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Published: July 11th 2009
We decided to leave Nicaragua a day early, partially because of the ongoing conflict in Honduras (the thinking was that we might need to add a bit of a time cushion for the country) and also because we were facing a 4 hour wait to get to the place we wanted to go to in Nicaragua. So, spot change of plan, we got on the bus to the border instead.
Other than paying a "municipal departure tax" on the Nicaraguan side, nothing was out of ordinary. In fact, everything was rather organized. For the first time this trip, both countries had their immigration officers right next to each other. After looking over our passports, Nicaraguan immigration simply slid them over the counter to Honduran. Ok, so maybe there was a little shenanigan on the Honduran side. We need to pay $3 each for our entry permit (some kind of tourist card). Fair enough. Except they "didn't have change." We ended up paying with $5 US and $1 worth of Honduran that we had just changed with our remaining Nicaraguan money. No sooner had we paid than the the immigration officer opens a drawer at least $50 of ones and fives.
No change my a**. However, the problem was solved and we were off to see what a country under political turmoil was like.
The Honduran congress, supreme court and military had decided to remove their president from office due to his efforts to circumvent the constitutional process for a referendum on abolishing the single term limit for president and allow himself to run for office again. When congress and the supreme court had said no, he imported ballots from Venezuela with the help of Hugu Chavez. However, they offered him a deal to leave the country rather than go through the impeachment process. As soon as he left, he declared the deal null and void, and the whole thing turned into an international fiasco. Such is the compilation of of local news, speaking with locals and reading international news. This is not meant as a political commentary but rather as background on the situation when we arrived. The presidents plane had been denied landing in the capital the day before, and pro-Mel protesters were throwing rocks at police / military and the armed forces responded with gunshots. A few protesters were reported killed. Some degree of rioting was reported
as well. The U.S. State department issued the typical "avoid all unnecessary travel" advisory that they tend to issue anytime a government minister so much as farts during a cabinet meeting. While the country had a travel advisory listed under the country page on the state.gov website, Honduras was not listed under the 'Travel Advisory' list of countries. Thus, we knew that the situation was not that bad.
True to form, there was increased military and police presence when we entered. A few soldiers searched our bags, but were very professional about it and did so under the supervision of the 'Policia National'. I am fairly positive that the new regime has informed the military and police that tourists were to handled in such a way that their current international press is not exacerbated. A half hour after we got under way, everyone on the bus had to get off at a police checkpoint, and an officer who spoke broken English told everyone to get off, and show documents. Again, very profession, no problems.
However, once we got into Tegucigalpa to transfer buses in order to get to Lago Yojoa, we found out that the curfew in the
city had been extended to the whole country, and that the 6 PM departure had been cancelled. We were going to spend the night in the city. Our taxi rides between terminals and then on to our hotel did prove to be very informative though. A business man driving a nice SUV pulled up next to us at a light hollered at us and asked us if we were American. Justin started talking to him, and the guy said that it was good Mel was gone because he was trying to make himself dictator of the country "like Hugo". The taxi driver was very pro Mel, and was incensed by the other guys comment. After some honking and exchange of sailor words between the two drivers, the light turned and we both went along. Our driver mentioned that the other guy should be careful, because someone could write down his license plat and send a motorcyclist to go kill him.
When we arrived at our hotel, the owner of Hotel Iberia was irate that their very own Fidel Castro wannabe (Mel) would not accept the will of the people and realize that Hondurans did not want a shitbag tyrant
running their country. He was so mad that it took him a while to check us in. (his hotel was almost completely unoccupied due to most travelers leaving the country and new ones not arriving). After making sure we understood that he thought that Mel should go to the pit of hell and take Chavez with him, we went to our room. I came away thinking it was really unfortunate that the people in Honduras didn't have strong opinions about the political situation.
We headed right out to get some pics of the city before sundown (and the 9PM curfew). After walking around, we realized that the city was actually somewhat interesting, and not quite the pit that our guidebook described. We ate at KFC, mostly because by 7PM many places were closing so the people who worked there could get back home before 9. My two chicken burritos were fantastic. My Coke had a bubble gum aftertaste and just might have been the worst soda of my life. Justin had the same problem with his drink, which was a different type of soda. We picked up some snacks at a grocery store and went back to our hotel.
We grabbed some breakfast burritos and breakfast shakes at a local place a few blocks away from the hotel. There were 3 kids around 14 that were very interested about us, and I have to say the locals in the city were first rate. The dad of one of the kids hung out and talked with us as well. We found at that there were some street protests planned for a little later (read riots). We decided to skip any additional sightseeing and go straight to the north. After packing up and leaving the hostel, we ran into the kid and the dad from the breakfast place, and then went two blocks out of their way to get us to the pickup point for collectivo taxies because the regular taxi would be "much more expensive." Upon reflection, Honduras had the most helpful people of any country of this trip. Without delay, we were of to the north.
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