Copan Ruinas!

Finally!  We made it to Copan!  Welcome to Honduras' loveliest mountain city: such a gem!  It was worth the 28 hour journey and we enjoyed a very nice 4 days in my favorite city we've visited on our journey so far.  If we come back to Honduras, I would definitely pay Copan Ruinas another visit.  I would also learn from our past experiences and travel the 360 kilometers in less than 28 hours.  Ok, that can't be right.  Well, first off all, it's a lie and it's not right at all.  I googled kilometers from La Ceiba to Copan Ruinas and the answer was 360 kilometers.  The first lie is that it doesn't account for the distance by ferry from Utila to La Ceiba, but that's only 1 hour and I can easily tack that on.  Secondly though, 360k is probably the distance as the crow flies, not the road distance traveled by the combination of taxis, colectivos, and public "luxury" buses.  Anyhow, we have learned lessons and next time we can get there more quickly!  However, not all is lost.  Just time.  And actually we have plenty of time.  In fact it's what we have more of than anything else at this point, so it wasn't really wasted after all.  In the end, a bad day always makes for a good blog.  Silver linings are all around, you just have to find them!

Anyhow, we arrived in Copan and as I mentioned and it was wonderful.  A beautiful hilly compact city (reminded us of home) nestled between the mountains and along a river.  You can even see the mountains of Guatemala.  Not in the way that Sarah Palin can see Russia though.  In the way that actually, you open your eyes and look over thataway, and those mountains are in Guatemala.  The people were lovely - very friendly and all the men are cowboys.  Also, the temperature was just right - warm days, cool nights. Made me miss my blue jeans!

After settling into our hostel, Iguana Azul, we rested up and took a nice walk around town which you can see much of in just a couple hours.  We stumbled upon a corner shop, Casa de Todo.  With a name like that it might offer everything, but really, how good can any of it be?  This place featured a bakery, souvenir shop, restaurant, internet, laundry service, and tourist information.  Surprisingly, this place was amazing!    We went for dinner and had what Brandt described as the best meal he has ever had.  Maybe the altitude was getting to him.  It was delicious though and we shared a meal of Honduran cuisine - pupusas, enchiladas, and tamales fresh from the kitchen!

The next day we decided to do something I hadn't done since I was at a 10 year-old's birthday party (I was 10 too you pervs): go horseback riding!  I'm not sure why I haven't' gone in 20 years.  Granted my last experience was somewhat traumatizing as I saw the terrifying anatomy of a male horse in it's most prominent state, but time heals all and I have since made a full recovery.  To be honest, we set a low bar of expectation (perhaps we should all do this more often) and were happily surprised in the end.  A guide took the pair of us on a 2.5 hour ride over the river and through the woods (actually more like THROUGH the river, and into the mountains) and told us stories along the way.  It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

On Tuesday we took the morning to visit the Mayan ruins in Copan - probably the biggest draw for tourists to visit the city.  I had never visited these ruins before and we very much enjoyed our time.  We decided to forgo the $25 USD to spring for a guide and had a nice time speculating on our own what Mayan life may have been like.  

That afternoon we visited the Tea and Chocolate Place.  A lovely spot to visit, a daily "open house" from 4-6pm offers the chance for people to come and enjoy a variety of teas and snacks, learn about sustainable and organic farming techniques in the area and the families involved, and watch the sunset from the veranda.  Well worth a 30 minute walk into a less central but charming part of town. 

We planned to spend our last day going to the nearby aguas termales and enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the town plaza.  Instead, we spent our morning at the aguas termales and then the afternoon hungry, thirsty, sad, and waiting.  Learn more about this adventure in an upcoming post highlighting all the lessons we already knew, but wanted to learn the hard way.  

After a long last day in Copan I yearned for one more, but I suppose that is the best way to leave a place - hoping you could stay just a bit longer. 

It feels great to start traveling!  It seemed that more happened to us in 5 days than in the previous 5 weeks and this sort of life will hopefully make for interesting blogging material.  My Spanish language is terrible, but somehow it seems to be mildly better than a week ago.  Hopefully this is a sign that after weeks and months of hearing the language and trying to fumble my way through it, some improvement will come.  Also, I've decided learning popular Latin pop songs.  Spotify "Darte un Beso" by Prince Royce.  It is catchy.  You will like it.  

Please ignore any typos and misspellings as I am experimenting with the semi-colon (something I surely used more appropriately in my high school literature class), listening to Price Royce on repeat, and trying to sing along all while I type.  Makes it all the more complicated to get it right…

Vacation Time!

So perhaps this will make no sense and perhaps you will think I'm a traveling snob, (after all, we have only be gone for 2 months) but we needed a vacation!

Ok, let me explain as it seams so silly.  We arrived in Utila nearly 2 months ago.  For the first 2-3 weeks I felt completely content and happy to stay here for a very long time (as was our plan) and just chill out.  However, when we started to encroach the 2 month mark, we both started getting antsy.  Utila is a small place and there is only so much you can do here.  There is a phrase here, one that is probably shared throughout the world in popular, relaxing, traveler hotspots.  It's the 3 lies about Utila: 1) I'll only have ONE more beer, 2) I'm leaving tomorrow, and 3) I love you.  It's true that there is a draw here, and backpackers who planned to stay for 3 days, easily stay for 10.  And I realize now that when we first arrived here, we needed 2-3 weeks of staying put, and if we had traveled someplace else first instead, we would have needed it there.  Now though, we are ready to explore!  So like I said, we needed a vacation!

Brandt mentioned taking a trip to Roatan since we are so close, and we had heard that the diving was better there.  With the timing of his divemaster (DM) training here, and Semana Santa (Holy week leading to Easter where stuff gets crazy and busy) we weren't sure how to swing it.  But we decided "we are here now, so even if it is expensive, it will be less expensive than coming back another time".  The decision on timing became easy when we learned our dear friend, Luna, was going for a week as well.  We planned things so that we would all be there at the same time and hopefully be able to dive and hangout together. 

So we spent a nice 5 days in Roatan!  We totally got scammed on a Hotwire Hot Deal and over-payed for a hotel.  But it had a queen bed without springs poking through and A/C, so in the end, it was a luxury we enjoyed.  We both agreed that the diving was better than Utila.  The reef seemed bigger and thriving - lots of really BIG fish!  One time I chummed the waters (violently vomited on our dive) and attracted tons of schools of little guys and at least a half a dozen ginormous groupers!  I guess it was worth the discomfort of underwater puking.  On another dive we saw dolphins swimming on the surface.  Usually you don't see them ABOVE you!  Pretty cool!  Also the water was just a different beautiful shade of deep blue, and luckily our visibility was excellent.  

Another pretty awesome dive experience was going on a SHARK DIVE!!!  We were able to go with our friend Luna.  This was a crazy cool experience.  The cons: you are in Honduras so remember there are no rules.  17 of you squish like sardines onto a boat that arrives 1 hour late.  Hopefully you are an experienced diver because there is no instructor or DM to observe your descent (or ascent) or share air when you run out.  Also, you REALLY push those no decompression limits (i.e. surpass them).  The pros: 11 Caribbean Reef Sharks swim right up in front of you, over you, swim with you, and holy cow, you are swimming with sharks!  I am not afraid of sharks (don't be) and thought it was just incredible to see these animals in such a close encounter.  They ranged from 4-7 feet long, all females I am told.  For us, this way a new kind of dive and we definitely enjoyed it.  I would recommend it to other experienced divers, just know what you are getting yourself into - don't expect the dive shop to get your gear together and unfortunately, to even take you to your 3 minute safety stop (you're on your own there too).  

Since we were on vacation, we also spent time indulging in Netflix (House of Cards Season 2), and had a great dinner at our friend Luna's house.  Luna is an incredible lion fish hunter!  Lion fish are beautiful pests.  They have no natural predators and are killing lots of fish and changing the reef habitat, so people are allow (and encouraged) to hunt them and eat them!  Luna spear hunts them and then makes incredible ceviche!  So we enjoyed a lovely dinner of lion fish ceviche and curry.  YUM!

It was expensive to get to Roatan (we went by plane), and expensive to stay and eat and dive (however, diving costs about the same as here.  Just more expensive than say, not diving), and we probably spent as much in 5 days as we would in 4 weeks here (eek!).  But we needed a change of scene and had a good time!   Aside from the diving and having our friend there, we weren't that thrilled with Roatan in general.  We stayed in the West End which is supposed to be one of the more affordable areas.  Everything is priced in USD$ and geared towards cruise shippers, not backpackers.  If you are looking for a week of good fun dives and lots of them, come to Roatan.  If you are looking to get some certifications, stay a while, and save some cash money, then you better come to Utila.

Next we are off to Copan!  From there, our wedding!!!!  And from that point forward, our pace will pick up so 1) no more vacations and 2) more things to blog about!  Sorry for the long wait!

*Please excuse any typos as I learning a second language causes regression in my primary one