The end of the world...

So our next stop was back in Honduras, at the famous mayan ruins in a charming colonial town called Copan Ruinas. Here all the Honduran volunteers were meeting to celebrate Bak'Tun or 'the end of the world'. It was the first time we'd all met up in the 5 months we've been here so it was great to see everyone and hear about how their lives were going and how the teaching was. A popular complaint was that a lot of us now HATED children. Other than that everyone seemed to be doing pretty well.
On the days leading up to the 21st Copan was packed. So many people; gringos, locals, hippies, apocalypse believers and just curious tourists, all gearing up for Bak'Tun. There were performances in parque central, festivals on in the ruinas, celebrations everywhere. We decided to spend Bak'Tun together as a group and headed out for street food and then to a local discoteque with a plan of seeing out the end of the world there and then ushering in the new one at a ceremony in the Ruinas at 5am. And so that's what we did. Staying up all night. Wathcing the sunset, dancing and having a laugh, and then walking to the ruins, in the rain to watch the ceremony and sunrise. Sadly there was no spectacular sunrise. And the mayan woman doing the ceremony couldn't light the fire because it was raining very heavily. A little disappointing. But still, to be in such a place, for the end of the mayan calander, with an incredible atmosphere and to survive 'the end of the world' will be something I'll never forget and something I'll also be able to tell me grandchildren.
The ruins in themselves are wonderful. And while they might not be as grand as the ones in Guatemala or Mexico. The actual carvings and statues are extremely well preserved. The site dates back to AD 620 and the remains of 3450 structures can be found in the 24km area surrounding the principal structures. Its a great place to visit and certainly interesting!