Okay,
so technically Honduras is the 14th country I have been
in, but my time in Germany was less than 12 hours (plane landing and
train into Austria) so I don't count it. And this past weekend's experience
in Honduras fits with it being good old unlucky #13.
So, we
had a four day weekend (All Saint's Day) and I was joining the Staggers/Grob family
for an adventure in Honduras. The plan was to drive to Graicas on
Saturday, hike Cerro Las Minas (tallest mountain in Honduras) on
Sunday, drive to Rio Hondo (part of the way back) on Monday, and a
mini water park and home on Tuesday. Pretty awesome adventure
if you ask me. Well, that is not what happened.
We took some of the less traveled roads because it was more
direct, unfortunately they were mostly unpaved and washed out
(Melissa, think wrong turn road in Costa Rica). Initially the roads just took longer
and caused Ken (the driver) stress, and it was a beautiful way
through the countries. But the back roads and potholed main roads ended up causing a flat tire. No big deal, unless you break two of the bolts
while changing it. So, rather than hiking a mountain
and enjoying a water park, we spent the weekend reading and playing games in hotel
rooms (weather was crummy), waiting for mechanics to open (all are closed Sunday) and fixing the
tire and replacing the breaks (need was discovered when fixing the tire). The
mechanics were great and I had a good book with me, but it just felt
like such a waste of a weekend; dumb is the best word for it.
Despite everything, I
actually managed to, initially, be thankful for some extra sleep and no major car
damage, but that all went out the window when I saw photos of the Mayan
ruins and kite festivals that filled the weekends of many other
people. It would probably help to not compare my experience to
anyone else's; I have a hard time doing that in general (I'm working
on it) and it was extra hard in this case. I think part of it was
that I was really wanting/needing a break from city life in Guatemala
and just did not get it.
In
three weeks I am planning to head back to Honduras to spend
Thanksgiving on the island of Roatan. Hopefully the country will
treat me better the second time around, I am sure I will really need it by then!
BTW, if you are curious of my other 12 countries (in order): US (yes it counts), Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
