After an interesting day of travel from Guatemala, we crossed the Honduran border at El Florido. Our entry into Honduras went without a hitch or bribe, and we breathed a sigh of relief! We negotiated a fare on a minibus taxi waiting at the border, and bundled in with eight locals for the short 10km ride into the town of Copan Ruinas.

Cobbled streets and brightly coloured buildings

Balcony view of a typical Copan Ruinas street

Copan Ruinas is a quaint town with cobbled streets and brightly coloured buildings, entrenched in Mayan culture and of course, Spanish colonial history. The key attraction in the area, with deep historical significance, is the Copan Ruins. This is a UN World Heritage site containing some of the most elaborate and extensive examples of early Mayan sculptures and hieroglyphics carved on magnificent staircases and stellae (columns/pillars).

We were dropped off in the centre of town by the taxi and made our way on foot to our hostel, The Blue Iguana. The hostel came highly recommended as clean, cosy and well maintained, centrally located to explore the town and its namesake. We were not disappointed with the hostel and quickly settled in to our spacious private room, even deciding to extend our stay to three nights instead of two. We enjoyed homemade vegan empanadas and cold beer while watching the sunset at The Blue Iguana’s garden deli next door.

Richard outside The Blue Iguana

Our brief stay in Copan Ruinas had many highlights, most impressive of which was the amazing sacred ruin site with its breathtaking structures, intricate stone carvings, vast layout and jungle foliage. We took a $2 tuk-tuk ride from the town square to the visitor’s centre and spent a half day walking the site and taking in its many marvels. In addition to the ruin site, there are a number of nature trails and picnic areas on the premises. We were very surprised and delighted to find many beautiful and brilliantly-coloured macaws in the trees as we entered the site, and discovered that the ruins are also a breeding ground for these endangered indigenous birds.

Sacred and tranquil Copan Ruins

An ancient carved staircase

Close up of the staircase detail

One of the many magnificent examples of carved stellae (columns/pillars) on the site

A beautiful grand old ceiba tree

Bright, beautiful macaw!

Other highlights included our first haircut since departure, expertly handled by Honduran barber, David. While exploring this very walkable town on foot, we came across a number of interesting sculptures in the town square. The square is a lovely meeting point for locals and tourists alike. The square, together with the fresh produce market, are typical elements in the Spanish colonial towns we’ve visited so far – and we really love the idea of buying fresh fruit and walking over to the square to sit, snack and watch the local scene unfold. We also discovered a wonderful array of comfy cafes and restaurants (like Twisted Tanya’s) with yummy cocktails, coffees and easily veganized food options.

Time to visit the barbershop

Bev’s turn!

The town square with its sculptures to watch over locals and tourists alike

Cobbled lanes leading to the town square

Sundowners at Twisted Tanya’s

Vegan pizza and cocktails at Twisted Tanya’s (clearly a favourite spot!)

Although our stay in Copan Ruinas was short, we enjoyed our time there immensely and packed a ton into a few days. We even sent our first package home by mail from Copan Ruinas – with fingers firmly crossed that our goodies would find their way safely to Vancouver (and happily, the package arrived three weeks later)! Our departure came far too quickly, and before we knew it, we were packed up and ready to board the bus to the murder capital of the world, San Pedro Sula. But more on that adventure in our next installment!

Bev thumbs up: Serenity of the ruins, happy hour at Twisted Tanya’s (a great place to wait for a downpour to pass!) and The Blue Iguana
Bev thumbs down: Not enough time to explore the surrounding jungly hills and trails
Richard thumbs up: Awesome vegan pizza at Twisted Tanya’s and comfortable little town to explore
Richard thumbs down: Laundry not drying for three days due to two hours of rain every day!

After 3+ weeks in Guatemala and so many amazing sights, sounds and experiences, it was time to move on to a new country. We travelled east (+/- 7 hours via shuttle bus through mountain villages and over bumpy roads) from Semuc Champey to Rio Dulce, a town on the banks of the River Dulce (hence Rio Dulce!). We spent the night at Hotel Kangaroo, a few minutes up the river by boat from the main town of Rio Dulce. Run by an ex-pat Aussie (obviously!) and his wife, the hostel is a great spot to touch down for a few days in a very tranquil environment – and it has a great little Mexican restaurant too! Unfortunately we only had one night there as we decided we needed to press on into Honduras.

Lush hills in the countryside between Semuc Champey and Rio Dulce

Another view of the gorgeous countryside!

The deck at Hotel Kangaroo – perfect for a cold sundowner after a long travel day!

Richard looking relaxed at Hotel Kangaroo

Bev in the boat on the morning of our departure from Hotel Kangaroo

We departed Rio Dulce via local bus the next morning for the 220km / 7-hour journey to the border at El Florido, located between Chiquimula, Guatemala and Copán Ruinas, Honduras. The journey started off with images of a comfortable coach style bus on which we would while away the time sleeping, reading and writing blog articles. Unfortunately, when the bus arrived, it was clear that the conditions would be slightly different! The somewhat rickety bus was completely packed with people and packages in all shapes and sizes (including a goose in a box). After paying our fare of roughly $6 each (Richard tried to negotiate a lower fare as we clearly were not going to have a seat for the full journey, but the conductor was not interested!), we stood for the first hour, after which I was able to find a seat. At some point Richard was offered a rickety stool to sit on in the aisle next to the driver by the conductor! Can’t imagine this scenario playing out in Canada!

Waiting for the bus in Rio Dulce

Streetscape of Rio Dulce

Eventually the passenger volume thinned and we were both able to sit comfortably for the balance of the journey. As is the case with bus travel in Central America, the trip was not without incident, as one of the tires was perpetually deflating, requiring the conductor to stop and jump out of the bus every 40 minutes or so to plug the leak with a nail. This went on for at least 5 hours, after which the bus pulled into the bus company repair shop to have the tire changed. As the day went on, the bus emptied but for the two of us, and we were eventually unceremoniously dropped at the “frontera” or border, after what ended up being a 9-hour trip instead of 7! We were pleased that another of our long travel days by bus in Central America had ended without loss of limb, sanity or personal belongings

After each paying our unofficial US$3 “entry tax” upon arrival in Guatemala, we wondered if we’d receive the same request upon departure from the country. Our host at the Kangaroo Hotel indicated that we shouldn’t have to pay a “departure tax”, but our border official had other ideas. This time however, we decided to stand our ground, and asked what the tax was for, and if we could have a receipt – all in Spanish (well done, Rich!). Notwithstanding our basic Spanish, these were not easy questions to ask a stubborn (and we assume, corrupt) border official who has your passports in her hands! Anyhow, after a few minutes of staring at one another, she eventually relented, and waved us through.

Entering Honduras was very easy and less intimidating than we both expected. After paying our official entry fee of US$3 at the border crossing, we hopped in a shuttle bus for a short 10km drive to the town of Copan Ruinas, our base for the next 3 nights. Once again we parted with our bags as they were thrown onto the roof of the minivan – something you get used to very quickly when travelling by local bus in Central America. Most times the bags are tied down and covered with a tarp, but there have been some moments when we’ve wondered what shape our bags would be in upon arrival at our destination – assuming of course they made it that far! More on our short stay in Honduras in the next blog post!

Bev thumbs up: Overnight at Hotel Kangaroo with cold beers on the deck
Bev thumbs down: Delays on an already long bus trip
Richard thumbs up: Going through a town called Chiquimula, Guatemala
Richard thumbs down: Constantly fearing a tyre blow out!