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GRACIAS |
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 Up to five hours from La Esperanza on the one daily bus, GRACIAS
lies in the shadow of the Montaña de Celaque , the peak that forms the
centrepiece of the nearby Parque Nacional Celaque . This is one of the
oldest towns in Honduras, and served briefly as the seat of the
Audiencia de los Confines, the centre of government under the Spanish,
until this was transferred to Antigua, Guatemala, in 1548. Life since
then has been a spiral of gentle decline with little happening to
disturb the town's sleepy rural charm. Today, a handful of run-down
buildings around the Parque Central hint faintly at former glories; the
building that once housed the Audiencia is a block south of the square -
it's now used by the Church.
Castillo San Cristóbal (daily 8am-5pm; free), a restored fort on a small
hill, five minutes' walk above the western edge of town, provides
wonderful views over the town and west across to Celaque, particularly
in the late afternoon. The fort was built, but never ultimately used, to
defend the area against Guatemalan troops during the nineteenth-century
civil wars; the walls contain the tomb of Juan Lindo, president of
Honduras from 1847 to 1852. About an hour's walk south of Gracias are a
set of natural hot springs (daily 8am-8pm; US$1.20), with small purpose-built
pools for bathing in the 36-39°C waters; a comedor at the site serves
basic meals, snacks and drinks. The path to the springs starts on the
right just after the first river bridge on the road to La Esperanza, at
the southeast edge of town.
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