Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Honduras- Mayan Ruins and giant coral reefs!

Oct 14:

Bus ride there... Honestly we just wanted to get to Honduras. 
We finally made it to Copan. Stayed at Via Via with our Canadian and Austrian friends. Met a lot of cool people here already!

Our hostel!
Had some food at a great restaurant before heading to the Mayan Ruins which Copan is known for! 
Yes, I tried a sip of Coke. Mainly just because it was in a bottle.

Amazing food.

After a late lunch we went to the Mayan Ruins- absoultely incredible. Just insane to imagine how impressive this was thousands of years ago, let alone today! A lot of work to say the least. 

Get ready for a lot of photos! It was one of the highlights of that part of the trip!
Surfing?

Mayan Plank!

Weird giant rodent we saw!

Plank 2

So awesome.
One of my favorite planking pictures ever!!


So impressive.

Such a big area
Being goofy

Hiking up the ruins!

Ruins everywhere!

Jumping pics!

Great new friends!

Just imagine how old all this is!

More ruins! It kept going on an on!

This stone was very heavy- trust me.

Being artistic!

Ants carrying leaves!

Macaws!

Close up
And even closer! These were wild birds too!

As we were leaving we saw three deer crossing through the ruins!

Why thank you!



Then hung out at the hostel for the rest of the night.
Back at the hostel running on the generator for another hour! Then all candlelight!

Back at the hostel I met teachers from Illinois who are teaching down here for a year! One just graduated from Western Illinois and the other from University of Illinois. The latter girl stated that Champaign was the best city in the world- never had I ever heard that before! Then I told her about the OSU/IL game the next day and she was completely against me when I was saying we are 6-0 etc! She was like what WE? You didn't even go to U of I- you went to Florida!! Haha, it was hilarious- she was so drunk!! Hoping for a win tomorrow.

New iPhone4s came in the mail today too!! Excited about that when I arrive home.

Oct 15th-
An amazing night's rest- woke up and had breakfast with the Canadians. Best iced coffee I've had yet, had to get two! 
Our new friends!

Clara and I thinking about something?

 Figuring out busses for tomorrow to make it to La Ceiba and then to the islands!

Illinois Ohio State game was today! Tried to watch it at Jims Pizza in town but couldn't get it on tv. The owner was in the back sleeping apparently and during this Jason had a GIANT rat nibble on his toe. Not kidding at all. GIANT rat! He didn't know what it was and then once he looked down it processed in his mind! We were freaking out! Definitely had to finish our drinks and leave!

Went to another restaurant and had a delicious lunch.
Our friendship bracelets! Still have mine on!

Another afternoon rain, met up with the teachers we met the day before. A street fair in town that night. All the money raised was supposed to pay for road improvements.

Had some street food, went to a cool bar. Got some rest for a day of travel north to the islands!!

Oct 16:
Grabbed some coffee and onto the bus for our trip to the Caribbean coast. A bell rang while Alex the Canadian was buying his ticket and he got a free ride because of the timing! Was hilarious and the guy behind the desk was so excited and said felizades!

Great bus ride though- nicest bus I've ever been on in my life. First class seats were giant and our seats were extremely comfortable- got free snacks and drinks too. Amazing nap.

Made it to La Ceiba Honduras! Early tomorrow we will take the ferry to the islands!!! So excited!!

Went to dinner next to our hostel- the owner of the bar was from Colombia but lived in Orlando before! He graduated from UCF in 2001 and majored in marketing and tourism!! Small world I tell ya!

Oct 17:
The islands coming up!!! Boat ride to Utila!
Dock Plank
I love how they still use bottles

On the boat to the islands!

Gorgeous views!

Doing some research! Figuring out sites to see and where to stay!

Mango Inn with a pool and beautiful sunny day! Welcome to the islands!
The Mango Inn!

Pool!!

Walked around the island to explore some more! 

Beautiful right?

Even better now!
Wonder what I was doing?

Jason managed to scrape his arm on a rusty fence on our way back from the beach! Look how concerned Clara and I are! Haha!

Decided to get some tasty beverages next! 
Gorgeous

Yumm!!


Being artistic again!

Getting drunky drunk!

Found an absolutely amazing place on the island that was full of art! Had to of taken years and years to create! Really unique. 
Amazing!!

So detailed!

Spider webs in some parts

Look at that!! Hope you don't mind spiders!
This is serious. Someones worst nightmare!

I love this pic!

Oct 18:
Snorkeling the second largest reef in the world!!! Very early in the morning!
On the boat to another island to go snorkeling!

First some yoga on the deck bright and early!

Time for snorkeling!

Being his normal self!
Snorkeling and already seeing amazing things!

Jellyfish, squid, coral, tons of fish, seahorse. Absolutely amazing! Saw so many unique things! I've never snorkeled like that before in my life. Was quite the experience! Got a good sunburn!

Met two girls from Munich right before we got back on the boat. One one of them studied at Sovi in Innsbruck a few years ago. Small world I swear!!
On the front of the boat back to Utila!

Back on the island to get on another boat to La Ceiba and then the bus to San Pedro! 

Met Bo and Elias on the bus who we hung out with and ended up sharing the hostel and taxi rides with them. Elias was flying to LA for 24 hours and then to Thailand the next day! Kind of jealous! Hung out at a nice hostel and pretty much didn't sleep!

We got about three hours of sleep for our 11 hour journey the next day!!

Wednesday oct 19:
Left the hostel at four am to catch our five am bus to Granada, Nicaragua. Quite a long bus ride, but due to lack of sleep the day before, I've already slept at least five hours on the bus.
Landslide...

Rather scary!

Honduras currency

Long day on the bus, but so glad I slept A LOT otherwise I may have gone insane.

We eventually made it to Managua and took a taxi to our hostel in Granada!

1 comment:

  1. Looks so nice! That beach and those cocktails...

    That spider picture would be a nightmare for me indeed! O god. I got goosebumps just by watching that picture!

    Have fun over there! :)

    ReplyDelete