[Aztlan] Bandits rob and beat tourists at Copan

[David Hixson]

MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Some list members may have received Carlos' message encoded with random symbols.  Here is his note as originally typed (sorry for the double-post):
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  Carlos wrote:
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  As a casual traveler in central america I am not surprised.  While 
traveling in Honduras one is not surprised to see machine-gun toting 
guards in front of places as ordinary as discos or shoe stores.  On my 
last trip to La Ceiba in Barrio "La Isla," where many of the discos
are, 
an American, full of "courage," didn't take the advice of the guard to 
call for a cab or wait until some suspicious characters had left.  They

found him in the morning in a ditch with a machete wound to the head.  
He was alive but with a big headache.  Climbing the volcanoes around 
Lake Atitlan in Guatemala can be risky as well, but most are forewarned

of the possibility.  Violence can also happen in Los Angeles.

In my 20 years of traveling by "chicken bus" and staying in very 
economical quarters secured by my own combination lock I have never
felt 
personally threatened.  Except in lawless Guatemala in the late 1980's 
when there were many military roadblocks in the highlands and Michael 
Devine lost his life near Poptun in the Peten.  But this is over 20 
years ago and things are different there.  I also recall being stopped 
and asked for a dollar to support this or that cause.  Very different 
from being pistol whipped for sure.

I'm glad the local officials were as concerned as they appeared to be; 
this could have a negative impact on the tourist economy.  Traveling
and 
climbing over ruins can be a heady experience but keeping a weather eye

on surroundings is always a good idea.

Carlos
"Carlos" <quetzal1 at earthlink.net>

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