Day 3 (June 30) - From Marcala to La Esperanza
The road from Marcala was one of the worst: it is not paved, and you literally are driving on the mountain rock. Again, the 4x4 was well-used most of the way. It took 2-3 hours of slow driving. But the views are magnificent. We counted 11 vehicles from the exit of Marcala to the entrance to La Esperanza. They were all zooming by faster than us, and were loaded with standing passengers in the back. La Esperanza has a nice and tranquil feel. The Parque Central is nice and shaded. A few vendors sell cotton candy and home-made corn chips. The town was pretty dusty (they say there are two seasons there: the dusty season and the muddy season), but it was fun walking around. For accommodation we checked out a few places. The recommended Hotel Esperanza turned out to be a bit stuffy to our taste, and over-priced (600 lempira for a double with bath). Besides, they were renovating, which was creating a lot of noise (something to keep in mind when kids are taking naps in the afternoon...) We found the clean and quiet hotel Mejia Batres close to the Parque Central (300 lempira for a triple with bath). Across the street was a nice new restaurant, with antiques and lots of ambiance. This is where we first learned about Anafre, also called fonditto: a small fondue bowl which sits on top of coals, which has a combination of refried beans and cheese, and comes with nachos (corn chips). This appetizer goes well with beer. And we really liked the local beers (Port Royal and Salva Vida). Beer is very cheap everywhere, and is always served cold. In comparison soft drinks (refrescos) are sometimes warm and served with a glass full of ice cubes. The real highlight of La Esperanza was the road trip out of town: there is a circular road that runs through a small lagoon and snakes into the heart of beautiful landscape: green everywhere, cows grazing, tiny farms dotting the green, and perfect sunshine. Bull carts pull small wood logs, with kids and their fathers walking nearby. Two girls took a ride with us back to La Esperanza to take computer lessons. The road took us back into town right near a large soccer field. We saw such fields in several other places, even quite remote villages. In comparison, while the world cup in soccer was going on (and we made sure to watch all matches), the locals did not seem very enthusiastic to watch or talk about the world cup. That was a surprise. For breakfast we headed once again to the market and looked for the comedors. Now that we had the comparison of the excellent breakfast at Marcala, we could tell that this was not as good, but still fresh. We were also beginning to learn that the concept of vegetarians is not easy to explain in Honduras... We were not expecting a vegetarian's paradise, and were slowly adjusting to the tipico dish for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner.
The road from Marcala was one of the worst: it is not paved, and you literally are driving on the mountain rock. Again, the 4x4 was well-used most of the way. It took 2-3 hours of slow driving. But the views are magnificent. We counted 11 vehicles from the exit of Marcala to the entrance to La Esperanza. They were all zooming by faster than us, and were loaded with standing passengers in the back. La Esperanza has a nice and tranquil feel. The Parque Central is nice and shaded. A few vendors sell cotton candy and home-made corn chips. The town was pretty dusty (they say there are two seasons there: the dusty season and the muddy season), but it was fun walking around. For accommodation we checked out a few places. The recommended Hotel Esperanza turned out to be a bit stuffy to our taste, and over-priced (600 lempira for a double with bath). Besides, they were renovating, which was creating a lot of noise (something to keep in mind when kids are taking naps in the afternoon...) We found the clean and quiet hotel Mejia Batres close to the Parque Central (300 lempira for a triple with bath). Across the street was a nice new restaurant, with antiques and lots of ambiance. This is where we first learned about Anafre, also called fonditto: a small fondue bowl which sits on top of coals, which has a combination of refried beans and cheese, and comes with nachos (corn chips). This appetizer goes well with beer. And we really liked the local beers (Port Royal and Salva Vida). Beer is very cheap everywhere, and is always served cold. In comparison soft drinks (refrescos) are sometimes warm and served with a glass full of ice cubes. The real highlight of La Esperanza was the road trip out of town: there is a circular road that runs through a small lagoon and snakes into the heart of beautiful landscape: green everywhere, cows grazing, tiny farms dotting the green, and perfect sunshine. Bull carts pull small wood logs, with kids and their fathers walking nearby. Two girls took a ride with us back to La Esperanza to take computer lessons. The road took us back into town right near a large soccer field. We saw such fields in several other places, even quite remote villages. In comparison, while the world cup in soccer was going on (and we made sure to watch all matches), the locals did not seem very enthusiastic to watch or talk about the world cup. That was a surprise. For breakfast we headed once again to the market and looked for the comedors. Now that we had the comparison of the excellent breakfast at Marcala, we could tell that this was not as good, but still fresh. We were also beginning to learn that the concept of vegetarians is not easy to explain in Honduras... We were not expecting a vegetarian's paradise, and were slowly adjusting to the tipico dish for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner.
posted by Galit Shmueli at 8:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home