Guest entry by my mom about her visit, part 4 of 14

DAY 3 (Copán Ruinas in Honduras > Antigua):

It's still dark when I'm awakened by the sounds of roosters and trucks and dogs and birds. No wonder Elizabeth uses ear plugs. Will daylight never come?

And then morning is here. The sun makes for an eerily cheerful welcome to the Mayan ruins. If last night's dancing suspended time, this massive site spins us backward to the eighth century. That's when this ominous civilization was thriving, thanks, so they thought, to the regular offerings of human blood. A run-of-the-mill sacrifice consisted of a mere sampling that the community's own king willingly donated from a pierced ear or other tender body part. For big occasions, like the end of a calendar cycle, a less voluntary sacrifice was required, like the life of a rival community's king. The Mayans were also serious sports fans. Let's just say, you didn't want to lose at a game of "juego de pelota."

During the hours that we walk these grounds, we see well-fed, practically tame macaws flying free. We see giant trees. We see exotic flowers. We see ghosts. Our feet are ready to stop long before we've seen it all. But we keep walking and climbing and walking some more. To think, the majority of these ruins haven't even been excavated for the public to explore yet.

As noon approaches, we hop in a tuk-tuk. This funny little three-wheeled "auto rickshaw" has exactly enough space for the three of us and a driver. It takes only a few minutes to get back to Copán Ruinas -- and to our own century.

In the town square, Brian and Elizabeth talk movies with some men selling DVDs. I resist (and then give in to) a hard-selling girl who wants $1 for the ugliest corn-husk doll you can imagine. Tell me I'm exaggerating. Have you ever seen a good-looking corn-husk doll?

After all the walking, we're ready for the long bus ride back to Antigua. As soon as we arrive, we grab, of all things, sushi. Wonderful sushi it is too (and sesame chicken) at one of Elizabeth's favorite restaurants: Nokiate Asian Latino Kitchen.

Guatemala grows on a person.