Shell on 2 wheels: Honduras

This picture appeared in the Irish Times. Taken by Jordi with his camera at road level.
'Tis hot. 'Tis very hot.

Meeting Jordi (Catalunya) and Alexandra (France)
I bumped into Jordi and Alexandra on my last day in El Salvador at a Warm Showers house. I hadn't met any cyclists for ages so was delighted with the company. They were good fun. I spoke Spanish to Jordi, Jordi spoke Catalan to Alexandra, Alex spoke English to me. We had all 3 languages on the go at all times. I taught them about the Bomberos. They taught me about an App made in Girona called Wikiloc. It was so nice for my ears to hear Spanish spoken with a Catalan accent. It took me back to living in Barcelona in 1993.

Crossing into Honduras with Jordi and Alexandra.

Jordi is a voluntary Bombero himself at home. And he's a bit of a chatter box.
As a native Spanish speaker you can imagine how much fun he had when we stayed with the Bomberos.

This was one truck. One truck with 2 huge trailers. Designed for carrying sugar cane.
It was turning from the main road down a tiny dirt track. Unbelievable.

Myself and Alexandra eating a plate of whatever the street stall was selling.
3L of orange drink was gobbled in about 10 minutes. Temp about 38 degrees C!

The capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa
Jordi and Alexandra were heading quickly through Honduras. Most cyclists do this and cross through in 2 days. I had time and wanted to go exploring. Who knows if I'll ever get to Honduras again.

Cathedral on the main square in Tegucigalpa.

Shoe shine men in Tegucigalpa.

In Honduras oranges are semi peeled at the roadside stalls.

Downtown Tegucigalpa. It's a little edgy. Bit dirty, bit dreary but kind of nice.

No tourists seem to wander around Tegucigalpa. They feel it's too dangerous.
But sure 'twas grand.

Tapas in Tegucigalpa included slices of boiled spuds

Hostel in Tegucigalpa - meeting Carlos and the Argentinians

Sweeny Green on the left. My 2 Argentinian neighbours and Carlos in the hammock.

Now this may look like a very uninteresting scene. It was the terasse of a hostel I stayed at in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. 5 usd per night was good value. My tent is on the left. The other 2 tents belong to the Argentinians. Carlos from the US is dozing in the hammock with headphones. I stayed in this hostel for 5 nights and so got to know my neighbours quite well.

The Argentinians woke at sunrise and headed off each day to the busiest traffic lights in the capital where they juggled batons while riding a unicycle or played the guitar or a little accordion and sang. They came back to the hostel at about 9am every morning when rush-hour was over and counted up their wads of 1 limpira bills. They made roughly 10 usd per day each. We had breakfast together. Each morning I cooked them porridge (I'm slowly converting the world) and they made me coffee. We talked about travel and my plans and their plans. At 4pm in the afternoon they headed off again for 2-3 hours of the same, coming back when rush hour was over, counting their money, paying for their accommodation for that night. And so they travelled.

Carlos on the other hand was a trader. He set up his various computers and tablets at 9am, bought and sold shares online on the 'penny stock market' I think he called it. Often he was finished by 9.30am having made between 3,000-5,000 usd. And so the world turns. Everyone getting by. The Argentinians making enough to pay for their accommodation and some grub. The American making enough to buy and sell a few houses every year. The Irish cyclist looking on, taking it all in and thinking what an interesting world it is we live in.

Going to the theatre with Carlos in Tegucigalpa. He had never been to the theatre. Imagine.
He was also too scared to walk through Tegucigalpa. He only took taxis. So we walked together
to the theatre.

The mountains of Honduras
Based on my friend Julian's advice, I headed into the mountains in Honduras. Cycle tourers can actually cycle through Honduras along the Pacific coast in 2 days. But in order to take the road less travelled I diverted up to the capital and onwards into the mountains. I had time and wanted to explore. It was also 42 degrees the morning I left the bomberos (fire station) in the town of Nacaome on the coast. I needed to go high.

Tegucigalpa is 70km uphill inland. My rule about hitching lifts is that as long as I'm not travelling directly along my route i.e. north to south, then hitching is an option. Tegucigalpa was north east of where I was which meant I allowed myself to throw Sherpa into the back of a pick-up for the 70km climb.

Valle de Angeles, Honduras. Beautiful old colonial town where time stands still.

On the street in Valle de Angeles a man peels and then sells his supermarket
trolley full of oranges.

Almost my first WorkAway - at Rauls

I had been wanting to try the WorkAway.info website for ages. I have spent years listening to how friends had travelled the world working a few hours each day in return for food and board and now at last I had time to try it out. I also wanted to get away from the heat of the coast so picked a guesthouse in Valle de Angeles in the central Honduran mountains to contact. Below is my very first reply from a WorkAway host.

Hi Michelle, thank you for contacting me!.. there's a workaweyer who signed up with me already for the next three months, so you don't need to do any work, but you're very welcome to come over. I definitely would love to hear your stories... I do have room for you for about 4 or 5 days. You can just come and relax and enjoy your stay in here, I'm just starting this guesthouse project so ideas are very important for me now... I'll be glad to have you in here, you will enjoy the weather and the mountain views. You can make use of my kitchen to prepare your own food...

Sure how could I refuse. Off I went to Raul's guesthouse and stayed for a week. In return for food and board I did build him an AirBnB profile. There were high fives around the breakfast table the next morning when we got our first booking.

Lovely Raul runs a guesthouse, some log cabins and a dune buggy rental business.
One of his customers gave him a present of this mug while I was there. A mini Raul making dollars.

Raul rented All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) as a side business. He took me up to some
spectacular viewpoints along the mountain trails.

To the right is my John Boyne rocking chair. On this chair I read 2 John Boyne books.

Raul was just a gas man. One day we headed into his local village, he produced a pack of cards at a restaurant table
and soon all the street children flocked over to our table for a game. He knew them all by name.

From Valle de Angeles to Guimaca, Central Honduras.

Cool temperatures, quiet roads, lovely scenery. Perfect cycling conditions.

Honduran mountains, great on the bike.

Road conditions were sometimes a little iffy.

Message from a Warm Showers host in Guimaca, Honduras
Time off the bike at Raul's guesthouse was so lovely that I thought I'd try a Honduran Warm Showers host to see if I could wing any more time off the bike. I wanted to give you a taste of just how wonderful this community is. Here is a reply from a host in Guimaca. My intro email said something like 'Hi, I'm Michelle, from Ireland, I'm nearby and would love a bed or a grassy patch out the back garden, any chance you guys are home'?

Hi Michelle, You are my first contact from WarmShowers!
You are more than welcome to spend time at my place in Guaimaca.
I was a volunteer in Honduras in 1979 and returned with my wife and daughter in 1996.
We spent 13 years in Guaimaca.

I will make some contacts but if you go to the building, the family next door will be able to get you in. Franklin helps me out when I am not there and his mom Glenda will be very helpful.
Fatima will have the key to the upstairs apartment.
Actually I left a set of keys just outside the apartment door.
As you reach the top of the stairs, look at the wall in front of you, up high you will see a set of keys on a leather string will have the key to the apartment.
Franklin will have the keys to get you into the property and the building. I hope you have a great visit!
My number in the States is xxx if you have any questions or I will
be watching my e-mails. I am excited to have my first warmshowers visit.
Please feel like our home is your home. Stay as long as you like.
Eddie

Eddie's humble apartment. It was above a piano school he had set up 13 years ago.
Needless to say I spent that evening tinkling on the keys. I met Fatima and Franklin and Fatima
and just like the email said, they let me in and made me very welcome.

Bingo under the tree
I arrived into Nacaome, Honduras on a Sunday evening and bumped into bingo night. People had brought their own plastic chairs. I was immediately invited to join in. A lovely simple community gathering.