Copan Ruinas, horses and spa, Honduras, Saturday, 10th October

We set off in tuk tuks from the hotel to go and see the ruins at Copan.

We were some of the first tourists to arrive and so the place was empty. The path towards the ruins.

 All around us were colourful macaws in the trees on the approach to the ruins.

These were ore Maya ruins of formally important cities. Some of the buildings had been restored to something like their former majesty whilst some were still only partially complete and the forest that had reclaimed them was only partially cleared leaving a few trees.

 No Mayan ruin is complete without its own pelota court.

 This particular ruin was important as it has the longest carved staircase known and gives a continuous historical record of events when it was built.

After the ruins Alex and I went for a ride out from the town and into the hills around and above the town with our guide Walter. Walter stayed with Alex to guide his horse and I was allowed to go ahead at my own speed so I cantered ahead and doubled back every now and again to wait for them to catch me up.

 Some of the scenery above the town.

 We stopped for refreshments at the Hacienda San Lucas, a lovely up market hotel set in its own grounds with a number of out buildings, including a yoga area looking out across the river.

 The restaurant area.

 The tack room and stables.

 The oven for baking bread and tortillas complete with a bak view of Walter as he chatted with one of the staff baking bread.

A view of some of the buildings in the town square as we made our way back from the horse riding towards our hotel.

 No sooner than we were back at the hotel after the riding than some of us were off to a spa resort set high in the mountains an hour away by pickup with us crowded into the back and were driven up gravel mountain roads. We were heading for a spa where naturally hot springs poured water into a series of hot pools.

 

 The sun was setting as we climbed ever higher into the hills

 we had a great time at the resort and as it got darker we had candles around the pools so that we could see. We had a barbecue afterwards and then headed back down the mountain on the now dark mountain gravel road back to our hotel. Unfortunately it was too dark  for any of my photos to do the evening justice.