Honduran DMV story

Like anything we do here on Roatan getting our Honduran Driving Licence was an adventure. You can use your US drivers license but your supposed if your here permanently or more than 90 days get a local permit. Well obviously Cindy and I and most everyone else had not gotten around to that so we thought we better get this taken care of.

To get your license here you need to take to the police station (yes that is the DMV) the following: Medical exam from a doctor saying healthy, Eye test saying you can see, blood type, 2 pictures of yourself (passport style ones) passport and residency cards and of course money.

So we got all of this stuff together. We went to the clinic where Cindy works and the doctors examined me. They wrote a letter for me. Then I said "my wife had something to do but you know her can you write a letter for her to?" NO problem and so we got two letters paid twice but only one person had to sit there for an hour (island efficiency I suppose).

Now we possessed everything we needed (I thought). So we went to the station. I knew there would be trouble however as the power in that part of the island was out, you can tell when everyone is sitting outside and or the doors to the stores are open but the inside is dark.

We pull up to the police station, jail and DMV and who knows what else you can do there and of course they have no generator and no power and so we have no luck. Well later that day I am driving through that area and the power literally comes on while I am driving by. I call Cindy and we go over there again. There are no signs in the small station or any obvious way to know which of the doors to go into so we just start knocking (you want to be careful in a place where everyone has M-16's and pistols about just barging in). Finally we get in one room spend a few minutes explaining what we are wanting the guy then takes us to the right lady.

It is at this point we find out that they do not need to see our passports and residency cards they need copies of them. They of course do not have a copy machine at the station so we have to leave and go make copies and come back. We do this and come back in an hour after another adventure. This lack of a copy machine is an epedemic in central america. No place hardly has one and yet everyone needs copies. When we got our residency cards we had to do the same thing and within a block of the immigration office in La Ceiba (3rd largest city in Honduras) we found 5 copy makers of those only 1 had a working copier however but I digress.

Luckily the power is still on and we proceed. The first thing is we fill out a really long sheet of things about ourselves. The usual age, weight, etc. It is all in Spanish but we only have to ask a few times and we knock that out. Then she takes the form and goes to an old IBM Selectric typewriter and punches in each key one finger at a time. She literally types 1 fingered. So that takes a while. Then she does the same thing in a computer, more time. Then we sit in front of a Polaroid machine and they take our pictures. Then they have us sign this little card sized form that and put our right thumb print on the form (this is the backside of the card). Then she takes the picture and the form and laminates them together.

I gotta tell you what you get is a nice piece of local handiwork, somehow it reminds me of something guys make in their dorm rooms at college but here it is a real license. The best part is only $55 a person at the station + $5 for pictures and $27 each for the medical exam (remember the one where they never took my pulse, blood pressure and had me read a poster from across the room to check my eyes).

So if you go to get yours down here just plan to spend about 5 hours doing it and have all of the things I have told you about.

Sterling Castle and Wallace Monument

Here is a picture of Cindy and Myself just outside Sterling Castle in Scotland. You can see the William Wallace (Braveheart) monument in the background.

Sterling is a very picturesque town and the castle is really interesting and nice to go through. They are still conserving it and I am sure it is a place that would be fun to visit after a few years have gone by and see what new things they have to show.

We were especially impressed by the large banquet hall and the chapel areas. Of course the best part of all the old castles is they were wisley built on high ground and you get a great view.

If you get a chance to go to Sterling you should definitley make a day of it and enjoy this quanit village.

Hen and Stag Parties

I think most of my readers are familiar with the idea of a bachelor or bachelorette party as it pertains to the normal American wedding. Well part of the joy of travelling is to discover that what you assume is similar the world over may in fact be wildly different.

Hence the subject of this article. In the UK the night out is referred to as a Stag or Hen Party. Let me assure you the dis-similarities are more than just in the name.

The Brits go all out from what I have learned from my research. We spent a few nights in Scotland and a day in Edinburgh and it was more than common to see a large group of guys and girls out for the party. IN fact they go to great lengths to make up shirts and to wear costumes. Everyone out at night had on costumes. We went to this big club in Glasgow and I saw at least 3 Superman's, a homer simpson a few spider men, a pirate and much much more. I figure the club held 1000 people and 30 % of the men and women were dressed up. The numbers while somewhat lower in other spots were not too far off.

The picture above is a group of guys on a stag party at just after 1pm in Edinburgh already in full regalia and enjoying the day. Pretty long ways from your typical American party and I have to say a lot of fun to watch.

Kegged out of the Pub

Here is a great shot of a wiley band of adventurers. Taken just down the road from the picturesque city of cobh (cove) the port area of the city of Cork was originally called Queenstown but most things named for any British royalty had their name changed when Ireland became independent.

I wish I could tell you exaclty what the name of this town or pub is but as you can see by all of the empty kegs of Guiness I have a legitimate excuse. Of course it was the crazy teachers and especailly Debby Lundien that emptied out all of these big tins not by any means me, Cindy or our fearless guide Paul.

If you would like to find this pub I recommend you take a week and stop at every Pub you find. We did just that on our tour and thats how we came across it.

Good luck

Tour De Ireland

The first picture is a shot of the fortress Dun Aengus, the second is a great picture of two natural beauties. Cindy and Ireland's Cliffs of Moher.

Situated in County Clare and bordering the Burren Area, the Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland's most spectacular sights. Standing 230 metres above the ground at their highest point and 8km long, the Cliffs boast one of the most amazing views in Ireland. On a clear day, the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay as well as the valleys and hills of Connemara.

We got to visit this amazing site on day 3 of our Ireland Tour with our good Friend Erika Lundien, her Mom Deb, brother Fred and friends Paul Devlin (our fearless guide and owner of Devlin Tours) his wife Missy, Cathy and Gary Utlat, Karen, Mark and our fearless driver Tommy the Turtle.

The first two days of the the tour were spent visiting Galway and the afore mentioned Aran Islands which are a lot different and in some ways I am sure similar to Roatan.

The first day upon our arrival in Ireland was spent in Galway. This area of Ireland is famous for still having a large Galic speaking population. It is a great combination of college and tourism town and that all leads to fine pubs and lots of great entertainment. We enjoyed a nice night with a good meal and a walk aroudn this old town. Some of the group even stayed out to the wee hours hearing the original Irish Rebel Band the wolf tones. This band has been signing for and about Irish independence and their struggle since 1963.

Ireland received its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and is really a very young country. The first fore gin nation to recognize Ireland as a new nation was the USA and so its of little surprise that the USA embassy is alone in the same park in Dublin as the Irish Prime Ministers house.

The 2nd day we toured Inis Mor one of the Aran Islands. This small and very rock place makes for an interesting day trip. The highlight was visiting Dún Aengus. It stands on the edge of a sheer cliff nearly 100m high. There is more than just a breathtaking cliff as on this site There is also an imposing stone wall of the inner fort, an almost semi circular enclosure on the cliff edge. It has outer defences enclosing a total area of 14 acres. Outside the wall is the remains of “Chevaux -de-Frise, large stones set at differing angles in the ground. These stones were placed to make it difficult for attackers. To learn more about it after the trip I looked up the following info at irish-society.org

What is this structure doing in this place? When was it built? Who built it? Archaeologists, historians, antiquarians have no definitive answers to these and other questions about Dun Aengus. This is a fort with no water supply or evidence of dwellings, hardly suited for a long siege. Estimates on its time of construction range from a few centuries B.C. to the eighth or ninth century. Its builders - perhaps the legendary Fir Bolgs, perhaps the Danes.

The Fir Bolgs are thought to be a Celtic people from the continent who interact in Irish history-mythology with the Milesians, the Tuatha De Danann, and the Fomorians. The earliest description of West Connaught by Roderick O'Flaherty: "On the south side of Dun-Engus ... It is named of Engun PicHuathmore of the reliques of the Belqmen in Ireland, those living about the birth-time of Christ."

The Irish writer J. M. Synge accepts this history as true history when he writes about Dun Aengus, "I prop my book open with stones touched by the Fir-bolgs." Sir William Wilde, father of Oscar Wilde, hosted a reception in Dun Aengus in 1857 and in his remarks, he too accepted the Fir-Bolgs as builders: "I believe I now point to the stronghold prepared as the last standing place of the Firbolg Aborigines of Ireland, to fight their last battle if driven to the western surge ..."

Some Aran opinion, influenced by the 15th century Welsh historian Giraldus Cambrensis, accepts the Danes, Norse raiders of the ninth and tenth centuries, as the builders of Dun Aengus. Neither legend nor history helps an investigator to answer his questions about Dun Aengus. Even its name is a subject of argument.

Perhaps unknowable, Dun Aengus is nonetheless real, a place of awe and inspiration, the "Acropolis of Aran" it is "the most magnificent barbaric monument now extant in Europe."

IF you get the chance to visit Ireland plan for 2 days in the Galway area.