Blogs from Copán Ruinas, Western, Honduras, Central America Caribbean - page 3

After three years, I'm sweeping off the internautical dust to keep all my fascinated friends and family up to date with my holiday travelling. I've recently been to Morocco and Istanbul, but Cental America has, even after a mere three days, proved itself well worth the extra long flight (which consisted of watching films anyway). Landing after dark in Guatemala city; which I'm reliably informed is "like a bomb landed in a giant toilet and rubbish tip", we decided to save its dubious charms for the night before our flight home and head straight for Antigua, the tourist, and former poltical, capital. Having braced my patience for hordes of annoying cabbies and my buttocks for some pretty dodgy roads, I almost couldn't believe it that we easily tagged along in a friend's shuttle taxi, sped along ... read more

Today we didnt have to meet too early thankfully – 8.30am and 'the bridge'. No one knew where the bridge was as our tour leader hadnt elaborated on 'the bridge'. So we all ended up at Welchez Coffee shop for breakie as Jacob had recommended it. It took ages for food to come out cs we all arrived at similar times so we changed meeting time till 8.45am. We both had an omelette and ben got a smoothie and I had a coffee. All was good and we were stuffed full to start the day. Thankfully as we were debating where the bridge was, our guide for the ruins walked in looking for Jacob and then walked us there himself. He was brilliant. His name was Saul – like China he claimed! He says he learnt ... read more

As far as unpleasant cities go, Tegucigalpa probably jumps to the top of my list. I just want to get the negativity out of the way first because Honduras, the little I've seen of it, is a beautiful place. But the capital is pretty grim, it's polluted, disorientating, seemingly very dangerous (police are in teams at al times with fully automatic weapons like AK-47s) and full of horrific taxi drivers. I'm pretty sure the taxi drivers are criminals protected by the law, after getting off the bus from the border we were given several farcical quotes for a journey of 2km ($25 anyone) and derision and aggression when we refused to take up the offer. We'd missed the connection to our intended destination by about 30 minutes and had the unenviable choice of catching a night ... read more

Two days in lush gardens, hot showers and Eggs Benedict included, for less than a rate at Holiday Inn Express, should make you jealous!! People are smiling at us and are happy we are here. We are in a quaint small town with cobblestone streets. December 1stwas a day for rest and exploration. We were told to leave our laundry in bags on the bed and they would have it done by the afternoon. No problemo! Our room was magnificently cleaned and even our toiletries were organized, including toothbrushes (which were stood upright) and toothpaste. Jeans were folded on top of the suitcases and Wilson was given a very special place on the desk. We travelled around town on foot for quite some time. The roads are uneven stone, but we have learned to maneuver in ... read more

6 hours bus ride and I finally arrived in the small town of Copan. To get through the boarder overland, we were asked by the shuttle driver to fill-up 2 custom papers. The declaration questions I find quite bizarre; I must declare about anything and everything I am bringing to Honduras with no exception to my personal belongings. Maybe it was just me or the alcohol still floating in my system from the night before in Antigua but I found myself repeating the declaration statements over and over again. In my head: how the heck do I answer this!? ... Anyways, confused and feeling like an idiot, I just declared the gifts I purchased in Guatemala and see how it goes. To exit the Guatemalan boarder, I was asked to pay 10Q about roughly $1.40 US. ... read more