Days 8-10 (July 4-6) - Gracias to Santa Rosa de Copan
An easy drive out of Gracias took us all the way to the main city of the area: Santa Rosa de Copan. Here we found lots of restaurants, a host of hotels, a nice tourist information booth at the Parque Central, and some good walks around town. We stayed at Hotel Elvir, the most upscale hotel, yet pretty affordable (700 lempiras for a double with bath). However, they showed us several rooms that were all terribly musty until a reasonably aired one was found (room #218). They have a nice little swimming pool on the rooftop which Noa loved, and an adjacent bar that was mostly occupied, and unfortunately too noisy until late at night (we had to call reception at 1AM to ask them to turn down the music and lower the giggling voices).
The hotel restaurant was pretty good, and after navigating through the menu we managed to find a terrific vegetarian delight: tortilla soup! This is made with small cheese dumplings, coriander, fried strips of tortilla, and good fresh avocado slices (added after the soup is cooked). We ate in the hotel small outdoor courtyard, where they had 7 turtles swimming in a tiny man-made creak. One evening the hotel worker fed them meat(!) and pieces of tortilla. Noa was fascinated. We found a terrific new sports bar/restaurant called Zots (on Calle Centenario, a couple of blocks from Pizza Pizza), where we watched the two soccer games of the world cup on a large screen. The waiter didn't know what to do with us vegetarians, and so the chef came by, easily understood us, and prepared us a lovely platter of vegetables with the day's special sides. With a few beers and refrescos we kept coming back.
We also went twice to Pizza Pizza, owned by an American expat married to a Honduran (his step-son is a receptionist at the Hotel Elvir, and helped us a lot). They have a nice small play-structure for kids, which Noa greatly appreciated (and so did we!). The pizzas were a nice change from the tipico. We were surprised at how few people were there. I guess I was expecting many more tourists in the "capital" of Western Honduras. Another neat place that we discovered for breakfast is comedor Julie on 1 Calle and Avenida SO (one block west of the Park). She serves a good tipico with cafe negro at a very reasonable 40 lempira or so. The hotel reception people were extremely helpful. They helped us book our flights to Roatan by talking to the SOSA airline agent (our Spanish was insufficient for that...). We also called to reserve a room at Casa de Cafe in Copan Ruinas, and reconfirmed our AA return flight. They also have internet in the lobby at a reasonable $1/hour.
Here there are two ATMs and we stocked up again on lempiras. We've hardly used a credit card until this point (only at Caserio Valuz in Zambrano and at hotel Elvir). We just hung around town, walking down the streets in different directions and chatting with locals. There is a large college, and around 6PM lots of students are out and walking the streets. There is also a friendly small cafe that opened right next door to hotel Elvir. They have decent frozen drinks and croissants and a small selection of crafts and books. And finally, a good supermarket on Calle Centenario.
Beside strolling around town, a major attraction is the Flor de Copan cigar factory. Tours are available at 10am for US$2 per person, but they do not allow children into the fermentation area because of the strong fumes. The factory produces only hand rolled cigars, and you can see every step in the process, including the manufacturing of the beautiful cedar wood boxes.
We took a great day trip from Santa Rosa de Copan to Corquin and Belen Gualcho. On the road, right outside of the city there were lots of pineapple vendors, and then two vendors of sugar cane juice (jugo de cana). We gave them a bottle which they filled with sweet juice that was extracted right there. It took around 45 minutes to get to Corquin, on a well-paved road. Then, another hour from there on a rough road to Belen Gualcho. A nice iglesia there, and then we just hung out at comedor Raquel. We had lunch there and also stayed to watch a world-cup game with the family's grandfather and another couple.
Tip: The only travel agency in Santa Rosa de Copan, which is located down by the central bus station, only works with Atlantic Airlines and Taca. We heard from different sources that SOSA is the most reliable. You can book a ticket by phone, and then purchase it at the airport.
An easy drive out of Gracias took us all the way to the main city of the area: Santa Rosa de Copan. Here we found lots of restaurants, a host of hotels, a nice tourist information booth at the Parque Central, and some good walks around town. We stayed at Hotel Elvir, the most upscale hotel, yet pretty affordable (700 lempiras for a double with bath). However, they showed us several rooms that were all terribly musty until a reasonably aired one was found (room #218). They have a nice little swimming pool on the rooftop which Noa loved, and an adjacent bar that was mostly occupied, and unfortunately too noisy until late at night (we had to call reception at 1AM to ask them to turn down the music and lower the giggling voices).
The hotel restaurant was pretty good, and after navigating through the menu we managed to find a terrific vegetarian delight: tortilla soup! This is made with small cheese dumplings, coriander, fried strips of tortilla, and good fresh avocado slices (added after the soup is cooked). We ate in the hotel small outdoor courtyard, where they had 7 turtles swimming in a tiny man-made creak. One evening the hotel worker fed them meat(!) and pieces of tortilla. Noa was fascinated. We found a terrific new sports bar/restaurant called Zots (on Calle Centenario, a couple of blocks from Pizza Pizza), where we watched the two soccer games of the world cup on a large screen. The waiter didn't know what to do with us vegetarians, and so the chef came by, easily understood us, and prepared us a lovely platter of vegetables with the day's special sides. With a few beers and refrescos we kept coming back.
We also went twice to Pizza Pizza, owned by an American expat married to a Honduran (his step-son is a receptionist at the Hotel Elvir, and helped us a lot). They have a nice small play-structure for kids, which Noa greatly appreciated (and so did we!). The pizzas were a nice change from the tipico. We were surprised at how few people were there. I guess I was expecting many more tourists in the "capital" of Western Honduras. Another neat place that we discovered for breakfast is comedor Julie on 1 Calle and Avenida SO (one block west of the Park). She serves a good tipico with cafe negro at a very reasonable 40 lempira or so. The hotel reception people were extremely helpful. They helped us book our flights to Roatan by talking to the SOSA airline agent (our Spanish was insufficient for that...). We also called to reserve a room at Casa de Cafe in Copan Ruinas, and reconfirmed our AA return flight. They also have internet in the lobby at a reasonable $1/hour.
Here there are two ATMs and we stocked up again on lempiras. We've hardly used a credit card until this point (only at Caserio Valuz in Zambrano and at hotel Elvir). We just hung around town, walking down the streets in different directions and chatting with locals. There is a large college, and around 6PM lots of students are out and walking the streets. There is also a friendly small cafe that opened right next door to hotel Elvir. They have decent frozen drinks and croissants and a small selection of crafts and books. And finally, a good supermarket on Calle Centenario.
Beside strolling around town, a major attraction is the Flor de Copan cigar factory. Tours are available at 10am for US$2 per person, but they do not allow children into the fermentation area because of the strong fumes. The factory produces only hand rolled cigars, and you can see every step in the process, including the manufacturing of the beautiful cedar wood boxes.
We took a great day trip from Santa Rosa de Copan to Corquin and Belen Gualcho. On the road, right outside of the city there were lots of pineapple vendors, and then two vendors of sugar cane juice (jugo de cana). We gave them a bottle which they filled with sweet juice that was extracted right there. It took around 45 minutes to get to Corquin, on a well-paved road. Then, another hour from there on a rough road to Belen Gualcho. A nice iglesia there, and then we just hung out at comedor Raquel. We had lunch there and also stayed to watch a world-cup game with the family's grandfather and another couple.
Tip: The only travel agency in Santa Rosa de Copan, which is located down by the central bus station, only works with Atlantic Airlines and Taca. We heard from different sources that SOSA is the most reliable. You can book a ticket by phone, and then purchase it at the airport.
posted by Galit Shmueli at 6:00 AM
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