The crazy ride

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Well, after a lovely time in Antigua the time to leave came again, but to where? The islands off the coast of Honduras seemed to be calling my name, and with them the possibility of seeing a whaleshark. Transit is one of the great kicks of travelling in these crazy little countries, and getting where you want is sometimes quite an adventure. I had to break for the night in Copan and the next day went to La Cieba on the coast to go and catch a ferry to Utila. Utila was surprisingly unexciting, little to do except dive (and the diving was good, lots of very nice coral but where were the fish?) It was all aggrevated by the poor weather and a lack of beaches, and lets face it, on a small island like that you are a captive audience, and there is very little to do but dive. My health on the island was getting better, I had a cold and was recovering, but then my stomach got "funny". Its not that funny though. So I stuck around and chilled out, went and visited some really cool caves on the island, small squeezes in a muddy cave with candles lit along the entrance which opened to a wider cave with a couple of waterholes in it. These may have been caves used by pirates to stash their booty back in the day. But the time came to leave and go back inland and start heading north.
So the adventure continues. I have been travelling Central America for almost two months now and I would like to think I am something resembling savvy on the road by now. But sometimes I still get shocked a bit.
I came from Utila on the late ferry because I had a bit of montezumas revenge. Not too bad just regular drizzling shits. It happens. I wanted to run as far as I could that day and I ended up in San Pedro Sula, an industrial type city. Now as a savvy traveller I carry a lonely planet guidebook, it makes life easier. Lonely planet said all the cheap places to stay are downtown it also said that San Pedro is a hotspot for AIDS so it reccomended using a condom. (thanks for that great advice). Finding a budget hotel is an adventure at the best of times and in an industrial town with nothing to see it gets even more exciting. I took a cab to the lonely planet reccomended place which was down a street with many large garbage piles on it and lots of sketchy night people. Now. Before we go on let's look at hotel checking protocol. There are a couple of important things
First a sleepable bed, hopefully clean and flea free
Second that it is quiet, not facing the street and no roosters or discos close
Third the bathroom. Toilet WITH a toilet seat, somewhat clean, and maybe, just maybe hot water
Fourth that it's safe and feels alright, maybe with a window and not a firetrap
Fifth price... the lower the better
Hotel number one failed on numbers 1,2, & 3.
Three hotels following failed on number 5 (trump). Then I found a place that was, as the magi said, acceptable, failing only on number 3. No hot water and the toilet didn't flush (pail of water to wash it down). I took it because it had a new bed with no sex stains on it, which is unique for that price range. The hotel manager was very happy to show me the new unsullied mattress, after all cleanliness is next to godliness. I went out to get something to eat and I noted that there was no shortage of whores on the street, more than anywhere else I had been. That really imspires a lot of faith in the community. When I returned to the hotel I mentioned this to the manager, "muchos putas aqui" (lots of whores here)
He responded with a question, "Te gustas putas?" (you likey whores). Ah, Central America. Anyways that was a thanks but no thanks and I had a good sleep alone on a clean mattress.
The next day was the chicken bus blast to a place in Honduras called Lago Yojoa, lake yo-ho-ah. In the middle of the country and in a quiet and subdued hinterland it was nice to escape the chaos of big cities and enter the arms of the agricultural country. Lots of coffee is grown in that region. During the four days I spent in Yojoa I kept quite busy. The first day I went to some caves in the area. It was quite an adventure getting there, using my thumb to catch rides, and once there I was told that the lights were out, no power. This is a normal thing that a traveller gets used to, no water, no electricity, no change (try to change a 100 lempira note, and embark on a 15 minute mission, and thats just 100 lempiras which is equivalent to 5 American dollars). So since I was prepared and carrying 2 flashlights I talked the guards down to the entrance fee for nationals and got in for somewhat less. The caves were really cool, a network that goes on for 12 km, and nobody has found the end of it. Going through with flashlights is cool too, but after the 300 meters of pathway I didn{t want to venture much further into the hungry and dirty darkness. The next day I went to a waterfall and did a little tour to behind the waterfall, a really exhilirating endeavour because the water crashes down on you so hard and its tough to see anything and the water is pulling you down to the falls... a great experience. Now however I am formulating an exit strategy, heading back north to Mexico, but where along the way.... ah the mysteries of travel, who can ever say?

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