Neddy to the rescue . . ..

Moving on from Pico Bonito to Copan Ruinas involved a six hour journey which was broken at Lancetilla Botanical Gardens (the second largest tropical garden in the world).  Our guide took us around, pointing out many of the plants and trees and the important work that is being done in terms of medicine and other treatments.  His second skill was proving that morris dancing was alive and well in Honduras, or was he being bitten to death on the back of his calves.  None the less, we continued on to Copan.

The hieroglyphic staircase is behind us

Our first full day was spent on the start of our Mayan Journey as we visited the Southern most Maya ruins.  As we continue Northwards in Guatemala and Mexico we will see more and more ruins.

Our guide 'Neddy'was very informative and interesting.  He told us about the 16 kings of Copan.  The 13th was called Eighteen Rabbit who oversaw the construction of many of the buildings.  On hearing this information, PR began getting delusions of grandeur.  We have yet to tell him that Eighteen Rabbit was the only king to be executed.  We also saw a ball game court where the objective of the game was to hit a stone macaw with the ball.  The best player was then rewarded by being sacrificed. 


 We also visited the adjoining museum said to be one of the finest in the Mayan region. 

The symbol of Eighteen Rabbit

During lunch, Neddy helped us sort out the rest of our itinerary as the tour company had a different version to us. The early afternoon was spent in the residential area where the wealthy Mayans lived.  Their homes were an open air compound surrounded on three sides by stone structures which housed wives and children.  The fourth side contained the main bedroom of the man of the house, where you could clearly see the huge stone bed complete with stone pillow.




Neddy on the beddy!

Late afternoon involved a 45 minute horse ride up a steep track to Hacienda San Lucas via the twisting river bed.  We recovered with a cool glass of lemonade whilst taking in the views of the valley and the various crops.  

The return trip was quicker and we rewarded ourselves with happy hour G&Ts.  During our drink we noticed that the second happy hour started at 6pm where wine was $10 a bottle and so we returned for dinner where we tried anafre, a fondue like dish of cheese and refried beans served with tortillas. The girls doing the serving also had a party trick; as they went to the upstairs bar they would always balance either a bottle of beer/wine, a plate or a seving dish on their head - good for deportment I am told.

HJ on Princess

On the way home, RM fancied a nightcap and we called into a liquor store. Whilst perusing the various bottles of rum on offer, his eyes lit upon the holster and gun of another customer.  Moving upwards he found the face of a teenage boy who along with his equally gangsterish friends, were also buying nightcaps. We said Buenos Noches, quickly exited and scurried back to our hotel for sweet dreams.