Tourist moment

One of the charms of Copan Ruinas is walking the town in the early morning and seeing all the cowboys coming and going. Real caballeros, with hats and spurs. Horseback riding is a popular activity, so some come to town to drum up business, bring stuff to market, etc.

The owner of my hostel offers tours, so I decided to go on one this morning, before I caught the bus out of town. I was under the impression his young son would be my guide, which seemed like it might be fun. $15 for three hours of riding in those picturesque hills seemed like a decent deal.

We were supposed to meet at 8 a.m. Nothing ever happens on time in Central America, so I wasn't surprised that it took them until after 9:00 to come looking for me. In the middle of the night a storm had knocked out electricity in town, so I couldn't even have a cup of coffee while I waited.

The son was in his school uniform and I thought, there's no way I can do this if the kid is going to miss school to do it! But they had hired a caballero guide, so I felt better about the whole deal.

Until he led me to his horse. Singular. I was a little confused, but I mounted, and as we started off I asked him where his horse was, assuming that's where he was leading me. No, he was going to walk alongside while I rode his horse.

I have never felt like such a tourist. I felt like a little kid being led on a pony at a birthday party.

It was too weird. I apologized, dismounted and walked back to the hostel. The girl there asked me why I backed out. When I told her she explained to me that I had only agreed to pay for one horse, and that I'd have to pay double for the guide to have a horse.

I think this qualifies as more than "lost in translation."

Since there was no electricity there was nothing really to do, so I caught an early bus and tonight I'm crashing in San Pedro Sula. It's the industrial center of the country, and where the international airport is, but there's not much to do or see. Luckily an Aussie guy I'm sharing a room with has been kind enough to loan me his laptop so that I can send one last (free!) missive from Honduras. I'm going to use the afternoon to make some additional travel arrangements. I can't wait for the day when I no longer NEED the internet on this trip.

So here are a couple parting shots of Copan Ruinas. One is from the hillside looking down on the town. You can see the spires of the church which marks the south side of the central plaza. In the other shot you can see a brown sign on the right. That's where I stayed. And beyond is the view when I walked out the door.