- Quick facts
- Total days on the road: 586
- Currently in: USA
- Miles Driven: 36821
- Countries Visited: 17
- Days Camping: 389
- Days Indoors: 202
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Honduras
We spent a only a few days in Honduras. A weekend trip from Antigua took us to the Copan Ruins. More than a month later, in a whirlwind day, we crossed from San Miguel, El Salvador to Leon, Nicaragua, spending a short 4 hours in Honduras, and most of it waiting at the border.
Below you'll find information on our trip to Copan Ruins and border crossing information to Nicaragua. Because of our short time here, our other reports will be omitted from this section.
El Salvador to Honduras Border Crossing
This article is part of our Border Crossing Report series. {jcomments lock}
Border name: El Amatillo
Closest major cities: Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador and San Andres, Honduras
Cost for visas: $3 per person
Cost for vehicle: $40. + ($3.90 for copies)
Total time: 1.5 hours
Date crossed: April 6, 2012
Note: We crossed from San Miguel, El Salvador to Leon, Nicaragua in one day. This is the first of two border crossings we completed on Good Friday. A huge thank you to PanAm Notes for their guide on this crossing. Sometimes even people writing the guides need guides. For information on part two see the Honduras to Nicaragua border crossing article.
The steps:
- At least a kilometer before the actual border crossing stop at the white shack on the right, it's just after the speedbump. The official will cancel your El Salvador vehicle permit. Make sure you have a copy that he can stamp, you will need that later because he keeps the original.
- Drive ahead about a kilometer. Take a left at the fork in the road, away from the pretty new bridge.
- Park on the right side of the immigration/customs building. Under the awning is fine, but try not to block traffic.
- Go to the immigration counter and present your passports. The official will look over your passports and give you a small white piece of paper with the number of passports written on it. Keep the paper. Your passport will not be stamped (just as it wasn’t stamped on entry).
A Weekend in Honduras
{jcomments lock}Start: February 24, Antigua, Guatemala
Finish: February 26, Copán, Honduras
Scarlet Macaws Seen: A couple dozen
Fancy Mayan Sculptures Seen: More than I can count
Hours Spent Toiling in the Sun: 17
Being able to do the unexpected is one of the things I enjoy most about traveling. For example, we met a tour guide at our campsite in Tikal several weeks ago who recommended we visit Copán, in Honduras. He made the analogy that if Tikal was the New York of the Mayan civilization, Copán was the Paris.
We'd never planned to see much of Honduras. Of all the countries in Central America it appeals the least to us in terms of safety, activities and infrastructure. But after a few beers with José and bit of enthusiastic persuasion, we quickly decided to add it to our list of weekend excursions while we're studying Spanish in Antigua.