ryanlukas's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member ryanlukas on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ryanlukas en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Sat, 25 Nov 2006 16:12:53 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Border cross into Nicaragua — Granada, Nicaragua http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1136997300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1136997300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1136997300/tpod.html Sat, 25 Nov 2006 16:12:53 -0500 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Granada, Nicaragua

Ronan, Nora and I left Tegus at 5am to catch a bus at 6am for the border crossing into Nicaragua called Las Manos. Than took a chicken bus from the border to Ocotal and another to Managua than a final bus to Granada. Than found a cab to drive us around and find the Bearded Monkey, the hostel we would ber staying at.
Tegus seemed like a nice city but I wouldn't stay for more than a couple days unless you have a motorbike to take into the hills surrounding the city. Managua seemed dirty and no one seemed that friendly. I am sure it is better once you get away from the bus station but the impression I got was not good.
The bearded monkey was an amazing hostel with great food, friendly staff, lively people, a free pool table, hammocks, swinging chairs, a beautiful courtyard, free internet and all for $5/night. Needless to say I stayed here for a few days to recover from Utilia and traveling the past two days.
]]> Bay islands — Utilia, Honduras http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145918280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145918280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145918280/tpod.html Fri, 26 May 2006 11:28:47 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Utilia, Honduras

Caught the early bus to San Pedro Sula from Copan to catch another bus to La Cieba. From La Cieba I would need to catch a ferry to reach the island of Utilia. In San Pedro Sula i meet Asaf the Israely and Matt the Candain. Together we continued traveling onward to La Cieba to catch the ferry to Utilia. Got to La Cieba about 1pm and had to wait and the port until 4pm when the last ferry left for Utilia. The ferry ride was alittle over an hour and when we arrived we were bombarded by divemasters trying to get us to go to their dive shops telling us that their shop was the best. After a recommedation made by a Cicilla, a girl I met in El Zonte, the group decided to go to Under Water Vision. Our choice ended up being the correct one as the dive shop was similiar to a family with great instructors and many dive masters in training (DMT's) from all around the world. Rooms were very cheap and the dive shop was well laided out with a huge area to relax with many hammocks. The rooms were simple but nice. It ended up being Asaf's birthday so we bought the biggest bottle of Flora De Cana and began to drink. We had one drink before Cicilla showed up and I took off with her to meet some of the other divemasters and get some information about the diveshop. We came back to Asaf's little birthday party and he was wasted, but only after two drinks. So we sat around chating and watched him act like a fool than he throw up so we took off to go to the bars. The night life on Utilia was.......amazing. There were two main bars that everyone goes to, Coco Loco and Tranquilo. They were both right beside one another and poeple would simply travel back and forth between the two depending on the music. Overall a great way to start my stay on Utilia.
]]> Copan Ruins — Copan Ruins, Honduras http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145744220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145744220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145744220/tpod.html Fri, 26 May 2006 11:14:43 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Copan Ruins, Honduras

Got up early to catch a chicken bus to Copan Ruins whcih was only an hour or so from La Entrada. In the town of Copan Ruins I stayed at Posada Honduras, a nice hostel with a central courtyard surrounded by fruit trees. After I got some breakfast, showered and used the internet I left the town to take a leasure 15 minute walk to the entrance of the Copan Ruins. The temples and sculptures were amazing and very well preserved after 1000s of years. Spent about 4 hours exploring the ruins, caves and surrounding area. Later in the afternoon i swma in the river and explored the town. For dinner i meet two travelers from canada and we went out for pizza than to the pool hall for a great game only the locals in Honduras play. Its an amazing 3 player game that is a great alternative to cut throat. Spent a few hours playing pool and exchanging travel stories until it stopped raining and i could walk home to catch an early bus to La Cieba. Got real lost on my way home but with some help from the friendly locals i was able to find my way and return in one piece.
]]> Still on Utilia — Utilia, Honduras http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1146957060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1146957060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1146957060/tpod.html Mon, 22 May 2006 19:28:48 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Utilia, Honduras

Spent much longer on Utilia than I had intended. This island paradise has everything i could want in it including great diving, warm water, cheap drinks, beautiful women and delicious food. After finishing my advanced open water diving course in 3 days I continued to do fun dives to practice my new found underwater skills. The advanced open water certification allowed me to dive to depths of 40 meters to view ship wrecks and other wildlife not found at lesser depths. Overall I was able to see 3 wrecks including a large cargo vessel, a small fishing boat and a sailboat that sack during a hurricane. All of the wrecks were amazing and i was even able to view one during a night dive. For wild life i saw turtles, octopus, 100's of differnt species of fish, baracuda, shrimp, squid, sea horse and manta rays. I was even able to swim with a dolphin for about an hour. Amazing expirence for me. I wanted to see a whale shark and a lobster but was unable to see any of them do to uncontrollable circumstances. Under Water Vision was a great dive shop and one of the only on the island that did the snorkel test. The snorkel test was the final test a dive master in training had to complete before becoming a dive master. The DMT had to drink 1 litre of rum through a snorkel with a funnel atttached to the top of it. Most did not drink the whole litre but did very well. The whole night was amazing with a huge BBQ and all you could drink. I was fortunate enough to expirence two BBQ's and snorkel tests.
There were also many good places to eat of Utulia for reasonable prices. The best were Seven Sea's, Big Mama's, Muchies for breakfast, Bundu, Dave's BBQ for dinner, and La Pirita. La Pirata had a great chef and and amazing view of Utulia as it sat 4 floors up.
Snorkeing was amazing off the east side of the island at the end of the beach with great shallow reefs and amazing wild life. There are also fresh water caves to explore and pumpkin hill to climb but i didn't do any of this. I spent too much time around the dive shop and at the bars to explore two much of the island. I had a wonderful time and highly recommend this place for those that wish to expirence scuba diving.
]]> Tegucigalpa — Tegus, Honduras http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1147300020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1147300020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1147300020/tpod.html Mon, 22 May 2006 18:32:05 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Tegus, Honduras

went to the capitol.
]]> El Zonte for Surfing — El Zonte, El Salvador http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145295060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145295060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145295060/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 19:13:40 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
El Zonte, El Salvador

Spent the morning in La Libetad walking around trying to exchange money before we took off for El Zonte which is merely a small surfers village. If we needed anything from here on out we would need to return to La Libertad for the day. In El Zonte, Horizonte Surf Resort was our home base for several surf spots surrounding the area including Sunzal and Tusco. Spent the week in El Zonte drinking, smoking, surfing, exploring caves and enjoying the beautiful black beaches. The water was a warm 28 celcius and the waves were consistent all week. I meet a dive master named Cicila who I would later meet up with in the bay island of Honduras. At the Horizonte Surf Resort Jake, Wlaid and I rented a three story apartment on the beach which included full room service from a local resrtaunt. The top floor was 6 beds and two hammocks overlooking the point break that makes up El Zonte. The lower floor had a living area with several large dining tables, couches, rocking chairs, bathroom and shower. The view was incredible and we ate all our meals while watching the surfers and the surrounding mountians. We surfed further up the beach where the waves were a little smaller and easier to learn on with hitting your head on some hidden rock. After a week of surfing and partying Walid had to return to Canada to work so we all decided to move on. I was going north to Honduras and Jake south to Nicaragua.
]]> Traveling all Night on a Bus — San Salvador, El Salvador http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145216580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145216580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145216580/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 18:59:11 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
San Salvador, El Salvador

My friend Jacobo and I traveled all night after dancing and drinking until 3:30 in the morning in Coban. We arrived in San Salvador with very little money and no where to get it as all banks were closed. We some how made it to La Libertad and rented a room on credit until the banks opened the next day. we meet up with walid and tried to make a plan on where we wanted to surf.
]]> La Libertad — La Libertad, El Salvador http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145208780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145208780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1145208780/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 18:57:59 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
La Libertad, El Salvador

In La Libertad we meet up with Walid who had been completly lost from not knowing how to speak any spanish. Luckly he meet these two cooks from San Salvador who spoke a little English and hung out with him until Jake and I arrived. We ate lunch with them talked for awhile than jumped off the end of the pier and swam back to shore. It was a long swim but i was glad to be off the bus and back into the water. We stayed in La Libertad for the evening and into the middle of the next day. La Libertad is a sketchy ocean town with lots of weirdos but great surfing. Everyone told us not to go out at night becasue we would get robbed. So we stayed in and drank while i tried to teach Walid some basics in spanish to help him get by. The next day we relaxed and had a nice breakfast on the beach than relaxed and finally jumped on a bus in the late afternoon for El Zonte. A small beach comunity 1 hour west of La Libertad.
]]> Coban — Coban, Guatemala http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144775580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144775580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144775580/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 18:32:23 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Coban, Guatemala

Went back to Coban to paint a mural and hang out for Holy week. Its hard to find hostels most places for holy week so our timing worked out just right. We stayed at this sweet bed and breakfast for free with free food. All day we would paint eat and take lots of breaks to drink and play Rummicube. We stayed there for a week which helped save some money and put me back on budget so i can spend more in El Salvador and Honduras. Coban is a great place with huge markets and a few good dance clubs and bars. Our last night there Jake and I went out and learned the Maranga and a few other dances from some local girls. They would laugh and giggle at us but by the end they were very impressed with our dancing skills. So we danced until 3:30am than took a bus at 4:00am for Guatemala City and onward to San Salvador.
]]> Around San Cristabol — San Cristabol, Guatemala http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144261140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144261140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ryanlukas/adventures-2006/1144261140/tpod.html Sun, 07 May 2006 18:20:27 -0400 An adventure making my way south from Belize City, Belize to San Jose, Costa Rica.
San Cristabol, Guatemala

Each day after classes Jacob and I would try and find cute Spanish girls to take on walks and practice our Spanish. In most cases this worked and we were able to see much of the surrounding area and practice our Spanish at the same time. We walked up this mountain to a church with a great view of the mountains, town and lake. We also walked around the lake which included a long jungle tour through unmarked territory. We had a grand old time and met some locals along the way. With the school we were taken on tours of a fabric manufacturer and a local artist. Each night we would play pool and drink with the locals or walk around the town enjoying the cool nights. In San Cristabol it would sometimes get very cold at night which meant the next day was going to be extremely hot.
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