Honduras

I feel like I sped through Guatemala and Honduras and I'm sure I'm doing myself a disservice especially in Guatemala but I guess it gives me an excuse to return... It was foolish of me to believe I could cover so much ground in so little time and not feel like I was missing out.

April 8^th: Antigua to Copan Ruinas Honduras: I retraced my route for half of the day today. Straight back through Guatemala city. I was trying to hit a small window of time between the end of rush hour and the forecasted rain at 11AM. It worked perfect! So no story to tell really… I didn't even miss my road change in the center of Guatemala, lucky really. I wished the moto was a little narrower for an easier time lane splitting but I followed some locals for a little while and that helped J. East of Guatemala City you descend in elevation a bit and enter a region that is very arid and desert like. It was hot, too, nearly 100 deg. F. then wound through the hills and low mountains to Flores and the frontera. I arrived at the border around 2p and it took a while to get through. No real issue it just took some time to get the moto out of Guatemala. Thankfully it was only about 10 kilometers from the border to Copan Ruinas. I was able to find my Hotel pretty quickly and it was a really wonderful little place called Yat B’alam which is Mayan for little jaguar. Really lovely staff, truly pleasant. They have won several awards from the TripAdvisor website and I understand why…just wonderful! I also met Marvin Lopez today. He’s a Tuk Tuk taxi driver and he agreed to let me drive his Tuk Tuk to the Mayan Ruins tomorrow.

9^th Copan Ruinas: Yat B’alam has been great! Comfortable good food too. Marvin was right on time this morning and after 37 seconds of tuk tuk driving instructions we were on our way to the Mayan Archaeological site. I really enjoyed driving the little trike and I think I will do this in my retirement… be a Tuk Tuk driver for tourists ;-) I hired a guide for the site today and we spent the morning exploring Copan Ruinas. I really enjoyed the experience, you learn so much more with the guide. I had a nice lunch at the hotel and had a new culinary experience. They had just finished baking a “quesadilla” not the Mexican quesadilla that we are used to. It was a cake, similar to pound cake but mildly sweet with a lovely cheese flavor and aroma. I got to have a slice of it while it was still warm from the oven and it was excellent! After a siesta I returned to the site in the afternoon… drove Marvin’s Tuk Tuk again… and explored the tunnels dug by the archaeologists and then walked the nature trails. The park was so quiet and tranquil and the weather today was perfect. It was a really relaxing afternoon. The park has a flock of Scarlet Macaws, Montezuma Oropendolas, and saw some Cotuzas, little piglet shaped rodents running around.

The guide to Copan Ruinas and Marvin the Tuk Tuk driver/passenger (on the right)

I had a blast driving the little Tuk Tuk through the cobblestone streets of Copan. Top speed was only about 25 MPH. 205cc air/oil cooled single cylinder engine and a 4 speed transmission like a Vespa Scooter.

Copan Ruinas is at the southern extent of the Mayan world and was unique for its much more elaborately carved sculptures. Most were carved under the reign of the 13th king of Copan. 

Copan Ruinas, Wiki

Scarlet Macaw sculptures above the Ball Court

There was a really nice museum on site with some of the more delicate objects and a full scale reconstruction of the Rosalila temple which is still buried below one of the main temples

the Dancing Jaguar

This one is for Dad, The old Texaco logo and the Honduran Flag just to the right

April 10^th Copan Ruinas to Comayagua: There is not much to report here… I was on the bike for nearly 6 hours today crossing Honduras. I drove through many little agricultural communities today. I’m still astounded by the living conditions in many of these little towns. Families living in one room shacks made of sticks and mud and some with satellite TV dishes on them. The road conditions out of Copan Ruinas were not good; many large potholes to avoid but there were road crews out there improving the road. In some places some of the locals were filling the potholes with gravel and dirt and asking for a donation for their efforts. Honduras has lots of Bananas, little bananas the size of your thumb to big bananas the size of your forearm and lots of roadside stands to sell them. Comayagua was just a place to spend the night but the hotel was comfortable and I was able to get some photocopies of my documents for the next border crossings.

April 11^th Comayagua to Danli: I drove through the capitol of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. It’s a good size city but I didn’t have too much trouble getting through. The city occupies a valley in the mountains so it’s quite hilly and the roads are windy. Once I got through the center part of the city and started climbing out of the valley I turned on the GoPro for a few minutes. I hope to put a bunch of video clips on YouTube once I get home… The road between Tegucigalpa and Danli was pretty and fun winding through the mountains and pines and with some elevation, the weather was cooler too. Tomorrow morning I’ll cross into Nicaragua and then have a longish ride south to Leon.