After the drama of nearly being washed away in the bulging river and me having a mini panic attack we got on the road with the intention of crossing into Honduras.
The scenic drive took our breath away, the hills all lush and green rolled by us and we laughed at how much like Yorkshire it was…with the addition of a few palms of course. The sun came out and made the place sparkle after all the rain and we happily soaked it up.
We reached the office to be stamped out of Guatamala and soon after the office to be stamped into Honduras. Aside from going back and forth to the copy shop for copy, copy, copy…the whole process was relatively painless and we were soon on our way.
After the first 5 miles we spotted the difference between here and Guatemala. The north of Guatemala had seemed to be mainly farmed land and the people there lived the simple lives similar to the south of Belize but as we got further into Honduras we noticed flash cars, a dual carriageway and the usual burger joints synonymous with America. We drove through San Pedro Sula and could have been in America itself. It was a shock as we had done some reading which prepared us for the ‘second poorest country in central America’ which was not on the surface of what we found. Our stop for the night was quite far along the North coast in Tela. Our day had been a long one and it was dark when we arrived. We tried to follow the rough guide map to a place to camp and after driving around the village several times and argueing all the while about how I couldn’t read a map we were about ready to give in completely. We stopped at the petrol station in moody silence and Alex made himself a coffee to give him the boost he needed to try again to find somewhere to stay. The next town was 98 km away and it just didn’t feel safe enough to boondock so we needed a place to stay. Coffee down we set off again and stopped at a small shop to ask for directions. Luckily the child of the shop keeper could speak excellent English and pointed us in the direction. We had been driving around the wrong part of the village which explained why the map didn’t make sense. The problem with following a small section map is that there is absolutely no point of reference, no distance from the main road and generally out of date stores. Anyway we found the campsite and it was shut (surprise surprise) so we just found a hotel for the night. It was £12 and on the main street but it was a place to rest our weary heads.
After a terrible nights sleep (thanks to the managery of animals in the yard next door) we dragged ourselves back to Peggy, had a Taco for breakfast (from the street vendor that was so busy he had an armed guard!) and got on our way. Next stop, La Cieba. 100km later we arrived in the terrible, dirty, ridiculously busy town of La Cieba. Again with no city map as such we were at our wits end within an hour of driving around and getting nowhere. We decided there and then to head to one of the islands for a few days, from what we had seen of Honduras so far we really didn’t like it. We knew we wouldn’t find anywhere for a wedding on the mainland. That decision made we tried to find the ferry terminal! HA! Impossible! There are no road signs and NOBODY spoke English. We managed to ask for directions and finally (after getting lost a few times) arrived at the terminal…half an hour before the last ferry left for Utila. I said we should camp in the carpark and get the first ferry in the morning and Alex said nope. We are getting on that ferry! So we booked, packed, parked in an hour and jumped on the ferry to our Caribbean Island get away!

Find out what happens on our next travelling wedding adventure!