Here, there and back again
Cheers,
This past month has been a little bit crazy, but fun. Since coming back from Mexico for New Years I spent a little while in Guatemala City which was a nice break from traveling. My days were filled with sleeping in, watching TV and eating good food.
The plan was for me to head out to El Salvador and then stay in Honduras after that, in which Charlie and I would go together. Charlie needed to go to these cities for work and I would keep myself busy checking out the new sites. He was going to drop me off in Honduras and I was going to continue my journey south. It sort of happened, but with a few minor adjustments. It goes as follows:
Charlie and I left for San Salvador, El Salvador a week and a half ago. The drive from the City to the El Salvador/Guatemala border was beautiful. The day was clear and sunny and the landscape was different than the rest of Guatemala. That is one thing that I have really appreciated about Guatemala is that it is a very beautiful country with a ton of different geographical landscapes.
At the border in San Cristóbal it was pretty hectic and more people coming up to the car and trying to exchange money than in any other border I have been too. They were relentless and would put the faces to the car’s windows five to six at a time. Although getting into the country wasn’t a problem. The lady at Immigration did comment on my passport picture and my looks. With my broken Spanish I thought that she said that I looked very different and in my passport picture I looked very young. I was horrified, especially with my 27th birthday coming up I have already been depressed about getting and worse looking older. However, it turns out that she said my hair looked different, and still looked very young thanks to Charlie’s translation. Yah! I look young!
Within two hours we were in San Salvador. I instantly loved the city and knew from the drive in that I was going to like this place. The road was a newly paved, four lane with freshly painted lines and they use American dollars. No messy exchange rates in my head. As for San Salvador it is actually a very clean city that is big, but with a calmness about it I haven’t found before in Central America. It actually reminded me of Southern California, sort of San Diego-ish.
However, this is where the “backpacking” stops and the “packing” starts. We checked ourselves into the Hilton Hotel and it was great. And since Charlie is an executive member, we even got better service than normal. (Although don’t ask him about the room service fiascoes). It felt so good to be home again J We had room service, worked out at the gym, had spa treatments and massages and watch cable TV. During the day I would lie by the pool and read and at night we would eat at nice restaurants and go to fun bars.
This city is very cool and I am really surprised at how great it is. Plus the people are really friendly. We met up with Charlie’s friend Paulina who is this beautiful, eccentric girl for shopping and coffee my two favorite things. After words, we went home to eat and change before meeting up at a local bar/club with Paulina, her boyfriend and friends for drinks. Apparently he has an open tab at the place so he bought everyone’s drinks all night, needless to say we had fun. I have to admit that the best line that came out of that night was a quick conversation held by Paulina and I:
Paulina: I really like you Craig. You are so sweet.
ME: Ah, thanks I really like you too.
Paulina: No, I mean I really like you. Do you want to know why?
ME: Why?
Paulina: Because you like me.
Priceless! You can’t even make stuff up like that.
After two days of bliss, Charlie and I headed for San Miguel to stay the night there on our way to Honduras. I can tell you that San Salvador is different than the rest of the country which isn’t all that desirable so we didn’t do much in San Miguel. The next morning we were off to Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital and no matter how many times someone tells me how to say it I still can’t. Aside from some pretty natural landscape, there isn’t a whole lot in Honduras and the people are not as nice as in other parts of CA.
We countered this by checking ourselves into the Intercontinental Hotel, which was conveniently located next to a mall. Yah! More room service, cable TV and shopping! We only stayed one night there because we needed to get to San Pedro Sula. Again, not much to see on the way there and San Pedro Sula wasn’t that nice either although we did check into the Princess Hotel. Are you getting the picture? :-)
There was a little excitement in San Pedro Sula though. Charlie and I forgot our passports/ID’s/money in the safe at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tegucigalpa and were getting them shipped to us which were to arrive the next day for us to pick up. Well the night that we were in San Pedro we went out to dinner of all places Applebee’s (I am horrified that I just admitted that), but it was close to the hotel and we were tired. I can tell you that all Applebee’s look the same, sound the same and taste the same.
On our way back to the hotel we got stopped by the police. They do random car check points all over in Central America, but a lot in Honduras. They ask for your ID and proof of insurance to make sure you haven’t stolen the car and that you are protected. Well since we didn’t have our ID’s and after some lengthy discussions, they were going to take us to jail. The called over more policemen and Charlie got out of the car to talk to them. This is really horrible, but I was secretly excited that we might go to jail. Horrible I know, but it sounded like a fun adventure and I didn’t think that we would be there long (am I being ignorant?). However, Charlie paid the policeman 335 lempiras, which was in small bills so it looked like a lot of money, but in reality it was only a little over $15.00.
The following day we headed out to La Cieba and we stayed with Charlie’s cousin Mila. The plan was to go to the Bay Islands for a few days and then Charlie would go back to Guatemala and I would head to Nicaragua. However, it was raining the entire time that we were in La Cieba and we thought going to the islands would be a waste time. So instead we hung out with Mila, ate and saw a bit of the city.
We decided to head to Copan instead of staying in La Cieba. Which out of everything that I have seen in Honduras is the best. It is a beautiful, small colonial town with a lot of charm. There are ruins near by, but we didn’t have time to see them. I really did not mind because I was able to visit the ones in Tikkal, but will do it if I pass through Copan again. I hope that I do because it was really great. We did go through Esquipulas to visit this church that houses a Christ statue brought over in the 17th or 18th century by an archbishop that is buried there. Apparently it is well known that if you come before it, pray and make a wish it comes true. There were all these plaques from people that had miracles happen to them and their families. I’ll let you know if mine comes true.
Charlie needed to head back to Guatemala for his cousin’s wedding, but said that he needed to come back down again to work. So here I am, back in Guatemala City typing this blog. I feel like I have come full circle, despite having done so much. The plan is to leave again on Tuesday for El Salvador, then quickly pass through Honduras on route to Nicaragua. Charlie will finally drop me off in Granada, Nicaragua where I will stay and study more Spanish.
Could it be that there are more Hiltons, shopping and coffee in my near future? One never knows, but it will definitely be a stark contrast to the life I am eventually embarking on. I do know that I started with one bag and now have two to carry.
Happy trails,
Craig
PS: I have read some past blogs and I am a bit troubled by all of my errors. Although updateable, I don’t have time to go back and make corrections, so I will try to actually re-read what I write. In the meantime, please be kind and forgiving. I write these fast and typically in a setting with a lot of distractions. Thanks! :-)
This past month has been a little bit crazy, but fun. Since coming back from Mexico for New Years I spent a little while in Guatemala City which was a nice break from traveling. My days were filled with sleeping in, watching TV and eating good food.
The plan was for me to head out to El Salvador and then stay in Honduras after that, in which Charlie and I would go together. Charlie needed to go to these cities for work and I would keep myself busy checking out the new sites. He was going to drop me off in Honduras and I was going to continue my journey south. It sort of happened, but with a few minor adjustments. It goes as follows:
Charlie and I left for San Salvador, El Salvador a week and a half ago. The drive from the City to the El Salvador/Guatemala border was beautiful. The day was clear and sunny and the landscape was different than the rest of Guatemala. That is one thing that I have really appreciated about Guatemala is that it is a very beautiful country with a ton of different geographical landscapes.
At the border in San Cristóbal it was pretty hectic and more people coming up to the car and trying to exchange money than in any other border I have been too. They were relentless and would put the faces to the car’s windows five to six at a time. Although getting into the country wasn’t a problem. The lady at Immigration did comment on my passport picture and my looks. With my broken Spanish I thought that she said that I looked very different and in my passport picture I looked very young. I was horrified, especially with my 27th birthday coming up I have already been depressed about getting and worse looking older. However, it turns out that she said my hair looked different, and still looked very young thanks to Charlie’s translation. Yah! I look young!
Within two hours we were in San Salvador. I instantly loved the city and knew from the drive in that I was going to like this place. The road was a newly paved, four lane with freshly painted lines and they use American dollars. No messy exchange rates in my head. As for San Salvador it is actually a very clean city that is big, but with a calmness about it I haven’t found before in Central America. It actually reminded me of Southern California, sort of San Diego-ish.
However, this is where the “backpacking” stops and the “packing” starts. We checked ourselves into the Hilton Hotel and it was great. And since Charlie is an executive member, we even got better service than normal. (Although don’t ask him about the room service fiascoes). It felt so good to be home again J We had room service, worked out at the gym, had spa treatments and massages and watch cable TV. During the day I would lie by the pool and read and at night we would eat at nice restaurants and go to fun bars.
This city is very cool and I am really surprised at how great it is. Plus the people are really friendly. We met up with Charlie’s friend Paulina who is this beautiful, eccentric girl for shopping and coffee my two favorite things. After words, we went home to eat and change before meeting up at a local bar/club with Paulina, her boyfriend and friends for drinks. Apparently he has an open tab at the place so he bought everyone’s drinks all night, needless to say we had fun. I have to admit that the best line that came out of that night was a quick conversation held by Paulina and I:
Paulina: I really like you Craig. You are so sweet.
ME: Ah, thanks I really like you too.
Paulina: No, I mean I really like you. Do you want to know why?
ME: Why?
Paulina: Because you like me.
Priceless! You can’t even make stuff up like that.
After two days of bliss, Charlie and I headed for San Miguel to stay the night there on our way to Honduras. I can tell you that San Salvador is different than the rest of the country which isn’t all that desirable so we didn’t do much in San Miguel. The next morning we were off to Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital and no matter how many times someone tells me how to say it I still can’t. Aside from some pretty natural landscape, there isn’t a whole lot in Honduras and the people are not as nice as in other parts of CA.
We countered this by checking ourselves into the Intercontinental Hotel, which was conveniently located next to a mall. Yah! More room service, cable TV and shopping! We only stayed one night there because we needed to get to San Pedro Sula. Again, not much to see on the way there and San Pedro Sula wasn’t that nice either although we did check into the Princess Hotel. Are you getting the picture? :-)
There was a little excitement in San Pedro Sula though. Charlie and I forgot our passports/ID’s/money in the safe at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tegucigalpa and were getting them shipped to us which were to arrive the next day for us to pick up. Well the night that we were in San Pedro we went out to dinner of all places Applebee’s (I am horrified that I just admitted that), but it was close to the hotel and we were tired. I can tell you that all Applebee’s look the same, sound the same and taste the same.
On our way back to the hotel we got stopped by the police. They do random car check points all over in Central America, but a lot in Honduras. They ask for your ID and proof of insurance to make sure you haven’t stolen the car and that you are protected. Well since we didn’t have our ID’s and after some lengthy discussions, they were going to take us to jail. The called over more policemen and Charlie got out of the car to talk to them. This is really horrible, but I was secretly excited that we might go to jail. Horrible I know, but it sounded like a fun adventure and I didn’t think that we would be there long (am I being ignorant?). However, Charlie paid the policeman 335 lempiras, which was in small bills so it looked like a lot of money, but in reality it was only a little over $15.00.
The following day we headed out to La Cieba and we stayed with Charlie’s cousin Mila. The plan was to go to the Bay Islands for a few days and then Charlie would go back to Guatemala and I would head to Nicaragua. However, it was raining the entire time that we were in La Cieba and we thought going to the islands would be a waste time. So instead we hung out with Mila, ate and saw a bit of the city.
We decided to head to Copan instead of staying in La Cieba. Which out of everything that I have seen in Honduras is the best. It is a beautiful, small colonial town with a lot of charm. There are ruins near by, but we didn’t have time to see them. I really did not mind because I was able to visit the ones in Tikkal, but will do it if I pass through Copan again. I hope that I do because it was really great. We did go through Esquipulas to visit this church that houses a Christ statue brought over in the 17th or 18th century by an archbishop that is buried there. Apparently it is well known that if you come before it, pray and make a wish it comes true. There were all these plaques from people that had miracles happen to them and their families. I’ll let you know if mine comes true.
Charlie needed to head back to Guatemala for his cousin’s wedding, but said that he needed to come back down again to work. So here I am, back in Guatemala City typing this blog. I feel like I have come full circle, despite having done so much. The plan is to leave again on Tuesday for El Salvador, then quickly pass through Honduras on route to Nicaragua. Charlie will finally drop me off in Granada, Nicaragua where I will stay and study more Spanish.
Could it be that there are more Hiltons, shopping and coffee in my near future? One never knows, but it will definitely be a stark contrast to the life I am eventually embarking on. I do know that I started with one bag and now have two to carry.
Happy trails,
Craig
PS: I have read some past blogs and I am a bit troubled by all of my errors. Although updateable, I don’t have time to go back and make corrections, so I will try to actually re-read what I write. In the meantime, please be kind and forgiving. I write these fast and typically in a setting with a lot of distractions. Thanks! :-)
posted by Unknown at 2:37 AM
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