Thursday, August 16, 2007

Copan vs. Tikal

Pretty much everyone i´ve met on my travels who have been to either the Tikal or Copan ruins have told me Tikal is better, if you go to it don´t bother with Copan. But what I learned from these cats is that they mostly lack any appreciation for decifering little differences in the ruins which show huge differences in the cultures and lives of these two city-states.
While Tikal seems to be one of the largest Mayan cities with towering temples and great views, all currently hidden in the jungle, and Copan was sold to some archeologists 150 years ago and is now a pretty park with sweet ruins of its own, Copan still holds this amazingness in the ways of its sculputre.

On 85- or so steps up a temple reads the history of the Copan city until the reign of 18 Rabbit. SICK!
And i thought the ball court was way cooler.

below is two pics from Copan...
the first is the depiction of the rain god...underneath is the ball court where essentially the most badass sport was played. apparently the winner was sacrificed...haha, fucking morons.


But then again walking around Tikal you can see that there are so many homes and temples covered in less than three inches of vegitation that have yet to be excavated making the experience pretty mind boggling. and i got some pretty sweet pictures in tikal and clibing those temples was scarry fun.


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