Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
Wanna see all reports? Click here
Day 27: Gracias a Dios!…
March 6, 2006
It didn't take us much time to figure out why the town has been given such
an odd name ("Thanks God").
While sleepy, slow and peaceful during daylight, Gracias burst into quite
some action at night. At about 2AM we were woken up by a series of loud popping
sounds. At the beginning we dismissed them as "Whatever, someone is shooting
at something/ somebody - who cares, they've got enough guns here to play around
with..." Yet, the noise wouldn't stop, and since it started getting closer
to our hotel, we began caring :) Could the town be celebrating?? - Hardly
possible - apart from the repetitive shooting sound there was nothing else
but complete silence. No music, no people's voices, not even a dog barking…
With shooting gradually approaching, at around 3AM we found ourselves caring
even more :) Could some military training be taking place? At 2-3AM…
not very likely. Then who the heck is shooting, and, most importantly, at
whom??? :) By 4AM we were completely out of any reasonable ideas of what could
have been going on. Getting back to sleep, needless to say, was out of the
question :) The shooting sound had reached the volume where it looked like
the action was about to move into our hotel yard - time to evacuate!?
We carefully peaked out of the room and… saw a couple of drunk idiots
walking around the hotel and launching some noisemaker fireworks, which produced
no other effects but a loud series of shotgun sounds :) Gracias a Dios!...
There is just too many guns in these countries, makes you freak out at times
:) Well, at least we had a good laugh in the morning - never a dull moment
in Central America!
Recommendation: Hotel Finca Bavaria in Gracias is a nice and clean place on the edge of town. USD 8 for a big room with hot water and pictures of Bavaria (Germany) on the walls. The very friendly owners will let you park your vehicle inside the gated yard. Extra value: some nights come with complimentary entertainment! :)
After the night's adventure, we'll never again call Gracias a boring town! :) However, the road is long, and it's time to get back on it. The next stop is Copan Ruins, one the Honduras' must-see sites. Obviously, we have been badly spoilt by what we saw in Mexico, especially Palenque and Tulum… Copan was far from making such a strong impact. Nevertheless, it must be complimented for its unique sculpture and the abundant intricate carved decorations - something we had not seen elsewhere, including the most impressive Hieroglyphic Stairway (Escalinata Jeroglifica) and the Temple of Inscriptions. Seven huge friendly parrots at the entrance of the site make another highlight of the ruins - watch out as they fly above you, or you may get "hit" impressively (we witnessed that happening, gracias a Dios, not to us! :)) We also thought Copan was slightly overpriced: USD 10 for the ruins and additional USD 12 if you want to get into the tunnel. Can't tell you anything about the tunnel, we didn't go there. It was also rather odd that in the archeological park one can only see the replicas of most statues - the originals are stored in the nearby museum, for which there is another $5 admission fee :)
A little further past the ruins there is a town of Copan, a cozy little place
just perfect for a lazy afternoon. Although the town is clearly turning into
a Gringoville, it is still a cute place with a good choice of places to have
a drink and a decent meal, some of them with live music at night. There are
plenty of clean cheap hotels, internet cafes and decently priced arts &
crafts shops - well worth a one-night stay.
Cick on the pictures to enlarge
|
Got fireworks?
Gracias - tyla pries fejerverkus??! |
Time to weed out
Nors laidus apsiravetu.. |
We'll never again call Gracias a boring town...
Jie ruosiasi.. |
|
If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!
Mes pasitareme, ir as nusprendziau... |
Watch out when they fly above you...
Fotografuokite mus, fotografuokite!.. |
Escalinata Jeroglifica
Kas paeme vidurine skulptura? |
|
Another quiet day in Copan
Ramus rytas Copan'e |
The Three Wise Maya
Trys Maju karaliai |
Ruined out :)
Kazkas perdozavo griuvesiu... |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
27-oji diena: Cada loco con su tema (Ispaniskas priezodis "Kiekvienas kvailys savaip kvailioja")
2006 m. kovo 6
Gracias a Dios ("Aciu Dievui") miestelis keistaji savo varda pateisino jau pacia pirma nakti. Visa vakara miestas buvo ramus ir tylus, tarytum visi gyventojai butu pamirse prisikelti is siestos pogulio. Nesulauke nieko idomaus, apie vidurnakti nuejom miegoti ir mes….
…Pokst, pokst, pokst!! Apsimiegoje sunkiai suvokiame, kas vyksta. Pokst,
pokst!! Viena aisku - kazkas I kazka saudo, bet kas, I ka ir kodel tokiu paros
metu? Sitaip netiketai prizadinti mastome ypatingai logiskai - tikriausiai
vyksta karines pratybos, nes Hondure yra labai daug kareiviu ir dar daugiau
sautuvu :) Arba miestas svencia kokiu nors rinkimu pabaiga ir ta proga saudo
(net neprasykit paaiskinti, kodel nusprendem, kad rinkimu pabaigos proga reiktu
saudyti :)) Bet kodel tada negirdeti zmoniu balsu ir dziaugsmo sukiu?…
Greiciausiai vietiniai sugalvojo susimedzioti serna! Bingo! - serno versija
abiems pasirodo priimtiniausia, todel, "issiaiskine" saudymo taikini,
verciames ant kito sono ir… nespejam nei pabaigti verstis - Pokst, pokst,
pokst!!! - si karta jau daug arciau. Oho - atrodo, pasitaike labai stiprus
sernas, jei nesiseka net keliais suviais pakloti. Arba ju ten ne vienas (sernu)…
Idomu, kiek dabar valandu? Antra ryto. Hmm… ir kas gi tokiu metu medzioja??…Pokst!
Pokst! Ar jie pamiso?! Jeigu taip ir toliau - neliks nei vieno sveiko mesos
gabalelio… Pokst, pokst! Na, tai jau nebenormalu - arba tas sernas ginkluotas
ir vyksta inirtingas susisaudymas tarp jo ir medziotuju, arba… tai visai
ne sernas ir ne medziotojai! Kazkodel staiga visai nebesinori miego :)
Apie 3-cia valanda ryto puikiaja versija apie serno medziokle, deja, teko
modifikuoti. Poksejimas aktyviai tesesi - tai priartedavo, tai siek tiek nutoldavo,
ir vis labiau panasejo i rimta ginkluota susiremima. Vis dar per daug nesijaudinome
- Centrine Amerika, politiniai neramumai, civiliniai karai, ginklu perteklius;
temperamentingi, umaus budo "latinos"… tegu pasisaudo truputi,
mums tai tikrai negaila… Tik kazkodel tolumoj aidintys "pokst"
ausiai buvo daug mielesni, negu artimieji :)
Apie bandyma "kara" pramiegoti nebebuvo net minties. 4-ta valanda
ryto musu megstamiausiu tolimuju "pokst" nebeliko, nes frontas prisislinko
tiesiai prie musu viesbucio tvoros :)
Nors intuicija vis dar tyliai sufleruoja, kad cia tik kazkoks kvailas nesusipratimas
ir viskas bus gerai, per nakti nemiegojusios smegenys jau garsiai panikuoja:
laukti nebera ko - pats laikas kisti snapus lauk ir dairytis sleptuves, kol
dar virs galvu nepradejo svilpti kulkos!! :)) Jeigu rimtai - smalsumas nugali,
ir nutariam jog gana pasyviai sedeti ir kurti istorijas apie saudancius sernus
ir karus. Laikas issiaiskinti, kas is tikruju vyksta - kas bus, tas! Atsargiai
praveriam duris ir zvilgterim pro tvora… O gi gatve palei viesbuti slaistosi
du beprociai ir laido fejerverkus!! - mazycius, be jokiu vaizdiniu efektu,
taciau labai garsius, o kas idomiausia - garsas identiskas sautuvo poksejimui
:))). Kad juos kur galas!! Grizome I kambari kikendami, jog visai nebenustebtumem
isgirde ir pora tikru suviu - kuris nors miestelio gyventojas, galiausiai
neapsikentes, turetu tikrai paleisti po kulka pokstininkams I uzpakalius :)
Bet, vis tik, Gracias a Dios!.. - aciu Dievui! Maziausiai noretusi papulti
I koki pilietini kara Hondure :)
Kaimo durniu deka, is ryto vos atsikeliam (nemaisyti su "atsibundam")
ir bandom vaziuoti link Copan'o griuvesiu (Ruinas Copan). Pasiseka visai neblogai
:) Ten pagaliau atsibundam - sveciuotis pas Majus visada idomu! :)
Copan'as - dar vieno Maju miesto liekanos. Sis archeologinis parkas palyginti
nedidelis ir, tiesa sakant, toli grazu ne toks ispudingas kaip Meksikos Palenque,
Tulum ar Chichen-Itza. Taciau Copan'o Maju specializacija - akmeniniu sklupturu
puosimas imantriais ornamentais, kokiu niekur kitur nepamatysi. Maju rankose
prakalbejes akmuo is tiesu kelia nuostaba ir daugybe klausimu (ir kaip jie
sugebejo tai padaryti?!).
Praeidami pro turistu grupes, "netycia" prisiklausome visokiu idomybiu.
Pavyzdziui, vienas gidas pasakoja apie tai, kaip didziosios miesto piramides
laiptu akmenyse buvo surasyta visa miesto istorija, ikurimo legendos, valdovu
zygiai ir pergales..., taciau per kelis zemes drebejimus laiptai subyrejo
I palyginti smulkius gabaliukus. Pirmieji Copan'o archeologai, rade tokia
netvarka, padare "gera darba" - sudejo akmenis atgal bet kokia tvarka,
lyg restauruotu paprasciausius laiptus, tuo dar labiau apsunkindami istoriku
uzdavini. Senasis gerasis Harward'o universitetas irgi prisidejo prie Honduro
kulturinio paveldo issaugojimo, kaip atlygi uz darba pasiimdamas viena pagrindiniu
statulu nuo paties garsiuju laiptu (Escalinata Jeroglifica) vidurio :)
Keletas dalyku Copan'e vis tik nusipelno kritikos. Pirma, visu idomiausiu skulpturu originalai - sukisti I netoliese ikurta muzieju, o paciame parke sustatytos tokio paties dydzio bei identiskos isvaizdos reprodukcijos. Norint patekti I muzieju - papildomas mokestis. Antra, iejimas I situs griuvesius - is viso neprotingai brangus: $10 zmogui uz parka, dar $5 uz muzieju, ir dar $12 uz kazkoki neseniai atrasta 700 metru ilgio tuneli, kuriuo paeiti turistams leidziama 80 metru :)
Praktinis patarimas. Iejima I Copan'a "saugo" septynios didziules papugos, aktyviai migruojancios tarp vartu ir gretimu medziu. Net ir ju grozio keru paveiktiems butina likti budriais, ypac kada papuga skrenda virs galvos, kad po to netektu ieskoti, kur greitai nusiprausti ir issiskalbti :) Mums, laimei, neteko; bet kaip tik pataikem praeiti pro viena skubanti maudytis :)
Netoliese Copan'o griuvesiu yra nedidukas, bet labai mielas Copan miestelis,
kur ir praleidome likusia dienos dali. Nekantraujame suzinoti, kame specializuojasi
sio kaimo durniai! :)
