Back from Central America
Well we made it back. Brought few things back. A gift for mothers day, some stone mask carvings, and a head cold that has had me down for a week. Blah! I am on the tail end of it so no need to worry about me, however I am concerned about my office mate who was out sick today. Hopefully the germs did not spread across the room.
As for the trip is was almost two weeks of backpacking through the Guatemalan countryside with a splash of Honduras. We landed in the city and meet with Raul who was Silvia's uncle. We headed for lunch at Campero chicken and then the hot drive out of the city and onto Jalapa. Jalapa was nice but not much to brag about. The people were the nice part with a dinner of chicken tamales and a stroll to the park to see the municipal band play some off tempo songs. After exchanging money and browsing the market the next morning we decided it was time to head out and see some of the country. Silvia stayed back at Raul's house while we got a bus to Esquipulas.
Arriving after dark we took the first hotel we came to and dropped our bags to go see the basilica at night. Lots of people praying and lighting candles which made the walls a dark color. The next day we looked at the building again and then hired a taxi to give us a quick tour of the town before dropping us off at the zoo. This wasn't really a zoo but rather a few cages of animals with a cave in the side of the hill where people played in. The heat and smoke from the candles was so intense that we didn't think that we would make it very far in but we did and took a picture that didn't come out. Walked back to town and grabbed a bus out of town towards Honduras.
Flying around mountain roads at a very high, unsafe speed while packed in a minivan with atleast 20 other people brought us to the border crossing. Jumping out of the van, happy we had made it alive, brought us face to face with a man to change money. The convenience was nice but I had no idea of the exchange rate. Oh well, we were going to a new country, so I only changed enough to pay the fees and get a bus to our destination. The town of Copan Ruinas was a great town. The entire feeling was very tranquil once we found a place to sleep but until then it got to be a bit hectic. We ended up splurging on a room at the Plaza Copan, but it paid off later for us. Throwing our bags in the room and exchanging money at the bank across from the town plaza, we headed off to walk the kilometer or so to the ruinas. The town had built a nice walkway all the way to the ruinas that had stelleas along side the walkway. It caused the excitement to grow as we moved closer to the site!
The ruinas were magnificent. The hieroglyphs were amazing. The ability to climb up and down and through the ruinas was great. And there were only about 25 -30 people in the entire site. It felt as though we had it to ourselves. Taryn felt that we should get a guide to explain things to us but since it was late in the day and the site would soon close for the day, we decided that a guide early the next morning would be more worth it. After visiting the ruinas for about two hours we walked back to town and found a shop where we could site on a patio reading guide books and drinking liquados (smoothes) until the sun set. We then decided to shower and get dinner. That would be a cultural adventure in its own right.
Sitting down in a crowded restaurant that seemed to be hosting every tourist in the small town, we were lucky to get a table on the lower floor. The next guy in the door was not so lucky and so asked if he could sit at our table. I asked if he spoke English or Spanish. He said spanish in an accent that sounded french. Sure enough we would be enjoying our chicken shish-ka-bob with a french man traveling alone who spoke broken spanish and no english. I played translator and arm waver as I tried to interpret and explain all that we had seen at the ruins to him since he had not been yet. It was an enjoyable dinner, if not punctuated by a few moments of silent stares at our plates. But the food was great and they gave us free dessert! So it was nice.
The ruinas were on the agenda the next day and I was again excited.
As for the trip is was almost two weeks of backpacking through the Guatemalan countryside with a splash of Honduras. We landed in the city and meet with Raul who was Silvia's uncle. We headed for lunch at Campero chicken and then the hot drive out of the city and onto Jalapa. Jalapa was nice but not much to brag about. The people were the nice part with a dinner of chicken tamales and a stroll to the park to see the municipal band play some off tempo songs. After exchanging money and browsing the market the next morning we decided it was time to head out and see some of the country. Silvia stayed back at Raul's house while we got a bus to Esquipulas.
Arriving after dark we took the first hotel we came to and dropped our bags to go see the basilica at night. Lots of people praying and lighting candles which made the walls a dark color. The next day we looked at the building again and then hired a taxi to give us a quick tour of the town before dropping us off at the zoo. This wasn't really a zoo but rather a few cages of animals with a cave in the side of the hill where people played in. The heat and smoke from the candles was so intense that we didn't think that we would make it very far in but we did and took a picture that didn't come out. Walked back to town and grabbed a bus out of town towards Honduras.
Flying around mountain roads at a very high, unsafe speed while packed in a minivan with atleast 20 other people brought us to the border crossing. Jumping out of the van, happy we had made it alive, brought us face to face with a man to change money. The convenience was nice but I had no idea of the exchange rate. Oh well, we were going to a new country, so I only changed enough to pay the fees and get a bus to our destination. The town of Copan Ruinas was a great town. The entire feeling was very tranquil once we found a place to sleep but until then it got to be a bit hectic. We ended up splurging on a room at the Plaza Copan, but it paid off later for us. Throwing our bags in the room and exchanging money at the bank across from the town plaza, we headed off to walk the kilometer or so to the ruinas. The town had built a nice walkway all the way to the ruinas that had stelleas along side the walkway. It caused the excitement to grow as we moved closer to the site!
The ruinas were magnificent. The hieroglyphs were amazing. The ability to climb up and down and through the ruinas was great. And there were only about 25 -30 people in the entire site. It felt as though we had it to ourselves. Taryn felt that we should get a guide to explain things to us but since it was late in the day and the site would soon close for the day, we decided that a guide early the next morning would be more worth it. After visiting the ruinas for about two hours we walked back to town and found a shop where we could site on a patio reading guide books and drinking liquados (smoothes) until the sun set. We then decided to shower and get dinner. That would be a cultural adventure in its own right.
Sitting down in a crowded restaurant that seemed to be hosting every tourist in the small town, we were lucky to get a table on the lower floor. The next guy in the door was not so lucky and so asked if he could sit at our table. I asked if he spoke English or Spanish. He said spanish in an accent that sounded french. Sure enough we would be enjoying our chicken shish-ka-bob with a french man traveling alone who spoke broken spanish and no english. I played translator and arm waver as I tried to interpret and explain all that we had seen at the ruins to him since he had not been yet. It was an enjoyable dinner, if not punctuated by a few moments of silent stares at our plates. But the food was great and they gave us free dessert! So it was nice.
The ruinas were on the agenda the next day and I was again excited.
posted by Aaron @ 3:59 PM
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