our cozy hotel in Chinandega

When me and Guy left Nicaragua, waking up in our $6 hotel room in Chinangega was a bit of a shock. We had arrived the night before at 11pm from our 7 hr horse carriage ride from Leon, and thought anything not as hard and bumpy as our cart would be comfortable, but the room was atrocious. We just laughed about it, but still a little repulsed by the bathroom and resident 3 inch cockroach territorial of the sink.

the view of Tegucigalpa from Hondura’s version of the Christ the Redeemer, except this one looks out over the largest Coca Cola sign you’ve ever seen

We left for the bus terminal, a few blocks away, and got into the first bus that agreed to take us to the ‘frontera,’ but then ended up at the Guasaule crossing instead of Las Manos. We just went with it and carried on, with a chicken bus, to Choluteca, and then called my Honduran friend Claudia to let her know we were getting closer to where she lived in Tegucigalpa. We got on another chicken bus to the capital, which we learned later dropped us off in one of the worst part of towns, on a bus company not even Claudia would ride on. Oh well, we ended up ok, and made a toothless friend who sang Eric Clapton to us while waiting on the side of the road.

Santa Lucia, one of the prettier towns located in the surrounding hills of Tegucigalpa

Claudia and her Dad poked some fun at us for our choice of transport, and then took us on a driving tour around Tegicuigalpa, introducing us first-hand to the slightly nerve-wracking way Hondurans drive. We almost hit a few people, but then made it home to the most delicious home cooked meal I could have ever dreamed of. The next day we drove around neighbouring colonial towns with Claudia’s sister, Sabrina, and she reconfirmed the driving standard. The following day we left on a 3 day road trip, and most painful during the drive was always the unnecessary, but very numerous speed bumps along the highway, that Sabrina insisted on taking at 0.5km/h, or, when she didn’t see them, at 80 km an hour with someone yelling from the side of the road “Slow Down!” Both were equally uncomfortable, but also just as hilarious.

we drove past Lake Yojoa but had to stop for a photo

We ate alot of pupusas (stuffed torilla thingies), baleadas (tortillas folded with beans), and drank horchata (like chai tea but better) under our excellent Honduran guides’ recommendation. We saw so many beautiful towns and beaches along the way, many of which I didn’t ever even learn the names of, and also visited her other sister in San Pedro Sula who treated us equally like family.

Copan Ruinas

We ended our road trip in Copan, where I had my first salsa dance this entire trip. Amazing how little latin dancing I’ve been able to find in the last 2 months, shameful really, but I got it out of my system with a Guatemalan salsa teacher who danced excellently. My other first on the trip was the Copan Ruinas, my first Maya site visit, and prefaced what has become probably my highlight in every country since.