Into Moskitia - the Paela from hell.

So we were up, packed and ready at 6:45am and headed over to where the paelas (pickups) were waiting. As they saw us arriving with our packs, they all came running, competing for our business. This worked in our favor, as the prices being shouted at us began at 500 Lempiras each ($27), but quickly dropped down to 400L, then $300L. They were physically grabbing us, and pulling our packs towards their truck. We went with the one offering the low 300L price, but then found out that they wouldn´t be leaving until 9am or so. (Everything we´d read and everyone we asked told us that they left at 7am, but perhaps there wasn´t enough business.) We wandered off to get some much-needed coffee, and came back at 9am, but they still weren´t ready to leave. One of the other drivers whispered to us that he´d take us for only 250L each, which we accepted. Our current driver wouldn´t give us our bags back though, and finally he agreed to the new price as well, so we stayed with him. Finally at nearly 10am, they loaded us into truck. We struck a deal for Talor to ride in the cab of the truck, while I was to ride on a narrow board in the back of the pickup, squished among the huge amount of cargo and other passengers. More people kept coming and boarding, and soon we had 7 people in the cab, and 8 in the back, as well as an entire bus load of baggage tied up. It was far from comfortable, and I found it hard to believe the small Toyota truck could actually move with such a payload. Actually, in the beginning it didn´t move, as the engine wouldn´t start! After a half-hour more wait, they finally got it running, and we left around 10:30am.

I was wedged in among the other passengers, not able to move my feet at all, and with my head stuck between the legs of a pink pinata tied to the top of the cargo. A half hour later we stopped for gas, Talor and I got out to stretch our legs. Big mistake, as they then gave Talor´s indoor seat to someone else that had just joined, so she squeezed into the back with all of us. We were both confused and angry, but it was actually a little more comfortable for Talor in the back than squished in the hot cab, at least at first. The ride lasted nearly 6 hours, with one stop for very bad food along the way. After about 4 hours of travel, we left the road and began driving along the beach. Each sand dune would throw us into the air, and I was sure that I was going to be impailed on the corner pole of the truck cage which was wedged into my arm pit, or that the whole truck would flip as we went from one dune to another. Having left so late, we were traveling in the heat of the afternoon as well, and we ended up having to stop at one point as Talor overheated and was hyperventilating. We´ll never, ever, do that ride again! (Later on in the Moskitia we heard other paela horror stories, including people that had been seriously injured on ride, with impacted vertebrae, etc...) I´m pretty sure such transport wouldn´t be legal in many other countries!

Finally, though, we got there at about 5pm. At that point they actually had the nerve to demand that we pay 600L, not the agreed upon 500L. After much arguing, and the driver threatening to take us back to Tocoa, we made it clear that we would only pay 500, and they gave in. At that point we got into a small boat that ferried us across the river to Palacios, in the Moskitia. That was by far the worst travel experience we´d ever been subjected to. I did hear from others, though, that they usually don´t run as full as ours was, so we chose poorly! Needless to say, we slept like the dead that night, even though our hotel was less than comfortable.