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JUTICALPA |
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 Situated towards the southern end of the Valle de Catacamas, about
170km from Tegucigalpa, JUTICALPA is a thriving, pleasant little city
with a number of reasonable hotels and restaurants. Capital of the
department, its streets are busy night and day with provincial bustle
and commerce.
Juticalpa's bus terminals are just off the highway on 1 Av SE, which
leads straight to the centre, a fifteen-minute walk north. Local buses -
including departures east to Catacamas and northwest to La Unión - run
from the terminal on the right side of the road (facing town); Empresa
Aurora's Tegucigalpa services use the other side.
At the other end of 1 Av SE is the leafy Parque Banderas , the city's
heart, busy with food stalls in the evenings. The majority of hotels and
restaurants, along with the banks, post office and other facilities, are
on the streets around the Parque. The general market stretches for a few
blocks to the west, along C Perulapan. The local COHDEFOR office (tel
885 2253), with information on the national parks, is in a green house
at the far end of 1 Av SO, about two blocks west of the Empresa Aurora
terminal.
Don't expect too much in the way of cosseted luxury in Juticalpa, or
indeed anywhere in Olancho. Of the places to stay , by far the smartest
is the new Hotel Villa San Andrés (tel 885 2405; US$25-40), just off the
highway 2km from the centre, whose large spotless rooms all have a/c and
TV. In town there are a couple of comfortable, reasonably priced hotels
and a handful of more basic places, all within a couple of minutes' walk
of the Parque. The modern and friendly Hotel Honduras , 1 Av, 1 C NO,
one street west of the Parque (tel 885 1331; US$5-15), is the best on
offer, with large rooms, all with bath and TV and some with a/c. The
similar Apart Hotel La Muralla , nearby at 1 C, 2 Av NO (tel & fax 885
1270; US$5-10), has smaller rooms, and there's a range of clean if
rather gloomy rooms, some with bath, at the longstanding Hotel Atuñez ,
1 C, 1 Av NO (tel 885 2250; US$5-15); finally, there's the Hotel Rivera
, 2 Av, 1-2 C SO (tel 885 1154; up to US$5), which is cheap and clean
and makes up for in friendliness what it lacks in comfort.
Juticalpa's range of restaurants is also pretty modest, though there's a
healthy profusion of comedores, plus the Restaurante Asia on the Parque
for cheap and cheerful Honduran-style Chinese dishes. Behind the
cathedral on 2 Av NE, El Rancho has a nice courtyard setting, serves a
good range of meat and seafood dishes at moderate prices and is popular
with locals for a quiet beer and snack. For wholesome and filling
breakfasts head for Cafeteria Regis on 1 C NO, one block from the
Parque, while Tropical Juices , with branches on the Parque and on 1 Av,
halfway to the bus terminal, offers truly inspired juices and licuados .
For a genuine Olancho-style cowboy cook-up head to La Fonda , on the
highway, where giant steaks and barbecued meats spit and sizzle. When
the attractions of eating and people-watching have worn thin, the cinema
at 1 C NO, 2-3 Av NO shows subtitled US releases.
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