Back in Guatemala

Saturday, May 7, 2011--Copan Ruinas, Honduras, to Chiquimula, Guatemala

Copan Ruinas is only 10 km (6 miles) from the border to Guatemala.  So all I had to do this morning was take a short bus trip to the border, process myself across it, and then catch another bus.  The timing couldn't have been better.  I waited only about 15 minutes before the bus to depart Copan Ruinas.  At the border, there were no lines, so I was processed on both sides quickly.  No questions were asked and no money requested, although the guidebook warned that the Honduras side might try to get a dollar and that the Guatemala side usually charges $2.  The bus was ready to pull out on the Guatemala side as soon as I reached it.  It took another 1 1/2 hours on that one to reach Chiquimula.

Chiquimula is not a tourist city.  However, my next stop is 4 1/2 hours north of here.  After already traveling about 2 1/2 hours this morning, I didn't want to catch another bus.  I followed my map as the bus drove through town and got off just 1 1/2 blocks from the hotel I had chosen--the Posada Perla de Oriente (this is EASTERN Guatemala, hence the name).  I'm sitting beside the pool as I write this entry.

Chiquimula is a market town for this section of the country, and it was filled today with people who had come to town to shop, get haircuts, etc.  I asked a local man who visited with me at the hotel about places to eat.  When I asked about breakfast that wasn't the typical one, he suggested Pollo Compero, the Guatemalan chain restaurant that is in every town.  I didn't realize they had breakfast.  I went to the nearest outlet and ordered their "pancake menu" which gave me 3 pancakes, a choice of either hash browns or beans (strange choice to go with pancakes, but I took hash browns which were great with a combination of green salsa and ketchup on them), and a choice of orange juice or coffee (I took orange juice).  It was a decent breakfast.  Then I stopped at an ice cream place and bought a coconut paleta.

My room at the hotel is nice, but the air conditioning is too strong.  I can control the fan a little bit, but not the temperature.  When I am on the bed, I can feel the cold air flow over my body.  So after a while reading in my room, I went back out to explore town.  I looked in shops, walked through the central plaza, stopped at a supermarket and bought a 2 liter Pepsi Light, and sat at a small neighborhood park for a little over an hour watching the local teens practice their balancing for hip hop performances and others practicing their hops, wheelies, and jumps on their bicycles.

When a taco truck which had also been recommended by the man this morning opened beside the park, I ordered three Tacos Mexicanos. They were small and so good.  So I ordered three more!  To be honest, they were far better than the ones served by the Datapoint Taco Truck at home.

An added comment I don't want to forget:  I discovered one of the ways that the evangelical churches have been able to appeal to so many people here in Central America.  Apparently, they have times when they give everyone a plate of food.  Last night as I was wandering through Copan Ruinas, I saw a number of people passing me with plates covered with napkins.  Then when I passed a church, people were inside eating and others outside eating the same plates of fried rice and a tortilla.