0102 Antigua across the Honduran Border, into Copan Ruinas.

We left Antigua this morning (Friday) and headed northeast, planning to cross the Honduran border up near La Frontera.  We have decided to skip San Salvador.  We went through Guatemala City, and spent a couple of hours looking for gas (propane) for our cooking bottle which was now empty, and this turned out to be a two hour adventure in itself !  Suffice it to say we eventually found the right place, and got it all sorted. Our French friends Greg and Estelle had told us of a possible restaurant camp site just short of the border in a town called

Chiquimula, which we found after a couple of wrong turns – And Los Laureles was the most incredible place – A kind of giant ranch resort, with horses, a menagerie of other animals, swimming pool, restaurant, cabins. And a soccer pitch on which we were invited to camp for the night free of charge !  We ate dinner in the restaurant, and then turned in, intending to make an early start to hit the Honduran border before mid morning. 

Las Laureles  N14.44.952   W089.32.302 
After coffee in the restaurant in the morning, we headed off through some windy hilly country towards the Honduran border. As we got close, there were trucks queued up everywhere, so we just drove past them all up to the Guatemalan border guards.  After my experience coming into Guatemala 3 weeks ago I was more than a little nervous about this next border crossing – But it turned out to be a really pleasant experience.  No one hassled us, the police at the Guatemala border showed us where to park the car, then took me up to the correct counter to start the paper work procedure, Honduran customs we friendly and polite, no one tried to rip us off – It was just the most pleasant experience.  No crowds, no queues - Everything just went smoothly and within less than two hours, we were on our way in Honduras !! Big smiles from Giles !!

Winding scenery over the mountains for some 25 kms to Copan Ruinas, the site of some amazing Mayan ruins, and we were there by soon after lunch, and went off with our guide Yobani.

Pics are here https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0099AntiguaToCopanRuinas?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqqitKV8MHoiAE#