Juticalpa, Honduras

Situated towards the southern end of the Valle de Catacamas, about 170km from Tegucigalpa, JUTICALPA is a thriving, pleasant little provincial city, where the streets are busy night and day with bustle and commerce. With a reasonable number of hotels and restaurants, it can be a refreshing place to spend a few days. The city's focal point is the leafy Parque Banderas, which includes a small pool of rather disgruntled-looking turtles – one suspects this is largely due to the lack of water. The majority of hotels, restaurants, banks, internet cafés and other facilities are on the streets around here. The general market stretches for a few blocks to the west, along Calle Perulapan. When the town's attractions have worn thin, the cinema at C 1, Av 2–3 shows subtitled US releases.