We left Antigua early enough, or so we thought for the El Salvador border and ride beyond. As with border crossings we have dealt with in the past nothing can be taken for granted. Border crossings are always a mixture of fact and fiction, buildings unmarked and marked, legit and sketchy helpers. We found the system in place works, just negotiate a fair price for services rendered. Luckily El Salvador works on the U.S dollar currency so no need for money changing. We got thru the border in around 3 hrs. and were just looking for a place to stay down the road in Acajutla. While filling up the bikes with gas a local struck up a conversation with us about his involvement in the BMW bike club in San Salvador, his love of his GS650 and plans for a rally at the Mayan site of Tikal in Guatemala at the end of Nov. Some several hundred bikers are expected to arrive from all over Central America and Mexico.
Carol and I found another no-tell motel in town, but this one had an unexpected twist. Seems no contact with the proprietor is necessary. Simply roll up into the garage, each having a 8hr. duration for a specified amount. Anytime over 8 hrs. is an extra dollar per hour. You simply put your money in a box attached to the wall. If you want food or drink, ring up the front desk and they will provide it, even personal hygiene products. All transactions happen thru the box, that is part of a corridor system between all the rooms. We had one of the best meals and sleeps at this motel.
El Salvador`s road system is clean, fast, and wide open allowing us to move thru the country quickly. Signage however is a problem. If you are from here you know where you are going. Signs indicate the next town but often not the next major town, leaving us to stop often and re-check the map and ask for directions. Many road signs are covered over by tree limbs. We ended up doing some extra kms. getting in San Salvador, a very modern city with major international companies operating here in food, finance, transportation and hotels. We looked at how far we`ve travelled, time spent, and how much further to the base of Chile and have come to the realization that 6months will not be enough. We are making a run for Panama with the hopes of catching a sailing ship to Colombia and the saving of $1500 over flying the bikes and ourselves. pineapple. We made the mistake of getting to border of Honduras too late in the day. The procedure took close to 4 hours, putting us into dusk as we left the border. !0 minutes into the ride we got stopped by the police for their routine checks. The vibe was all wrong, it`s dark now, we are tired and the police are a little sketchy. i hand over my international driver`s licence, remembering Acapulco. Carol hands over a very nice laminated copy of her Alberta license. Cop 1 hands back my license and starts touching differnt parts of my bike, messing with the center stand, trying on my gloves. Meanwhile Cop2 is now writing out a ticket to Carol for presenting a non-original license. I guess he flashed his light over the hologram section of the license and it didn`t light up. Then Cop 1 starts putting on Carol`s full face helmet and I get in his face and tell him `that isn`t necessary`in Spanish. He just laughs at me and then puts the helmet down. Then Carol turns on the waterworks and gets off with a warning. Now it`s pitch black and Honduras has the worst roads we have seen so far, huge potholes litter the road, big trucks riding up our tailpipes and us unsure about accomodations. We finally find a place 1 hr. down the road and eat at a nearby Chinese restaurant. It seemed like a good decision at the time, but!!! The night had us up several times not sure if standing or sitting was the best use of the toilet.