Mayans, Jaquars and drugs

Honduras
Days later we had another great guide. This one was a storyteller but in a different way. I believed his stories. We had traveled on to Honduras to see the Mayan ruins of Copan. In its day it was one of the largest powers based in the Mayan world. Unlike its larger neighbor Tikal to the north, the stone use at the sight had hardened over time and much of the intricate carving on the temples and Stella’s was still sharp and visible. I had lobbied Cindy for a more comfortable bus for our 5 hour ride from Antigua. Riding in the Chicken buses was cramped and I did not relish the thought of that much time sardined into a school bus with my knees jammed into the seat in from of me.
The bus ride was uneventful and it dropped us off in the quiet little town of Copan Ruinas. It was a tranquil little place about a kilometers walk from the ruins themselves. Along the way we met up with two women travelers, Yael from Israel, and Jenny a surfer girl from California. Needless to say, Cindy impressed them with her ability to slug back a fair amount of vodka at the local 2 for 1 happy hour.
The next day we all headed to the ruins together and decided to split the price of a guide. Instead of just taking the first guide to approach us, Cindy and Yael lucked into a great guide. For the life of me I can’t remember his name so I will call him ‘smoke Jaguar’, Smoke for short, after his favorite Copan ruler. After we bought our tickets, Smoke greeted us and told us in perfect English that hew was feeling ‘very good today’ and was excited about taking us on the tour. Yael had explained to him that we wanted more than the usual tour. We wanted stories about the place.
Smoke was a thin man of average Guatemalan height, which is short. He was smartly dress in slacks, nice shoes and a blue lined shirt. He had bright smiling eyes and a face that looked much younger than his 47 years. He was married and had two young sons under the age of 10. His wife was from Copan Ruinas and it was because of her that he had settled there about 13 years ago. He was well traveled in Central America and very intelligent.
As we walked to the ruins, Smoke told us his story. He had run away from home at the age of 14. He wanted to go to music school but his father would not let him. He somehow managed to pay for the school without the help of his family. He later worked in a traveling rock and roll band and learned to speak English from playing English pop songs. In the 80s he ended up playing music for the United States troops sent down to fight the contras in panama. He would travel with them and entertain them.
Later in life he met his wife and decided to settle down in her town. The ruins were just being excavated and a friend in town encouraged him to try his hand at being a tour guide because he spoke English. He was given books about the Maya to study and set out on his new career. The site was being excavated by a group from an American university and he got to know the workers as well as the site director very well. Smoke soon became a fixture at the ruins and became privy to many of the discoveries and discussions about what the new items that they found where, and the meanings of them in the Mayan world. All the while he took notes in hopes of enhancing his tours. At night he would play music for the archeologists.
Smoke told us that we would be wandering through the ruins and that we would be using our imagination to get an idea of what went on in ancient times. We learned about the ancient rulers and their rise to power of the common people. We learned how the center court might have been flooded during the rainy season to create an artificial lake that was then used to supply water via aqueducts to the nobles. The temples had been brightly painted with rich colors made from plants, flowers and insects. The color red was used every where but it was made with Mercury and the theory goes that the people of Copan did not live a long or healthy life because of their constant exposure to this element. There was so much more information than I could begin to relate here. It was fantastic!
Smoke did tell us of his one experience with a drug used by the Mayan toward the end of their rule. They had found it easier to control the common people and make them believe that they had divine powers if they were under the influence during sacrifices and rituals.
Appropriately Smoke and a friend were hoping to get high by smoking some pot. They searched all over town but could not find any. Smokes friend suggested that they try making some tea out of a common flower found growing wild in Guatemala. So they cut some down and mixed up a batch, drank a cup and waited….. and waited….. and waited. 1/2 hour nothing, 1 hour nothing, 2 hours and still they felt nothing. So they had another cup of tea. Again they waited and nothing happened. Smoke decided to call it quits and go home He said goodbye to his friend and started to walk. It was then that it hit him and took him for the ride of his life. 3 days later he was still having hallucinations. In one of his clearer moments he finally went to a doctor fearing that the trip would never end. The doctor told him that he had overdosed on the tea and that he was lucky to be alive. Smoke was given some medicine and mercifully the trip ended. Smoke liked us and I don’t think that the story was part of his normal tour.