The Mayan Ruins of Copán... Honduras

The Mayan Ruins of Copán, located in the mountains of western Honduras near the Guatemalan border are the de-facto reason to visit Western Honduras. At the very minimum this should be an overnight trip with most travelers departing from San Pedro Sula, about a four-hour drive from San Pedro Sula. A must see if you come to Honduras.

The ancient city of Copan thrived until A.D. 822 and produced some of the most skillful stone carvers of the Maya world. The master craftsmen are gone, but the deserted ruins remain as a testament to their work. Copan is still relatively unspoiled--a delight for travelers who want marvels without the marveling crowds.

Meticulously maintained and more prominent than a skyscraper, the Mayan ruins at Copan are a superb memorial to a once powerful kingdom. To really appreciate Copan, it is a good idea to read all about it before you arrive.

In the land known today as HONDURAS, the Maya-Toltec culture was born 3,000 years ago before Christ, while Europe was still considered a land of barbarians. Scientists consider the Maya-Toltec civilization to have become the most developed indigenous culture in the world. Without a doubt, it was the most advanced in Middle America. Copan's pyramids temples and stone monuments justify this claim. They are located in the northwestern zone of Honduran territory, near the border with Guatemala. At Copan, Mayan structures date back to at least 1,000 years B.C.

You have to walk more than 200 m of steamy tropical-forest trails before reaching Copan's Great Plaza, where the city's main acropolis rises some 30 m toward the sky. The tallest structure in sight is the Hieroglyphic Stairway, a monument that chronicles the achievements of 15 kings with more than 1,500 elaborately carved glyphs. Many of the other ruined buildings and monuments are undisturbed, wrapped tightly by the thick roots of ancient ceiba and cedar trees. Beyond the main plaza is a lush park with hiking trails.

The park has four basic areas of interest:

The Ball Court, considered the social center of the city. This park is by far the most artistic ball court in Meso-America. Unique to it are the markers on the side walls, resembling macaw heads. The final work done on this ball court goes back to the days of ruler 18 Rabbit.

The Great Plaza. Famous for its stelae and altars that are scattered around this immense plaza. Most of the stelaes that are standing today were erected during the times of the 13th ruler, known as 18 Rabbit between the years 711 and 736. Many of the altars have a zoomorphic form.

The Hieroglyphic Stairway. This unique temple holds the longest known text left to us by the ancient Maya civilization. It was erected by ruler number 15, known as Smoke-Shell and is believed to be a lineage tree, recording the ascension and death of all Copan rulers from Yax-Kuk-Mo to Smoke-Shell. The 5 portraits located in the stairway represent five successors to the dynasty. Unfortunately, the glyphs can not be read because the steps had all fallen out of place. Archaeologists rebuilt the temple, but had no way of knowing where each piece belonged. Today, this magnificent temple has an enormous tarp covering it to protect the steps from further erosion, which has unfortunately already damaged a great part of the glyphs.

The Acropolis. The acropolis is divided in two big plazas: the west court and the east court. The west court houses temple 11 and temple 16 with the unique altar Q set at its base. Temple 11 was built during the reign of Yax-Pac, and is his most significant architectural contribution to Copan. This very elaborate temple was meant to be his portal to the other world. Altar Q has now been completely 'read' and depicts each (16) of the members of the Copan Dynasty, including Yax-Pac, seated on their own glyph. In it, the founder of the dynasty Yax-Kuk-Mo is passing the scepter of power directly to Yax- Pac.

The nearest town is Cobán Ruinas.

Getting there.The main airport serving the Copan area is the San Pedro Sula International Airport. Serviced regularly by LACSA, TACA, COPA, American, Continental, Mayan World Airways, Isleña and Iberia. San Pedro Sula is easily reached from the following North American gateways: Miami, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Mexico City and Cancun. In addition, there are excellent connections via the Central American Airlines through San Jose, Costa Rica; San Salvador, El Salvador; Panama City, Panama and Guatemala City, Guatemala. Once in San Pedro Sula, your best bet is to purchase a tour package through one of the Honduran tour operators in San Pedro or taking advantage of fairly good direct us service that operates regularly. For updated information , please check our bus schedule routes from San Pedro Sula located in the Bus transportation section of our guide. From Guatemala City, you may fly directly to Copan Ruinas. The flight is a very scenic tour over the Guatemalan countryside. Overland from Guatemala City will take you about 7 to 8 hours to traverse the 230km between Guatemala City and Copan Ruinas. You must first get to Chiquimula, from there take a bus to the Vado Hondo detour, and finally get to the Florido border. Please note that the border is open daily from 7:00 am to 6 p.m. only! Copan is located only 12km from the border.

The local currency is the lempira, which has an exchange rate at time of print of approximately L.13.50 to US 1.00. It is difficult to exchange currency other than US dollars and travelers checks. In Copan Ruinas you can exchange Guatemalan quetzales for lempiras, however the going exchange rate is normally about Q1.00 for L.2.00 making it an unfavorable rate.

Their are now two banks in Copan, the Banco de Occidente, is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 hrs. On Saturday it is open from 8:00 to 12:00 hrs. Amongst other services, you can exchange US Dollars, Guatemalan Quetzales and Salvadoran Colones, as well as getting cash advances from your Visa or Mastercard credit cards. The new Banco Atlantida office is also located within the main square, operates with the same schedule as the Banco de Occidente and offers cash advances on your VISA card.

Tap water is generally unsafe to drink in all of Honduras and Copan is no exception. Most of the better restaurants and hotels treat their water, making it safe for you to drink. Purified water can be purchased at different places throughout town. Another safe alternative is to stick to bottled soft drinks or beer.

Telephone and fax. Hondutel, the local telephone company is located one block from the main park. They have just changed their location. Check our map of town to locate them. Open from 8:00 to 21:00 hrs. daily.

E-mail. In the last six months, several establishments offering Internet access and e mail service has opened. Although not really full fledged Internet café s, The service is good and reliable. The following businesses offer the service: Ixbalanque Spanish School, Hotel Los Gemelos and Copan Net.

The mail office is located just next to Hondutel.

Washing your clothes in Copan. An everyday problem for the long time traveler is where to get his clothes washed. There is a perfect place to do so in Copan: Lavanderia Justo a Tiempo. This laundromat service allows you to drop your clothes off in the morning, go to the ruins, take a tour or going about your business, and return in the afternoon to pick your clean clothes up. Service includes washing, drying and folding of your clothes! There is also a book exchange service available at the laundromat.

For those of you who find that your Spanish is not up to par, there is the possibility of taking advantage of your stay in Copan to do something about it. The Ixbalanque Spanish School offers you the unique opportunity to learn Spanish with a one to one teacher to student ratio, and at the same time experience Central America by living with one of the local Copanecan families.

Immigration offices in Copan are located within the City Hall building, just across the street from the main park. Open Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 4:30 every local immigration procedure can be done from this office.

The dry season, or verano in Copan is from December through April inclusive, with March and April being the hottest and driest months. The rainy season or invierno is from May through November and the wettest months are August and September.

A word of caution: Hondurans, and Copanecans in particular love to celebrate any event, and do so often with the use of firecrackers, which of course, the louder the merrier. They celebrate with total disregard to the time of the day, and seem to prefer the wee hours of the morning. Many a tourist has hid under his bed thinking a revolution has just started outside of his room! Fear not, it is only someone having a good time and the only harm that will come to you will be the loss of some of your precious sleeping time!