Update Day 23, 312 Miles

February 2, 2008

It was a nice morning in Esteli and the temperature was hovering at a cool 68 degrees, perfect conditions for leaving Nicaragua. I was up a little before 7 so I could take advantage of the breakfast included with the room. I had what they call The Americano which is scrambled eggs with ham and toast. It is not great but it is more than enough to get me started for the day. I was on the road by 8 and heading for the border of Honduras. The whole way there I have been going over in my head all the things that can and probably will go wrong.

I arrive on the Nicaraguan side at 9 and I am through with that by 9:15. On to entering Honduras. This border on my way down was the quietest one that I dealt with and this time it was the same, I was the only person there. I walk up to the building and it is locked. I find out that they stepped out to get a bite to eat. I hang around for 5 minutes and he returns. I start of by saying “hello” and asking how he is doing this morning and he seems to be in a good mood. I handed him a copy of the old Honduras permit hoping he will just stamp that one and send me on my way. No such luck! He tells me I need to get a new one and he starts the paperwork. He asks for my Passport and then for the bike documentation. I hand him the cleanest color copy of my registration that I have and continue to talk to him to possibly distract him that it is not the title. 20 minutes later he takes my $30, shakes my hand and gives me the permit. I’d like to think it was my rugged good looks and my charismatic attitude that helped him along but I think he just did not want to be difficult or he did not know any better.

It’s now 10am and I am heading down the hill to Choluteca. As I descend the temperature is climbing fast. By the time I hit the valley floor it is 95 and windy. At that point I headed towards Tegucigalpa the capitol of Honduras. Lucky for me they put it up in the hills where it is much cooler. It is winding roads all the way and they like to pass much more aggressively here. I can not count how many times I came around a left hand turn only to find a semi truck in my lane and heading right at me. There were a couple close calls but I am sure they just felt a lot closer than they were.

I got a little bit lost when entering the city but stopping for directions has continued to work well for me. I even had a guy have me follow him for a few miles so he could make sure I found the right way. Most of the day was heavy traffic and passing many slow vehicles but the last 50 km was great with hardly anyone else on the road and great mountain scenery. I finally pulled into a town by the name of Santa Barbara. I found an OK hotel for the night but all I need is a bed so it will do. I did not take any pictures today but it was pretty the whole day. The first half was all mountain pine trees and then it turned a little bit more to tropical greenery. Tomorrow I think I am going to stop by the town of Copan and see some more ruins. From what I understand they are supposed to be the best around but I am sure I will say, you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. After Copan I hope to cross the border into Guatemala.

Update Day 22, 168 Miles

February 1, 2008

Well it is official my vacation from my vacation is over. The hotel security was very nice and looked after my bike the whole time. They put cones around it and every time we would see it there was a guard either next to it or on it using it to hold the newspaper. Sylvia and I left the resort this morning at 9:15 and returned to her aunts house in Managua. Having the GPS on the bike has been worth its weight in gold. Before we left her house I marked it in the GPS so I could find it again. The map on the GPS does not show the streets so I was guessing at those but somehow we made it to her house without making even one wrong turn. After repacking the bike, eating a little lunch and saying my goodbyes I headed out for my return trip at 1pm.

From Managua I headed towards the city of Leon and it was hot, 95 degrees to be exact. On the way there I passed through a town that looks like its entire economy is based on making bricks and tiles. From Leon I headed east to go to the city of Esteli which is where I am now for the night. The road from Leon was horrible, some dirt but mostly just potholes for 90 kilometers until I reach the Pan American Highway. I did pass through another town where there was the aftermath of a motorcycle vs car accident. Everyone was crowding the street and people were shoveling dirt on the motorcycle because it was on fire. I tried to get a photo but it was too tough. Anyway I found a nice little hotel in Esteli by the name of Hotel Los Arcos, $35 for the night with free Internet and breakfast in the morning.

In the morning I plan on crossing back into Honduras but I am expecting some difficulties. You are supposed to have the title for your vehicle when entering most countries and I have been getting by but I had difficulties entering Honduras when coming down. Wish me luck!