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.