Monday October 26, 2015, 82 miles (132 km) – Total so far: 12,695 miles (20,431 km)

We left Copan Ruinas and headed towards Santa Rosa de Copan. We figured it would take a few days and Jocelyn had mapped out a dirt road that looked interesting. The road we left on was fine with little traffic. Once we arrived at the dirt road we questioned it. A local kept saying “No, no…peligroso (dangerous)” so we talked it over and decided to listen to the local knowledge. We knew it would be a very steep up and down dirt road but wasn’t sure he was talking about that or maybe the people that live along there. It would have saved us about 25 miles but we decided to stay on the regular road. Many people have told us that Honduras is not safe. So far we have seen a mixed reaction from people seeing us. Except for dodging many huge potholes the road was fine and the mountain and valley views were beautiful. We were also told to never camp in the wild because it was not safe but to camp near a house was okay. Others have said not to camp at all. We made it to the town of La Entrada the first night.

That night Jocelyn was sick with some kind of intestinal bug. The previous day for lunch we ate street food which is usually pretty good. She ate the chicken while I had some beans and salad so we think it might be food poisoning. When I’m hot and tired with much more road work ahead I don’t like eating much which isn’t a good thing. She was up on the toilet most of the night. We decided to head out anyway with the goal of Santa Rosa de Copan another 35 some miles. With about 15 miles to go Jocelyn was really struggling so I put out my thumb and surprisingly a pickup almost immediately stopped. We loaded our bikes in the bed. He was heading home to Santa Rosa after working all night. We were soon on the outskirts of town where he was turning off. Back on the bikes we climbed up and down through this very hilly city and found a cheap hotel ($20). After several hours in bed Jocelyn felt well enough to explore the city a little. We were caught in a huge thunderstorm that lasted a few hours. In between the torrential rain we walked around and found a decent restaurant. Then it was a taxi ride with a driver who wanted double the fare. We gave him his quoted price but then said it was for one. We have encountered this all around the world too. Most of the time we make sure it is for both of us but sometimes we forget. It was raining hard and just wanted to get back. The driver was very angry with us and stormed off.

It is sad to see how dogs around the world are treated. In La Entrada we had eaten at a Chinese restaurant and were served an enormous portion of shrimp fried rice. We took the huge box of leftovers back to the hotel to have for breakfast but since Jocelyn was sick she couldn’t eat. I went in search of dogs to feed. I saw one who was approaching me then turned around when he saw three girls. At that he jumped around and wagged his tail like he knew them. All three immediately picked up rocks and started throwing them at him. We have seen this in countries all over the world, adults and children throwing rocks at dogs like it is a game. This is so very sad. I ended up dumping the leftovers on the side and I’m sure it was soon lapped up as most dogs here are strays. Today Jocelyn was feeling better so after a morning rest we toured the world famous cigar making factory Fabrica de Tabacos La Flor de Copan. They make cigars from Central American tobaccos. The company employs 650 people. It takes about three years of curing before the cigar is rolled. It was a fascinating tour. Tomorrow we continue riding.