1) General changes and remarks
Cheapest of all Central America, this
country is very much linked to the U.S.A.. Gringos are not better considered,
but do not attract attention as much as in other countries.
Big troubles with electricity : twice a day, in most cities including
Tegucigalpa,
the public energy supply is turned off to provide it in other areas (for
example, when there is electricity in Tegucigalpa,
it is off in Comayaguela, and reverse). Most
shops, hotels, and restaurants, have their own electricity supplying engine
(in your hotel, do not take a room close to it if you want to sleep before
11pm : it's noisy and stinky, but they will not have it working between
11pm and 7am).
2) Telecommunications
Quite expensive to use, the good point is that on international calls,
the operator won't charge you if the person you want to speak to, cannot
answer your call (and if someone else does). It is important, for the minimum
fee to be charged would be for a 3 minutes conversation, when the lawn-mower
picks up the phone while your lover/wife/kid is out shopping/surfing/etc
!
Fax services can be a much cheaper and convenient alternative, available
in many post offices.
3) Dangers and annoyances
Cheap country, it is also a poor country, striken by petty crime.
Tegucigalpa (particularly Comayaguela) can
be unsafe at night, especially close to the market, as mentionned in the
previous edition of "Central America on a shoe string".
In Tela, I met tourists that had been
robbed or threatened of robbery on the beaches and around the Garifuna
villages. Drug dealing is very present too, and you'll face illegal propositions
: be careful whatever you decide your reaction should be (dealers sometimes
work with cops I was told)!
Anyway, Honduras is the only country where I did see people (not militaries
or policemen) showing off with guns or practicing shooting, on the beaches
or in the city streets : weird and unpleasantly surprising. It happened
a few times, enough to be noticed, but without "present and clear danger"
each time.
4) Specific changes and remarks
El Salvador border :
Buses from El Amatillo regularly take 4 hours to reach Tegucigalpa
instead of 2 and a half hours as mentionned in the Lonely Planet's guide.
Train :
Unfortunately, there is no more passenger train service on the northern
coast of Honduras.
Tegucigalpa (and its half part named Comayaguela):
The Tourism Office (ISTU) has moved into the Lloyd's building (easy to
recognize with the black horse of the insurance company), located close
to the Avenida de la Paz, in the second street righthand after the US Embassy
(on the way out of the city).
Buses to the Nicaraguan border (Las Manos), now depart from the "Terminal
Discualitena" that you can reach with buses showing a "Kennedy" sign on
the front (because the avenue leaving the city going to Danli is named
"Boulevard Kennedy"). It will coast you less than US$ 3 to get there with
a taxi, which is cheap for it is a long way to this bus station.
The Hotel San Pedro in Comayaguela is
one of the best deals in Central America. Fairly clean compared to the
average range of hotels mentionned in that book, the price is really nice
for rooms with shared bath : US$1.8 for a single and US$3 for a double.
La Ceiba :
The Hotel Royal is a very good choice, comparable
to the Hotel San Pedro in Tegucigalpa, but with
a different architecture (colonial style). I do not know if it was pure
luck, but I slept there on the best mattress I tested during my trip.
The Hotel Amsterdam 2001 seemed to have only a big shared room with
6 or 8 beds in. No privacy.
Puerto Cortés :
This is not a very attractive town by itself, and hotels are not appealing
either, so you might consider sleeping in Omoa, where hotels and restaurants
are on the beach and much nicer.
Roatan :
Backpackers and budget travellers might find prices very high, compared
to the mainland. West End is the most affordable place on the island, and
the most paradise like.
If you don't care about privacy, Jimmy's Lodge is still the solution.
If you can spend more, there are plenty of new hotels and restaurants,
and diving schools.
The cheapest place for a private room is (was?) Kenny's : US$ 5 for
a tiny double room out of season. By the time I was there, cleanliness
could be described as poor, but Kenny was still trying to improve the quality
of his hotel.
Among restaurants, up on the hill (almost behind Kenny's), there is
an open-air restaurant in the small courtyard of a house, where a black
family will serve you very good caribbean food and coco bread, with very
refreshing natural fruit juice. No big sign on the road, but ask for it
: it has a reputation yet (I think the name of the owner is Sam, but do
not make the confusion with "Sammy's", which is an hotel close to "Jimmy's",
and a nice bar for the last drink at night, with a lighted volley-ball
net on the beach).
For savings, go and eat at "Woody's", at the northernmost point of West
End. It is a supermarket, with a bar inside where Keith and his team will
prepare you very cheap and very good breakfasts and other meals (or even
hot-dogs, pop-corn,…). Keith is a very friendly man, and his dog is famous
all over West End (a german shepherd named "Rambo").
The best spot for enjoying the marvellous local sunset is "Someplace
else", the canadian pizza restaurant runned by Dan and Brenda : the place
is also recommended if you want to hear some good blues tunes (if you forgot
your "Eric Clapton unplugged" tape at home). Locals often gather there
for an evening drink and chatt, and sometimes Dan plays the blues himself
with his US$ 40 honduran guitar.
West End Divers is a very good diving school, founded by another canadian
man : the helpful Jeff.
Contact : 
or www.metey.com
CENTRAL
AMERICA - HONDURAS (also check my expenses
data)