HONDURAS- colonial towns, pottery and Copan ruins

​Our last night in Nicaragua proved to be a challenge, not only was our camera stolen but the night was sleepless with the locals blaring their Saturday night tunes and with me spending the night in the bathroom.
 
We still managed to get moving at the early hour of 5 am, so we could cross the border to Honduras. We had heard reports of it taking several hours to complete the paperwork at either end.
 
The exit from Nicaragua and entry to Honduras all went smoothly and we were through within 1½ hours. By this stage I was feeling extremely nauseas again and incredibly tired from no sleep. We headed to the first main town and checked into a hotel at 9am, and spent most of the day in bed. Keira loved it as she got to watch movies all day and in a real bed!
Suspecting giardia again, I completed a course of tinadazole and felt better by the end of the following day.


GRACIAS
 
Mike once again having pressures of work, required several days in one location to work. We arrived early than expected in Gracias, a small colonial town in western Honduras. The roads were unrepentantly very good, that means paved with only a few potholes.
 
Deciding that we needed to rest up in comfort and requiring decent wifi, we sort out and found a great hotel. The rooms were comfortable, with nice décor; there were hammocks, a restaurant and beautiful gardens.
 
The following day we were very happy that we made this choice as Mike presented with a body rash, fever, aching joints and fatigue. Dengue? Zika? Cinchagunya? Or a Virus? We still don’t know what it was but treatment for all the above is rest and fluids, so that is what Mike did. He did continue to work to meet approaching deadlines.
 
Keira and I took a few walks through the town, took some time to catch up on homeschooling tasks and also rested.
We did discover a wonderful restaurant that did incredible wings, potato wedges and frozen mojitos!

​THE TOWN HAD A VERY RELAXED ATMOSPHERE.

CRAZY THINGS YOU SEE:

There are so many bizarre things that we see throughout our day, usually when we don't have a camera handy to record them, so we take a mental picture. Here is a couple of things I did manage to capture on film:

TOP LEFT AND RIGHT: Typical electrics in Sth and Central America, wires going everywhere
​BELOW: a truck piled high with grass, trucks are always overloaded with goods and people
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​LA CAMPA- POTTERY

The morning we left we visited a nearby town famous for pottery. There was a festival in progress with a lot of stalls selling various sweet treats, clothing and gadgets. We tasted a coconut ice that was delicious but very sweet.
 
After looking at a couple of pottery vendors we came upon a family run little pottery business. The pottery is all hand made and incredibly cheap. The oldest member of the family was incredibly sweet, so we made quite a few purchases from her. I always like buying from and supporting people who you have a connection with and who have personality. We shared life stories in Spanish, laughed a lot and shared food. We spent about $50 USD and got about 12 items, including a big jug.
The grand daughter, ten years old, was selling pottery necklaces that she had made. She was so excited to sell 2 necklaces to us.
This was a really wonderful experience and now we have some beautiful pottery pieces that have required some creative packing to get into Priscilla.

​COPAN RUINAS - the town itself

Copan Ruinas was our next destination. The main purpose of our visit was to see the Mayan ruins of Copan. The town itself although small, caters to tourism with many hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops. We added some more coffee to our growing coffee collection.
 

​Typical town scenes.
​Keira enjoying dairy free ice cream.

KEIRA LOVES RIDING IN TUK TUKS

THE COPAN RUINS- THE MAYAN KINGDOM
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The Copan Ruins have been on our “to do” list since we visited Palenque and Tulum in the Yucatan Peninsula 20 years ago.
The Ruins are incredible and we had an amazing day exploring the grounds, temples, tunnels and museums. It is overwhelming to sit on the steps of one of the pyramid temples and think that the Mayan people lived and worked there so many years ago. It is really moving.
 
Over the years the jungle has encroached on the ruins, with tree roots growing throughout the structures. This adds to its mystic.

​We arrived at the ruins early so literally had the place to ourselves.
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The steps of the pyramids are very steep and narrow. There are so many cool shots to take.

MUSEUMS

Many of the original statues and artifacts have been moved indoors to a large museum at the site in order to preserve them. The craftsmanship is spectacular.
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MACAWS

​An extra treat at the ruins is the macaws that live in the trees. They are domesticated so are unafraid of people. They swoop over your heads and walk on the ground around your feet.
They add to the jungle atmosphere, and are just fun to watch!

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HIGHLIGHTS/CHALLENGES OF THE AREA:


MOST VALUED POSSESION: hotel rooms to rest up in
BEST EXPERIENCE: Mike- seeing the Copan ruins; Keira- seeing the macaw parrots and the pyramids; Riss- visiting the Copan ruins, a place on our bucket list/buying pottery from the family in La Campa
MOST CHALLENGING EXPERIENCE: Mike-being sick; Keira- Mom and Dad being sick; Riss- crossing a border whilst sick
BEST FOOD DISCOVERY: Mike- chicken wings/potato wedges, Keira- grape flavored dairy free ice cream; Riss- chicken wings/potato wedges and frozen mojitos
BEST CAMPING SPOT: no camping, but loved having a real bed, bathroom, and good wifi
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