23/1/10 - day 45.

up at half 5 to catch 6AM bus to san pedro sula where i had an annoying 2 and a half hour wait for my connecting bus to copan. i used up the time by having a very leisurely breakfast (a huge coffee and 2 cheese pastry sticks) and reading until the 11am departure time. at half 11 we left the station and about 3 hours later arrived at copan, in the west of honduras, about 10km from the guatemalan border.

i went to the manzana verde hostel, which had twice been recommended to me, and stayed in a dorm for what was the first time in 10 nights. had a interesting lunch. ordered something from their tipico section and was expecting the usual rice, beans tortillas blah blah blah. they brought me this huge clay kil, in which were red hot coals and sitting on that was my bowl of food. mashed beans, mixed with mean and melted cheese with very large nachos sticking out of it. the whole thing was producing a lot of smoke and it was like sitting there with a mini barbecue at my table! so that was good, but the beer i had with it - salva vida - not so much.

the small village of copan is where the ancient mayan ruins are (well, 1km away) and the main reason people come to visit. i was no different. i really liked the village, very clean, pretty, well kept, the main square surrounded by palm trees and the usual old men sitting about doing nothing. every road in the village is cobblestone and there are tuk tuk type things all over the place whizzing people about. seemed like such a slow, relaxed pace of life here, with friendly, smiley people and plenty of sunshine. nice.

after lunch i headed back to the hostel where i met 2 american guys and a canadian in the dorm. hung out with them for most of the afternoon. they were leaving at 5am the next morning, so when i went to bed around 9pm, i knew id be in for an early awakening myself. good to be back in a dorm!