10/14 Took a left off the PanAm and finally had a little relief from the traffic. Pretty quiet after that. Rolled past some small villages and got lot’s of raised eyebrows. At first people seem a bit tense but once I say hi to get them to stop staring they come out of their shell and are very friendly.

For the first time, possibly in my life, I rode on the back of a motorcycle. The motel is outside town and the sun is blazing so when a motor-taxi guy pulled up and offered a lift I hopped on. My destination was a bank back in the center but they only have services for Bank of Colombia customers. Hopefully I find an ATM soon because my peso supply is getting low.

Looking forward to getting to the town of Mompos tomorrow. It sits on the banks of the Río Magdalena and is supposed to have a unique “Mississippi” vibe to it.

Didn’t ride too far today. I kind of feel like I’m dragging a bit but I think I just need a few days to get used to the heat and hills. The gears on my bike need a serious adjustment and something keeps rattling and it’s driving me nuts because I can’t figure out what it is.

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Made it! Everything ran on schedule and I arrived here last night at 11pm or so. What little of the city I could see really has me itching to go exploring.

Getting the bike checked in was costly but mostly painless. I had one big bike box, two heavy shopping bags, an Ortlieb bag I was using as a backpack and my handlebar bag. Aires Airlines has a new policy which only allows for two check-in bags–the bike box was included in that. Getting the two shopping bags plastic-wrapped together solved that problem (for $10.75). The gear I checked in was 63 lbs and that cost me $54 to ship. There was a flat rate on the bicycle and I paid $108 for that. They did not weigh the backpack or handlebar bag so I should have shoved more heavy stuff in them.

It was nice to finally know how much everything weighs: 82 lbs. That includes all gear, bags and the amount of food I normally carry. Water is the only thing missing.

The 2 layovers, including a 5 hour one in Bogotá, went by pretty quick. The only time I saw my bags was at my first layover when I got off the plane. They take the bag off here and run you through customs. I was stamped into Colombia for 60 days. I tried asking for 90 but he said they only give 60 at the airport. They took care of transferring the bags to the next plane; they just pulled them off so a dog can sniff them for drugs(?). In Bogotá I exchanged my dollars for pesos at a bank. What a production that was. I had to fill out a form (only in Spanish) and give them my passport so they could make a copy of it. It took about 20 minutes.

In Cartagena I loaded my stuff onto a cart, found a taxi and headed over to the hostel where Karen and Martin were waiting for me.

09/07 I’m having the hardest time figuring out if I like Nicaragua or not. Things I don’t like: explosions at 4:30am every morning, incessant honking, car alarms, high hotel prices, constant staring, people are not as friendly and a little bit of corruption. Things I do like: amazing food, good roads, light traffic, not too many crazy stray dogs and the garbage situation on the roads isn’t that bad. I guess I’m leaning toward not liking it mostly because of the people situation. Prior to Nicaragua (and El Salvador) it was exceedingly rare that someone wouldn’t wave/nod back if I make the first move. That happens a lot here and now I don’t even bother. That’s not to say everyone thinks I’m here to steal their kids because a fair number of people still honk and wave even if I don’t.

Mentioning car alarms made me remember something. This might make me sound like a bit of a lunatic though. About a week ago this stupid truck in the hotel courtyard (right next to all the rooms) had a car alarm that was so sensitive that rain falling on it would make it chirp. This went on until I fell asleep but then the rain came back at 1:30am and the stupid alarm kept beeping. Finally I snapped and figured if the thing is going to chirp at least I could make it go off all the way so the retarded owner would have to come out and I could yell at him (in English which would have done nothing). So in the pouring rain I went out and tried for the life of me to get that stupid alarm to go off. I hit the windows, rocked the entire truck up and down by pushing on the bumper and tried to open the door handles. Nothing. This was also the only place I stayed where the owners didn’t live there so I couldn’t even get them. I gave up and went back to bed.

Rode like a madman and made it 66 miles today. I think that’s pretty good with 4600 feet of climbing too. The sun about to go down was the only thing that kept me from making the Leon to Granada run in one day. I think it’s pretty much all downhill tomorrow so it was doable. It poured for 2 straight hours starting at 11am this morning. I can’t remember ever having it rain that hard for that long. Traffic was almost non-existent on the old highway #3 which was good because visibility was horrible. The cool temperature was a nice treat. Riding on the PanAm uphill with no shoulder for 10 miles was a lot of fun. Just kidding. It was brutal.

Not sure where I’m staying but it’s the first hotel coming into El Crucero. It’s way overpriced I think. For US $20 there should at least be hot water. All the rooms sit right on top of the very busy PamAm highway so it’s not even in a good location that would justify the price. Most hotels also have the standard room prices on the back of the door so when they don’t, like this place, I always think I’m getting the special gringo markup. The food in the restaurant was delicious and 3 beers helped take the edge off. The Nicaraguan beer Toma is pretty decent.

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09/03 A new day, a new country. The border crossing was a bit confusing due to a lack of signs or officials of any kind but once I tracked down the immigration offices all was well. $10 to get into Nicaragua.

Saw some interesting things on the road today. First up were two kids fishing. That was the first time I’ve seen people fishing since leaving California (technically I don’t think I saw anyone there fishing but I’m sure there are fish somewhere; there’s just not a lot of water). No fishing rods, they were just tossing out some line. As for the quality of the water, since leaving northern Honduras the water is not quite as brown and looks like it might be cleaner (not so many garbage piles nearby or people washing themselves/clothes/dishes). It could be that things actually live in it I guess. Whether or not I’d eat it is a different story.

The second thing was kind of disturbing only because at one point I actually owned a couple as pets. Some kids were selling rather large lizards (iguanas presumably) at the side of the road. Not sure what was in store for the dead lizards, at least I think they were dead–2 of them were being held up by their tails and it looked like the were tied together. Down the road a ways there was a little shack by the road and the lady was grilling up chicken nuggets. Maybe it wasn’t though…

The hotel I’m at is OK (Las Fronteras). Small room but for $11 it’s not the worst place I’ve stayed. The owners are really nice and helped me break back into my room after I locked it by accident (they don’t have a key). Knowing that no one is going to walk in on me by accident is a bit refreshing. That’s happened a couple times. Knocking first isn’t a big thing with the cleaning crews in these parts. I had my first bucket shower too. It was a little weird but at least I’m dirt free.

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09/01 I did end up riding into town both to check out the museum and to find some new brake pads. Failed on both. I couldn’t find the museum but then again I suppose I didn’t try very hard. The rear brake pads I bought like 2 weeks ago wore down to the medal which has me wondering if I was ripped off. I’ve never had brake pads wear out that fast and it wasn’t that hilly. The front ones were OK so I popped them on the back. The first 12 miles was all downhill but nothing one set of brakes couldn’t handle. I had to walk my bike down the hill leaving Hotel Lenca this morning. No way was I riding down that steep, wet, cobblestone monster.

Depending on how nice the border guard is I might be back in Honduras tomorrow. I didn’t get stamped into El Salvador and even with CA-4 I think you have to get an entry stamp. Since no one was stationed at the crossing coming in I might have to either pay a fine or be stuck here forever. I have a note ready in Spanish professing my ignorance but hopefully I won’t need it.

Being in El Salvador for such a short time kind of stinks but this border agreement (CA-4) where you only have 90 days to spend in 4 countries sucks. Why on Earth would they want to drive out tourists so fast? Every day we’re here we spend money. I didn’t really get a taste of the culture or the people either. I came in at a place that probably has more reason to be anti-American than anywhere else in the country and I did notice that drivers didn’t wave/honk as much as in Honduras but 2 days is hardly a good time frame. Everyone waved back if I waved first so that was good.

Nothing exciting on the road today. It’s getting flatter (and hotter) so I can get more miles in. It’s also 5pm and the sun is still out–amazing. When I arrived in Santa Rosa I hit an ATM and went looking for a hotel. Oh, and why on Earth do stupid ATMs have to say “Insufficient funds available” when the actual machine is out of money? That scared the crap out of me. El Salvador also uses the US dollar as its currency so I have some green backs again. Speaking of money problems, I didn’t notice a $0.24 balance on my credit card so they hit me with a $30 fee when it was late. I emailed them and told them how sorry I was and they cleared the fee and the $0.24. Thanks IBM Credit Union.

Anyway, a kid asked if I was looking for a hotel so I followed him over to the one his mom manages. Decent enough place for $15. Even has AC. The same kid also walked me over to a bike shop to get 2 new sets of brake pads. I bought him and his mom 4 Cokes to say thanks.

A couple days ago something kind of cool happened that I forgot to mention. It was on the crazy road just before the border in Honduras. At the top of a hill a car stopped and the driver gave me a bunch of bananas. We talked for a bit (Spanish) and he took off. That was pretty nice.

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