Day 6-7

Hello from Honduras blogazoids. The past two days we have haggled with street vendors, walked the cobbled streets of Copán, and conquered a portion of the Mayan empire. Cramped in a 26-passenger bus we begin this epic 45 minutes from Hotel Casablanca at the San Pedro Sula Market. We anxiously dove into the throng of street vendors and unexperienced tourists willing to pay full price for the various goodies, trinkets, and useless novelties. Some vendors set ridiculously high prices but with some prodding we were mostly able to succeed in lowering the cost. Next came the City Mall for lunch and some free Tiempo. Lets just say Time magazine in Honduras has very effective advertising tactics. After our short respite we hopped back on the bus for our luxurious four-hour ride to Copán with only a quick bathroom break before hitting the mountainous roads. This perilous trail entailed rockslides, voraciously hungry children who were only quenched by our tossing dulces out the windows, and the ever present look from the locals, which means “hey look, gringos!” Finally, we made it to Copán only to encounter a gushing mountain stream blocking our path. Despite our encouragement, Carlos, our driver, decided this blockade was too peligroso for the bus to handle. We made our way up the steep slopes of Copán and arrived at La Casa de Café. This sleeping facility included complimentary hammocks for our every relaxation need. We made our way into the busy streets filled with vendors anxious to rip us off, but most of us found our every souvenir need in the world’s best, most awesome gift shop ever. After our wallets were depleted, we returned to the hotel and got ready for dinner. The chaperones forbade us to eat with them so we dropped our heads and hobbled through the pouring rain in groups to various restaurants. The rest of the evening consisted of games and senseless babbling late into the night. We may have gone to bed at a reasonable time if Lindy, Nicola, and Erika had been mature enough to keep the practical jokes to a minimum. Their 1:30am escapades left us tired in the morning, as several of us had to retaliate and therefore our 6:30am wake up call was rough. After a hearty breakfast we jumped into three wheeled taxi-go-karts, which was very similar to Mario Kart. Team José in the 58 BMW kart were victorious by great margins in both trips. We finally arrived at the famous Copán ruins where we met Marvin who referred to himself as Marvin the Martian. We’d say that nickname is accurate. This corn-filled guide was both entertaining and extremely knowledgeable. Next came a quick lunch then we loaded back up on the bus for the long journey back to Hotel Casablanca. The long bumpy, cramped bus ride ended at Nelly’s, a restaurant next to our hotel where we finished our day with ice cream from the shop next door. Our day wasn’t completely without service however, as a boy came begging for money and we shared our food, sending him home with a full stomach. That’s all for days 6-7. See y’all tomorrow.

~Leslie, Brant, and Kevin

P.S. Feliz Día de Padres - Happy Father’s Day for all you who haven’t discovered google translate yet!

For more pictures from days 6 and 7 click HERE