Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Folks,

I've enjoyed my time in Honduras. I am travelling to Nicaragua tomorrow, and I have just three weeks left before I'm home. I've shaken off my cold, and I'm all set for the final few weeks.

The pic of the week shows one of the two wrecks in the harbour of the wonderfully-named town of Coxenhole in Roatán. Which is quite a worrying sight as you arrive on the ferry.

Roatán to Copán Ruinas
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It was an early morning start to get the ferry from Roatán, and then I got an up-market bus to Copán Ruinas. We were served with soft drinks and crisps, and we had two films to occupy us on the journey.

The security was much stronger than I've had on a bus before. They checked our tickets against our passports, took individual photographs with a digital camera as we got on the bus, searched our bags, and even cigarette lighters had to travel in the hold.

Copán Ruinas
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The town of Copán is a lovely little cobbled town, and you can walk out to the ruins, which are just a kilometer away. The weather was really beautiful.

The ruins themselves are less dramatic than either Tikal or Chichén Itzá, because they're on a smaller scale. But they have very rich carvings on the stones and that's impressive. There is a large hieroglyphic stairway, where the steps have hieroglyphs telling the entire history of Copán. However, it's covered with a canvas roof to protect it from the elements, which diminishes the impact.

There are a number of tunnels which run under the ruins. They cost the same amount again as entry to the ruins (€10), and my guidebook said that they weren't worth it. But when I was going around, I found an unguarded door, and nipped in and had a good wander around. I could hear the footsteps of the guard trying to find me, and I pleaded ignorance when he did.

Tegucigalpa
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I stuck with the same bus company and again had two films for the
journey to Tegucigalpa. As we left Copán they showed 'Apocalypto', which was very appropriate having just visited my third and final Mayan site. It did make me wonder when I saw decapitated heads rolling down the steps I'd sat on.

Tegucigalpa isn't really on the tourist map. Even the taxi driver was amazed that I planned to stay a day. He'd assumed I was heading straight to Nicaragua in the morning.

My hotel strategy is the same in every location at this stage. I choose one from my book, and head there by foot or taxi. I pretend I have a booking, which stops taxi drivers or touts plaguing me about other hotels. If I like it, I check in. If I don't I wander around to find a better one. I was arriving later than usual in Tegucigalpa, it was after 7pm.

The hotel I'd chosen was booked out, and they redirected me to another. They showed me two rooms, both with bathrooms infested by cockroaches. I told her I didn't like them. 'But they're everywhere,' the girl replied. I could see that. So I was back out on the street trying to find somewhere else. It took a while.

My book is 'The Lonely Planet Guide to Central America on a Shoestring'. It's great for finding cheap places. The only problem is that it only has basic places, so if you decide to go a bit more upmarket, which I was prepared to do wandering around he dark streets of a strange city at night, they don't list them. It's strange to find yourself asking 'You don't have anything a little more expensive?'

I tried another place which was full. They directed me to another which only had room in a shared dorm. They told me that there was another hotel, but that they charged 300 lempira a night, as if this was extortion and I couldn't possibly afford it (€10.60).

It's ok, the bathroom is spotless, and remarkably cockroach-free. I had a wander around the city today, and there isn't much to see. But it was nice to take it easy, and organise my bus to Nicaragua for the morning.
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So that's it for this week. I've been travelling for eight weeks now, and I really miss having a base. I feel like I'm just wandering from hotel to hotel, and I'd love to have an apartment that I could just go back to for a week. It makes me look forward to getting back to Ireland all the more.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in El Triunfo: Premium petrol to rise by 6 lempira

Roatán, Honduras

Folks,

And so now it's four Caribbean islands in four weeks, given that four weeks ago I was still on Isla Mujeres.

The pic of the week shows sunset on my last evening on Caye Caulker.

Journey from Belize
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It was an early start to get the 7.30 boat to Belize City, and then the bus to Punta Gorda in the very south of Belize. I arrived about 6pm, and stayed overnight.

The next morning, I was down to the ferry to get the small boat that would take us to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. The crossing was quite rough. It was a small fast boat, so it thumped over the heavy waves, and I could see my rucksack up front going into freefall every now and then. There was a group of six American Christians, clad in Missionaries of John Paul II and pro-life t-shirts. So I figured there would be enough prayers going on to keep us all safe.

Two borders
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At the dock we were met by lots of taxi and minivan drivers, offering to take us across the border. A guy on the boat had told me that I could go with him and his cousin for 75 quetzales (I can't remember the rate, but about €6.50). He told me it would be relaxed and comfortable. But when I got to the clapped out car it looked like it didn't even have springs. So I headed over to the Christians who were negotiating a 50 quetzales fare on a minivan, so I joined with them.

We had to go through Guatemalan immigration, drive 20 minutes, Guatemalan emigration, drive 10 minutes, Honduran immigration. From there we picked up a bus going to San Pedro Sula, the next big city.

From San Pedro Sula, I got another bus to La Ceiba, the port where boats go for the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras. That completed two days of quite hectic travel.

Currency confusion
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I didn't know the rate of the Honduran Lempira, so I asked one of the Christian group, and she told me the rate to the dollar was 18.80. I knew that the dollar was €0.68, so I calculated a rate.

When I got to La Ceiba, my hotel was €15.60 a night. But it was a dive. I tried the hotel next door, which was €38.60, and out of my price range. So I stayed in the cheaper one.

I had dinner in a fairly ordinary restaurant, and again it wasn't cheap. I was surprised, because according to my guidebook, Honduras was to be one of the cheaper countries I'm visiting.

Later, I was in an internet café (which was also a bit pricey!) and I looked up the actual euro/lempira rate. It was more than double the lempiras per euro rate I'd calculated. I had multiplied by the 0.68 euro/dollar rate, instead of divided.

So now, my hotel was only €7.15 and matched it's dive status. I moved to the more expensive one, which was now only €17.60 and was perfect.

Roatán
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The Bay Islands are a group of 3 islands off the north coast of Honduras. They're former pirate islands, and, like Belize, have more of a Caribbean than a latino feel to them. In fact, from Belize down to Costa Rica, the places I've been on the Caribbean seem to have much more in common with each other than with their own countries. The experience feels more like, I imagine, Jamaica than anything Spanish.

Roatán has quite an international feel. There are people of all nationalities, some of them living here. There is a huge range of restaurants, Indian, Thai, Swiss, Vietnamese and Mexican. With real Mexican food. Not like the type you get in Mexico.

It's beautiful here, and I have a really nice room in a lovely hotel right on the beach. I had come here to dive, but I've picked up a fairly nasty headcold, and you're not supposed to dive with one. I've taken the chance on it before, but I'm pretty bunged up, and if it's still the same tomorrow I'll skip the diving.

The weather this week hasn't been great. From Sunday, when I left Belize, to today, Friday, it's been overcast and rainy, with just a little bit of sun. It doesn't bother me, but some people who are on short holidays are not too happy.
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Well, that's it for this week. I think I'm heading back to the mainland on Sunday, then heading to the Mayan ruins at Copán, before heading on down through the capital, Tegucigalpa, to Nicaragua.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Prensa: Strong warning from Chavez to the United States at OPEC summit

Caye Caulker, Belize

Folks,

Well, I've made it back from Cuba, and I'm now in Belize. I've had a very quiet week, because I'm trying to get back under budget after the Cuban expense.

The pic of the week shows the sea at Caye Caulker, which I think looks like a swimming pool, but it's the actual sea. This is just at the 'split' which I talk about below.

Leaving Cuba
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As we got our taxi out to the airport I took a note of the various revolutionary slogans along the road. They are everywhere as you travel around the country, daubed on walls and lampposts, as well as on billboards (there are no advertising slogans, they're all government messages). These were just on the way to the airport.

• Against the threat of aggression Cuba answers: more revolution
• The challenge for this generation is to believe
• Our ideas are our greatest weapons
• Until victory forever
• Another victory, countries in favour of the blockade 184, countries against the blockade 4, abstentions 1
• Revolution forever
• Long live Fidel and Raul
• Long live the revolution
• When victory comes it is ours
• Defend socialism

Cuban motorways
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Driving on the motorways in Cuba is hilarious. Not only are there about 30 people swarming over the road at every junction looking for lifts, but there are potholes, and you rarely see painted lines. People sell garlic, cheese, onions and other produce on the central median strip. So if you want to buy something, you have to stop in the fast lane, and they do.

On the motorways we also saw horses and carts, bicycles and motorbikes going the wrong way, people jogging on the carriageway and cars making U-turns.

Back in Mexico
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I felt immediately at ease when I got back to Mexico. I stayed in downtown Cancún for a day, while I got my laundry done and got ready for travel to Belize. I must be a rare tourist in Cancún that stays downtown and doesn't go to the beach.

Belize
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I travelled down to Belize, and it's so strange to be in Central America where the main language is English. A lot of people do speak Spanish, but English is definitely the main one. But I still can't get out of the habit of talking to people in Spanish.

Caye Caulker
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I had met a Canadian couple on the bus from Guatemala to Mexico a few weeks ago and they'd fallen in love with Caye Caulker (pronounced Key Cawker). So I decided to try it too. It's a little island out in the Caribbean (my 3rd Caribbean island in as many weeks after Mujeres and Cuba), and it takes about 45 minutes to get here from Belize City.

It's tiny, but beautiful. I love the Caribbean vibe, which is stronger here than anywhere I've been so far, and the accents are fantastic. The sea is so clear, but there isn't any real beach.

The island is now split in two. Hurricane Hattie (I don't even remember it or know when it was) split the island in two, and now there is a channel, known as 'the split' between the two halves. I'm staying in the grandly named 'Tropical Paradise Hotel', but in reality it's a fairly modest affair, and costs less than €14 a night. Who knew that paradise could come so cheaply?

My favourite sign so far: Happy Hour. From 3pm till everybody happy.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm leaving here on Sunday, and travelling to Honduras, which I think will take a couple of days involving buses and boats. I can't believe that I'll be home in less than five weeks.

Until next week,

Éamon

Today's headline in Amandla: PUP and UDP go eyeball to eyeball at St. Thomas and Freetown over a sign

Havana, Cuba

Folks,

We're back in Havana, and flying out tomorrow. I'm flying back to Cancún in a flooded Mexico, and Jack flies back to a wintery Dublin via Gatwick.

The pic of the week shows the Che memorial in Plaza de la Revolución in Havana.

Trinidad
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We got lost, of course, heading from Cienfuegos to Trinidad. You just have to build time for getting lost into your plans.

After getting lost we picked up a hitch hiker to help navigate. He asked where we were staying, and when we told him he screwed up his nose, telling us that where we were going the beach was polluted, and that it was much nicer to stay in the city, and that we could stay in his house.

He was really put out when we said that we'd stick to our original plan. We got to Playa la Boca, where we were met with crystal clear water with kids splashing around in it.

We went snorkeling just up the coast, and it was beautiful. Really clear shallow water that went for miles over coral and rock and teeming with fish.

I liked the historical centre of Trinidad, although it was touristy.

Journey to Viñales
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We braced ourselves for the long journey to Viñales, knowing how difficult journeys are. We picked up a very demanding hitch hiker. She told us to turn on the music, asked me to 'go easy' when I went over a pot hole, and told us that our air conditioning wasn't strong enough. When she left I was down to a quarter tank of petrol, and was on the look out for a petrol station.

We drove the whole way to Havana without seeing one. It was now well below empty and had visions of us running out and hitching like everyone else.

We went to a garage in Havana, and the guy directed us to the pump and spoke to us while another guy filled up the tank. I asked him about finding the motorway in the direction of Viñales. He started to give very complicated directions, and then went back inside for more information. A woman who was with him continued with the directions, but said that she knew they were complicated.

He arrived back out, and said his boss said that he could drive out with us to the road, and that maybe we could do the same for him someday if he was ever in Ireland. So he got into the car, and told us the woman was his wife and asked if she could come too.

I was suspicious, but thought that maybe it wasn't far, or that it was in the direction of where they lived. I hoped that this was maybe an example of the friendliness of Cubans that I'd been told about.

They brought us on a complicated journey, and then we emerged on a big road, and they said it was the motorway we were looking for, and they would get out.

Then he asked for 20 pesos for a taxi back for them. That's about €16, and way over what any local would pay for a taxi I'm convinced. It was a pure scam, and ended up in a shouting match. He then said he had 10 pesos, so just needed 10 from us. We ended up giving him 3.

At this stage we just felt that people were attempting to scam us every way we looked. I realised in hindsight that he didn't even work in the petrol station, he just talked to the petrol pump attendant and told him what we wanted. We weren't even on the motorway we wanted. On the return journey we realised that the motorway was just a straight run from the garage.

Later as we got nearer Viñales, we stopped at a junction without a sign and didn't know whether to go left or right, and we had to pick up another hitch-hiker. This guy again tried to get us to stay at his house, and tried to get us to agree to go with him to a cigar plantation the next day. At this stage we said that even if we got completely and utterly lost we wouldn't take another person into the car.

Viñales
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The valley around Viñales is absolutely breathtaking. It's formed by limestone hills with steep sides that emerge from the flat red earth. The hills are riddled with caves and we really enjoyed visiting a couple of them.

We went for a drink on the first night, and met an Irish couple, Eoghan and Yvonne, who were just out of Havana and had had the same experience of scams and hitch-hikers. We also talked about how none of us had managed to find the 'party' Cuba we'd heard so much about. Everywhere we'd been was so quiet. We arranged to meet them the next night.

The next night, we met for a meal and a few drinks and had a good laugh. Afterwards, with nothing happening in the town and our restaurant closing, we decided to head to a bar in a cave we'd visited earlier in the day, and which a friend of Yvonne's recommended. Her friend called it the salsa bar, and said it was great fun. We got a taxi, a 1953 Chevrolet, and the driver agreed to drive us out, wait and drive us back.

We arrived, and there was nobody there. Not a soul apart from bar staff. We ordered mojito cocktails, and they arrived with salt in them. They'd mixed it with the sugar by mistake.

They put on music, but there wasn't much we could do with nobody and no atmosphere. We wondered if all the party people were hiding in the caves to come out after the all clear when we'd gone.

A car arrived, looked in, thought better of it and headed off.

We decided to head back too, as there was no point in staying.

Veradero
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Our plan had been to go to Maria la Gorda, mainly on the strength of the photographs in the guidebook. But we discovered that there was only one hotel and it was expensive. People aren't allowed to have casas particulares in resorts. So we decided to go to Varadero instead.

We hadn't planned to go there, and it was a crazy route to have to go back through Havana and out the other side again. We drove through the torrential showers of Tropical Storm Noel, before it became a hurricane. It didn't really bother us much, although the streets we drove through in Havana were flooded, and we heard that the east of the country was badly affected.

We got through the city without much problem, but then got spectacularly lost when leaving the city through taking one wrong exit off an unsignposted roundabout.

Eoghan and Yvonne had told us that they calculated their journey from Havana to Viñales would take 2 hours, and 2 hours later they were still trying to get out of Havana.

Varadero is a tourist place. It's on a narrow sandbar that sticks out into the Straits of Florida. You're so close to the US, you can get Key West radio stations. It's currently off season, and most of the people there were Cuban.

We couldn't swim, because the seas were still rough from the storm, but we stayed in a reasonable hotel with mainly Cuban guests, and had a really good few days. The restaurants were actually cheap!

Back in Havana
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We're now back in Havana, and flying out tomorrow. Havana has always been bad news, and we're just keeping our fingers crossed it will be ok this time.

Thinking back over the two weeks, I have to say I'm disappointed. I've looked forward to visiting Cuba for years, and the stories I've heard from anyone that I know who have been were very positive. I thought I was coming to a place that was full of music and party and a people who'd found a way between the extremes of poverty and the materialism of the west.

But I've ended up disappointed. In all my travels I've never had such a strong feeling of being ripped off. Everywhere I go I feel like I have dollar signs over my head, and people are just wondering how they can scam me, or overcharge me, or force me to tip them.

Once that feeling gets in on you it saps your enjoyment of a place, and you end up suspicious of everyone. We were happy to give lifts to people when so many obviously need them. But the Havana scam and the constant hard sell made us stop. In the end I wouldn't even ask someone directions or to take a photo for us, because I'd feel they wanted something in return.

Our saviour has been the casas particulares. Once we got into people's houses we found them open and friendly and generous. And the meals there were excellent. But in any official interactions in hotels, restaurants, car hire office and shops, I found that in general you feel that people don't care and that they're just doing a job.

It's been an interesting experience, and I won't forget it. But we leave tomorrow and, frankly, we feel relieved.

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in Granma: Countries refuse to support Bush's blockade

Cienfuegos, Cuba

Folks,

Internet café's aren't that plentiful in Cuba, and they're expensive, so I didn't get the emails posted. This is the first week, and I'll follow with the second at the weekend.

I arrived to Havana on Sunday, and met Jack at the airport. He'd travelled over from Dublin earlier the same day, and this is the only part of my trip where I'm not travelling on my own.

The pic of the week shows one of the dancers from the famous Tropicana nightclub which we went to on Tuesday night.

Flight
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I flew from Cancún by the Cuban airline, Cubana. It was the chicken bus of planes. It was so full, and the seats were so close together they make Ryanair look spacious. Before we took off a fog almost filled the cabin, and I could hardly even see the steward giving the safety demonstration. It was like an 80s pop video.

Havana hotel
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I'd booked our hotel on the internet. At €58 a night, it was more expensive than I've been paying on the rest of the trip. When we got their they said that they were having problems with air conditioning, and were transferring us to a better hotel.

The new hotel was nice, and we had a view of some sort of an oil refinery across the harbour complete with a flame burning off the gas. We were told that if we wanted to stay more nights, it would be €102. So the next day we went around the other hotels in old Havana, but all the prices were the same. They're all government run. Our original hotel was a little cheaper, at €87. We couldn't now get the €58 rate because that's just on internet and you have to book a week in advance. We stayed in the expensive hotel, and because we booked for 3 nights we got a 10% reduction, and so paid €92.

On the second day 2 bars of chocolate that Jack had brought from Ireland were stolen from the minibar in our hotel room. We reported it, and were told that we must have eaten them.

Money
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My guidebook, the Lonely Planet, advised that the best way to fund your trip is to bring US dollar cash, because credit cards may not work and usually have surcharges.

There are two currencies. The moneda nacional which locals use, and peso convertible, or CUC, which is hard currency, used by tourists, and very sought after by locals.

When I went to change my US dollar cash in the airport I was told there was a 10% penalty on dollars, so the guide book advice was out of date.

Later I went to a bank in Havana, and they told me they deduct 20% as the penalty. She told me the for every $100 they would take $20, then change and charge commission on the remaining $80!

So we trekked around until we found an ATM. My card didn't work, maybe because it's MBNA, an American company. Jack's Irish credit card was fine. He had to make two withdrawals, because of a transaction limit, one for him, and one for me. On Wednesday, authorisation for his card was refused at a restaurant. It didn't work at the ATM either.

We went back to the hotel so he could phone his credit card company to see why it was being refused. For some reason we couldn't dial out on our mobiles, so had to use the phone in the hotel. His 8 minute 47 second call to Ireland cost over €50.

It turned out that the double withdrawal had led them to suspect that the card was stolen, and so they had put a block on it.

Havana
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I loved Havana when we arrived first and went through the old town. There are beautiful colonial buildings, and music is playing everywhere. However, when you go past this centre the city is really in decay.

And for tourists it's very expensive. I've been keeping well within my budget for my travels so far. But with the hotel, restaurants and taxis in Havana charging almost Dublin rates I'm going through it fairly fast. Although I'd budgeted more money for Cuba than for any other country, not only am I over budget, but I've also gone through all of my savings from Guatemala and Mexico.

Tropicana Nightclub
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The feeling of being ripped off was coming at us from every transaction, and so going to the biggest tourist venue, the Tropicana Nightclub, was perhaps not the brightest idea.

It was a whopping €63 each for a ticket, but I said to Jack that if it gave us a night we'd always remember that it would be worth it. And to be honest it was the highlight of our time in Havana. Because we paid our money up front, we knew what it had cost us. There were no hidden expenses or extra charges. Then inside we were given a cigar each, and half a bottle of Havana Club rum, and 4 cokes, all included. We were sitting out in the open air with a beautiful starry sky with the moon over us, and the show was really excellent, with a huge cast of dancers and an impressive set. They even dragged myself and Jack up for the finale.

After the show was over, the coach parties left, but we stayed on, and after a little while the stage descended and became a dancefloor, and a new band came on.

What looked like it could be an expensive mistake actually ended up being the one time in Havana we felt we got value.

Cienfuegos
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We were kind of relieved to be heading out of Havana. But with no road signs escaping is easier said than done. We had a map, but without road signs it's impossible to follow if you don't know where you are. We asked a couple of people for directions but they didn't know.

Eventually we got on what we thought was the right motorway, when two soldiers stood out in front of the car with their hands up to stop us. Assuming it was a checkpoint I stopped. But it turned out they were hitching, so they said they'd help us find where we were going and got in.

At every junction there were loads of people hitching. They would actually swarm out onto the motorway.

We dropped our soldiers off when we took the road off the motorway to Cienfuegos. When we got to the town I pulled in to check my guidebook. In an effort to save money we'd decided to try casas particulares, which are like bed and breakfasts in people's houses. I was looking for directions in the book to where we wanted to stay. As soon as we stopped about 5 people came around the car knocking on the windows and asking us for pesos.

We eventually found our casa, and I have to say it's beautiful. We're on the tip of a narrow peninsula in the Bahía de Cienfuegos, and from the balcony of the house (where I'm writing) you can see the water on all three sides. We had a five course dinner served to us by the woman of the house last night, for just €7.90. And it was beautiful. One of the nicest settings for a meal I've ever had. I feel that we might be saved by the casas particulares, and by getting further away from state control.
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Tomorrow we're going to the colonial town of Trinidad, after which we will drive back, past Havana again, to Viñales. We're going to spend our last few days at the beach in Maria la Gorda.

So until next week,

Chau,

Éamon

Today's Headline in Granma (the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba): CUBA'S ANSWER. The Elections: a new demonstration of the maturity and political culture of our people