In Honduras, it is incredibly easy to go places and feel like you must be the first foreign person who ever set foot there. This is because Honduras remains a rather rugged tourist destination without the infrastructure to support mass tourism in general. The few places that are geared towards a higher-end crowd (the kind that does expensive package tours) are notable in their ability to market themselves effectively and create a buzz, bringing in revenue to build nice hotels, swanky restaurants, smoothly paved roads and streets, and other features that luxury tourism demands. The only places in all of Honduras that currently fit this description, in my opinion, are Copan Ruinas and Roatan. These two sites are increasingly being visited by cruise participants who stop at Roatan first, then dock at La Ceiba (skipping the town and nearby spectacular Pico Bonito National Park), before proceeding all the way to Copan and finally back to the Ceiba dock, all in a single day.
Lisa and I did not venture off the beaten track too far in Honduras in general, but whenever there was a chance for an excursion with a local like Don Max, we knew the chance of running into other gringos on the trail would be very slim. What is unclear is if Honduras will continue to be better suited for the low-budget, low-frills "backpacker" set well into the future.
