501 days on the road is a long time by anyones standards. Does it feel like we've been traveling for that long? In some ways yes, in others no. When we look at the bumps and bruises on the bike or the huge number of photos we've taken we know we've been on the road 501 days. At other times we wonder where the time has gone. Have we really been in Central America for 6 months and ridden over 36,000 miles. Its nearly a year since we were in Canada but it seems like yesterday. People often ask us if we think we've changed in those 501 days and most of the time we would say we are pretty much the same people we were before we set out on this epic adventure of ours (which is what it seems to be). That said, there are changes we notice in ourselves and each other. For one thing non of Chris' clothes fit anymore. As slim fit Chris can now take off his trousers without having to undo them first! I'm much fitter than before we started the trip. There was a time when I struggled to climb the stairs at home after being ill but now I find myself climbing volcanos in my stride (almost). We're both stronger too. At one time it would take both of us to lift the bike up with a full tank of petrol and we'd have to take the luggage off before we could do that. Now Chris can pick it up on his own with a full tank and leaving the luggage on. We think that's close to half a ton!

Our attitudes have changed from what they used to be. On one hand we're far more patient than we used to be if it takes far longer than expected to sort out something - paperwork at a border for example. On the other hand we're far less patient with people's petty little complaints. "There's nothing on TV" or "I want a new pair of trainers". Seeing 4 year old kids filling in potholes in the road with their bare hands and begging passing motorists for a little change in Nicaragua makes you realise what poor is. It also makes us realise how lucky we are. Our attitude to a good dose of intestinal worms has changed too but that's a different matter! We're also more resilient in the face of fear and physical challenges. In Central America alone Chris has been bitten by a snake, humped by a manatee and most recently stung by a scorpion. A little unfortunate as he was stung on his throttle hand, 10 minutes before we set of on a 7 hour ride on the bike. Aside from the intense pain the only side effects were that his fingers, toes, mouth and tongue went numb for 4 hours. The bottom line for us though is that even with the physical and mental changes we've undergone in 501 days we can't have changed that much because given the choice we would choose to do exactly what we're doing now all over again.

Since our last update we've traveled through 6 countries - Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and we're now in Panama. Our favorite was Guatemala and least favorite (overall) has been Costa Rica. However, each country is unique to itself and shouldn't be compared (but we do anyway). Guatemala was a love love country for us while Costa Rica is a love - hate country. 'Guat' as we've lazily come to call it was fantastic in every way. The people, scenery, diversity and climate were all a wonderful revelation for us.

'Costa Lot' as we've come to know it is totally bereft of culture, riding the bike is hell with the suicide drivers and as the name implies its bloody expensive. On the other hand the ecology and scenery is breath taking.

Looking into the steaming cauldron of a volcano is an incredible experience. There have been many highlights for us as we've ridden through these last 5 countries. Most recently has been the volcanoes of Poas, Irazu and Arenal. Arenal is one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world and to stand before it at night and watch the lava come tumbling down and red hot boulders being thrown hundreds of metres into the air was awe inspiring.

The steaming green lakes hydrochloric acid and sulphur of Poas and Irazu were surreal. The waters look like something an artist has washed his brushes in. Poas is in the top 3 of the worlds most acidic lakes and one of the hottest at an average of 70 degrees C rising to 400 degrees C at the fumeroles.

Other highlights include getting as lost as we ever have in El Salvador. Its only now that we come to use the maps we have that we realise just how inaccurate they are. Many of the roads depicted on the maps are more of a wish list of what the government would like to have than what has really been built. While riding to Suchitoto we took one of the many El Salvadorian dirt roads cross country. There's a labyrinth of these roads that crisscross the country but of course aren't on our maps. It proved to be quite an adventure riding along through washouts, landslides and river crossings. At one point we reached a river which was far too deep to cross with the bike but everyone we had asked had told us we were going the right way to reach Suchitoto. There was a narrow suspension bridge crossing the 100 metre wide river but it wasn't designed for vehicles. Having ridden 120 miles down these dirt roads we weren't about to turn round so Chris decided to go for it.
"You're not going to take the bike across that are you?" I said a little worried.
"You wanted adventure didn't you. Well this is it!!" He replied grinning.
I stood and watched as he set off across the bridge with literally no more than an inch or two to spare on either side. The bridge looked pretty sound but the further Chris rode the bike across it the more it swayed from side to side. Every 20 metres or so he would have to stop and let it settle before riding on a little further. To cut a long story short he made it but it was terrifying to watch. Even a couple of local El Salvadorians who waited to cross looked on shaking their heads and making the sign of the cross until he was over. This is less than reassuring as the El Salvadorians are pretty crazy themselves.

We wanted to visit El Salvador as everything we had ever heard about it was negative and wanted to see if there was any truth to it all. We're pleased to say that for us at least it was a really friendly country, scenic and fun. People would flag us down and shake our hand in the middle of nowhere just to say hello and welcome us to their country. The food was good and cheap and many of the towns are beautiful and not as bullet ridden as we thought they would be. We would recommend it to anyone. AK47's are pretty cheap at $100 too.

If border crossings ever became a hobby Central America would be seventh heaven. Each border crossing has its own character and you never really know what's in store. Will it be easy or tough to get through. Will we be ripped off and will it take one hour or four hours to get from one side to the other. Crossing form Guatemala into El Salvador was one border where we thought we would have problems but we couldn't have been more wrong. Greeted with a smile at both customs and immigration we were assisted by english speaking officers who processed all our paperwork in 30 minutes and had us on our way having shared a coffee. On the other hand, having been lulled into a false sense of security we got to the Honduras border with our guard down and paid the price. Hours of hanging around for officers taking unscheduled breaks, money changers trying to rip us off and payments for meaningless paperwork. Hot, tired and both coming down with colds we had to keep reminding ourselves of the rules at any border. Smile, be patient, don't tell the officer he's a tosser even if he is, don't shout and just put it all down to experience. At one point we 'discussed' a requested payment of $20 for two hours before giving up and handing over the cash. We never did find out what that $20 was for.

On the other hand there are the entertaining moments when crossing borders. About to enter Nicaragua we stop at the customs road block, consisting of a 10 year old kid holding a rope across the road. While waiting for the customs officer to come out of the building we were accosted by a prostitute in clothes that hid nothing but got the mind racing. (She was very pretty!) We waved her away but she wasn't for moving. Finally we realised just how bad our spanish still is when we cottoned on to the fact that she was in fact the customs officer and not a prostitute at all. Evidently its an easy mistake to make in this part of the world. Thank God Chris didn't voice his thoughts! At the Honduras border another customs officer, this time not looking like a prostitute but with child in tow, took pity on us and decided to assist us getting through immigration. Without a uniform she looked like any other person at the border and the only clue to others was that she knew everyone. She lead us to the front of the queue for our papers to be processed whereupon a big old(ish)) lady who we stepped in front of took offense. We were happy for her to go ahead of us, especially since we were in effect pushing in but the customs officer was having none of it. She insisted that we should not have to wait our turn. We looked on as the customs officer and the old lady started pushing and shoving each other until the customs officer landed a hefty punch on the old lady's jaw. We sheepishly thanked the customs officer for her "assistance" and everyone else gave us a very wide berth! As we cross various borders we find that it doesn't matter how often you say you're English the various officers just write what they like. So far we have been Dutch, German and Canadian. The bike has been registered as Australian and Italian. Our occupations have been entered as artist, dancer, mechanic and several others. Chris spent his time in Nicaragua as a General in the British Army which is the most bizarre to date. As long as we have the right stamps in our passports and the VIN numbers on the bike are correct it doesn't seem to matter.

Now, as we've decided to make a push for Tierra del Fuego by New Year; each day rolls into the next as we ride south and site seeing has been replaced by adventure and a little adversity. It makes a nice change for us though. We had become too comfortable in Central America which is one of the reasons we've decided to make the push south for Tierra de Fuego. The challenges we've tasted so far will perhaps pail into insignificance by the time we reach there but there's no harm in that. So often its the hard days and the reward of having got though it in one peace that makes our memories for us - not the 763 churches we've seen or the gallons of pina coladas we've drunk for next to nothing (although they are very good!) The fact of the matter is that the miles are starting to tell on the bike, our motorcycle clothes smell like you wouldn't believe, as do we from time to time. On one meal a day the weight is dropping off us and we're run-down physically and mentally. All Chris got for his birthday was a sticker from El Salvador (thanks Horst and Christine) and a cold. We spend day after day getting hot, dirty and lost but it all adds up to what we crave - the unexpected and we're still loving it