Gracias

After having been in Útila we decided to start our journey to a small town called “Gracias” which is located in the west of Honduras. It was a long trip from La Ceiba as we had to leave from there to San Pedro Sula, then Santa Rosa de Copan where we spent one night and then to Gracias. This city is located in the department of Lempira (named after the Honduran currency). It is one of the oldest cities in Honduras and has a beautiful colonial style.

This is a city mostly to walk through its streets and enjoy its style and how special the people there are. The tourist offer is not much and because of this, there are not many hostels in the area. There are many houses that the people themselves rent for very cheap prices and also hostels that are not the best options but are comfortable for at least one night. When in Honduras don’t forget to try the Balada. This is one of the typical dishes of the Honduran people and consists of a flour tortilla with chicken, beans, avocado, sometimes egg and many other things inside, it is delicious.

Among the places I recommend you to visit are:

• The central park and its church
• La Merced church is located a few blocks from the central park.
• The Fort of San Cristobal, was built due to the invasions that existed between Guatemala and El Salvador in the times when conservatives and liberals fought in Central America during the 19th century.
• In Gracias some hot springs are perfect to visit at night. They are about 30 minutes from the city and you can take a tuc-tuc, we asked for a ride on the way there and it went well. It was almost 11:00 pm

We also decided to visit the botanical garden but we missed the trip, there isn’t much to see there.

 

Santa Rosa de Copán

This city is a strategic point to move to the north of Honduras because from there you can go in the direction of Guatemala in the north or continue west to El Salvador. In this city, we only spent one night but I think there was no need to stay long there, we walked around the park which is nice, they have a company where they make tobacco and it is very important called La Flor de Copan. You can go there and do a tour. We didn’t do it.

In this city I tasted for the first time the famous pupusas, which would become an everyday meal, it is an original dish from El Salvador but also available in Honduras, they are corn tortillas with a dough containing chicken, and cheese and beans.

This was a small introduction we had to El Salvador. We didn’t spend much time in this city so I don’t have much information to share, but suffice to say that if you are travelling through Central America it is not a city worth visiting. Use it as a stopover point to get to other cities.