“Don’t they all look the same? Do you have to got to each one of them? Isn’t seeing one like seeing them all?” My friend, who I will not name, asked.
I stared at him in disbelief. Upon being inquired, I was excitedly showing him all the Mayan pyramids and temples I was planning to visit during our trip to Guatemala. I searched for a suitable answer but all I could remember is a story I had heard when I was a kid. A man confessed to a English professor that he had never read Shakespeare’s work. The professor, aghast, promptly responded. “Dear sir! That in itself is your punishment!”
I have been welcomed by guides in other countries with a variety of opening gamuts but never with the one I hate the most. I DO NOT like changes in plan. Roxy must have read my emotions instantly; I will never be a good poker player.
“Executive orders.” She said. “The President of Guatemala is holding a 13 Bak’tun ceremony at Central Plaza in Tikal. As is always the case in this region, the park officials are behind schedule. Tikal is closed for public today.” I continued to protest vehemently.She shrugged the you-don’t-argue-with-Guatemalan-authority shrug.
“Instead let me take you to the oldest known Mayan observatory at Uaxactun.” She pronounced it as wah-shak-tun.
So focused was I on the ancient Mayan ruins at Copan, that I was not expecting anything from the modern town. Merely eight blocks square, a buzzing plaza with a church, an airstrip and a soccer field, Copan is quaint, the ruins less than 15 minutes delightful walk away. Narrow streets hug the contours of the hill the town is built on, lined on both sides by colonial houses with alluringly decorated courtyards. Hole-in-the-wall eateries are sprinkled through out the town and immaculate art galleries showcase local artisans, and not output of Chinese manufacturing machines. The town is untouched by modern tourism.
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