A 10K race in Honduras is not as easy as we thought...

A few weeks ago, Julie noticed a poster advertising a 10K run/walk outside a mercadito in our town.  Most everyone in the group was interested in running or walking, and we figured it would give us a chance to see some sights or explore other areas.  The race was in Parque Nacional La Tigra and we decided that since we didn’t know what the road would be like, we would all just walk together to have fun, and not really try to race.  Well that was a good decision because there was no road, and in some parts there was barely even a trail.  And the first 6k of the 10k was straight up a mountain.  There were stretches of trail that were so steep they literally appeared vertical.

Needless to say, it was unlike anything we were expecting, but we had fun!  For a while, there were great views of the valley below us and the mountains in the distance, but as we climbed higher, it became more of a closed-in rain forest.  The air got really cold, the ground was wet everywhere, the trees were covered in lush, green moss, and the clouds descended around us.  It was unlike any hiking I have ever done before.  We also passed a bunch of cave entrances.  Only the first one was really big enough for us to feel comfortable climbing into, and we didn’t think it was safe to explore too far into the cave.  These tunnels actually lead to the old mines where people used to mine silver and gold.  The mountains between San Juancito (where the race began) and Tegucigalpa (the capital city) are full of abandoned mines.  We never saw any big waterfalls or cool animals, but the trees were still worth looking at.  It was a difficult hike, but a great experience!  The race ended in a “town” called Jutiapa and we waited there for a few hours for a bus to come pick us up to take us down the mountain to Tegucigalpa where we had to catch a different bus to our town.  This bus ride down the mountain was another experience in itself.  The road was tiny and worn out and there were hairpin turns where we though the wheels would slide over the mountain side.  It was bumpy and a little bit scary, and very slow, but we made it safely.  We now understand why bus traveling in this country takes hours longer than it would in the states.  It could also have to do with the fact that the buses are ancient school buses driven down from America.  The bus we happened to catch was actually from a school district in Indiana that one of my group members lives near.  How is that for weird?  I will try to put up some more pictures from our hike!