Copán Travel Guide

 Twan Says:  A unique structure is a hieroglyphic staircase, built along a 30 meter high pyramid. This staircase is lined with the longest cartoon of the Americas: more than 2000 hieroglyphs in the 72 steps of the staircase carved. Here is the history of the Copan dynasty to read.... 

 atufft Says:  The Flashes, Barbara and William, who discovered and uncovered Rosalila, among other features of Copan are still very active in the field. In 2011, for example, Barbara Flash published the Copan Sculpture Museum, published a full color text showing all the exhibits in the... 

 atufft Says:  Sorry I forgot the entrance price. I did that a lot in Honduras where everything happens to be very reasonable in price even for Extranjeros like me. Anyway, buy the ticket and get in. This is a beautifully naturally lit museum, where the entrance is like an archeological... 

 atufft Says:  Oddly enough, the trail leading back to the Grupo Principal from Las Sepulturas goes through private property, so it's not possible to walk the entirety of this route. However, there is a portion of the trail that passes overgrown residential mounds, back toward the park... 

 atufft Says:  Near Sacbe', the causeway access to Grupo Principal from Las Sepulturas, there are several very expansive residential areas which are very nicely landscaped and worth every photo click. While steps naturally lead up to sleeping an escape from the tropical downpours, these... 

 atufft Says:  The Copan Museum Exhibits 42-45 came from the Scribe's House, some of which is replicated now in the field, but other of which appears original at the protected Scribe's House within Plaza A. Plaza A is well reported in the literature as being a place where a powerful... 

 atufft Says:  One of the larger living groups in Las Sepulturas, Plaza C has a sign dating it to 750AD. There's a nice large shelter for the roomy restored living quarters, and a very large open plaza. Plaza C appears to have a drainage culvert, or possibly an unmarked tomb of some sort.... 

 atufft Says:  Plaza B has a sheltered ruin with the noble woven pattern on the way, and a very nice clean sleeping area that appears to have been smoothed out by mud stucco. Plaza J ruins shelter appears to be a work in progress of ruins restoration. 

 atufft Says:  Plazas D and H, the surrounding structures and pathways between them provides a good layout of how the wealthy lived. Most rooms were for sleeping, as the density of living here is surprisingly high. Mattresses made of local materials were placed on the paved sleeping... 

 atufft Says:  After visiting Grupo Principal, Las Sepulturas is the usual hike for most visitors to Copan. From Grupo Principal, the entrance to Sepulturas can be walked, or one can pay for the motorcycle ride. The price to get into these ruins is very nominal, of course. These ruins are... 

 atufft Says:  The landscape of Copan is worth a lot just in images. Here are a number of images I couldn't include in the content analysis of the ruins. These will help the visitor place the content in perspective, I hope. 

 atufft Says:  The Copan River encroached upon the ruins in modern times, creating a landslide that exposed the multilayer construction of the temples. The river has since been rerouted away from the ruins, and the landslide side of Temple 21 has been built up stone by stone. There's some... 

 atufft Says:  Below the East Court, Temples 21 and 22 is the archeologist created Tunnel of the Jaguars, which exposes part of the buried temples below along the side water cut by the Copan River. Actually, the river cut though destructive was also important to revealing the layers of... 

 atufft Says:  Many structures remain buried by vegetation and their own rubble to protect them from the relentless tropical rains. Structures exposed and reconstructed face the problem of erosion of the exquisite sculpted reliefs, so many of the best of these are gradually being... 

 atufft Says:  You will quickly become accustom to using the service of these small 4-stroke engine, 3 wheel vehicles imported from India. They are now popular all over Honduras. No need to bargain too hard because even if you pay too much, it will be a few pennies difference not worth...