Out this morning for more espresso. Sat around at one of the tables outside drinking and reading (or trying to read) one of the 6 local papers. There's an article that seems to show that terrorism, bombs, etc. are declining.

The city seems to be a lot cleaner than last time. There are actually people sweeping the streets (even wearing matching orange shirts), there's a few garbage cans around and so on.

Back at the hotel. I run into a guy (Ned - from California) who's going out to the Valle de Las Angeles. It's a little village about 15Km northeast of town. There's supposed to be a lot of arts and crafts stuff there. Off we go to try to find the bus terminal.

The bus system is a little different here: there isn't a central/main terminal. If you want to go to a specific city then you go to the terminal for that specific city. If you decide you want to go to a different city then you have to go to the terminal for that city. Good news and bad news: there's a lot of terminals all over the place but they're all pretty small and don't disturb the neighborhoods where they're located.

This terminal is south of some hospital on the far side of the Honduran Maya Hotel. The taxi ride out is 18L. I'm always concerned about taxis but my luck on this trip was pretty good. Ned tries to explain to the driver that we want to go to the terminal for the buses that go to the Valle de Las Angeles. No luck. We're dropped in front of the hospital. OK, this is great, now - which way is south? Well, thanks to my extensive military training, I just happened to have a compass. That way! - we walk about 30 feet down what seems to be a trail wishing to be an alley. Here it is!

The "terminal" is kind of a small vacant lot. There are a couple of buses parked there, backed in neatly. A small snack stand and not much else. The buses are of the "BlueBird" variety. For those of you who are uneducated in these matters, if your sister were a bus, you'd want her to marry a "BlueBird". We stand around until the driver gets on the bus and yells at us. No tickets yet.

We head into the hills. Very scenic drive. Mostly up-hill along the side of a valley. If you take the ride, (and can handle the thrill) be sure and sit on the right side of the bus going out. Not on the left side like I did. (The opposite of POSH if you know what that means)

Actually, the ride wasn't as scary as it might have been. The road was so steep and twisting and it was not (to say the least) a non-stop trip. Anyway, we never get going very fast. Which, considering all that we encountered, was a damn good thing. In reading about driving in this part of the world they warn about many things. We encountered most of them on this trip. A truck broken down in the middle of the street with no warning/caution stuff, a cow standing in the road (maybe it was petrified - it never moved - we went around it), half of the road dug out for some drainage work - around a curve - no flag-person, a guy on a horse pulling a burro.

I'm no longer sure if this is Valle de Las Angeles or Santa Lucia. Anyway, the main purpose of the picture is to show how they grow crops on most pieces of land that permit. Plus it's a nice view.

The scenery was great. There are really some beautiful houses up here (along with more than a few huts) - along with some very creative use of real estate. We saw a few "For Sale" signs. I wonder what the market is for real-estate up here.

The village itself was OK. Just a little village with a nice looking mission-style church next to the square in the middle of town. The square was interesting in that it was fenced off with a low chain-link fence with turnstile entrances on all four sides. I'm uncertain if this was to keep bicycles, skateboarders, or horses out. There was about 10 guys playing a kind of soccer right in the middle. It was on kind of an enclosed courtyard. Enclosed with low cinderblock walls. Kind of a variation of "arena" soccer. Just a little village with more tourist shops than is good for it. And a lot of schools. This whole country has a lot of schools.

We stopped at a little cafe that was right on the town square for lunch. I had carne asada with a beer. Ned had pupusas and a soft drink. Then we had one of those fondue things - ceramic fondue pot over charcoal - beans and cheese and toasted tortilla chips. And another beer. Total about L78. Great food and cold beer. (The "fondue things" were introduced in the now classic "Honduras 94". There's a picture somewhere in this publication. You'll just have to find it.)

We headed back to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus we noticed a couple of cowboys ride by on horses. Then a little boy went by with a burro carrying a load of firewood.

The bus ride was L6 total.

We decided to walk back to the hotel from the bus terminal. As we walked by the hospital I noticed a sign that appeared to direct cholera patients to a special entrance. The signs were slightly faded and had obviously been there for a long time. I'm certainly reassured.

During our walk I was busy pointing out things: here I ate, there's the American Embassy, etc. then, there's a tap on my shoulder. I had managed to drop my map of Tegus. Some guy had picked it up and caught up with me to return it.

Shortly I'm on familiar ground. I've walked this ground before and remember it from last time. This is the road that passes in front of the American embassy. We continue past the embassy toward the bridge that leads to Tegus. Just before the bridge there's a Texaco service station with a great marketing ploy. They've got these two sweeties giving away free fruit drinks. Ice cold. Tight pale yellow mini-micro skirts. Great! I'm sure we'll get thirsty again.

Back to the hotel. I go back out to check out other things. I wind up at some bar that's having a 2 for 1 drink special - starts at 5 PM. I'm a little dehydrated after all that walking, high altitude and low humidity. I feel the neeed to replenish my precious bodily fluids. 3 doubles later and I feel pretty rejuvenated. It's after 6PM and starting to get dark. I decide go over to the Parque Centeral. As I'm walking past a group of ladies one of them looks up and says "Hi!" I walk on for a while trying to remember what "Hi" means in Spanish. (I think it means, "Yes" in Japanese) By the time I realize she was speaking English and return she was gone.

I run into JTC again - he's just kinda standing around with his lawyer. We spend time talking about the usual BS. Then he introduces me to a female-type Honduran who (he says) wants to get married. Who knows? Then JTC and his lawyer decide to go to a bar. He tells me that it's about time for the "ladies of the night" to come out and I should head back to the hotel.

I head back toward the hotel. Sloooowly. I wait until I figure he's had time to leave. I head back to the Parque. I troll around - waiting to be accosted or at least see someone to accost. Nothing - nada - zip. Back to the hotel

There I run into Ned. He's planning on going to the Casino at the Honduran Maya. He's got this system at blackjack that can't lose. I agree to go along. I've never been inside the casino and I have visions of James Bond in Casino Royale. It's the only casino in town and after all this is the capitol of Honduras. We take a taxi.

At the casino we find the most persistent beggars I've encountered in Honduras. A couple of little kids. Probably spoiled by rich dumb foreigners or is that "dumb rich foreigners" or do you just need to say "Americano"?.

Inside the casino: 6 blackjack tables, 2 roulette tables, 39 slot machines of various styles shapes and colors. There's one guy playing blackjack. One, uno, 1, (3 minus 2). That's it. The minimum bet is L25. This guy is playing 4 hands at a time and starting with L200 each hand. (He also probably gave the kids out front some folding money). He's losing his ass. Ned sits down and plays one hand at a time betting L25 to start. Some guy comes in with what appears to be his girlfriend and her mother. The girlfriend is exquisite - much too nice for him. Ned soon loses his allotted $30. We're out of there pretty fast.

We taxi back to the hotel. For some reason we decide to go down to the Parque. I've never been out this late in Honduras before. I'm curious about what it's like - how light is it, what's open, what kind of people are walking around, are the police around, etc.

It's especially nice being out here with someone to talk to. There are a few places open - BurgerKing, Wendy's, Pizza Hut. Busses picking people up, a few police around with their M-16's, shotguns etc. Lots of people around. The vendors that they kicked out have slowly crept back in at night. Not all of them but enough to spice the place up. Porky's Hot Dog wagon is back. Actually there's three of the hot dog wagons. A few women selling roasted corn and some other stuff wrapped up in banana leaves. Some women have charcoal fires going - cooking what appears to be pieces of chicken - if the light were better I'd probably go for it. The stuff smells good and certainly sizzles loud enough but I'd kinda like to see what it is first. (Somewhere here I know there's a good tamale) Lots of students with notebooks. Not as many in uniform like during the day. Probably people that work during the day and go to school at night. Lots of them.

There's nothing going on in the parque.

I hate to mention it but the top of my head is sunburned.