American Vagrant

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I have moved!

Please subscribe to my new blog at: www.americanvagrant.com

I have decided to migrate from the Blogger interface onto WordPress. I will be transferring my posts over to that site starting immediately, and continue writing new posts exclusively on there. The posts I've made up until this point will remain accessible on either site, but from here forward new posts will only be available on the other blog.

Again, the new address is www.americanvagrant.com or www.americanvagrant.wordpress.com

Monday, March 25, 2013

El Salvador - La Palma, San Salvador, Juayua, Santa Ana, El Zonte, El Sunzal

I entered El Salvador via the border crossing near La Palma, which is my first place of stay on my transit to meet back up with Louise. I discovered during my crossing the border however, that my visa was nearly exhausted (travelers are allotted 3 months to split between Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) so I'd need to try and renew it in San Salvador, and if I wasn't able to, get to Mexico or Costa Rica as soon as possible or else face a hefty fine. So I stayed the night in La Palma which was a lovely little town that offered much art and pupusas.

After the night though I'd begin my journey via local bus to San Salvador, which was easy enough to accomplish. It got a bit difficult once in the city however, as I then needed to work out how to get to my hostel, across the city. They don't make a map of the bus routes, so I began asking around. It proved as usual to be quite straightforward, as locals always tend to be very keen on helping. I planned to see the city while I was here, so after finally tracking down my hostel I headed back out into the city to nose around. Over the next couple days I would begin my application for an extension on my visa as well as some light exploring. The consulate told me I needed to return in a few days to pick my passport up again, so I embarked to meet up with Louise and her mom in Juayua, a small town to the north.

Though I didn't know which hostel/hotel she was staying in, by chance I ended up in the right one (I didn't find out until after putting my bags down and checking my e-mail). I went out into the town where their weekly food festival was taking place, in an attempt to track down the English duo. Without much trouble I ran into them, and the reunion was complete. Over the next few days we would be spend some time wandering about the town and taking buses to nearby villages on what's known as "La Ruta de Flores". Soon enough however it was time for another departure, as I needed to return to San Salvador for my passport, and they needed to journey closer to the airport (conveniently located near the coast) for Louise' mothers' flight home. So I broke southeast and they broke southwest, I having one night in the town of Santa Ana before making it back to San Salvador.

Conceding explanation of my time in Santa Ana to pictures, I'm now back in San Salvador. Fortunately, I had zero issues with my visa renewal process, and when I came back into the consulate it was ready for me. I did manage to see some of the local art, architecture and culture during my time in the capital. Though El Salvador is another extremely dangerous country, second worldwide in murder rate to Honduras, the danger never felt as obvious as in Tegucigalpa. There were some very dense markets that, generally speaking and no less so here left more susceptibility to petty theft, but other than that I was walking around the streets at night going out for pupusas (granted it was in a more affluent area) and was not in the least concerned.

Passport and new endorsement in hand I was ready to head west once again and meet Louise at the coast, in a seaside village called El Zonte. Louise had had an unrelenting resolve to catch up on some surf while in El Salvador (that's right folks, the English do surf on occasion) so she was determined to find the best waves in the country. El Zonte was well regarded as a very good beginners area, with an additional option being nearby Sunzal that is much more popular and crowded. So four buses later and I found myself back in the sticks, trudging down the path towards the small hospedaje Louise had picked out for us.

Despite the realization that the waves may have been slightly more...powerful...than expected, Louise was bent on making due with what we had. So, we rented boards and paddled on out. Well, that's an overstatement. I paddled out while Louise quickly became swept by the surf, her tiny mass offering little compared to the buoyancy of her board. She was sent into the rocks, breaking a fin. I went in to help her from getting beat up, as the sets proved too erratic and close together for her to recover her board safely. Beat up and exasperated, we sat on the shore defeated. Out of sheer naive determination, Louise would insist we try going out again, but with a result not unlike the first, we called it a day. We decided to deal with the crowds at Sunzal, as the shore is not nearly as rocky. A couple days later we did head over to Sunzal, and as expected, the crowds were dense...after a couple hours of play we again ended our search for good waves, for want of better conditions and fewer pedestrians (or in this case, latent victims).

So we put thoughts of surfing behind us, with the notion that at least we gave it a stab and could take comfort in that fact. The next day we decided to head back for San Salvador, where Louise would do a bit of research on the music of the country, more specifically on Radio Venceremos, an instrumental hand of the revolution that broadcast support for the rebels, everything from anti-government propaganda to false information about rebel plans that allowed them to mobilize surprise attacks on their US-backed enemy. Though a great tool in it's heyday, following the rebel victory in the war, it would eventually become commercialized, losing a fundamental part of it's character and becoming in many ways merely one more radio station being run for the purpose of profit rather than expression.

This last time spent in San Salvador (my third visit at this point) would be our last stop in El Salvador. One early morning we would board a TicaBus that was to take us through Guatemala and into Mexico.

La Palma, an El Salvadorean town near the Honduras border

La Palma, rightfully known as a town of art

La Palma, El Salvador

San Salvador is home to a very nice, very modern national museum

Inside a museum dedicated to the revolution of El Salvador, started by a founder of Radio Venceremos. This is a replication of the work station of Radio Venceremos during the war, which was broadcasting from caves in order to avoid capture by pro-government forces.

El Rosario cathedral in San Salvador

A dollar can buy a lot in El Salvador

A park in Ataco, a small town on "La Ruta de Flores", a few kilometers away from Juayua

A mural in Ataco

A view of the church in Ataco

The cathedral of Santa Ana, El Salvador

I love models, don't ask me why

The facade of the cathedral is currently under renovation

More deliciousness, this one from a very arty cafe in Santa Ana

The view of the place we stayed in El Zonte

The view from the deck in El Zonte

Louise lives in a perpetual state of annoyance at my photographing her

The yard of the shanty we stayed in near El Sunzal. The dogs here ate the hat I had bought in Guatemala about 6 months earlier...cute little bastards...

For a bus driver in El Salvador, your mojo is measured by how many accessories you can fit in your driving space. It's obvious this guy is of some status, as he managed to fit a fridge among the usual unused LCD screen and stereo amp.

The fish market at La Libertad. We got some tasty shrimp here for cheap, which were a nightmare to clean.

The beach of El Sunzal, the morning we left.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Tegucigalpa, Lago Yajoa and Copan Ruins, Honduras

Following our time on the coast of Honduras we turned inland towards the capital, where Louise would need to do some research for her radio and written journalism on Central American music. It quickly became apparent upon our arrival that Tegucigalpa was the roughest city we had been to so far. With the highest murder rate in the world, Honduras is a fairly harsh environment, largely due to it's location in the path of drug trafficking from South America.

Our hotel owner told us we are not to be out past 10 pm on any night. He would not let us in after this time, because the local gang would kill him if he opened the front gate. Apparently he had an incident with them in the past. It was also reiterated often throughout our stay from the locals we met that Tegucigalpa is not a city to be taken lightly. Local nightlife was rare for this reason, many being too fearful to venture out at night and causing the arts culture to remain mostly in the refuge of sunlight.

The time we spent in Tegucigalpa was quite enjoyable however, offering nice museums/galleries and interesting street life. There are areas where the class disparities are highly apparent, such as a large if not gaudy shopping mall that appears a haven for the wealthy in city, those appearing too afraid or well-dressed to mix it up in the lower neighborhoods. Taxis are recommended for traveling around the city as a traveler, even if you look rough, us gringos will get stares throughout the markets and squares.

Louise was to meet her mother in El Salvador following Tegucigalpa, so after she left (I was to meet up with them about a week later) I headed for Lago Yajoa, located to the north. After first getting a taxi to the bus station (more like neighborhood, they were just scattered around a few streets) I boarded the one that was to drop me off on the side of the road, where I'd then take a local minibus westward into the more rural villages, which would then drop me in front of the last road that was to lead to the hostel I was staying in (which was also a brewery). So I followed the aforementioned steps and lo and behold the outcome was as I had hoped, and I was returned to the backpacking circuit.

Lago Yajoa is a very beautiful lake, the largest in Honduras. It's surrounded by heavy vegetation and mountains that hold great cloud forests. It is also fairly nearby a very impressive waterfall that one is able to travel into (underneath the falls themselves). As you may have guessed this occupied my time one day, along with a nice paddle around the lake on a row boat. I quickly learned that less any knowledge of how to row, it's not the easiest thing to accomplish. Firstly, I was unaware that the loops of rope on my paddles were meant to be hooked over the bolts on which stuck out the top of the boat sides, and appeared to be prepared to fall of any day. So without this very important knowledge I pushed off from the shore and continued to make, to my embarrassment and the present locals amusement, some very pathetic, very slow and very awkward donuts in the water. Taking pity on me, a local man beckoned me back to shore where he properly slipped the loops over the anchors (those odd bolts I had mentioned before) and proceeded to give me a quick demonstration of the proper rowing method. Lesson learned, I re-mounted and pushed off, determined not to look like a complete idiot again. Fortunately for me, with the oars properly setup paddling wasn't nearly as awkward, and by the end of my endeavor I would be willing to call myself a nearly-suitable rower, if one was willing to acknowledge the ability to row in an epileptically straight line as sufficient qualification for the distinction.

So out I went, paddling into the lake and doing my best to look natural and, after some exploring, in I came (go figure). It was as I had expected from the shore, a very beautiful lake. I had gone for a swim and lounged about a bit in the boat, listening to music. I'd recommend anyone who goes to Lago Yajoa to definitely rent some oars (only a few dollars for the day) and make the venture out into the lake. This is going on too long so I'll cut off my riff on Lago Yajoa now, just look at the pretty pictures and realize it's allure.

After Lago Yajoa was Copan Ruins where, as one may have guessed, I went to the ruins. The government charges an incredible fee for the ruins, more than any other I've ever been to, but I had traveled there just to see them so I sucked it up and paid it. For what it's worth they were quite awesome, or no less awesome then the rest I had seen. Following a couple day stay in the town of Las Ruinas de Copan, I headed for the El Salvador border.

The land is not for sale! (modified to the affirmative)

Traditional festivities in a heavily trafficked part of town

Local visual art tends often to be quite dark, violent and repressive...the natural product of an environment which offers the same.

A city built upon mountains

The cathedral near our hotel

A Tarantino style solution to our Satan issue

Pulhapanzak Waterfalls near Lago Yajoa

Beneath the falls

Inside

On the lake, Lago Yajoa

Copan Ruins, incredible detail on these

The park is home to many of parrots. While reading on a pyramid, a flock made their rounds throughout the vast open spaces

The ruins

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Caribbean Coast, Honduras: Tela, El Triunfo de la Cruz, La Ceiba, Trujillo

With my time on the Bay Islands ended, I returned to the mainland and headed for the Caribbean town of Tela. Generally I travel alone, but for a change I instead met up with a friend I'd made in Nicaragua. As an independent music journalist from the U.K., she is working on some pieces about the music in Central America, and for this reason our time together had us going to some places not quite as ordinarily traveled to by backpackers. For instance, La Ceiba is generally only used by backpackers for transit to the Bay Islands, but because it also has a large Garifuna (read her blog at http://rovingradio.wordpress.com/ for an explanation) presence we spent a few days there.

So first up was Tela, a small town located between San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. For anyone interested in seeing it, it's easily reachable, as any bus going between these two cities will pass Tela. Just tell your conductor and he'll inform you when to get off. I opted to take a chicken bus to try and save money, though I don't think it did. Unlike the other countries in Central America, using chicken buses in Honduras does not seem to be financially advantageous over using private lines when traveling within the country. When traveling across borders however, it may. While in Tela we explored the town a bit and visited the nearby village of El Triunfo de la Cruz. This place has a heavy Garifuna culture so we had hoped to find subjects for interview, but to no avail. We had however heard about a local radio station in town, and decided to go there for an interview with some of the hosts. Once there we were greeted warmly and quickly told that we'd be going into the broadcast room for a (what was intended to become) two-way on air interview. I should mention that whenever I tag along for these interviews it's assumed that I'm also a part of this project, thus my getting dragged into this scenario.

Anxiety immediately beset my friend, not because she isn't used to being on the air, but instead because neither of us have perfect spanish, and she was worried that her words may fail her (I having less refined spanish than hers would be of no help). Fortunately (or unfortunately, as I'm sure comedy would have ensued) a couple of the real guests who were scheduled to be interviewed on air showed up early, and we were exonerated of humiliation. The host offered to defer the appointment but our schedules did not align, and we were forced to return to Tela with nothing to add. The next day we moved on to La Ceiba.

While in La Ceiba we moved about both within the city as well as to the nearby villages of Corozal and Samba Creek. In Corozal we meant to witness an authentic candle-light vigil but the fun was rained out by the newly arrived rainy season. We waited for a couple hours in the wet darkness before calling it quits and returning to La Ceiba via taxi. For anyone interested in traveling to Corozal, a taxi costs 60 lempira to and from the town (about $3 US). Many taxi drivers will quote you much more and refuse to do it for less, but 60 lempira is the local rate, and I'd advice the thrifty traveler to hold out for an honest driver.

In Samba Creek we met with Omar "Babkle" Suazo, a relatively well known Garifuna artist who, after living in the U.S. for some number of years, has returned to his home to help run a living cooperative for his community. After my friends interview with the artist, we watched him conduct an outdoor meeting with his community, where they discussed land rights and plans for the construction of their new housing segment. It was interesting to see the way local business was conducted, and Omar's leadership with his people.

I can't say La Ceiba was my favorite city to be in, but while there we did get to witness much of the Honduran culture, including local Independence Day celebrations as well as a show put on by some local Garifuna performers. Plus the food was delicious as always...I've got nothing bad to say about the place. If you're looking to be amused by tourist attractions such as museums however, you ought to look elsewhere.

Our final destination on the Caribbean coast was Trujillo for some real relaxation. Trujillo is the furthest town east on the San Pedro Sula/La Ceiba highway. Best known for it's castle that (unsuccessfully) meant to defend from sea-borne threats, the town is also enjoyable simply in lieu of it's atmosphere. It's also quite well known for having good seafood, as these seaside villages generally are - but as budget travelers we were outpriced from trying it. The local hostel we stayed at, which had just been taken under new management, was an xtremely easy going way to spend a couple days. The (new) name of the place is "Tranquility Bay Beach Resort". It requires a bus (or cab) ride to get to, but was worth it. We mostly ate our own food or dined in town however, as the food is not cheap by local pricing standards.

Following Trujillo we boarded an overnight bus (approximately $18 US if I recall correctly) and headed on (or back I should say) to my next blog post, Tegucigalpa.