Travails of the Wide Eyed Wanderer

Although I am now in Honduras, my time in Guatemala was to have a final twist - food poisening.

I am blaming the fried chicken I ate in Chichi. Subsequently, I have been sick ten times, most notably from the first floor window of an internet cafe, which caused a fair degree of comotion on the street outside. After being sick the first time I considered the worst to be over and promptly bought my 4 am bus ticket to Honduras the following morning. However, far from marking the start of my recovery, I soon detiorated further. Nevertheless, I managed the trip across the border intact and arrived near the impressive Mayan ruins of Copan.

The following morning I set off from Copan on the bus for the coastal town of La Ceiba on the Carribean coast. Despite a ticket fiasco, the journey was in relative comfort, except for the last leg where I had to endure a large, perspiring hobo practically sitting on my lap.

I arrived late into La Ceiba, but struck up with two Germans and after finding a room we sought out the only place open on Sunday night...Pizza Hut - my first proper meal for 3 days!

The problem is that La Ceiba, like Utila (an island off the Honduran coast where I am now) seems to have a rainy season during the rest of the region's dry season. Indeed the boat trip from La Ceiba to Utila became an experience itself, with the boat resembling a see saw as it was carelessly thrown around by the sea. Numerous times huge waves hit the flimsy plastic windows and twice the waves breached the broken plastic door, drenching a signicant number of us passengers. It was a minor miracle that I did not continue my trend of the last few days and be sick during the ninety minute journey. Anyway, I am now settled in Utila where it has rained almost non stopand the water in the streets is frequently ankle deep.

Consequently, my dream of spending Christmas sunbathing and learning to scuba dive appears to be restricted to the latter. Lets hope the weather improves!