Detour to Honduras

I've had enough of Antigua, but couldn't figure out where to go from there. One option was further north to the lakes region. A couple of cities along the lakes are great for R&R, Spanish classes, and traditional textiles...none of which really interested me. The other option was to head south into Honduras. But that would take me further away from my ultimate destination (basically my next flight's point of departure) of Mexico. So why should I take a detour that way? Well... (1) I like ruins and there's a famous Mayan one near the Guatemalan/Honduras border, (2) There's a direct tourist shuttle bus from Antigua to Copan (easy transportation is a must for me!), and (3) I found a travel partner for the route. Heck, I couldn't think of any other destination that I particularly wanted to go to, so my decision was made.
I love traveling without a strict time limit : ) The amount of meaningless wandering you can do...

A tip for other travellers – make sure you shop around for the shuttle bus from Antigua Copan. Some agents charge you about $25. Ridiculous. Most charge you about $12, which I found to be the average. I got mine for $7. It's the tiny agency around the main square, between the bank and the coffee shop (if I remember correctly).
Oh, and the entry/exit fees at the border are a bit iffy as well. Since there were posts at the border listing the appropriate fees and everyone else on my shuttle was paying, I assumed these fees to be correct and paid them. However, I met other backpackers later on who got away without paying. I don't know what the actual policy is, but exiting Guatemala, entering Honduras, and re-entering Guatemala should only cost you about $5. At least that's what I ended up paying; you never know with these Central American border agents.

Anyways, the minivan took 5-6 hours to get to the small Honduran town of Copan Ruinas – the jump off point for the famous Mayan ruins of the same name. Because we took the afternoon bus (the morning one picks you up at 5am!), it was already dark by the time we arrived. It didn't look like a dangerous place, though. Thank goodness.
First thing was to look for a place for the night. My travel buddy (Oops, I forgot his name already...) and I went to look at the cheap place my roommate from the Antigua hostel recommended. The guy who opened the door for us had bloodshot eyes and looked completely stoned. Needless to say, we went a couple of doors down to another hostel. A single room for $8. Not too bad.
Then dinner. The town had very limited options. We wandered around the whole town (3 x 5 blocks) looking for something appetizing, but settling for a simple soup and grilled chicken. Tastier than I imagined, especially after a few days of disgusting Guatemalan food.

The next morning, we walked to the ruins (~20 minutes). I came all the way here, but seriously considered turning around for a split second when I saw the entrance fee of 285 HNL!!! Granted it's only $15, but my accommodation is 150HNL, I can eat a full meal for 100HNL, and buy bottled water and snacks for 15HNL. 285HNL is waaaaaaay too overpriced, no?! Nothing I can do though. Just pay and enter the park, to be greeted by these colorful parakeets (I think that's what they are). I must say that the ruins were a bit of a disappointment, nothing spectacular in terms of size, grandeur, or height. Which makes sense given that Copan is not really known for the complex itself, but for the statues. Here are my 2 favorites – the turtle from Super Mario and the Cheetos tiger (although this is supposed to be a jaguar).
Silly, I know. But I like : ) After a couple of hours walking around the ruins, we headed back to the hostel. Not wanting to waste the rest of the afternoon, I decided to do some sightseeing in the town itself. Not that there's much to do – a small museum with some nice figurines and a simple explanation of Mayan history is basically the only site in town. Other than that, I walked up and down the cobble-stoned streets.
Now, what to do next... My friend was heading towards the Honduran beach side. You know me, I have little desire to go to a beach. But in Honduras, you can get a scuba diving license for quite cheap. Tempting...Should I finally do it?!?!?! And go further south into Nicaragua and Costa Rica??? VERY tempting.
However, the rational side of Waru stepped in at this moment to resist the temptation. This side wisely argued that Waru needs to get up to Mexico City (stopping along many cities in between) by the end of the month to catch her flight. Waru can’t go everywhere and see everything. Understood.
So, I'm going to backtrack to Guatemala tomorrow. In the future, sometime, I'm definitely coming back to Honduras (probably never to Copan again though) and head down south towards Panama!!!