January 30 & 31, 2008
Nothing great to report just a lot of relaxing!!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Update Day 19, 129 Miles
January 29, 2008
The day before Sylvia and I made a reservation to do a Rainforest Canopy tour which we scheduled for 10 am. I got up around 8 and headed out to the Pharmacy to get some Vitamin C. I think I got a bit of a chest cold sleeping at her aunts house because it did not have air conditioning and we slept with a fan blowing directly of us. Anyway I hoped some Vitamin C would help.
Back at the hotel we had a quick breakfast and off to the canopy tour. It was a great time. They put you in a harness and you go from tree to tree on cables strung between them. After that we decided to go to Isla Ometepe, the same Island that the other guys and I tried to do a few days earlier. We rode about 45 minutes to the South and I decided it was time for an oil change on the bike. We stopped at the local gas station and it was done in 30 minutes with some help from the local mechanic and my tools because he had almost nothing. At the time of the oil change my bike was a day short of it’s 3 week birthday and it had 6,220 miles.
With some fresh oil in the bike and us needing some relaxation time we headed for the ferry to the island. We waited about and hour for the boat to get in from it’s earlier round trip only to find that they had a mechanical failure and will be delayed at least an hour They did say we might be able to get on the smaller boat but they will have to ask the captain due to the weight of my bike. We contemplated for a while and after looking at the boat and my bike at the bottom of the lake we opted out. We then decided to head north to an all inclusive resort by the name of 
Montelimar. It took a little bit over an hour to get there but it was worth it. It is a huge resort with a lot of hammocks, beach front and most importantly, an open bar.
The day before Sylvia and I made a reservation to do a Rainforest Canopy tour which we scheduled for 10 am. I got up around 8 and headed out to the Pharmacy to get some Vitamin C. I think I got a bit of a chest cold sleeping at her aunts house because it did not have air conditioning and we slept with a fan blowing directly of us. Anyway I hoped some Vitamin C would help.
Back at the hotel we had a quick breakfast and off to the canopy tour. It was a great time. They put you in a harness and you go from tree to tree on cables strung between them. After that we decided to go to Isla Ometepe, the same Island that the other guys and I tried to do a few days earlier. We rode about 45 minutes to the South and I decided it was time for an oil change on the bike. We stopped at the local gas station and it was done in 30 minutes with some help from the local mechanic and my tools because he had almost nothing. At the time of the oil change my bike was a day short of it’s 3 week birthday and it had 6,220 miles.
With some fresh oil in the bike and us needing some relaxation time we headed for the ferry to the island. We waited about and hour for the boat to get in from it’s earlier round trip only to find that they had a mechanical failure and will be delayed at least an hour They did say we might be able to get on the smaller boat but they will have to ask the captain due to the weight of my bike. We contemplated for a while and after looking at the boat and my bike at the bottom of the lake we opted out. We then decided to head north to an all inclusive resort by the name of 
Montelimar. It took a little bit over an hour to get there but it was worth it. It is a huge resort with a lot of hammocks, beach front and most importantly, an open bar.Update Day 18, 60 Miles
January 28, 2008
Sylvia and I got up about 8 am and were going to do a little tour with her aunt of where she used to live. Of course she does not drive so I get the keys again. This drive was a little bit more difficult because she was doing more talking with Sylvia then she was being a navigator but we made it. Our first stop was her aunt’s bakery. I know what you are saying, "Why do you want to see a bakery?" 
Well, the answer it is simple, because Sylvia’s old house is now her aunt’s bakery. Her neighborhood has changed a lot. It used to be all residential but now it is a commercial area. After a tour of her house we went out to the sidewalk and we noticed that the same people still live next door. We knock on the gate and 
Sylvia’s friend who is the same age as her and who she used to eat dirt with and her mother were home. They had about a 20 minute reunion and then we were on to the next person to visit who was Sylvia’s mom’s best friend. It was another joyful reunion for 20 minutes or so and then it was time to move on. We headed back to the house to saddle up and move on.
We left at noon and headed for the town of Granada with a brief stop in Masaya. On the way to Masaya we drove past the same traffic cops that pulled me over a week earlier. As we drove by I had Sylvia get a photo of them. We then
stopped at the town square in Masaya for a little break where we ended up getting some good tourist info and ate some local Konchas Negras. It is a local shellfish like an Oyster or Clam. Next stop was the Volcano Masaya. It is a active volcano that you walk up to and look in. We were not able to see any lava due to the smoke but we were told at times you can. It was a nice short tour but it was time to get to Granada.
It was only a short 20 minute ride to Granada which is an old Colonial town on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. Once there we located a very nice hotel for $60 with Internet. Now settled into our room we decide to look around a bit. The town is very beautiful with friendly people. We stopped by a tour office and booked a tour of The Isletas and Lake Nicaragua. The Isletas translates into little islands in English. There are 365 of them and many of them have native locals still living of them while other have been sold to wealthy people for vacation homes. It turns out you do not have to be wealthy by our standards as an
island with a house on it can be had for $150,000. The tour worked out really well for us because it was close to sundown and they had a store right by the boats and I bought 7 beers in an ice chest for our 1 hour boat ride. At one point we were by the island called ironically enough Monkey Island because of the monkeys on it. Our tour guide invited Lucy on to our boat and she ate the driver’s leftover lunch.
When the tour was over we were driven back to our hotel where we met a couple by the name of Chris and Connie from Portland, Oregon. They were quite unlike the people I usually hang out with as they were here doing volunteer work building houses for the people who need them. We had a very nice dinner with them and Sylvia and Chris were able to talk a little shop because they work in the same field.
I tried to get some updates done while at the hotel but the power in the city would keep turning off every 10 minutes or so and I would loose all my work so I gave up.
Sylvia and I got up about 8 am and were going to do a little tour with her aunt of where she used to live. Of course she does not drive so I get the keys again. This drive was a little bit more difficult because she was doing more talking with Sylvia then she was being a navigator but we made it. Our first stop was her aunt’s bakery. I know what you are saying, "Why do you want to see a bakery?" 
Well, the answer it is simple, because Sylvia’s old house is now her aunt’s bakery. Her neighborhood has changed a lot. It used to be all residential but now it is a commercial area. After a tour of her house we went out to the sidewalk and we noticed that the same people still live next door. We knock on the gate and 
Sylvia’s friend who is the same age as her and who she used to eat dirt with and her mother were home. They had about a 20 minute reunion and then we were on to the next person to visit who was Sylvia’s mom’s best friend. It was another joyful reunion for 20 minutes or so and then it was time to move on. We headed back to the house to saddle up and move on.We left at noon and headed for the town of Granada with a brief stop in Masaya. On the way to Masaya we drove past the same traffic cops that pulled me over a week earlier. As we drove by I had Sylvia get a photo of them. We then
stopped at the town square in Masaya for a little break where we ended up getting some good tourist info and ate some local Konchas Negras. It is a local shellfish like an Oyster or Clam. Next stop was the Volcano Masaya. It is a active volcano that you walk up to and look in. We were not able to see any lava due to the smoke but we were told at times you can. It was a nice short tour but it was time to get to Granada.It was only a short 20 minute ride to Granada which is an old Colonial town on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. Once there we located a very nice hotel for $60 with Internet. Now settled into our room we decide to look around a bit. The town is very beautiful with friendly people. We stopped by a tour office and booked a tour of The Isletas and Lake Nicaragua. The Isletas translates into little islands in English. There are 365 of them and many of them have native locals still living of them while other have been sold to wealthy people for vacation homes. It turns out you do not have to be wealthy by our standards as an
island with a house on it can be had for $150,000. The tour worked out really well for us because it was close to sundown and they had a store right by the boats and I bought 7 beers in an ice chest for our 1 hour boat ride. At one point we were by the island called ironically enough Monkey Island because of the monkeys on it. Our tour guide invited Lucy on to our boat and she ate the driver’s leftover lunch.
When the tour was over we were driven back to our hotel where we met a couple by the name of Chris and Connie from Portland, Oregon. They were quite unlike the people I usually hang out with as they were here doing volunteer work building houses for the people who need them. We had a very nice dinner with them and Sylvia and Chris were able to talk a little shop because they work in the same field.I tried to get some updates done while at the hotel but the power in the city would keep turning off every 10 minutes or so and I would loose all my work so I gave up.
Update Day 17, 85 Miles
January 27, 2008
Today is going to be a change of pace for me. For the next week I will no longer be going solo.
I start out with breakfast and a good scrub down on the bike then back on the road. My destination is Managua airport to meet Sylvia. I leave at 10:45 and arrive at the airport at 12:20, 5 minutes before she walks out from clearing customs. I greet her at the same time she sees her aunt there waiting to pick her up. We go through all the hello’s and stuff and then head for their house. I closely follow them so as not to get lost it the city. A short while later, at 1:00, we arrive at the house and I am done riding for the day.
Sylvia’s family was very welcoming to us and they even had a nice new bottle of rum, coke and ice waiting for our arrival. Those of you who know how kind hearted I am and not wanting to offend their customs, I dove right in. Once feeling good, it was time for us to make some phone calls and do some updating.
Now that I am on old pro at riding at night we decide to go to dinner with her family but they do not drive at night. Therefore they do the next best thing and throw me the keys, and once again not to offend I accept. As a side note it had been a few hours since my last drink. We end up dining at a nice restaurant that her mother recommended named Los Rancheros. It was a steak house and the food and company was very good. It was an uneventful drive home and an end to yet another good day.
Today is going to be a change of pace for me. For the next week I will no longer be going solo.
I start out with breakfast and a good scrub down on the bike then back on the road. My destination is Managua airport to meet Sylvia. I leave at 10:45 and arrive at the airport at 12:20, 5 minutes before she walks out from clearing customs. I greet her at the same time she sees her aunt there waiting to pick her up. We go through all the hello’s and stuff and then head for their house. I closely follow them so as not to get lost it the city. A short while later, at 1:00, we arrive at the house and I am done riding for the day.
Sylvia’s family was very welcoming to us and they even had a nice new bottle of rum, coke and ice waiting for our arrival. Those of you who know how kind hearted I am and not wanting to offend their customs, I dove right in. Once feeling good, it was time for us to make some phone calls and do some updating.
Now that I am on old pro at riding at night we decide to go to dinner with her family but they do not drive at night. Therefore they do the next best thing and throw me the keys, and once again not to offend I accept. As a side note it had been a few hours since my last drink. We end up dining at a nice restaurant that her mother recommended named Los Rancheros. It was a steak house and the food and company was very good. It was an uneventful drive home and an end to yet another good day.Update Day 16, 144 Miles
January 26, 2008
At dinner the previous evening we were joined by the two Canadians who are also traveling on bikes. Darryl is on a BMW 1200GS like David and my old bike and Andy is on a 78 BMW 100RS is believe. It is a bike he bought new years ago and decided to ride it because he knew how to work on it which just happens to come in very handy later in the day. Over dinner and beer we decide to do a group ride to the island of Ometepe the next day at 10.
It is up early again for no apparent reason and it is time for breakfast and more coffee for me. I will never admit this in person but it is not half bad. A few of us have Frank the hotel owner drive us into town to get some money while some others go and inquire about the boat schedule. When we get back we get the news that the ferry could get us all over there but getting us all back tonight is not guaranteed. After a little discussion an alternate plan is hatched. We will now drive North toward Managua and then head West to the beach for lunch and return. Everyone is in agreement so we are soon on our way. We ride for about 45 minutes till we hit the town of Jinotepe where we need to go west. Riding down a little side street we come to a block in the road. It turns out the driver of a small truck pulled a gun out and pointed it at some lady and everyone around surrounded the truck so he could not move until the police got there. Paul who was in the lead and speaks fluent Spanish was able to talk them into creating a wide enough gap 
for us to squeeze through and be on our way. We now headed down a very potholed road for the next 10 miles or so and shortly before noon we were in the town of La Boquita looking for lunch. The town was pretty empty and we found a place that said they had food and beer. We all sit down and ask for the menu and his reply was "We have fish". Alrighty then, 7 orders of fish it is! Oh and beer. I think that he actually must have grabbed his fishing rod and ran to the water 200 feet away because it took at least an hour for the meals to arrive. When they finally did we found out it was worth the wait.
While we were there we spoke to a few locals and asked them about the condition of the road out the other direction. We were told that it is about the same as the one we came in on. With this information in hand and full bellies we were now heading south towards the town of Veracruz. The road immediately turned into dirt yet we continued on. Before we knew it we the road was getting worse and worse. It would have been fine if we were all riding dirt bikes and had a lot of off road riding experience, but it was not the case. As it turns out Paul and I were the only ones with dirt experience and some of the bikes have no business being in a dust storm much less riding of dirt. And let’s not forget about Norm riding the 800+ lb motorcycle. Now we find ourselves over an hour into these roads and feel we have reached to point of no return, we must continue. Paul and I were having a fun time as was Darryl but the others were not prepared for this and the fun stopped as soon as they swallowed their last bite of fish.
At this point everyone is tired but the terrain just keeps getting worse and people are going down. We come to a few river crossings and deep sand sections and given the fact that I have off road experience and the lowest on the totem pole as far as age goes, I get chosen to ride some of the other bikes across as well. The one bike I refused to ride was Norms monster but I never needed to because he never gave up. This continues on for a few hours and we are loosing the sun. We break off into groups of two and just keep on moving. It is now dark and David and I are being the sweepers of the group when we come to the last obstacle of the trip. I see Andy and Darryl on the other side of a wide river so it must not be that deep. What I did not realize was they could not get Andy´s bike started and it is that deep. I go first and make it 10 ft from the edge and the bottom drops out from underneath the bike. The water is up to the bottom of the gas tank and I think the air intake for the engine is an inch below that. I make it 2 feet from getting out and the bike dies. I crank it for a few moments and it starts to show signs of life again. With it now running I ride out the rest of the way and turn around to see David already walking across the river. I guess I am not done yet. I walk back across and put David’s bike through the same punishment mine just had. Now we all have made it past that I find out that Andy’s bike will not start. I look for my flashlight which of course is dead and I have no extra batteries. We rob 
Andy’s camera of the batteries and we now have light. We then decide that David and I will continue on to catch up with the others and I will come back for the other two so they do not have to ride out alone. A few miles later we catch up with the rest of the group and it is now 7pm. We come to the conclusion that they will all go back to the hotel and I will go back to be with the other two. Just as we were separated Andy and Darryl come along. I guess his ignition got some water in it and it just needed some drying out. Now we are all one group again so we ride back to the hotel arriving at 8:30.
Sorry for the long post as I am sure it is a boring read. I know I have not been able to convey a lot of the things that happened but it was still one of the more exciting days.
At dinner the previous evening we were joined by the two Canadians who are also traveling on bikes. Darryl is on a BMW 1200GS like David and my old bike and Andy is on a 78 BMW 100RS is believe. It is a bike he bought new years ago and decided to ride it because he knew how to work on it which just happens to come in very handy later in the day. Over dinner and beer we decide to do a group ride to the island of Ometepe the next day at 10.
It is up early again for no apparent reason and it is time for breakfast and more coffee for me. I will never admit this in person but it is not half bad. A few of us have Frank the hotel owner drive us into town to get some money while some others go and inquire about the boat schedule. When we get back we get the news that the ferry could get us all over there but getting us all back tonight is not guaranteed. After a little discussion an alternate plan is hatched. We will now drive North toward Managua and then head West to the beach for lunch and return. Everyone is in agreement so we are soon on our way. We ride for about 45 minutes till we hit the town of Jinotepe where we need to go west. Riding down a little side street we come to a block in the road. It turns out the driver of a small truck pulled a gun out and pointed it at some lady and everyone around surrounded the truck so he could not move until the police got there. Paul who was in the lead and speaks fluent Spanish was able to talk them into creating a wide enough gap 
for us to squeeze through and be on our way. We now headed down a very potholed road for the next 10 miles or so and shortly before noon we were in the town of La Boquita looking for lunch. The town was pretty empty and we found a place that said they had food and beer. We all sit down and ask for the menu and his reply was "We have fish". Alrighty then, 7 orders of fish it is! Oh and beer. I think that he actually must have grabbed his fishing rod and ran to the water 200 feet away because it took at least an hour for the meals to arrive. When they finally did we found out it was worth the wait.While we were there we spoke to a few locals and asked them about the condition of the road out the other direction. We were told that it is about the same as the one we came in on. With this information in hand and full bellies we were now heading south towards the town of Veracruz. The road immediately turned into dirt yet we continued on. Before we knew it we the road was getting worse and worse. It would have been fine if we were all riding dirt bikes and had a lot of off road riding experience, but it was not the case. As it turns out Paul and I were the only ones with dirt experience and some of the bikes have no business being in a dust storm much less riding of dirt. And let’s not forget about Norm riding the 800+ lb motorcycle. Now we find ourselves over an hour into these roads and feel we have reached to point of no return, we must continue. Paul and I were having a fun time as was Darryl but the others were not prepared for this and the fun stopped as soon as they swallowed their last bite of fish.
At this point everyone is tired but the terrain just keeps getting worse and people are going down. We come to a few river crossings and deep sand sections and given the fact that I have off road experience and the lowest on the totem pole as far as age goes, I get chosen to ride some of the other bikes across as well. The one bike I refused to ride was Norms monster but I never needed to because he never gave up. This continues on for a few hours and we are loosing the sun. We break off into groups of two and just keep on moving. It is now dark and David and I are being the sweepers of the group when we come to the last obstacle of the trip. I see Andy and Darryl on the other side of a wide river so it must not be that deep. What I did not realize was they could not get Andy´s bike started and it is that deep. I go first and make it 10 ft from the edge and the bottom drops out from underneath the bike. The water is up to the bottom of the gas tank and I think the air intake for the engine is an inch below that. I make it 2 feet from getting out and the bike dies. I crank it for a few moments and it starts to show signs of life again. With it now running I ride out the rest of the way and turn around to see David already walking across the river. I guess I am not done yet. I walk back across and put David’s bike through the same punishment mine just had. Now we all have made it past that I find out that Andy’s bike will not start. I look for my flashlight which of course is dead and I have no extra batteries. We rob 
Andy’s camera of the batteries and we now have light. We then decide that David and I will continue on to catch up with the others and I will come back for the other two so they do not have to ride out alone. A few miles later we catch up with the rest of the group and it is now 7pm. We come to the conclusion that they will all go back to the hotel and I will go back to be with the other two. Just as we were separated Andy and Darryl come along. I guess his ignition got some water in it and it just needed some drying out. Now we are all one group again so we ride back to the hotel arriving at 8:30.Sorry for the long post as I am sure it is a boring read. I know I have not been able to convey a lot of the things that happened but it was still one of the more exciting days.
Update Day 15, 275 Miles
January 25, 2008
Today was an early start. The night before I had spoke with a few of the guys who were planning on riding to Guatemala and then returning to Panama and I decided to tag along with them. We met for breakfast at 7 am in the local town square where we reintroduced ourselves. The ring leader of the group was Paul on a KLR 650, a resident of Panama for the last 15 years, I think. He is a transplant from the States who at one time was in San Diego and a desert racer. Next up was Norm he is originally from England and has been in Costa Rica and Panama for the last 6 years or so and he is riding a Honda Valkyrie 1500. Norm´s bike will play a neat roll in the days to follow. Then there was David who is on a BMW 1200GS who has been living in Panama for the last year and a half. Last but not least is Ken from Missouri. He has flown down to buy a 92 BMW 100GS from Paul and Paul has agreed to give him a tour of Central America as part of the deal. And now there is me as the fifth wheel.
After getting acquainted for a bit it is time to ride. It is a nice 30 minute ride over the mountains to the ocean. This is the same road that we did last night but it is much better when you can see the surroundings. Once we regroup at the Pacific we break off into three groups because we are going on a dirt road and the dust is bad. First to go is Norm. We gave him a bit of a head start because he is riding a cruiser bike which weights in excess of 800 lbs. Next are Paul and me. We went together because we would be riding at a faster pace and then it was David and Ken. The road was crowded with cars and trucks so there was a lot of passing to do but Paul and I had a good time anyway. At the other end we had planned to meet up at the gas station which we thought everyone knew. As it turns out Ken never got the info. We waited at the gas station for an hour before Paul went to find him. Of course soon after Paul leaves Ken pulls up. He said he had ridden past where we were two other times before he saw us or we saw him. Shortly after Paul arrives and we are all together again.
Now that everyone is refreshed we go on. We make it about 2 miles and we come to a bridge we have to cross. It is small so we have to wait for traffic coming the other way to go first. We cross with no problems and move on. Another mile down the road David is slowing down. As I get close to him I see his rear tire it flat. It turns out he had something puncture his tire when crossing the bridge. Lucky for us, or planned for them, there is a tire repair shop 100 feet from where we stopped. 10 minutes and $2 later we are rolling again. We stop once for lunch and then we make it to the Nicaraguan border with plenty of daylight to make it to our destination for the day, or so one would think. We all get through with ease except for Norm. He is having problems exiting Costa Rica and has to wait until 6 pm for the shift change to get some paperwork filled out. $60 later and at 6:10 he is in Nicaragua and the border is getting ready to shut down for the evening. He makes it thorough at 6:50 with 10 minutes to spare but it is now well after dark, again. When leaving the border area you have to show your paperwork to another person before leaving. Paul has done this many times and has found out that there are many things they charge you for with no authority. He tells us this when we go past the last inspection because they want you to pay a $1 local tax and will be waiving at you to stop but then tells us to keep on going. Sure enough as soon as we cross they are waiving us down and running in the streets trying to block us but we keep on moving and saved ourselves a whole dollar! Another 30 minutes goes by and it is 7:45, we are now at The Hotel California in San Jorge Nicaragua. The hotel is owned by another former US resident by the name of Frank, a nice guy who just got tired of the rat race and is living a nice quiet life running a hotel. We also met two Canadian brothers who have been traveling for a few months named Andy and Darryl.
Today was an early start. The night before I had spoke with a few of the guys who were planning on riding to Guatemala and then returning to Panama and I decided to tag along with them. We met for breakfast at 7 am in the local town square where we reintroduced ourselves. The ring leader of the group was Paul on a KLR 650, a resident of Panama for the last 15 years, I think. He is a transplant from the States who at one time was in San Diego and a desert racer. Next up was Norm he is originally from England and has been in Costa Rica and Panama for the last 6 years or so and he is riding a Honda Valkyrie 1500. Norm´s bike will play a neat roll in the days to follow. Then there was David who is on a BMW 1200GS who has been living in Panama for the last year and a half. Last but not least is Ken from Missouri. He has flown down to buy a 92 BMW 100GS from Paul and Paul has agreed to give him a tour of Central America as part of the deal. And now there is me as the fifth wheel.
After getting acquainted for a bit it is time to ride. It is a nice 30 minute ride over the mountains to the ocean. This is the same road that we did last night but it is much better when you can see the surroundings. Once we regroup at the Pacific we break off into three groups because we are going on a dirt road and the dust is bad. First to go is Norm. We gave him a bit of a head start because he is riding a cruiser bike which weights in excess of 800 lbs. Next are Paul and me. We went together because we would be riding at a faster pace and then it was David and Ken. The road was crowded with cars and trucks so there was a lot of passing to do but Paul and I had a good time anyway. At the other end we had planned to meet up at the gas station which we thought everyone knew. As it turns out Ken never got the info. We waited at the gas station for an hour before Paul went to find him. Of course soon after Paul leaves Ken pulls up. He said he had ridden past where we were two other times before he saw us or we saw him. Shortly after Paul arrives and we are all together again.
Now that everyone is refreshed we go on. We make it about 2 miles and we come to a bridge we have to cross. It is small so we have to wait for traffic coming the other way to go first. We cross with no problems and move on. Another mile down the road David is slowing down. As I get close to him I see his rear tire it flat. It turns out he had something puncture his tire when crossing the bridge. Lucky for us, or planned for them, there is a tire repair shop 100 feet from where we stopped. 10 minutes and $2 later we are rolling again. We stop once for lunch and then we make it to the Nicaraguan border with plenty of daylight to make it to our destination for the day, or so one would think. We all get through with ease except for Norm. He is having problems exiting Costa Rica and has to wait until 6 pm for the shift change to get some paperwork filled out. $60 later and at 6:10 he is in Nicaragua and the border is getting ready to shut down for the evening. He makes it thorough at 6:50 with 10 minutes to spare but it is now well after dark, again. When leaving the border area you have to show your paperwork to another person before leaving. Paul has done this many times and has found out that there are many things they charge you for with no authority. He tells us this when we go past the last inspection because they want you to pay a $1 local tax and will be waiving at you to stop but then tells us to keep on going. Sure enough as soon as we cross they are waiving us down and running in the streets trying to block us but we keep on moving and saved ourselves a whole dollar! Another 30 minutes goes by and it is 7:45, we are now at The Hotel California in San Jorge Nicaragua. The hotel is owned by another former US resident by the name of Frank, a nice guy who just got tired of the rat race and is living a nice quiet life running a hotel. We also met two Canadian brothers who have been traveling for a few months named Andy and Darryl.Update Day 14, 418 Miles
January 24, 2008
Today I decided to sleep in for a little bit, I figured I earned it. After laying in bed and thinking on what to do in Panama City I came to the only logical conclusion that seemed right for me. Go home! I packed up and was on the road by 9:45 Eastern time. There was not much to see on the way down and I was heading back the same route so I knew I would make good time. Halfway out of Panama in the city of Santiago the local law enforcement thought I was making too good of time and pulled me over for speeding, which I was. He clocked me doing 90kph in a 50kph hospital zone but how was I to know that, I don't speak Spanish anymore. Again there were a lot of hand gestures which would only draw an even blanker look from my face. He told me I would have to pay the fine in the city of David which of course got the response of, nice to meet you David my name is Mike. Another few minutes goes by as his frustration sets in and he asked if he was the first police officer that has pulled me over and I replied yes. With that he gave me all of my documents back and sent me on my way.
Stupid American 2
Police 0
All of the acting really made me hungry so I decided to stop for lunch before pressing on. When done with lunch I figured I could make it to the border and into Costa Rica before the sun went down. It was a nice fast ride to the border and having been to this border before it was much easier. Just a quick stamp in the passport and turn in the bike paperwork, 5 minutes max. Next was to enter Costa Rica. It was a quick stamp in the passport and then I needed to pick up the bike paperwork that I dropped off when I left. This took about 30 minutes and while in line I was talking with a guy from Panama who was with 12 other bikes heading to a rally in San Jose. They were going to stay the night in San Isidro and offered for me to ride with them. I knew we would be riding after dark but if I went with them I would be that much further ahead to start the next day. Since it was a big group I decided to go with them. The guy that I was talking with was named Neil and he was the last one of his group to clear customs after 5 hours at the border. The rest of his group was a mile down the road at the local bar waiting for everyone to regroup. When we arrived some had already gone and Neil needed a few beers before moving on. When I ordered a Coke I got some strange looks but I was planning on arriving alive. By the time we left the bar it was almost dark and we had a long way to go. We started out as 7 riders and when we finally got to San Isidro we were split into two groups but everyone made it. We found the others and now it was time to find a room. It was kind of fun riding around the town late at night like we were some outlaw biker gang. By the time we finally found a room it was 11 pm Central time. It was a long day but fun none the less.
Today I decided to sleep in for a little bit, I figured I earned it. After laying in bed and thinking on what to do in Panama City I came to the only logical conclusion that seemed right for me. Go home! I packed up and was on the road by 9:45 Eastern time. There was not much to see on the way down and I was heading back the same route so I knew I would make good time. Halfway out of Panama in the city of Santiago the local law enforcement thought I was making too good of time and pulled me over for speeding, which I was. He clocked me doing 90kph in a 50kph hospital zone but how was I to know that, I don't speak Spanish anymore. Again there were a lot of hand gestures which would only draw an even blanker look from my face. He told me I would have to pay the fine in the city of David which of course got the response of, nice to meet you David my name is Mike. Another few minutes goes by as his frustration sets in and he asked if he was the first police officer that has pulled me over and I replied yes. With that he gave me all of my documents back and sent me on my way.
Stupid American 2
Police 0
All of the acting really made me hungry so I decided to stop for lunch before pressing on. When done with lunch I figured I could make it to the border and into Costa Rica before the sun went down. It was a nice fast ride to the border and having been to this border before it was much easier. Just a quick stamp in the passport and turn in the bike paperwork, 5 minutes max. Next was to enter Costa Rica. It was a quick stamp in the passport and then I needed to pick up the bike paperwork that I dropped off when I left. This took about 30 minutes and while in line I was talking with a guy from Panama who was with 12 other bikes heading to a rally in San Jose. They were going to stay the night in San Isidro and offered for me to ride with them. I knew we would be riding after dark but if I went with them I would be that much further ahead to start the next day. Since it was a big group I decided to go with them. The guy that I was talking with was named Neil and he was the last one of his group to clear customs after 5 hours at the border. The rest of his group was a mile down the road at the local bar waiting for everyone to regroup. When we arrived some had already gone and Neil needed a few beers before moving on. When I ordered a Coke I got some strange looks but I was planning on arriving alive. By the time we left the bar it was almost dark and we had a long way to go. We started out as 7 riders and when we finally got to San Isidro we were split into two groups but everyone made it. We found the others and now it was time to find a room. It was kind of fun riding around the town late at night like we were some outlaw biker gang. By the time we finally found a room it was 11 pm Central time. It was a long day but fun none the less.Monday, January 28, 2008
Update Day 13, 353 Miles
January 23, 2008
I am not entirely sure of what it was that got me out of bed at 6:15 in the a.m. but I am pretty damn sure it was the rooster that they put directly outside my window.
I was on my way to the Panama border by 6:45 and it was a nice 73 degrees but it would not last long. I was checking out of Costa Rica 7:30 and the temp was already at 85. It was an easy check out of Costa Rica and then on to entering Panama. I hired another helper and he did most of the leg work. All I had to do was stand in line to get my immigration entry stamp. While in line I struck up a conversation with a guy from Whitehorse Canada in the Yukon Territory, a town I passed through on my trip to Alaska. He was taking 6 months to make his way to Argentina by way of a backpack and buses. There were only about 15 people in line but it took 45 minutes to get to the front. When done there I had to make a stop in another line to get a signature only to find out I had to wait in the same line as before to get another stamp. My helper pushes me to the empty window next to the guy doing the paperwork and stamping then tells me to push my paperwork in his face. As soon as he is done processing the other person’s paperwork I stick my hand in the little window and he takes my paperwork and processes it like nothing is out of the ordinary. By the time I get my stuff back there are another three people behind me waiting to do the same. All in all it was a good border crossing.
I am not entirely sure of what it was that got me out of bed at 6:15 in the a.m. but I am pretty damn sure it was the rooster that they put directly outside my window.
I was on my way to the Panama border by 6:45 and it was a nice 73 degrees but it would not last long. I was checking out of Costa Rica 7:30 and the temp was already at 85. It was an easy check out of Costa Rica and then on to entering Panama. I hired another helper and he did most of the leg work. All I had to do was stand in line to get my immigration entry stamp. While in line I struck up a conversation with a guy from Whitehorse Canada in the Yukon Territory, a town I passed through on my trip to Alaska. He was taking 6 months to make his way to Argentina by way of a backpack and buses. There were only about 15 people in line but it took 45 minutes to get to the front. When done there I had to make a stop in another line to get a signature only to find out I had to wait in the same line as before to get another stamp. My helper pushes me to the empty window next to the guy doing the paperwork and stamping then tells me to push my paperwork in his face. As soon as he is done processing the other person’s paperwork I stick my hand in the little window and he takes my paperwork and processes it like nothing is out of the ordinary. By the time I get my stuff back there are another three people behind me waiting to do the same. All in all it was a good border crossing.
The next few hours are spent speeding towards The Panama Canal, my final destination. The roads were in good shape and for a good part of the way it was a four lane road. There was nothing interesting as far as scenery and it was well into the upper 90s for most of the trip. As I get closer to the Canal I am starting to get a little excited to be so close to the destination. Finally it is in sight and I cross the bridge. One would think that I would be overwhelmed with joy but it was actually a little bit of a let down. Knowing that I made it all the way there I came to the sudden realization that I am a long, long way from home and this is barely the half way point for me. It was just like when I went to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and jumped into The Arctic Ocean. I got out of the water looked around and said I guess it is time to go home. The thought crossed my mind to just snap a quick picture and turn around and head south. That is right I said south. If you look at the map Panama actually swings back up to the north as you get closer to the Canal. It is kind of bitter sweet knowing you are heading towards home yet getting further away. Anyway I opted to look around a bit.
After about an hour of searching for where the locks are located I find Miraflores Locks which is the first of two locks on the Pacific side. I get there at 4:30 in the afternoon and they close at 5. I run in take a few photos and head out the door as they are pushing me out of it. It turns out they could not care less what it took me to get there, they just want to go home. I head into Panama City to try and find a room. Unfortunately for me it is rush hour. I am stuck in traffic moving about 20 ft per minute going along the waterfront. Out of nowhere comes a man walking up to me. He was a 69 year old man who looked to be in his late 50s who used to ride bikes when he was younger. He saw me there and just wanted to talk and give me directions to the local BMW dealer. I ask him where to find a hotel and he directs me to a nearby hotel in the opposite direction. With his guidance I find the hotel, check in and take a much needed shower. Then it was off to the local internet cafe of which I spoke of earlier. I had hopes of getting up to date that night but it was not in the cards. After that fiasco it was time to eat and then off to bed. Ironically enough, as most of you know my life revolves around motorcycles and beer and not necessarily in that order, there was no beer involved the entire day! Yet it was still another good day.Sunday, January 27, 2008
Update Day 12, 378 Miles
January 22, 2008
Today was not very exciting yet still a good day like they all have been so far. I left the hotel in La Cruz Costa Rica and headed south toward San Jose, the capital. The roads were straight and fast with a lot of wind. To take a quote from Seinfeld and to make it fit my situation, "The wind was angry this day my friends. Like an old man sending back soup at a deli". I have a lot of time on my hands so bear with me a little. I get into San Jose and the main highway runs straight through the center of town but on streets not on a freeway. I miss my turn so I pull over to check my map. Before I even get off my bike a car has pulled in behind me and the gentleman is approaching me. He asks in perfect English if I am lost and need help. I tell him I think I missed my turn a few hundred yards back and he confirms that I did. He then proceeds to tell me he will take me to a better route and to follow him. He goes, I assume out of his way, a few 
miles and then sends me on my way. It was not the best marked way but after asking a few more times I was out of San Jose and heading south again. Once out of San Jose the road starts to climb and climb. I would keep pulling over to take a picture of the altitude on the GPS thinking I was at the top but it kept going up. I was not able to see very far because I was in the cloud forest as I believe they are called. When I finally reached the top I was at 10,973 ft and a cool 43 degrees. At the very top there was some construction which held up traffic. I cruise to the front of the line and when they let us proceed I am the first one and have a clear road all the way to the bottom to have my way with. Needless to say I had fun.
As I am nearing the border of Panama it is close to dark so I decide it is time to find a place to sleep instead of trying to cross the border. I see a sign for The Rain Forest Hotel and it says it is 7km off the road. I follow the dirt road down and go a little bit faster than I should because it is just more fun that way. I finally reach the hotel and ask how much for a room. He tells me $135 and I politely tell him no thank you. I think it turned out for the best anyway. As I was walking back to the bike I hear what an actual rain forest sounds like and there is no way I would have fallen asleep with all that damn racket! Now it is back to the road but now I need to go a little bit faster because it is getting darker. I make it to the next town and find a hotel. I get the room with air conditioning for $18 and it is a nice room. I go back to the bike to unload it and before I even get one bag off a guy walks up and asks if he can give me a beer if I will tell him about my trip. So the next 4 or 5 hours are spent with my new best friend in the world, his wife and a bunch of their beer. They are from Canada and flew in a few days earlier and are touring around for two weeks. It was a nice end to another good day.
Update Day 11, 188 Miles
January 21, 2008
Sorry for the long wait but believe it or not my first priority has not been to sit at a computer for two or three hours and get my updates done. There is actually more interesting things to do here.
This is actually take two on this update. I do not want to say where I was because I want to keep everyone in suspense. I spent 45 minutes doing the update at an Internet cafe´ and then the computer shut off. As it turns out at this particular cafe´ the computers are set up for a period of time and then it logs off. 45 minutes of work was lost and I walked out after yelling at the worker and not paying.
It was another early day for me. It started out by getting up at 6:30 a.m. and leaving the house at 7:00 a.m. with Felix and Gerardo. It was a half hour trip to a tour of their family coffee farm. Felix says that their farm is approximately 3,000 acres but it appears to be much larger than that. They employ about 150 people year round and during the height of the harvest season there can be as many as 900 people working there. It starts at about 3,500 ft where the rain forest starts and continues up to about 4,500 ft. The beginning of the tour was where they process the coffee beans after they are harvested and then a tour of a house that the family uses for special occasions and parties. After that it was on to a tour of the property. The scenery was simply amazing. It is all on mountain sides with very little flat land and all I kept telling them is I could make a great off-road motorcycle track. It is really pretty sad when all I can think about is using their land for motorcycle riding instead of growing coffee and employing a small city. After driving around for about an hour or so it was time for breakfast. Before leaving the house Felix grabbed some eggs and when we arrived at the farm Gerardo dropped them off at the kitchen that cooks three meals a day for the workers that live and work on the property. There are about ten men and women that work in the kitchen that took some time out of their schedule to 
cook our breakfast of rice, beans, cheese, eggs and homemade tortillas made on the huge comal that is heated by wood grown on the property. I even had my first cup of coffee in I don't know how many years. They said it was great coffee and I am sure they were right but I have no perspective to speak from so I will just say it was good and I enjoyed it thoroughly. After everything was said and done, I could see myself spending some nice quality quiet time there but it was time to move on. We headed back to the house, packed up the bike and I hit the road at 11:30.
I took a different route out of the mountains than I took in and the views were beautiful but the moment was tainted by the potholed road and a lot of traffic. It was about a 45 minute ride to the town of Matagalpa on tight twisty roads and then it opened up a little bit until I hit the valley floor in Sebaco where the temperature was hovering around 92 degrees. I started out at 65 degrees in Jinotega 1:15 minutes earlier. The road from Sebaco to The border of Costa Rica was hot, fast and straight with not much top mention of interest.
I did happen to have an encounter with the local police department that is worth mentioning. As I approached the town of Masaya the road came to a "T". The right lane was forced to turn right by ways of a median which directed it to the right and the left lane did the same to the left. As I pulled up to the stop sign to make my left turn I saw there were about six or seven police officers with people pulled over. I made sure I came to a complete stop, looked both ways and began my turn when it was clear. Before I had even rolled 10 feet they were waiving me over to the side. I pulled over and started practicing my acting lessons that I never took. They were telling me that I did not use my turn signal which they were correct but I could not let them know that. I had the Stupid American act in full affect. They were pointing at my turn signal and asking for my license which I gave them. Once again they did not like the international driver’s license. After a few minutes of them pointing, waiving my license and telling me I am going to get a ticket they finally just got frustrated because I apparently could not comprehend what they were saying and gave me my license back and sent me on my way. I think the best part of it all was in the end one of them asked me where I was going. I told him to Costa Rica, which he then gave me directions for in Spanish. I thanked him and continued along my merry way.
Stupid American 1
Cops 0
As I mentioned before the rest of the trip to the border was uneventful. I arrived at the border to Costa Rica at 3:13 and figured I would have plenty of time to get through and find a hotel before dark. As I pull up to the border I see that it is by far the busiest border I have seen yet. I end up hiring a helper to get me through. It cost me $10 to employ him and to bribe the workers to get me to the front of the lines which easily saved me an hour or so exiting Nicaragua. Past that hurdle I figure I am in the clear but as it turns out there are just as long of lines entering Costa Rica. I acquire another helper and pay him and the officials $20 to put me on the fast track through. After a bunch of back and forth I am waiting in my last line with my helper long gone and the sun going down pretty fast. I have about five people in front of me and the person processing the papers calls the next person in line. That guy tells him to take me first because I am on a motorcycle and he also notices the sun going down. It took another five minutes and I was on my way. Now it is almost dark and I need to find shelter for the night ASAP. I turn up the speed a little bit and make my way to the first town about 10 miles inside Costa Rica, La Cruz. I locate a hostel type hotel right on the beach and inquire about a room for the night. He tells me that they are booked up. I ask him out of curiosity how much the room is and he replies $10. It turns out that I missed the deal of the century because it is all of about a 30 second walk to the Pacific. As I throw a leg over the bike to continue the search he comes out and tells me he has one room left. Once again luck is on my side for no apparent reason. I check in, do a few days updates, find something to eat and turn in for the evening.
Sorry for the long wait but believe it or not my first priority has not been to sit at a computer for two or three hours and get my updates done. There is actually more interesting things to do here.
This is actually take two on this update. I do not want to say where I was because I want to keep everyone in suspense. I spent 45 minutes doing the update at an Internet cafe´ and then the computer shut off. As it turns out at this particular cafe´ the computers are set up for a period of time and then it logs off. 45 minutes of work was lost and I walked out after yelling at the worker and not paying.
It was another early day for me. It started out by getting up at 6:30 a.m. and leaving the house at 7:00 a.m. with Felix and Gerardo. It was a half hour trip to a tour of their family coffee farm. Felix says that their farm is approximately 3,000 acres but it appears to be much larger than that. They employ about 150 people year round and during the height of the harvest season there can be as many as 900 people working there. It starts at about 3,500 ft where the rain forest starts and continues up to about 4,500 ft. The beginning of the tour was where they process the coffee beans after they are harvested and then a tour of a house that the family uses for special occasions and parties. After that it was on to a tour of the property. The scenery was simply amazing. It is all on mountain sides with very little flat land and all I kept telling them is I could make a great off-road motorcycle track. It is really pretty sad when all I can think about is using their land for motorcycle riding instead of growing coffee and employing a small city. After driving around for about an hour or so it was time for breakfast. Before leaving the house Felix grabbed some eggs and when we arrived at the farm Gerardo dropped them off at the kitchen that cooks three meals a day for the workers that live and work on the property. There are about ten men and women that work in the kitchen that took some time out of their schedule to 
cook our breakfast of rice, beans, cheese, eggs and homemade tortillas made on the huge comal that is heated by wood grown on the property. I even had my first cup of coffee in I don't know how many years. They said it was great coffee and I am sure they were right but I have no perspective to speak from so I will just say it was good and I enjoyed it thoroughly. After everything was said and done, I could see myself spending some nice quality quiet time there but it was time to move on. We headed back to the house, packed up the bike and I hit the road at 11:30.
I took a different route out of the mountains than I took in and the views were beautiful but the moment was tainted by the potholed road and a lot of traffic. It was about a 45 minute ride to the town of Matagalpa on tight twisty roads and then it opened up a little bit until I hit the valley floor in Sebaco where the temperature was hovering around 92 degrees. I started out at 65 degrees in Jinotega 1:15 minutes earlier. The road from Sebaco to The border of Costa Rica was hot, fast and straight with not much top mention of interest.I did happen to have an encounter with the local police department that is worth mentioning. As I approached the town of Masaya the road came to a "T". The right lane was forced to turn right by ways of a median which directed it to the right and the left lane did the same to the left. As I pulled up to the stop sign to make my left turn I saw there were about six or seven police officers with people pulled over. I made sure I came to a complete stop, looked both ways and began my turn when it was clear. Before I had even rolled 10 feet they were waiving me over to the side. I pulled over and started practicing my acting lessons that I never took. They were telling me that I did not use my turn signal which they were correct but I could not let them know that. I had the Stupid American act in full affect. They were pointing at my turn signal and asking for my license which I gave them. Once again they did not like the international driver’s license. After a few minutes of them pointing, waiving my license and telling me I am going to get a ticket they finally just got frustrated because I apparently could not comprehend what they were saying and gave me my license back and sent me on my way. I think the best part of it all was in the end one of them asked me where I was going. I told him to Costa Rica, which he then gave me directions for in Spanish. I thanked him and continued along my merry way.
Stupid American 1
Cops 0
As I mentioned before the rest of the trip to the border was uneventful. I arrived at the border to Costa Rica at 3:13 and figured I would have plenty of time to get through and find a hotel before dark. As I pull up to the border I see that it is by far the busiest border I have seen yet. I end up hiring a helper to get me through. It cost me $10 to employ him and to bribe the workers to get me to the front of the lines which easily saved me an hour or so exiting Nicaragua. Past that hurdle I figure I am in the clear but as it turns out there are just as long of lines entering Costa Rica. I acquire another helper and pay him and the officials $20 to put me on the fast track through. After a bunch of back and forth I am waiting in my last line with my helper long gone and the sun going down pretty fast. I have about five people in front of me and the person processing the papers calls the next person in line. That guy tells him to take me first because I am on a motorcycle and he also notices the sun going down. It took another five minutes and I was on my way. Now it is almost dark and I need to find shelter for the night ASAP. I turn up the speed a little bit and make my way to the first town about 10 miles inside Costa Rica, La Cruz. I locate a hostel type hotel right on the beach and inquire about a room for the night. He tells me that they are booked up. I ask him out of curiosity how much the room is and he replies $10. It turns out that I missed the deal of the century because it is all of about a 30 second walk to the Pacific. As I throw a leg over the bike to continue the search he comes out and tells me he has one room left. Once again luck is on my side for no apparent reason. I check in, do a few days updates, find something to eat and turn in for the evening.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Update Day 10, 239 Miles
January 20, 2008
I am starting to get a little worried now. I do not want to be starting any bad habits here but it is another early day for me, 7:15. It is a quick 30 minute ride to the border of Honduras. And as it turns out that is about the only quick thing for today. I knew it was going to be a difficult crossing so I hired the services of a helper named Renee for $5. The problems started when he asked me for my title to the bike, which I do not have. To make a long story somewhat short, it takes about 2 hours and a $30 payoff to the boss to let me in without a title. On top of the $40 it normally costs to get the bike in; all this for 2 hours of riding through their country. The first half was hot and boring riding as the temperature is now hovering around 94 and at sea level. Then it climbs into the mountains for some more, you guessed it, great roads. I know it is getting old hearing about the roads but it has been that good. Anyway I will spare everyone the details and just say I had fun.
My next big thing to do is get into Nicaragua which turns out to be a breeze. I don't know why I had a feeling things were going to be down right difficult in Nicaragua but to my surprise they were not. Another thing that surprised the hell out of me and probably will you is that the women down here are just beautiful.
Once into Nicaragua I head to a family friends house of Sylvia in Jinotega. Most of the way to their house was good but hot. Then you start climbing into the mountains again. I turn onto the last road to the town and half way in it turns to dirt which I was not expecting. I stop, turn the ABS and Traction Control off and prepare for some fun in the dirt. It was about 15 miles of rocks and dodging dump trucks but fun. I arrived at the house at 3:45 and was greeted by Felix and his mom. She has a beautiful home with a great garden patio in the center of the house. I have dinner with Felix and his brother Gerardo then we go to his Aunt’s house next door and meet more of his family and have a few cocktails.
I am sorry to be redundant here but it was another good day.
I am starting to get a little worried now. I do not want to be starting any bad habits here but it is another early day for me, 7:15. It is a quick 30 minute ride to the border of Honduras. And as it turns out that is about the only quick thing for today. I knew it was going to be a difficult crossing so I hired the services of a helper named Renee for $5. The problems started when he asked me for my title to the bike, which I do not have. To make a long story somewhat short, it takes about 2 hours and a $30 payoff to the boss to let me in without a title. On top of the $40 it normally costs to get the bike in; all this for 2 hours of riding through their country. The first half was hot and boring riding as the temperature is now hovering around 94 and at sea level. Then it climbs into the mountains for some more, you guessed it, great roads. I know it is getting old hearing about the roads but it has been that good. Anyway I will spare everyone the details and just say I had fun.
My next big thing to do is get into Nicaragua which turns out to be a breeze. I don't know why I had a feeling things were going to be down right difficult in Nicaragua but to my surprise they were not. Another thing that surprised the hell out of me and probably will you is that the women down here are just beautiful.
Once into Nicaragua I head to a family friends house of Sylvia in Jinotega. Most of the way to their house was good but hot. Then you start climbing into the mountains again. I turn onto the last road to the town and half way in it turns to dirt which I was not expecting. I stop, turn the ABS and Traction Control off and prepare for some fun in the dirt. It was about 15 miles of rocks and dodging dump trucks but fun. I arrived at the house at 3:45 and was greeted by Felix and his mom. She has a beautiful home with a great garden patio in the center of the house. I have dinner with Felix and his brother Gerardo then we go to his Aunt’s house next door and meet more of his family and have a few cocktails.I am sorry to be redundant here but it was another good day.
Update Day 9, 273 Miles
January 19, 2008
Surprisingly enough I started the day right where I ended the last, Antigua Guatemala. It was another early 7:15 start for me. I started by using a few tricks I learned from Caesar. Whenever he would not know which direction to go he would pull up next to someone and shout out the city name he was trying to get to. They would point and we would go for a few blocks and repeat until we knew where we were going. So this morning I was trying to get out of Antigua which is a old Colonial town with confusing one way streets. I asked about ten people for directions and was soon on my way. So there I am out on the open road feeling good on how I did when 5 mile down the road I hit my first road block, literally. The road was washed out and closed so I had to backtrack about a mile and take another route that was not marked as a detour. I asked and was pointed in a direction which seemed about right so off I went. I found myself on a long smelly dirt road but it was going in what appeared as the right direction. A few miles later I find out I need to go back. Then it happened. My new baby hit the dirt. It was not bad just a tip over when I lost my footing turning around. The only problem was I could not pick the bike up, it is just too heavy. As luck would have it here comes someone who helps me get it back on two wheels and then agrees to let me follow him to get me going in the right direction again. All is well again, until he gets me to the correct detour. They have all of the traffic detoured to a dirt road just wide enough for two semi trucks side by side and a piece of paper in between them. I cut as far to the front as possible and then it takes about 1/2 hour to go the next 200 yards or meters as they are called here. Once clear of that it is on to the border of El Salvador. It was just your average ride with nothing to mention except the view of a few volcanoes.
Having done this border thing once or twice before I know I should refuel myself before the attempt is made. I grab some eggs, rice and tortillas at a little shack and have a nice talk with the father of the lady cooking my meal. No, it was not that talk. You know the one, "What are your intentions with my daughter". He is just an old man who sat down at my table and started talking. Feeling good now I head for the border. It took me about 20 minutes to exit Guatemala and the next 1:25 to enter El Salvador. It was not that difficult just time consuming walking back and forth across the street from window to window. Off again.
So far I can not complain about the riding down here at all. It has been fantastic! So who would have thought that El Salvador would not disappoint. The first 30 miles were flat and straight with potholes. Then the road hits the Pacific coast with fresh pavement and long sweeping turns. The kind that motorcycle dreams are made of! The next 50 miles was the best yet. 60 & 70 mph sweeping turns one after the other all with an ocean view. I stop about half way through and eat some great shrimp on a cliff overlooking the ocean all for the low, low price of 
$6. Full again I hit the curves some more and then for the last 50 miles of the day it was straight and crowded. I made it to a hotel in San Miguel, El Salvador at 4:45. The town was large and did not look very tourist friendly so I locked myself in my room for the night and watched some HBO with subtitles to brush up on my Spanish.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Text Message Update 2008-01-20
I am at Felix's mom's house in Jinotega, Nicaragua with Felix. Another good day.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Text Message Update 2008-01-19
I am in San Miguel, El Salvador. I will cross Honduras and into Nicaragua tomorrow. Another good day. I don't think I will have internet today.
Map of Central America
Posted by David
For those of you, like me, that are not 100% current on the layout of Central America I'm posting a map of the region. I found this on geology.com and thought it appropriate as it shows some of the roads leading South.
For those of you, like me, that are not 100% current on the layout of Central America I'm posting a map of the region. I found this on geology.com and thought it appropriate as it shows some of the roads leading South. Friday, January 18, 2008
Update Day 8
January 18, 2008
I had a feeling today was going to be different, and it was. I know a lot of you will not believe this but I got up early. It was 6:30 in the AM. I got up and packed the bike without waking Mike. I thought about just leaving but that would not have been right. As it turns out he woke up as I was putting on my jacket. We said goodbye and I was on my way, it was just that simple. I topped off the bike with fuel and headed for the border at 7:30. It was a cool 42 degree start and quickly dropped to 38 due to the altitude. After an hour or so it was in the high 60´s and all was good. The road was fast sweeping turns through more pines like Angeles Crest which makes some for great riding. I made good time to the border and got there at 10:00 straight up. Now after doing my research I was told that I do not need to stop at the Mexican side of the border. Technically you are supposed to deregister the bike out of the country and when you return reregister it. As others have found out you just don’t stop when leaving and returning and all is well. So I pass up the Mexican side and head for the Guatemalan side which is about 2 miles ahead. It is an absolute zoo up there. It is a small border crossing and is only one lane wide for coming and going. Now this is normally not a problem but there are vendors set up on both sides and walking in the middle. So I push my way through to the gate which looks like the borders you would see in the movies with East Germany and they raise the bar. The first stop is fumigation. Basically they spray something on your tires to kill whatever you picked up in Mexico. Then it is off to Immigration. I walk in and the old gentleman asks for my passport. I hand it to him he fumbles through it and hands it back to me and said I did not get an exit stamp from Mexico. Apparently the people who gave me the info on the bike forgot to mention that part.
So back through the masses of people I go back to Mexico. As I pull up to the Immigration building I see another rider on a KLR650 and we meet, his name is Sonny. Turns out he is from LA and headed to Argentina. We briefly talk and decide to ride together. Before we finish here another bike identical to mine pulls up with two people on it. We introduce ourselves to Caesar and Patty who are from Mexico City and going to Costa Rica. Again after more conversation we are all going to ride together. Up to the border we go and are through it in about 30 minutes. All in all I spent 1:45 there but it turned out to be well worth it.
So now the ride continues with a group of three bikes with Caesar in the lead (on the same bike as me and his wife on the back), Sonny in the middle and me in the rear. All of a sudden I find out that my dealer that sold me my bike totally screwed me. Apparently Caesar’s bike has a turbo that my dealer did not tell me about because he is gone. Actually we are keeping pace with him but it is at full speed. Going through towns where the stores are all of about two feet from the road with kids and dogs we are still doing 60 mph. As you come in to each town there are speed bumps (Topes in Spanish) or as Caesar calls them, jumps. We actually had a great ride but I did not take any pictures, in fact we never stopped. We were in fast sweeping turns and tight twisties all day but the tight twisties were still fast. He did show us one trick. At the construction sites when it is one lane they will stop one way and let the other go. The motorcycles get to go right by the long line of waiting cars without stopping which really clears the way.
We did stop for a late lunch on Lake Atitlan where it is surrounded by three volcanoes but the clouds were low and I did not get to see them. As we were at lunch a guy came up to us named Henry and he told us his story. He lives in England, flew to San Francisco, bought a bike just like mine and is headed to Costa Rica then will ship his bike home. The only difference is he is taking 6 months. Anyway, after lunch Sonny decided to stay by the lake so Caesar, Patty and I headed to Antigua. It was a fast tight twisty 1:30 ride and we arrived at dark. Once in town we parted ways because they will be here for another day and I need to be moving on.
I searched around for a hotel and finally found one that was in my budget and had hot water. I check in and decided to take a shower when I discover how the hot water is made. How I am still here typing this I will never know.
Tomorrow it is on to El Salvador!
I had a feeling today was going to be different, and it was. I know a lot of you will not believe this but I got up early. It was 6:30 in the AM. I got up and packed the bike without waking Mike. I thought about just leaving but that would not have been right. As it turns out he woke up as I was putting on my jacket. We said goodbye and I was on my way, it was just that simple. I topped off the bike with fuel and headed for the border at 7:30. It was a cool 42 degree start and quickly dropped to 38 due to the altitude. After an hour or so it was in the high 60´s and all was good. The road was fast sweeping turns through more pines like Angeles Crest which makes some for great riding. I made good time to the border and got there at 10:00 straight up. Now after doing my research I was told that I do not need to stop at the Mexican side of the border. Technically you are supposed to deregister the bike out of the country and when you return reregister it. As others have found out you just don’t stop when leaving and returning and all is well. So I pass up the Mexican side and head for the Guatemalan side which is about 2 miles ahead. It is an absolute zoo up there. It is a small border crossing and is only one lane wide for coming and going. Now this is normally not a problem but there are vendors set up on both sides and walking in the middle. So I push my way through to the gate which looks like the borders you would see in the movies with East Germany and they raise the bar. The first stop is fumigation. Basically they spray something on your tires to kill whatever you picked up in Mexico. Then it is off to Immigration. I walk in and the old gentleman asks for my passport. I hand it to him he fumbles through it and hands it back to me and said I did not get an exit stamp from Mexico. Apparently the people who gave me the info on the bike forgot to mention that part.
So back through the masses of people I go back to Mexico. As I pull up to the Immigration building I see another rider on a KLR650 and we meet, his name is Sonny. Turns out he is from LA and headed to Argentina. We briefly talk and decide to ride together. Before we finish here another bike identical to mine pulls up with two people on it. We introduce ourselves to Caesar and Patty who are from Mexico City and going to Costa Rica. Again after more conversation we are all going to ride together. Up to the border we go and are through it in about 30 minutes. All in all I spent 1:45 there but it turned out to be well worth it.
So now the ride continues with a group of three bikes with Caesar in the lead (on the same bike as me and his wife on the back), Sonny in the middle and me in the rear. All of a sudden I find out that my dealer that sold me my bike totally screwed me. Apparently Caesar’s bike has a turbo that my dealer did not tell me about because he is gone. Actually we are keeping pace with him but it is at full speed. Going through towns where the stores are all of about two feet from the road with kids and dogs we are still doing 60 mph. As you come in to each town there are speed bumps (Topes in Spanish) or as Caesar calls them, jumps. We actually had a great ride but I did not take any pictures, in fact we never stopped. We were in fast sweeping turns and tight twisties all day but the tight twisties were still fast. He did show us one trick. At the construction sites when it is one lane they will stop one way and let the other go. The motorcycles get to go right by the long line of waiting cars without stopping which really clears the way.We did stop for a late lunch on Lake Atitlan where it is surrounded by three volcanoes but the clouds were low and I did not get to see them. As we were at lunch a guy came up to us named Henry and he told us his story. He lives in England, flew to San Francisco, bought a bike just like mine and is headed to Costa Rica then will ship his bike home. The only difference is he is taking 6 months. Anyway, after lunch Sonny decided to stay by the lake so Caesar, Patty and I headed to Antigua. It was a fast tight twisty 1:30 ride and we arrived at dark. Once in town we parted ways because they will be here for another day and I need to be moving on.
I searched around for a hotel and finally found one that was in my budget and had hot water. I check in and decided to take a shower when I discover how the hot water is made. How I am still here typing this I will never know.Tomorrow it is on to El Salvador!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Update Day 7, 130 Miles
January 17, 2008
The morning started off with a bit of a twist. The past few days have been hard days on the road for us and were taking their toll. Mike has decided that he would rather do shorter riding days and not continue South with me. We talked it over for a bit and I understand his position. Unfortunate for me, I still have a goal in mind and am going to do what it takes to achieve it. Many people do this trip alone and I see no reason why I can't either. Fortunately for me I do not get to hear what everyone else is thinking and have them talk me out of it. As for Mike I wish him a safe journey and I hope he has a great time, no hard feelings.
After our talk we headed out at 7:30. Our Destination was San Cristobal de las casas. The morning was clear and cool so it looked to be a great day, and it was. The road takes you over two mountain ranges and leaves you in San Cristobal at 5,000ft. The first range took us up through 3,500 ft and was spectacular. You ride through a tropical jungle type forest. The roads were nice and twisty and not very crowded. As it turns out this ride takes us through the territory that is occupied by The Zapatistas also known as EZLN. They are not really a rebel group but a group of indigenous Indians that are fighting for something that I am not totally sure on so I won't say. I guess back in 94 the government killed about 70 of them and that kind of pissed them off 
for some reason. Then in 2001 I believe, they took two tourists captive but later released them unharmed. We came across a town that had their signs as you entered but there were people there who do not like their pictures taken so we passed it up. Then we came across another town called Ocosingo in the valley between the two ranges that had murals on the school and other buildings and I got some pictures of those. At one point I waved at some kids as I usually do and a small boy who was maybe 4 years old replied by putting his hand up like a gun and shot at me. I lucked out, he was a bad aim!
The second mountain range took us up to 8,024ft. It was much like riding through the pines of Angeles National Forest. I did not find this one as interesting but it was fun and there were many people to see.
We ended up in San Cristobal at 2:00 and found a nice hotel called Hotel Santa Clara. It is once again clean and has hot water. I think Mike and I are going to walk around a bit, have some dinner, go to bed and then say our goodbye's in the morning.
The morning started off with a bit of a twist. The past few days have been hard days on the road for us and were taking their toll. Mike has decided that he would rather do shorter riding days and not continue South with me. We talked it over for a bit and I understand his position. Unfortunate for me, I still have a goal in mind and am going to do what it takes to achieve it. Many people do this trip alone and I see no reason why I can't either. Fortunately for me I do not get to hear what everyone else is thinking and have them talk me out of it. As for Mike I wish him a safe journey and I hope he has a great time, no hard feelings.
After our talk we headed out at 7:30. Our Destination was San Cristobal de las casas. The morning was clear and cool so it looked to be a great day, and it was. The road takes you over two mountain ranges and leaves you in San Cristobal at 5,000ft. The first range took us up through 3,500 ft and was spectacular. You ride through a tropical jungle type forest. The roads were nice and twisty and not very crowded. As it turns out this ride takes us through the territory that is occupied by The Zapatistas also known as EZLN. They are not really a rebel group but a group of indigenous Indians that are fighting for something that I am not totally sure on so I won't say. I guess back in 94 the government killed about 70 of them and that kind of pissed them off 
for some reason. Then in 2001 I believe, they took two tourists captive but later released them unharmed. We came across a town that had their signs as you entered but there were people there who do not like their pictures taken so we passed it up. Then we came across another town called Ocosingo in the valley between the two ranges that had murals on the school and other buildings and I got some pictures of those. At one point I waved at some kids as I usually do and a small boy who was maybe 4 years old replied by putting his hand up like a gun and shot at me. I lucked out, he was a bad aim!
The second mountain range took us up to 8,024ft. It was much like riding through the pines of Angeles National Forest. I did not find this one as interesting but it was fun and there were many people to see.
We ended up in San Cristobal at 2:00 and found a nice hotel called Hotel Santa Clara. It is once again clean and has hot water. I think Mike and I are going to walk around a bit, have some dinner, go to bed and then say our goodbye's in the morning.
Update Day 6, Part 2
January 16, 2008
After finishing my updates Mike and I walked around a little bit and then decided to have dinner. While we were ordering we met a couple that we had met earlier in the day. When we arrived at the ruins we saw another motorcycle in the lot. As we were getting ready to leave the man and woman returned and we struck up a conversation. Turns out that Ian and Carolyn are from New South Whales Australia and have been traveling since early August. They started by shipping their bike to Seattle and rode up to Alaska taking almost the same route I did last year. Since then they have been slowly working their way South and will end the trip a little bit early in Panama next month. They did have plans for Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of Argentina but have run out of time. The worst part is they had been in the rain almost the entire time. Anyway we had a nice dinner with them, exchanged info and went our separate ways.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Update Day 6, 188 Miles
January 16, 2008
Today we decided to make it an easy day of riding. We were out of the hotel by 8 am and Mike dumped his bike over promptly at 8:00:01. As he was pulling out of the parking area onto the street he lost his footing because the streets are oily and it was foggy so there was dew everywhere. Nothing bad happened to him or his bike so we picked it up and we were on our way. It was a fast 188 miles to the town of Palenque. When I say fast you have to realize this is by Mexico standards. As you can see by previous days it can take a while to go a little ways but they have all been full days of riding.
We made it to Palenque at 12 noon and were done riding for the day for the most part. We found a great place for lunch and then decided to do the tourist thing and go see the local Mayan Ruins. We spent about 2 hours there and could have easily spent a few more but it was hot. It was very interesting to see and I am sure that we will be seeing a few more in the near future. When we were done touring we rode back into town and found a very nice hotel that is very clean and friendly with motorcycle friendly parking to boot.
I think that is enough for a few days. I have been here at the computer for almost 3 hours and Mike just told me I am missing the world pass me by.
Bye for now.
Update Day 5, 331 Miles
January 15, 2008
I woke from a deep sleep to find a beautiful day outside with a cool breeze and the sun shining. We were out and on our way at 8:45. We rode for a while along the coast and then the road headed inland for a bit. While in the mountains we stopped at a little restaurant, we will call it a restaurant but it is once again no where near the fine dining of San Fernando Blvd. There were 
two very nice ladies who promptly jumped to attention and started cooking. I had ham and eggs scrambled and Mike had the Breakfast Americano. Go figure, his had Jalapenos.
As the road headed back to the ocean it was warming up a bit but the ocean breeze helped. Once we got near Alvarado we ran into our first military check point. We had seen them before but they only were stopping the northbound traffic. They pull us to the side and ask us to open our luggage. They look through it without a care and at this point it all becomes clear. They start asking questions about the bikes. How big? How fast? How much? I know realize that I should not tell anyone how much the bikes cost. I told the truth and their eyes all got big and they were telling the ones who did not hear. After everyone had settled down just a little bit they were very helpful in telling us how far and how long it will take us to get to our destination for the day and they sent us on out way. The one thing they neglected to tell us was how beautiful it was going to be. The next two hours or so were spent winding through the mountains at the narrow part of Mexico between the Pacific and the Gulf. The road took us into the tropical jungles and many neat villages. 
We would stop at the fruit stands and do our part in contributing to the local economy. We would eat whatever they were selling and it would cost us about $0.30 but we were generous and would leave them $0.50.
Our goal for the day was to make it to Villahermosa but when we entered the town we found it to be way to big and modern for us. We made the decision to go to the next town. All day we had been passing town after town about every 5 miles or so. This time we move on to the next town to find out there is no next town close by. Our Problem is we are running out of daylight and you never ride after dark here, or so we are told. We find out that the next town is about 25 miles up the road but now we have no choice. We arrive there fine at 6:15 about 30 minutes after dark and check into the only hotel in town. Down here they have hotels that are called Auto Hotels. They have a small garage that you can park your car in and pull a drape closed behind it so no one can see your car at the hotel. As we later find out this is a hotel where one might take his mistress for the evening and no one will see you there. All that I can say is if I took Sylvia there I can count on getting nothing for a long while. It was pretty bad but it would have to do for the night.
Update Day 4, 221 Miles
January 14, 2008
Before we left our hotel in the morning I asked the manager for directions on how to get to Veracruz. He reminded me of our old neighbor Ralph Adame only shorter but equally as animated. As he proceeded to shout directions and throw his arms in all directions I had no choice but to shake my head as if I knew exactly what he was saying. So with his total confidence that we would get there he sent us on our way. As it turns out I understood next to nothing which I believe all of you reading this already knew. As it turns out my GPS is not so accurate down here. We ended up in the old center of town and could not get out. The GPS showed bridges over the water where there were no bridges. After some time I started asking for directions. I found a guy on a small motorcycle and asked him he lead us for a mile or so and send us on our way. Then to make sure of his directions I ask a police officer and he confirmed what we were told after all was said and done we burned up 1:40 of precious day light which should have taken 5 min. Who cares we were having fun and seeing more of the city than we hoped for.
The rest of the day was pleasant taking us through more coastal plains and some mountains. We did stop for a modified lunch of tangerines at one point but that was it for lunch.As the day was getting close to an end it started to rain. We pulled over put on our rain gear and pressed on. After about 30 minutes common sense got the best of us and we found a hotel right on the beach. Once checked in we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and then it was bed time.
Update Day 3, 342 Miles
January 13, 2008
Mike and I left the motel at 9 am and headed for the gas station to fill up. After that it was a 6 mile trip to the border. After a brief stop on the American side to make a last call to Sylvia we crossed the border to start our journey. The crossing went very easy. Immigration just waives you on through but then we needed to get our bikes a 6 month import permit and one for ourselves. That whole process took about 1 hour and $150 including insurance for 60 days.Once all that was completed we were on our way. We decided I would lead the way and I had no problems with that. So with me at the front and Mike closely in tow we were lost within the first 200 yards. In my defense there was no signage on which way to go and I turned into a dead end residential area. It took us about 30 minutes to find our way out of the Reynosa and on to Highway 97. Our destination was as far South as we could go for the day. We made it about 20 miles and we hit the first checkpoint. It was there to make sure we had all of our paperwork in order, which we did. I was told by people on AdvRider.com that I should get an International Drivers License. I handed them the license and they looked at me like I was crazy. He said in english that he had never seen one before and then pointed out that the license states that it is not valid in The United States, so why should he accept it. It was hard to argue that point so I handed him my real one and we were soon on our way again.
We stopped about 2 hours down the road and ate tacos at a little roadside stand. It makes the taco joints on San Fernado Blvd. look like The Ritz Carlton but they were good tacos anyway. After lunch we drove down to Tampico on the gulf coast. Our trip took us through mostly coastal plains and was pretty much all cattle ranches the whole way. At 5:45 we ended up finding a very nice hotel in Tampico and it appeared like we were the first people to stay in that room. They were still building the hotel around the few rooms that were open. After checking in we hopped into a taxi and asked him to take us to a nice local restaraunt. Now Tampico is a big city and as he drove us around the first place he pointed out was TGI Fridays. We respectfully declined and settled on the Mexican equivelent of that. I forget the name but it was good. It was a good first day in Mexico with many to follow.
Update Day 2, 600 Miles
Day 2 went very well and was uneventful. I left the hotel at 9 am and made it to McAllen, TX at 8:30 pm. I rode most of the day along the Mexico border and saw many Border Patrol 
agents keeping those Damn Mexicans, which are soon to be my friends, on their side of the border. I did stop and get a picture of the Pecos River just before it empties into The Rio Grande. It was actually pretty nice for Texas.
I met up with Mike Tyree my riding partner in McAllen at the Motel 6. He had been there a few hours and was running around to WalMart trying to replace items that were stolen off of his bike the night before in Wharton, TX south east of Houston. Once he was done with that we went for our final American meal at The Olive Garden (It was next to our hotel). We talked about our expectations of the trip and of each other. I seems like things should work out.
agents keeping those Damn Mexicans, which are soon to be my friends, on their side of the border. I did stop and get a picture of the Pecos River just before it empties into The Rio Grande. It was actually pretty nice for Texas.
I met up with Mike Tyree my riding partner in McAllen at the Motel 6. He had been there a few hours and was running around to WalMart trying to replace items that were stolen off of his bike the night before in Wharton, TX south east of Houston. Once he was done with that we went for our final American meal at The Olive Garden (It was next to our hotel). We talked about our expectations of the trip and of each other. I seems like things should work out.
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