This ... is Travel :-)

Ricardo's (the high-end restaurant) is gone.  Pfffft.  Terminado.  Fertig.  C'est Fini.

I had a bad feeling from a couple of things I saw online, but nothing definitive.

At breakfast, I asked my host, Carlo.  Nope.  It's gone.

He recommends "The Reef" as an adequate replacement.  But you should make reservations.  I tried, online.  Probably not so much about ensuring a seat, but ... ensuring they'll actually show up to seat you, make food, and serve you ;-)

No response to the online reservation form I submitted.

After a 3hr walk, this morning -- sweating like an absolute beast -- over to the Rio Cangreja river mouth (couldn't cross it, or I was headed to the cargo dock, just to see it; I'm fascinated by stevedores. Always have been.  Okay: not so much, but it is a cool word).

I came back wiped out, though.

Didn't check the Heat Index, but ... suffice to say ... it was a scorcher.

I finally whipped out my temp/humidity gizmo for the room.  WITH the a/c on (it's not set for a very cold temp, and is at the lowest fan speed), it's been about 80* and at least 80% humidity in the room.

Which does mean you can run a/c, and NOT turn it into an arid zone (Ari-zona ?).

Which is nice.

But after a few hours of just vegging out, and watching TV, I ventured out again.  Espresso Americano did NOT have its a/c on, today, and was actually way hotter than the outdoor air.  I mean ... brutal.

But I got my afternoon coffee -- black, with sugar, and a little hat.  Started drinking it on the park, when sweat was dripping onto my eyeglasses -- that's two layers (glasses + clip-ons).

It was one of those little moments of frustration: didn't want to be locked in my room.  Was too hot hanging out, outside.  Really just could not walk around any more.  Not today (blisters have subsided, but ... just heat exhausted).  Dinner plans had failed me.

Didn't want to go out on a low.

And then I realized: there's a rooftop restaurant at my hotel, I LOVE these people, they make GREAT food, and ... the view can't be beat.

I need a plan (they don't speak English, here.  Well ... Carlo spent a year in Georgia and Florida, somehow involved in military economics, years back when, but he gets about three English words out, and slips right back into Spanish).

Could I do something grammatically complex, in Spanish, involving multiple tenses and some idiomatic stuff ?

I found Mrs. Carlo, and asked her: "May I try to say something complicated in Spanish ?"

"Tell me," she said.

Deep breath.

"I have been looking for a nice restaurant to have my last dinner in La Ceiba.  I leave in the morning, for Tela.  Then, I realized that my favorite place to eat has been right here, in the hotel.  So ... could I have dinner here, tonight ?"

She just smiled.

"How about spaghetti with shrimp and some cold beers ?  Or is wine better ?"

"Oh, no.  Cold beer would be just divine"  I told her it sounded absolutely perfect.  What time ?

7pm.

It's a date (well: appointment.  I take care not to use flirtatious words, if possible) !

[Earlier, this morning, she asked my name.  I told her that it's difficult to pronounce for Spanish-speakers, and that they should just call me Jugo.

Jugo de Pina.

That's pineapple juice, but it's NOT hard to pronounce.  They laughed.]

When I headed back to the stairs, La Sra. said, "Well done, Jugo de Pina" (the Spanish).  I just smiled.

So ... I'll be eating well, tonight.

They couldn't have picked a better dinner for me.  If I have a few beers, there's always the challenge of getting down the rooftop stairs, but ... one way or the other ... I'll manage.

Gotta' pack, tonight.  It's about a ten-minute process.  I'll breakfast here, in the a.m., and then grab a cab for the bus station.

This dinner ... is going to taste particularly good.  I'll probably be dining with Sr. and Sra. Carlos -- yet another upside.  They're just lovely people who really DO make excellent food, and have a very elegant little rooftop dining spot :-)

If I had anything else (nicer) to wear, I'd wear it.  But that, too ... is travel :-)

So ... chow for now ... from the sweating-so-much-I'm-losing-weight Gastronomic Department of ... The Gulag.

One more day in La Ceiba

I have no city pictures to show.  Not a one.

Not of the couple of mini-Carnivalitos that I saw, in a couple of different neighborhoods.

Not of the remarkably empty Caribbean.

Not of the shockingly poor Barrio on the banks of the Rio Cangrejal river.

Not of the municipal cemetery (I like cemeteries).

Not of the Dole train park.

Not of the darling little girls singing, dancing, and performing ballet on the stage in the Square.

Okay.  I took some snaps from the rooftop terrace of the hotel.  I'll post those.

But it's another rather gritty town.  As I had a donut and coffee, yesterday, at Dunkin Donuts (!), I was browsing through the paper.  Front page article was about the new poverty statistics for Honduras.  I forgot the exact numbers, but a staggeringly high percentage of Hondurans live on less than US$1 a day.

Serious poverty.

Which creates serious desperation -- some of which I found palpable in the streets.  I was never threatened (I was harassed, however, but I don't hold it against the numerous locals guilty of that), but it just didn't feel right to strut around with my camera in hand.

So I didn't.

I leave on Saturday morning, for Tela.  I'll have to wing it, for a hotel, on Saturday night, but on Sunday, I'll check into this place.  It looks very cool, and gets seriously wonderful reviews.

When the town is extremely cool (cruise ship philosophy), and the life is on deck, I take a cheaper room, where possible.

When the town isn't supposed to be all that interesting, and/but there's a great hotel within (or nearly within) budget, I'll take that.

La Ceiba was the latter category.  I think Tela will be, too.  Just ... towns -- towns that happen to be located on beautiful Caribbean beaches.

Maybe it's off season -- I don't know -- but there is ZERO beach tourism, here, right now.  It's odd.

I've walked a lot in this town.  I've seen many of its pockets of relative affluence (probably didn't find the traditionally affluent area, though.  I suspect it's fairly far from the Central Park), and many of its pockets of that aforementioned crushing poverty.

I also stumbled on a blog, written by a Gringa ex-pat, living IN La Ceiba.  She describes this town far better than I ever could.

In short, we didn't make a love connection, La Ceiba and me.  Maybe I should have eschewed my beloved Parque Central, and stayed out in the 'burbs, near the Mall, the US-based franchise restaurant chains, and the major shopping areas.  Maybe that's the play in non-touristy places.

Dunno.

But ... it just never gave me any "AHA !" moments, which ... not surprisingly ... is why the guide books refer to it as the jumping off point and hub for other activities that it is.

I'll be here tomorrow, though, and will probably treat myself to what promises to be an exceptional dinner, at Ricardo's, thought to be among the best, if not THE best, restaurants in all of Central America.  They say it's pretty close to North American pricing, but ... I've paid that before.

Plus, I've eaten so much the last couple of mornings that I've skipped lunch and dinner, so ... I'm ahead about four meals ;-)

I've got a fair amount of logistics to perfect, in order to catch a ferry to Belize, from Puerto Cortes.  I've done as much preliminary research as I could, but ... this being Latin America ... you don't make any final decisions until you've confirmed everything in person :-)

I'm in the CA-4 zone.  That's the result of a 2006 Visa Agreement, and means that I can stay -- cumulatively -- for up to 90 days in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.  Extending is a beast, so the play is to leave the CA-4 area -- for 72+ hours -- typically, either to Belize or Costa Rica, and then -- if desired -- come back into the CA-4.

Thus, Belize.

You get another 90d, this way, and you get to see Belize.

My (subject to change) plans are to see Dangriga, Placentia, Belize City, Caye Caulker, and ... anything else that seems cool.  All details remain to be determined.

So ... Ciao for now.  I'm in for the night ... in the air-conditioned (80*F, 76% humidity) comfort of ... the Honduran Gulag.

Once Bitten

Alright.  I've been totally mauled by bugs -- probably mostly sand fleas, the little devils.

It's a hazard of tropical beaches, but they DO love me.

I'm flattered.

Finally broke out the quick-absorbing hydrocortisone gel, and have been taking Benadryl at night AND on the occasional day.

C'est la vie.

I've been up since about 5a, today.  Had to dine, pack, and catch a bus.

Humped all my luggage to the bus station, bought the ticket, and set in for a 2hr wait.

Waiting.  It's what I do.

Then, a station employee pointed to the bus just coming in, and pretty much ordered me to get on it.  I presume he was just trying to get me on an earlier (by nearly 1.5hrs) bus.

"But I already have a ticket for this other bus," I told him.  He was vigorous in his gestures.

I flinched.

I got on this other bus, and made my happy way.  Maybe 45 minutes into the trip, the ticket-checker guy came buy.

"This isn't our ticket," he said.  "It's the ticket of another company."

What ?

Oh.  Great.  I got it.  I bought a ticket for Cotraipbal, but was -- unbeknownst to me -- riding on a COTUC bus.  It wasn't marked on the curb side.  Maybe on the street side.  Who knows.....

"You're not going to make me pay (US$7.00) twice, are you ?"

Yeah.  He was.

Then he thought about it.  If I pay (US$2.00) to get to Tocoa, I can get OFF the bus at Tocoa, walk the quarter-mile down to the Cotraipbal station, and then wait for the next La Ceiba bound Cotraipbal bus (for which I've already paid).

Uh.  Okay.

That went fine.  Nothing worse than a minor travel logistics snafu.  It happens.

But the second bus was jammed full of people, and then rolled around on its longitudinal axis enough to sprawl everybody pell mell.  I mean ... it was bad.

I was seated with the largest Central American in existence (now or ever), and her child.  Kids were standing in the aisle, and sleeping with their heads on my lap and on my bag/knees.  La Sra was -- literally -- dripping fried chicken off of her -- something -- and onto me.

Another step away from vegetarianism, the hard way ;-)

People were being crammed in at every stop, and -- when asked to step to the rear of the bus -- were giggling.

So was I.

But that works, too, ya' know ?  You get where you're going, and you REALLY need to stretch when you get there.

I hopped a taxi to this place.  And it's a good one.  Immaculate, comfortable room, hot water, air conditioning (that DOES work !), a top floor restaurant and patio (breakfast included), a very friendly family that owns it, and ... a location maybe three blocks from the Central Square.

He shoots, he scores.

Okay.  It's not backpacker priced, but it's on par for the course.

And I'm just not a backpacker.  Not now.  Nuh-uh.

I dropped my bags, washed my face, and did my thing: I walked.

There is probably more pure trash in La Ceiba than anywhere I've been -- certainly on this trip.  Shocking.  A shame.  But ... there it is.

And garbage has a tendency to smell like garbage.  And some of it is organic matter.  Put that with tropical heat and ... yeah ... ripe.

This town has a bad rep for safety/danger.  I saw more than a couple of handfuls of what appeared to be hookers, drunks, addicts, and homeless people.  They didn't give me a second look.  I was slightly hurt.  I'm losing my mojo.

But it's a cool town.  It's NOT a tourist center.  It's a place where you stay to avail yourself of numerous different eco-tourism things, one or more of which I may actually do.

And a jumping off point for the Bay Islands, where I went scuba diving, lo these many years ago.

Like the other places I've been, it's got a good handful of high end (US$100-150/nt) resort-type hotels, none of which would have me.

That much is abundantly clear.

So there.

It's commercial.  Not industrial -- just commercial.

It's also big.

I spent most of my time North (on the Caribbean), East, and West of the Square, but will likely work my way South, tomorrow.  The beach -- like in Trujillo -- was empty.  That part's still weird to me.  The San Diego beaches were NEVER empty (would that they were).  Not sure what gives.

Came back to the room, in the afternoon, vigorously scratched the aforementioned bug bites, washed up again (yeah: it's hot here, too), and then did a little homework.  I wanted a nice dinner -- money (unless it was a lot of money) is no object.

I tried the Expatriates Bar.  Two SalvaVida beers, a mixed salad, and a BIG ol' plate of shrimp scampi ... uh ... followed by a New York Style Cheesecake, drenched in strawberries and associated sauce.

I think that broke the EuroDollar bank at about US$17.  Okay.  Splurge material, but ... I decided that I'm worth it.

I also felt pretty full.  That's rather foreign to me.

They had a Beatles medley playing, there.  I sang along, in my mind.  "There are places I remember....."

Yeah, but nowhere near as many as I've visited ;-)

The a/c is a Godsend, but ... now that I'm in the bed, I realize: it's blowing right on my eyes, and there's not Thing One I can do about it ... but ... shut it off.  I can probably turn it back on at bedtime. Lids make a pretty good seal.

I hope.

I'm paid here through Saturday.  I probably could have easily spent 48hrs here, and just popped onto the next place, but ... I'm slowing things down (or keeping them slow).  I'm coming off of -- what is it, now -- more than a year of being more sedentary than at any other time in my life -- the worst physical condition OF my entire life.

I'm taking it slow.  Doing absolutely nothing holds absolutely no appeal to me, but I'm going to have to make peace with it.

La Ceiba has a HUGE version of Carnival that -- in small ways -- starts this week.  Will I go ... to any of it ?  Not sure.  Just not sure.  I don't have the capacity to do much, and -- even with that fierce constraint -- I have to pick between day stuff and evening stuff, at all.

With my peepers -- particularly in foreign and often unsafe territory -- daytime just makes more sense.

Plus, I think I just turned 49.  Mardi Gras stuff -- at least after dark -- doesn't pull me very much.  Crowds: ditto.

But we shall see.

Because these are the kinds of weighty decisions with which we wrestle.

Daily.

Here ... in the Lucha Libre-loving Departmento of ... The Gulag.

Hasta Luego, Trujillo !

I'm catching a bus in the morning, bound for La Ceiba.  Probably head out about 8a or 8:30.

I went for two walks, today.  The first was into and around town.  The second was probably a few miles out and back, to the East, in the deep, HOT sand.

And it was brutally hot again :-)

About an hour before sunset, I splashed water on my face, and decided to look online: what would be a splurge dinner ?  Not the tourist resorts on the town beach.  One of the self-contained tourist resorts on the beaches OUT of town.

I decided on the Christopher Columbus Beach Resort.  Allegedly, Trujillo is where Columbus landed, when he reached the new world.  If it was good enough for him .....

A HUGE shrimp cocktail (a handful of what are commonly called U-10's), followed by Fettuccine Alfredo with (more HUGE) shrimp, and a Coke.  Splurge meant something just under US$20 -- a lot of money for "emerging nations," but not for a fine dining meal at a tourist resort.

I couldn't even manage to find room for desert.  Earp.  Wyatt Earp.

I'm packed.  Will flip the laptop in the backpack in the a.m., sling my bags over my shoulders, and walk the few hundred yards to the bus station.  Buses leave regularly and frequently, so it's just a matter of heading over there, buying a ticket, and getting on one heading the right way (which would be ... West).

No hotel booked for La Ceiba.  I'll wing it.  I've never been a fan of Lonely Planet's region (eg, Central America) guides.  They don't give the kind of coverage that the country-specific books do, but ... on the flip-side ... you don't have to carry a half-dozen heavy books around Central America ;-)

Meaning ... I'll probably have better luck finding a hotel when I get there, anyway.

A few pics snapped today......

Cock-fighting arena.  Yes, it's RIGHT out behind my hotel, and yes, you DO hear the action on weekend evenings :-(

Found a lumber yard !!

Found a cabinet maker (and his dog), too !!  Should have taken more pics, and/or come back when he was open.  Stuff looks great !

Parque Nacional Capiro Calentura

To the south of town, and up the mountain, is the Parque Nacional Capiro Calentura.  It's a pretty tough climb, allegedly taking 3-1/2 hours each way, from the high end of town -- another 45 minutes from the hotel.

I didn't plan to head up the mountain, today, but ... just head out, wearing my Teva flip-flops and carrying about 4L of water.

But ... after going by the Villa Brinkley Hotel, I headed up.

Dig this: RealFeel® 112°

That's the temp metric of heat + humidity -- the polar (!) opposite of wind chill, I guess.

I only got about 2hrs into the hike up before I was down to a little over a liter of water, and -- literally -- soaked to my skin, from head to toe, with sweat.  Just ... drenched.

I mean ... veritably spraying water from every square centimeter of my skin.

No canopy.  Just a "ditch" of a trail, meaning ... no shade AND no view of the bay, below.  Quite technical, too -- even if I had worn my hikers.  Not a relaxing hike.

The top was the payoff.  There were views only from the bottom and top.  I couldn't get to the top, though.  

Also had a little equestrian trouble.

I had passed four wild horses on the way UP the hill.  They were in a small "turnout" area, and caused no issue.

On my way down, though, they were IN the trail, and I was coming up behind them ... in "being kicked by a horse" range.

No passing on the left or right, and these were wild animals.

Hmm.  I sat for a while.  Negotiated, in vain, for a while, made ALL kinds of noises for a while, and then drank the rest of my water.

I did NOT want to get kicked by a horse.  That much, I was clear about.

I'm funny that way.

Eventually, the baking sun got the better of me.  I had to make a move.  I approached the rear horse, and started shouting and clapping, hoping that they'd head down the hill instead of kicking me.

I knew that ... in about 10 yards ... there was a break in the trail, where -- if luck was with me -- I could run around all four, in sequence, leaving them lined up on the trail and unable to kick at me without significant machinations.

I hooted and hollered and clapped my hands.  They sauntered down the hill.  Eventually, I saw my break, and bounded through what looked like flat-enough ground, off-trail.  Tevas, don't fail me now !!!

Okay.  It worked.  I turned around, bid them a fond farewell, and made my merry way back down the hill.

After about 5hrs, total, I got back into town, having seen lots of lizards, a few frogs, a couple of pedestrian butterflies, and a random, non-descript bird or two.  

It NEVER got any cooler on the way up.  It may have gotten hotter, actually.  

Three spring-fed cisterns gave me an opportunity to fill the Tilley hat and soak my clothes ... with water, instead of sweat.  THAT was rather thoughtful of these Trujillianos.

Took a few snaps from MY payoff vantage point, just uphill from that hotel.

Stopped to wolf down a half-gallon of OJ (about USD$1), then to the beach for a Coke, garlic bread, spaghetti with shrimp, and french fries.

She asked me if I meant to order all that food.  I told her I just got back from a walk up to the national park.  She smiled, and said "right away !"

It's that "Oh, you're that kind of idiot" look that I've come to know so well.

Gotta' shower, and lay down now.  From mid-bicep, down, I look awfully Garifuna -- the African-Caribbean folk that live out this way.

Nobody's buying it, though.  Well ... one old toothless critter up toward the park, but he really seemed out of it ;-)

Pics from the day.  I THINK I kept the sweat off the lens.....

Touching.  It says, "If you're here tonight, you'll be here in the morning."  

Lizard.  Trust me: he's there ;-)

NONE SHALL PASS !

Look, Buddy.  Don't be an ass.  We can work this out (that's ME talking to HIM, incidentally).

The Bay.  You can actually see Lagoon de something, something in these pics.

Lunch spot !

For Mike

This was the team we saw in Quetzaltenango.  I haven't Googled, to figure out who/what they are, but ... Orbea ... Cervelo ... Scott -- SERIOUS hardware, relative to average annual income (or ... on an absolute basis).

[Uh.  Edit: how about ... these guys ?]

I threw around Brett Clare's name, repeatedly (as in: "My buddy's gonna KICK YOUR ***").

Nobody had a clue what I was talking about.

And I did it in Spanish.

Que lastima.....

Trujillo pictures

Hard to imagine: a Church on the Central Square ... in Latin America :-)

My original Trujillo hotel ... as seen from the Square

The Caribbean

Another Royal Caribbean ship in dire straits

Banana Coast ... and it is !

The Graveyard of Fisherman

The to-be-completed Embarcadero -- Maybe January of 2014

The kiosk on the Central Square

Pete and Re-Pete, or -- if you prefer -- Juan and ... Two

Don's BMW R1000GS.  Call him.  It's for sale.

The crazy lady on the square, who ... didn't just talk; she SCREAMED, and was quite liberal with her use of profanity ;-)

Tubbs and Crockett taking off

The Fortress.  It's nowhere near as cool as it should be, but ... it's here ;-)

DE-fense, DE-fense, clap, clap, clap, clap.....

The Dole van ... that stealthily carries workers to Area 51

The pool/pool bar at my new hotel

Part of the hotel, too.  Don't know/care if they're going to open it, during my stay, but ... it's inherently cool !

It's following me.  How weird is /that/ ?

The famous Laguna de something, something.  It IS beautiful !

Same lagoon.  Other side of the bridge.

True - HEE - oh !

12:45 PM 5/8/2013 - Long one.  I'm still pretty caffeinated :-)

I'm in Trujillo, state of Colon, on the Banana Coast of Honduras.  It's a bay (I can see that).  It's a BIG bay.

Yesterday morning, I woke at 5am, to pack, eat, and catch a taxi to Comayaguel, in order to catch the bus, at Transportes Cotraipbal, at 9:45.  I sat on the porch at Villa Marina Inn, talking to the security guard (24 years old) about Tegus, traffic, the woes of big cities, and the crime issues of the city.

People are REALLY happy when you say nice things about their city.  Truly.  It's very easy for me to tell the locals that I love their city, it's beautiful, the people are very friendly, and it's a great place to walk.

All true of Tegus, but it IS noisy, it IS crowded, the traffic IS nuts, and it's got Big City pricing.  Nothing surprising; just ... city stuff.

Very nice cab driver, in a near-new Hyundai (with air conditioning and leather seats !), got there right on time.  Bad traffic, but the guy knew some killer shortcuts.  I got there early.

The bus office (a "station," but only for this company) was a dump.

The "men's room" had a toilet with no lid, no light, and mucho filth.  In order to see what you were doing, you had to leave the door open, leaving open also the possibility (more of a sure thing) that you'd meet the next person -- male OR famale (the ladies' room was adjoining, and had the same issues) -- under rather odd circumstances.

The whole place looked like something from an old film noir movie, with the neon "H O T E L" sign flashing and buzzing out the window of the low-budget "Residential Hotel."

But ... having had much juice, much coffee, and much water ... I had to do ... what I had to do, with only two "Oh, Perdon !" interruptions.

Not bad :-)

This wasn't a chicken bus (a converted US school bus).  It was, however, a very basic tourist bus with the luggage compartments underneath.  In order to avoid direct wind, I took/got the front seat, with lots of leg room.

Pretty comfortable, considering the foam seat cushion had left for Panama some years back ;-)

We passed a gigundo lake, near Joyoyo (?).  It had lower-end resorts dotting the side we were on, and the occasional power boat visible from our road.

Shortly thereafter, we passed a sign saying there was a detour, because the upcoming bridge was "in bad condition."

There was a very rudimentary parallel bridge that took a lot of faith for a busload of people to cross.  From it, though, we could see the "in bad condition" bridge.

It looked like the classic videos of bridges that shook, twisted, and heaved during an earthquake.  While it was originally a long bridge, the middle third was gone.

Gone.

The other two halves ended in twists, in the opposite direction from each other.  Like ... one had gone left, while the other went right, severing themselves from that now-forgotten "middle section."

Okay.  I'll give them this: that bridge WAS and IS "in bad condition."

The drive was beautiful, but we stopped everywhere and for everyone.  The scheduled 8hr trip took closer to 11-1/2 hours.  I avoided direct wind, had a great view, and rather enjoyed the trip.  Somehow, my eyes still took a thorough drubbing, though, and I was distinctly seeing double even before sunset.  Eventually, I had to deal with it by just closing my eyes.

These bus drivers are amazing.  This one drove the entire trip, stopping only for two quick snacks and one pee break.

He also speaks fluent Horn.

"Horn" is a language spoken when your vocabulary is limited to a single word, and you cannot use inflection or intonation.

But Horn is CLEARLY a language.  It can convey all kinds of information with all kinds of different feelings behind it.  Like Chinese: I don't understand a word of Horn.

But they do.

I also learned that this guy, typical of many Latin American bus drivers, is/was an absolute mad man.  He took chances with a bus FULL of people that I would NEVR have taken on my (much faster, much more agile) motorcycle.

He virtually knocked people out of his way to pass.  He passed with oncoming tractor-trailers, forcing all kinds of things to happen in the external world that would NEVER have happened in the States (ie, other drivers to bend to his will).

He also nearly hit several people, cars, bicycles, and motorcycles, locking up his brakes a few times, and leaving LONG trails of tread rubber on the ground.  I know.  Once, he was angered by a motorcyclist, and threw his full drink bottle AT the guy, after having locked up the brakes.

We missed the motorcycle, but backed up 150' so the worker bee guy could retrieve the driver's fallen liquid comrade.

He put the right wheels OFF the road, to avoid a very manageable pothole, and I felt the bus slipping and skidding as he tried to get it back on the road.

We also passed a gas (propane ?  Gasoline ?) tanker truck that -- having spoken Horn AND been a mad man -- didn't have Fritz's (not his real name) luck.  He missed a curve, and ended up inverted in a concrete culvert.  The truck was in bad shape.  Several fire trucks and a HazMat team (of sorts) were on the scene.

Fritz shook his head, as if overtaken by a moment of somber solemnity, and then went back to driving like a madman.  It was heartwarming :-)

Luckily, I had done some research, and found my intended hotel in Trujillo.  Less luckily, I had to message them through Facebook, asking them to e-mail me with a confirmation, a rate, and any discount available for a 1+ week stay.

Less luckily still, they messaged back, just before I left, yesterday morning: call us at either of the following phone numbers.  Ugh.  My phone is somewhere in my luggage, but I was packed and locked, and didn't have time to get it.  I'm also reluctant to couple speaking My Spanish with Telephone.  I may as well drink, too, and put a clothespin on one side of my mouth.

On arrival in Trujillo, I grabbed a cab who took me to the Casa Alemania Hotel.  The sign on the closed gate read "Sorry.  No rooms available" (in Spanish).

We saw the security guard who -- while flicking his 12ga. shotgun around on its slling, confirmed that there were, indeed, NO rooms available.

His tone of voice gave nothing away.  The gun made a pretty compelling argument ;-)

Okay.  Take me to the center of town, and I'll find something.

And I did.  A single room w/hot shower, a/c that they won't let me use (I wouldn't anyway), and a TV would cost L400 (USD$20/nt).  Sounded fairly high, but it was 9:30pm.  I'm in.

Know a good restaurant ?  Yeah.  Ours.  Count me in, again :-)

Two SalvaVida (not entirely sure how beer saves lives, but ... I'm good with that) beers and a shrimp burrito cost me about USD$7.  I'm back in budget, and the burrito was epic ;-)

I walked down to the water, just to see the Caribbean.  Odd how dark the Caribbean is at night.  I mean ... not truly odd, but ... I couldn't see jack squat :-)

Two beers.  Part of the world known for questionable safety.  All day in the saddle.

Bed.

The town will be there when I wake up !

Took a long hot shower, watched some TV, and crashed, well.

The neighboring cathedral ensured that I wouldn't over sleep.  I think first bells were at 6am, but ... probably every 15 minutes after that.  Okay.  I'm up :-)

I spent several hours walking around this ... what could only be described as a sleepy little town on the Caribbean.  The water is beautiful, though not the stereotypical azure blue of the Caribbean waters I've seen before.  The beach is desserted.  The town is small, and a mix of Garifuna (African-Caribbean) people and Hispanics.

It's not a hotbed of commercial activity, nor does IT feel like the Gringo trail.  I tried to find the laundromat listed in the book, but ... no luck -- at least so far.

I DID, however, walk up the beach to Casa Alemania.  The owner explained that they lock the gates at night for security purposes, but that they DID have rooms.  She showed me two.  Beautiful.  Great beds.  View of the Caribbean and a palm tree with coconuts.  Refrigerator, a/c, swimming pool, right on its own swath of beach.  Breakfast included.

It has a small gym, too.  Yeah.  Work out.  THAT's on my list (yawn....).

It's more expensive than where I stayed last night, and will stay tonight, but ... it's beautiful, comfortable, set in a pretty spectacular piece of real estate, and will make a nice base of operations for a few days.

In fact, if I shop at one of the local markets, I can just eat breakfast, and have food in the room for after dark.  With my eyes, I don't do ALL that well on the streets, after dark, anyway.

I'll move tomorrow.

I saw an older BMW GS motorcycle in town.  Stopped to photograph it, and met Don, a British ex-pat.  We talked motorcycles, Latin America, his take on the crime (he's lived in Honduras for the better part of the last ten years), and coffee.  I promised I'd see him on the square, over the next few mornings, to have some coffee and catch up.

He's probably moving to Cuba.  He put his BMW up for sale, today.  I told him that I had very difficult decisions to make about mine.  I knew he'd understand.....

It's hot, here.  It's almost paralytically hot, here.  I haven't bothered with my temp/humidity gizmo, because ... I know all that: it's REALLY hot and VERY humid.

I mean ... the "lay by the pool and drink frou-frou drinks with little umbrellas in them, but PLEASE DON'T ask me to DO anything" kind of heat and humidity.

Which I've never really gotten used to, but ... might have to.

And I've discovered the estimable benefits of shade.  Shade is simply amazing.  Wow !!  Who'da thunk it ??

I'm also wearing shorts for the first time.  Literally.  I had to remove the tags.  Who bought these things ??  The waist is like a 34, and I'm probably a 30 :-)  Okay.  I've got the belt part all cinched up, and wrapped around to my spine, in back.  I look good :-)

Half the guys are in shorts, here.  Most of the women.  Other than Don, I can't comment on the Gringo population, because there simply isn't one.  It's pretty much just me, again :-)

It's Siesta Time in Latin America, and I'm down for 20 or 30 minutes, before I head back to the park.  I won't go to the beach, today.  May as well wait until I have my own, at Casa Alemania.  Besides, I need to try to use my prescription goggles, leaving nothing (but -- perhaps -- a towel) on the beach.  No point walking through town to do that, from here.

They can overlook much of my appearance, but the spaceman goggles ... I dunno.

Breakfast, this morning, was off the square, at an all you can eat place that had an ice cream and "licuados" stand attached.  Licuados are -- loosely -- smoothies.

I had a yogurt drink with granola, bananas, and strawberries, two cups of Darn Fine Coffee, a cheese omelet, fried plantains, and refried beans.

Uh.  Yum.

Uh.  Four bucks.

Still on budget :-)
----
Nine o'clock Thursday a.m.

I've been up since about 4:15.  Barking dog.  Can you stand it ??  As I finally dozed off, again, it was 0-chuch-bell-thirty.  At least -- as distinct from Antigua -- this bell guy has his act together.  He's actually quite punctual.

I walked for a few hours, this morning, stopping at El Sabor de Cafe (The Taste of Coffee), for the first time, for a cup of organic coffee (USD$0.50) and a milk, banana, strawberry, and granola licuado (USD$0.66).  Both were excellent.

I walked to a part of town higher up on the hill, and with a beautiful view of the Caribbean.  No.  No camera, this morning, but I'll be in town for a while, and will grab a few pics.

I came back to the square, and was chatted up by a local.  He tried out his three or four English phrases on me.  All were cute.  None was off the wall.  "Where are you from ?"  "Where are you going ?"  "Where do you live ?"

None stumped me, either.  Okay: the "Where are you from" part is a bit tricky, but ... I had some breathing room, there.  He agreed with my idea of going to Utila, instead of Roatan, if I were headed to the Bay Islands.  Cheaper.  Less touristy.  Very peaceful.

The Dole minibus has come by at least twice a day since I've been here.  It's immaculate, and seems to pick up and drop off employees, at the square.  I presume it's mostly about pineapples, and this DOES seem to be perfect pineapple growing weather.  I hope they treat their employees well.  They DO give them quite a nice ride home ;-)

I fired up the temp/humidity gizmo, in the room, last night.  89* and 81% humidity.  Inside.  After sunset.  Yeah.  It's hot.

I also did bathroom-sink laundry, and washed the venerable Tilley hat in the ... uh ... terlet.  I have a couple of packets of laundry detergent that does a really nice job.  The challenge is always drying.  I thought there was a laundromat in town, but it appears to have vanished.  Nobody knows about it.  It's like a "disappeared" story from a Civil War.  Weird.

But my clothes are darned clean, and maybe a day away from drying.  May string a line of my 550 Paracord, in the Casa Alemania room, and line dry the heavier stuff.

Laundry -- where there are laundromats -- is done quite cheaply, and -- when traveling -- is a real luxury.  I'll find a place in La Ceiba, and get everything nice and clean.

Because I'm worth it ;-)

Last eve, I wandered down to the beach, and had dinner at "The Pearl of the Caribbean."  It was relatively expensive, but ... my shrimp in salsa picante and two Cokes (yeah: wild man) were delicious, as was the sunset over the little thatched beach hut ... over ... the Caribbean.

I spent a  few minutes laboring over my Lonely Planet guide, last night, trying to decide what else to do in Honduras.  There's the infamous Mosquito Coast, to my east, but actually more easily accessed via tour companies in La Ceiba, to my west.

I'm just not sure the jungle, horrid mosquitos, and the wildlife thing is what I'm about, this trip.  It's supposed to be rather difficult and complicated travel -- not particularly a put off -- but the payoff has to be worth it.

And mosquitos love me.  They have bumper stickers on their tiny little back sides that read "I [heart] Neil."  Lonely Planet's "Insects Guide to Western Travelers" lists me by name, calling me "surprisingly tasty, if a bit spartan."

Yeah.  The stuff legends are made of.

La Ceiba is also a tranportation hub, from which you can easily hop to the Bay Islands, to Belize, and to other areas of the region.  I'll get there and see what my options are.  I've wanted to see Belize, but I'm not wed to the idea.  I'll have to poke around in the book some more.

The old real estate site selection guy likes this town, but it's not a place to spend any length of time.  It's simply limited.  Fairly low population.  No "attractions," in the classic sense.  In theory, La Ceiba is far more user-friendly.

Not ... that I've gleaned ANY idea of what I would actually DO in any of these places.  But you have to start somewhere.
----
Thursday afternoon.

I checked into Case Alemania, and my Lovely Room #1, overlooking the Caribbean ... which has whitecaps, today, because of fairly high winds.

I threw my bags down and washed my face, then headed out for A Walk.

It's what I do.

Eventually, I remembered that there was some sort of Lagoon several miles to the east of town.

And there was.  Pictures attached ... if my memory holds up :-)

On the lagoon was an eco-resort with boat tours, canopy tours, and a zip line.  What IS the deal with zip lines ?  They're ubiquitous in so many of these places.

Meh.

I stood on each side of the bridge, and clicked off the aforementioned couple of pics.  Breathtaking.  I waved to Brooke Shields before heading back toward town.

During the Torrential Downpour in Tegucigalpa, I got a blister or three on my right foot, from the foot slipping on the bed of the Teva sandal.

Sucker hurts, now ;-)  I can't afford any more mechanicals, so i'll likely take it easy this afternoon, either jumping in the pool, watching some tube, or hanging out on their bar terrace, drinking yet another licuado.  Many of the home audience will know: I'm all about the smoothie, so this pains me not one bit ;-)

Gunther and his wife, Paula run this place.  Bought the property eight years ago and built it.  They lived in the States.  He (they ?) lived 15 years in North Miami Beach, about 2-1/2 hours from my Fort Myers digs.  We're jumping around from English to German to Spanish.  I think we'll have to toss back a few Warsteiner beers, tonight.  Not having to leave, or walk (nore than one flight of stairs, at least) makes a few beers a beautiful thing :-)

WiFi is up.  Internet is down.  This ... is Latin America.  I'd keep typing, but .. between the sun and my peepers ... I can't really see what I'm doing.

Wait.  It's up.  I'm going to post this :-)

So ... Ciao for now ... from ... the Alemania-Americano office of ... The Gulag.

More ophthalmologic learnings....

During this trip, I've been in regular contact with Dr. Perry Rosenthal, the inventor of the Boston Scleral Prosthetic Lens Device .... that I used to wear.

Those lenses, and -- by extension -- Dr. Rosenthal, mean(t) everything to me.  They protected my chemically burned eyes against bright light, wind, dry air, dust, and ... sawdust.

Since this trip was, in part, an experiment to see what tropical climates might do to my eyes, I've kept him in the loop.

Generally, it's been very good news.  Humidity over 80% brings significant relief of symptoms.  Humidity between 60% and 80% brings moderate relief of symptoms, but leaves me pretty intolerant of wind.

Once the temperatures drop below about 75*, that relief is dramatically diminished.

Humidity between about 40% and 60% seems to offer only slight relief, but seems to leave me vulnerable to corneal problems (Superficial Punctate Keratitis, corneal abrasions, corneal edema, etc.).

Humidity below 40% is like Northern Colorado: full, disabling pain, and almost certainly severe risk for sight-threatening complications.

Tegucigalpa, however, IS HOT (nearly 90*), and seems to be VERY humid -- probably over 60%.

But the UV index is extreme (intensely bright sunlight), and -- as a big city -- there's lots of traffic, causing pollution and airborne dust.

I've walked about 9hrs in the last two days, but ... when the walking is over ... I'm pretty well flat-out. It's like having my eyes sandblasted with really fine sand.  They just burn.  When this happens, my vision deteriorates and fluctuates.  Can't focus on the computer.  Can't read my travel guide.  Significant difficulty walking on the very variable terrain of the streets and -- er -- sidewalks.

I took my camera out, today, but it is a very sketchy feeling town.  I didn't take it out of my day pack until I'd climbed the hill overlooking Comayaguela, the part of town where the bus companies are located.

Ob that: I'll be on a 9:45am "normal" (ie, not first-class, and NOT non-stop) bus, tomorrow, bound for Trujillo, Honduras.  My first beach destination !

I reached out to a German-owned hotel with good reviews, asking about a minimum of three nights' stay, but whether there's any discount for stays of a week or more.  Might want to hang by the beach for a while, eat good food, do day trips, swim a bit, walk on the beach, and ... fire up the old Spanish.

I'm going to veg out for a while.  It's 80* and 65% humidity in my room.  No perceptible wind.  Very little dust.  No diesel fumes blowing in my face :-)

Ciao for now, then, from ... the Clean Room of the Honduran branch of ... the Gulag.

Good thing I WAS looking where I was walking !

I love the "blobs" of concrete still stuck to the bottom of the railing.

A GINORMOS Home Depot variant.

They burn garbage, openly -- probably for warmth, since it's only about 90 degrees, today :-)

Wait. I know. It means "butterfly," right ??

I call myself "functional," but I'd like to be very comfortable speaking, and understanding, Spanish.

I just made an inquiry to these folks, asking if they could take on Project Neil, for a month, starting on July 1st:

http://www.mariposaspanishschool.com/index.html

Tell me, if you'd care to, how cool that sounds ??

I'd likely spend some more time in Honduras, then take a ferry over to Belize -- partly to see it, but partly because it's out of the "CA-4 Zone --" Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

I'm IN that CA-4 Zone, now.  You can stay -- collectively -- for up to 90 days.  You either have to go somewhere to extend your stay, or leave the CA-4 Zone, and the clock resets.

I figure I'll head Westward, along the Caribbean coast of Honduras, and then catch a ferry over to Belize, before flying to Managua, Nicaragua to do this month of Spanish thing.

If they'll have me.

I'm still hot and sticky from this morning's lengthy sojourn, but ... deep down ... underneath all of that ... I'm a little excited about this idea.

Which is how it works ... in the understated polyglot nether-regions of ... The Gulag.

The View from the TeguciGulag

Up on the roof .....

The camera hasn't left the hotel yet.  I wanted to do a recon trip to see how safe/unsafe the town feels.  I'm staying in a very upscale area, where the headquarters for the banks, and the shopping malls are.

There's also ... lemme' see ....

Applebee's
TGI Fridays
Little Caesars
Dunkin Donuts
Ruby Tuesdays
Popeye's
Baskin-Robbins
Subway
Wendy's
Burger King
McDonald's
Cinnabon

etc., etc., etc.,

All within walking distance.  But I'm back from about a 5-1/2 hour walk (in 90* heat, with a UV index of "wear tin foil"), so walking distance is relative.

Here's the view from the rooftop -- a beautiful terrace, even nicer than the one in Antigua.  You'll find me ... up there ... later.

I'll take the camera out, tomorrow, and head back for the Centro, and ... wherever else might be pretty.