Copan Ruins, HONDURAS

I'm in the small village near the famous Mayan ruins of Copan, in north western Honduras (a six hour drive by minivan from Antigua, Guatemala). It was in AD 628 that Copan began to develop when King Smoke Imix (Smoke Jaguar) came to the throne. The first recorded discovery of the ruins was on March 8th, 1576. Today it is one of the most significant Mayan ruins in all of Latin America...and that's why I'm here!

Spent several hours around the ruins which is quite impressive. As you walk around, you gaze at these ancient structures and you can only imagine (or maybe not really) what this bee nest of a city (20,000 people at its peak) would have been like at that time. It was eventually deserted after the inhabitants cleared the surrounding forests, which resulted in land slides and soil erosion and eventually no crops, no food, starvation, and the entire civilization of Copan came to an end. Those who didn't die, left the area for good. The city was abandoned, taken over by newly grown jungle, and only centuries later re-discovered and unearthed.

The nearby little village where I am staying has small houses, cobbled streets, friendly people, and nice little restaurants. About 60% of all the men are wearing white cowboy hats, and several walk with a long machete hanging by their side. I've seen a few with small guns, but nothing beats the preparedness of the bank and store security guys with their big machine guns. As is common across Central America, most (if not all banks) and many stores have a heavily armed security guy(s) at the entrance.

I kinda like this little town! Lots of green around, clean streets, and birds everywhere!

Next stop (7 hours from here) will be Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, to spend 2-3 days in Mayan villages right by the shores of this beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes.