Here I was, admiring the hieroglyphic stairway of Copan (the longest Mayan stairway detailing the stories of the Dynasty that ruled Copan for 400 years through 17 kings) and listening to Julio, my guide, when another guide bringing a group of spanish speaking family arrived and started saying to the group: “mira, y esta chica viene de Singapur. Esta de vacaciones. Ella habla espanol bla, bla, bla, bla.” And I could see the group looking at me and the guide just went on and on and on as if I was not there and I did not understand. I felt like telling ‘ese tio’ that I was not part of the attraction and if I were, I better get paid. Granted I am not ancient and beautifully sculpted but I still come from foreign land. I am sure there is value in being exotic. LOL.

Jokes aside……What an amazing morning I had at the Copan Ruins. I cannot get enough of how beautiful the sculptures and buildings are. It is said that Copan is the Paris of the Mayans and Tikal is New York. I cannot agree more to that comparison. Tikal is about size and grandeur of the temples. Copan is about finesse, classicism, and renaissance. The sculptures that still can be seen are just amazing. The 13th king, 18 Rabbit catapulted Copan to its highest standard in carving and building. The remains we see now shows that high standard.

In the course of the 400 years, many phases of constructions happened in Copan. They would build temples on existing temples. However, one temple is so sacred that it was covered in stucco completely and have newer temples build on top of it. These days, a portion of this temple can be seen in the Rosalila tunnel. In the tunnel, you would see only the middle level (northern side where there is one head of a snake). The reproduction of the full temple is in the Museum of Sculpture on site). All Mayan constructions (temples, stelae, palaces) were covered in stucco and painted red as in the Rosalila temple reproduction.

Copan is really amazing. I could not get enough. I literally stayed from the moment it opened to the closing time. And I explored almost all the sections, including the residential section down the road, called Las Sepulturas.

I cannot get enough of Copan. If not for the imminent rain, they would have to drag me out of there!