Honduras here we come

I got my own back at 3:00am when by alarm went off and I turned my shower on. Taking my wheelie bag down the stairs at 3:45 was the sweetest revenge.  Clunk, clunk, clunk

Bags loaded into our bus and we are away. There’s room for each of us to have a seat of our own and I nabbed front row. I stretch out and try for some kip. It wasn’t forthcoming. 

There have been political blockades around Guatemala City so we were lucky to bypass the city and avoid them. If we got stuck we could have been there for hours. 

3 million people live permanently in Guatemala City.  4 million more commute up to 3hrs a day each way. People were waiting on the side of the road for busses at 4:30 am. They dont start wotk till 8:00 but have to leave home early to catch the bus in case there is a blockade. 

We missed the blockades but there were roadworks which slowed us down. 

Camioneta aka chicken busses zoom past resplendent in their finery. 

Our first toilet stop was at a Shell station where they also sell coffee,  hot dogs, pizza, smokes, vapes and booze. RTD’s are in the same fridge as soft drinks and not too much more expensive.  Use of the loos was free and they were spotless and well maintained. 

I wasn’t hungry but saw they had hotdogs, American style in a bun. Yes thank you very much. And yum it was too. 

Maybe I shouldn’t have had it as not long after we stopped at a hotel for a hearty breakfast.  Still full I just had a juice. 

Much of our trip was on either the Pan American or the Atlantic Highway. The roads were windy but in good condition and the landscape we passed through rather beautiful. Green and lush. The rainy season has just finished so I hear that by the end of their summer it will be brown and dry. 

Rafa our guide is keeping us posted about our options for today, the border crossing and anything else that comes to mind. He’s a cool guy, lots of fun and obsessed with climbing. He runs a climbing company. Check it out. 

After a bit of faffing we’d checked out of Guatemala and nekt minit we are in Honduras on our way to our digs for the night. We have been warned that it’s ‘basic’ so who knows what we will find. 

OK so it is basic but I have my own bathroom and it is clean.  Checked in we walk down through the very cute township to a restaurant that sort of thought it was in the US but had Latino food. Again I had a steak with fries mainly because I am trying to avoid ‘wrap’ style stuff and tortillas which don’t excite me. I am over steak though. A local beer washed it down for me and as we paid our bill we were treated to a moist towelette, a mint and a chocolate coated frozen banana. Finished it off nicely. 

After a difficult night and an early start I am waning but have agreed to go to the hot pools and dinner which will probably knock me out totally. 

It took about 80 minutes to get to LunaJaguar pools. The road , while not gravel as we had been told, was a little better in some parts and considerably worse in others. Full of pot holes, patches of straight mud, river crossings etc. We wondered how we would get back home again. 

But was it worth it. Absolutely. The pools were divine. A variety of temperatures spread out over a large area and beautifully done.  

Our deal included dinner Hmm. Cardboard would have been tasty than the incinerated beef and chicken we got. The juice (not) was good and the corn chips with red bean paste great. 

We armed ourselves for what might happen on the way home. We had passed through some decent mud holes coming in and wondering how our van would manage them in an incline was front of mind for most of us. 

Squashed into van we set off and superbly the van handled the mud holes, our bums coped with the bumps and we arrived home safe and sound. 

Bed and dead to the world in 10 minutes.