The town
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La Ciba,
Honduras
Thursday, September 6, 2007
I have spent the past two days exploring more of the city. Wondering the streets and tasting different goodies has been an added bonus. I have also learned the ´Laws of the Taxis´.
I have learned that when you get into the taxi, it is important to negotiate a fare BEFORE you start to drive. Otherwise, they will charge you an outrageously expensive amount. This happened to me once and I learned my lesson. I have now been asking the hotel for ballpark figures regarding how much a taxi should cost me to get to point B. Today I decided to explore the mall, or something that had a lot of stores under one roof. The hotel told me it would be between 15-20 L (Lempira). I got in the taxi and he told me it would be 40 L. I nearly threw a fit. I told him I was not paying any more than 20 L and started to get out of the car. Then hit said 30 L, then 25 L and finally he went with my original offer of 20 L. I feel like I am in an auction house every time i get into a taxi.
Also, you don´t find a taxi, the taxi will find you. The taxi drivers use the horns all thime. It is ready to drive me over the edge. If you are walking down the street, you can hear them beeping away a block behind you. If you get out of a store, a taxi will honk. They honk when they cross the road (even if nobody is there). They honk when they are happily driving along and there is no obstacle in their way. It is really a bizarre phenomenon that I haven´t witness in any other place I have ever visited.
Besides the whole taxi craziness, I have had a good time exploring the city. It feels more like a huge town and it is hard to image that over a million people live in La Ceiba.
I was originally going to go up the coast to Tela, but the hurricane threw a wrench into that plan and I ended up staying in La Ceiba for a week. I have another day here and then I head to the Bay Islands!
