Day 7 Katerina is not feeling well. Today will be a day of r&r. We had pineapple juice and bagels for breakfast. The juice was prepared in a Blendtec blender. We are looking for another hotel, but will come back here for breakfast simply because of the blender. Good kitchen equipment makes good food. As we were eating, a street person came up to us to ask for money. I face her a chunk of bagel, which she ate in front of us before turning and wandering off. At least I know that my charity went to the intended result. Since Katerina was feeling Ill, I took it upon myself to find a more reasonably priced hotel room. I walked into a dozen hotels, finding that they all fell I to two categories. Shitholes, which are not up to my ( pretty low) standards for a Honduran domicile, and fancy places, costing upwards of $100 a night. Nothing midrange until I finally located a hotel a few blocks from Central Park. I returned to the hotel to convince a skeptical and ill Katerina to leave. On our way out, the hotel owner stopped us for some tea. Upon learning that we were leaving for a cheaper place, she quickly negotiated a better rate and a nicer room for us. Worked out fine. We didnt have to go anywhere and got a good discount, 50 bucks. Tomorrow we are going to tour the ruins and head to Guatemala. While Katerina napped, I took a walk out of town. This part of Honduras is agrarian, with sugar plantations and corn rows nestled among lesser Mayan ruins. I see horses grazing on the foundations of residential buildings, deemed too unimportant for archaeologists to study. Apartment tos dont inspire the imagination like temples and pyramids do. Turning off the main road, I follow a dirt track to a series of disused farm buildings. Farm hands look at me funny as I walk, probably thinking Im lost but making no effort to right my direction. Im glad. Im just roaming today. After about 5 KM, I turn back to town and return to the hotel. For dinner, I take Katerina to Rancho Don Jose, a locally owned restaurant which specializes in homemade cheese. We both buy a 9 dollar grilled cheese sandwich and a milkshake. Worth every penny. There is a group of American tourists chatting loudly at another table. Americans are a loud bunch when traveling. Europeans not so much. USA citizens, too loud. Remember that when you travel so you dont look like a schnook. Later in the evening the power goes out. Honduras is rationing power. Sometimes it comes on fast, other times its off for a while. Our hotel relights within a few seconds, thanks to a backup generator. Slowly other business owners start. Dragging gasoline generators hot to the street, firing them up, and getting their lights burning again. People are adaptable. Time for bed! Productive day tomorrow! 12.00 breakfast 2.00 medication 23.00 dinner 37.00 today. Ill pay the hotel bill tomorrow.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:09:23 +0000