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We left Ulitla at 6am to go back to the Port of La Ceiba. Lex and his unlucky spell of recent motion sickness thought it best to have a sea sickness tablet before the rough boat trip. On the way to the island he was doubled over on his seat with his head in a plastic bag sweating from head to toe. When I tried to help he snapped at me and told me not to touch him......little s***! So with Lex back in the game we had a vomit free boat trip back to mainland....Hooorraaahh!!
From La Ceiba we travelled to Tegucigalpa via bus with Haley, Lex´s scuba buddy, and were slightly skeptical of the capital city as it has a reputation for being dirty, dangerous and all round dodgy. We decided it would be cheaper if we all shared a room, so with backpacks safely stored we set out to book tickets for our journey to Leon. The city itself is pretty much what we´d been warned it would be and decided it was best to grab an early dinner and get back to the room before it got too dark. The next morning we arrived at the bus station chipper and eager to leave the menacing city. Although not all bad....we bought our new camera, nothing too fancy but awesome all the same!!
After a hot bus trip and an interesting boarder crossing into Nicaragua (literally a warehouse) we arrived into Leon and boldly went to our hostel of choice (without reservation) and asked for a room.....to be told they were fully booked. Not to worry second choice is just across the street....sorry, fully booked. Mmmmmppph. Ok we´ll try our third choice a couple of blocks away....Yay, success!! Oh My God, what a dump. The room (quite spacious) not too bad, the bathroom, wow, I would expect better conditions in a prison in Ecuador. The next morning, we woke up, packed our bags and stalked off back to our second choice hostel and were told that there was a room available!!! Thank god. We checked out and transfered our bags and enjoyed a nice breaky at a cafe next door. Whilst eating away I recognised a student from our school in Guatemala walking on the street with a mate and had a good chat catching up and planned to meet up later. We set out on our quick tour of Leon as we had to be back at the hostel by 2 to jump on the adventure bus to the local volcano where we were to experience the thrill of volcano boarding!!
The bus trip was a bumpy one however we arrived to the base of the volcano in one piece only to be told that once we climb the mountain and slide down we may not be in the same tact that we would be on the climb. Mmmmm, commence nerves. We were given our boards and started the long climb to the mouth of the volcano. Under the scortching sun and loose tumbling stones we made it to the top. The view was amazing and from our point of view we could see the original crater and then climbed slightly higher to look into the mouth of the new crater which was created in the 70´s eruption. On the drive we passed a small procession and Anothony (our guide) told us they were praying to the Volcano God to prevent future erruptions and to save their farms and crops. He then went on to tell us that the volcano is the most active volcano in Central America and is long over due for an eruption as its last one was in 1999. Mmmmmm....nerves slowly growing.
The time came for us to meet our contender, the steep hill where we were to slide down at crazy speeds to the bottom where the bright orange bus was waiting. From out view the bus was a small orange orb parked in a sea of frozen lava rock that resembled a river of black wax which was the result of the last eruption.
I didnt listen much in high school, not too much to Mum and Dad, and not alot through college....but by god did I listen to Anthony give his chat about steering, brakes and most importantly HOW NOT TO FALL OFF THE BLOODY THING!! Dont steer with upper body, steer with feet....got it. Mmmmm nerves completely taken over now. Starting my weird nervous laugh. Lex on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear stating how fast he´s going to try to go. s***.
The girls went first and it was eventually time for me to go. I was excited for the ride but my nerves were purely based on falling off, as some people have been badly hurt in the past. Apprently volcano dirt and rocks are unforgiving to bare skin. I jumped on my board and did exactly what Anothony told me. Off I went.....dirt flying directly into my face and somehow finding its way under the goggles. Awesome fun!!!! Amazing times however my concentration of not falling off was a slight nuesance and interference for my fun. I reached the bottom where another guide was taking our speed....27km per hour!!! Pathetic!!! Also discovered that 2 girls had fallen, one with bad grazes and the second with a broken collar bone. Their speeds were 78 and 81. So in hindsight, I´m stoked with my speed.
I waited for Lex to come down, where he flew!!!!! Silky hair blowing in the wind he reached the bottom to be told he was going 84km per hour!!! Made it to the top 5 fastests!!! The only Aussie on the board along with the UK, Israel and Norway where the fastest was 86km per hour. So proud!!! What a day!!! We finished the tour with beer and cookies for the bus ride home....weird combo, but we weren´t complaining. We also got 2 free mojitos at the hostel bar, Lex got an extra 5 for making the top 5. So we met up with our mates at the bar and enjoyed the free drinks.
We continued drinking with the guys and went for dinner, after a couple of drinking games we went off to a nighclub and had an awesome night. The next morning (a little rough) we packed up our bags, jumped in a taxi and headed to the bus station to set off for the beautiful city of Granada.
- comments
Bruce One day you may get a job writing for Lonely Planet. These reports are fantastic Kate. Keep up the humour. So funny.
Sabia Ha love it, what fun!!! Sounds so exciting!! Your whole trip looks so amazing, so jealous! xx Love to you both x Sabs xx
Judith Murphy (nons) Wow, Kate and Lexi you make it seem as if we are there with you, I am so enjoying reading of your adventures. Glad that your tummy troubles are gone Lexi. Congratulations on the volcano boarding Hooray!!!
Granny & Grandad I just had to look up the colloquial meaning of "awesome": according to Macquarie Encyclopedic (Australia's National Dictionary) it is extremely impressive; of high quality. We find the description of your adventures so. We remain fascinated!
Mumma I agree with Bruce - Lonely Planet need you!! Loving all your tales and travels! Love beautiful you xxxx