Lo all,

We now find ourselves in Honduras, having passed through El Salvador without really noticing it.

Antigua, Guatemala was fun, and the climb up Volcán Pacaya very tiring, so much so that we needed an extra day in Antigua to recover. Lava is surprisingly warm. There was also a woman who had opted to climb an active volcano in jeans and flip-flops - hardcore. On our way back from the volcano we could see nearby Volcán Fuego errupting, and overheard several seperate groups of Americans who had just climbed Pacaya exclaiming that Fuego was the first active volcano they had ever seen...

The border crossing was a bit less fun. We got a bus from Guatemala City direct to San Salvador hoping it would ease the experience, but they seemed to leave you to your own devices at the border. Some money changers offering to "help" us managed to hustle $40 from us in all the confusion, claiming it to be border tax. Fortunately, I managed to hustle it back (with my very limited abilities in Spanish). We also received no stamp or tourist card from the El Salvador side (nor an exit stamp from Guatemala) and so were a bit worried we'd entered the country illegally.

Our half-arsed attempt to find the immigration office in San Salvador ended very quickly and we decided to go shopping instead. San Salvador is basically what we imagine every US city to be like. No food available except fast food from numerous huge American corporate restaurants (although oddly, there was no McD's), huge malls with all the shop names and slogans in American, and very filthy. We bought some watches, had some $1 mojitos and moved on to La Palma.

La Palma is a tiny town near the El Salvador-Honduras border with absolutely nothing to do. About 3 restaurants, no bars and very little alcohol. We hiked most of the way up the very foggy Cerro El Pital, El Salvador's highest peak, before running out of time and having to head back to catch the last bus of the day. Views were foggy. On the same day I inadvertantly left a 40% tip (on a £1.80 bill). Also, the bathroom of our (hoooge) room stank - apparently the plumbing in El Salvador is such that all the sewage fumes rise up from the shower drains. Little more happened.

We crossed the border into Honduras very smoothly yesterday, although again received no stamp or tourist card - this plan to fill our passports with stamps in 9 months is going to be more of a challenge than we thought. We're now in the tourist town of Copán Ruinas, a short walk from the Mayan ruins the area is famous for. The ruins were lovely, if a little overpriced, and we took a tuk tuk back to the hotel. That was fun. We then drank some happy hour cocktails (and later found out that the advertising was incorrect and they weren't actually on the offer - grrr). We've also bought us a wall hanging for our new flat. It has a turtle on it (or a fat man, it's hard to tell).

We may well be moving on to the Caribbean coast again tomorrow, possibly to the Bay Islands to pick up a nice cheap Open Water Diving License (£100).

Speak soon, hope everyone at home is having as much fun as us.
Love, Nick and Vic