Honduras

To Guatemala from Honduras Today was my last day of working at Copan, my last day of hanging out with the archaeologist campensinos, unearthing the Maya, and dreaming my way through the stone chiseled corridors and byways of a truly ancient city. I have learned much from this archaeology project – chalked up another mark [...]

Tourist Charity and Street ChildrenI walked to the internet café tonight. They were closed. Their front gate was securely fastened shut with a steel chain and a big strong padlock; the lights inside were off. In futility, I shook the gate a few times for no good measure. The sign on the door read that [...]

Copan Ruinas Travel GuideI have put up a cheap travel guide to the village of Copan Ruinas on Vagabond Fieldnotes.com. It contains information on where to find a cheap restaurants and cheap accommodation outside of the tourist milieu, as well as a map of where these places are located. Copan Ruinas can be a little [...]

Copan Ruinas Cheap Travel Guide and Map Introduction The Honduran village of Copan Ruinas lays 12km south of the Guatemalan border and three hours west of San Pedro Sula. This town is often just referred to as “Copan,” as its namesake is the great Mayan ruins of the same name, which are around a kilometer [...]

Easter in HondurasToday is Easter. I awoke well rested at nine AM – a little later than I usual begin to stir, but I did not feel lazy. I looked out the window. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I debated about whether or not I wanted to go to church or [...]

Cheap Travel in Tourist DestinationsI am currently a content traveler in Copan Ruinas. Even though this is a tourist town, and the general prices are very high, I have found ways to subvert the hand of gentrification and live cheaply. I have found good priced places to eat, a cheap bed, and free recreation. I [...]

Good Friday in Honduras A large procession of pious Hondurans, curious tourists, and men haphazardly dressed up in impromptu biblical getup moved through the cobble stone streets of Copan Ruinas today. They clogged the thoroughfares of the town with celebration and good cheer. For it is Good Friday across the Christian world, and the Stations [...]

Cockfight in Honduras VideoThe following is a video of the cockfight that I wrote about in the, At the Cockfight post. The ritual of the cockfight seems to be the same the world over. From the sucking of the rooster’s head by the handler to the rules of the fight the cockfight to the symbolism, [...]

At the Cockfight“For it is only apparently cocks that are fighting there. Actually, it is men.”-Clifford Geertz, Notes on the Balinese CockfightMen cheer, birds squeal, and the evanescent smell of blood permeates the squalid air as the last glimmers of life are stoked out of an uncomprehending, instinctual ruined rooster. I am at a cockfight [...]