part 1: the journey
To get anywhere by bus from La Union you must wake up before dawn. There are two buses from our small town to the nearest "cities". Albin, who we live with, and his father, who lives next door, run the transportation system here in La Union. One bus travels from here to Santa Barbara and the other to Gracias. Both leave around 5 a.m.-ish. Your best bet is to be outside at 4:55 a.m. and wait.
We all woke up at 4 a.m. to take showers and pack before our long journey. The door to the kitchen downstairs was locked, of course, so breakfast would have to wait.
This was at least the 3rd time I had left our house before sunrise. Each time the early rise becomes totally worth the sacrifice of sleep the moment I step outside and look up at the sky. At 5 a.m. the evening rain clouds are long gone and the stars are clearly visible, Orion is directly overhead and shining bright. Behind the cross at the top of the hill, the sun begins to paint the sky with the most beautiful colors as it climbs up from behind the mountain.
Bus number 1 fires up its engine and sounds it's horn in the distance, which one will it be? "GRACIAS!" That's us. We took the Gracias bus from La Union along the dirt and rock windy mountain roads to THE fork in the road down the hill from Leparea. The fork is pretty well known, though nothing stands there but a shack that houses a family and their pulperia. It was sometime around 8:30 a.m. when we arrived and I was STARVING. I opted to run across the paved road to grab a snack. Every bus that passes this fork stops to drop off and pick up passengers. The second bus that stopped was ours. "SANTA ROSA! SANTA ROSA! SANTA ROSA!" We jumped on the bus happy to be on our way and riding on smooth pavement.
Upon stepping off the bus in Santa Rosa we were bombarded by drivers of taxis and other buses, all calling out the city they were driving to in rapid fire Spanish, all at the same time. The experience was no less than overwhelming. This will happen in almost every city bus station. The key is to push through and act like you have already arranged for transportation elsewhere. Breaking out of the crowd we all took a deep breath and began casually looking for our next bus to La Entrada. When looking for a bus you must know exactly where you want to go, and what time you want to leave. If you are careless, you COULD end up on a bus leaving in 6 hours back to the place you just came from. Being a blonde hair, blue eyed, light skinned freckled girl of 23, I stick out like a sore thumb in this Central American country. I had stepped away from our group of 4 for only a second before a bus driver had approached me and in broken English said to me, "Hey mommy, you go to San Pedro?" With a stern face I responded with, "La Entrada." Thankfully he was kind enough to show us to the next bus leaving for La Entrada and so the journey continued.
By the time we reached La Entrada, restrooms were a must. Restrooms anywhere in Honduras are always a gamble. It is more than likely that you will have to pay to use the bathroom and even extra if you want toilet paper. 3 Lempira (about 15 cents) was our charge. It wasn’t so bad either considering we were at a bus station, which consisted of a small dirt parking lot surrounded by small pulperias and comedors. Believe me when I say I have experienced far worse. Our final bus from La Entrada to Copan Ruinas was set to leave at noon. It was only 10:30 in the morning, but our stomachs told us it was time for lunch. We sat down at one of the comedors to eat. 56 Lempira (a little less than 3 dollars) bought a cold soda, in a glass bottle, and a giant plate of food. Fried chicken, rice, beans, eggs, avocado, tortillas, salad and potatoes. YUM! Fully satisfied with our meal we joined a small group of people sitting in the shade waiting to board the same bus. The heat of the day was already in full swing in the late morning hours. When the bus finally moved I gravitated toward the window as much as possible to feel the relief of the moving air as we drove through the valley. It was strange being in the "flat lands" of Honduras, after spending so much time in the mountains it is easy to forget such a place exists in Honduras.
This final bus ride brought us to Copan around 2 in the afternoon, our final destination. I thought it would be bigger. All the hype we had heard about Copan prior to traveling, I think we all expected it to be a bigger city. While the population of the municipality may be large, the actual down town area is quite small. I might even say smaller than Gracias, though much prettier. We 4, hot, sweaty, dirty and smelly gringas made our way up the hill to find the city center. We busted out the guide book like true tourists and made our way to Via Via hotel and restaurant, a hot spot for gringos. Beautiful place, but booked for the night. We wandered around town some more, looking like fools, and came upon Posada de Bellsy. At 150 Lempira a night per person, or $8, we happily settled into our rooms. And so our vacation began…
