Yuscarán and onwards

After Lago Yojoa, we think about visiting Tegucigalpa.. but then the bus takes us close to this moloch of a city, and after a glance we decide that big cities really aren't our thing.

Our goal then is Yuscarán, which is described as a sleepy little colonial town, even though it's the capital of the El Paraíso department of Honduras. As our camioneta makes it's way along the winding road, we get a first glimpse, and are instantly reminded of a small Italian mountain village.

 

Tiny old colonial buildings lining the cobblestone alleys.

We do get a hotel room (there are two in town, one is currently shut down for renovations), and wander around to explore the city.

The Plaza Mayor is definitely worth seeing, with it's little fountain in the middle, inhabited by four freshwater turtles.

The fancy fountain (with live turtles), probably from the good old times of silver mining.

Hungry? (No turtles were actually hurt for this photo.)

On the second day, we explore our surroundings. A trail leads in a half-circle onto the closest mountain, with a nice view onto the town itself.

Possibly illegal parking of transport vehicle.

Not Italy, but southern Honduras.

In the afternoon, we visit also the town's museum, a collection of mostly random, but lovingly labeled, things from the city's past, which consists to a large part of mining equipment and relics. 

The silver mines around here used to be the city's main income, and led to a quick growth in wealth and importance. By the end of the 19th century, the city was one of the first in all of Honduras to have electricity.. 

But as soon as the mines were depleted, the settlement fell back into near-obscurity, and is what it is today.

"Muy tranquilo, y no ladrones!" (very quiet, and no thieves), as we hear it described a few times. The inhabitants seem to be very proud of that, and with disgust they refer to the crime rates in La Ceiba, Tegucigalpe or San Pedro Sula.

Unfortunately, another thing that doesn't exist is a cash machine, and we are running low on money. The local bank also doesn't accept Visa cards, so leaving after two nights is the obvious thing to do (there probably wouldn't be much more to see, anyway).

The Plaza Mayor of Yuscarán.

Unfortunately, I wake up in the morning with a good fever.. Stomach again, damnit. Nevertheless, we decide to continue to Nicaragua.

We have to change buses in Danlí and El Paraíso, until we make it finally to Los Manos, the border into Nicaragua. Hannah takes good care of me, while I doze off every few minutes, only to be woken up moments later by some bump on the road that the bus hits.

At the border, I'm very worried for a moment: We have to line up in a small shack labelled "Health Center". An infrared camera is installed, a small slip of paper saying "37 degrees Celcius" is inserted into my passport (only because I took some fever-reducing medicine about an hour ago, by pure luck..).

What does this mean? Will there be some additional health check-ups now, possibly resulting in a refusal to let me cross the border?

But no, nothings happens. The imigration officer takes ages to fill out all the paperwork, but in the end we get our passports back, and continue to the Nicaraguan side. Wohoo!

Another bus takes us to Ocotal, the first city in Nicaragua, and a taxi delivers us to the next hotel, where I finally fall in a fever-dream-tormented sleep.