It was raining last night and the weather is still grey and overcast this morning. We drove to Santa Rosa de Copan. The road was not in best condition with large cracks in the tarmac but the scenery was making up for it despite the weather. This is tobacco growing country.
The old town is at the top of a very steep hill, with narrow cobbled streets. The cathedral sits on one side of the central plaza and you cannot deny the colonial influence in the architecture of some of the buildings. We wandered around for a while before having lunch in a fast food restaurant called “Buggy’s”. The food was good with copious portions and seemed to be popular.( ranging from burgers, fried chicken to tacos and burritos)
The town is famous for its “Flor de Copán cigar factory” and you can have a guided tour but not on the day we were there unfortunately.
Gracias
We drove on to Gracias, birthplace of a national hero, Indio Lempira, who fighted against the spanish conquistadors. He was killed in battle in 1530. Lempira was a chief of the Lenca indigenous people. In Lenca language, ‘Lempa’ means Lord and ‘era’ means mountain. So his name means Lord of the Mountain. ( this is a mountainous region). His courage and fight for freedom is celebrated every year on July 20th in Honduras and the country’s currency is called Lempira in his honour. His effigy is on the 1 Lempira note.
