Piura to Huanchaco, Peru 292 miles

Peru, land of goats and garbage. Well, that is at least something you see often on the side of the road; literally.

Today was our first day venturing in the giant dessert of Peru. We woke up and hit the road by 9 as we knew we had a long day ahead of us; the stretch we had to make didn’t have much in between. As soon as we headed out of the city, and after taking the wrong road for a few miles, all you could see around you was piles of garbage and dessert sand. In fact, going down one road in the morning were literally piles of garbage, almost as if the walls of peoples homes. I’ve seen the worst of Mexico, but this topped that easily. On top of that, we filled up our tank and gasoline costs us $4 a gallon. These poor people, no wonder they are riding around in extremely small-engine vehicles and motorcycles.

Just outside of the city was the dessert, and the occasional ‘town’. To paint a picture of what these towns looked like, think Star Wars ‘the sand people’. Yes, picture that and you are right there with us, zooming down the well paved straight road at about 80mph. I kept praying that Yoshita would stay strong as the last thing that I wanted to happen was a breakdown. I wouldn’t want any type of encounter with people that live WAY out in the middle of NOWHERE with nothing around them but a sandstorm; they must be crazy.

The dessert just kept on going, but the further we went in, the more the wind picked up. Just before Chiclayo (a fairly big town in the middle of our dessert stretch) it was so strong I felt at any moment the bike could be swept over. The wind at least stayed fairly consistent, so I think we were just riding along at a 30 degree angle, although when we passed a truck or a slightly large sand dune, we would be whisked forcefully in one direction than another. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tense on the back of the bike…thank god for Mike’s ipod as the music helped me relax.

We only stopped in Chiclayo for another fill up on gas and a quick bite to eat. Nothing special, the usual chicken and rice, but I ate as much as I could stomach because you never know when the next time you’ll find edible food is! I thought that we were done with the worst of the dessert, but just as we pulled out of Chiclayo, the wind only seemed to get stronger. I just clenched the grips on the bike so I’d keep myself from clenching Mike too hard (don’t want to distract him from his important job; keeping us upright!) and thought about how crazy anyone would be to live out here. The terrain didn’t change much, but towards the end of the day we started seeing crops, crops of rice. Okay, call me crazy but why would anyone plant rice which requires plenty of water in the crops out in the middle of the dessert!?!?!? I know there must be a reason, most everything has a reason behind it, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out all day. That’s right, right there in the dessert were crops of rice. That followed by sugar cane.

We ended our wind-swept dessert day in a surf town called Huanchaco. I didn’t expect too much after our day’s driving through little dusty and shabby towns, but this is quite a gem. All of a sudden we turned the corner into town and there was the ocean. I didn’t realize we were riding so close to it, but I’m sure that is why we had such strong winds. This town supposedly is where they think the first surfers came from, pre-Inca era. They make these reed board/canoe type things that they take out into the surf, to fish, and ride the waves back in. They have been doing this for years, before the Incas and still are doing it today. We watched a bunch of them go out at sunset while we had dinner tonight…quite a site.

The town is full of Peruvian and an occasional tourist surfer. The waves are consistent, plentiful and big. There are plenty of restaurants, bars and hotels lining the malacon and beach. Supposedly there is one of the world longest breaks here – 2km! The ocean water here is cold, almost as cold as home…Mike and I couldn’t figure that one out either…I guess there are a lot of mysteries around these parts. If you gaze down the beach and along the shore, yet again you feel like you’re in the set of the ‘sand people’ in Star Wars. The buildings are that mud brick type and all surrounding them is dessert.

We found a nice little hotel, and it must be off season because we talked the guy down and had him include breakfast for just under $20 bucks a night. A room with a view of the ocean. Adam also stayed here with us for $10/night. We had a little rest of the beach, then found a nice little restaurant which served some very delicious fish.

We are staying here another night as tomorrow we want to take an excursion to some ruins in Chan Chan (1,500 year old mud-brick city). Mike’s hoping to rent a board tomorrow too, but it looks a little too big for me!

Hmmm... its getting dry, fast

What a wasteland...

At $4/gallon (and average hourly wage <$2) the 125cc rikshaw makes alot of sense

This has to be one of the worst places on earth to live

More than 200 miles of this today...

and then all of a sudden rice?!

Mike's new favorite beverage

$20 hotel room has a great view!

Lets zoom in on the surf...

WOW! Looks GREAT! I love Huanchaco!

Catacocha, Ecuador, to Piura, Peru 165 miles

Catacocha is the real deal. We are the only tourists here. The city itself is small, and somewhat picturesque, but our reason for being here is strictly practical. Its was about to start pouring and we are close to the Peruvian border. Despite the five year old who tried to pickpocket me, the people are friendly and we had a fine evening.

We put or fleece on before hitting the road this morning because the Andes have been cold, but as soon as we got out of Catacocha, we started our descent. As we went down, the temperature was going up just about as fast. The misty green mountains quickly changed to orange, red, and pink rock and we had to stop to take the fleece off.

Riding through the mountains today was a lot of fun because it felt like we were somewhere really different than everywhere else we’ve been. The road was in good condition and there was no traffic to speak of. We only had to slow down for goats and donkeys in the road. Other than that, we were zooming.

We got to the border of Ecuador and Peru just before noon. I was hoping we would get through before everyone quit for lunch. The route we chose to the border is not the primary road. We made this decision for two reasons, better scenery, and smaller border. A smaller border means less people, less chaos, and less hassle. This border crossing was the best so far. Amie doesn't make eye contact with anyone while she "does her job" (which is watch the bike). Shes says eye contact says "Hello, come touch my motorcycle and maybe try to steal something from me if you like." So she just avoids it all together. Whatever works. About 20 minutes on either side (exiting Ecuador and entering Peru) and we were done. The people at immigration and customs were both friendly and helpful.

Into Peru we rode. The landscape was barren and hot. The buildings, if you can call them that, were made of sticks lashed together with rope. The people here are noticeably poorer than Ecuador, and things cost more. Go figure that one out. Gas is double ($1.50 in Ecuador vs. $3 in Peru) and water is double ($0.25 vs $.50 Peru). Those are our two essentials and Barometer. Even still, we should be able to continue to meet our $50/day budget.


Piura is where we will rest our heads tonight. It is the last town before the 150miles of desert we will cross tomorrow. Hotel is nice, $25 is expensive for here, but its the last town with malaria risk, so we don't mind paying extra for window screens. They had a secure parking lot as well where I finished off the moto maintenance. Wireless internet too?? Hot damn. Amie caught up with the family, I posted this blog. Now I think we will retire to our room and watch "The Break Up." Some days are so much more civilized than others.

Hello little lady

and good day to you senor

Sharp blue shirt Usted!

On the road to Peru!

Si or no? Can we leave Ecuador??

Nice photo Amie!

Zoooooom!!

Peruvian hombre

Watch your ass!!

Time to change the airfilter

Have a closer look...

Cuenca to Catacocha, Ecuador, 200 miles

We woke up to the alarm as we wanted to hit the road at a decent hour in hopes of getting as close as possible to the Peruvian border. The alarm is the last thing I wanted to hear as the movie the night before kept us up late and the bed couldn’t have been more comfortable.

We packed up and were on the road by 8:30. Surprisingly the town was fairly easy to find your way out of, a first. As soon as we headed out of the city we were back in the gorgeous Ecuadorian countryside. The landscape was full of little farms, Ecuadorian farmers and cattle. It was very peaceful and something you would see in a painting on someone’s living room wall. The houses here are all made of big mud bricks, and it seemed that these farmers were doing quite well for themselves. You can easily spot the woman as they continue to wear their bright (pinkish red) shawls and ‘top hats’ while in the fields with their sheep or cows.

The road started off pretty decent, but as we continued through, up and over the mountains, it began to have many big potholes. The scary thing is the road other than the potholes was in great condition, which allowed us to drive faster, but around each corner there was easily a giant pot hole in our path. It made me a little stressed as I kept envisioning taking a corner and running across something that which kick out tires out and make us crash.

A little after noon we made it to the last big city before Peru, Loja. Our plan was to eat some lunch and make the decision to either stay there for the night or press on. We found a little local restaurant which served a full meal for $1.25 each. The soup was a little scary, so I passed (especially considering they like to eat Guinne Pigs here…therefore I don’t like to trust mystery meat), but the chicken and rice were quite nice. There were plenty of locals in there and we were quite the spectacle with all our gear and giant bikes parked out front.

We decided to press on and get closer to the border, either stopping at Catacocha or at the border town if time permits. The road from there got better, but we hit some drizzle. Nothing bad, in fact it was quite nice as it brought us into some very thick fog at one of the mountain peaks. It was so thick that you could barely see the car in front of you… At a slow speed, it was magical.

Once we hit the road to Catacocha we all made the decision to stay instead of heading into the dark clouds for another couple of hours. The town resides on top of a hill. We had to drive up the side to get into the center of the town. This town definitely doesn’t see many tourists. It looks like something out of an old western. Tons of people walking about, old men lining the porches just sitting, all day, everyday. Plenty of stores, but not a lot of options for the tourist. We didn’t even think there was a motel, but after Mike asked some Senors, they sent their kid to walk Mike around town to the hotels. We discovered what I would call a gem for a town like this. Simple room with that terrifying water heater that plugs in above the shower head, but very clean; $12 bucks. You want food? You don’t have many options. We walked the entire center and only discovered one place we could get food, which was some sort of chicken meat torte pie thing; dry and not very tasty. In a town like this, they don’t see tourists often, so we are quite the spectacle walking around; you get the feeling that everyone is staring.

The road today was very tiring for me, so I’m looking forward to an early night to sleep. Tomorrow we have about a couple of hours until the Peruvian border. Our last night in Ecuador, it’s treated us well.

Adios Cuenca! We will miss you!!!

Amie takes great photos from the back of the bike

Nice one!

Mine from the front aren't near as good!

Shouldn't these kids be in school?

One horsepower.

Ecuador and I say hello

We arrived in Cupacoochie, or whatever this town is called

The only restaurant

Cuenca, Ecuador

We love Cuenca. It has the splendor of a beautiful European town, but it is all so cheap! We slept in our nice and comfy hotel room, got up for our 8:30 breakfast (included in room price), then went back into bed until around noon. This is what a vacation is all about!!!

Once we mossied out of our room, we set out for laundry and internet. The town is full of fun little boutique shops, restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlors. The buildings are all beautiful as they line the cobblestone streets. There are many plazas you can discover while wandering around and a great big brick church in the center. We ran across a little Mexican restaurant, and believe it or not, Mike and I have been craving Mexican; they sure know how to cook! You can’t really get anything spicy in Central America, or South America (at least yet). I didn’t think I’d be craving Mexican food so soon…but it was awesome. So good that after lunch we made a deal that we’d go back for dinner. We ran into Adam after lunch at the gelateria, got an ice cream then cruised some of the boutique shops. Mike got a very fresh hat and I found a nice little sweater (I guess I’ll have to ship that home!). A lot of great shops and prices to go with it! Too bad I didn’t have an extra suitcase…

We must have walked most of the old town by the end of the day, but it felt good to move our legs around rather than just sit all day. After a little break back at the hotel, we set out with Adam for the Mexican restaurant (take 2). It must have been great food, because even the second time we were smiling and singing sweet songs to the delicious comida.

Mike and I got a great DVD discovery, Casino Royale (007). One dollar each--Yes please! We even found the new Leonardo movie that I don’t think is even out in theatres yet…thank you South America! I guess we’ll be staying up to date with the latest and greatest movies!

Our great day in the city made us excited for what lies ahead in South America. It was a good breath of fresh air and much needed.

Shopping...

...and internet makes for a happy wife

Being way ahead of budget makes for a happy husband!

Husband and Wife duo

Beautiful Cuenca

The church in the main plaza

Mikes new purchase

Riobamba to Cuenca, Ecuador, 135 miles

We woke up in our lovely comfy bed, walked down to enjoy some breakfast ($2 for toast, eggs, juice and coffee) in our hotel. The man that runs the hotel was shuffling around all nervous like as usual and his kitchen helper was a hummer…which solved the mystery of the humming noises I heard while having a shower earlier.

As we packed up the bike, the owner of the hotel stated and insisted we hadn’t paid the night before; we had, but proving this became impossible and after a long conversation between him and Mike, we had to fork up another $30 bucks. What we call a trip f-you, the room costs us $60 bucks. Frustrating, but not much you can do except remember to get a receipt of payment from here on.

We hit the road, trying to forget about the morning f-you. Fortunately as soon as we headed out of town, the scenery was amazing and the road in prime condition, we quickly forgot about the mornings mishap. The countryside looked more like Ireland or Italy than South America. There were rolling hills with beautifully colored crops and small little villages tucked away. The indigenous people here like to wear those tiny little top hats and brightly colored garb. The women seem to love the bright red almost hot pink shawls. You can easily spot them on the hillside against the bright green grass. It was breathtaking. Even though the air was a bit nippy, we finally got to take advantage of our warm gear and felt quite comfortable all bundled up.

The rolling hills turned into steep mountains, the Andes, and the views along the road were outstanding. I hadn’t thought too much about Ecuador prior to this trip, but I have a whole new appreciation for the country, the ride was the best we’d had. As we climbed up and down the steep mountains the roads turned to dirt, still decently maintained. On the dirt roads came the kids who hold the ropes out, to block the road in hope of forcing you to pay a ‘toll’. The first one we hit had a few kids, they let the bus in front of us by, but as we approached they lifted it up. Adam whizzed right through, but then they raised it higher for us, Mike kept going and then last minute slammed on the breaks, but just as we started to stop, they lowered the rope and we continued on. I think they probably have had a few bad rope burns and don’t like to play chicken with a motorcyclist! I had heard about the kids with the ropes, and as we passed, was relieved that we made it though… Well, that wasn’t the end of it. For the entire stretch of the road there were at least 5 other places with the kids trying to get something off the passing tourists. Our savior for a couple of the spots was the bus directly behind us; we got a free pass. After our third, I think Mike just didn’t care anymore, rope burns or not, we weren’t even slowing down. I honestly can’t imagine that anyone would stop, pay and not just smack the kid for trying to destroy their car. First of all, I don’t think they could stop a passing vehicle without hurting themselves more, and who in their right mind is going to pay someone that is trying to jeopardize their drive? Obviously they are out there for a reason though…

We stopped at one of the breath-taking vistas and had a group of little kids, giggling and clinging on to each other slowing walk up to us and just stare. They were all giggling and checking us out in amazement. I gave them a pack of gum which I think made their day.

Adam’s KLR kicked our butt on the dirt roads, but Yoshita did quite well; she’s a champ. Just as we got back onto tarmac it started to rain. Yes, it rained, and rained, and didn’t seem to stop for quite some time. In the past when it has rained, it was almost refreshing as it has been so hot, but up here in the Andes mountains, it’s another story. Ice cold air and non-stop rain make for a very uncomfortable ride. My helmet mask was completely fogged over, as well as mike’s so he had to keep it slightly open as the icey cold rain struck his face. We were cruising at about 20 mph for at least a couple hours. We kept the hope of the rain dying down and continued truckin’ along, icy feet and hands. Our gear (jacket and pants) are GREAT in the rain, we are completely dry underneath, but our gloves and boots are another story. I need waterproof gloves!!!

After sometime, who knows how long, as when I get that uncomfortable I tend to get my mind off such things and start thinking about Candy, my home or a hot shower, we stopped to try and find some warm food. Our only option was French fries with a filleted hot dog all fancy like, but that and the little break did the trick and we hit the wet rainy road again. Soon after, sunshine! The sun was never more appreciated as we slowly dried and got to enjoy yet again the great surroundings to our drive.

We made it to Cuenca, and even though our boots were still soaked, our clothes had dried off. The outskirts of Cuenca was beautiful, one of the nicest, cleanest cities I’ve seen on this trip. There were plenty of residential track homes surrounded by parks filled with families out for their Sunday afternoon. It obvious isn’t a poor town and was refreshing after the many poverty stricken towns in Central America. The old center is even more beautiful. Cobblestone streets and old colonial buildings, beautiful churches, cafes, this city has it all. We found a nice little hotel, and even though we splurged for $25 a night, our bike is safely parked in the lobby and our bed has a real mattress and plenty of hot water.

At night, we walked the streets as the news from the new President of Ecuador was announced in which every car on the street with honking a little tune and waving a flag of Correa (Spanish for Belt) who just got elected. The honking at first was interesting, but these people go nuts, they can’t stop, they love the horn and they must love their new president!

After some pizza, we made it to an Austrian Café for cake. I guess they must not be known for their cake, a bit disappointing, I guess we should stick to Sausages when it comes to the Austrians…

Mike and I got to watch one of our $1 movies in bed, it was great! You, me and Depree; funny and entertaining. I don’t know if every movie we’ve watched is really that good, or just the comfort of enjoying a movie is great???

Tomorrow we’ll stay another night in this beautiful city to be able to see it before we’re off towards Peru.

Welcome to the high Andes

Hello old lady

Guapo in the rear

Sunday Market (note Dale Correa - soon to be president)

Beautiful patchwork hillside

This is what we rode 6,000 miles for

A trio of cute hats

Muchas Rocas en la Calle

Is that the shot you wanted Adam?

Who's that lady! Oouuuu!

Hasn't started raining yet! Still smiling...

Yoshita likes 11,000'

You beat us Andes!!!

Or maybe not...we made it to Cuenca!

Quito to Riobamba, Ecuador, 150 miles

In which the way Mike forgot Amie is revealed and other adventures worth describing while riding through Ecuador

We woke up after a very sound sleep to Mike’s birthday. I felt a little frustrated as I I do not have my own transportation, time or in a place to make it easy to surprise Mike with things that I would normally do at home for his birthday. I made him a birthday card, and that along with a part for his Corvair were my gifts from me. We slept in a little, then packed our stuff up to head out of Quito.

We rode into old town to pick up Adam on the way out of town. While waiting for him outside his hotel we bought a couple DVD’s to watch later. You can’t go wrong for one dollar each, and most of them are movies that are still out in the theatre. Even if you watch them once and throw them away, it’s cheaper than renting!

Quito is huge, as we got to experience while driving out of town south. It almost seemed endless, but soon enough we were out in the open countryside; beautiful. Big mountains lined with crops which made them look like a patchwork quilt against a blue cloudy sky. The air since we are at about 12,000 feet is crisp and brisk; we finally were able to appreciate the benefits of our nice gear! I felt nice and cozy and didn’t even have the electric vest which I’m sure will be much desired further south in the mountains.

We stopped for lunch at a little delicatessen/café on the side of the road. Such a good choice as they had a ton of delicious cheeses which we had them make us a sandwich with. We stuffed ourselves with delicious sandwiches, chips and water; a great birthday lunch for Mike. After a relaxing and enjoyable lunch at our little gem, we were smiling because the cheese was fantastic and it gave us great hopes for the rest of South America. The food seems to be only getting better for us!

We took our full bellies back out to our bikes, to continue on the road towards Riobamba. I don’t know if it was Mike’s headache or perhaps thought of delicious cheese, but just as I was tightening the bottom of my pant legs, I see Adam take off onto the road, and then Mike in tow. Yes, they took off without me, as I ran after them, neither Adam or Mike noticed that I wasn’t on the back of the bike! I was in shock more than anything at first as HOW is it possible for Mike to not notice I was not on the back of the bike, and beyond that, Adam was sure to have noticed. In disbelief I watched them zoom off down the road, expecting at any moment for them to turn around, but their bikes just disappeared into the horizon. I standed there, waiting, contemplating how this situation is almost impossible, but making myself believe that it was happening. The shock started to pass as the realization that it could now, at this point, be some time before they realized. If they hadn’t realized right away, who knows how long until they say ‘Where is Amie’. I sat, put my helmet cover down and felt like crying, but the situation that I was in I decided it wouldn’t do me any good. The realization that I had no money on me, no way of contacting anyone and not knowing how long until Mike will be back was scary, sad and frustrating. How could he not realize I’m not there! About 30 minutes later I finally saw his bike rounding the corner at high speeds. I figured he was most likely more freaked out than me as when the realization of me not being there hit him, I’m sure the unknown was much more frightening than the shock that I was experiencing. We couldn’t do anything but hug each other and cry. I’ve never seen him look so relieved, scared and happy…and I couldn’t be happier being back with him. What an ordeal, I still don’t know what to think of it as something like that seems impossible. Thank god for Adam as he is the one that pointed out to Mike ‘Mike! Where is Amie’ at some point about 15 miles down the road…

We made it to Riobamba, and this time with ME on the back of the bike. Mike kept reaching back and touching me once in a while to assure himself that yes, I was still there. Riobamba is the original capital of Ecuador. There really isn’t much here for the tourist, but it was a good stopping point for us in our day and a big city. My hopes were to find a nicer hotel and a good place to have a nice birthday dinner. We were fairly successful with the hotel after a man in a van chased us down and proceeded to tell us to follow him to his hotel which is the ‘nicest’ in town for a good price. We had a nice room for $30 a night, Adam got one for $10. We showered, napped and then set out for Mike’s birthday dinner. We took a recommendation from the book stating a great steakhouse with delicious food. It was a roadhouse/ranch type restaurant with a big open grill/kitchen. The menu consisted of one page listing the different types of meats and preparations you can have. It was fabulous, along with the bottle of wine we shared. A great birthday dinner (Thanks Adam!). We tried to follow it up with some homemade ice cream, but after we discovered they were closed, we walked the town until we ran across some phones and Mike took the opportunity to call home.

Mike had a nice birthday, and that’s all that mattered to me. I wish I could have done more, but we made the best of it, and he for sure had a birthday he will remember forever; Ecuador with his wife and best friend.

Old town Quito in daylight

Adam is back on the road with us

Adios Quito

Cuddle break

Beautiful driving

Mixed meats...

...by a fake fire

Happy Birthday to Mike!

Chapter 55

Which describes the adventure of the speakeasy, as well as other matters

I was up early for bike maintenance. Gunther had a chain breaker with him, but was hitting the road, so I wanted to get my bike cleaned up and my chains cut before he left. Yoshita looked like new after the wash she got. $3 got it cleaner than its been since I’ve owned it. Three guys hit it with a degreaser mist, then a pressure washer, than hand wash, then wax, then armor-all type stuff. It took about 30 minutes, and the bike came out beautiful. I gave each of the guys an extra buck and we were all happy.

Back at the hotel courtyard, Gunther was packing up but was happy to hang out and help break my chain. His trusty tool got my old chain off, but when we went to cut 3 links off the new chain (to get it to size) his chain breaker broke, instead of my chain (I guess the DID Gold chains really are tough!). We spent some time trying to finish what we started with the other tools we were carrying, but with no luck. I bid Gunther farewell (and said sorry about his tool!) and hit the street with chain in hand.

I asked around for a moto mechanic, but settled for a refrigerator mechanic. He had a big hammer and a chisel. With a little finesse, we had it off. I gave him a dollar, again, everybody happy. I got the chain on in no time, and headed off next to get the new Metzler Tourances that Keith was kind enough to bring mounted. I had to pull the wheels off in the street which was a bit tricky without a center stand, but was able to get it done. The “Vulcanizador” put the new rubber on the rims for $8. Getting the rear wheel back on was a bit tricky, but with some help from my new friends, I was on the road with new rubber in no time.

It is election weekend in Ecuador, and like Nicaragua, no alcohol allowed. Reminiscent of the US Prohibition, people don’t stop drinking, they just sneak. For example, the vulcanizador offered me a beer, and when I said, “I thought there was no drinking this weekend” the shhhh’d me and hid the booze.

We headed off to Gloria’s to meet Adam. We caught up in the comfort of her living room enjoying his stories from Columbia. I planned on finishing the bike maintenance out of the rain in Gloria’s garage (still need to change the air filter, spark plugs, and brake pads) but hunger got the better of us and we went back to Cafetto for another delicious lunch on Keith (thanks Keith, AGAIN!). Since its my birthday tomorrow, I let him pay.

The day slipped away from us and we were back at the hotel to freshen up before heading to “Turtle Head Pub” a bar run by a Scottsman-motorcyclist who Adam met online and, despite local legislation, was open tonight. A real speakeasy! We couldn’t miss that… even though it was hard to get out of the hotel as it was across town and the rain was coming down pretty hard. The taxi dropped us at the intersection we had for the Turtle Head. The street was dark, and felt dangerous. Nothing was open, nothing lite. We walked around a block in each direction and asked passerbyes if they knew of the location of this bar. A security guard said he did, mentioned that it and all bars were closed tonight and it was two blocks in the wrong direction. I can say that, because we eventually found the place. It was completely dark from the outside, with a guard standing behind a locked gate. He let us in, and inside, by candlelight, was an honest to goodness british pub, full of English speaking customers. The owner, Albert, was reviewing a map of south America with adam on the pool table. He welcomed us, and told us abit about roads and routes in Ecuador and Peru. We ordered beers and fish and chips and felt like we were anywhere but South America.

A guy in his early 20s, by the name of “Kale” approached our table and offered to buy us a pitcher. We were all surprised, as none of us knew this guy, and immediately were suspicious. He seemed harmless however, so we let him go ahead and join us. I figured he was just lonely and excited to see other Americans (as the other English speakers in the bar were brits, aussies, etc). Turns out he works at the US Embassy in Administration. Interesting… oh wait, when Keith asked what he did, he said “Security.” Hmmm… more suspicious. Lets make sure he drinks from this pitcher we thought. We were getting nervous when he came back with glasses, and a bottle of beer for himself. !??!?!? Shortly there after, he invited over a friend of his, name I don’t recall, American, who worked in the oil fields here. He was covered in tattoos (we could see them on his wrists under his long sleeve). He made the girls uncomfortable. Adam and I were interviewing these two trying to see what there interest in us was and where this was going to lead. I got the feeling the were harmless, but amie wasn’t convinced. We soon left, but not before the age old debate regarding garlic vs. cheese was brought up by adam. The premise is simple, which would you give up, if you had to give up one? Would you rather give up Garlic? Or cheese? For me its simple, garlic is great, but cannot compete with variety and versatility of cheese. Adam has his mind made up just as easily in the other direction, believing garlic is a cornerstone in cooking and would give up all cheese before garlic. Well, the two suspects thought this a very interesting conversation and got quite involved and vocal. Kale, the dimwit of the two, took some time to grasp the discussion, but quickly put his own spin on it: Turkey or Bread??

Laughing all the way to old town at the situation and conversation, we wondered what the beer they bought us was spiked with (date rape drug?) . It was about midnight, and everyone said happy birthday. Old town was dead, but I was very happy we had Gloria give us the tour. From her car, we drove the historic city center which was bathed in light and was more Europe than latin America. It was really something, and I was shocked we had been here so long and not seen it. A really beautiful city.

All shined up!

Reviewing the route with the Scotsman

An interesting encounter at the Speakeasy

Are we in South America??

Candlelite speakeasy

Old Town Quito

Queso

Iglesia Grande

Quito, Ecuador - Chapter 54

Regarding the conclusion of the Adventure of Ecuadorian customs and other things worthy of this great history

Next day up at 7:30, at customs by 8am. They open at 8:30 so the cast of characters got to see that we were there before them which made them more anxious to sort us out. It was sort of like our local pub. Lots of greetings from familiar faces. Unfortunately, we weren’t in the mood for idle chit chat, we had enough of sitting around without our bikes. A certain Senora Aredia (spelling?) took up our cause, and it was fortunate that she did, as she was obviously a very important lady. She said good morning, and promised we would be on our way to the “bodega” (warehouse) to get our bike in 40minutes, or less, we had her word. Then she left for coffee. Then she came back. 40 minutes later she called us into her office, where she asked us about our trip and what was holding us up. We explained how we had been recommended a “helper” who was a total puta and had done nothing for us. Senora Aredia agreed we should pay her nothing. We got the final signature from the general with her help and were just about to leave, when Senora Marquez’s little friend showed up. He came into the aduana nonchalant and stood next to us. Senora Aredia asked if he was the one representing us and he said yes. She chastised him pretty good and said we will pay him nothing. He texted his bitch boss, said some cuss words and left without a dime. Finally, some justice. Senora Aredia said we were done, call her if we had any other problems. We praised her and kissed her hand.

We took a taxi to “InterCarga” where our bike was stored. We were assured that a taxi driver would know where Intercarga is, but unfortunately no one did, so we had to drive around until we stumbled on it. We walked down a dirt road, with trash strewn on either side of the street while pigs slept in the mud on the road. We were concerned about our bikes as this looked like a real $hit hole we were in, more like a chop shop/scrap yard than an international shipper. We turned a corner and things looked up, there was Intercarga, a fairly modern warehouse with secure perimeter. Presenting our freshly completed papers with a smile to Aduana did not give us the satisfaction we expected. He did not smile back and let us have our motorcycle. Instead he insisted we were missing a signature and a stamp (as if the 10 we had on the 10 different pieces of paper weren’t plenty, let alone the assurance from the secretary of customs that we were done). I just about lost it. Lots of shaking a finger, frowning and phone calls ensued until a representative from customs came down from the airport in his car, visually inspected the VINs, took our documents, had us follow him back to the aduana, make another 10 photo copies, a couple more signatures and another stamp or to for good measure, we were, finally, done. Free at last.

The bike is in good shape, nothing wrong with it I can see on first inspection; are things looking up?? Keith delivered the care package (THANKS KEITH AND PELE!!!!) and it was like Christmas for Amie, myself, and our moto: New tires, chain, sprockets, plugs, airfilter, brakes, jerky, almonds, cliff bars, pillow cases, all kinds of goodies. The hardships we’ve endured the past 48hours already began to fade from memory.

Not really anxious to jump into the moto maintenance today, we caught a ride with Keith and Gloria to the Ecuador so we could put one foot in each hemisphere at the same time. Yeah, tourist gimmick, but still a must do. After that, we had one of the best meals of the trip at Caffeto. I had a foccacia sandwich with serano ham, guyuer cheese, Fresh and sun dried tomatoes, pesto spread… $6. Expensive for Ecuador but worth every penny. Amie had a really hearty minestrone and a chicken caesar wrap. Food like this we haven’t seen in weeks. Topped it off with banana split and rolled ourselves back to the hotel for some down town.

I had the idea of calling the US Embassy to see where we could find a thanksgiving dinner, but the Embassy was closed. Later we found out (Gloria has a friend that works there) that the US Ambassador had the Embassy employees over to his house for dinner. Wish we could have snuck into that! Not like we’re hungry after lunch anyway…

After some much needed rest in our hotel (I think the altitude here makes you more exhausted), Gloria and Keith picked us back up at 8PM to grab some food and drinks at the nice downtown area. It was quite a scene down there as the election is on Sunday and after midnight you cannot buy any alcohol until Monday. We ended up eating at a pub where some guy was singing his heart out to some great rock n roll goodies; good stuff and a fun night thanks to Gloria and all her secret little spots she has been taking us to. We have been enjoying having a local show us around so much - it's such a treat from the usual struggle to find somewhere decent to go or eat...

We discovered Adam made it into town last night, but it sounded like he had a long day as when we called him, he was sleeping and didn't sound like he wanted to change that.

We are missing our families very much today. Happy Turkey day everyone, we miss you all!

Yay! All our goodies!

Which side of the Ecuador are we on now???

Northern Hemisphere

We were looking for the toilet on either side...which side flushes clockwise???

Awww...

Beast Skills are hard in the high altitude

He couldn't stop

Thumbs up for the Ecuador!

We're still together...

Quito, Ecuador - Chapter 53

Which recounts the struggle with Ecuadorian Customs, as well as other events worthy of being recorded and remembered forever.

I had read many times on HorizonsUnlimited.com and other websites that Girag was the way to go as far as shipping a motorcycle from Panama to Ecuador, over the impassable Darien Gap between Columbia and Panama. From what I had read, it sounded like such a simple, common, straight forward process successfully completed very frequently by many travelers. So I was surprised when we got off the plane yesterday and with the only instruction from Girag to “go to the cargo terminal and get your bike” and EVERY SINGLE PERSON AT THE CARGO TERMINAL NEVER HEARD OF GIRAG, I got first concerned, then panicked, then angry, then melancholy, then angry again.

Luckily, Gunther, a German riding from California to Argentina who we mentioned before who is in the exact same situation as us, saved some notes on his computer which included a phone number and address for a Girag office in Ecuador. You would think this would be given to us, or at least printed on the Girag waybill. We had none of this info. We called Girag and were told to come to the office today, so that’s what we did.

We got a taxi to the address, which wasn’t very close to the airport at all and seemed to be an office in a residential neighborhood. We waited there for a bit, were told our bike was in Ecuador and safe, and our documents were ready to go to customs. They offered us the services of a Senora Magoly Marquez who charges $50 for her services of speeding up the process. They said with her help we would have our bike this afternoon, without it, it could take days. Bewildered, as Gunter and I have already $750 to ship the bike and another $22 to Girag on arrival for “Handling,” what’s another $50 if we can get our bike today?

Senora Marquez did not instill confidence. She was in her late 30s, dressed like she was 18, tons of makeup, fancy for Ecuador, but 80s style by US standards. When she came into Girag it was hugs and kisses all around, obviously a family friend.

We followed her to her “office”, I use the term loosely because the sign out front was a lady’s clothing boutique, and we filled out a couple of generic homemade forms requesting our names, passport numbers, vins, etc. Just as the clock struck 11:30, she told us to meet her at Aduana (customs) at 1:30, she was going for Lunch. ???

The only directions she gave us for Aduana and where we should meet was “around the corner and to the right.” Luckily I had the presence of mind to ask for her cell phone number. Gunther and I went back to the hotel, picked up amie in our taxi and got some lunch, Gunther’s treat (thanks Gunther!) at TGI Fridays, not our favorite, but something we felt we could trust. After finding out there are 5 different customs offices, and the area Senora Marquez described is locally known as the “Labryinth” I was surprised, and at the same time, not at all, to realize how vague our directions from Senora Marquez wore. I called her on her cell, and she arrived at 2pm. She dropped our papers in an office and said she had to go downstairs. We did not see her again. We sat in the office for the next few hours, and at about 3:30, customs officials began asking us what we were waiting for. We explained how we had hired a woman was helping us get our papers through. They were surprised as they had never heard of this woman or even seen our papers, but not to fret, they had time and could help us now, all we had to do was give them our documents… but Senora Marquez had them. So down the street and around the corner to the pay phone I ran again to call her and ask her where the hell she is and where are papers are as we were getting the attention we needed from the officials. She said she’d be right there. She showed up at 4pm. Customs closes at 4:30. She came into the office and gave our papers to the official, and then the official said, “ok, we’ll do this tomorrow. I’m going home.” ??? WTF??? We are paying this lady $100 (between the two of us) to help speed the process and its because of her we didn’t finish today!??!?! I wanted to strangle this Senora, but that would not get me my bike any faster. I explained the situation to her in Spanish as best I could and got through that I was not pleased. Her response was, “its not my fault.” Not only did she do NOTHING for us, she wasn’t even concerned or remorseful that we would be delayed another day. Gunther had steam coming from his ears and nose.

To add insult to injury, Gunther pointed out a big sign on the door of the Aduana office with there mission statement, something along these lines:

Customs of Ecuador is a modern, efficient machine which strives to be the model not only for South America, but the whole world. Integrity, honesty and diligence is what we pride ourselves on….

Is this for real?????

I was totally at the end of my rope. 9am – 4pm waiting and paying money all day, and nothing at the end of it. I was pissed.

Gunther wasn’t doing much better, and German’s I’ve met tend to get pretty hot headed. He headed off and bought 3 bottles of mine. I had one, he had two. That made us feel a little better.

Later that evening, Gloria was kind enough to invite us back to her place where we enjoyed the comforts of a home and some good conversation. Later, we made our weigh to a delicious 24 hour café were we got good food, cheap.

Back at the hotel around midnight, I was dreading the alarm clock which would awake me at 7am for another round with Aduana.

The entire day spent here

Such a lovely home

Panama City, Panama to Quito, Ecuador, 2 hr plane ride

We made it to South America, as soon as we landed we felt like we were in a different place. The importation officer was falling asleep while typing in our passport information and as soon as we stepped outside, giant pieces of hail were hitting the ground. I guess I shouldn’t have worn a tank top from Panama!

We woke up anxious to leave our hotel room and head out for new destinations. After a 20 minute cab ride we were at the airport, checked our bag, waiting in the comfortable airport seating and before we knew it we had taken off for Ecuador. What a difference in treatment that we got at the airport vs. all the other BS we have to deal with at every other country crossing…it was a nice and refreshing break. I have to admit it made me crave more ‘comforts’ that can come along with traveling.

We arrived and while passing through immigration, the officer who was entering our passport information literally was falling asleep. At first when I noticed, mid-word ‘Torni’, that she had stopped typing and her eyes looked quite closed, I told myself that was the most absurd thing and couldn’t be possible…sure enough, she woke up, finished typing a word…and half way through the form fell back asleep. This time I gestured to Mike that this woman was sleeping…he didn’t believe me, but since she gave us to many instances, he was able to witness at least 2; unbelievable. How is that possible and welcome to Ecuador!

We happened to be on the same flight as Gunther who had shipped his bike with us to Quito as well. We figured that it would be easy to find the Girag cargo center, but after many inquiries, looking for any type of address or phone number on the receipt, we realized we had no information and nobody had ever heard of Girag. Fortunately both of us had some information saved on our laptops which might include a name, phone number or some clue as to where are bikes were. We managed to find a phone number and got a hold of someone who told us that our bike hadn’t even shipped yet, even though they had told us the day before that it would be shipping that day. I guess we should have expected a situation like this as nothing here ever seems to go as planned or stated, even when you are paying good money! They told us that our bikes would be ready for pick up tomorrow morning. The only thing we could do then was find a hotel room and look up Keith and Gloria.

After a quick email and chat with Keith, Gloria and him picked us and Gunther up at our hotel room. What a treat! It was so nice to be with someone that knew the city so well and had an agenda for the night for us. I think it was especially for Mike as he is always the one having to determine where we will stay, where is safe, where we shouldn’t go, etc. Gloria drove us to what they call ‘Gringoland’ which is in the downtown area with what seemed to be a lot of trendy little bars and restaurants. It’s supposed to be the safer area so a lot of people go out there. We went to a little restaurant/bar and had some yummy food and enjoyed their live salsa band leading into the night. Even though I had heard great things about Gloria, it was so nice to meet her and I only think greater of her now in person. She is a complete sweetheart and it seems that both of them couldn’t be happier. It was great to see Keith too; a familiar face. It made our time between Baja and now seems so much shorter…as if we had just left him a few days ago… Along with great company, it was sure nice to speak English to someone other than Mike – it’s been a while! Poor Mike, I must talk his ear off just to give my fill of talking in the day…

Our hotel room tonight, although $35 dollars, is clean, cool, has good quality sheets and smells fresh…such a nice treat. I think it is mandatory to stay in a decent place now and again just for our sanity.

Tomorrow morning Mike and Gunther will set off to find their bikes, we are all crossing our fingers that we get them, as well as no damage. If Mike is successfully in retrieving the bike early enough then he is planning on starting the maintenance (put new tires on, new chain and possibly new sprockets – all which Keith kindly brought out to us). Even if we get the bike stuff squared away tomorrow, we still are planning to stay another couple of nights just to enjoy Quito in the company of Keith and Gloria. Adam? We expected to see him last night…but haven’t heard from him in a couple of days so our guess is he is still on the road.

Keith and Gloria

It's nice to be with friends...

Mike's 'Te' which makes him better

Out on the town!

Interesting brand of Te

Panama City, Panama 25 miles and a few taxi rides

Today was our errand day, including getting our bike shipped on a cargo plane to Quito. We woke up early, got all of the stuff for the bike together and headed off towards the airport. Of course, just as it is hard to find any destination in this city, we wandered for a while until we discovered a long busy road which lead us to the airport. Once at the airport, the cargo area is quite a ways further. The company we wanted to ship with, Girag, didn’t have a sign stating where it was located, but fortunately as we arrived there was another guy, German named Gunther, just leaving on a motorcycle who lead us to the correct building. He had just come from San Francisco, but only took 2 weeks! Nuts! Unbelievable. Regardless, we found the company and after waiting quite some time wondering what in the world they are doing, we paid our $750 in cash, parked Yoshita, said our goodbyes and we’re off in a taxi back to Panama City. The entire process took about 2 hrs, not bad and supposedly Yoshita is being shipped to Quito today so we should be able to pick her up when we land tomorrow – keeping our fingers crossed! We weren’t asked to disconnect the battery or drain the gas.

After the bike shipment we wanted to go to the Mexican embassy as we had previously discovered that we didn’t return our vehicle importation documentation and supposedly could face some big fines. Well, after the taxi driver was confused by the address we had, and several other people he asked, we decided to not send the driver on an expensive wild goose chase and headed back to our lovely and musky hotel. Our next task was the Correos (post office). Always a challenge not only finding the post office, but getting to it during business hours, and having everything necessary to mail a package home. After some walking and discovering that the one post office which we walked to had just been demolished, and the heavy thunder/lightening and rain starting, we hopped in a cap which took us clear across town to the post office. An hour later and our package was mailed home (backups of our photos). On the way back we couldn’t pass up another gyro at the little Greek restaurant we enjoyed yesterday – delicious!

After so much rushing around and sweating, we took a rest in our hotel for a few hours until we couldn’t take the musky smell and small room any longer and took off for a meal at the Hard Rock Café (a little treat). When we got there, there was a ton of little kids hootin’ and hollering to the band that was playing on stage – quite a racket/scene. Regardless, we took in the ambiance and ordered a good ol’ American sandwich and milkshake. The band must be a recent Panamanian one-hit-wonder band as they had their video playing after their performance. The main singer wore a red outfit with this little yellow helmet (both in the video and on stage); quite fun. Hard Rock was located in a giant mall which we wondered after dinner avoiding heading back to the hotel too early. The mall also had one of the many casinos you see all over town. Yes, you can buy a pair of Diesel jeans, turn the corner and play a couple hands of black jack; very interesting. The place was packed on a Monday night. I could tell Mike was tempted to play a few hands, but I reminded him that we could easily blow our daily budget in 5 minutes…

After a nice stroll we made it back to our room. We’re ready and anxious for our flight tomorrow and look forward to what lies ahead of us. Hopefully Adam will be arriving in Quito soon and we have a nice get-together with him and Keith. Both Mike and I have decided to step up the quality of hotel a few notches while we’re in Quito just for some much needed comfort and sanity.

See you later Central America, hello South America!!!

Hang on Yoshita...hope to see you again

Don Quiote?

Right before the cockroach attacked me

Panama City, Panama 30 miles

Slept in and got some much needed rest. Neither of us have kicked what we caught in Costa Rica just yet. We’re both suffering from a suit of strange symptoms. I hope its not worms of any type… That’s stuffs gross.

Panama is a big time city. About a million people, all with a pretty high standard of living, much higher than the rest of Central America for sure. Like all big cities you can eat whatever type of food you feel like. We felt like Greek. Sure enough, we found a place serving Gyros, at $4 they seemed a bit pricy for panama, but they were huge!!! Nearly half the size of a soccer ball.

Feeling full, we jumped back on the bike and cruised around for awhile (really, we were lost) and took some photos of the city. I forget how fast and nimble the bike really is when its not laden—that and the fact that our rear tire is bald caused the rear wheel to skid at a sudden stop. Amie just about crapped her pants she said (much easier to do with diarrhea). Don’t worry moms, new tires are in route. Thanks again Keith!!

Old town is like what I picture Havana Cuba to be like. It’s shabby and run down, but full of great colonial architecture, faded pastel paint, and ocean views all around (the Spanish built the city on a peninsula for easy defense). After meandering through the avenidas and the calles (yep, lost again) we made our way out to the Mira Flores locks of the Panama Canal.

The more you learn about the canal, the more interesting it gets. Basically the US bought the rights to it from the French who dumped a ton of money (and over 20,000 frenchmens’ lives) into the construction, but couldn’t get it finished in the 1800s. Good ol’ US of A saw it through to the end and in 1914 it was up and running. Its 50 miles long and has a series of ingenious locks that raise the canal water height way above sea level and then lower it again, all while gigantic freighters are in the canal. Boats all around the world are built to the panama canal dimensions. A certain width and length maximum, known as Panamax. These Panamax boats pass through so tight there’s only inches of clearance on either side. It’s insane. There is a bunch more of cool factoids, but if you’re interested, I’m sure you can find plenty online.

We watched tankers move through the locks until they kicked us out (viewing platform closed at 5pm), then headed back to our sweet hotel. We took a cab to Pizzeria Napoli, a great, cheap, pizza joint then went on a quest for a public phone as it’s been some time since we called home. The only one we found was inside a casino. What an experience. I was tempted to put all our trip money on red or black with the idea either we double our daily budget, or go home early. We’re not that crazy. Not yet at least.

Somehow its midnight (no we weren’t at the casino that long) and have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I’m more then a little apprehensive about leaving the bike at the airport and hoping it shows up in another country… Oh well. Cross your fingers for us.

I think we'll have another one tomorrow

Panama (new) city

Zoom...

Back by popular demand...pimp'd schoolbus Panama style

Hello friends, I'm in Panama!

Old city with the new city in the background

Old town

Yoshita likes cobblestone

Whoa, that's a big boat!

One of the 8 modern wonders of the world

Chiriqui Grande to Panama City, 342 miles

We have successfully completed the first leg of our journey. This portion we expected to be the most dangerous, difficult, and uncomfortable. Dangerous and difficult? Not really. Uncomfortable? Absolutely. We had more than our fair share of rainy days, dumpy hotels, bad food, mosquito bites, and diarrhea. But as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; and the worst times turn into the best memories. Wait, aren’t we on vacation?? Bring on the next continent!

We slept good in the AC. We sleep in the tent on the bed in almost every hotel to keep the mosquito-bite-count as low as possible (I have 16 on my feet alone). The tent we have has very fine mesh, and shouldn’t even really be considered “mesh” as it isn’t breathable its so fine. Its normally 10 degrees warmer in the tent than in the room (our alarm clock has a thermometer) so when its 80s-90s, the tent is unbearable. So that brings me back to the first sentence: We slept good in the AC.

I almost drove threw the glass show-case cabinet in the hardware store last night while jumping the bike up the curb from the street and across the wet and slick tiled sidewalk and storefront. Getting it out was much easier. The Panamenos (Panamanians) are very patriotic and this hardware store sold full size flags, small flags, plastic flag banners, but no flag stickers (we are collecting them for our panniers). I settled for a pair of safety goggles (for the rainy days).

We hit the road by 9am, and wound our way through the Chiriqui highlands, some of our best scenery (and roads!) the whole trip thus far. Lots of lush greenery, waterfalls, mountains, wildlife… As a matter of fact, shortly after passing what can only be described as a lizard crossing sign, a green flash about a foot long and six inches around, shot across the road… right infront of diesl trucker who hit it with a series of wheels! Then we hit it. And I say hit it (instead of ran it over) because it was that big.

The people here are so friendly and helpful, I really like Panama. We get lots of waves from young and old as we pass by, and as soon as we stop and look lost for a moment, someone pulls over and offers help. This is without a doubt the friendliest country in Central America.

We stopped at the halfway point for McDonalds. Amie hadn’t eaten anything significant in at least 2 days, and her faithful “Pechuga Crispy” is all she could think about as her passed bout of food poisoning had her more than a little weary on the street vendors / local restaurants. I bought my big mac with US dollars and then drove by cops with radar and for a second I felt somehow closer to home…

Our butts were numb at 200 miles. Even averaging 60miles an hour on the good road, 350 miles is hard for us to do comfortably. At 250miles legs were tingling. At 300 miles we crossed Puente de las Americas (bridge of the Americas) that arches over the panama canal and were in the city. There are two different neighborhoods immediately identifiable Casco Viejo, the colonial, old town, and the new modern financial district downtown. Casco Viejo has the colonial churches and buildings (and ruins) from the 16th centry. The financial district looks like any major US cities downtown. There are also tons of condos going up. They are boasting the weather and all the luxury of Miami at half the price. Our hotel runs $22/night, I talked them down to $18. Cable, AC, a pool on the roof in the middle of the city! By that measure, condos here should be ¼ the price of Miami.

Succesfully out of the hardware store

Shoe-shine boys give their blessing

Ridin' through the clouds

Beautiful Panama

Typical highland abode

another...

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to Chirqui Grande, Panama 120 miles

It’s amazing what a beautiful ride through some of the most amazing lush scenery and great roads can do for oneself.

We woke up and Mike didn’t feel he could ride, every hour during the night was the countdown for the feat of leaving the town and hotel room we so desperately wanted to have behind us. We were both extremely disappointed but I talked Mike into taking another 2 hour nap until 10AM in which we could decide then, before our checkout, if we could get back on the bike or not. I still am not feeling the best myself, but far better than Mike at this point. At 10AM we reevaluated the situation, and even though Mike seemed almost glued to the toilet and with bad head pains, when he looked around the room, there was nothing more that we wanted than to leave. We decide to pack up and ride, even if it were for only a mile to another hotel if that’s the only strength we had. We took our time packing up as we knew the near Panama border crossing was closed between 11 and 1pm.

I remembered what it was like to feel alive when we got back on Yoshita and hit the road. Fresh air, sunny skies, a life outside of the dismal room and the road in front of us, taking us to new destinations; wherever they may be. Down a rugged dirt road and then onto decent pavement on and off was the ride up to the border, we handled that well and were glad already that we decided to pack up.

The border crossing into Panama in the North has the infamous ‘2 bridges’ that you must cross and as we had heard are quite scary on a motorcycle. We didn’t know what to expect, but I did know at the very least I will be walking it. The first bridge came up just as we did our exit paperwork for Costa Rica (that was a breeze). It wasn’t too long, but pretty much was an extremely old, primitive railroad bride which they laid some planks of different shapes and sizes down on either side (2 wide…if you’re lucky) so that cars can slowly pass through. It’s much more difficult for the moto though, and if you make a wrong move or stumble, you could easily be risking loosing the bike over the edge and possibly yourself. Mike rode very slowly with his feet dangling down as I walked across. First one down; success! The offices for the Panama importation weren’t too busy, and had plenty of friendly workers, but somehow they work at the most incredibly slow speed you’d ever imagine humanly possible. Literally. To type up one paper took us over an hour in an office with Mike and 4 other people there to help him. I believe it’s the speed at which they type as well as taking their turns on each of their tasks one at a time rather than do multiple things at once… Either way, it still blows my mind that someone hasn’t come into one of these border crossing and blown everyone away with just average speed work! I waited outside by the bike, sitting amongst other truck drivers who were waiting for their paperwork and a bunch of shoe-shiner kids. As I sat there plenty of big ladies, pouring out of their tiny outfits would walk by as the truck drivers gawked. I still am in amazement when I see a woman wearing high heals walking through some of these roads. Poor kids, they sure don’t have an easy life and it makes kids from back home look so lazy when these little fellows are out just trying to a penny off hard work.

After much sweat and waiting, Mike walked out of the importation building smiling and I knew we were ready to hit the road into Panama; always a good feeling.

There were several roads just outside of the border crossing, with no signs, so it took us a few wrong turns before all of the friendly Panamanians were hootin’ and hollering at us and pointing in the direction out to the main road. At first we thought their whistles and shouts should be ignored, but soon realized that the people here, truly want to help. Quite a difference from most of our trip so far!

The first big town we hit probably was the most confusing to navigate through ever. It wasn’t even a big town, but had no signs, and the road never seem to keep one direction, so choosing to follow a particular direction never gives you the best results. Thank god for the friendliness of the people here, we had taxi drivers following us, waving us in the right direction, people running over towards us… At first we still couldn’t believe that they were trying to help as how could they know where we were going??? Yeah, well, I guess that’s pretty easy to figure out! After much honking, waving, pointing, whistling and dead end roads we found the road that leads us to CA-1!

The drive was absolutely beautiful. I would have to say some of the best scenery on this entire trip so far. The people have changed from whites and rastafari’s and back into more native Indians, all so very friendly. The road was in perfect condition and wrapped in and out of thick banana trees and beautiful meadows. On the left hand side you could occasionally see the water and the many islands which line it. All of the people living in the mountains seemed to be doing quite well and were all very self-sufficient with farms, gardens, and houses built on stilts. Speaking of stilts, when there are houses on stilts, you have to believe there is a lot of rain…and shortly into our ascend , the clouds were gathering and becoming thick grey; rain was ahead! I wasn’t able to capture any photos from the gorgeous and breath-taking scenery, or the friendly faces peering out of their windows as we passed by…or the little kids helping their family herd in the cattle…because of the sprinkling and coming rain.

It started pouring on us and I didn’t even know how Mike could even see as it was pounding down so hard and starting to get dark out, with the grey clouds only speeding up the process. Just in time we reached Chirqui Grande which is more than half way to CA-1 in the mountains. The rain didn’t stop and the lightening began to light up the sky. We drove in and at the first Motel sign found a little gem; a clean room with hot water shower and A/C. A savior! Yoshita is parked underneath the motel in the hardware store and we are safe in our rooms from the thunder, lightening and rain after a hot shower; a successful day! Tomorrow we need to make the long stretch into Panama City – about 7 hrs.

The nice side of Puerto Viejo

Getting advice on how to cross the bridge of terror

Not so bad...

Second one is worse

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, 0 miles

Another day in this town which is starting to feel more like a curse than a holiday destination. I am feeling much better today and was able to eat a real meal for dinner and move around a bit. I think at this point my body is just needing all of the energy it lost from the night and day before. Just as our spirits started to lift with the possibly getting out of this hotel and town, Mike has now started to come down with the same symptoms tonight. When it rains, it sure does pour.

He doesn’t seem to have as bad of symptoms as I did, and I’m hoping that stays the case all through the night. He is resting now and I’m keeping him hydrated with fluids. I will be ready to ride tomorrow. We are crossing our fingers that Mike will be ready to go as well…

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, 0 miles

Amie is better today, but only marginally. I didn’t sleep much, getting up frequently to check on her as she lay curled up on the bathroom floor. I struck out to find a doctor, or at least a pharmacy at 8am as that was the soonest I could expect something to open. I was very happy to find out this town has both. I was able to get a thermometer and speak to a doctor within an hour. The doctor said that I shouldn’t assume malaria, especially since we were taking chloroquine (malaria preventative). She assured me that many types of bacteria and virus found in food and water could cause the symptoms including fever and chills. Back in the room amie’s temp read 37C—which is like 98.5F, pretty darn close to normal. This, along with what the doctor said, and her close proximity made me feel MUCH better about everything.

We passed the day lying in bed, me reading, amie sipping water and eating the Costa Rican equivalent of saltines. Very slowly I could see her improving. I seriously doubt we will be able to leave early tomorrow morning as we planned in order to meet our Panama City deadline. Oh well, health comes first.

Sorry, no pics.

We are alive... barely

We got hit with food poisoning or stomach flu this week and have been out of commission for three days. Sorry no photos.

We will officially update the blog tomorrow...

Cahuita to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, 15 miles

Believe it or not, the cops pulled us over again driving the 15 miles between Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. They are basically the same place, only one was very little village, and the other more like a tourist trap. PV has many more restaurants and too many hotels. The Lonely Planet book lists like 20, all about the same, and all about $20 bucks.

We had a recommendation from Gareth and Esther, kindred spirits we met in La Paz (there blog is under links), but despite our best efforts and 5 miles of cruising up and down the streets of PV, we couldn’t find it. We settled for a big spacious room that the only thing amie wasn’t happy about was it “smells to clean.”

Rastamen were offering us the “best ganja” at every corner which got annoying fast. Lots of lazy dread lock homeboys sleeping in trees, selling bob Marley t-shirts, and hollering at American and Euro gringas looking for a fling (and it appears many are taking them up on it!). We walked the town pretty quick, searched for the surf (there was none) then decide to just sit on the beach and relax.

Immediately after entering the water, our feet were swarmed by 2-3” long fish. The water is crystal clear, so we could see them very well. It was neat to see them, and how brave they were as they didn’t move when we moved our feet. The novelty wore off as soon as they started to nibble!

Getting out of the water we felt a different kind of bite. Sand flies or “no-see-ums” (we can’t figure out which is which) were sucking our blood! So in order to relax in peace we had to find the spot where it was too shallow for the fish to get us, yet still be submersed to avoid the sandflies. Too make our day at the beach even less appealing, we were hounded by a Labrador that was obsessed with playing fetch, but wouldn’t retrieve unless the stick was thrown the appropriate distance, not too far or not too close. He also liked to eat coral. We decided enough of this after about 20 minutes and headed back to our room.

Amie had a bit of a stomach ache that quickly progressed into full blown food poisoning/stomach flu. Unfortunately she was on the toilet and holding a bucket from about 7pm to midnight, at which point she refused to leave the bathroom and laid down on the floor. I had out the travel health book that Pele got us and was reading up on what could cause this and what I could do to help. Unfortunately, her symptoms matched perfectly those listed for malaria: Fever, Chills, Vomiting, Diarrhea, muscle/joint aches… Our first aid kit doesn’t have a thermometer, so I was guessing on the fever part as her skin was on fire. To make matters more tense we were out of water. This town gets pretty shady when the sun goes down, and so I hit the streets with caution. About a mile down I found a bar that was open and got some water and inquired about a doctor. The rasta dude bartender said he was a doctor, but I didn’t want his medicine.

Back at the room, the scene was the same: amie curled up half asleep on the bathroom floor. The book said that if malaria is suspected its important to get to a doctor within 24hours of symptoms onset. I figured first thing in the morning I could strap her to the bike and ride to the nearest town if there was indeed no doctor here. This was a rough night for both of us…

Yes...relax...that's all they do here

Dis coco kass one dolla mon

Who need ganja?

The three of us

Cahuita, Costa Rica, 0 miles

We took a whole day to see all that Cahuita has to offer. It rained all night and into the morning. I didn’t mind because it allowed me to sleep in while listening to the soothing sounds of rain outside our window. I actually almost wished it wouldn’t stop so I could just stay there peacefully sleeping… It was one of those moments where usually I would want nothing more than to stay in bed, but I have to get up to go to work…it was a great feeling knowing I really could just stay there sleeping for as long as I’d like. I have to say this is one of those moments that I love about vacation.

Mike had big plans for us as he wanted to check out the beaches and hike through the national park here. We set off and hit the national park first. I was expecting a small stroll, but after beginning down the trail, was informed that it was a 6 mile hike. Even though I’m not the biggest nature hiker-lover, this trail was amazing. It hugged the beach the entire way but was a large trail in the middle of the thick jungle full of all types of wildlife. Every step of the way there was something to look at, whether it was a bright blue crab, butterfly or monkey. We were hoping to see a sloth, but had no luck. I’m sure it would have to fall right in front of us though to notice as Mike and I are both fairly blind and it’s not like they move at a rate which would catch our eye. We made it halfway and decided to turn around to enjoy lunch and hopes of getting a coconut.

One of the many rasafari men that you see cruising the streets was carrying a bucket of oranges on his head. He offered us one, but Mike responded that he didn’t need an orange, but a coconut. Before we could even say anything more, the man dropped the bucket and ran off into the nearby field. Mike and I looked at each other and the bucket of oranges and honestly didn’t know what to do…I think Mike felt obligated to wait to see if the man had a coconut for him after such prompt efforts. The man returned with two coconuts, a giant knife and proceeded to cut a small holes in the top. Just to help set the vision, this guy looked as if he was a muscle machine. He didn’t have an ounce of fat on his body, but huge muscles which wrapped around his bones. I don’t know what Mike liked better, getting a coconut, or watching the man in amazement. The coconut water was great and the meat a fun project for us later in the day.

For lunch we decided on a crepe restaurant which served crepes overstuffed with fresh fruit – a winner! Best pineapple I’ve ever had. If pineapples tasted like that more often I would never stop eating it…

Lunch was followed by a walk and swim in the black sand beach close by. There were some nice small waves consistently breaking and the water was refreshing! It’s so nice to swim in warm, crystal clear ocean water…

Besides a delicious pizza and fish dish at yet another restaurant which blares Reggae music all into the night, that was pretty much the extent of our day! Tomorrow we’re off to more of this Carribean lifestyle just about 10 miles down the road…

Fun project

Black sand beach

Carribean Coast

Beast Skills!

Sums up this place quite well

I'm a dork

San Jose to Cahuita, Costa Rica, 150 miles

Every now and then, on the road, as we drive and drive, and do not see anywhere to stay that looks safe as the day turns into darkness…I loose sight of where we will end up. Last night as we drove through the misty mountains and into San Jose in the pitch black was one of those moments. It seemed no matter where we assumed would be a hotel, we would be yet again disappointed. The hotel we stayed at I look at as a savior; clean, laundry service and a safe and secure home for Yoshita. When I woke up, I was definitely in appreciation for what we discovered the night before. Our desperately needed laundry was done, all of the stuff which got soaked the day before had dried, and we were ready to head over to the Caribbean coast!

As soon as we set out for the road to Limon, we found it without even trying; a definite first and great way to start off our day. The road turned up into the hills which were full of lush jungle, some of the greenest and thickest I’ve seen yet in Costa Rica. It was a really beautiful ride. As soon as the mountains tapered off we spotted a little breakfast joint which looked like something you’d expect to see in Lake Tahoe on the side of the road. There were a few other bikers there (dirt bikes) who seemed to be out for their Sunday ride. Breakfast was the Costa Rican usual, gallopinto (a mixture of rice and black beans) with eggs; basic but satisfying. Over lunch we discussed the possibility of going into one of the zip line jungle tours that we saw as we passed through the jungle on our way in. We reviewed our route and decided that this would be the only opportunity to do so in Costa Rica as the remainder of our time spent here will be along the Caribbean coastline. It was a great decision!

We rode back about 5 miles to a location we passed which looked interested; a tour through the jungle along their sky tram (just like a ski lift). After discovering that we could pass as students for half price ($27/each), we secured Yoshita and signed up! It was a nice excursion as we got to see some of the jungle in Costa Rica. The tour lasted about a couple of hours and we were back on the road towards Limon.

Up until the other coastline, the road wasn’t very interested, but as soon as we hit the beach, it felt as if we entered a new world. The buildings, houses, people, everything had changed. It was as if we landed on a Caribbean island (at least what I would expect, as I’ve never been to one). Numerous palms trees lined the perfect peaceful coastline. Our road into Cahuita followed the coastline with it’s small but well maintained road. It was great! Although as Mike ready, there are plenty of police who pull you over here, this did hold true. Fortunately even though we were pulled over every single time, Mike threw in some charm and great words about Costa Rica and the friendly cops would set us off on our way.

We arrived into town about an hour before dark; great timing. It has been getting dark very early here which has been hard for meeting destinations during daylight. Little shacks and old houses lined the dirt road in this town which seemed to have an abundance of Creole style restaurants, hammocks, and reggae music. We found a little motel for us. Yoshita is outside, but very close to our door and set out for some good ol’ Creole food. Mike got the jerk fish and I got the smoked chicken in coco sauce; delicious!!! Looks like a nice little spot to spend a couple of nights…

For lovers only...our own skytram

What we looked like going through the lush jungle

Yay! That's great!

Note: Mike is smartly wearing his protection against Mosquitos

...somebody has got to do it

Cuisin' along the Carribean coast

You ever wonder where Chiquita Banana comes from?

Crocs?

Carribean livin'

Tamarindo to San Jose, Costa Rica, 226 miles

It was easier to get amie up for surfing this morning. 6:30 we were out of bed, 7am we were in the water (board cost us $10/2 hours) Good time surfing with the wife. The water temperature in Costa Rica is ideal, and the waves were small (2-4’) but consistent.

We checked our email on the way out, and got some great news. The scourge of our neighborhood, Juan, just put his house for sale. WOOOO HOOO. With a little luck, he’ll be out, and someone new (no doubt better) will be in. Amie was dancing when she heard…

It was hot by 11am, too hot to be in the sun in shorts and t-shirt, so by the time we had our gear on, we were wet with sweat. With this in mind, we decided to skip exploring further on the Nicoya peninsula (more beaches) and turned inland to MonteVerde, high in the cloud forest where temps would be much cooler. We turned off the Pan American highway at the first sign for MonteVerde. The road winded up steep inclines, and about 10 miles in of the 30, it turned to gravel. With the heavy bike and the cut backs it was difficult to keep it moving at a safe speed even in first gear. With 10 miles to go the gravel turned to baseball sized rocks, but we pushed on. My mistake. About 100m in we had our 2nd spill of the trip. Luckily we were in first gear and sustained no injuries. Amie was upset not because we fell, but because there was no conceivable way to make it to our destination. She was so excited because there is a Amish community from the US in MonteVerde and they make cheese and milkshakes. No milkshakes for her, no zip line canopy tour for me. As we struggled to lift the laden bike back up on its wheels it started to rain.

Shit! 2:30pm on the dot, rain again. Then lightening. Then cats and dogs pouring. We cautiously made our way down the mountainside while water rushed down the road like a river. We were drenched.

About an hour and a half later we were back on pavement and stopped at a truckstop to check the damage. The same pocket that killed amie’s ipod drenched our travel documents and passport. Totally soaked. Everything else was OK.

We spent a few minutes working up a new game plan and the best we had was we’d ride towards San Jose and our next destination on the caribean coast and when it got dark we’d stop at a road side hotel. Well 3:30 turned to 4:30 and the sun was down by 5pm. One of our rules is no riding in the dark, so we got anxious to find a hotel, but still so none. ??? We passed about 30 restaurants, truck stops, auto parts stores, etc… still no hotel. Now it was 6pm and the lightening was back. Finally we saw a sign for a hotel and winded off the main highway to it. Around a bend we saw a giant neon sign for a Hotel and Casino. Not our first choice, but we were soaked, tired, and in dire need of getting of the unlite highway. I ran inside and wish I took a picture. One guy drinking a beer, 3 overweight cocktail waitresses in skimpy clothes, and a couple of shoddy card tables. At the sight of me all 4 giggled. I look like a space man in my gear…

Needless to say we were back on the road and now only 30 miles from San Jose where we were sure there would be a hotel. Afterall, 50 miles on the largest highway in the country and no hotel? Are we in the twilight zone?

We pulled into san jose and quickly made our way to the center. Second mistake of the day. Tons of degenerates on the street eyeing us and our shiny bike. Amie was navigating via our guidebook while I weaved cautiously through the city. The first hotel recommendation looked great, only no where for the motorcycle. The second option turned out to be shut down. The third option was full. The fourth option was no parking. The fifth option was $125. The sixth option we never found. The seventh option… I can’t remember, but surely you get the idea. Both of us were at our wits end as the city is full of one ways and winding streets. This effort took us at least an hour, and we were ready to leave town and pitch the tent somewhere. Finally, just as we were giving up, we saw a hotel sign in the middle of no where covered in bars.

I approached the door and an older lady peeked at me through the bars as if wondering what I wanted. I told her we needed a room and she opened up. This place turned out to be our savior. Parking in the locked garage for the bike, $20 a night, very clean, hot water (!), she did our laundry for us, and ordered us a pizza for delivery.

Feeling much better about life and completely exhausted we setup our tent on the bed (sorry mosquitos) and went to sleep wondering what tomorrow will have in store.

It's a BIG one

Hands up if you like surfing

Amie's turn

Paddle! It's huge!

Okay...not the biggest

Small wave...serious surfer

Whoops

Bigger whoops!

Everyone is okay

He had a laugh

This was about 10 minutes before heavy rain

Aftermath of heavy rain

Tamarindo, Costa Rica, 16 miles

First, a couple things that I would like to mention from the last few days. The Island of Ometepe was really awesome and the bike on the boat thing was probably one of the single most suspenseful moments of my life! It wasn’t a simple matter of riding the bike (or pushing the bike) in a straight line across a plank. The dock and the boat were both moving up and down too. It was intense. And as for the lake, its over 100 miles long, and over 300 feet deep. There were estimated 20,000 bull sharks (only fresh water sharks in the world, getting up to 10’ long) pulled from the waters a year for sale to asian markets in the recent past. Truly shark infested!

I really liked Nicaragua. It is way less developed than Costa Rica and WAY cheaper. At least ½ price. For example, a glass of rum in Nicaragua was <$1, in Costa Rica its $4. A ¼ acre beach front lot in Nica is $50k, in Costa Rica, a cool $1M. Also, Costa Rica takes $US and Colones (the national currency) everywhere. The Gringo establishments quote prices in US but give you Colones as change at a less-than-favorable exchange rate. If you pay in Colones, when quoted in US, they give you an equally less-than-favorable exchange rate in the other direction. Very frustrating when coming from a country the day before and only 50 miles away where things were half price.

Playa Tamarindo “is a magical land.” Probably the best beach I have ever been to. No high-rise hotels (yet) and a very long sweeping beach with nothing behind it but greenery. This is booming gringo-ville however. More white people than locals. Reminds me of Hawaii for sure. Even still, its an awesome place.

Amie hasn’t wanted to go surfing this whole trip for some reason. She says its because she doesn’t feel safe going out somewhere she doesn’t know, so this being a beach-break with really mellow surf I thought it would be a perfect place to get her in the water. We agreed to get up early and beat the crowd, but when the alarm went of at 6:30am, leaving the room was the last thing she wanted to do. Rather than miss out myself, I told her I’d be back in a few hours. When she heard that, she got right up. J We had so much fun sharing our rented surf board, we decided to stay another day just so we can do it again.

Right a cross from the beach at Witch’s Rock Bar and Grill (where they advertise “Nachos as big as your ass”) Amie’s day went from good to great when she realized there was free wireless internet and delicious breakfast burritos to be had. Adam and I spent some quality time BSing and body surfing while Amie typed emails and IMs to friends and family. Later we said our goodbyes to Adam who is off to Panama then Columbia. We won’t see him again until South America.

We decided to head out 10 miles to more secluded beaches with bigger surf and wild iguanas at Playa Avellena and Playa Negra. While bumping down the dirt/gravel road, clouds were forming fast and 8 miles in, it started to rain. I could see the future and it wasn’t pretty. This mud was of the clay variety, and if we didn’t get the heck out of there ASAP, we would be slip-slidin’ our way back to the hotel, more than likely with a spill or two. So we zoomed back as fast and as cautiously as possible as it started to drizzle. As we were pulling in to Tamarindo, we saw Adam pulling out. Fortunately for us (but unfortunately for him!) it started to really pour as we parked the bike at our hotel. I could only imagine the time Adam had getting out of town…

We walked the strip later in the afternoon looking for an alternative to nachos but found none. At this rate my ass will be bigger than the nachos! We spent the evening planning our last 10 days in Central America and the summary is… from here we head further south to Samara, another picturesque beach town on the Nicoya Penninsula. Then its up to the Northern Central region for (hopefully) a canopy tour in Monte Verde. From there we’ll cut across to the carribean coast for a little bit of that flavor, then down to Corcovado National Park for wildlife viewing. Finally, crossing into Panama, with the hopes of a coffee plantation tour, and then Panama City where we’ll arrange to ship our bike to Ecuador.

Yesterday was the first time I “had enough.” I was in a real bad mood as soon as I saw the border crossing. I seriously could have ended the trip yesterday I was so fed up with the heat, sweating, pushy people, un-organization, ridiculous beurocratic requirements, etc. But today…. What a difference a day makes. Surfing was awesome, quality time with Amie was great, no new mosquito bites… bring on south America! Life is full of ups and downs, and so is this trip.

Putting weight back on

Yay

Adam doesn't know what to think

Adam is still hungry after nachos

Adios Guapo...we'll see you in Ecuador!

DIY Happy Trails Panniers passenger grips

When shopping for luggage we were pretty much sold on Aluminum boxes from the start. Solid, waterproof, lockable... they make alot of sense. Who to buy them from was the next question. This wasn't so straight forward. There are several manufacturers and because most are hand made in the USA with a rack that is bike-specific, they cost quite a bit more than you would expect... at least more than I expected. Anyway, Happy Trails seemed to offer the best value. And using the product the last 3 months in Latin America en route to Tierra del Fuego has left us very happy with the product.

A deficiency we immediately identified however, was a lack of passenger grips. Removing the stock V-strom rack also removes the passenger grips. This wasn't going to work for us as the Corbin seat we have leaves a signifcant gap between driver and passenger not leaving Amie anywhere to hold on. My solution was to use my discarded stock v-strom bars, cut in half, and welded between two of the mounting points to solve this problem. This is something Happy Trails can do to improve the strength of the rack while giving their customers passengers somewhere to hold on.

I will recommend that to them now...

Here is how they came out

Old handle bars worked perfectly

Having the passenger bar also works great for aligning the mounting holes

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, 127 miles

We woke up a little later than usual as our movie the night before put us to bed much later than we have been. After a little packing we set off to find a postcard to mail and a Nicaragua sticker before we left the country. We said our goodbyes to the Canadian couple and took off with Adam towards the Costa Rica border.

Before we knew it we were at the border crossing. You can tell you are there as all of a sudden the road is full of parked trucks and chaos. As soon as I saw the trucks I cringed and realized how much I dread the border crossings. I’m sure I’m a little more tainted than usual after Honduras, but none the less…it was a bad feeling that came over me. I guess you can never be in the mood to battle off several very desperate men try to help you with force, on top of cocky slimy border men who love knowing that your time is theirs.

Even though the border crossing wasn’t too bad, in fact the exit portion of Nicaragua was more of a struggle than the entrance to Costa Rica. About a couple hours later and several stops in various booths and buildings, we were in Costa Rica!

For some reason, knowing that we have made it to Costa Rica hit me as a bit of a milestone today, realizing how far we’ve come…it’s crazy. Even though we have seen so much and been through crazy lands, it still blows my mind how far we’ve come…not to mention how far we have to go! Mind boggling. It seems you can only take this trip one day at a time, any more than that and it’s overpowering. One day at a time, and before I know it, I’m in Costa Rica.

We rode directly to Tamarindo (other than the several stops from police, who only seemed to want to say hello and shake Mike’s hand). As soon as we drove in I felt like I could be in Santa Cruz (but with a much bigger and more beautiful beach). I did get a nice greeting from a local as I tried to cross the street; he literally tried to run me over! There are several gringos (I believe there must be some frustration and anger between the Costa Ricans and Gringos), all the American favorite fast foods, big hotels…but also a beautiful beach along the street. As we’ve been dreaming of ‘Nachos as big as your ass’ from our lonely planet book, which talks of such great foods in Tamarindo, this was our first stop after finding an economical accommodation. Yes, the nachos were big and they were also delicious. The best nachos I’ve had in some time, and definitely the best chips I’ve had this entire trip. Between that and the best beer I’ve had since Mexico, I was a happy camper. Following dinner we enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the beach which is filled with surfers.

Today was the first day where I said to myself, when will we be out of Central America…Mike mentioned the same thing to me later in the night. It happen to hit us both as we entered the border crossing sweating our butts off and grimacing just thinking about what lies ahead to get through. There seems to be so much BS that you have to deal with to see these small countries; sometimes you just need a break, a feeling of vacation… I am looking forward to hitting South America as well as the cooler climates.

Tomorrow morning we are going to rent some boards in the early morning, have some more nachos and then head to a neighboring beach with a few less people.

There was much debate over this symbol which is on the Nicaragua coin...the thing that looks like a bean is some type of hat!

That's how we look going down the road...minus Amie

Another road block - this one had a giant bull chasing Adam!

Tamarindo beach just before Sunset

Ahh...at last, a tasty beer. Thank you Costa Rica!

Sunset walk on the beach...

Tamarindo Sunset

All smiles

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, 0 miles

Due to our flight our of Panama not being for another 13 days, and not much more land to cover until then, we took an extra day in San Juan del Sur as we knew once we exit Nicaragua everything would cost a lot more. It is a nice little town with good surf and a beach in a bay full of fishing boats. As we knew there wasn’t too much to do during the day, everything we did, we took our time.

A little internet time in the morning followed by a search for the perfect lunch. Our choice was Big Wave Daves; burgers and quite delicious after waiting over an hour to get them. Everything seems to be in slow motion, and just as the restaurant workers have plenty of time, so do we. A swim and frolic in the ocean afterwards was just what the doctor ordered. The water was warm, and the small waves just enough to play in. As we lay on the beach we noticed their sand crabs were weird slug type critters with little feelers that would poke out of the sand with every wave…once we discovered that we were ready to head out, followed by a nap.

The nap lead into dinner time in which we searched our the infamous Chicken Lady (senora de la pollo). A little house on the west side of the park was supposed to serve some delicious chicken; we found the spot and enjoyed pollo con gallopinoto. Good, not as good as Jerry’s looked, but we didn’t want to support that guy from what we heard and saw of him (dirty old man). We followed dinner with some cold Victorias and Ron’s by the beach with Adam, Heather and Ken (our motorcycle friends) and we rented a pirated copy of X-Men III to watch in the comforts of our own room; so happy we brought the laptop! It was GREAT to relax and enjoy a movie…I miss it! We had our A/C turned on high and relaxed to a great movie…

The beach

The town

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, 30 miles and one bumpy boat ride

We woke up after a hot night in our tent and were ready to start our day. Our plan was to take the 12:30 ferry off the island. After several cold water shower to cool us down (which also helps us relieve our mosquito bite itching), we packed up, enjoyed some more gallopinto (a mixture of beans a rice…something I think we better get used to as it seems to be quite the stable further south) for breakfast with eggs and a slice of cheese that resembled the texture of feta, but the smell and taste of funky feet; not pleasant. Unfortunately since we left Guatemala, we haven’t been able to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Hopefully that changes when we get into Costa Rica!

We attempted to check out a little lookout point before heading to the ferry, but that ended with a dead end road. We arrived at the ferry station at 10:30, which meant we figured we had two hours before being able to board. Mike was told that there actually is a boat that runs about every hour, in which we might be able to get on at 11:30. Sounded great to us! Before we knew it, we paid our fees and were told to come on through to the boat area… I looked around, didn’t see a ferry, there didn’t seem to be anything in the dock except a very small boat with only a platform on top. Well, that was what they eagerly expected us to board with the motorcycles. I was ready to tell Mike to turn around before it’s too late! But, before Mike or Adam could even think, there were men surrounding them and their bikes pushing them to take them over a very small (and moving) plank onto the boat. I just kept envisioning the entire bike, going down, lost forever in the sea full of strange sharks. I was struggling to find a ‘save’ if in fact the bike did go down, but in the end all I could think was to just let it go, as that bike would sink like a pile of bricks! Well, the boys managed to fight through the swarm of Nicas and successfully load their bikes on the small platform of the boat. A couple seconds later and the men had roped up the entire bike. Unfortunately they did quite a hack job in which Mike’s grip will never be the same. During all this heart racing commotion, I was still on the dock and Adam is yelling over to me that I better board the boat! Good timing as seconds later is just took off. Us, our bikes on the platform and about 50 Nicas (including a man in a wheelchair will a lady holding an IV bag over his head who didn’t look so good). I was for sure that the boat had to be overloaded and could easily go down. Still no life vest/saver in sight! We were off, at the speed of a turtle, rocking back and forth and holding on to our jackets and helmet as a railing did not exist, and any white cap in the lake could easy roll anything off. I crunched up under the pannier to keep out of the sun while Mike tried to do his best in Spanish with a guy trying to get even more money off us for ‘import fees’. Don’t see how it is possible to have import fees for both ends of the ferry…but at least it was only a couple dollars.

We arrived, the bikes hadn’t fallen off into the waters, and it was another scene of pure chaos, even worse than when we loaded. All the people scattered off the boat, which wasn’t parked as close to the dock as before. Then there was the guy in the wheelchair, he had about 10 Nicas picking up his wheelchair and all walking over two planks of different heights. In the process I could see the mans face clenching from the pain and the end result was that somewhere along the way he lost his IV; poor soul. Next up was the bikes. They laid the plank down; the boat was quite a bit higher than the dock, so the man lifted the side of the board on the dock up to the height of the boat, just so Adam could get his front tire on it. Mike helped him out and tried to keep the very eager men off the bike for a successful delivery on shore. Well, that was good news, but as we were just focusing on Adam’s bike, we hadn’t noticed the several men beginning to move our bike over! Wholy Moly! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mike so scared! They definitely underestimated the weight of the bike and as you notice here, they go for it without thinking quite often, and in mass movements. Mike scrambled over just to keep the bike balanced as they jetted it down the plank. After such an event we all just wanted to get the hell out of there and drove off.

I didn’t realize how straining it was on me until I noticed that I had completely sweated through all my cloths and felt quite weak. We stopped at the first gas station to get air in our tires and as soon as we pull up a man (who was either retarded or on drugs) was hooting’ and hollering and touching the bike, getting close to our faces…seems like a common occurrence these days. Our next stop was only 50km away though so I opened my jacket a little for some breeze and held on.

We arrived in San Juan del Sur in no time, and it seems to be a really nice surf town with a little bay full of fishing boats and several restaurants and bars lining the beach front. Before we could even check out any hotels, we ran into Heather Gassman (the couple on a Vstrom riding south who we met in Antigua). She told us about their hotel which seemed like a good deal. We unpacked, paid the extra for the A/C, parked our Vstrom next to theirs in the lobby and set out for a cold beverage on the beach. It was nice to share our stories and adventures since Antigua. We followed Ron’s and beers with dinner at their favorite place in town, Jerry’s. Pizza and lasagna; delicious.

We set up our tent in our room as we discovered quite a few very small lizards walking all over the beds and figured with A/C we won’t have to worry about the heat factor. It was a good thing! Before I even got in the tent, as I sat on the bed, a 4 inch scorpion walked right passed my feet!!! I think I must have stared at it for some time before accepting that it really was a scorpion! Ewww, so gross, thank heavens for our tent! Our savior! Mike hunted it down and we hurryingly got into our tent; where there is one, there usually is more…

They are all over the island

The island

Loading onto the ferry

Notice there is no railing

Yoshita is a little scared

Amie is a little scared

Mike and Adam are happy to still see their bikes

Dinner with the Gassmans

This is why we pitch a tent in our room!

Another reason

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, 5 miles

Another day on the island for us. We woke up in our nicely air conditioned cabana. Between the A/C and not having to sleep inside the tent, it was quite a golden treat form the last few nights. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at our luxurious hotel before heading off to a new destination on the island which is supposed to have Howler monkeys. We had to weave out of the bumpy road to hit the main island road, but only about a mile from there and we were at our new destination, Finca de Venecia. We got ourselves another little cabana/cabin, without A/C this time for 20 bucks. This side of the island doesn’t get as much wind, and the waters are quite calm. There is a nice laid back atmosphere here with plenty of hammocks lined up. We enjoyed a cold Tona (Nicaraguan beer), a swim in the lake (watch out for the bull sharks!) and a very lengthy lunch at our establishment. Lunch here is always lengthy, as time here doesn’t seem to exist. You order the grilled fish and it is as if they must catch it before being able to prepare. It works great for us though as we have all adapted to that pace of life.

After a huge downpour, we trekked the trail through the nearby rainforest reserve in search for a howler monkey. After following the trail through the thick trees, we couldn’t hear a thing except for the rain falling. There seemed to be nothing inhabiting the trees except for Mike who was making monkey calls. He was only successful in fooling a passing lady who got hopeful in hearing Mike cry out howls. Alas, just as we were exiting the park, all agreeing that there must not be any monkey on this island, but only a ploy to get tourists, we heard a loud and deep noise; a howler monkey! He was making noises that resembled a giant toad more than a soft mammal. We followed the noise and sure enough, in the trees tops was a monkey! A successful hike!

Some more loungin’ on our cabana pouch over some Ron and Tona lead us into the dinner hour. Even though the food wasn’t so good at our establishment, it was good enough to eat and quite convenient. Adam and I could not stop talking about our favorite pastries, or which type of sauce we would pour over cheesecake; a definite sign that we were in dire need of some good food!

Early night for us, as we feel asleep to the wind blowing through the banana leaves. It was another hot night, but at least being by the lake keeps the breeze.

Hamaca time

Lots of mud, no spills...

Guapo in the lush jungle

There is a lagoon behind them

Drinkin' Ron

YES! They exist on the island!

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, 80 miles

Another great day, not too many miles, and plenty of time to relax and basque in Nicaragua. We woke up early in attempt to make the 10:30 ferry from San Jorge; a short distance from Granada. Adam set off with us and we found the ferry station with no problem. An hour later, along with some fried chicken, we were on the small ferry cutting through rough white capped waters to the big volcanic island of Ometepe. The island consists of two volcanoes (one still active) which have flowed together to form a nice double mountain island. The lake is huge, fresh water, and supposedly is full of bull sharks, the only fresh water sharks in the world. Since this lake is connected to the Caribbean via a river, I guess they had made their way up stream quite a few years back. The water is pretty murky looking and I have to admit I was crossing my fingers that we didn’t have any troubles on the ferry as I sure wouldn’t want to be stranded out there.

The island of Ometepe is full of a lot of wildlife, birds, howler monkeys, etc. It also has a crater lake on top of one of the volcanoes. Today we just drove part of the island around the main volcano until we landed on a nice little resort/hotel; the nicest on the island. What a treat! A/C and a clean cabana with a porch and hammock; just what the doctor ordered. After taking a very bumpy and rough road into this little spot, it definitely paid off.

We enjoyed a long, delicious and leisurely lunch overlooking the lake, with the wind sweeping our faces. After a nap in the hammock it began to get dark and the only other thing on our agenda is dinner. Even though the election is today and they are still not supposed to serve alcohol anywhere, somehow we were able to enjoy some cold cervezas and Rum (known to them as ‘Ron’). What more could you want than local ‘Ron’, a hammock and A/C! I’m hoping we stay here another night after some island exploration tomorrow!

Our hotel is a little too pricey for Adam so Mike and him explored further down the very rough road in search for a cheaper options, although all they came back with are big smiles and muddy clothes (I guess they were racing through the mud and rocky road – glad I passed on that ride); looks like Adam is staying at our establishment for the night!

Good Morning

The nice ferry

Captin' of the shark infested waters

Isla de Ometepe

All smiles on this ride

Guapo

Yay! We didn't fall in the mud this time!

Granada, Nicaragua, 0 miles

We decided to stay in Granada an extra day to take a little breather and catch up with Adam. Not too much to report as that is how are day was. A nice breakfast in the morning at a little café, a walk through the town (a few times), meet up with Adam, walked down to the lakeside Malacon and all came to the conclusion that we were in a sort of ghost town as there are not many people here.

I’m guessing this town gets a ‘busy’ season, at least I hope, as it seems very nice and equipped to handle tourists, but there are just not that many. It has a nice little park/square surrounded by restaurants and beautiful hotels, but other than that and the walk to the lake, not much to do. Well, I shouldn’t say that, sitting in one of the typical wicker rockers in your courtyard is, as we noticed, a favorite past time to many of the folks in Granada. Almost every house has a big courtyard, and perched inside you can expect to see some old timer sitting in his wicker rocker, as if he has been there for centuries. I’m not sure what else the folks around here do, as the heat is enough to make you not want to move the entire day. Thankfully the lake nearby gives this town a nice gust of wind throughout the day just to keep you sane.
Our hotel is cheap, but definitely not the most comfortable and it never seems to cool down at night. Last night it was 90-95 degrees in our tent. We were hoping to find another lodging for this night, but looks like we’re here again!

Tomorrow is election day (for the president) so nobody will serve you alcohol, the entire country! Crazy place…even the tourists have to do without! Let’s just hope there aren’t any rioting tomorrow!!!

We’re off to the island in the middle of the lake tomorrow – early start!

Election Day Propaganda

Crazy creature

Granada

The Nicaraguan experience: wicker chairs in a breezy courtyard

Hola

Can't get enough of Susie!

A walk to the malacon

Together again...

Leon to Grenada, Nicaragua, 100 miles

Last night I went out “on the town” to try to rustle up some food. Nothing was open. No street lights. Lots of thugs… Good thing Amie’s in the room. Found a bar that was open, very seedy, lots of guys getting drunk on a Thursday night, talking politics. I was invited in to the conversation which was interesting and awkward. It was focused around the ongoing struggle of the sandinstas vs. the right wingers. Basically it’s the indigenous, uneducated mass with a socialist/communist perspective vs. the big business, European colonizer-republican types. There was war here in the 80s, and the US supported big business. Taking that one step further, we also sold guns to Iran illegally to fund this support via a CIA top secret op. This was exposed and was quite the scandal (Iran-Contra affair). Anyway, I got an earful in the bar from a bunch of working class folk about how the Sandinista struggle is on going and their presidential election is on Sunday. All of this while granny was in the back frying me a chicken.

The chicken was good, I enjoyed it with Amie back in the room, and we fell asleep with the AC whizzing away. And thank god for that AC. We struck out in the morning to see what Leon had to offer, but since we ran out of clothes yesterday, it was either a 3 day old t-shirt or my thermal long sleeve. I chose the long sleeve. Must be the warmest shirt ever invented by man kind.

Didn’t see a single tourist in Leon. A lot of locals gawked at us; I kept close watch on Amie and her camera and so did just about every other guy on the street. The heat and the vibe made our outing very uncomfortable so after about 20 minutes we headed back to the room to pack up.

It was about 10:30am and already over 90 when we left. It was really hard to leave the AC and get into our gear (pants, jackets, gloves, boots, etc). My helmet and gloves reeked of mildew after being soaked most of yesterday by rain and not drying overnight. I put my gloves on and then washed my hands with a bar of soap just as I normally do. I thought that was a cool trick for cleaning gloves.

Anyway, on the road to Granada via Managua. Nicaragua is very poor. In fact I read it’s the poorest county in the Americas, second only to Haiti. It is also sparsely populated which is nice for a change (consider El Salvador has a million more people than Nic and is 1/5 the size) because it seems everything manmade in the past 100 years in these countries is built like, and looks like, shit. The natural beauty on the other hand is just that, beauty.

Because the country is so poor, the road is terrible, in fact, the worst we’ve been on so far. It seems the country only maintains one road everywhere. If you look on a map, you will see 3 roads lead to Granada. One is in good shape, the other two are motorcross. We would be heading straight towards our destination and all of a sudden the road turning right would be in the same condition as the one we are on, but our road ahead was one giant mud/gravel pit. The mud/gravel pit was the direct route, turning right would lead somewhere else, but eventually take you to the better road to Granada. This is how we make our way across the country…

We stopped for gas and food in Managua, another big, dumpy city. There were 3 or 4 kids between probably 6-12 years old hanging out in front of the gas station restaurant begging for money. They would wipe down the bike with a nasty rag, or help us park (do we need there help to park?), anything to get some change. Sad really.

We’ve been pulled over 3 times so far in Nicaragua. It’s great because you know exactly what you are up against. There is no radar, most cops have no communication device, and are always just standing on the side of the road with a glorified stick with a reflector on the end of it. So being pulled over is incorrect, it’s more like being waived over. Anyway, they all have the intention of soliciting some sort of bribe. For example, in front of one, I swerved to avoid the peak of a speed bump and the guy tried to insinuate I was drinking. They are rather simpleminded and I have been able to leave with everyone smiling by distracting them with things like asking for directions, doing a cartwheel, yelling “Viva Nicaragua!” etc. Knock on wood, so far no bribes paid.

Our hotel tonight is the ol’ $10 job. No ac, no hot water. Safe moto parking in the lobby. They offered to do our laundry for us, and for $4 I let them. Amie cursed me when she found out as they are washing it all by hand and have to hang dry. No clean clothes till tomorrow! These rags we are wearing should be burned they stink so bad…

We went out for pizza at an Italian place and when I heard the owner, Patrizia, speaking in Italian, I had to talk to her as I’ve been very worried that as I learn Spanish, I am losing Italian. And I was right. I was slurring, mumbling, confusing verbs. After a 5 minute conversation I felt like I ran a marathon my brain was working so hard. Oh well… Time in Italy next spring will bring it back (I hope!).

After a cold shower and just before getting into bed there was a knock at the door, “Senor Miguel, your friend is here.” “What friend” “tu amigo, muy alto.” I knew who it was. Adam’s back! Luckily Amie updated the blog and sent him a note, and he found us. Just like that, Adam is back in the mix. We’re meeting tomorrow morning and will catch up then.

Nothing in Central America has been very impressive. For that reason (and the fact we took only one week of Spanish and not two) we are ahead of schedule. We will have to slow down, otherwise we’ll need to move our flight up, or kill time in Costa Rica and Panama. My concern with Costa Rica is its heavily touristy and expensive. But we do look forward to spending at least a week visiting the jungle and the beach…

Leon

Nicaragua brings back the meaning of horse-power

Leon

Biggest church in Central America

Common siting at the gas stations...poor kids

Thumbs down to Premuim (Nicaragua Beer)...Miller Draft???

This one is for Vince

What is that creature!

Susie!

Parkin' the bike

Granada

(Day of the Dead) Perquin, El Salvador to Leon, Nicaragua (via Honduras) 310 miles

Where do I begin, today was quite an adventure with so many parts and stories to it…it’s hard to even remember where we started this morning…

We woke up in our nice Cabin in the mountains of El Salvador. The alarm woke us up and we decided to head off today to face the two border crossings. After a delicious breakfast at the hotel (granola, eggs, fruit, yogurt and coffee) we headed off early towards Honduras. The drive was pleasant. As we approached the Honduras border we were stopped by about five men running and waving after us. It didn’t look like a checkpoint or border area, but regardless we stopped to see what the commotion was. It was some sort of El Salvadorian border checkpoint, but not at the ‘border’. Yes, very confusing, which has become the entire border experience. We instantly were surrounded by men jamming their handmade ‘badges’ into our noses, and trying to gain Mike’s attention in hopes for money in exchange for helping us. I think I could feel their spit hitting my face as they swarmed so closely to us. We managed to figure out what paperwork was necessary by ourselves and took off. On the way out of there, those several men gestured us to stop at another booth as well, but we decided that we most likely got the required paperwork, photocopy and continued on. Next stop was the ‘actual’ El Salvador border exit point. At this time we were swarmed by another group of men desperately trying to get Mike’s attention. They didn’t try too long on me as I just give them a big glare and say no; Mike tends to be more friendly. After stamping our passports and attempting to make it through the guards, they stopped us and told us we must go back to the original place we started at to get extra paperwork for the motorcycle. We did a round trip and discovered a guy trying to help us jump in a little moto-taxi and haul-ass after us to enable him to ‘help’ us through the entire process; they are pushy! We got the paperwork and zoomed back to the exit point once again; this time success! We drove on through and yet again a swarm of men kept motioning us to go over to yet another building, but Mike felt confident we had everything we need and we took off…into Honduras.

Already the vibe and pushiness of the people gave me a bitter taste as we drove into the new country. The friendliness of the Salvadorians was a thing of the past as we drove by many desperate and bitter looking people that didn’t seem to keen on us passing through. Add that feeling in with a man, with no legs, crawling and dragging himself up the freeway and reaching towards us as we drove by, quickly thank god. I don’t even want to know. The amount of carnage we saw in the first 10 minutes was more than our entire trip. There were more vultures hanging around the roadway than I’ve ever seen. Cows, dogs and giant truck wrecks, I wish to not think about it anymore as the site of the dog was not good. We only stopped once, just for a water break, it was hot and humid and I was already looking forward to leaving the country. As we neared our decided border off the CA-1 highway we climbed some mountains and the rain started to come down pretty hard. I personally didn’t mind as the heat of the day was starting to really get to me, and the coolness from the rain was quite refreshing. There were a few spots in the road, which weren’t in the best conditions and had a few kids standing around trying to get money of the passing cars, of course we are a prime target, but when we don’t pay, they sure get mad around here!

Before we knew it, we had crossed the leg of the entire country and were at the Honduras exit point. We drove up to a small shack with a desk in it and an old rope blocking the way thorough the road. Slowly a couple men, taking their time to get to us, made their way over to the bike. Mike, being his friendly self, greeting the men and began to produce the documents he had. After some serious reviewing of our documents, they asked for another document which we did not have (I guess we did need to stop at an additional place back there), we were missing the Motorcycle importation document. After much staring, reviewing and trying to make us feel very nervous, one guy asked Mike to put the bike off to the side and come with him. I stood by the bike as everyone sat around staring at me. I was a little concerned as Mike was gone for quite a while…but soon enough I saw him approaching. The guy along with the boss of that station wanted to offer us a bribe, $45 dollar to cross the border. He kept trying to negotiate, but Mike was adamant that we did not have that kind of money, so what are our options. The guy wrote the amount he wanted on his hand, and talk softly to Mike, but I believe was quite sure that we would pay rather than drive back. We didn’t, and we left. At that point I really disliked Honduras and wanted nothing more than to leave the country! Mike’s plan was to drive to the other border crossing about 1-2 hours away to give it another attempt.

More rain, more frustration, we were still in Honduras and I honestly didn’t know if we could get out before the end of the day. As the roads around here aren’t well marked, there are times when the road splits, but there are no signs to tell which way to continue. We ran across a junction, and the only person around to ask for direction was a man with a giant machete and his herd of cattle. Yes, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, sometimes it seems absurd where we end up.

We found our way to the other border crossing; our last hope. After another bound of men flocking towards us, trying to get our attention, Mike went through the same sound and dance of not realizing we didn’t have the paperwork necessary. El Jefe (the boss) made his way to look into the situation; he wasn’t happy and told us the paperwork was required. Mike somehow talked him out of paying the $38 ‘tax fee’ which he said was mandatory. Yes, we were on our way out of Honduras finally. It felt good, but we still weren’t done, we still had to enter Nicaragua! Just a few feet further was the Nicaragua immigration. More hombres gawking, staring and trying to grab your attention. I stayed by the bike and reminded Mike to get ALL of the necessary paperwork before leaving. I try not to look at any of the men attempting to grab my attention, but it’s difficult and very frustrating, at time I get so angry and just want to slap them all. While I’ve had to spend much time waiting by the bike today, I’ve notice that the men enjoy pulling up their shirts and having their belly touching the air. Even the men with large bellies seem to just want to lift and rub… I kept trying to think of a reason why so many men were doing this, but nothing came to mind.

We thought we were done, Mike was doing cartwheels in the parking lot, but then again we were stopped to show our paperwork, we rejoiced yet again, and we were stopped on another occasion. This time we had to pull the bike over, show more papers and buy insurance (we found out later that it is required – thank god we bought it!). Another rejoicing and we were stopped to show paperwork AND our insurance. That was it….it as in finally, not that it was any big enjoyable, quick or sensible. Nicaragua! It felt good to be in another country besides Honduras until we saw the road ahead of us. Mike was singing ‘viva Nicaragua’ at the top of his lungs…but I heard that song take a sudden stop as he glimpsed up at the road; more potholes than tarmac. Yes, literally, more pot holes than pavement. The potholes were quite large as well. If it weren’t for the massive amount of traffic on the road, I would for sure think we took a wrong turn and are lost. Add the condition of the road in with some more rain and the sun slowly disappearing…we still had another journey ahead of us.

Nicaragua, yes, another different country with a whole new vibe. The people seem quite a bit more friendly than their neighboring Honduras and there is quite a bit of an old western vibe going on as there seems to be plenty of cattle and horses everywhere, even in the middle of the road. We rode slowly along the main road, the pavement got a little better, but there were still patches where the road doesn’t exist. I’m not sure if it is bicycle day or what, but it seemed as if everyone in all the neighboring villages were riding their bicycle along side the road. We decided to continue until we got to our hopeful destination, Leon. It got dark on us which allowed us to experience how many of the cars on the road do now put their headlights on and become almost invisible. Add that into the many people on bicycles riding generously inside the roadway with a few semi’s and I was wondering how people stay alive around here.

We blindly weaved through the town and landed on a hotel which was a little over budget, but much needed. $35/night, but we have A/C, a courtyard for the bike and a hot shower. I’m exhausted and can honestly say you couldn’t pay me to go through today again; I’m glad it’s behind us. That should be the worst of the border crossing we’ll need to deal with on this trip; I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Mmm...first good meal in days

A view from our breakfast

Care to buy some flowers for your dead friends?

El Salvador!

Border Taxi service

Yes, it was that exciting to leave Honduras

All smiles

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua (land of many pot-holes)

Santa Tecla to Parquin, El Salvador 190 miles

We both woke up after a good nights rest. It’s amazing how very tiring some of the days on the road are. Between the new roads, dangers, and the abundance of new things to absorb during the day, you can get completely exhausted. It was refreshing to wake up in a clean hotel room revitalized.

Our first leg of the trip was through San Salvador, we knew it would be a hassle as all big cities are, and that did hold true. It seems that every big city has a main road, which most of the traffic follows, but then it disappears and you end up at a dead end or some back alley. No matter how much you try to follow the flow of the traffic to get through town, you end up where you don’t want to. This time we weaved through until hitting the center of the city; what a mess! There were thousands of vendors selling all sorts of things from belts, watches, cd’s and DVDs, all lined up taking about half of the roadway. The other half consisted of busses, trucks and the traffic just trying to get through. It was slammed packed, wall to wall vehicles and at times were not moving. Trucks would just stop and unload their goods, etc. Madness, but we made it out safely, surprising considering the drivers! I almost felt I was in Rome for a while as the roads do not have lines in them, and going quick down a three way wide highway means insanity!

We made our way to a little town called Suchitoto, which was supposed to resemble what Antigua used to be. We arrived around noon to find a very small town with a nice white church perched in the middle; not much else to see. It is obvious from what we have seen that El Salvador does not receive many tourists. There are very few hotels, traveler friendly shops, restaurants or cafes. We stopped at a little café for a beverage and to take in the little bit of El Salvador that we could, and decided to hit the road again to near the Hondorus border in preparation for tomorrow’s day across the entire country.

The countryside was enjoyable, but not spectacular, at least from what we have seen on the road thus far. The weather went from very hot and humid to slightly showering; on and off all day. There are plenty of poverty stricken people, just like the rest of Latin America has been, but there also seems to be quite a bit of wealth here as well.

After a couple more hours on the road we hit a fork in which we could continue to the Honduras border, or veer off and up into the Mountains where we read was a nice lodge run and owned by an American guy. We decided to treat ourselves right and headed up into the mountains as it was only 2pm and we didn’t want to cross the border into Honduras late in the afternoon. It was a good choice. The drive up here was beautiful, some of the nicest scenery yet in El Salvador. As we climbed the mountain, the air got cooler and we started to spot Pine trees lining the hilltops. The people all smile as you drive by and the kids stare in amazement; a nice atmosphere. The lodge was well worth the drive as well, it sits on top of a mountain, you can get your own cabin for $50/night or a room for $30/night including breakfast. We got a room, which has the nicest warm shower I’ve been in since the US (obviously built by someone from the US), nice comfy bed and a great hammock on the front porch to lay in and relax. There is also a great big restaurant which served us a nice lunch. Mike had Pupusa which is an El Salvadorian dish; resembled a corn quesadilla.

We are debating whether we stay here another night and enjoy a day or rest as well as check out the local museum as this was the FMLN headquarters in the 1980’s. You can supposedly check out the old bunkers, and even have a veteran Guerilla guide you around. We haven’t decided yet. Either we stay another night or we’re off through Honduras and in Nicaragua tomorrow; Leon!

It is our one month Anniversary on the trip. It feels like ages ago that we were in Baja cruising along the road with Keith and Michael. It feels like even more time since I woke up in my own house and said good morning to Max and Vince. My job has become something of the distant past. Although given that perspective the time has flown by. I am surprised that we have already been on the road a month. One tenth of the trip is behind us; two countries down. What we have seen already has been amazing and almost overwhelming, I still cannot fathom continuing at this pace through many more countries, and different cultures.

Packed up and ready to go!

Check out the sweet rear reflector

All the women here carry things on their head

Igesia de El Salvador

Postcard-esque

Mike is smiling because we have a NICE room for the night (and he didn't wipe out on the road up)

We have made it to El Salvador!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it into El Salvador and are safe and sound... We stayed just outside of San Salvador last night and had a fairly painless border crossing. Tonight we are hoping to find somewhere decent to stay that is close to the Hondorus border so that we can hit it early as we will have two crossings in one day!

We will update the journal soon with the latest photos and journal.

Mike & Amie