Economics With A Face

At the border, now about 12:30, we jumped on a bike taxi and made our way through customs and immigration. Once in Honduras I had to haggle with the guy who gave us a ride because upon exiting the bus he said he’d give us a ride for a small tip and I stupidly jumped on the bike without realizing his definition of small was $10. In the end it all worked out though after some negotiation.

Driving through Honduras on yet another school bus the first thing that stood out was how many more animals grazed on the sides of the road. Goats, cows, pigs, and more. The highway was like a big farm. We bounced around in the back of the bus and after another couple hours we were in Choluteca, one of the largest cities in the south of the country. We collected our bags and hurried off to find the bus to San Marcos, a town near the Nicaraguan border which would be our final destination.

The police blocked the way of the bus momentarily as a thief has stolen something from a woman directly in front of us. They were trying to figure out what had happened. Before long though we were off… unfortunately not for long.

About 20 minutes into the ride the bus broke down and everyone on our bus that was already full, had to make our way onto another bus that was already half full. I was considering just spending the night in Choluteca but we decided to go for it as it would really make our trip tomorrow much easier if we could make it to San Marcos. One of the operators threw our bags uptop and tied them down, so now we definitely had to get onto the bus. One problem though. There was no, and I mean absolutely no room at this point. Every seat was full and isles were so packed that people were literally coming out the doors.

I left Em at the rear entrance with instruction for her to beg her way on if need be. I could tell there was no way both of us were getting on at this entrance as an older lady and kid were already packed tightly together on the last step. I was able to get a foot on the bottom step near the driver, getting half my body aboard. At the rear of the bus I could see one of the bus operators making sure Em got squeezed in.

We drove off with two guys hanging out the front exit, half my body hanging over the edge, and all in all about 5 of us on the bottom step or hanging out the door. I was shocked when the bus continued to stop to pick people up. Soon there were about 5 guys hanging on the bars that extended out to the side view mirror or from the windows. Just when I thought “Well, at least we are going to make it” we turned a corner where a police pickup was parked and quickly waved us over. Initially when the guys outside saw it they all tried to cram inside to hide but not even one person more could fit. Next thing I knew the cops had the driver out of the bus and were talking to him and the other operator.

I asked a guy next to me if they were going to detain the bus, but he replied they probably just wanted a bribe and then would let us go. “Bienvenidos a Honduras” he jokingly told me. Sure enough the driver shortly made his way back to where we were standing, slyly took out his wallet beyond the view of the policemen, and removed a 20 lempira bill, although I could see he had much more. He made his way back to the police and after paying the bribe we were on our way again. This time it was tougher as we all had to give the bottom step to a mother with her 3 year old daughter. The poor young girl was having a temper-tantrum with such a hot, packed bus so we all gave her some room in hopes that the girl would relax a bit. This meant that I too was completely hanging outside the bus like I was riding a cable car in San Francisco, which I enjoyed, but unfortunately didn’t help to calm the little girl down who continued to throw a fit for the next 45 minutes.

Slowly people departed the bus and about 1.5 hours into the trip I finally got a seat. The views were incredible as we made our way through the highlands of Honduras. Finally we made it to San Marcos at about 5:00pm after a long day of traveling. An elderly gentleman who Em had been talking to during the ride walked us to the pension in town and showed us where to get a cheap dinner.

We eventually got to sleep despite a good deal of noise on the street (I’m also sick again with a bad cold which doesn’t help). Tomorrow: Nicaragua.