travel blog - to san pedro sula and home

so yeah,
this luxury bus
sarah and i went early
to grab good seats
(it was open seating)
and we got the front row of seats
which was nice
they were comfy, soft and reclined nicely
it was a direct service bus to san pedro sula
however, we learned that in honduras this means
it stops to pick up anyone and everyone along the "direct" route
which was a weird experience
after one dozes off
and wakes up to see people crammed in the aisle of the bus
:)
upon arriving at san pedro sula
we found a hotel a couple blocks away
got settled in a super musty room
(the girls got a really nice room)
after which sarah and i
headed out in search of food
and bus tickets for sarah, erin and mikayla's trip to managua
i would fly out with anita the next day
walking around the city centre of san pedro sula
was a bit disorienting
and we found an error in the lonely planet
the hard way
after walking a dozen or two blocks
and finding that the bus company
didn't have any buses to managua
later,
on an inspired hunch
i told sarah to ask our hotel manager dude
if he knew of any buses
because he really seemed to have things together
booking me a taxi for early next morning so fast
i couldn't believe it
(and it was reliable too!)
well he did
and later the bus situation was resolved
in between
we found that in san pedro sula
there aren't really any restaurants
at least not within the 20 block radius that we explored
(and macdonald's doesn't count!)
we finally settled for the oriental king
and had some interesting chinese food
i have to admit
the rice noodles were really good
even if i didn't have room to eat much of them
because the bowls of soup were gi-normous
we brought the leftovers back for the girls to eat
(which was about 98% of the plate)
so the food did not go to waste
we did a brief search for ice cream
later in the afternoon
and totally failed
tho we did go to a grocery store
and get some cookies and bus food
supper was a return to the oriental king
(simply because it was getting dark out
and there were NO other restaurants to be found in the area)
after a stop at super licuado
a licuado shop
that the lonely planet dude says are the best in honduras
and sad to say
it has NOTHING on the amazing stuff the licuado ladies made in san pedro
plus it was 3 times the price
so i guess if i ever return to central america
i'll have to visit san pedro (guatemala) again
because a great licuado is an enlightening experience you know

really.

the trio left the next morning by taxi to the bus station
that was 4am
i saw them off
and then caught a taxi at 5am to the airport
where taca promptly put us on the next flight to san jose (costa rica)
(taca = airline)
via san salvador (el salvador)
again
i have to say
things went fairly smoothly
tho the airport in san jose is the shittiest excuse of an airport i've ever been in
mainly because
in the waiting lounges the food is overpriced
$9USD for a burger king whopper
and we all know how important food is
to say it's overpriced is actually an understatement
when you think that for $9USD,
i could get a hotel room,
3 meals
and still have money left over for licuados
in just about any town
just to put things in perspective
luckily,
i had the foresight to buy a bag of chips
before we left copan ruinas
and that kept me alive for the 4 or 5 hours
so it was all good in the end

we had to get our boarding passes for air canada here
only there was no air canada counter or agent around
luckily,
after waiting for a couple hours
sporadically asking taca agents for help
(which consisted of them telling us to go to a gate and wait
and then go to a different gate and wait, etc.)
we finally found one who took our passports and tickets
and went out of the transit area to get our boarding passes for us
very helpful guy
too bad the printer broke before all the passes were printed out
so i got my 2
(san jose to toronto and toronto to edmonton)
but anita only got one
we boarded the air canada flight
which was quite smooth
(the taca flights had quite a bit of trouble
taking off and landing
in that they seemed to create magic turbulence
that had everyone gripping seat arms
and made the children and lil babies cry)
and very friendly
and very generous
-they gave me an extra main
yummy chicken and mashed potatoes!
god bless air canada!

one of my favourite things about flying
is watching sunset or sunrise
from above the clouds
this sunset was particularly vivid
and i took a couple photos with my bro's digital camera
(he'd lent it to me for the backpacking part of the trip
what a nice guy)
and while photos never seem to capture
the true glory of the moment
they do give you a rough idea of what was really there

the approach to toronto
was quite neat
i noticed for the first time
the true difference between clouds and fog
with a low lying fog
it seemed like the city's lights were all blurry
this effect was patchy
depending on where the fog was
and gave the nightscape a surreal touch
after we landed,
the fog got thicker and thicker
and the thought crept into my mind
that if this kept up
i would be spending the night in toronto
and i was quite eager to get home
so this was not a good thing
after we landed
(at the temporary terminal)
we managed to make the first shuttle
and going through customs was a breeze
i love canada!
and i think all customs officers should be like ours
(sans firearms)
yup
mine was even smiling
how nice!

then we had to wait for our bags
which seemed promising
as the conveyor started moving
but after about 10 minutes
a voice announced that the fog was so thick
that the baggage handlers couldn't drive safely
and so we waited
meanwhile,
our chances of returning home
seemed to lessen by the minute
our layover wasn't all that long
only about an hour and a bit
and by the time our baggage came through
(which was in doubt)
we had less than 20 minutes
to get anita's boarding pass
and find the gate from which our plane was leaving
which ironically was leaving on time
we almost didn't make it
as we had to manually transfer our luggage
and normally that's supposed to be at the latest,
half an hour before departure
but the air canada people rushed us through
and we went running through the terminal to our gate...
which happened to be the farthest possible gate in the terminal
needless to say,
toronto's international airport
is DAMN big
tho the run was nice after sitting for so long
and i enjoyed the next flight just as much as the last
extra food again
and the landings were so smooth
it took a moment to realize we were on the ground already
quite a difference from the bouncing skidding landings by taca
and just so that everyone knows i'm being fair and impartial
the taca planes were actually newer than the air canada ones
(airbus 320s compared to the airbus 319s AC was flying)

arriving in edmonton to a blast of fresh cool air
was quite exhilirating
and felt perfect to me
as i'd been bitten by so many lil bug thingies
and bloodsucking mosquitos
that the crisp cool air
was like a signal that my torment was finally at an end
*melodrama*
:P
jackie was at the airport with her dad to pick us up
and the ride into town was nice

all in all,
the trip was perfect!
i had enjoyed every moment of it
...even when i was sick
(go figure,
i'm weird)
and when it came time to go home
i didn't feel like i wished i had more time to travel
and i didn't feel like i wished i had left earlier either
it was "just right"
:)
and it was all good!
and that ends this series of travel blogs
hope you enjoyed the reading, all
cheers, eh!