Copan Ruins, Honduras II

More photos of my trip to Copan Honduras.

I made a reservation for the morning sunrise tour in Copan. Pick-up time was around 4:50am-5:00am. I little bit of info about myself, I am not a morning person. It takes me a while to wake up and waking up at 4 is crazy! At that time I was still in SF time zone, so that means 4am was actually 2am for me. I woke up extremely late and didn't make it. The tour guide was kind enough to let me come the following day. I promised myself that I will wake up and I sure do hope that its all worth it!.... Despite of the 3.5hrs hike and waking up early, the view was spectacular! Loved it... and yes, it was definitely worth it :-)

Another photo of Copan Ruins

A view from one of the villages. My driver was kind enough to stop and let me take some amazing shots.

Here's also a photo from that village... I just don't remember which one it is but the village is about 25mins away from Copan Ruins.

Meet Milagros, my ceramic teacher. She doesn't speak english so it was quite difficult for me to understand. Good thing it was all visual, so no need to speak. lol

Trying to follow her but mine is not as pretty as hers.

Final product

One of Milagros' grandson. I believe he's 10yrs old. I took this shot while he was working. Just told him to act natural but he just won't stop smiling. lol  I don't know if you can see it, but this kid is carrying a machete around! like omg! Its quite scary cause his horse is big and he puts his machete behind him, accidents can happen but I hope nothing as crazy as I imagine it to be.

Another adorable grandson of Milagros. He's much more camera shy compare to the kid above.

Group photo.

Though these people from the village may not have everything, they seem to be happy and content with their lives, just like the photo below. I met him while I was taking photos of the mountains. He told me that he usually wakes up early in the morning to see the morning sunrise. It was such an awesome bonding when him, my tour guide, and I were just looking at this breathtaking view of Copan.

Much love,
Jen

Copan Ruins, Honduras

Copan is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copan Department of western Honduras, close from the border with Guatemala. Several people that works in Copan are actually from Guatemala.

History:
Copan became one of the most powerful Maya city states, although it suffered a tragic defeat at the hands of its former vassal state Quirigua in 738, when the long-ruling king Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil was captured and beheaded by Quirigua's ruler K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat. Later on, Copan's rulers began to build more monumental structures again within a few decades. Though Copan may not be as impressive as Tikal Ruins, it is still beautiful and highly recommend for visitors to actually check it out. As I can remember, my tour guide mentioned that there are still monuments and temples that are still undiscovered. He's disappointed at their local government because they don't fully support their rich culture and that looking for another temple is kind of like their last priority. Ohh well, what can we do... nothing.

How to get there?
Two ways; by air or by land. If you don't have enough time, then by air. If not, then by land. Since the duration from San Pedro Sula was not that long, I decided to take the bus. I came to Honduras last month and it was still my first week of traveling and therefore was still on a budget, as in tight budget. I took the long way, I actually started from Pulhapanzak Falls to San Pedro Sula, it was about $2-4 for about 3hrs. From San Pedro Sula bus terminal to Copan Ruins, chicken bus fare ride was about $6 for 4-5hrs.
With the Copan Ruins bus, you have to get off at Entrada to take an express bus/van going to Copan Ruins or else it will go straight to another town. I was completely confuse and I'm like hold on, where do I get off again? Thanks to my Lonely Planet book, I took out the map and asked this local guy next to me if this bus was going straight to the Ruins.. and he replied (in english!), "You have to get off now and take that express van right over there!" It was a perfect timing and I grab my bags and walked in a crazy, noisy, dirty, humid streets of Entrada. I saw the express van and I was walking towards it when a guy came up to me and asked me, "Copan Ruinas?" and I replied, "Si, un bus para Copan Ruinas." He grabbed my bags and helped me to put inside the van. And then he asks, its $1 for his service. Am like?! WTF! I didn't ask you for your service and I didn't need your help because I already saw the sign! But I still ended up paying him $1. So BEWARE! These guys will pretend to help you when your in that bus/express terminal. They got me once in Honduras and one in Nicaragua. So guys, beware!
Anyways, the express bus was about $4. All in all, I paid $10-12 dollars for the transportation, not bad right?
But if you don't want to take my cheap transportation route, you can always take Hedman Alas Bus, from San Pedro to Copan should be around $40. I told myself, yup I'm not going to take that route.. again! lol So I ended up paying for Hedman Alas. I guess the service was not that bad...

Copan Ruinas

Below is the entrance to the tunnel. Archeologists have dug  about 4km of tunnels under the acropolis to view earlier stages of Copan civilization.   

 

The ball court, the second largest to be found in Central America.

Stunning view of Copan, just don't mind that tree in the middle....

Much love,
Jen

Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

How to get there?
Either land or air, depending if you have limited time or not. With my case, I had limited time so I decided to take a flight by La Costena airline. There's only two flights from Managua that goes to Big Corn Island. One at 6am and at 2pm. I highly suggest you book a flight or make a reservation cause Little Corn Island is becoming a tourist destination and am sure 10 years from now, it will be lots of tourists touring around this beautiful and lovely island.

I unfortunately, did not make a reservation. I stayed at Managua's Backpackers Inn so I had to wake up at 4am, paid $15 for a taxi going to Sandino's Airport. Arrived at around 5, got in line and the agent told me to wait because there were at least 6 people ahead of me (who were also hoping to get a seat!). I was praying, please God! Give me a seat!!! I was quite sure that I won't get a seat in the afternoon flight, that's why I woke up early. And guess what? God heard my prayers, I was lucky to have a seat! Round trip ticket was $164 dollars. Flight's duration was about 1hr. First it will go to Bluefields and then straight to Big Corn Islands.

Once you arrive Big Corn Island airport, meet up with people who are also heading to the dock going to Little Corn Island, in this case you can save money. As a solo woman, I was lucky enough to tag along with two female solo travelers. One was from Sweden and the other one was from Germany. We paid about $1-3. Be careful because taxi drivers can totally rip you off! Some are just completely dishonest and are willing to lie to you so you'd end up paying more.

Then you arrive the dock. You should be paying C140 Cordobas, one way. If you take the earliest flight, you can take the panga at 9-10am. During the wait for the Panga boat, an old man approached me and asked if I was Filipina? I replied, yes!. He was excited and welcomed me to his country. He said not a lot of Filipinos come to Nicaragua and that he was glad to see one in his homeland. The reason why he recognized my ethnicity was that he used to work for a cruise ship in which some of his co-workers were Filipino... Interesting right? lol Anyways, the Panga boat ride from Big Corn going to Little Corn was quite a freakin experience! The reason? It was a roller coaster ride. My gosh, I was holding my breath and literally at times  I was scared that I would be thrown off the boat! It was fun and yes I would do it again! ;)

Lodging:
I stayed at Three Brothers. And since I stayed at a hostel in Managua where I shared a room with guys who were snoring out loud (like there's no tomorrow!), I decided that I wanted a room for myself. I paid $15 one bed w/bathroom. Very spacious, clean, safe, and awesome owner!


Below is a local Nicaraguan guy. His name is Pelon and he was my tour guide in Little Corn. Actually, he gave me a free tour. lol I met him, asked where the tower was and then he walked with me. If I end up being stranded in an isolated island for several days, I would like him to be with me because he knows the forest very well! He can look for decent food, fruits, vegetables, and he can climb trees! you name it!

I was afraid to climb the tower but Pelon made sure that I would be safe and he said that he has my back and yes he was literally right behind my back when we were slowly climbing up the tower! lol
The view up the lighthouse tower was definitely worth it!
Below is a photo of CLARO, CLARO is a mobile phone network. Take note, there's no electricity at 6am-2pm. But a blogger I know informed me that they have electricity for 20hours now! So that's good news! In addition, there are NO ATM MACHINES in Little Corn. So make sure, before you leave Big Corn, you have enough cash with you or else you would run out of money, like what happened to me. You can use your credit card at some restaurants but they charge for service fees, I believe 10-20%. 

Little Corn Island, hidden paradise in Nicaragua..... I hope they keep it that way.

Walking in paradise

Hard to balance

say cheese :D.... and then eyes close hahaha hey, it was sunny!

Indeed a hidden paradise in Nicaragua. Don't you want to come here now?! I want to come back!!!!

Anyways, theres lots more to come!!!!

Much love,
Jen

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

Hello everyone!
 My name is Jen and I have decided to create a new blog about my travel adventures. I'm currently 23yrs old and have been to 6 countries alone. Yes, that's right, alone! Crazy right?! At first it's freakin scary but later on you'll get the hang of it and it's really not that bad.. Trust me! My blog is going to talk about my past, current, and future travel adventures.

Anyways, below is one of my favorite travel quote:

Much love,
Jen