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So, after a couple weeks in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I was wanting to head to Guatemalla via Hondurus. At the Hondurus border we found out that the public bus servuce in Hondurus had gone on strike, so it looked like out only option from the border to the capital (where I needed to go to catch the bus to Nicaragua) was to pay a $50USD taxi ride.
I suggested hitching, and although the UK guy I was was a bit against the idea, he eventually caved and we started off.
Hitching in Central America is pretty common, and you do it with a open hand held out, rather than just extending your thumb. And, its common to ask after the rude "Cuanto le debo" (how much do I owe you?), which is normally answered by "De nada" (nothing, you are welcome).
So, first ride was in the back of a truck with a guy who didnt speak English. My Spanish is still muy mal (very bad) and I can only say muy pokito (very little), but we got by.
The second ride we caught, when I asked the polite "Cuanto le debo" was answered by "Quarenta" (40 Limpira) ... so that cost us $1USD each. Not too bad for a 40km ride I guess.
Ride three was in a flash ute with a construction project manager who worked in Florida, but ived in Hondurus. He took us about 3 hours, and didnt want a cent ... then a funny thing happened. He had dropped us off at a turn off and talked to a policeman. He told us he{s asked the policemen to to give us a lift to our detination which was about 50km away. I thought there was no way the policeman would do this, and when we saw him start to flag down traffic and talk to the car owners, we thought he was just back to doing his work. How wrong we were! After maybe 10 minutes of flagging down cars in the rain,the cop had sorted us out a ride, that took us all theway to where we went.
It made me laugh that a policemen had been flagging down cars just to find a lift for two gringos!
Hope everyone is well
Hasta Luego!!
