|
| |
| |
|
MAIL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS |
| |
Letters posted from Honduras generally take around a week to get to
the US and up to two weeks to reach Europe. Receiving letters via poste
restante, however, is more hit and miss: mail may take weeks to work its
way through the system, and there's always the chance it won't be given
to you when it does arrive. The main post offices in Tegucigalpa and San
Pedro Sula are open Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and until 1pm on
Saturdays; smaller offices open from Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, with a
lunch break, and on Saturdays until noon.
International phone calls are astronomically expensive from Hondutel
offices (there's a branch in every town), the state-run company that
President Flores has been unsuccessfully trying to privatize. A three-minute
call to the US or Canada currently costs US$11.50, to Europe US$14.80
and to Australia or New Zealand US$18.20; it's also possible to make
collect calls for a hefty fee.The branches in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro
Sula are open 24 hours; elsewhere, offices are open daily from 7am to
9pm.
Unsurprisingly, given the rates, most travellers choose to avoid
Hondutel if at all possible. In all the main tourist destinations and
most cities there's now a cybercafé or communication centre offering
discounted international call rates. While hardly a bargain, rates are
typically set at around 70 per cent of Hondutel's tariffs. Many
cybercafés also offer Web phone calls , which cut international call
rates to the price of surfing the Net, though line connections are
notoriously crackle- and delay-prone. Police have periodically raided
cybercafés and confiscated Web phone equipment, however, as Hondutel
have tried to make the practice illegal - but it's well worth asking if
the facility is available.
Another alternative option is to purchase an international calling card
from your home phone company before you travel. Once in Honduras, AT & T
card holders should dial 8000 123 for an operator, while MCI card
holders should dial 8000 121.
There are also public phone booths scattered around the major towns,
which take 20 and 50 centavo coins; some also now accept Hondutel phone
cards (L50 and L100). Local calls are very inexpensive, national calls
cost L2 for a three-minute call. Fax services are available in most
Hondutel branches (US$1.40 per page to send to North America, US$2.30 to
the EU, US$2.45 to Australia or NZ), rates are cheaper in cybercafés.
Note that there are no area phone codes ; the international country code
for Honduras is 504 .
Internet use has mushroomed in Honduras in the last few years, and many
hotels and businesses are now on-line. There are also cybercafés in all
the big cities and in most places where travellers congregate. Rates
vary considerably: from US$2.80 an hour in San Pedro Sula to a whopping
US$12 an hour in Utila and Roatán, where an annoying quirk of the phone
system means that no calls can be classified local.
Useful phone numbers
191 National phone operator 192 Information 195 Cruz Roja (Red Cross)
197 International operator 198 Fire brigade 199 Police
191 National phone operator
192 Information
195 Cruz Roja (Red Cross)
197 International operator
198 Fire brigade
199 Police
|
| |
|
