Concesion forzada en Honduras

As I´m writing this, an imposed 48h curfew is in effect. My plan early this morning was to take a shuttle to Copan (just inside the border to Honduras) and then take the next "chicken bus" to La Ceiba and on to Utilla. When I arrive in Copan the power is out and all transit is at a standstill. The first hostel I find is closed "because of the president" and I´m advised by the hostess to turn back were I came from. The next hostel is open. During the day I slowly gather information about the situation, first from other travellers, and later as the government turns the power back on, from CNN in spanish.

The situation in brief is that President Manuel Zelaya tried to pass a referendum that would abolish presidential terms. This led to the army arresting him early this morning and sending him to Costa Rica, from where he continues to protest. Shortly after the president of the parliament, Roberto Michelleti, is sworn in as the new president of the state. Edit: I heard that the two presidents are supposed to meet on thursday and discuss the situation.

So at the moment there are two presidents of Honduras, transit is stopped and the curfew starts at 8pm for the next 2 or 3 nights. I´m biding my time here in Copan along with other backpackers. I´m happy I didn´t get any further into Honduras before the standstill, this is a relatively safe small town. People here discuss the subject but don´t seem too upset. In my selfishness I´m hoping things will calm down soon so I can go diving in Utilla. That said I do hope the change here will be for the better for Hondurians, not myself knowing the political situation.

Added Tuesday 30 June:

So far there is no change in the situation. Four german backpackers left this morning to try for La ceiba at the caribean coast despite rumors of roadblocks. Me and an Estonian guy called Marko, whom I met at the hostel here in Copan, will propably try for the same tomorrow. My time is running short if I want to see Nicaragua later. Yesterday a man checked in late in the evening and told us he had come from La Ceiba. His bus was stopped at a roadblock and he had to take eight different rides, taxis and hitchiking, to get here to Copan. So far I haven't heard about any harassment of bystanders though. The last thing I heard just now is that the roads will be closed for 48 hours. As the situation seems to be prevailing I don't see how waiting much more would help.

Guatemala

Crossing into Guatemala proved to be no problem with the direct bus from San Cristobal. Flores is a one square km of heritage buildings with cobble stone roads inbetween. Filled with mostly hotels and restaurants the island is connected with a bridge to the mainland and surrounding townscape.

Once there me and an Israeli girl called Lior, who was heading the same way, met the English guys again. I first met them in Puerto Escondidos. Emma, Ned, Ben and Julian, atleast one of them from Kent in England, had just seen the ruins of Tikal. The next day I walked in their footsteps and saw the ruins of the Maya empires capital. It made me, who as a modern human has seen skyscrapers, revere the ones who built these solid monuments. What an impact they must have made on the peasants of old who saw the same.

After two days I moved west to Semouk Champay, with its caves and strange river rock formations. On the second day there was a tour into a nearby cave system. There was only candles to light the way during the one and a half hours of walking and swimming in the depths of the mountain. The cave wall looked almost alive at moments with its soft but intricate shapes. A very uplifting experience although in the end everyone was freezing from the cold water.

Two days later I finally got to see a volcano, wohoo! Volcano Pacaya close to Antigua last had an eruption in 2002, but there is a steady flow of molten rock down the side. The cold rain didn´t bother me. Some tourists grilled marchmallows or lit cigarettes on the rocks (safety restrictions in Guatemala are quite lax). I took a few pictures, looked, and then looked some more. Pretty cool.

Hidden seaport

Puerto Escondidos is the first truly beautiful destination on my trip. A sleepy coastal town lined with beaches and bays. There is a fair amount of foreigners here but the low season and swineflu scare keeps the town in a tranquil state. So far I've tried surfing and deep sea fishing, both without much success. The laying at the beach and lazily sipping cocoa water out of a cocoa nut experience has worked best for me so far. At night there is a number of bars to visit, some nights we (from the hostel) have even gone swimming straight from the beach bar at night. The water is so warm you never have to get out, although after a while I have usually swallowed enough saltwater to make me feel ill.

The sun burns hot everyday. I have my share of sunburn already and have worn a t-shirt the last two days, my back is stripy like a zebras. Tomorrow night we might go and see a lagoon nearby which has some light emitting algae, green glowy water. In the liquerstore you can get homemade mescal for 10 pesos (about 0.70 euro!), the same price as a bottle of beer here. The cactus liquer mixed with a fizzy drink called Fresca has turned out to be the favourite in the hostel. A few days more and it's Guatemala. mui bueno.

Fun in Acapulco

This is my third and last day staying in Acapulco, had some fun day the day before yesterday on a "cruiseship", aka a steelboat with a dancefloor. I tried to dance but kept almost tripping because of the rocking motion. I've been lucky to meet nice people in the hostels so far, my spanish wouldn't take me far on my own. Luis and Gusto are from holland, and Joe from Canada, Tie from Arkansas. These are some of the nice people who were staying at the hostel. The rooms here a very small but airconditioned at night. The army was swishing by in trucks everyday. Apparently they got some big drugbust going on, I heard they killed some gangsters yesterday.

Yesterday we saw the famous mexican divers jump from a 40m cliff. I also tried to swim, but the waves were enormous in my eyes. At one point a big wave went over me and threw me around. The beachpatrol called me to shore for my own safety. Tonight it's enroute to Puerto Escondidos with the nightbus.

Vegas Schmegas

Been in vegas for 6 days now, and its at least 4 days too much already, but the plane goes when it goes. Saturday I will be on my way to Acapulco, Mexico. Feeling excited for the first time and trying to learn some spanish in my budjet hotelroom. Zion nationalpark was great, we did an overnight hike and camped on the edge of a canyon, enjoying the sunset there. The cactuses were blooming after a brief rain some nights before.

The next day Jan and me walked down the virgin river barefoot to get to zion narrows, one of the narrow slot canyons. After 30 minutes walking on the rocky riverfloor both Jan and I were ready to turn around, so no slot canyon but an refreshing experience in the cold river water nonetheless. Nothing much to say about vegas, slot machines, poker tables, cheap beer but everything else high priced. So far I only gambled 10 bucks a day and am neither richer nor poorer for it. Met another german guy, Franz, and gonna go for a few right now, so cheers.