There was of course one reason for our visit to Copan Ruinas. It was to visit the Mayan ruins of Copan. There was just so much, that I'll do it as a "two-parter ". Because of the length, I'll do it in two parts, but I'll start this post with Comedor Ikchel, a little Comedor we noticed on a side street away from Parque Central.
When we arrived, the rustic looking comedor was empty.
The reason we chose this comedor was the menu, which was small, and interesting in spite of the over-abundance of Espaguetis (spaghetti) and Hamburguesa type dishes.
We placed our order, and I requested some "Encurtido", except this itme the lady running the place had no clue as to what I was saying. Finally, with some hand signals, and the word cebollas (onions), and some laughter, she figured out what these bozo customers were requesting, and a nice refreshing bowl of pickled onions, peppers, and carrots made its way to the table.
As we had learned from our meal at Las Tejitas, many of the dishes are made from scratch to order. And from this experience, it is the same with Almuerzos (lunch). We sat back, and watched the Honduran soap opera on the tube, while we waited for our meal. About forty-five minutes later, our meals arrived.
The Missus had trumped me, and ordered what I had been looking at, the Pollo a la Cerveza, chicken braised in beer. And it was a fine looking piece of dark meat chicken.
The chicken was full of flavor derived from the oregano, onions, cilantro, celery, and peppers used in cooking. It was without a doubt a "rice" dish. As is typical with these type of lunches, the multi starch trio of rice, fries, and tortillas were present and accounted for.
I had ordered the Pollo a la Plancha, which is usually a grilled chicken, but in this base a sauteed piece of white meat chicken.
It was pretty dry, and the sauce tasted much like bottled American BBQ sauce. Strangely, the Missus liked this….or more likely knew I enjoyed the other dish more, and gave me what She ordered.
Along with a large bottle of water the damage came out to about $10/US. That's it for the food on this post.
Copan Ruinas Archaelogical Park Part 1 – The Museum of Sculpture:
Having gotten our feet wet with a visit to the Museo Regional de Arqueología Maya, and having done some research the Missus and I knew that having a guide would be a necessity. Great Mayan scholar and Archaeologist Sylvanus Morley once called the Ruins at Copan the "Athens of the New World". While dwarfed in size by grand Mayan sites, such as Tikal, the ruins at Copan manages to squeeze in some of the most intricate and fascinating Mayan sculptures.
After paying our admission, and hiring an English speaking guide, a former school teacher with ten years of experience as a guide, who turned out to be very knowledgable. We were on our way.
It was decided that we should first visit the Museum of Sculpture, just across the parking lot, and we were so glad we did. To enter the Museum, you enter through the mouth of a serpent into a dark tunnel, which represents Xibalba the "underworld". You walk out of the tunnel, and the first thing that grabs you is the reproduction of the Rosalila Temple at the center of the museum, it is quite a site to behold. And to think, this temple was built, only to be buried by the next ruler, who would build on top of former temples.
From here, it's mostly photos, of the displays, along with signs that provide information about the various pieces.
This wonderfully intricate sculpture was one of my favorites. The amount of detail was amazing, and I can only imagine how surprised and overjoyed the Archaelogists were at finding this treasure.
This sculpture is called "The Scribe" and I was told it represents the God which protects the Mayan scribes and artists who were held in high esteem in Mayan civilization.
You can see the paintbrush in the Scribe's right hand….
The Missus's favorite sculpture in the museum was the "Old Man". It is believed that this was a representation of Pauahtun, the Elders who "held up the skies".
The Missus spent a good amount of time in front of this sculpture. I guess it "spoke to Her" in some way…..
In fact, after our morning touring the ruins, we returned to the Sculpture Museum, so the Missus could look at this scultpure one more time…..
I'll cover the ruins in our next Honduras post. For those who hung on until the end, thanks so much!