find a bar...after 10 minutes of searching we found it - one door up from our hostel! Sol De Copan is a German microbrewery so Anna was in heaven. We seemed to have found the local gringo hangout as a huge group of Americans was there plus some other tourists. We didn't fancy the German stodgy-sounding food and so shared some baleadas and great chips. I beat the drunkard at chess 3 times and then we headed back.

Some Hondurans had arrived for the weekend and were playing music really loudly, jumping in the pool and generally making a huge racket. Thankfully by midnight they had quietened down mostly so Anna didn't have to go stomping out and shout at them.Read more