Guatemala 2018

Thursday22November

We're crossing to the other side of Guatemala for a short Honduran interlude of barely 2 days. Located 10 minutes from the border, Copán is worth a visit for its archaeological site, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1980. We're dropping our bags for just one night at the Berakah hotel.

From here, no differences with Guatemala...

The central park and the San José Obrero church.

A small preview of the site is presented in the square with this restored copy of Stela H. It represents one of the rulers of Copán: Waxaklajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, here embodying the Maize God dancing at the moment of the world's creation.

End of the evening with no more frijoles, just a skewer and fries!  

Friday23November

It's not even 8 o'clock and we're already on our way to the archaeological site, located a 5-minute walk away.

Before arriving at the site, two stelae (Nos. 5 and 6) completely isolated seem to be hitchhiking to get back to their friends...

The second one is shy and hides behind what looks like mattresses...  

We are in Honduras, and right at the entrance of the site, none other than the country's national bird greets us! The scarlet macaw (Ara macao), not shy in the slightest, comes not to parade on Instagram but rather to enjoy the food provided for them...  

"Scarlet macaws are extremely social birds found almost exclusively in groups, often of about twenty individuals. Macaws only leave their group, in pairs, during the breeding season. They forage for food together, then return in the evening to a common sleeping place. At specific times, macaws fly together to find a place to sleep, twice a day (at noon and at night). Members of the same family fly very close to each other and seek physical contact when they sleep." © Wikipedia

Barely past the ticket office, a Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) comes to show the tip of its snout. This 50-centimeter rodent is found only from Mexico to Northern Argentina.

That's it, we're here! On the Great Plaza of the ancient city of Copán.

"Although the Copán River, along which the city was built, has carried away part of the buildings, the archaeological park of Copán remains, along with Chichén Itzá and Tikal, one of the most interesting Mayan sites. Its layout conforms to Mayan cosmological thought: the world is oriented according to the four cardinal points with a center that constitutes its axis, and the city is a microcosm in the image of this macrocosm. In Copán, a ceremonial center, called the 'main group' and composed of a large plaza and an acropolis, represents the axis of the world. It is surrounded by residential areas located at the four cardinal points and connected to the center by causeways called sacbe." © Wikipedia

Isolated on the Great Plaza, stelae are displayed just like in Quiriguá. The stelae are carved from volcanic tuff and are arranged in such a way as to be illuminated by the Sun for as long as possible.

Waxaklajuun Ubaah K'awiil, known as "18-Rabbit", ruler of Copán from 695 to 738 AD, is represented here as on 6 other stelae (the site has 9).

Here is "18-Rabbit" again, but this time painted red, as all stelae were meant to be.

Erosion has taken its toll, but one can imagine the impressive effect the painted ensemble must have had.

At the foot of each stela, an altar here in the shape of a turtle.

The hieroglyphs on the sides: so many clues for scientists about the year and the ruler (here once again 18-Rabbit).

This time, "18-Rabbit" is a ball player with notably bare legs clearly sculpted to show his musculature. At the time, political conflicts were settled on the ball game courts!

5 capsules of 4 finely carved hieroglyphs, still tinged with red. 1400 years of resistance against time to reach us...

Another stela with "18-Rabbit" whose unpronounceable real name, let's not forget, is Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil.  

Our 6th stela with "18-Rabbit".

And the last stela with "18-Rabbit"!   This stela is placed above a room, intended to receive offerings. This cavity was dug under all the stelae but only this one is visible.

Small platform pyramid in the center of the Gran Plaza.

This Tillandsia fasciculata with its red inflorescences, uses this tree as support; it's an epiphytic plant...

Ha! A stela without the ruler whose name we won't mention...  

Between the two grandstands, we find the ball game court as we saw it in Tikal. Behind the grandstands, the players' changing rooms, which we imagine were entirely covered at the time. "The ball game, also called 'juego de pelote', was much more than a simple sport for the Mayans. It was a religious ritual symbolizing the struggle between the vital forces of the earthly world and the underworld corresponding to death." © Wikipedia

Behind the ball court, a first staircase that the architects of the time would not like to see again in this state...

The Hieroglyphic Stairway is composed of 64 stone steps, and each was sculpted with hieroglyphs, totaling 2200! Alas, not much remains; only the writings of the first 15 steps have managed to cross the centuries. The other dismantled steps found have been repositioned in a random order...

The statues arranged in the middle of the steps represent the five predecessors of K'ak' Yipyaj Chan K'awiil, who is himself represented on stela M at the foot of the stairway.

K'ak' Yipyaj Chan K'awiil reigned over Copán from 749 until his death in 763.

And for bilinguals, here are all the explanations in situ...

Next to the Hieroglyphic Stairway, the incredible tree encroaching on the pyramid's slopes, where it's unclear whether the tree or the stones prevent the other from collapsing...

The steps adjacent to the Hieroglyphic Stairway seem to increasingly resemble a mound of large stones rather than a staircase worthy of the name.

Stela N represents King K'ac Yipyaj Chan K'awiil, whose mask seems to have been molded onto his face...

Each step weighs its share of stone!

We pass over the first structures of the acropolis, offering the best viewpoint of the ball game and, at the time, of the Hieroglyphic Stairway.

The trees intrude into the scenery, nostalgically reminding us of the great temples of Angkor in Cambodia...

One still wonders how long all this will last...

Here we are on the side of the eastern plaza (the plaza of the jaguars) where the sacred Mayan tree, the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), plays with human constructions, however ancient they may be.

To the left, the small door providing access to the Jaguar Tunnel. To the right, the sculpted head of the Sun God, Kinich Ahau.

The famous jaguar giving its name to the plaza...

These tunnels are not from the original period. They were dug by archaeologists to access the first buried temples from the 6th century, upon which the current temples were built.

Some masks and the drainage systems of the time are visible inside.

We find stelae, a little more isolated compared to the others.

The western plaza with, to the left, the Temple of the Inscriptions built during the reign of Copán's last king, Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat. This temple had been built to address the famine suffered by the city's 20,000 inhabitants.

Altar Q is what has provided the most help to archaeologists. On its sides, a frieze displays the carvings of the 16 rulers of Copán with their names. In the photo on the right, Yax K'uk 'Mo' hands the royal scepter to Yax Pasaj. If it looks quite damaged, don't worry, the original is safely stored in the museum...  

On the steps facing Altar Q, don't miss the 6 skulls recalling all the decapitation sacrifices that might have taken place here...  

A little further on, the city continues with the royal residence.

The tomb of Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat, the very one who commissioned Altar Q. He was the last of his dynasty and reigned from 763 to the year 810, which incredibly coincides with the year of his tomb...    

Above his tomb, curious colorful bricks...  

  No no, it's not a photo error, it's really me during lunch break in the city of Copán    

Before heading back to Guatemala, we conclude our visit to the Copán ruins with another site located one kilometer outside the main ruins. The name "Sepulchres" doesn't mean we are in the cemetery of that era, but simply that many tombs were found in the vicinity. This extension to the city was actually the residence of Mayan aristocrats.

The House of the Ba'Kab, also called "House of the Scribes" due to the two busts placed on the facade of the house.

Inside the house, a huge stone bench whose feet represent Pauahtun, the God of the cardinal points.

Our visit ends! We head back towards the city when a hole in the ground intrigued Christelle because "something" seemed hidden there... And indeed, a tarantula hidden in the shadow of its burrow awaits the overly curious passerby...   This tarantula is apparently a tarantula of the genus Aphonopelma...  

A much more pleasant encounter with this Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa).  

Come on! A few more photos of curious glyphs where excavations are still ongoing, and then we'll be able to get back in our car and cross over to Guatemala!

And here is the crossing of the Honduran-Guatemalan border where you have to present your passport at the Honduran counter then at the Guatemalan counter...

And here we are already in Guatemala in the city of Teculután, 90 km and 2 hours after crossing the border. We are staying just one night in Hotel Malú where the pool will do us a world of good after these 2 days of time travel through Mayan history...

And we happily find our frijoles here in a compact ball!   Tomorrow, we head to Antigua to complete our loop around the country. The volcanoes and the capital will be our last activities for our final two days!