Report 4 - El Salvador to Honduras

Mexico 2007 email report 4 March 1
Changes, sadness and it's a small world.

We've been on the road for 7 weeks now. As of this writing, we are hunkered down in Copan (Ruinas), Honduras.

The last I wrote we were leaving Oaxaca and heading south. We rode into the Oaxacan countryside on beautiful country roads. Mezcal is made in this state and we smelled the delicious cooking of the maguey plant as we rode. If we had more time, we would have stopped and tried many of the mezcals at the roadside distilleries. The mezcal produced here is of much higher quality than the stuff we see in the U.S. with the worm in the bottle.

But we are on a mission to get to Juchitan about 170 miles. We are heading south and the temperatures are rising. The 70's are gone and now we are in the high 80's. We get to the town of Tehuantepec and everyone is walking from outside of town. Since it was Saturday, we thought there was a big carnival going on. Wrong. It was a taxi strike and the taxis were blocking all roads on both sides of town. Ken, being the bulldog he is, rides ahead of us but our bikes are wider than his and we have to be more careful. We thread our ways through the stopped taxis on one side of town but finally we get to a total blockade. But not to worry, 4 Mexican men show up and we pick our bikes up and put them on the sidewalk and we ride away. I really can't imagine this kind of help in the good old US of A.

Now we are in the middle of town and reach another blockade but one Mexican on a bicycle waves us forward, while his friend, says no, come his way. So both amigos have a conference and we went the second way. These guys on bikes led us through the town on the back roads. Once we got to the other side of the road, Ken was there waiting. We tipped our friends and went on our way. The Mexicans are great.

From here we only had 20 miles to Juchitan but we encountered really stiff side winds the rest of the way. Once in Juchitan, we hunkered down for the night.

This area of Mexico is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico's narrowest point, only 125 miles between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The Lonely Planet book also mentioned strong winds in the area, if only we had known.

The next day we head towards Tapachula, just at the Guatemala border. We thought the day before was windy but wow, most of the 175 miles we rode today was in wind and the first 50 miles had us leaning at about a 45º to offset the wind. We knew it was a windy area when we rode past the wind farm. The turbines weren't moving. What we don't know is was this just a light wind or was it to stiff to even run the turbines. Even though it was windy, today as we head south, the road was nice and straight and the vistas started turning green. In Tapachula for the night, we stop at a hotel with a pool. The water temperature was great and they don't heat the water.

The next day we crossed into Guatemala at El Carmen. As far as border crossings go, this one was not to bad. It only took 3 hours and Chris hired a runner to help us. The border crossings generally take longer because we have the motorcycles to register. After 34 days in Mexico, we started having a sense of security. We started to know the country and its rules. Now we are heading into a new country with new rules. In fact, for the next couple of weeks, we are changing many countries, all with new sets of rules.

From the border, which is at near sea level, we take the mountain route through the highlands to Antigua. It was hot in the morning and as the day progressed in the afternoon, we had to put some more clothes on, as we climbed to an unknown but cool altitude. Today's ride ended up being like no other, so far, on this trip. The highland route we took towards Antigua is having major road reconstruction. Major to the point it reminded me of I-70 interstate construction through the mountains of Colorado. They were widening and straightening the road for near 100 miles. In 5 different areas, traffic was backed up for miles, I'm talking hundreds of vehicles in each spot. It appeared the traffic had been stopped both ways for hours and would be stopped for hours more.

Ken, being our bulldog, rode to the front of the line. Again, this is a highly accepted practice. People down here don't want to kill you because you cheated in line; they expect motos to do this. It was most interesting, when we got to the front of the line. The guards with the guns waved us through. This is no kidding. Traffic has been backed up for hours but they let the motos through the construction zone. And this doesn't mean they stop construction as we ride through. No the bulldozers are way up cutting the slopes pushing dirt and boulders down and we get to ride through. Dodge a boulder here or there, duck as the traxcavator swings over your head but really it was cool. We got to do this the whole day while the truck, bus and automobile traffic went no where. Pretty wild. Unfortunately, we didn't get to Antigua until after dark and it took almost a couple of hours to locate a hotel for the night. This is Antigua's high tourist season too but we finally got to bed.

The next morning we met Ken for breakfast and a big change occurred. We knew from the beginning of this ride, Ken was going to be back in Austin, TX by March 15. He goes to a big music show that is there every year. We had always talked about the 3 of us making it to the Panama Canal and back to Mexico before he took off to get back. But as he weighed his time options, he figured he couldn't do it all. So at breakfast, he let us know, the next day, he'd be heading back.

Ok, so Chris and I are on our own. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and checking out Antigua a bit. We really didn't give it much time to see the sights. We had the last supper with Ken that night and said our goodbyes. It was great riding with Ken. As small town motobike riders, we really didn't know how to ride in the cities or even be aggressive on the open road. He taught us a lot of skills we'll be using the rest of this ride and beyond. Chris's skill level has skyrocketed because of his help. We will miss him the rest of the trip but as the saying goes 'the show must go on'.

We get going pretty early the next morning and get through Guatemala City without to many extra tours through the city. We get to the El Salvador/Guatemala border right at noon. As usual, we are swarmed with offers of help. Chris picks one to help on the Guatemala side while I watch the bikes. This crossing was pretty quick, 1½ hours but by 1:30 when we finally took off, we were dripping wet in our motorcycle gear, the temps are rising. We also met a young Polish couple here. They came from England to buy two motorcycles and ride to the Panama Canal and back. Once in Mexico, motorbikes were more expensive than they had expected. So they only bought one bike, less than half the power of our bikes, and were riding two up (that's two on one bike) to Panama and back. Oh to be young again.

So here we are in another new country, El Salvador. The ride to San Salvador, the capital and our next stop, was quick at just 2 ½ hours. We get into San Salvador by 4pm. The city riding is taking its toll on Chris. For her, the buses and trucks get bigger and the riding space between these behemoths get smaller. On the way into to the city we have to stop for a bit so she can regain her composure as we are riding in rush hour traffic. Here in San Salvador, we are meeting Elba and her family. Elba was a foreign exchange student with Chris's family 27 years ago in Denver. For the better part of a year, the plan was to make it here to see Elba.

We get to a phone and call Elba. She comes and we follow her. This is after many hugs and phone calls from her family. Elba's family had been calling her all day wondering if we were there yet or if she knew where we were. After a bit of time, we find a room to stay at within a block of Elba's house. That night, we have a 7-course dinner at Elba's parents house, attended by her parents, her husband, her two daughters, her brother and her sister and her husband. Chris had met many of them many years ago, so this was a happy reunion for all. We had only planned on spending a couple of days in San Salvador but this first night, Elba laid out her plans for us for the next four days. Let the games begin.

Over the next four days, we toured some towns outside of San Salvador, we toured ruins that had been buried by a volcanic eruption, we saw coffee plantations, we ate, we spent a day at her daughter's school watching them participate in a sports day and on the last day there, we went to the beach. The water is so warm, we spent hours playing in the waves. We also had a nice dinner at her aunt's, tia Elba, house one night. Elba and her family wore us out with all of their hospitality and I know they were worn out also. They are a great family and we are honored to have been a part.

The last day in San Salvador, Chris let's me know about the next big change. We are not going to Panama. At this point, only 4000 miles from home, she says she can't do any more of the big cities. So our new plan is to head to Copan Ruinas (Copan to most) in Honduras. Oh boy, another new country. Our last night with Elba and her family was more or less an early one. We have our hugs and kisses and get a good nights rest. We should be in Copan by early afternoon the next day.

The next day for us turns out to be one of the weirdest, most out of sync days we have had. I miss turns even though I can see the signs, Chris and I were not on our best terms today and all in all it was just weird. So weird we end up being a couple of hundred miles from where we had planned to be at the end of the day. We end up in Perquin, which is very near the border of Honduras.

We stay at a nice resort. They have wireless internet, I check my email and find out my mother had passed away this morning. We didn't know it riding this day but maybe this is what had caused this out of sync for us. My mother had suffered from dementia and Alzheimer's disease for some years. When we visited her in January before our trip and for the first time, she hadn't recognized me. After suffering for these years, I believe she's in a better spot. These motorcycle trips have been hard on our mothers.

Perquin is in the southeast corner of El Salvador. The next day we cross over into Honduras by way of Sabanetas. This is all rural. Our road today started with 100 miles of dirt and ended with a 100 miles of pavement. Our border crossing at Sabanetas took all of 5 minutes, it was 3 military men at the checkpoint. This area of Honduras is about the most rural of all of Honduras and some consider this the real Honduras. I can guarantee you, they don't see many gringo motorcyclists riding in this area.

After Sabanetas, the next town is Marcala. Just before Marcala is a military checkpoint and they checked everything we had. They were like inquisitive little kids checking everything out, opening every up and they have guns, so we let them. They took my bottle of Mezcal with about ¾ of a cup left. Even though it was in a locked box, I think the officer was trying to tell me I couldn't have an open bottle of liquor. Do you want to bet the bottle never made it back to the station that night? After they were done, I took a picture of the two officers and Chris and then the 3 soldiers and Chris. They loved that.

So off we go heading towards Copan. Again, besides the dirt roads, we run into road construction. But this time, we are so remote there is no traffic stopped, heck there was hardly any traffic. Overall it was a beautiful day riding in rural Honduras, riding quite a bit in the mountains. We didn't get to Copan until after dark and I knew Chris was really tired. I knew I needed to find her a hotel quick. Right as I got into town, I stopped to see which way I should go and there was Luis. He was the night watchman for a hotel close by. He ran in front of us to show us the way. Another Latin American angel.

Copan is the town known for the exquisite Mayan carvings. You can get on the internet and check it out. More than likely, you have seen some of the carvings in the past. Copan also has only about 6000 residents. Even though it is the center for the local ruins, the town is quaint. Chris and I liked it right away.

The first night, after getting cleaned up, Luis took us downtown and showed us a nice restaurant. While eating, we met the couple next to us, Steve & Bonnie, from Kalispell, MT. They are retired and spend their winters touring countries in Latin America. We ended up spending a few nights drinking beer together.

The next morning, we get up and walk the 4 blocks to the town center area. We pick a small 3 table cafe and have a casual breakfast. The owner is English and I get up to talk to her. In the background there is commotion going on and I hear a 'It is you'. I turn around and it's Trish Meredith. It's a small world. For those of you who don't know Trish, she lived in Carbondale for 20 some years. She worked at our local bank and was our banker when she left. Years ago when she was a teller, on Friday afternoons, I would stock the driveup window drawer with ice cold beer for her. She and her husband, Bob, left Carbondale about 4 years ago to go sail the world and Chris and I had no clue where they were.

Trish and Bob were in Copan to do some sightseeing. We ended up meeting them the next two evenings for beer, dinner and to talk about our stories. They are in Rio Dulce now, which is in Guatemala very near the Gulf of Honduras. They are part owners of a marina, which is 20 miles from the ocean and offers safe harbor for boats during the hurricane season.

During the day while they are doing their tour, Chris and I do some stuff. We move from our little hotel to a step up, Casamarias, which has air conditioning. Have I mentioned it is very warm down here? One of the things Chris and I wanted to accomplish on this trip was to take a 2 week language school somewhere. We had sort of been checking schools out on the way down and looking in our Lonely Planet travel guide. I started realizing by going to Panama, our time really wasn't going to allow a school to happen for us. But here we go and change the Panama plans and we have some extra time. Copan has an excellent school, ixbalanque.com. We love this town, so we have now signed up to do 2 weeks of Spanish school and we're staying with a family for the full immersion effect. We get one on one teaching for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. With the family, we have our own humble room with private bath, daily maid service, laundry and 3 meals a day. We could be really fat when we leave here. We already told our host family we weren't interested in 3 big meals.

We started our stay with our family on March 4. When we are done with the school, we'll head to Rio Dulce. Trish and Bob have 3 days of tours they want to take us on, so that will be fun. So far here, we've been to the ruins and made a trip to Macaw Mountain (macawmountain.com) where they have macaws, toucans and parrots. Most of the birds have been donated by people who had the birds as pets and don't want them anymore. They also have an interactive part, where the birds sit on your shoulder, arm, head, neck, etc. We have pictures of Chris and I with our new feathery friends.

So for the next 2 weeks, we will be hunkered down in this quaint town learning a few Spanish words. We hope all is well for you. Ciao.

Rick and Chris

Report 4 - El Salvador to Honduras

Mexico 2007 email report 4 March 1 Changes, sadness and it's a small world.

Mexico 2007 email report 4 March 1
Changes, sadness and it's a small world.