Hardcore bookin' it

Following rafting, I got a ride into La Ceiba in preparation for the following day's travel. I'd been recommended a hotel just across from the bus station, so I headed straight there. I check in at about 7pm, and then I headed to the bus station to buy my bus ticket. The first company, which was about 4 blocks away, was sold out of their 3:30am bus tickets to Tegucigalpa. But they recommended another company that had a bus that left at 3:10am. Conveniently enough, it was only about a block from my hotel. I bought a ticket and headed back to my room.

Why so early? Well, I wanted to avoid spending the night anywhere between Tegucigalpa and the Nicaraguan border... I wanted to get to Nicaragua in one day. And, I found out that evening that there was going to be a nationwide strike which would involve closing down bridges for the morning... and to leave La Ceiba, you have to cross a bridge. But the strikers didn't want to wake up too early, so things were going to be affected as of 6am. All the more reason to get the heck outta Dodge.

I went to bed at about 9pm and woke up at 2:45am and finished my packing. I was sitting on the bus at about 3, and then I popped a Dramamine, which causes drowsiness. (I can't sleep sitting up without something to help me.) I more or less slept until 7am, when we had a breakfast stop.

Now, the night before, I'd made my last run to the ATM, but I'd forgotten to figure in my hotel that night, so I knew that funds were going to be tight if I were to get by on Honduran Lempiras until the border. I figured I had about 50 Limps (~$2.50) for food until I found out exact prices for buses. I spent about 40 limps on breaky and we continued on to Tegus.

At around 10, we rolled into the bus station, and I caught a taxi across town to another bus station. There, I learned the prices of the next three buses to the border. And I had another 15 Limps or so to spend on food! Hooray!

I rode to Danli, switched over to a bus to El Paraiso, then in El Paraiso, I had another snack and a coke (13 Limps). After paying for my last bus ride, I had a total of 3 Limps in my pocket - about $0.16. I paid the Nica entry fee at the border with my last US$7, and when I went to use the bathroom, I was faced with a 3 Cord fee - I asked if I could pay in Limps instead, and they agreed. I managed to leave Honduras with the exactly correct amount of money.

Once I hit Nicaragua, I continued my bus surfing and used 4 different vehicles to get to Granada, arriving at 8:30pm, just 17.5 hours after I'd left La Ceiba. I spent the night there, and after pampering myself in the morning with a pedicure ($3 for an hour's work!) and a fabulous brunch of a panini sandwich with hummus, fruit salad and iced latte, I headed on to San Juan del Sur, one my favorite beach places. Now, I've been here a week and will be moving on on Thursday or Friday.