Thursday, June 19, 2008
We are in El Salvador, Baby
Richard changing money as we leave the Honduras border
Day 71 Thursday June 19
Left
Temp: 30 degrees C
Sunny, light cloud
Late start as I had another bout of Moctezuma’s Revenge all night and wasn’t able to leave until about ten. We made good time to the border crossing at El Amatillo but got held up for about three hours in a very hot humid wait. The computers on the El Salvador side where we had to get our vehicle importation license went off-line so we had an extra hour and a half or so sitting around in a puddle of our own sweat on the wooden bench outside their air conditioned office. And all the while I in agony and wondering where I’m going to find facilities because my problem hasn’t yet resolved!!!
I finally have to go in search of “banos” and what I find is enough to scare even the hardiest “third world traveller”….no water, no paper, no door, and hard to find the plumbing under the filth….Hard to clean enough to safely approach when you’re about to explode and all doubled over in severe cramps!
Thank god I thought to bring lots of paper “just in case”, cause there definitely was no turning back!
And, some local kid who presumably has some connection to this government public facility had the nerve to stop me as I was leaving and demand $1US for using “the conveniences”. I thought he was joking but he wasn’t… I got a good laugh out of it anyway and he got “diddly squat”!
Once cleared for entry we were off to
We decided to continue on and maybe find something reasonable further on but the towns got smaller and rougher and no sign of anything resembling “hotel” …we were beginning to panic as it was now getting dark and we were a long ways from any large town or city.
Taking the cattle to graze - view of volcano in El Salvador
After many desperate inquiries along the way we pulled into Sonsonate hoping to find something because a traveller at the last gas station assured me there were hotels there.
Several more inquiries in Sonsonate centro later we were headed to the Plaza Hotel. It was well on the way to “too late!” so we’re really happy to find this place! Oops…sorry, all full, no vacancy…is there another hotel nearby? “Yes, I’ll call them.., one moment, dials…. Oh. Sorry they are full too!” Panic…
“is there anything else near?”
“No, there is one place about a half hour’s drive away…in a small place called…let me see … what is it called…”
Susie by now is begging to be allowed to sleep in that big chair right there in the lobby!
We were three very dejected looking people as we headed back out to their wonderful secure gated parking to go off into the night in search of an inn! I could use a biblical reference here…
I had just started my bike and was backing it out of the parking space when someone from the hotel hollered something at Sue. Wait a minute… turns out there is a room that has just been vacated, not cleaned yet, but empty! Three single beds! Yahooo!!! Last place for miles! Happy! Happy! Joy!Joy!
Susie is refusing to sleep in her own bed! No rest tonight!
Kilometres - Daytrip: 309km total: 15,925
Gas: $ 22.75
Lodging: Plaza Hotel $ 45
We're Back in Honduras, Baby
Day 70 Wednesday June 18
Left
Temp: 30 degrees C
Sunny, light cloud
Met the owner after a great breakfast and complimented him on the high quality of the lodging, food and service. For the price it was far and away the best we’ve had yet. It turns out the owner was an insurance broker on wall street for about thirty years until he was bought out by Prudential, at which point he returned home and converted his deceased mother’s home into the Hotel Casa Del Sol. (His mother was born in that house!) He lives in a lovely home right next door, and was headed out golfing! No regrets about retiring either!
The maps being woefully inadequate, we had to pull over and try to decipher some way out of the center of the city in the morning rush hour. Just as I had the way figured, a traffic policeman on a motorcycle pulled up with lights flashing. I thought “Oh, oh!” We were sort of obstructing part of the outside lane and I was getting ready for “una multa!” (fine)
“Hay una problema con su navigacion? A donde va?” he asked!
Si Senor…vamos a
So we end up with a police escort all the way to the Pan-American! Muchos gracias senor. Le estoy muy agradecido!
What a great way to leave
We crossed the border at El espina inside of an hour with absolutely no problems and headed for the Honduran border town of
We probably would have made it but Denis got quite q ways behind in the crazy downhill switchbacks and lost sight of us. On the way to Choluteca, there was a sort of traffic circle where we had to go straight through, but there was no signage…. Denis got lost on the wrong road. We pulled over just before choluteca and waited for about a half hour, then decided to turn around and go back to find him. Fortunately we had only gone about ten Km when we saw him head at us. He doesn’t speak Spanish but managed to make himself understood when asking locals at the intersections and the round-about if they saw another “grande moto” go by and was eventually pointed in the right direction.
Everyone notices our bikes. It is often a problem because they crowd up next to us in traffic to stare and give us the “thumbs-up” or honk repeatedly or blow those “special central American car whistle-horns” that say “Bueno! Bonita! Guapissimo!” (they use the same approach to anything that impresses them!)
People crossing in traffic on the run stop right in the middle of the road and stare and grin, whistle , holler, or hoot and wave, and very often nearly get run over, either by us or the other traffic.
The upside is that we don’t often get cut off at intersections as without fail, the drivers from both sides who would normally dart out and cut off even their grandmothers without a second thought stay put and grin and honk or flash their lights at us as we go by! We’re a parade!!!
We made the Sunset Hotel by sunset. Sun and light cloud all the way and no rain!
Dinner was a sort of pizza, bananas, pineapple filled cookies, home made coconut and strawberry popsicles (pallettas) and a litre of real orange juice from the little local village for under $3 and more than enough to feed Susie and I!
Kilometres - Daytrip: 368km total: 15,616
Gas: $ 28.65
Lodging: Hotel Sunset $ 25
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