Central and western highlands Travel Video Guide

Central and western highlands Travel Itinerary

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In their haste to reach the archeological site at Copan, or the palm-fringed beaches on the north coast, all many travellers see of the central and western highlands is the view from a bus window. To hurry through from the capital to San Pedro Sula - Honduras's second city and the gateway to the coast - would be to miss much, though, as this is the heartland of the country, an expanse of rugged, pine-clad mountain ranges, split by fertile valleys and scattered with villages and a handful of colonial towns. The highlands are also home to the country's highest concentration of indigenous peoples, many of them descendants of those who fought with Lempira against the Spanish conquistadors. Perhaps because it is so little visited, this is one of the friendliest parts of the country, and you're likely to be received with genuine warmth wherever you go.

From the capital, the main CA-5 highway offers the most direct route through the highlands to San Pedro Sula and the north coast. Along this road, the first place of interest is Comayagua , formerly the nation's capital and still boasting some beautiful churches and other remnants of colonial architecture. Not far to the north lies Honduras's biggest lake, the vast blue Lago de Yojoa - an ornithologist's paradise, though Hondurans are more likely to come here for a weekend of fishing and boating.

With a little patience, you can take a bus along the painfully slow route that branches west off the CA-5 at Siguatepeque. Huddled beneath the jungle-covered escarpment of the Montana de Celaque , the cobbled town of Gracias , another colonial centre built on the wealth provided by local silver mines, is a relaxing base for hikes in the pristine cloudforest reserve of the Parque Nacional Celaque . Beyond here the road improves and it's an easy trip northwest to the region's main town, Santa Rosa de Copan . Long the centre of the highland tobacco-growing industry,

Santa Rosa has no particular sights to speak of, but is a supremely relaxing place to stay, and still unspoilt despite its growing popularity with tourists.

One of the chief attractions of western Honduras - and indeed of the country - is the ancient site of Copan . Though a little smaller than the major Maya sites in Guatemala or Mexico, Copan is equally impressive, thanks to its wealth of fabulous carvings and its wonderful site museum, perhaps the best in the Maya region.

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