ADVENTURE IN HONDURAS
It was cold in Minnesota really cold, time to flee to the tropics, where better than Honduras. And so one very cold very early morning in January my wonderful daughter got up out of her warm bed and drove me to the airport. My flight at 7:25am and with a 5 hour layover in Miami I did not arrive in San Pedro Sula until 8:30 that evening. Miguel, our group leader, was waiting at the airport to escort Ginny, Mary Ellen (who were on the same flight), and me to the Gran Hotel Sula. My roommate Marcy was all settled in our room. We had a late dinner, and met a few of the other hostelers and then it was off to bed.
After breakfast the morning we were off to the local market and the tortilla bakery where we watched about 25 tortilla makers flipping their tortillas. No machines here, it was all done the old fashioned way. After the market we proceeded to the local museum, which although it was only fourteen years old had acquired a very nice collection of Mayan artifacts.
After our museum tour by a Mayan descendent we boarded the bus for our ride to Copan. Although the ride was long the scenery was beautiful and it was above all green rather than the white of Minnesota. We passed coffee and plantain fincas cornfields and lush forest areas and there were colorful flowers everywhere along the roadside.
We arrived at the Hotel Marina Copan in time for an afternoon glass of wine and an opportunity to really begin to get to know our fellow travelers. I have never met so many well traveled people. I thought I had visited a lot of countries, my itinerary did not stand out here. My roommate, whose husband worked for one of the oil companies, has lived in London, Cairo and one of the other Arab countries which I can't remember. Several of the others have lived overseas during periods of their lives or else they have children living over there now.
Thursday morning we left the hotel at 8:30 for our tour of the ruins at Copan. We were fortunate to be guided by David Sepat, the architect who was in charge of the project. They have finished their current digging and are now working on the final report. I think there are more ruins here than at Tikal or any of the others that I have toured. This one was really tough but sometimes it pays to be old, there was always help available to climb up and down those very steep steps. I wouldn't have missed the experience. Miguel, our tour guide was especially considerate. In fact he has determined that we should be engaged. Since he is young enough to be my grandson we would make a rather odd couple.
We went back to the hotel for lunch and a couple of hours of rest. Then more climbing to see these weird rocks that showed how women gave birth and some of the other Mayan customs. Then Miguel took us to the Hacienda St. Lucas to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset over the mountains before sitting down to a wonderful five course dinner. The menu included pickled salad, chicken, rice and beans (of course), wonderful corn soup and walnut cake with cooked papaya.
Marcie is a wonderful roommate, we both love books, are early risers and I think we are developing a great friendship. And I am pooped. What a day!
Friday was another fascinating day. We visited what is presumed to be a residential area. Many of these smaller architectural groups, such as here at Las Sepulaturas, were clearly occupied by important people with close ties to the royal family. Many of these non-royal elites appear in inscriptions that were placed in or near buildings away from the main acropolis, in "suburban" locations. Information on the Internet suggests that many of these smaller architectural groups, such as that at Las Sepulaturas, were clearly occupied by important people with close ties to the royal family. Several of these people are named as being the subsidiaries of specific kings, such as Yax Pasah. What is interesting, however, is the fact that these subsidiary nobles are never mentioned in the Early Classic records of Copán. It would seem that their emergence as powerful lords in their own right may have been a symptom of some large, more systemic problems in Copán society at this time, as centralized power of the king waned.
