Tegucigalpa

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Greetings from Tegucigalpa (or Tegus) capital of Honduras, loosely translated as Silver Mountain (Actually I'm in Nicaragua now, you will get more in the next update!!) Its certainly different form Antigua! Almost no-one speaks any English and not a gringo in sight. I'm out of my comfort zone now and its just what I need to try and practice my Spanish. Its a typical central American capital, a giant sprawl with lots of traffic and pollution. Its located in a very picturesque setting though, surrounded by mountains. I was a bit apprehensive of flying here after reading an article about pilots having to undergo special training in order to be able to land here. Because of the high mountains the plane has to bank steeply to the left and only has a short part of the runway to land. There was a crash here last year when a plane overshot the runway. My apprehension wasn't helped when 20 mins into the flight, the pilot announced we were heading back to Guatemala due to a 'electric fault'! Today I went for a trip into downtown Tegus. First, I went to the museum de Nacional Identitad and learned a lot about the history of Honduras. I attempted to find another museum but ended up getting lost and after a few strange looks from the locals decided to head back to the hotel! Unfortunately its not all that safe at night and was advised not to venture out. Key moments of practicing Spanish included trying to pretend I was from Honduras to get a cheaper entry to the museum (they didn't think it was funny), being questioned in a Puma shop and trying to explain I was only looking and asking for a bottle of water and being given a bag of water!
The Hondurans appear to be more intense than the Guatamalteca and fiercely proud of their country. Football is the national passion like most countries in Central America and the national football top was everywhere. I ended up buying a few shirts to try and use up my lempiras (Honduran currency) and decided to wear one when I departed on Wed morning. I forgot however I was stopping over in El Salvador on route to Nicaragua!! Schoolboy error, to make matters worse Honduras were playing El Salvador in a crunch World Cup qualifying match that night!

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Comments

[Gorgie - the Promised Land]

aye, correct me if im wrong but back in the '70s a war between Honduras and El Salvador was started after a footie match between the 2 countries got a bit oot e hand! so, i hope you didnt start another one..