From San Salvador we began our long journey to Honduras and after a taxi, a bus, another taxi, another bus, another bus and a total of nine hours and a half we finally arrived in Gracias! Ufaaa!

Our first impression of Gracias was not so good, maybe because we were very tired, but when we toured the small town the next day we just love! The city was full of energy with the locals moving from one side to the other in a cowboy style from Honduras countryside.

It seemed that everything stopped on time. There is a main square where everybody gets together every night to relax and enjoy their time, very countryside styling.

The city is so called because when the Spanish conquers arrived they were seeking a flat area to build the capital of Central America and when they got there they said: “Gracias a Dios we found it!” … And so was the name of the city.
While we were there we simply didn’t find any tourist. It felt like we were the only ones there. Feeling quite rare in today’s world where everybody has access to everything.

But without much to do there we decided to move forward and we went to the famous town of Copán Ruinas, perhaps the most visited place by tourists from all over the country. A pretty small town too and more developed for tourism, with many dining options.

The next day we visited the main attraction of the place, the Mayan ruins. We didn’t know exactly what to expect but the place exceeded all our expectations, because the harmony between the ruins and the nature turns everything into a magical experience. It even reminded us a bit Angkor in Cambodia, where the giant trees grew between the stones of the ruins.

The valley was habited for the first time over two millennia ago, and its sculptures carved in stone worth appreciation. Not to mention the wonderful scarlet macaws that lives there, making it even more special.

In addition the park is very well maintained and with images that reproduce how everything should look like at that time. Everything is well done and makes you dream about it. We just loved it!

The next day we spent a few hours relaxing in the hot springs with its source at 82 degrees. It was not so easy to get there and we had to hitchhike with the fish seller, sitting all the way by the side of the water tank and every time he was breaking the car we had splashes of fish water on us. Ahahaha … Total adventure!

But it was worth it, the place was amazing, with thermal pools scattered and well harmonized with the forest. Perhaps the most beautiful thermal baths we saw so far. Even better, there was just the two of us there!

But our time here is over. Although we were very attempted by the idyllic Caribbean islands of Honduras it is time to speed up or we’ll never get to Mexico. So, Guatemala here we come.