Beautiful Mountains

May 1, 2011--Comayagua to La Esperanza, Honduras

Today is International Labor Day.  There was a worker's parade in Siguatepeque where I changed buses this morning.  And at the cathedral here in La Esperanza they have put down a special colored sawdust aisle commemorating the day.  The US is probably the only country that does not celebrate Labor Day today, and it's for a typical US reason:  the Socialist Party was the party that first represented workers and helped them organize, and the US was determined NOT to celebrate a socialist/communist holiday!  I'm surprised there hasn't been a movement to repeal Labor Day completely in the US considering its background and attitudes of businessmen and government today.

The mountains of southwest Honduras are beautiful.  They are high and covered with pines and other trees.  There are often long vistas over gorgeous valleys.  Also, the air is clear and cool.

It took two buses to get to La Esperanza which is the highest town in Honduras.  Even with its altitude, however, it was warm during the afternoon.  La Esperanza is lucky that several of its streets are paved.  We came through a town of 4000-5000 people coming here that didn't even have its main street paved.  Still, most side street in La Esperanza are only packed, crushed stone which creates lots of dust.  The core of the city has some nice old colonial buildings.  The central plaza is very peaceful with lots of trees and a splattering fountain.  One of the nicest aspects of the town is its big park in the countryside just west of town.  It includes a small mountain and an area with natural springs and waterfalls where they city has developed a playground and a series of swimming pools.

I am not very far from where I was on Thursday when I was stopped from crossing the border.  In fact, the same tribal people, the Lencas, live both here and in the area around Perquin, El Salvador.  Also in common is the dress of men in the countryside--usually jeans with a shirt, a cowboy hat, and a shoulder holster holding a machete.

I had something new for lunch today--baleada, a giant taco made using a flour tortilla about 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter.  The basic version comes with refried beans, grated goat cheese, and sour cream.  I got the chorizo y huevos version which added scrambled eggs and spicy sausage on top of the beans.  As the afternoon passed, I also ate THREE choco-bananos, frozen bananas coated in chocolate.  It was hot, and they were so refreshing!