At the Copán Maya site, Honduras 2 - 11 April 2007

So the trip to the Maya ruins at Copán continued. Too much to see. An very interesting culture. And in Copán it ended precisely after 18 kings. The 18th king made a sculpture depicting all 18 kings on the sides of a square stone. The last king meets the first king in the middle. This also meant that the 18th king new his empire would end there. He left to another Maya kingdom. The short version: they collapsed under their own success. Copán was surrounded by fertile ground, ideal for agriculture. As the city expanded, more agricultural land was claimed for the city. This resulted in the end that the population was not able to sustain themselves. They could not produce enough food. That's where the decay and diseases began...
Anyways. It's a great place to visit!

To see where these photo's were taken exactly, have a look at the interactive map and zoom in and out for a better overview.

With the Two headed flying snake sculpture

A cuddly sheep travelling is one thing.. A two headed flying snake with feathery wings is another. The Maya's at Copán had those. And made a sculpture out of it. In fact, it 's one of their most important gods.

The hieroglypic stairway

We write books on paper (or just on the pc). The Maya's at Copán have written one in stone. The complete stairway is covered in hieroglyphs and tell the history of the Maya's. Unbelievable!

View at a court

On top of one of the bigger temples you have an excellent view of the several courts, their temples, buildings, statues and the magnificent trees.

Another court

I picked a higher point of view and sat on someones cap. The shade is nice, since it's very hot out there.