our trip to the beach

Por fin, we are at the beach. We made our way to the Bay Islands of Honduras on Thursday, which turned out to be yet another adventure. Here's a rough sketch of the day's events:

6 a.m. - Wake up, pack, order some breakfast, pay for our room and suck down some fruit and granola.

7:15 - Run out of the hotel and down the street, lugging our packs, with little knowledge of how we are getting to Roatan, save for a recommendation that we hitch a 7:30 speed boat ride to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. This was to avoid ever having to set foot in Rio Dulce again (which was the original plan, return to RD and catch a bus to La Ceiba.... then on to Roatan).

7:25 - Make our way to one of the docks, where some man asked us where we were going. We say Puerto Barrios, and he hurries us into a speed boat, which was empty except for three open buckets of fish and three locals. About 30 Q and a few seconds later, we were speeding to Puerto Barrios.

8:10 - Arrive at PB. Off the boat, we tell another stranger where we are trying to get. He says there is in fact no direct bus to La Ceiba (where we know we need to be to catch a ferry to Roatan). He says we first have to go to this tiny border town, then to Puerto Cortez, then to San Pedro Sula (a total shithole that we were hoping to avoid) and then to La Ceiba. Geez. So we agree and pay an inordinate amount of money for a less-than-an-hour shuttle ride to a nothing border town.

9 - The driver pulls over and tells us this is our stop, but it looks more like a construction site with a few school buses parked along the road. This, we suppose, is the border crossing. He points to the line of buses and says they will take us to Puerto Cortez. After paying the immigration guards an exit fee, stamping our passports and hovering around the pseudo bus depot, we board one of said chicken buses - this one painted white and green and souped up with booming speakers mounted above the back door and a blinking license plate cover mounted near the front door.

About 10:30 or so - We arrive in Puerto Cortez, after having traveled through some tiny coastal towns, each marked by a blue Pepsi sign with the town's name under the logo. We talked with a few people (including a police officer from San Pedro Sula), and just sat back and enjoyed hearing the much-welcomed blaring Reggaeton and seeing Port Royal signs out the windows. (If I have not already mentioned Port Royal, it's the best beer ever. Honduran and awesome. More on that later.) We felt relaxed, like we were on our way home, sort of.

Sometime after 11 - I lose track, but at some point around 11, we arrive in PC, board yet another bus, this one a smaller shuttle, for an hour long ride to San Pedro Sula. Pretty uneventful, but yes, to answer your question, we went from riding along the coast to them back tracking inland down to SPS in order to go back up to the coast. That's just how it's done, I guess.

12:15 - Arrive at the bus station in SPS, buy ticket to La Ceiba and then wander across the street for cheese empanadas from a street vendor. We had been talking about empenadas (and baleadas and Port Royals) since we left Copan, and were really craving them. We inhaled them just in time to board the final bus of the day. About four hours later, we got to La Ceiba.

The next morning, we left one of the many danky hotels we have stayed in to catch a 10 a.m. ferry ride to Roatan. Yesterday was gorgeous: clear blue skies over sandy white beaches, lush tropical plants and palm trees, and of course cold Port Royals. The only catch here is that it is inordinately expensive. First of all, most prices are listed in American dollars, which I find annoying since last time I checked we were in Honduras and I was trying to experience the country and the language. Hotels, food, shopping - all of it is close to American prices (OK, except for lodging but $10 a night each feels like a lot after spending mere dollars to crash). But really, I can't complain. We are settling in for a week of sunning and relaxing.

I will end this entry with an open letter to Port Royal. In Spanish.

Querida Port Royal,

Te amo. Cuando yo viajaba en Guatemala, te extrane. Tu estas la mejor cerveza en todo el mundo - delicioso, fresco y mas barrato. Me gusta tomarte con limon y sal. Cuando estoy tomandote, me recuerdo nuestro viaje en Honduras y estoy feliz. Espero que nosotros podamos tomarte en los Estados Unidos cuando regresemos. Pero ahora, nosotros vamos a tomarte mucho. Gracias.

Con amor,
Sara