copan ruinas Honduras

A steel door on the side of the stone ruin covers a tunnel.

The 4km long tunnels were dug by archaeologists

under the 'acropolis'

to view earlier stages of

Copan civilization. Mayan rulers would build

new larger temples over earlier ones

covering them completely.

The archaeologists burrow beneath

the surface layer of the pyramid mounds in

order to find the earlier buildings

underneath. These tunnels expose

the stone surface and sculptures

of the earlier buildings. Two of the tunnels

are open to the public for an additional fee.

The hazards of google maps. The GPS on the cell phone's Google Maps drew a dotted line from Hotel Terramaya up the hill along Avenida Centroamericano then down a dirt road into the next valley. The dirt road was used by horses carrying fire wood and minivans carrying passengers. There was a shorter route from the hotel which went down the hill the opposite direction then through the town onto the road leading to Copan Ruinas. Actually though, Google Maps shows two different locations as Copan Ruinas and then draws the route to the location out of town towards the north west rather than to the south west off of route CA11. This error causes a person to walk over the hill along the dirt road towards the north west. What then might happen is that a minivan stops along the dirt road and asks the person if the person wants a ride. By this time the person has realized that the person is lost. The person accepts the ride but apparently the driver thinks the person might be a thief and hesitates to pick the person up. The driver's assistant tries to explain this to the person but due to the person's limited spanish the person does not understand the assistant's question which induces laughter from the other passengers in the van. After arriving at the destination the passengers disembark and the person queries the assistant about what he had said. After multiple attempts at the narration in spanish the person finally understands the story. For some reason the driver was embarrassed for his error, but the person thinks it was funny that the person was actually mistaken for a ladron.

The West Indian Day Parade creeps
forward in spasms.
Gaps emerge between groups.
Island nations are represented.
City organizations are represented
sometimes with floats or trucks with
loud speakers proceeding dancing marchers as
they file past the judges' platform
in front of the Brooklyn Museum.
Vendors sell roasted corn and jerked chicken
from booths and tents and wagons.
Pink covered feathered covered dancers wriggle
by followed by dancing officers
from the department of corrections.

the stones were covered with a limestone slip then painted with reds and blues and yellows