Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa makes Managua feel like an organized grid; not the confusing mix of weaving roads it is. While Tegucigalpa has street names the roads seem to be in a much more absurd system of organization. Twice on my ride from the bus terminal I saw what appeared as bumper to bumper traffic converging from all four entrances of an intersection. Insanely long impatient honking followed by a slow car by car swivel through the intersection.

Without a doubt, however, Tegucigalpa is much more walking friendly and city like. It feels like New Orleans and La Paz, Bolivia collided. A diversity of colorful homes line the blocks while the city is surrounded by thousands of houses that fill the mountain sides around the city, all with the same orange ceramic shingles.

Military and police presence is far more prevalent here. It seems I can never get completely comfortable of just the sight of a man holding a shot-gun at a store entrance; weapons have always made me feel uncomfortable though. As everyone told me in Nicaragua, this is the time of year when crime rises dramatically. People’s desperation comes to a pinnacle as they struggle to bring any sort of gift home for Christmas. I never take my camera or anything valuable out with me at night, but because of all of these warnings I have been extra careful.