I Fought The Law And I! Won

Day 34 - Day 36
Sunday, April 11 to Tuesday April 13, 2010

Ahuachapán, El Salvador to San Salvador, El Salvador
San Salvador, El Salvador to Nacaome, Honduras
Nacaome, Honduras to Las Peñitas, Nicaragua

Local Oil Tanker?


In some ways El Salvador is my favourite so far. The roads are very good and there seems to be a lot of new pavement, some of which can't be more than a year old. El Salvador also seems to be the most "western" looking of all the countries so far. That's not necessarily a good thing but the infrastructure seems quite good. The country seems quite peaceful and organized compared to the others I've been in so far. My understanding is that not many "westerners" come here, and I was very well received and assisted. I even got a free refreshment from an English speaking gas station owner.

El Salvador National Police


When I stepped out of my hotel room an incredibly loud sound was filling the air. It sounded like about a million crickets all screeching at once. This was interspersed with an occasional even louder sound, akin to squealing brakes. The sound was almost deafening. A quick inquiry with the waitress and I learned that they are Chicharras, large insects that have nothing better to do than obnoxiously announce the arrival of the rains with their noise. What a wonderful experience that was. The security guard pointed out one of the little critters on a tree. They were big enough to be spotted from quite a distance away.

.

Idyllic Road to Lago Cotapeque

.

Lago Cotopeque





Video of Chicharras Singing Away Like Crazy



I followed the Ruta De Las Flores (Route of the Flowers), so named because of all the coffee blooms during the rainy season. The route was very beautiful and peaceful. There are relatively new "tourist viewpoints". No, silly! They’re not for viewing tourists. I stopped at a few and ended up chatting with two cops from the National Police Force, one that has a good reputation in Central America. I took a photo of them proudly holding their guns. There seems to be a quiet pride and dignity within Salvadorians. Though they did all warn me about problems with crime and gangs. Maybe I was just lucky or maybe 20 years of a very brutal war has made them overly cautious.

.

Laguna Llopango


I stayed in the Western Suburbs of San Salvador but did ride into the Centro just for the heck of it ...didn't care for it too much. I'm somewhat burnt out with too many disorganized Latin American cities under my belt. In El Salvador I was having problems withdrawing funds from my account. They only allowed a maximum of $100 per transaction ...oh well.

.

New Friends On The Road


I then followed another route less travelled along the western side of Laguna Llopango. Another visually stunning ride and perfect motorcycle road. One nice turn after another and pretty much no potholes. New pavement all the way. Two men on a little 125cc motorcycle honked enthusiastically as I passed them and then stopped to chat when I was at the next lookout point. A prepaid phone card salesman and his security guard, at least that's what he said. Oh yeah, did I mention that there are private security guards with guns all over the place? The affluent Western suburbs had a security guard with a shotgun every few blocks. Great for asking for directions back to my hotel after I got lost coming home from the restaurant. At least I did feel safe, albeit a bit strange for a Canadian to be experiencing this.

Two Beasts of Burden


Honduras


I Fought The "Law" and I! Won


I had planned on finding a hotel somewhere before the Honduras border and cross in the morning so I could cross into Nicaragua the same day. About 50km's from the border another F650GS came up behind me as I was riding on the shoulder to bypass a traffic jam. Boris, from Guatemala is an architect and he was working on some projects in the area. He was on his way to the border so he offered to let me tag along. GREAT! A Spanish speaking person to get me across the border!

When we pulled up to the El Salvador Migracion, I was immediately swamped by "helpers" and money changers. One kid was so cute; I almost hired him out of pity. He couldn't have been more than 12 years old. Two older helpers were pesky beyond belief. No matter how many times I told them "no gracias, no necesito ninguna ayuda" (no thanks, I don't need any help) they just wouldn't give up and followed me several kilometres to the Honduras border. "For $5 I can make it happen in 30 minutes" offered one of them. I advised them all that I was here for an adventure and didn't want any help. Boris, the Guatemala biker, had waited for me while I took care of the exit formalities. Then he somehow disappeared. I suppose when he realized that he would be stuck there with me for several hours he made the wise decision to take off and let me fend for myself so he could make it to Tegucigalpa before nightfall.

This was a comedy of immense proportions. I had to run around all over to get copies made, then some more copies of newly stamped copies for extra measure. "So, do I need any other copies since I'm heading there?" I asked. "Well, we'll have you make some copies, then we'll send you out again for some more copies" she replied. "Ok".

People seem to make a living in the border area by providing photocopying services. Now it was time to head to Aduana for the entry permit into Honduras for the bike. On the bridge there were two trucks stopped and I thought the last one was some kind of vendor who had set up shop there. So I went around him, ignoring the helper who had followed me from the El Salvador side. As I drove past I realized that there was a police officer looking through the truck. I quickly tucked in front of the truck as the police officer started shouting out towards me. He walked towards me as I sheepishly said "lo siento" (sorry) several times. I tried to explain that I thought it was a vendor and I simply didn't know. "Muy fuerte, muy fuerte, ticket" is all I got as a response. "Licencia y titulo" (licence and title) said the cop. I handed him my laminated copy of a licence and a copy of my bike registration. "No es el titulo" (that's not the title) he said. "si es" (yes it is) I assured him. This went on for about 10 minutes where he kept saying "ticket" and insisting that I only gave him the registration and not the title. He insisted that a "Canadian" title (there's no such thing since it falls under 13 different provincial and territorial jurisdictions) was a little card, and he motioned the size with his hands. I had the presence of mind to lock the bike's steering and all my luggage before putting my keys into my zippered pocket. It was all done very deliberately to show that I was in no mood to pay any bribes. The helper was trying to convince him that it was a genuine title and after starting to show a bit of attitude myself, I calmed down and started quietly explaining that this is all we have in British Columbia. Another "helper" sitting beside me, I had now sat down in a show of defiance, told me that "he could help me with this". "I don't want to talk to anyone right now" I snarled in Spanish.

The Keystone cop now called me over and asked to see the original of my "registration" and still kept insisting that it was not the "title". I sat down beside him and apologized again. The wannabe helper was sitting on the other side of the cop. The cop said "ticket" once more and handed my papers to the helper, whom I had absolutely not hired. "Ah!" is all I said and the helper quickly gave me my papers which was actually a colour copy from my scanner at home. Now the cop was stunned. "You’re not with him" he asked. "No, he's been following me around all over but he's not with me. I don't want any help" I told the cop. "you don't want any help?!?" "No". "But it'll take 6 or 7 hours without help". I was too tired to roll my eyes and just said "I've got plenty of time" Then he told me to go. "What about the licence" I asked. "No! still ticket" he said, making a writing motion into his hand. He thought he still had one bargaining chip left after losing the "registration". At no time did he actually ask for a bribe but also at no time did he actually pull out a ticket book to write the damn thing. So I shrugged my shoulders got on the bike and said "OK, ticket". The worst that could happen is that I'm down one fake licence at a cost of $2. Just before I took off, he came up to me and gave me my fake licence back with a wink that pretty much said "OK, you've won my respect for not giving in.

Of course this is not something you try in countries with real police, such as Canada or the USA. But I simply WILL NOT pay bribes. I'd much rather pay a real fine, even if it's much higher than the bribe.

Corrupt Police: 0
Spunky Scrabblebiker: 1

The importation process for Honduras is not as bad as some people have made it out to be. It took about 1 1/2 hours, including the El Salvador exit procedure and the showdown at the NOT SO OK Corral. But it is a bit farcical with lots of running around for photocopies ...cue up the Benny Hill theme song. The cost is $35US and they charged me $3 for the tourist visa, even though you're not supposed to pay again if you've already entered one of the C4 countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). But the charge is consistent with what others have paid and I was in no mood to argue. A receipt is issued so it's probably not going into someone's pocket.

30 minutes later, along a very good road I found an $18 hotel and told the staff and some government workers, who were checking in, about my police experience. This got them all fired up and angry and you could tell that they had their fill of police corruption. One of the workers apologized on behalf of Honduras and told me that these corrupt cops are "killing the country" for tourists. I actually took the whole thing in better stride than they did, but I do understand where they're coming from. I also get worked up about the things that are wrong with my own country. I later had an interesting political conversation with one of the government workers. His view was that the Central American governments are basically the mafia and he wished that Selaya would return. Selaya is the one that got ousted from Honduras last summer in a coup for simply wanting to ask the people if they would approve a referendum to change the constitution to allow presidents to run for more than one term. It's hard for us to comprehend that this would lead to a coup. It's also hard to comprehend a one term limit, but that's how it is down this way.


I left at 6:30am this morning to avoid the midday heat. It's downright unbearable in the afternoon. I was warned that I would be pulled over many times on this route towards Nicaragua. Friends of mine were pulled over 5 times a few months ago, including one attempt at extorting money for some made up "infraction" ...they refused to pay. Others have apparently been pulled over up to 12 times in the two hours it takes to go from the El Salvador border to The Nicaragua border. I went through 6 police checkpoints and got pulled over ......

Yup! Zero times.

You can tell that Honduras is a lot poorer than its neighbours to the north. Traffic is light and once more includes ox drawn carts and horses on the main highway. It has a distinct "cowboy and farming" feel to it ...at least in this area.

Nicaragua

The "helpers" at the border with Nicaragua were quite refreshing after the "mobbing" I received crossing into Honduras. A polite "no gracias, no necesito ayuda" quickly made them fade away. Am I ever glad that I speak some Spanish. The exit and entry procedure was very easy and took no more than 30 minutes altogether. I had to give up the Honduras permit, which means that I have to pay another $35 on the way back. Nicaragua did not ask for the cancelled Honduras permit and I regretted that I didn't just leave the country to enter Nicaragua directly ...oh well.

"That'll be $7 for the entry visa". "But Nicaragua is a C4 country and I already entered Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras!" I protested. The dry response was quick in the coming "ya tiene que pagar siete dolares" (you still have to pay $7). I paid up and was issued a receipt for $2. When I looked at the tourist visa it said "value $5". So I was issued a receipt for the additional $2 I paid in excess of the value of the tourist visa ...sigh! The vehicle import permit cost me nothing but there is mandatory insurance for $12 to be purchased, that's consistent with what others have experienced as well.

I zipped on towards Leon, intending to stop early to avoid the midday heat. I'm being told that April is the hottest month around here. Great planning brainiac! A beautiful smoking volcano kept me company for a good part of the way was the road skirted it on two sides.



Smoking Volcano



Just before entering Leon there was a chicken bus fully stopped, picking up a passenger. I went to go around him and was right beside him when he gunned it and started making a left turn. They might look slow but they actually accelerate surprisingly fast. I'm always alert with my finger on the horn when I feel there might be some danger. So I managed to honk and he slowed enough to allow me to get around without being crushed. I was intending to go straight through but had now been forced into a bit of a left turn, at a speed where I wouldn't be able to make the turn. I had slowed down enough and was calm enough to quickly assess the situation. I opted to straight onto the grassy divider and came to a safe stop. When I looked over towards the bus, the driver was annoyed with me and made a gesture with his hand. The conductor pointed at his eyes as in "watch where you're going". "NO SIGNAL" I shouted at them.

A bit rattled and wiser, I continued on into Leon. One always needs to remember that the Chicken Bus is at the top of the food chain down here. Rules and courtesy do not apply to them. I wasn't in the mood for a noisy city so I headed 20km's to the beach at Las Penitas. I'm glad I did. Hotel with swimming pool and wild wave lashed beach. This is apparently the best surf beach in Central America.

The security guard has offered to wash my bike for a tip and I'm going for it. It really needs a wash since it's only been washed once in the last 38 days and 10,000km's.