Interesting Places in Central and Latin America

[chenchow]

To organize the threads in this Special Interest Group much better, I have decided to spilt the sharing of experiences of various traveling experiences into various continents.

So, this thread is specifically for interesting places that you have known or been in Central and Latin America, from Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, all the way down towards Argentina and Brazil.

[chenchow]

To organize the threads in this Special Interest Group much better, I have decided to spilt the sharing of experiences of various traveling experiences into various continents.

So, this thread is specifically for interesting places that you have known or been in Central and Latin America, from Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, all the way down towards Argentina and Brazil.

[Michelle_london]

I've been to Uraguay and Argentina.

Uraguay- was such a beautiful place, there were beautiful beaches and beach shacks and depressingly slim models everywhere. The night life is fantastic and there are so many bars and cafes and the shops open late. For me it was great since I LOVE shopping and there was this amazing little hippy store and even Louis Vuitton! We stayed in the Conrad Hotel which is the top hotel in Uraguay which was FANTASTIC, there are tennis courts, a swimming pool, spa, gym, 3 restaurants, shops etc. and to top it off I met CHRISTINA AGUILERA!!!

Argentina - We went to Buenos Aires and had the chance to stay in my best friend's Dad's girlfriend's appartment. She was an architect so you can guess the appartment was bloody amazing! I didn't stay in Buenos that long but the night life is A M A Z I N G, there are musicians everywhere, loads of bars, nightclubs and restaurants. However, the people there are really quite poor as there is a large divide between the rich and poor ie. we travelled in a bullet proof limo wheras the truck next to us was full of children and they were virtually falling off it. There are also many pick pockets but it is and enchanting city.

[jackfook]

Have you heard of Bermuda Triangle?If I am not mistaken,it is located in central America.According to history,planes and ships which passed by the location would miss forever.

[boafan]

yep heard of it before..omg is it really true?? this is so friggin scary.. 8O

[strikingstar]

No one has posted in this thread for like 2 years. So here goes...

strikingstar's journey across Central America...

First phase: Guatemala

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First glimpse of Guatemala.

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The Black Cat Hostel aka El Gator Negro Hospedaje

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The cobbled streets of Antigua. (Avenida Seis)

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Carrying babies Mayan style. If ever taking pictures of kids, be discreet. If you get caught by locals, they'll think you want to kidnap the kids and might possibly lynch you. NOT kidding.

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Carrying stuff Mayan style.

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Ascending Volcan Pecaya.

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Hot! 热! Yeed! Panas! Caliente!

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Es muy delicioso.

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Un camioneta.

El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica coming up.

[strikingstar]

Este es el Republica de El Salvador!

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The Cathedral of Santa Ana next to Santa Ana's Central Park. Santa Ana is the 2nd largest city in El Salvador after San Salvador.


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The theatre of Santa Ana. It's also next to the Central Park. Central American Central Parks are only 1 block by 1 block. Totally threw me off. I wasn't expecting New York's Central Park but I was expecting something bigger.


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Statue in Parque Centro. Notice the 'No Guns Allowed' sign in the background?


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Yup, no guns allowed.


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Un ba?o Salvadorean. Nicely furnished.


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Salvadorean currency before they switched to US Dolares. If I remember correctly, it was called the cordoba.

[strikingstar]

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Food was good. Restaurant called Antilagua.


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Lago Coatepeque. This lake is located in the crater of a volcano. Was formed by an eruption some centuries ago. That's part of the volcano there.


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Traffic in San Salvador. In the background is the largest shopping mall in El Salvador or Central America for that matter. It has Siman's which is like Macy's for Latinos.


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The Cathedral of San Salvador in the heart of the city. I had to fight my way through mad traffic and weave my way through San Salvador's chaotic market to get there. The market sells everything - even monkeys. My friend was not pleased (about the traffic).


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Leaving El Salvador. Immigration.


UP NEXT... HONDURAS.

[strikingstar]

MIRI: Sarawak Immigration Department director Datuk Robert Lian lamented that a senior immigration officer was unable to tell him where Uruguay is.

"I had not even asked him yet about the capital (of Uruguay)," he said when launching the 5S Practice for the divisional immigration department, here.

I've this feeling that Honduras is even lesser-known than Uruguay. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if yours truly is the first Malaysian to have set foot in Honduras in at least the past decade. Do feel free to tell me I'm mistaken if you know of someone else who's been to Honduras.

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The gap between the El Salvadorean checkpoint and the Honduran checkpoint. The land of a million mountains awaits on the other side. I was absolutely sick of mountains by the time I left Honduras.


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Just before the Honduran checkpoint of El Amatillo. My friend stands looking absolutely disinterested. Buses wait on the other side and we'll be catching the first one to Tegucigalpa, aka Tegu to the locals. (No bonus points if you already know the capital of Honduras is Tegucigalpa, but Robert Lian will be happy.)


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The bus from the checkpoint didn't actually go to Tegu. It went to the bus terminal in Comayaguela which is Tegu's sister city. Comayaguela is messier, dirtier and more dangerous (if that is even possible).
We got into Tegu late afternoon. This is the Iglesias los Dolores cathedral, only 2 blocks away from the Hotel Nuevo Boston where we were staying. Hunted for a bank willing to change my (Guatemalan) quetzals to (Honduran) lempiras. Unsuccessful. Drew 500 lempiras from the ATM. Felt rich.
Starving after traveling whole day with no chance to grab a bite. Spent 200 lempiras on... Pizza Hut. Went back to the hotel just before 6pm. Didn't dare to venture outside at night. Honduras has a homicide rate of 56 per 100000 which is 10 times more than the US of A. At 7.30pm, my friend decided he really wanted to go to a 'nearby' internet cafe. I refused to let him go alone so I reluctantly tagged along. As soon as we stepped into the Square outside, the street lights went out. We scuttled back into the hotel in a hurry. LOSERS.


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Early morning, on the way to the great Mayan site of Copan. My friend and I actually did a stupid thing by going to Tegu and then going up to Copan, cos Copan is like really close to the Guatemalan border so we actually had to cover the distance of El Salvador going back up. And indeed, the journey took 1.5 days and we had to transit through San Pedro Sula (Honduras' northern hub) and Santa Rosa de Copan (a nice quaint place reminiscent of Antigua).


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A model of the ruins at the entrance. In Central America, Copan is prolly the 2nd best Mayan site with the top spot going to Tikal in Guatemala. Pity we didn't go to Tikal.


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First Mayan Pyramid.

[strikingstar]

More of Honduras:

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Intricate stele in Copan.


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Hieroglyphic Stairway. No climbing allowed.


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Hieroglyphic Stairway. Close-up.


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Going high up.


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Very interesting tree.

[strikingstar]

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Left.


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Right.


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Probably the one structure that will allow people to instantly identify the place as las Copan Ruinas.


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Altar Q. Is a record of the Mayan Rulers of Copan.


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The La Ceiba tree. Huge tree with huge roots. Very important in Mayan superstition.


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Some Mayan building. No idea what it's for.

[caramel_nut]

OMG.. I wanted to visit that place for a long time. Is it expensive to travel there?

[strikingstar]

It's cheap compared to Europe and the likes. I spent like 200 plus USD flying into Guatemala City and another 200 plus USD to fly out from San Jose, Costa Rica (Martinair has really cheap flights out of San Jose to Miami or Orlando.)

I visited 5 countries in 3 weeks and major expenses were obviously food, transportation and lodging. I was kinda on a shoestring, so I stayed mostly in backpacker's hostels - like Black Cat in Antigua and Bearded Monkey in Granada. The great thing about those backpacker's hostels is that you meet everyone from everywhere with all sorts of crazy stories. I met Israelis, Brits, Canadians, Mexicans, Japanese, Koreans yada yada who have just taken a year or years to backpack across the length of the two American continents. A Korean girl I met hitchhiked across Mexico all by herself.

Food will range in price. If you eat what the locals eat, like the pupusas in El Salvador and the plato tipico in Honduras/Nicaragua, it shouldn't be too expensive. Of course, fast food is always a reasonable option. I completed the trio of Guatemala's Pollo Campero, El Salvador's Pollo Campestre and Nicaragua's Pollo Tip-Top. (Pollo=Cooked Chicken in Spanish. Gallo=Live Chicken)

Speaking of Gallo, 'Gallo' is the name of Guatemala's national beer. And speaking of alcohol, their rum is also pretty famous (Ron Zacapa 23 anos = 23 year Zacapa Rum). You might also find mezcal in Guatemala if you know where to look although mezcal is from Mexico. The mezcal found me when my new-found acquaintances brought me to this dark, cramped shady looking bar where we just sat, talked and drank. Nicaragua has a pretty decent flor de cana as well. If you don't like alcohol, definitely try horchata, found throughout C. America and chicha, found in Nicaragua. Seriously good stuff.

Do not ever drink water from the tap. Always drink bottled water. (I was so mindful of the water that I kept spitting the water out from my mouth during my first shower in Central America. But I stopped caring after that. Too much of a hassle.)

Transportation is easy. Buses get you to most places you would want to go. Luxury buses are naturally more expensive, tend to have AC and play really horrendous 'Made in Guatemala' music videos. The kampung buses are more interesting though. People come on board just to sell food on the bus. Cabs are sometimes necessary, especially late at night. But cab drivers will try to rip you off.

It is possible to get a bus from Guatemala all the way to Costa Rica or Panama even. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua make up the CA-4. As long as you have legally entered one of these countries, you can travel within these four countries without a visa for the rest. Then again, I don't think any of these countries require visas from M'sians. Costa Rica isn't in this agreement but Malaysians do not need a visa to enter Guatemala with an F-1 student visa. The only countries I did not go to in Central America were Belize and Panama. I'm not sure about Belize but Malaysians need a visa for Panama, F-1 or no F-1.

The last component that eats into the budget would the expenses on touristy things - like paying for a guide to bring you up volcanoes (I climbed 2 in Central America - Pecaya and Concepcion. Volcanoes are everywhere.), entrance fees into the Mayan sites and ticket fees for taking the ferry to islands etc.

It is advisable to know some Spanish. ?Lo hablas El Espanol? I found that my Spanish was severly lacking in Central America. Lots of brushing up to do, and also makes bargaining with cab drivers a lot easier.

Yup, that's about all I can think of at 2.15am in the morning.

Edit: Hah, how can I forget vaccinations and medication. Yeah, get ur vaccinations if you're going Central America - hepatitis A, typhoid and the likes. Also, get traveler's diarrhoea and anti-malarial pills.

[strikingstar]

Ahhh, Nicaragua... My favourite Central American country. As opposed to that $%^$#@<hidden> pseudo-second-world Costa Rica which gave me a freaking fever in hobo-infested San Jose.

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This is madness!
MADNESS? This is HondurassssSSS! NO! This is NicaraguaaaaAAAAAA!!!!
.
.
.
Well, the right half of this picture is Honduras and the left half is Nicaragua. I love how the border is a rope. Talk about neighborly relations. That guy there is straddling two countries.



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Nicaragua immigration being friendly.



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First night in Managua. It could be worse. (See picture below.) But at the same time, I know I could find a better housing option for the same amount of money or cheaper even.



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The afore-mentioned 'picture below'. Definitely not my idea of permanent housing. (And I thought tenting for basketball tickets was torturous.)
Note that this settlement made of garbage bags is located within walking distance of President Ortega's residence and his tagline happens to be "Arriba, los pobres del mundo" which means "Rise, poor people of the world".



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Nicaragua is a nation with a history of civil war and attrition... as is El Salvador. However, unlike San Salvador, Managua is practically littered with all sorts of statues and monuments related to warfare. This is one of the biggest ones I saw - prolly some Sandinista statue. But then I'm not too sure what that 'Iran' means. It might be referncing the Iran-Contra affair.



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Cows being herded along Lake Managua, almost opposite President Ortega's residence.

[Jules_Verne]

Awesomeness...haha, I'm planning to do a backpacking trip down there probably spring break or summer, anyone up for it?