This post was written on December 16, 2013 but I’ve only now gotten access to the internet…
We crossed back from Honduras to Guatemala this morning. When we crossed into Honduras it was dark; something we don’t normally do – driving at night. But, we needed/wanted to get to Copán Ruinas and there was nothing between where we were and where we were going. It was the oddest crossing I’ve ever done. We drove to the boarder and there were lots of big trucks waiting around. We drove on. We reached the bar across the road, rolled down the window and the guard looked at us and waved us in. No discussion, no looking at passports or the papers for the rental car. I guess we looked gringo enough. We were not sure we had followed the rules but figured we’d feign ignorance when crossing back into Guatemala.
The trucks waiting to enter Guatemala from Honduras. Everyone just shares the available lane.
When we entered Honduras, there was a line of big trucks 2 km long (I am not exaggerating) parked on the road on the Honduran side waiting to get into Guatemala. Thus, the road for cars was one lane in both directions and twisty. We were curious how it would work when leaving. On return, trucks were still lined up waiting to get into Guatemala (actually on both sides of the road) so we drove on the wrong side of the road and tucked back to our side between trucks if someone came up hill. All very civilized. We get to the bar across the road to enter Guatemala, the guys looks at us, raises the bar and the gringos again drive through. It turns out you do not need passports or proof of ownership for a car to pass between Guatemala and Honduras….. if you are a gringo?
A view of the ruins to be seen at Copan. We toured some tunnels under this used for study.
Lovely carvings. Such detail
Silly us, we moved from quite lovely weather in Copán Ruinas and our luxurious room with gorgeous views over the valley into the rain in a swamp. It is not hot, thank God, but the rain beats down on our lovely tin roof in our tiny, damp swamp a-frame. What gets into our brains?
Our little cabin. A very slippery porch on the back with no railing overlooking the swamp. We walked narrow boardwalks to get to the cabin.
Tomorrow, baring too much rain, we plan to visit Quirigua, a Mayan site with the largest stela (carved statues) known in the Maya world and then do a walk through the forest preserve here at our hotel – including towers and canopy suspension bridges.