Santa Rosa de Copán - Gracias (and back)
We found Santa Rosa to be quite a charming little place with quaint little cobbled streets and a pleasant enough atmosphere - but unfortunately when we investigated the tour situation, the one guide who could give us a tour of local Lencan villages was away for the week! Then the restaurant we'd looked forward to from our guidebook's description was closed for the day.
The next day we managed to have lunch at the restaurant and then catch a bus to Gracias, where we were assured we could get a tour of Lencan villages. The drive to Gracias was through gorgeous scenery, and luckily no dead bodies were to be seen. Gracias itself was a surprise...very small and a bit desolate. We decided to check on the tour situation before even checking into a hostel. After a bit of hunting, we were directed to the house of Marco Aurelio. It turned out he'd already agreed to take a couple people on a tour the next day. He wanted to check with them first that it was ok for more people to be on the tour (a first for us!), but they were happy to have more along.
We then had to find a decent place to spend the night. The first place had no fans in the rooms. The second place cost twice as much as we wanted to pay. The third place was a winner...8 rooms set in a mango, coconut, and coffee plantation with cats, a young dog, lots of chickens, and a cantankerous horse. It was lovely. And we managed to have dinner at a place serving traditional Lencan food. The owner is on a mission to help the entire community and spread that mission; she gave us lots of information and finagled Chris into trying to make her computer run faster!
The next morning we got up bright and early for breakie at 7am, and then we met the tour group at 7:30am. The other two people in our group were Scott and Melissa, a brother and sister from the US. We had a great, informative time. Marco took us to a few sites in Gracias itself, and then we set off towards La Campa. On the way we stopped at the farm of a bloke who makes his own natural gas (as well as having a whole farmload of animals). He had us sample some sugarwater, made from sugarcane he chopped down in front of our eyes right there on the farm. Chris helped to turn the huge wooden arm that squeezes the sugar juice out of the cane (the good old-fasioned way!). It tasted nice with lime juice, but we're hoping the water added to it won't make us sick!
Then it was on to La Campa, where we learned all about the Lencan pottery traditions. We got to watch a Lencan woman make a pot and got to meet another woman who makes gigantic pots much taller than herself. We also got to visit a farm where adobe is produced as well as fired bricks and roof tiles. All throughout the tour, we passed through gorgeous scenery. It's a really lovely part of the world.
When the tour ended, we got a bus back to Santa Rosa de Copán. We're here for the night until we can get the morning bus to El Salvador. Next stop: La Palma!
The next day we managed to have lunch at the restaurant and then catch a bus to Gracias, where we were assured we could get a tour of Lencan villages. The drive to Gracias was through gorgeous scenery, and luckily no dead bodies were to be seen. Gracias itself was a surprise...very small and a bit desolate. We decided to check on the tour situation before even checking into a hostel. After a bit of hunting, we were directed to the house of Marco Aurelio. It turned out he'd already agreed to take a couple people on a tour the next day. He wanted to check with them first that it was ok for more people to be on the tour (a first for us!), but they were happy to have more along.
We then had to find a decent place to spend the night. The first place had no fans in the rooms. The second place cost twice as much as we wanted to pay. The third place was a winner...8 rooms set in a mango, coconut, and coffee plantation with cats, a young dog, lots of chickens, and a cantankerous horse. It was lovely. And we managed to have dinner at a place serving traditional Lencan food. The owner is on a mission to help the entire community and spread that mission; she gave us lots of information and finagled Chris into trying to make her computer run faster!
The next morning we got up bright and early for breakie at 7am, and then we met the tour group at 7:30am. The other two people in our group were Scott and Melissa, a brother and sister from the US. We had a great, informative time. Marco took us to a few sites in Gracias itself, and then we set off towards La Campa. On the way we stopped at the farm of a bloke who makes his own natural gas (as well as having a whole farmload of animals). He had us sample some sugarwater, made from sugarcane he chopped down in front of our eyes right there on the farm. Chris helped to turn the huge wooden arm that squeezes the sugar juice out of the cane (the good old-fasioned way!). It tasted nice with lime juice, but we're hoping the water added to it won't make us sick!
Then it was on to La Campa, where we learned all about the Lencan pottery traditions. We got to watch a Lencan woman make a pot and got to meet another woman who makes gigantic pots much taller than herself. We also got to visit a farm where adobe is produced as well as fired bricks and roof tiles. All throughout the tour, we passed through gorgeous scenery. It's a really lovely part of the world.
When the tour ended, we got a bus back to Santa Rosa de Copán. We're here for the night until we can get the morning bus to El Salvador. Next stop: La Palma!
posted by Iff at
6:04 pm
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