My Way Is The Highway

THE MAYAN RUINS OF COPAN

This blog post is part of of our trip to Guatemala and Honduras in Dec 2012 amidst the evocative Mayan ruins in a lush jungle, a quaint lazy colonial town and a tropical Caribbean beach. Other articles in this series: Tikal Sunrise and Sunset Spots for Photographers | Astronomical Observatory of Uaxactun |Smoking Frog of Uaxactun | Following Frederick Catherwood | The Mayan Ruins of Copán |The Modern Town of Copán |

December 2012

I sit on a boulder besides a dusty single lane road not too far from the Guatemala-Honduras border. A centuries old grotesque statue of an old man lies half buried a couple of feet away. Rio Copán happily gurgles somewhere behind me. In front lies a lush verdant valley with dotted with fields of tobacco and plantation. From a nearby tree, a macaw suddenly takes flight, spreading its colorful wings luxuriously gliding over an unfelt air current drifting away silently into the horizon. A howler monkey crashes through the tree falling freely, hurtling to certain death towards the ground when at the very last moment it pulls itself up by the thinnest of a branch and swings away nonchalantly.

The landscape is shrouded by mist that swirls over two towns within half a mile of each other. On my right, the modern town of Copán is deep in slumber after the late night spent in Christmas revelry. It will wake up in a few hours. But not the ancient town of Copán on my left because it has been asleep for the last thirteen centuries.

But make no mistake. Copán is far from dead. Having witnessed its peak in the eighth century, it rapidly diminished in power sometime after that and was lost to the undergrowth until it was discovered by a dynamic duo of adventurers in the mid-nineteenth century. Befitting the ancient Mayan traditional belief in afterlife, today it lives a another life.

Tikal NP, Guatemala Copán and Roatan, Honduras Trip Summary

 

Evocative Mayan ruins in a lush jungle, a quaint lazy colonial town and a tropical Caribbean beach – summarizes the theme of this trip.

It started with visiting a key Maya site, Tikal National Park on winter solstice of 2012 when a major Mayan calendar period was complete. A diving adventure, an incentive for Rhea, made Roatan necessary and my research brought me across an enterprising artist called Catherwood, which made a stop at Copan in Honduras necessary. Lot of hiking, lichen painted ruins in vine shrouded jungle, colorful macaws, hospitable people, warm sand, blue water, mind blowing sunrises and sunsets made this trip well rounded and memorable.

(At the age of 11,) Rhea puts it in her top three vacations of all times. 

The Modern Town of Copan Ruinas

The Church and Central Plaza of Copan Ruinas

 

This blog post is part of of our trip to Guatemala and Honduras in Dec 2012 amidst the evocative Mayan ruins in a lush jungle, a quaint lazy colonial town and a tropical Caribbean beach. Other articles in this series: Tikal Sunrise and Sunset Spots for Photographers | Astronomical Observatory of Uaxactun |Smoking Frog of Uaxactun | Following Frederick Catherwood | The Mayan Ruins of Copán |The Modern Town of Copán |

 

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.

Rhea and I instantly fell in love with Copan.