Recap: Copan, Antigua, and Livin' Large

I'm back from Hiatus and if you missed me, you get a point. Yes yes, that means I'm essentially giving EVERYONE a point. But, what can I say? I'm feeling generous this new year! 

3 week vacations are awesome, and I'd like to have one every month. 

Ok, so are you ready for a full-on recap? 

After Christmas loveliness (sunshine, food, and relaxation), I had only 3 days to wait for Scheffer to fly in. She made it to the airport on time but had to wait an hour to get through customs and officially enter the country. Ready for traveling, we hooked up ear-to-ear and caught a bus to Copan, Honduras.

We got to Copan in 3 hours by bus from San Pedro Sula. It was dark! And it was hilly! Walking up with heavy backpacks = not fun!

Almost immediately, we had some ish. When we got to our hostel, hours after confirming our reservation and pending arrival and walking up a million hills with our backpacks, we were told that they sold our reservation to someone else. Whompski! We were momentarily homeless and sleeping in Parque Central!!! 

Lession #1: Backpacking is not easy for control freaks like me. You have to be patient, smile, and take things as they come.

We were saved when they called ahead and sent us to Posada de Belssy, a local and reasonably-priced, family-run place just a few blocks away from all the action. We were excited to check in, shower, and get some grub! And we grubbed and had a "we made it!" beer.

Back to the hostel for some sleep and TV! It was super chilly at night so we pulled out some thick blankets and got under our covers.

It was awesome to wake up the next morning and actually see Copan, after coffee of course. The cozy, quaint town is quite beautiful with its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and colorful buildings.

If you are still with me, you get a point for being a good reader! Thanks for paying attention to me!

Copan is a really charming city in western Honduras with cobblestone streets and adobe buildings. It's a relaxed and peaceful place that envelopes you the moment you step off the bus. It is definitely a well-traveled city and a meeting place for backpackers from all over the world. Copan is the home of Honduras' only major Mayan ruin filled with remarkable stone sculptures and the longest hieroglyphic stairway that has ever been discovered in Mayan lands. 

Schef and I learned that people have been living in the Valle de Copan since at least 1300 BC and probably before that. We explored the The Great Plaza, which is the principal group of ruins with huge, intricately carved stelae portraying the rulers of Copan dating back from AD 613 to 738.  

Lesson #2: Read descriptive plaques or else all ruins look the same. Perhaps they all look the same even if you read the descriptive plaques, but at least you tried.

 

We also walked around the old ball court (second largest in Central America), the Acropolis, and the residential area. There are also a series of underground tunnels that you needed to pay an extra $15 to explore, so of course we didn't pay. Although we may or may not have stolen a peek. 

Lesson #3: Don't try to steal a peek at caves that you haven't paid for. It pisses security guards off.

Schef was thrilled to find that avocados grow everywhere, even in the Copan Ruins!

Ruins don't have to be all serious and historical. We had fun too...

We had a little too much fun making shadow figures of ourselves. And taking pictures of them.

You can only see so many ruins before you are ready for some R&R... especially in a hammock.

After we felt we got a really good feel for the city (a few successful walk-arounds without getting lost), we were Copan'd out. After staying two nights, we jumped a shuttle bus and headed across the boarder to Antigua, Guatemala. Not super glamorous.

We were really lucky with the weather. Only on the days that we traveled, it rained. And on the days we were out exploring the city, it was sunny as can be! 

No drama getting to Antigua and checking into our hostel. We stayed at Yellow House, which is apparently a hot ticket in the backpacker community. The rooms were great, bathrooms spotless, service fantastic, breakfast delicious, and internet free! They even had a travel agency to book tours and trips through. No complaints whatsoever!

Still with me? 2 points if you made it this far! If you are just looking at pictures and not reading the text, you only get 1 point.

Antigua was beautiful! The former colonial capital of Central America, the city's streets are mostly laid out in a rectangular grid aligned with the compass, with the Parque Central as an origin point. 

The whole city is full of historic buildings, monuments, fountains, ruins and locals dressed in traditional clothing.

Oh, and there is tons of shopping! El Mercado is a cultural experience. It is a big maze, and we lost our way a number of times. In addition to food, American clothing, and other knick-knacks is a modern, clean and well stocked gift, art and local artisan shop arranged around a central fountain. We bought so many beautiful things!

Lesson #4: You must bargain. If they tell you the price is 200Q, you start at half of the price and then bargain your way up. And get assertive, because you have money and they want it!

Lesson #5: You can tell the difference between hand-stitching and machine-made. Just turn over the garment. If it looks a little too neat, then its by machine and they are lying to you. If you see hand-tied knots, its fo real. Fo sho!

We were shopped out and ready to celebrate the New Year! We headed out to Central Park on the early side and started the party. There were people running around with fireworks strapped to their bodies, street food to get sick on, and parades of crazy jesters on stilts!

Ok, so we were a little lame for New Years Eve. Here's how it went down: We started early (too early!) and were "ready for bed" by 10:00 pm. We decided to get in bed, watch TV, and head out to our hostel rooftop as the clock stroke midnight to pop some champagne and get a 360 view of the fireworks.

Lesson #6: Don't start your party at 5 pm when it will surely end after midnight. Especially if you are a light weight and used to going to bed at 9 pm.

It was an awesome way to spend New Years Eve! Fireworks were going off from daylight to daylight and the streets were filled with musicians, performers, tourists, and locals all having a good time. Because we were well-rested on New Years Day, we booked an excursion: volcano hike!

Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua. The most commanding, to the south of the city, is the Volcán de Agua or "Volcano of Water", some 3766 meters high. This volcano, we were told, is a loose canon, as it spews quite often.

To the west of the city are a pair of peaks, Acatenango, last erupted in 1972, 3976 meters, and the Volcán de Fuego or "Volcano of Fire", 3763 meters high. "Fuego" is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. Smoke issues from its top daily, but larger eruptions are rare.

It was recommended that we hike up the active volcano Volcán Pacaya. So we did!

Going up Pacaya was not as easy as they told us it would be. There was loose shale and steep, strenuous hills. It was a good thing we were guided by non-English speaking Claudio. What an authority! (Read: sarcasm)

Claudio led us up steep hills and through shale-forests...

... to our first pit-stop: a glimpse at Pacaya through the clouds. We would later dominate it!

As I mentioned, the volcano is active, but we didn't see lava. Instead, we experienced sauna-like caves where the temperature was hot enough to roast marshmallows!

Lesson #7: Bring marshmallows!

We started our hike at 2 in the afternoon, saw the sunset over the clouds, and descended in the dark.

It was a good thing we were told to bring a flashlight because it was a very dark descent. Claudio decided to help the "slower" people of the group down the mountain and asked Schef and I to continue on our own with the "fitter" people following us. Yes, Schef and I led our group down the volcano in pitch darkness. We made it and only fell a total of 4 times! (Me 3 times, her once.)

Lesson #8: Don't lead a group of people down a volcano in the dark. Or maybe, more importantly, don't follow Amy and Schef down a volcano in the dark. 

Next morning, we were on a bus at 4am back to Copan. And then another bus back to San Pedro Sula. And then one last bus to La Ceiba, my hood! 16 hours of traveling is not fun. We were in busses the entire day and ready for some air. What better way to get it than going kayaking in the Cacao Lagoon. As before, it was beautiful!

I was a much better kayaker than before and very impressed with Schef's skills.

We had to get Erika's feet in the Caribbean so we had a little swim in the water. It was refreshing and absolutely lovely!

Post-adventure, we got our eat and drink on!

We also received the Royal Treatment from Omega Tours and captured, for ourselves, the most beautiful room on the property! The Beautyview!

Lesson #9: Enjoy livin' large and luxury. Especially if you don't get it everyday! Sleep in, take at least 4 hot showers a day, and lounge around in your bare feet. 

After a really good night sleep and a hot shower, we were ready to get down, dirty, and wet in the river. Schef was scared but she survived! And I secretly think she enjoyed it. And I not-so-secretly hope that you are enjoying this blog post since it is taking me forever to write! If you are, another point for you. What is it, a total of 3 or 4? Don't get cocky, now!

Of course, Sam was our guide. And he made sure we got as wet as possible, enjoying every minute of it!

I only got 2 battle wounds - one on my elbow from smacking it against a rock and another knee-to-ankle bruise from the man who I shared the front of the raft with. He kept falling into me and I couldn't do anything about it!

Lesson #10: Be careful who you share a raft with. If your guide tells you to crouch down in the front of a raft with a grown man in a space made for one, don't do it! You will get bruised.

Aside form the man, Schef and I shared a raft with this brilliant and courageous 10-year old girl who kicked ass at everything she did! She absolutely showed us up at rock-jumping and paddling. Plus, she had a killer British accent that made us jealous.

It was finally time to show Schef my digs. First thing out of her mouth: "It smells." Ok, yes it smells but that's because the sink leaks all over the floor and we weren't home to sweep out the water and air out the room. Oh well, at least she experienced real life in the cuenca.

We went on an amateur nature hike up to a beautiful waterfall and beach. Of course, there was a minor accident: Schef fell in ankle-deep water with her bag toting her Droid, iPod, and camera. 2 out of the 3 survived, so we called it a success! She did get some gnarly cuts and bruises, so I hope she remembers her trip at least until they heal.

Overall, great vacation! Great trip! Great friend-time! Lots of love and thanks to Scheffer for flying out to play in the jungle, and being awesome. And thank to Team Amy for making it this far! You get 4 points, Scheffer gets 50 points, and everyone gets lots of love and luck for the New Year!

Mosquito Bites: 7
Gnarly Bruises: 2
Lessons Learned: 10
Final Score: Amy 0, Honduras 0, You 4, Schef 50