Getting Back to Normal and Back on Schedule

Saturday, Apr. 30, 2011--Comayagua, Honduras

All the dust and wind from the 11 hours of traveling yesterday made sleep rather difficult last night.  I took some Advil.  And I used some lip balm.  Eventually, I slept quite well considering the circumstances.  Today, my nose is quite runny and uncomfortable, and I am sneezing quite often.  I'm hoping things will be much better in a day or two.

I almost missed breakfast.  The man working downstairs told me it would be served until 11:00.  When I walked downstairs at 9:03, there was a sign saying it closed at 9:00.  The woman was nice and made me a small plate, however--sausages, cheese, refried beans, and tortillas.  I was happy for that, because I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday.  Last night, I felt too bad to search for a place to eat, and I was worried about spending any unnecessary money until I was sure I could get cash from an ATM today.

In my room, I started working out a budget for the rest of the time in Honduras.  I needed to know how much money to try to get from the ATM to add to the money I got last night by exchanging at the bank and to judge whether my remaining US cash would be enough to get me by if I continued to have problems getting cash from the ATM.  The final amount--2500 Lempira ($132).  Either way would work (barely, by leaving me with only $20 cash for any future emergency).  I headed to the ATMs.  HSBC had a sign saying their's was out of order.  I continued forward to another one.  IT WORKED!  I was able to get my 2500 Limpera, so I now feel free to spend money.  And I feel much better about having $152 as a cushion for emergencies in the future.  Now I can go back to touring as normal and writing about where I am visiting instead of dealing with problems!

Comayagua (pronounced co-mah-YAH-weh) is the old colonial capital of Honduras.  That said, it is nothing like Antigua in Guatemala.  There are no cobblestone streets; they have been replaced with modern pavements.  Yet there is a beautiful central plaza, some very nice churches, and several blocks of attractive colonial buildings in all directions of the square.

In addition, there are very modern parts of Comayagua.  That seems to be due to the fact that there is a large US military base just to the outside of the city.  The articles on Soto Cano Air Base try to emphasize that it is a Honduran base with a few US troups.  However, a woman on the bus said that it is a US base.  And another article I found admits that it has a large contingent of US military and also houses the Honduran Air Force Academy (probably the closest description to the truth).  It was originally established by Reagan from fears related to the communist movement in Nicaragua.  A side benefit was protecting US interests in the banana plantations here in Honduras.  Today, it is being used also for monitoring illegal drug traffic.

Because of the base, it is quite common to see "Anglos" around town--at the supermarket (which sells Lucky Charms apparently due to the military presence), on the streets, etc.  However, my guess is that their leaves from base are limited; otherwise I would have seen many more.  None of the ones I saw last night or this morning look like tourists.  In fact, there seem to be few tourists here.  I am apparently the only tourist in my hotel which has many rooms on 4 floors and is one of only 3 places recommended in the Lonely Planet guide.   Around the town are many bars and restaurants that seem to appeal to the military.  Last night, I was too tired and too ill to get out and investigate.

In the evening, I went back to the central plaza where a band was performing on a stage.  Many people were there to here them.  All were local people.  I wandered around town, but it was too early for nightlife, so I didn't see any Americans.  I imagine most of them go to the newer places out on the highway between town and the base anyway.  Town was dead other than the people who were at the concert.

Honduras seems to be much poorer than the other countries I have visited on this trip.  And the poorest people seem to be much poorer.  I get the impression that many people do not have changes of clothes, since the ones they are wearing are so dirty.  Furthermore, most Hondurans are darker than the people in Guatemala and El Salvador probably as a result of performing manual labor.

Unfortunately, the roadsides in Honduras are also dirty.  There are piles of plastic bottles, packages, bags, etc., everywhere.  People on the buses yesterday were chucking all their packagings out the windows as they finished with them.  Given that, however, the people here are very friendly.  Today, a man walked across the street to introduce himself and to ask if I were a tourist.