Honduras for 2 days

We tried to head out this morning for Nicaragua, but Karen's bike had a flat tire.  Yeesh!!  I headed into town to a tire shop and got the mechanic to come inflate the tire to get it to his shop, where he had to pull the tire off, the tube out and fix a rather large hole in the tube.  The tube from our last tire change was a bit too big and had a fold in it that eventually became a tear.  He was able to fix it and get us going again, but it took until after lunch to get it done, so we decided to stay here one more night before making the border crossing.  So tomorrow we head to Nicaragua early to beat the heat.

Let me back up a bit, since it has been a while since we have had internet.

We finally left Tapachula Mexico a few days back and have had the same kind of day over and over (Kind of like Groundhog Day - the movie).  We get up and drive to a border which is disorganized, expensive and takes a lot of time while waiting.  Initially it was the crossing into Guatemala where it took 2 hours to get through.  Then it was crossing from Guatemala into Honduras which took 3-1/2 hours including a really wild rain storm.  Here is how each crossing goes down.  First, to Immigration to get stamped out of the country.  Second, go to Customs to cancel our temporary vehicle permit.  Third, head to the new country (typically 500 meters away) and check in with immigration for passport stamp.  Fourth, head to customs for vehicle permits.  Fifth, pay the strange fees each country has that are different (ie road tax, entrance permits, etc). Sixth, Go through fumigation (bikes normally don't have to go through this step).  Seventh, final checks by the police to make sure all the fees have been paid and the paper work is in order.  Eighth, Head into the new country.

The vehicle registration process is what takes the time.  Each Country wants to make sure you are not importing vehicles without paying the tax.  Of course at each crossing there are locals who will "help" you through the process, for a fee of course.  We did get the help of locals the last 2 crossings and will never do it again.  They are either crooked or incompetent and make mistakes that only they can fix, which of course costs more money and time.  They hope for gringos like us who just want to get through quickly and don't really know how to do it.  We are nubies no more and will go it alone tomorrow.  If it takes longer than the 3-1/2 hours it took yesterday to get through then we will reconsider next time.  Border crossings have been the most frustrating experiences of the trip so far (and by a long shot). Wish us luck!

Back to Guatemala.  When we first crossed into Guatemala it was a little later than we wanted and the rain was starting to come down and it was getting dark, so we pulled into an "Auto Hotel", which is a hotel where you park your vehicle in a garage, with a door you close and then there normally are sleeping quarters above the garage.  This particular one was in a pretty dodgy area of a little town and was really grungy, but beggars can't be choosers.  The normal room had 2 very small beds, so we parked our bikes in one garage and slept in a room better described as a party flop house.  It had 4 beds, a small bathroom with a captain morgans banner as a shower curtain and no air conditioning.  There was mould on the ceiling and ants in the sink.  Welcome home Adams family!  First off, we had a wonderful thunder storm (which happens down here each night at this time of year).  Secondly, we heard gun shots nearby in the middle of the night.  Brandon was especially freaked out about the bugs and Karen and I were very worried because of the sketchy area we were in.  With the no air conditioning taken into account, nobody had a good night sleep.

The roads in Guatemala are really beautiful, with lush forest/jungle and different crops like pine apples, bananas, cactus (for tequila) and lots of corn.  There are lots of pot holes, topes (speed bumps) and people drive differently here (passing on solid lines - in town - with on coming traffic - past police cars, you get the picture), all adds a high degree of difficulty when driving.  But we are becoming accustomed to it and were complaining yesterday when a semi truck wouldn't move a bit over to the right so we could pass.

Great Canopy over the road 

 Town stalls selling food

Another great canopy over the road 

Just some huts by the road selling something like fresh pineapple 

Banana plantation.  The blue bags are around the bananas, and have holes in them (not sure why)

Waiting at the Guatemala border

More appetizing road side stands.  The little 3 wheeled bikes are everywhere here and sell all sorts of things.

This tunnel scared the blood from my veins.  So dark and so long.

Lots of horses on the sides of the roads.  We even saw a man and horse plowing the old way, one furrow at a time.

I did not know that oxen were still used around the world, but there are plenty down here eating along the side of the road and pulling carts.

Ah! back to the Pacific Ocean for a while.

We see the buzzards doing this lots.  Either to cool down or warm up.

Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are very poor countries, but they are sure beautiful.

We got through the border in El Salvador and followed the coast most of the day.  We came out of some really nice twisty road (top ten motorbiking road we'd ever been on for sure) and stopped to enjoy the view. While we were stopped another biker stopped with us.  Mathew is from Alabama and was down to Panama and was heading home, but Guatemala wouldn't let him back in with his bike (limitations after you cancel a permit of 90 days), so he was heading back to Costa Rica for a while.  We travelled together for a few miles and then stopped in at La Libertad for something cool to drink and nice to eat.  We really liked the area and decided to stay the night.  The restaurant waiter suggested a hotel close by that over looked the sea.  We said we were interested, so he walked us down to the hotel for a look.  It had a great view, pool, hammocks, air conditioning and 3 beds in each room for $35, so we stayed.  We relaxed in the pool with some cervezas and rum.  We sure wish Mathew all the best on the rest of his trip.  Thanks for hanging out with us!

Honduras was supposed to be very poor and not have any nice hotels where we were going, but we left the border late, it was dark and it started to rain very hard, so we pulled into a gas station and filled up and had some supper.  We were going to wait out the rain and continue, but asked if any hotels were close by.  They said that there was one 100 meters down the road and one man joked that it was 5 star. We headed to the hotel expecting something like the auto hotel in Guatemala, but instead found a very nice, clean, beautiful hotel with large rooms, air conditioning, a pool and a nice restaurant.  It was pretty expensive for here at $65/night, but was sure a welcome surprise!  Thank goodness we lucked into it, because we were all freaked out driving in the dark and the rain.....rules we promised ourselves not to break!!!!!! do not drive at night.........we won't the rest of the trip, I will make sure we stop at decent times from now on.