Below is a brief description of the journey by public transport from Copán in Honduras to Metapán in El Salvador. Of course, the trip can also be done in the other direction. The entire trip includes four buses, two border crossings and lasts between 6 and 7 hours. The price is about US$ 7 (or Euro 5.80) per person. From the town of Copán Ruinas (where the Mayan Ruins of Copán are located), minibuses drive regularly to the border with Guatemala. The ride is 10 kilometres, takes about 20 minutes and costs 20 Honduran Lempiras per person. You can also pay 1 US$ per person for this short ride.

The border crossing between Honduras and Guatemala is very smooth. The staff is friendly and efficient. On the Honduran side fingerprints are taken, and only when you enter Honduras (and not when you leave), you have to pay a ‘service fee’ of US$ 3 per person. We got an official receipt and therefore we assume that this is the current official rule. The immigration of Honduras and Guatemala sit side by side in the same building so you only have to move one desk for your entry stamp of Guatemala. We were even offered a free tourist map of Guatemala by one of the friendly border officials. There were no customs activities, so we entered Guatemala with unchecked bags.

You walk across the border and as soon as you arrive on the territory of Guatemala, the boys of the bus company Litegua are already walking towards you to motivate you to take their bus. As always, we first ask what the ride will cost before we board (25 Quetzal per person = US $ 3.50). Just to prevent later discussions. The trip to the city of Chiquimula is about 50 kilometres and takes between one and a half and two hours. Before we get in, we exchange 15 US$ in Guatemalan Quetzal at one of the money changers that hang around the bus. For this amount we can easily make the trip to Metapán in El Salvador with two people.

The road to Chiquimula is in excellent condition and the journey is progressing smoothly. Of course it is a stop-bus, which means that the bus stops very regularly to pick up or disembark passengers. In Chiquimula the bus ride ends at the private bus station of Litegua. We ask the driver where the buses leave for Frontera Anguiatu (on the border with El Salvador), and before we are well on our way to the right place, we are again approached by bus boys who lead us to the right bus. The price appears to be 15 Quetzal (US$ 2) per person. This time, our backpacks do not have to go on the roof of the bus, but they are stored in the small luggage compartment of the Toyota Coaster. Within a quarter of an hour we are on our way again for the 60 kilometres drive to Anguiatu. This journey takes about 3 hours and that is because we make stops at the villages Quetzaltepeque and Concepción Las Minas.

At about two in the afternoon we arrive at the border with El Salvador. This border crossing is mainly used by freight trucks. Few people cross the border on foot here, so we do not have to wait long for our stamps. Here too, the border officials are very friendly. What a difference with 20 years ago when border crossings in Central America could really be a 'pain in the ass'. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua signed a border agreement in 2006 that allows the free movement of people between these countries. Most foreign travellers can stay up to 90 days in this region of four countries without any problems. That may also explain that once again, also at this crossing, our bags are not searched. Within 15 minutes we enter El Salvador without any problems. El Salvador uses the US dollar as a currency, so we do not have to exchange money with one of the money changers. Just across the border bus 235 is already waiting for us to bring us to Metapán for US $ 0.55 per person, a 12 kilometres ride that takes about half an hour. We get off in Metapán, but travellers who want to go to Santa Ana, one of El Salvador’s most pretty colonial towns, can stay on the bus, because bus 235 brings you all the way to Santa Ana.