No Return Ticket – Just a Ride Report /w Pics

[cavebiker]

The next morning we wanted to get going and on the road super early. We are riding straight through Guatemala City, entering on one highway and exiting on another, not an easy task in a city of over 4 million. Well, the hotel parking area is a narrow alley and two cars were in front of us. We did a measurement and calculated the panniers would squeeze by with about an inch on each side to spare. As I attempted it we found out that the handle bars are the widest part of the bike, no way through. We sat around drinking coffee until 8:00 AM. We asked the hotel people about moving the cars, we get an OK. Fifteen minutes later Heidi asks again. She is told, 20 minutes. I say *** and decide to speed things up a little by warming up the Harley in the narrow boxed in alley attached to the hotel. This got things hopping.....

I studied the Guatemala City maps intensely. The large maps of the area showed the highways going into and out of the city but had no markings of city streets. The city maps showed street and boulevard names but no highways coming in or out. I just had to guess which roads were what highway and go for it.

OK, Heidi has the task of remembering the three city streets we think we need to turn onto so I can concentrate more on the riding. We make it onto the first city boulevard without much problem, I just needed to cross over 4 lanes of heavy traffic and take a clover leaf ramp. Next we are looking for ‘Calle 5a’ (Street 5a). No problem, the streets are numbered and we can see them counting down. We hit ‘Calle 5a’ and take a right. I thought the map showed this to be a boulevard but it was just a one way street. Soon the street ends, we had to circle around to find 5a again. Later, the street dead ends again at some military base. Time to get out the map. I see right away what the problem is; there are two ‘Calle 5a’ streets. The 5a we want is the second one about a mile past the first. Why didn’t I think of that! Anyway, a man in uniform comes over to us and offers help. He confirms to us where we needed to go to for the next town we are trying to get to. That’s great because we were not sure if the road we were trying to get to would have led us to the highway out of town we wanted. The traffic was heavy and slow with a lot of construction but we made it out of town and onto the highway. We are smiling big!

About 15 miles out of Guatemala City we hit a cross roads with several restaurants. We pull over to a popular looking one. The food was great and inexpensive. The rest rooms are an outhouse with a low cement bowl the shape of a toilet seat. I gave Heidi a heads up to bring her own TP. This is the kitchen.

Across the street is the Pink Lady Bar. There were a few ladies outside trying to drum up some business.

Soon we started going down in elevation and the temperatures started to rise. Heidi is one happy girl, she likes it hot. The villages we rode through started looking noticeably more prosperous. Big Nissan dealerships, new motorcycle shops, fancy hotels and resorts with swimming pools. Not sure what that is all about but it has a good feel.

We are making good time, much better then expected. Soon I see a hotel sign that has a swimming pool symbol on it. I pull in and find we are only about 30 miles before the Honduras border, sweeeet! We sign up for 2 nights and proceed to enjoy our last hours in Guatemala in style. Vida es bueno (Life is good)........

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We hope you have enjoyed our Guatemala ride report section. At the inception of this ride Heidi planned to meet up with me in Panama City while I did the US and Central America solo, she wasn’t sure about riding through Central America. Then I convinced her to go as far as Vegas with me, then as far as Mexico with me, then the whole way. I can’t express how glad we both are we did Guatemala together; it far outreached both our expectations.
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The ride continues.................

 

[cavebiker]

Last night while preparing for the Honduras border crossing we suddenly realized we were preparing to cross on a Saturday, the worst day of the week! eeeks. Seconds later we decided to wait another day and cross early Sunday morning.

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Chiquimula:
What a bummer, I see a hotel with a symbol of a swimming pool and we are stuck here for two nights. This is the kind of place Heidi feels most at home, sitting in a lawn chair in her bikini next to a pool surrounded by palm trees. Life is good. Chiquimula was quite a surprise to us. It’s not on the main highway. We walked about three miles to get to the center of town and boy what a town, it felt more like a town in Mexico because it had such a modern feel.

Enjoy a few pics of Chiquimula:

OK, we had a great breakfast in town then I thought I would lead Heidi on a shortcut back to the main highway and to our hotel. Wrong! We dead ended a few times, ran out of pavement and were walking on dirt residential streets with barking dogs. Then we ran out of road at a steep hill. I say “We should be able to get a bearing from the lip of this ridge. If not we’re screwed” Heidi is starting to get a little concerned. We see nothing but there is a narrow path leading off into the hills, we take it with me in the lead.

After a long walk we can see the highway way down the hill. Next we see our hotel.

I tell Heidi “Follow me” She says “yeah right..........no”

We end up in front of some real poor housing. I ask a young girl “how do we get down to there” She looks at me like I was from Mars then runs in her house and gets her Mom. I ask the Mom and she points us down the dirt path we were on.

We made it…..and now we head for Honduras, that is if we can cross the border on a Sunday……

 

[cavebiker]

Honduras:

We were up early and out of Chiquimula by 7:00 AM. Honduras here we come. The last town before the border, Esquipulas, we gas up then I asked the attendant if he knows where the Guatemala aduana is (Customs office) The first thing he says is that it’s 200 and some kilometers the other way. Ohhh! Our guide book doesn’t mention the Honduras border crossing at Agua Caliente as being an over lander’s crossing so this kind of freaked us out. We talked with the gas attendants some more and they said there is an aduana straight ahead, the direction we are going. OK, here we go….

The first building we come to at the border is the Guatemalan aduana. We park the bike, I walk up to the building we are parked next to and a couple people come out and un-declare the bike from Guatemala - 1,2,3. They raise the gate and we proceed about 100 feet to the next building where I go in and have my passport stamped to exit Guatemala.

I come out to tell Heidi where to go to have her passport stamped and I find the guy in the photo with the broom singing to her. Everyone is smiling, joking and having a good time. Heidi goes in, gets her stamp and we are on our way. The two guys in front of the bike say we have one kilometer to go to the Honduras aduana.

The whole way to the Honduras border there are trucks parked along side the road. About a half kilometer to go the trucks are parked on both sides of the road. We are thinking ‘what the heck is up with this?’ but just continue on. We get to a speed bump about a hundred yards before the border and three guys jump up and try to get us to stop. No problem, I just slowly blow past them and park the bike right next to the border buildings. I go to walk over to get my passport stamped and walk into the wrong building. A helper comes and gets me and shows me to the immigration window. $3.00, I get my passport stamped. I return to the bike and tell Heidi where to go. She comes back a while later and said she went to the wrong place and a guy was trying to tell her that she needs to pay all this money. I tell her to just wait by the bike until I get the bike declared. My helper, his friends call him Spider Man, tells me I have to have 2 copies of my title, passport and license. I only had one copy so we go over and get more copies. Next he guides me to the customs office. There, a clean cut guy in a polo shirt takes me into an office with a couch and shuts the door behind him. He motions for me to sit on the couch. I thought this was suspicious but I just play along carrying a big smile. The guy asks to see my passport then my title then my registration. I say I don’t need my registration because my license plate is my registration. I’m looking him square in the eyes. He comes back again, he needs my registration. I tell him that my title and license plate is all I need (I’m doing this all in Spanish) We go back and forth a couple more times and he finally tells me I need something that has my license plate number. I point to the spot on my title where the license plate number is and tell him “Aqui, es el licencia numero, aqui es el numero de moto!” (here is the license number, here is the number of the motorcycle!) He pauses, looks me in the eyes and says “?Donde viene?” (Where did you come from?) I say “Los Estados Unidos, el estado de Wisconsin” (The United States, the state of Wisconsin) At that point he was done, he knew he wasn’t going to extract any money from me and sends me out to the next guy who starts filling out the forms to clear our bike into Honduras.

OK, I’m not making any of this up. I get one form and pay a few bucks with a receipt, next I have to get 2 copies of that. I get the next form filled out. I have to go get 2 copies of that. The copy place is about a block away. I get the next form filled out. I need 2 copies of that. Every step here takes about 20 minutes. Now I should be done, I just need to take this last form to the bank next door, wait in line and pay the few dollars. But NO, something is wrong. My helper and I go back to the customs guys. They say “bla, bla, bla, bla” Cool, we march back, wait in line, but NO. We do the whole process again, But NO. Now we go back to the customs office, get the two main guys that have been doing all the work and all four of us march back to the bank in force. The main guys jabber away to the bank guy pointing at my papers. The bank guy jabbers back. The customs guys say something to my helper. My helper tells me we have to get 2 copies of this document. We get the 2 copies, go back to the bank, I pay, all the papers get a rubber stamp, and then we march back to the customs office to get the final stamp from them. Cool! Back at the customs office the guy that filled out the forms gives me the stamps then says the bank where I’m suppose to pay this 135 Lempiras (~$7.00) is not open today so I need to pay him. He points to the final clearance document at the spot that says ‘135.00 Lempiras. I hand over the cash and go hooting out of there. Oh yeah!

I tell my helper to show Heidi where to get her passport stamped and I will pay him when they get back. Spider Man is one nice guy always carrying a big smile, hustling fast to get things done and hands over any document, without hesitation, whenever I ask for them. All the people, after the first guy, I dealt with during this entire process were good humored and smiling, even the first guy was nice and smiling after our first encounter. During every step while I waited in the customs office or the bank I enjoyed chit chatting with the people around me, cracking jokes and laughing with them. I read that the Honduras border crossing takes the cake for complexity and nonsense and that is certainly true but the entire process was like night and day compared to our experience crossing into Guatemala. It was never unpleasant (I guess I enjoyed going nose to nose with the first guy and winning) and it was all over and done with in about two hours.

After, when we stopped for a rest Heidi tells me about her encounter when she went into the wrong building trying to get her $3.00 passport stamp. She got the same guy I got the first time and he tried to do the same thing to her. He took her into the same office with the couch and closed the door behind him. Heidi says she immediately opens the door back up and refused to sit on the couch. She tells the guy “No necesito sentarse! Solo necesito pagar tres dolores para el pasaporte sello!” (I don’t need to sit down! I only need to pay the $3.00 for my passport stamp” The guy tried to tell her she needed to pay all this money for something. Luckily I had given her the ‘heads up’ that the passport stamp only costs $3.00. What a girl, she never ceases to amaze me. She went nose to nose with the guy who is obviously skilled at intimidating and scamming inexperienced and vulnerable people out of money. When she came back from the encounter she wasn’t rattle a bit but just told me she went to the wrong building and some guy tried to tell her she needed to pay all this money, no biggie. I didn’t think it was possible but again I’m falling more in love with this woman every day………..

This is our helper, Spider Man. I hand a wad of folded up one dollar bills and a few quetzals, about $15.00 worth, to him. Without looking at it he sticks them into his pocket, shakes my hand and thanks me. What a plesent experience.

 

[cavebiker]

Honduras! A new country. We both have an unmistakable feeling inside. It’s hard to describe but we both feel it. The countryside looks different, the villages look different, people look different. After a day or two or longer Heidi and I both usually start to feel at home where ever we are. For some reason we feel more out of place here. People look at us, a lot, everyone, we’re not blending in, we haven’t seen any other travelers in days. I guess the feeling we are having now is a feeling we are away from home, I think….. I’m sure we will get over this and soon call Honduras our home away from home……..

Fish farms:

The first night we stay at a crossroad town, La Entrada. There is nothing much here but a friendly Honduras town. We get the nicest hotel in town with a pool and restaurant, $26.00. Of course the power goes out in the whole village around 7:00 PM, shortly after the hotel fires up its generator. We find our room is right above the diesel generator exhaust. The smell was unbearable. I go down to the front desk and ask to be moved to another room. The kid at the desk wasn’t going for it. Next I demand to be moved to another room and I wasn’t going away until we did. He gets the general manager on the phone. We get moved. The kid was pissed and had no problem showing it. I take it he wasn’t trained in hotel management.

These photos don’t even come close to showing how beautiful the Honduras countryside is. Cone shaped hills are everywhere. They look like hills in Wisconsin that were formed by glaciers but much larger. They almost look like small and very old volcanoes. I must look into this more…..

We are shooting for the Caribbean Sea to hunker down for the holidays. The weather reports say 90% chance of rain today and they were not off. We didn’t even get ten miles before suiting up in our raingear. No biggie, it was warm but not too warm to ride in our leathers with raingear over.

Before reaching El Progreso, our planned destination for the night, we get waved over to have our papers checked. These guys were super nice. Their eyes bugged out when we told them we rode all the way from the US.

El Progreso: We were hoping to find a hotel here or else we had a long hard ride in the rain to the Caribbean coast. We were almost all the way out of town when we see a hotel. Hotel Casa Blanca, $21 / night and it is one nice place.

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We will be having fun in the sun and surf for the next couple weeks so we’ll see you all in the New Year. Feliz Fiestas a todos!
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[cavebiker]

Someone said “The adventure starts when things stop going as planned” Well the adventure has sure started for us. We had all these grandiose plans for the holidays to get us and our motorcycle on a ferry and sail off into the Caribbean Sea to the island Roatan. Roatan is reported to be one of the most beautiful places in Honduras with turquoise waters, great beaches and a lot of fun things to do. We were worried about everything filling up over the holidays so we booked reservations over the internet for a cabin on the beach. We were set, all we had to do is find the ferry that can carry our motorcycle to the island and wait for it to set sail, no problem. We pull into La Ceiba before noon. La Ceiba is the village where the ferries dock bound for Roatan. We find the ferry dock, locate the ferry that can transport our motorcycle and proceed to check in. When we get to the cargo area the person in charge informs us that because of the heavy cargo loads over the holidays we will not be able to transport our motorcycle to the island until after the New Year. I could feel myself in my mind turning left, then right, then left again trying to figure out which way to turn to get our bike on the island. We were hurtin’, we had nowhere to turn. Heidi looked like she wanted to cry. We were so close but now we had to turn to plan B, the problem is we had no plan B.

Heidi and I spend the next hour looking around town for a container ship that is suppose to set sail at 2:00 AM for the island. We ride from one end of the town to the next, we could not find the ship. We pulled over to talk about it. After envisioning the cost of renting a semi-truck sized container and placing it on a ship for Roatan, we gave up on that idea.

We opted against staying in La Ceiba for the holidays. Tela, the next Caribbean coast town has a bad reputation for armed theft and rapes on the beach by roaming gangs of youths, Heidi wants no part of that and I have no problem supporting her. I know a lot of people love Tela and have never had a problem and there is potential danger everywhere we go but our research didn’t give us a good feel, we always go with our gut.

We blindly ride back to the interior of Honduras looking for a hotel that will give us time to figure out what to do next. While riding along we stop to rest, we get off the bike and look at each other. I give Heidi a look saying ‘I am so sorry this is happening’ She looks at me and says with tear in her eyes “I am totally over it. I just saw a guy riding a bicycle with only one leg. We are soooo lucky!”

The ride and adventure continues…………………

 

[cavebiker]

Health and well being:

Health is one thing we all take for granted if we have it. While on the road and away from good health insurance it’s a matter of survival. The only health insurance cavegirl and I can afford is a $5K deductible world health insurance that is only good in the USA if we spend at least 6 months out of the USA (***), meaning we are on our own unless we get into an accident or something really bad and if that happens within the first 6 months we have to get taken care of in the country we are in (HS!).

OK, we are in a really nice hotel in Honduras, a sign in every hall says “Purified ice is in the hallway” There is an ice machine right next to a rack of purified water jugs. I figure the ice is made from the purified water. Cool, Heidi and I celebrate finally having ice the first night, pop and water with plenty of ice. We walked uptown and ate at a fast food place which we don’t normally do. Later in the evening I started feeling sick. Heidi also didn’t feel well. We blew it off thinking it’s the greasy chicken that made us sick. The next day Heidi had a bad headache and I had a little one, I also had what felt like an ear infection. We have some super strong antibiotics for traveler’s diarrhea and we were told that we can use them for general infections also, like penicillin. I started taking the antibiotics that day for my ear, it started feeling a little better. Heidi continued to drink plenty of water and pop with ice and got sicker and sicker. We tried to theorize what she got sick from, nothing made sense because we both ate the same thing and I felt fine. While filling up a pitcher of ice for Heidi I inspected the ice machine. !The fricken ice machine is not connected to purified water but is connected to the regular water line with a cheesy little water filter attached in-line that says (Ice-O-Matic) I know about water filters for camping and for salt water sailboats and I know that maybe this filter will work OK for the first few gallons but after that it needs to be replaced. I’m sure the filter has never been replaced for years and the sign that says “Purified ice” is from the company who sold the Hotel the ice machine and filter, All Bogus! Well we are both on traveler’s diarrhea antibiotics now. My ear infection is slowly getting better and Heidi is slowly getting better also. Lesson learned: Always question the source of drinking water AND ICE. Without our health we have nothing……..

All in all our stay in El Progreso was pleasant and we enjoyed ourselves. At midnight between Christmas Eve and Christmas day the town started blowing off fireworks. We thought this was cool. A memory flashed in my head of when I was very young when my Mother and I went out onto our airing porch at midnight on New Years and listened to the fireworks. It’s unreal how sounds or smells can re-enact vivid memories that are over 40 years old. My head felt a tingle…..

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El Progreso to Lago de Yojoa:

We have nothing too exciting to report here. Honduras just has a lot of good roads, good scenery and fun things to do.

OK, the day after Christmas we decided to shoot for Lago de Yojoa and hunker down until after the holidays, this is the biggest and one of the most beautiful lakes in Honduras. We tried to get reservations at the D & D brewery / bed and breakfast on the north side of the lake. We never got any response from our on-line reservation request and the phone was always busy. This kind of concerned us because our guide book says all the hotels around the lake tend to fill up over the weekends and holidays.

The highway out of El Progreso is in fantastic shape with beautiful scenery, huge fields of tall sugarcane with tassels on top lined by big volcanic rolling hills. Even though the highways are in good shape you still need to keep a good lookout, there is always the possibility of a man-eater pot hole and Honduras is no exception. The ride was uneventful…..

Lago de Yojoa. We cruise the entire length of the lake looking for the recommended hotels we saw in the guide book. The eastern side of the lake is lined with dozens and dozens of restaurants. We stop for some lunch and a closer look at the guide book.

After inspecting the guide book we discovered we need to go back to the north end of the lake and turn off the main road. The only directions we had was that the D & D hotel is 2.5 Km from the town Pena Blanca. The only problem is that there are four possible roads it could be on. Of course we find it on our fourth attempt but we were happy we did find it. The D & D was cute, a tropical jungle feel with a swimming pool and a micro brewery. We were not happy with the bike security situation and the owner did not give us a ‘warm fuzzy’ feeling about it, plus it was not even close to the lake so we headed back to another hotel we saw along the way.

Hotel Agua Azul. What a score, this place is right on the water and we get the cabin that is closest to the lake, about a 100 feet away.

Heidi and are from one of the biggest tourist areas in Northern Wisconsin filled with lakeside fishing resorts. If Hotel Agua Azul was in the Hayward lakes area it for sure would be one of the most popular resorts around. The fishing is great, the resort has a swimming pool, a huge deck overlooking the lake and surrounding hills with pool tables, a restaurant and bar.

View from the deck:

A few shots of the lake:

 

[cavebiker]

There are a lot of fun things to do around the area. On our second day we take off on foot looking for a waterfall.

The first pickup truck that comes along stops to give us a lift. How nice and the driver wouldn’t accept any money for the ride.

The only directions we had to the waterfall is that the trailhead is close to the town San Buenaventura. San Buenaventura is not any map we have so we just had to guess. The pickup truck drops us off at the town Pena Blanca. There we ask a taxi driver if he could take us to San Buenaventura, $5.50 and he drops us off right at the trailhead.

A few shots of Palhapanzak, a 443 m waterfall along the Rio Lindo.

On the way back we stop for lunch at Pena Blanca. We order chicken tacos. This is what tacos look like in Honduras. ?? Two plates of food and soda for under $5.00.

 

[cavebiker]

The next day we are back on the road on foot heading for some ancient ruins.

We were walking for less then ten minutes when a pickup truck stops and offers us a lift. Again the driver wouldn’t accept any money for the ride. We are liken’ Honduras more every day, everyone has been so nice to us.

Los Naranjos: This is an ancient trading post set up over 5,000 years ago by a tribe from Mexico for trading with the local tribes here. Wow!

There is a nice dry walking path with tons of beautiful birds and exotic plants and trees along the way.

Heidi and I enjoy the hike while engaging in discussions of how it must have been like for the ancient people from Mexico to hike all the way down here and build up this complex trading post. The thought of it is mind boggling.

The site is a work in progress and is barely excavated but we got an idea of what it must have been like here thousands of years ago.

This was a long day of hiking. We spent almost 4 hours on foot. We could feel our legs getting tweeked and the endorphins starting to kick in. Adventure Travel, YES……

 

[cavebiker]

On the way back we pass through a few small communities.

Laundry day:

Back to Pena Blanca we wait for a bus to take us the last 6 miles back to the hotel.

Ice cream cone, 15 cents, OK. Ice cream is a good way to end a long day’s hike. I learned this from my father…….

The bus ride back was packed. There were almost a dozen Peace Corp volunteers on board heading for Hotel Agua Azul for the New Years holiday. We were told about 40 Peace Corp people will be at the hotel, should be fun!

Fishing from Hotel Agua Azul.

The spinner lures I’m using aren’t cutting it. I see people every day with stringers full of 5lb Bass…..

We are back on the road after the holidays, so stay tuned and Happy New Year to all .

The Ride Continues……………………

 

[cavebiker]

A New Year, this is a good time to reflect on where I came from, where I am and where I’m going. 2008’! Unreal and we are on an adventure of a life time. Now, at age 50 I can still see myself at 16 on my first solo cross-country motorcycle adventure while looking at the road atlas I borrowed from my father. I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I saw a highway leading all the way to Panama. The thought of that ride gave me a real chill but I knew then that some day I would follow that road and see and feel things I have only dreamt about. It’s hard to imagine a dream staying alive for 34 years. At times I felt like I was wasting my youth working 12 hour days building my reputation and advancing my career. But then I met the woman of my dreams who shared a similar vision for adventure and travel. I am one lucky dude and I need to let Heidi know that. If things go as planned we will achieve my dream of riding all the way to Panama on a motorcycle and then achieve her dream of exploring South America. Did I say I am one lucky dude? Indeed I did and I must remember that every day for the rest of my life!
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Falling asleep listening to crickets, waking up hearing roosters and exotic birds screeching is to me one of the best parts of adventure travel. I really miss sleeping and waking up in our tent but staying at a lakeside resort in the sub-tropics is even better. Honduras has been a totally unexpected pleasure for both of us and there are parts of the country that are said to be even better. I’m already making plans in my head to visit Honduras in the future. (A guy just walked by with about 6 Bass in a plastic bag, all around 2 or 3 pounds) Yesterday while preparing for today’s ride I spent hours researching Nicaragua. There are a lot of lakes in Nicaragua complete with volcanoes, exotic birds, monkeys, palm trees and lots of hiking trails. We are stoked.

Going from point A to B is getting easier, so we are able to enjoy the things we like doing even more. Heidi and I really have our navigation and riding system down. We are a team……..