Honduras: Parte 1

So, it's been a little while since I gave an update here to the world, but as the above pic shows I was busy exploring a little bit of Honduras (oddly enough the pic was taken as I was leaving Honduras, but the idea still stands).  So I will attempt to give a photo and word synopsis of what transpired over the last 3 weeks.

The trip out of Nicaragua turned out to be quite the adventure.  I'm not sure if it made the news in the States but in the 10 days or so before I left El Sauce all of Central America was being innundated with nearly incessant rain.  In fact, here in El Sauce we had a week straight of rain -alternating between heavy downpours and a steady drizzle.  Many of the bridges in the area were inpassable due to high river levels and I was actually lucky to get out of El Sauce - a bunch of us who wanted to get to Leon got into an interlocale not knowing whether or not we would be able to pass - fortunately we were.  But this wasn't the end of the adventure.  The next day I boarded a Tica bus that was going to take me direct to San Pedro Sula in the north of Honduras.  However, after an hour or so we stopped with the explanation that we were going to wait a bit to see if the water level would drop a little so we could pass a bridge further ahead - although when I saw what was ahead I think the bus drivers just wanted some breakfast!

This was the highway for about 2 miles! I think my favorite thing was the mass of people busy fishing and hanging out in the running water! It was incredible and the first time I have actually been scared while on a bus as seen below:

Sights like this don't help calm the butterflies either...

That's alot of water.

We eventually made it to San Pedro - but rather than arriving  around 5pm we arrived at 9pm...not the best time to arrive into a city that has a rather rough reputation.  Spent a morning walking around San Pedro and the craziest thing about big Honduran cities is the incredible amount of American fast food and pizza places - I saw some super-legit Pizza Hut restaraunts.  Not sure what purpose the Coke sign serves, but it made for a nice hike.

I then went to Copan Ruinas which is near the border with Guatemala and the sight of a large Mayan ruins.  They are not as grand as those in Guatemala but are renowned for being the artesenal center of the Mayan empire.

Every new king would try and erase the memories of the previous kings but here in Copan, rather than raze the buildings, they simply built over them.  This temple was found beneath the outer structure and is actually this red color.  Apparently when the Mayans lived here  all the buildings were this red color and all the open spaces were stuccoed and white - to help with nighttime navigation.  Unfortunately tourists can't go in a see the temple...booo

Bit of a shame to cover up such nice natural colors.

Proof that I was actually there!

The great thing about travelling in the off-season is that the place was basically empty.  The tarp covers a large staircase where every stone is carved into a giant hieroglyphic.  Unfortunately, when the site was discovered the rocks were scattered and now the experts are not sure in what order they should be.  The tarp is for protective measures.

There were a lot of these columnas - and they are all intricately carved.

The staircase.

This even has a bit of the original red color...

Well the place was nearly empty - except for Los Tucanes de Tijuana - a ranchero group from Mexico that is apparently quite popular- who were recording a video for a new song (unfortunately couldn't find that one for the link).  I had no idea who they were but everyone was jumping in for a photo so I decided to follow along.

Some cooky art - preserved in the museum next door.

Honduras is a pretty place - more landscapes to come.

So that was the first couple days - part 2 to come shortly.