Riding my Motorcycle through Honduras
Entering Honduras - Update 36 (July 2023)
Las Peñitas, Nicaragua to Honduras
Getting out of Nicaragua was pretty straightforward. Getting into Honduras was also pretty easy. But the border offices were a free for all and I had an annoying kid trying to get money by “helping” me through the process. On reflection I should have given him a couple of dollars and told him to politely “go away”. But I got sucked into a battle of wits with this kid and we both wasted our time and he got nothing, much to his theatrical disgust, despite me being clear I didn’t want his services. There was a 35 USD entry fee to Customs for the motorbike.
Honduras didn’t start well. I had booked a hotel in Choluteca, near the border. I knew it was going to be rough. The hotel was by a river and I am sure the walls were full of rats. It was a sleepless night, where part way through the night I ended up leaving the light on, which seemed to quieten the rodents. Breakfast was included but I took one look and left.
There wasn’t too much in Honduras that got my attention and I passed through fairly quickly. I ended up stopping for a few days in Copán Ruinas. The town is just before the border with Guatemala. The modern town is next to a UNESCO listed Mayan site. The main activity in the area was around AD 300-900.
I found some nice accommodation at Casa de Cafe B&B and the ladies in the kitchen did a great job looking after me.
It was quite a nice town. Honduras was pretty simple, but much better off than some countries I had passed through in South America.
The ruins were about a kilometre walk from my hotel. I can’t remember the price to get in but it was quite reasonable. There were guides available but I just found my own way around.
The ruins are set amongst a lush forest and rural area.
It was all pretty relaxed. There were some controls but generally you could walk on the ruins and explore within reason.
The Macaw was acknowledged in some of the writings at the ruins. They are still popular today and encouraged as part of the whole tourist experience
The hieroglyphic staircase is one of the highlights of the Copán Ruins. It is a Mayan text that documents the history and rulers of Copán.
It is amazing that people have interpreted this over time and restored the staircase. It was a ruin after many years of earthquakes and flooding in the area. At one point there was a a misunderstanding about the chronology of the stones but they think it is in the correct order now.
There was some gradual work happening on the site. It’s funny, initially my brain wondered if they were doing the right thing and should change the site. But I realised that was stupid thinking and that the local people had been living in and developing the site for hundreds of years. It was some 800 years that the site was an active community, with the local people going about their lives there. It should be continued.
As you explore further you start to get more of an Indiana Jones experience where the ruins have been less “renovated”.
Liberia, Costa Rica into Nicaragua
Update 35 (June 2023)
Copán, Honduras to Tikal, Guatemala
Update 37 (July 2023)