The "Rich" People's bus

There are several coach bus lines which cater to the wealthy Hondurans and tourists.  These are very much like American bus lines with ac, reclining seats, video screens, a bathroom, etc.  There is one notable difference though which perplexed us.  After arriving at the airport we booked a seat on this bus to Copan Ruinas.  A few minutes before boarding, someone from the bus line came around with a digital camera to snap pictures of each of us.  Ginny and I had no idea why – we figured they were going to try to sell them to us later, you know, a picture of you embarking on your Honduran adventure.  I figured I would get in the one with Ginny since we were traveling together but the man waved me off and insisted we each have our own shot.  We never saw the pictures and pretty much put it out of our mind.  Two days later when we were preparing to return via the same bus line we started mulling over why they had taken the pictures and wondering if they were going to take them again on this trip.  We came up with two possible theories.  One, the last hour of the ride had been on steep, hilly roads that are clearly not built for a coach bus so we thought the pictures could be so that in case we went down the ravine they could identify who had been on the bus (yes, a cheerful thought I know!).  Two, perhaps the bus, being the one that caters to the wealthy folks, is a target for kidnappings and those pictures would be the ones that would use to identify who was on the bus.  We discussed how all of you would be seeing those lovely shots on the evening news.  “Pam Lavender of New Milford, CT, seen here shortly before departure, is one of the Americans being held for ransom.”  Obviously neither of these scenarios was very appealing and we just hoped they wouldn’t take our pictures again on the return.  Lo and behold though, right before we got “wanded” through the security check they snapped our mug shot again!  By now it was a bit disconcerting!  Aaron said that he thinks it’s all part of the illusion of safety they want the wealthier Hondurans to have.  He said that the upper income people (who are a very small part of society there) are constantly worried about being ripped off by the poor Hondurans and that they are constantly trying to do things to make themselves feel safer.  Who knows!