Ciudad Guatemala

Today was another long bus ride from Honduras to Guatemala City. But it wasn't all riding, we had some interesting stops along the way.

Our luggage rides on top of the bus.

The first was back in Copan village, where we saw things come to life in early morning, which was a little different. We also happened to see a couple of interesting, wood-carved marimbas.

Marimbas

We also stopped at a stone carver's shop where they make replicas of the Mayan monuments, all with hand tools the old fashioned way.

Carving stone with hand tools.

A big part of the culture in the rural areas of Guatemala, at least among men of the peasant class, is cock fighting. We visited an arena in a small village and saw where the roosters are kept, then they put "gloves" over the talons of two birds so that they really couldn't hurt one another, and they put on a demo for us in the arena. It was interesting to see how excited the local guys got, just putting on this little show for us. But we don't plan to go back for the real event on Sunday afternoon.

Putting the gloves on.

We also stopped at a paleontology museum of which  Guatemalans are apparently very proud, but it wasn't much to see.

Paleontology museum

Driving through the city was interesting in itself. Our hotel is in the "lively" section of town (according to our guide), and we enjoyed walking around and seeing the activity in the many bars and restaurants, but the area seems to be more alive for tourists and very up-scale Guatemalans, rather than for just plain folks. But we had a good meal and some delicious pastry for dessert.

Typical Guatemalan lunch on the road.

Internet connection here is still pretty slow, and we may have none at all the next couple nights.