Belize and Honduras Itinerary 2019

Belize and Honduras Itinerary February 4 to March 8, 2019

February 4
Flight United Airlines US1599: Leave Calgary 6:00, Arrive Houston 10:11
Flight United Airlines UA1569: Leave Houston 11:01, Arrive Belize City 13:30
Flight Tropic Air 9N2416: Leave Belize City 16:40, Arrive Cay Caulker 16:50 

Caye Caulker

House Rental:
Sea Garden Cottage
36 Avienda Mulche 
Caye Caulker, Belize
https://www.vrbo.com/1443635

February 5 Caye Caulker
February 6 Caye Caulker
February 7 Caye Caulker
February 8 Caye Caulker

Boat to Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye 

Hotel:
Pur Boutique Cabanas
1 mile north of the bridge, Tres Cocos
Anbergris Caye. Belize
Phone: +011 (501) 226-2050
Email: info@purboutiquecabamas.com
https://www.purboutiquecabanas.com/

February 9 Ambergris Caye 
February 10 Ambergris Caye 
February 11 Ambergris Caye 
February 12 Ambergris Caye 
February 13 Ambergris Caye 

Flight Maya Island Air 2215: Leave San Pedro Town 12:00, Arrive Belize City 12:15 

Shuttle to San Ignacio

San Ignacio

Hotel:
Maya Bella Hotel

36 burns Avenue

San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize

Phone: +501 616-8260

Email: Mayabelladowntownhotel@gmail.com
http://www.mayabellahotel.com

February 14 San Ignacio

February 15 San Ignacio
February 16 San Ignacio
February 17 San Ignacio

Shuttle to Tikal, Guatamala: Leave San Igancio 7:30, Arrive Tikal 9:30

Tikal

Hotel:
Jungle Lodge Hotel
Parque Nacional Tikal
Tikal National Park
17001, Guatelmala
Phone: +502 502 24768775
Email: 
http://www.junglelodgetikal.com/

February 18 Tikal

Shuttle to San Ignacio, Belize: Leave Tikal 10:30, Arrive San Ignacio 12:00

San Ignacio
Hotel:
Rumors Resort Hotel
2 1/2 Benque Viejo Rd,
San Ignacio Town, San Ignacio, BZ
Phone: +501 651248
http://rumorsresort.com/

February 19 San Ignacio

Shuttle to Placencia: Leave Placencia 10:00, Arrive 13:00

Placencia

Hotel:
Maya Beach Hotel
Placencia Penninsula, Stann Creek, Belize
Phone: +502 533-8040
Email: info@mayabeachhotel.com
http://www.mayabeachhotel.com/

February 20 Placencia

February 21 Placencia
February 22 Placencia

February 23 Placencia

Flight Tropic Air 366: Leave Placencia 14:00, Arrive Belize City 14:25 
Flight Avianca Air 2215: Leave Belize City 17:01, Arrive San Salvador 18:40
Flight TACA Airlines AV574: Leave San Salvador 20:00, Arrive San Pedro Sula 20:55 

San Pedro Sula

Hotel:
Guacamaya Inn
Los Arcos 16 Calle 19 y 21 Avveinida,
San Pedro Sula. 21104, Honduras
Phone: +504 2556-8406
http://www.guacamayainn.com/home.html

February 24 San Pedro Sula

Hedman Alas Bus: Leave San Pedro Sula 10:45, Arrive Copan Ruinas 13:45

Copan Ruinas

Hotel:
La Casa de Cafe B&B
Barrio El Centro, Copan Ruinas
Honduras
Phone: +504 2651-4620
Email: info@lacasadecafe.com
http://www.casadecafecopan.com/

February 25 Copan Ruinas
February 26 Copan Ruinas
February 27 Copan Ruinas

Hedman Alas Bus: Leave Copan Ruinas 11:30, Arrive La Ceiba 19:30

La Ceiba

Hotel:
Villas Pico Bonito
7.5 km Carretera de Yaruca
La Ceiba, Honduras
Phone: +1-214 205-2188
Email: villaspicobonito@gmail.com
https://www.villaspicobonito.com/

February 28 La Ceiba
March 1 La Ceiba
March 2 La Ceiba

Flight Aerolinas Sosa 052: Leave La Ceiba 11:40, Arrive Roatan Island 12:00

Roatan Islands

House Rental:
West End Breeze
West End 
Roatan, Honduras
https://www.vrbo.com/4768849ha

March 3 Roatan Islands

March 4 Roatan Islands

March 5 Roatan Islands

March 6 Roatan Islands

March 7 Roatan Islands

March 8 Roatan Islands

Flight United Airlines UA1435: Leave Roatan 13:40, Arrive Houston 16:32

Flight United Airlines UA1780: Leave Houston 18:30, Arrive Calgary 22:00

Taipei

We ended the trip with a 2 day layover in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It was a fun busy city full of enough sights to entertain us for a few days.

The most well known temple in Taiwan, the Mengjia Longshan Temple was built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian as a gathering place for Chinese settlers.
Located in the old village part of Taipei, Wanhua District, this temple has stood the test of time and lasted through several natural disasters and wars.

One of the top attractions in Taipei is the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall and this place is surrounded by a beautiful manicured garden. Here, you’ll also find the National Theater and the National Concert Hall. The most photographed is the Memorial Hall itself for Chiang Kai Shek, the former President of Taiwan (Republic of China) from 1928 to 1975. The iconic white building is octagonal-shaped with blue roof and two stairs leading to its main hall where a massive statue of Chiang Kai Shek is sitting. we were lucky enough to arrive right before the changing of the guards here which happens every hour...it was quite the spectacle!!

When it opened in 2004, the 1667-foot-tall Taipei 101 was the worlds tallest building. Although Dubai’s Burj Khalifa stole the title in 2009, the 101-floor structure (which has an additional five floors underground) now has a different claim to fame, the worlds toughest building. A 730-ton damper helps steady the Xinyi Road tower, which sits 660 feet from a fault line on an island often hit by typhoons. Contained inside the massive structure: a huge mall, including a 1200-seat food court with the most amazing lunch options, we could barely decide what to eat, and three-star Michelin restaurant.

We were very excited to head to the 91st floor of the city's iconic landmark – Taipei 101 tower to see the breathtaking landscapes from high above atop one of the tallest buildings in the world but sadly the weather did not cooperate and the visibility was so poor we did not want to spend the money to see fog....in fact it was so foggy when we were in the city at no point did we ever see the top of this building from the street. Maybe we'll come back again one day and try again!

.

We did hike up Elephant Mountain for another one of the best views of the city . It started raining torrentially right at the beginning of our hike and we luckily took refuge under a building that was close to the start of the trail. we were grateful we didn't get caught in it further up. After about 20 mins the rain stopped and we were able to complete out hike to the top.

Ko Rong Samloen

Koh Rong Samloem is a little island about 15km south of Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia and is said to be comparable to Thailand islands 30 years ago when many islands were still undeveloped. It was the most beautiful amazing island I've ever been to, we could relax, enjoy the beauty of clear water and white sand with amazing beaches with NO traffic, NO cars, NO roads…there wasn't any longboat traffic or noise either, just a ferry that arrived and departed 2 time a day. 

Koh Rong Samloem is just 9 km long and 5 km at it's widest point!  From our hotel on Saracen bay on the sunrise side, the distance to the beach on the sunset side of the island is little more than a kilometer walk through the jungle.  Koh Rong Samloem is 90% non-developed so there are lots of places for trekking. There are 2 paths through to the sunset side, one we did the first day...it took about 15 minutes and it was an impromptu visit that we did barefoot through a nice sandy jungle path. The beach over there was ok but it wasn't the white sand beauty of Saracen bay, it was course brown sand and the water was wavy.
A few days later we took another path through the jungle, closer to a 45min walk with flip flops but we probably should have worn shoes...it was a tough hike and not worth the ugly beach we encountered over there. We actually left early and didn't wait until the sun set as we were worried about navigating the hike once it got dark. Most of the hotels were on the beautiful Saracen bay side and we felt sorry for anyone who booked on on the sunset side as it was profoundly worse!

Koh Rong Sanloem has more recorded history than most of Cambodia’s islands. In 1857 the British Royal Navy’s HMS Saracen conducted a survey of the Cambodian coast and islands, leading to production of the first map of the area three years later. Heart-shaped Saracen Bay got its name from that British brig. Between 1863 and 1953 the French took only a middling interest in the island, building rudimentary roads to connect its various parts.These days, however, the roads are a distant and long-overgrown memory, and travel around the island is done by boat. One of the last vestiges of the French on Koh Rong Sanloem is a lighthouse atop a mountain on the southern tip of the island. We didn't hike to it but is supposed to have great views.

One of the cooler things this island has to offer is at night the phosphorescence can be seen in the water on the shores of the quieter parts caused by bioluminescent plankton. The conditions in the Gulf of Thailand around Koh Rong are perfect to witness this phenomenon. The plankton respond to disturbance by lighting up even brighter as you splash away. A combination of low light pollution on the island and the warm temperature makes these tiny glowing lights visible in the ocean after dark.  We were so excited to see this and we so disappointed to learn that since it was a full moon on the days we were there it was too bright to see it. Perhaps an excuse to come back again some day.

Siem Reap

It's been 8 years since I last set foot in Siem Reap....and wow, has it changed. I actually booked us at the same hotel I stayed at in 2010 because it had a stone bathtub on the balcony that I loved and was in a good location to the markets and restaurants. I can't even believe the drastic change in what I remember as a charming city with a small town feel....it's somehow turned into Bourbon Street.

In what was a quiet neighborhood that my hotel was in, is now 2 blocks from a Hard Rock Cafe blaring music until 4am and what used to be a lively street with great restaurants is now the equivalent of Bourbon Street with bar after bar blaring dance music and drunk people in the streets. It's really sad.

We still had some great meals and I had some epic massages at$6/hr! We even tried the hilariously tickley feet fish spa. Best $3 I ever spent!

We ate a yummy Cambodian barbecue place....it was like soup meets fondue meets Korean BBQ. The bowl under had hot coals, the outside had boiling broth that cooked the veggies and the top cooked the meet with the fire from the coals. It was amazing! We had chicken, beef, shark, fish, squid, alligator and pork.

We also had the most amazing Japanese shave ice drowning in passion fruit sauce!!

I've been to the Angkor Wat temples but Scott hadn't and they are so good I came back to make sure he got to experience them as well.

It was fun to retake some pictures of be 8 years later in the same spot.

2018

2010

Siem Reap does not disappoint even with a second viewing! Great temples, great city, and great food.
We bought some art here to bring home and a few souvenirs too...our bags are slowly getting heavier!

Today we are off to the final island of our journey...Koh Rong Samloem, just about 45min speedboat ride south of the southern most part of Cambodia. There we will celebrate my 42nd birthday and soak up some final sun before heading home to winter.