Monday, January 25, 2010

Entering Honduras

A little boy by the name of Jose, has decided to sit next to me while I’m writing this in a hostel. He is the son of the owner of the place. Funny little fellow, he is, swinging in the hammock.

I was given a very nice greeting by Honduras. Many people welcomed me and the land welcomed me as well. A restaurant owner gave me some bread and a big smile. I needed help finding the Hostel that I found in the Lonely Planet guide book. A number of people gave me directions and two people actually had me follow them in their cars. The border crossing at El Florido was very smooth and quick. It took ½ to ¾ hours, which is incredible. The officials were friendly, professional and helpful.

The roads on the Honduras side of the border were remarkably clean. One person gave me some bread. Also, the drivers were extremely polite and actually drove near the speed limit. I wondered if this was what the rest of Honduras was going to be like. I matched the local etiquette.

When I merged with a larger road I encountered similar vehicular antics that I had in Guatemala and Mexico. We were back to the normal games. There were, however, some drivers who were going faster than anything I’d encountered before. They were passing other cars around blind curves going at least 80mph. Crazy@!
Now Jose is trying to walk across the hammock and keep from falling! He’s not saying much, but is making all sorts of funny sounds ? Now he’s holding on to my chair and standing in the hammock and swinging back and forth. Now he fell. And now, he’s gone elsewhere.

I’m spending my first night in Honduras commercial capital, San Pedro (yes, it is a different one). I walked for a mile or two to a shopping plaza to find some spandex shorts. My underwear bunch up and the sweat soaked cotton is giving me a rash. In motorcycling lingo, what I have is referred to as “Monkey Butt”. By the way, my case is not too bad. I’m glad that I found what I needed, though they are white and will soon look disgusting. But I’ll be able to wash them every night and they should dry by morning.

The temperature is hot! Blankets or top sheets are not needed in the least, and a fan is very helpful. I think it’s time to start adding electrolyte tablets to my water to replace the salts that I’m losing to sweat.

I ended up playing soccer with Jose, the boy, until bed time. We had a great time!

2 comments:

  1. I haven't heard thone one before "monkey but" but I'm glad you have it tamed sweet dreams!!

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  2. I hope you don't plan on skipping over the gem that El Salvador is! Eric and I are ready for either/both you and Jay. We're right in San Salvador, and you're welcome to stay and relax and we can point you in the direction of amazing beaches (surfing?) or volcanoes or whatever your fancy. Including top notch movie theaters and amazing Thai food. (But you're out to experience true, not Westernized, Central American culture, aren't you?) Well, call our cell if you're coming through: 503-7442-6902. Hope to see you guys!

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