Life should be as Fun as Fiction!
We had only planned to stay two nights in Copan Ruins, Honduras before heading into Santa Ana, El Salvador to travel the Ruta de Flores. However, multiple inquiries confirmed that there were no shuttle busses going to El Salvador at the moment. It turns out that there are only two that make that trip. We were told one blew up a few weeks ago and the other is driven by an alcoholic on a bender. Interesting…
[Read more…] about “Captive” in Copan (and then Abandoned in Antigua)
On our second attempt to visit las ruinas in Copan Ruins, Honduras we succeeded! The park requires all visitors to show a passport or driver’s license and it costs 315 Limperas to enter. I had purchased a Promo Dias discount card when I booked the Hedman Alas bus ticket from Antigua to Guatemala (saved 25% off the cost of the bust ticket for me and Rhiannon). The ruins accepts the Promo Dias card, but only lets you use it for one person. Final price was 291 Limperas. [Read more…] about Roaming through Ruins
At 11:00 a.m. we finally made it to Copan Ruins, Honduras having left Antigua, Guatemala at 3:20 a.m. Although we all snoozed on the quite comfy Hedman Alas bus, we were beat and decided to just relax at Via Via (our hostel) and watch the World Cup game between Honduras and Ecuador. Via Via was giving free cubre libres (basically rum and coke) drinks for each Honduran goal. We toasted our one free cubre libre to new friends and our planned tour of the Mayan ruins tomorrow. Little did we know, then, that our plan would be thwarted at each turn, or…wrong turn. [Read more…] about Circling Copan
At 3:20 a.m. (Yes, A-freaking-M) the shuttle driver banged on the door of hostel Holistico. We are off to Copan Ruins, Honduras! The Hedman Alas shuttle (which was really comfy compared to the usual shuttles here in Antigua) took our new friends, Evelyn and Trent, and Rhiannon and me to Guatemala City. That’s when the trouble began.
It seems that there is this pesky thing that airlines require before they will take you to another country. It’s called “proof of onward travel.” And I ain’t got it. My beautiful map with my itinerary doesn’t count. The fact that people are trying to leave Guatemala, El Salvador or Nicaragua to go to where I am coming from, also isn’t proof that I wouldn’t try to stay. Apparently, I need a bona fide ticket out of Guatemala in order to get in. So, rather than play around with booking a “refundable” ticket home and then canceling it (and likely waiting weeks to get a refund) tonight I attempted to purchase an e-ticket from the well known Hedman Alas bus company. Rhi and I are leaving Guatemala on June 20 to begin our southward adventure in Honduras so it’s the perfect proof of onward travel! Unfortunately for me, the bus website is entirely in Spanish. Fortunately, I was able to figure out which ticket I needed, for which day, and even got to the section to fill out the e-form to buy it. But, I hit a snag when it said the passport expiration date that I entered was not valid. I know it is, so it has to be a glitch in their system. I found a “Contactenos” button and it gave me a bunch of phone numbers. But, then I found an email address to, I think, ask questions! Hooray!
I decided that it would be rude to email them in English since their website was entirely in Spanish. I really need someone to get back to me tomorrow a.m. so I made my first attempt at communicating in the very rudimentary Spanish that I’ve been trying to learn with the Duolingo app.
[Read more…] about My map with squiggly lines is not proof of onward travel