Central America By Motorcycle

Gear and Getting Ready

2010-05-22T03:15:00.000-04:00

My bike in Lake Ann, Michigan

My planned departure date was October 15 of 2008 and the amount of preparation for this trip was pretty phenomenal. Whether everything I bought or got done would be useful or needed remained to be seen.

I had to first get the bike ready, fortunately my 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 (Mr. Spock) was pretty new and didn't require a lot of preparation. This was going to be a long cruise and something to look forward to, its what we were both built for in ways!

New tires and spark plugs, an oil change or two before Mexico and a new battery were about the only things the bike itself needed. Everything else was basically traveling gear; a tank bag for carrying things like maps and credit cards (quick access items that could go right on the gas tank), a new tool bag for the front of the bike, new saddle bags to go along with the three rear luggage bags I already had, extra tail and head light bulbs, a tire repair kit, a new sleeping bag and ground mattress, a hammock, a new lightweight cover for the bike when I wasn't on it, a new Laptop so I could write and store my pictures while waiting to upload them at a hotel or cafe, a new case for the laptop and small things like camera batteries or tail lights that I would want to have before I crossed the border into Mexico (where items are often hard to get or more expensive).

I also ordered maps from a local book store and a place in Vancouver. Its important to get the best maps you can find and unlike in the U.S. where you can get one for a few dollars at any gas station, in Mexico and Central America you often have to go out of your way to find them. And good ones if you can find them are not cheap.

I called ahead to Brownsville Texas to the Kawasaki dealer there and ordered new tires to be put on before going into Mexico. Unfortunately they did not tell me they needed a copy of my credit card before they would order the tires. Because of this the tires would probably not be there on time. Why they didn't tell me this 3 weeks prior when I originally talked to them was the question. So I just ended up having new tires put on before I left Traverse City and put 9,300 miles on them with no problems.

The gas cans, the hammock and the tire repair kit I never needed or used. I also didn't use my camping gear much (maybe twice) because I used hotels a lot for safety, convenience and helping me keep to a schedule. Hopefully on my next trip to Mexico and Central America I'll have more time for touring and involve less hotels and more camping or hostels.
While warm clothing was essential for fall and later winter travel in the states, it was also necessary for the high country in northern Mexico where at some altitudes frost is not uncommon in December. I did not have a lot of high priced techno gear so I went with Carhart bib bottoms for the U.S. part of the trip with an upper coat. I kept the upper coat for Mexico and Central America and sent the lower half of the Carharts home after I reached Texas. Of course rain gear is needed both as a windbreak in cold weather and for the frequent downpours you run into. From Texas to Costa Rica I had very little rain however, most of what I was to encounter would be in Costa Rica itself.

Along with the seemingly endless list of clothing and equipment I also got all the recommended immunizations; Typhoid, Malaria, Tetanus, Hepatitis A and B shots and a Yellow Fever one for Panama (these were not cheap either, costing $300-$400's from the local public health nurse). I considered getting international health insurance with emergency evacuation coverage for myself for a few hundred dollars (which for someone doing extended travel abroad is often recommended, especially on a motorcycle) while looking into insuring the bike for the whole trip (another couple of thousand dollars perhaps). I decided not to purchase either and saved a lot of money by not doing so, this time anyway.

Most motorcycle travelers I read about didn't carry insurance on their bikes in Latin America (though some countries do require you purchase it at their border). The rule of thumb being; don't get in a accident and if you do get in one settle with the person before the police arrive or you could be considered guilty of causing it and your vehicle could be impounded and you put in jail until its cleared up in court. I have never heard anyone actually going through this scenario though, perhaps this is where the infamous official Central American bribe comes into play.

Before leaving on the trip I had to set up my home stay in Costa Rica with Spanish speaking classes as well as my dental work; the reason I was going to begin with. I also contacted the Record Eagle, a local paper here in Traverse City to see if they would want to do a story on the trip (they did and it was published the Sunday before I left saying I was on the road when I hadn't even left yet!). I had to make copies of my passport, credit cards, credit card contact numbers, vehicle title and registration while getting travelers checks. I also had business cards made up with my blog's address that I could pass out as I traveled for those who wanted to follow the trip or contact me later. Along with this I had to leave an itinerary and a way for others to contact me if needed as I traveled (the wonders of email). The lists seemed endless and had to be double checked and added to as new anticipated needs came up.

I ordered a copy of and started practicing a Rosetta Stone CD on learning Spanish. Something to help me get by at least until I could get to Costa Rica and delve into my Spanish classes. Finding the time to practice didn't come easy though and two years later I'm still getting through all 4 sections. While I think Rosetta Stone is helpful, you really have to spend the time practicing with it or it won't do you a lot of good. I use it now in conjunction with my college Spanish classes and I find it very useful.

The rough outline of the trip was to leave my home near Traverse City around October 15 and drive to Brownsville Texas where I would cross the border into Mexico. I figured the entire ride to Costa Rica and back would be about 10,000 miles, give or take a couple of thousand (It turned out to be about 9300 miles total from Michigan to Costa Rica and then back to Memphis where I loaded up my bike on a U-haul for the last part of the trip). The goal was to reach Costa Rica by the 1st or 2nd of November after having traveled along the Gulf Coast of Mexico and into and through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. (I actually ended up reaching Costa Rica about a week late having spent more time in Texas then planned. I was waiting on weather reports and summoning my courage to cross into Mexico and actually start the trip!).

Having reached Costa Rica I would stay with a family in San Jose, take Spanish lessons for a month and finish my dental implant work. In my spare time the goal was to tour and travel Costa Rica on my motorcycle. While most of this part of the plan was sound what I did not foresee was how my Spanish classes which were Monday thru Friday with my dental appointments squeezed in would not leave me much time to sight see. I was more or less a prisoner of my own schedule, much like I had been earlier that year in July when I went for the initial implant work and ended up spending most of my time in the hotel recovering from surgery. I also did not take into account how difficult (even with maps) getting around San Jose and Costa Rica would be. I eventually learned San Jose and most of Costa Rican roads fairly well, but initially I found it almost impossible to get around (lack of street signs and detailed maps being the main problem). On top of this was the fact that November is a rainy season month when many roads can be washed out or travel can be more difficult. So as in July, I was left frustrated with not much time to travel in a place that deserves a lot of exploration.

After a month in Costa Rica I planned to head south to Panama and the canals hoping to not only see them, but also to drive the last of the Pan American Highway before it ends at the Darien Gap, the stretch between Colombia and Panama that most people ferry around due to the wildness and the drug trafficking that reportedly goes on there. I felt like if I got that far on this trip then perhaps on a subsequent trip I could tour South America without back tracking to the Darien Gap since it is so difficult to cross on the Pan American Highway anyway (this way I would have still done the whole Pan American Highway outside of the gap).

By the second week in December it would be time to head north (as strange as this may sound in the middle of winter) back the way I had come and as far north as the winter weather would allow me. I thought if we had one of those winters where we got a stretch of 40 and 50 degree weather for a few days I could use this window to make it all the way back to Michigan on my bike. And even more ambitious If time permitted I might make New Orleans or visit a friend in Key West Florida before Christmas. I wanted to get back and see my family and dad by Christmas and knew I did not have all the time to do everything I might have liked on the trip. As it was I "over planned" and had to cut out several things I might have done had time permitted.

The three weeks before leaving was a very busy time as I continued to prepare. And during this time I went over to Wisconsin for two weeks to help with harvest on a cranberry marsh that I had worked on in the 90's. Having not worked all summer it seemed a good opportunity to earn some extra money before I left. I'm not sure financially the effort was worth going over for two weeks (especially since I left early to come back) but even if not, northern Wisconsin with its hundreds of lakes and wild forests is still one of the most beautiful areas in our country.

The backdrop to the Central American trip was the fact that just prior to leaving I had a close friend die and I assumed responsibility for much of his burial and estate matters. I had quit my job to handle his estate and also to deal with Plantar Fasciitis (swelled tendons) in my feet. If you have not had this condition before, you are lucky. I had developed it while working at a nursing home where I was often on my feet for long periods of time. It is a condition that for some will go away, with others it may require intensive physical therapy, anti-inflammation shots or even surgery to relieve the pain. I'm afraid I fall into the latter category since two years later it is still can be an issue for me.

As with all inflammation conditions diet also is an important factor. I found out just about everything I eat; from meat, dairy and sugar, to bread, coffee and citrus fruits, all contribute to inflammation in the body. In fact when I looked at it, 80% of the foods many of us eat are considered high inflammation foods.

Added to everything else that was going on was the fact that both my parents needed to move into long term nursing and assisted living homes. This put a tremendous amount of strain on everyone concerned; not least of all them. By the time of the trip my mother had passed on and it was now just my dad who needed help. While I would be in touch most of the trip with his AFC home and his care, it was still a difficult time to leave and there were strains put on me and my sisters relationship because she would be the one doing the bulk of the work while I was gone. In the end I decided to go, hoping the extra month gone would not not be regretted.

Lesson #1 in the Art of Learning to Travel Well: If you can, wait till it feels right in your bones to leave, understanding what you leave undone you may well have to come back and do later.

Lesson #2: Define what your travel goals and objectives are and how you plan to reach them. While its possible to over prepare and plan, for the most part being prepared will go a long way in determining the success and enjoyment of the trip.

I would much rather do my homework and plan a trip around the things that interest me while working within a budget to allow them to happen then being disorganized and perhaps running out of money or rushing from place to place missing out on why I went there to begin with. Trips that turn into an exercise in survival are seldom fun. As general's are prone to say, "battles are won on the drill field, not the battle field". In many ways international travel is no different.

Lesson #3 Through discretion and reason learn to develop your intuition, it will always serve you well.

There is a method of walking called Goat Walking, if I remember right it is modeled after goat herders who simply follow their herds and have no agenda for their hike. No personal choice, no schedule, no itinerary, they just walk and leave it up to the herd to take them where they will. Not unlike following the wind, there is a certain wisdom and freedom here that perhaps could best be described as soul travel. When all personal choices and desires are set aside, when the ego is laid to rest with no self will to rule the day, perhaps then the souls needs can be felt and subsequently met.

Used correctly traveling can help us develop an intuitive response to life. A way to go beyond reason to the many subtle ebbs and currents that effect our surface realities. Our intuition often senses these underlying causes of events before or as they happen and will allow us to respond accordingly, if we listen. At the same time travel can stir up every insecurity and fear we've ever had showing us where many of the blocks to intuitive living lie. The art of travel is not easily mastered.

It has been about a year and a half since I finished the trip and I am now starting the process of going back and re-doing posts, correcting grammar and adding insights and useful information to what has already been written. It is the same trip of course but in ways with a new writer and reader that are now making it. For some it will be your first trip, while others hopefully you will find there is value in visiting a place more than once. I know I usually do.

I hope in some way this blog add's to a process of learning to live and travel well and helps reaffirm the need to have awareness in all we do.

d.k.f........Lake Ann 05-10

Next post: Wisconsin

Wisconsin

2010-05-20T00:45:00.000-04:00

One of the hundreds of lakes that dot northern Wisconsin, this one is just north of the town of Woodruff on Hwy. 57

I spent about three weeks in Wisconsin helping with the cranberry harvest before coming back to Michigan to finish getting ready for the trip. My spare time while there was often spent looking for good places to eat since my motel room only had a refrigerator and microwave. There are an amazing amount of good places to eat for the remoteness of the area and unlike cities where most restaurants are centrally located together either in suburban malls or downtown, this area has most of its best restaurants spread out on various small lakes. These small resorts rely on seasonal rushes and consistent patronage of regulars during the off seasons to survive.

My Klepper sitting at Black River Bay on Lake Superior in Michigan's upper peninsula just north of the cranberry marsh.

I got to take my Klepper (folding kayak) out on Lake Superior the first weekend I was there. I was in five foot waves and a freezing wind which was a bit wild, but it did well. I am still learning what this boat and myself can do. It's advertised as one of the most sea worthy boats there is and has been used in all parts of the world under all kinds of conditions. Every time I use it I appreciate more of just how well it is built and what it can do.

Looking out of the Black River Harbor into Lake Superior.

I also took my kayak out into the Lac du Flambeau region which is part of a large chain of lakes in Northern Wisconsin. The Chippewa Indian Reservation and Casino are on the lake and the amount of wild land surrounding this area is as extensive as any place I have been in the midwest; with islands everywhere and free camping its a canoe or kayakers dream. There are wolves, moose, eagles, bear, marten, weasels, reports of cougars along with Tiger Musky fishing that rivals Alaskan salmon fishing.

The hunters and fisherman also seem to like the islands for they too appear everywhere. It is an area that unfortunately seems to always have a hunting or fishing season open so the land is multi/heavily used. In winter there are large numbers of snowmobiles and the rest of year ATV's (all terrain vehicles) seem to rule off road travel. Different users must share the land at the same time and respect each others right do so. If your hiking or kayaking, and you end up walking or paddling in front of a duck blind filled with hunters, it obviously feels less then comfortable. These situations don't give much of a sense of solitude for either party; the reason we like to think we went out there to begin with.

This is a continuing problem for someone wanting to get away from it all and not hunt, fish, or use a vehicle to get around, especially in northern Wisconsin. To just go for a hike or paddle usually means you are going to run into someone and upset their hunting or fishing space. I would be curious to find out if there is a "non land use" season in northern Wisconsin. For someone just wanting to experience the woods without others using it for recreational purposes seems almost impossible to do at times.

Recently in Michigan's Pigeon River State Forest area I noticed signs saying motorized vehicles are not allowed in the whole state forest. This seems more the exception than the norm however and I think part of the reason this rule exists there is because the states only Elk population resides there.

Even with all the activity in the woods northern Wisconsin is a good example of north woods beauty and solitude. With its many miles of bogs, lakes, deep forests and marshes of stunted growth trees one can almost imagine the vast tracts of woods covering the earth for another 500 miles from here to the north until the tree line ends and the thousands of miles of tundra begin; the real true north. For those of you who have never really been far north, like up towards the arctic circle, it is hard to describe the magic that lays heavier and heavier on the land the farther north you travel. Just the angle of the earth and how the sun light illuminates it is unlike any other place. You simply know you are far north by the "feel" of it. This "feel" certainly starts in northern Michigan and Wisconsin and becomes more pronounced the farther north you go.

My second week in Wisconsin was in the 40's and 50's; certainly warmer than my first week there. That week it was cold enough for snow. While working out on the marsh, the wind, rain and cold which all alternated with the sun popping out was some of the most intense work I have done in some of the worst conditions. Even working on a fishing boat in Alaska when I was younger was no worse than this, though a little more dangerous. And like being on a fishing boat the beauty of working out on the marsh and being able to see weather patterns develop for miles around is something special. This watching wildlife while you work is simply not in most job descriptions and is working in an environment that has a raw beauty that is continually changing from moment to moment.

One day after a long day of weather changes we came back to the shop just off the marsh and saw not only a whole rainbow, which is rare enough, but it turned into a double rainbow; it was one of the best ones I've ever seen.

Our shop and yard on the cranberry marsh with a rainbow overhead.

My time there was too short. I left the cranberry harvest a little early due to a conflict with another worker. Like many construction jobs there is always conflicts and scape goats to be found, hung over bosses and a sort of burn out energy that often comes from long hours, both on the job and in the bars. It is a weird environment, not unlike commercial fishing or a host of other construction type jobs done in beautiful outdoor settings. There is hard work and beautiful scenery which feels so good to be out and in is often accompanied by a certain work environment from the coworkers where the job (even in a beautiful setting) no longer seems worth it. Like most jobs one has to be willing to adopt a certain attitude and simply enjoy it and see it for what it is. I'm afraid I didn't quite allow myself to do it this time.

At times one needs to be willing to get in there and rough it up, take whatever comes down the pike and fight for what you believe in. This not only makes us human, it can make us feel alive. For some of us being John Wayne for a day is exactly what the doctor ordered! A good brawl, drunk and roll in the hay can make us feel deeply human again. Not that I advocate getting drunk, fights or promiscuous sex of course. But it is important to recognize the need for these things in our lives and the need to feel human, with all our many faults and virtues.

So again I say goodbye to Northern Wisconsin hoping I will again come back and perhaps put up at least a seasonal home. How few people know of these beauties outside of the midwest. Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, God shed his grace on thee: and don't get me started on Canada's beauty...

Next post.... On a cold October night I start the long journey south....

Night Riding, Motorcycle Yoga and the Mississippi Delta

2010-05-19T00:57:00.000-04:00

My bike in Lake Ann at the beginning of the trip.

Finally I got to leave. While I still had some things to do for the trip, most of what was left was to simply drive. On my way south I stopped to see my dad at the AFC home he lived at in Big Rapids. I took a picture of him and some of the other residents (and yes he still has a way with the women), I also had a picture taken of us in front of the bike, the last time I would see him till Christmas two months later.

Dad and I at the beginning of the trip

Dad and fellow residents at the AFC home in Big Rapids, Michigan

I did 600 miles the first night needing to make up some time feeling I was already running behind schedule. I was suppose to be in Costa Rica the 3rd of November.

The first night was cold (about 40 degrees) and was only bearable because I had bought a new full length Carhart insulated suit while in Wisconsin. Without it I wouldn't have been able to stand it going 70 miles an hour with a wind chill of well.... very cold.

That night (early morning) I made it almost to Memphis, the home of Graceland. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit Elvis. He's still alive you know, like Tommy Lee Jones said in the movie Men in Black, "he just went back home to his planet". As it ended up there were a number of places like this it would have been fun to stop and see, but I wouldn't have the time (the next trip will be set up for sight seeing).

If you who have never rode a motorcycle before and wonder about the experience, what it is like and what is the attraction, especially when doing a long trip like this, I try to convey some of the experience through my posts over the coming two months. Like the night when I was traveling on almost deserted 5 lane freeways on a cold night through Chicago, feeling as if I was floating as I changed lanes and traveled through downtown with its skyscrapers and empty streets at 65 mph.

This floating comes from the accompanying heightened sense of being a couple of feet off the ground with very little separating you from it or the air around you. One does get a sense of "floating and freedom" that is as close to unassisted flying perhaps as one can come. Of course the danger of non protected flight has its drawbacks as well!

At other times I have drove through Chicago at midnight on my motorcycle, through tunnels of semi's on either side of me feeling almost non existent compared to a car or another truck. I felt a connection with the truckers, like maybe there is a certain respect from them for anyone riding a bike in the midst of all these 18 wheeled monsters. Yes, perhaps imagined but knowing we are all traveling a long way through the dead of night alone, feels like a connection indeed.....

Getting gas on a cold night in Illinois.

As for Yoga and Motorcycling, there are two kinds I mention here. One definition of Yoga is the union of creator, and created. When the microcosmic is balanced with the macrocosmic you have a union of the two, and both know each other. With motorcycling this "balance" occurs more easily in ways between the outer and inner. The sense of being out there in all the elements and weather and having to dress accordingly and be more aware of your environment at all times, including the traffic environment, brings about the union of the rider (inner), and the environment of the rider (the outer), into a sort of Yoga, or union itself.

The other Yoga of Motorcycling here is the physical. To do 600 miles on a bike in one night I need to do stretching exercises or I could never do it. I've tried it before and without exercising I could barely move the next day. Last night at each gas stop (I did one about every 120 miles because I only have a 3.5 gallon tank), I did a lot of leg and hip stretches, using my bike as a balance point. I then began to realize it would not be hard to set up a whole series of exercises using different postures either on the bike itself, or beside it. Postures which are somewhat unique to riding the bike or being able to use it as part of the exercise itself. These postures make it easier to target certain muscle groups, especially the ones affected by long rides. Throw in some disciplined breathing, a mantra or two and you have Motorcycle Yoga, developed by and for bikers. The book coming out soon to a Borders near you!

Lesson #4 In the Art of Learning to Travel Well: Understand your needs on all levels and plan on ways to meet those needs.

Joking aside, taking care of ones self while traveling is not only more important in ways then when one is at home because of the extra stresses you often face with long days and odd hours, but like motorcycle yoga, when you find ways to be creative and meet these needs you will feel better and the trip will be more enjoyable. It will no longer be a marathon or a way to sprint from point A to point B.

When I hit Memphis I was about half way to the Mexican border and was planning to stay in Texas one night before crossing. After that I thought my posts might become a little sporadic due to limited internet access in Mexico and beyond.

Next post: Memphis, Cotton Fields and Jim Croce

Memphis, Cotton Fields and Jim Croce

2010-05-18T02:51:00.000-04:00

Passing over the Mississippi River just north of Memphis the weather got decidedly warmer. From 40 degrees the night before to seventy degrees that first full day. The land reminded me of Paul Simon's song Graceland, "The Mississippi Delta, Shining like a National Guitar", was stretching all the way to Memphis.... So cool, very different then the upper
Midwest. Here the land appeared so fertile, and even with November coming on summer seemed to linger. Here I got to see my first cotton fields, at least the first I could remember.

Most of the fields had already been harvested with big boxcar like bins lying at the end of the fields. Other fields with plants with loose cotton in the upper stems looked to be just waiting. A naive northerner, I know very little about an industry that has defined the south for so long.

Cottons fields in late October in Tennessee.

I Didn't see much of Memphis, the freeway heads west to Little Rock before ever going into town. Knowing the Mississippi defines everything around it, I imagined Memphis too must be defined by it's might running right thru it.. I wanted to go into town and try some delicacy of southern cooking, but it would have to wait, again time was not on my side.

Patty Ann's in southern Tennessee

Interstate 40 took me towards Little Rock, cutting across the center of the state of Arkansas and to Interstate 30, and onward to Dallas. Never having been somewhere before all you can do is imagine what it is like when you look at a map. Living in the upper Midwest sometimes I feel we have a corner on the market when it comes to wildlife and wild places, especially the farther north you go. Of course this is true in ways, but I forget how many wild and beautiful places there are everywhere in the United States.

Driving down highways of beautiful tall pine trees with eagles hunting the ravines, with the pine scent and warm sun on me, Jim Croce's song about pine trees lining a winding road in Georgia came to mind. Its funny to travel and visit places I have only visited in songs. Arkansas's beauty was another reminder that no place has the corner on beauty.......it can be found anywhere.

After having gone thru Arkansas and into Dallas at rush hour (just what I didn't want, a big city at rush hour), I traveled through skyscrapers in packed traffic looking for my freeway heading south to Waco. Here then would be the final push to the Mexican border. So I had come about 1500 miles and was north of Brownsville TX, my crossing point into Mexico.

The reservoir just before entering Dallas from the east. I believe its called the Hubbard reservoir (maybe after the astronomer?) In the distant is the Dallas skyline.

Next Post: Texas, Oil Rigs, Palm Trees and a child of God.

Texas.... Oil Rigs, Palm Trees and a Child of God

2010-05-17T03:19:00.000-04:00

I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road. When I asked him where he was going, this he told me. (Lyrics from Joni Mitchell's...... Woodstock)

Steven carrying his cross outside of Corpus Christi

When I first saw Steven carrying his cross along the side of the road just south of Corpus Christi I had to turn around, I thought what a picture to have. Its these out of the ordinary things that make travel so much fun and reminds us of what is normal for us, is not necessarily normal for everyone (thank God, literally in this case). I look at meeting anyone different as an opportunity to learn, especially someone carrying a cross down the highway!

I stopped and offered him a drink of water and asked the obvious, "how far have you come", "how far are you going?". The why's were written all over the cross with Jesus Saves and the John 3:16 header plus he was wearing an Addicted to Jesus T-shirt. He also had that in Spanish on a index card sitting on the cross and read it off to me in very good Spanish.

At first he said he was walking to a place in Kansas some 600 miles to the north. My first impression of someone carrying a cross over 600 miles along the side of the road had me in awe, like wow that is walking the talk!

After a time he pulled out a cell phone and called someone he knew that had set him and his support car up before for a place to stay behind a produce stand, just down the road. He was trying to see if I could stay there instead of paying for a motel room or camp site. I appreciated his thoughtfulness. Then I began to piece together more of his story. He had a phone, he had a support car for the walk, there was 3 or 4 other people helping him, perhaps sharing the cross and the walk. He also talked about usually walking around cities short distances at a time, not doing a 600 mile hike as he said he was doing now. It appeared he was from the Corpus Christi area and this could just be a short get peoples attention type walk. Like maybe it wasn't a 600 mile trip after all. I didn't know since they did seem to be camping as they moved. Either way we had a wide ranging God based spiritual talk which I am prone to do at times (trying to find the universal principles underlying all religion). I appreciated what he was doing and didn't feel a need to judge it, after all, here I am driving a motorcycle 4000 miles to Costa Rica!

I asked him if I could take his picture and he was fine with that, he asked if I would pray with him and I did and then we went our own ways. Me on my motorcycle heading south, him carrying his cross heading north (little did I know on a cold blustery day in December our paths would cross again).

Later that day he called me on my cell phone to make sure I found the place to camp. Maybe it was because I have been alone so much the last week on the road, but a kinship of sorts formed and I was glad we had met.

Maybe like most of us, he was just looking for his own Woodstock. Of course as any spiritual teacher might tell us, there is only one place to look for that, one only needs to inquire within........

Distant Oil Refineries along the coast of Texas.

So I did not see nearly as much as I would have liked to in Texas, perhaps I thought when I come back through in December. A picture of an oil refinery in the distance here, long flat highways, palm trees, cattle ranches and oil rigs come to mind.

The road south from Corpus Christi to Brownsville.

The other thing that stood out for me are the people in Texas, especially the older ones. Being somewhat of an oddity, this lone bike man with a huge load heading God knows where would in other parts of the country either make people stare, or they might even come up and ask where I was going. Here people quite often either waved to me, or just said "hi", never asking anything. My best guess is in this state built on heavy individualism there is a certain respect for someone riding an iron horse to God knows where alone. It just came to me, the Lone Ranger, the Lone Star State, the Lone Bike Man, it all fits into place...... Its polite to say hi, but really its not respectful to ask about someone else's business out here in this country. It well maybe dangerous.

Its hard to describe but my feeling in Texas was that the people had genuinely acknowledged me in a way different then most places I've been, and it has been a nice change.

Oh and Mexico was the next day.....I was thinking

Donations, Dedications and Final Thoughts

2010-05-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

Dad and "Mother Dear"
George French 1921-2009
Lucille French 1925-2007

Alice Harkins 1900-2001
My old dear friend, a landlord with a heart for the homeless, she was like a second family and her home was always open to me.

Lyman Starr, 1952-2007
On his gravestone it reads, "a friend who challenged us to live the truth, an artist who saw the beauty in all things."

Debbie Cole Epstein 1954-1993
I met Debbie in Alaska back in the 70's, she would often speak of her time in Guatemala and her passion for justice there along with peoples rights everywhere. She use to say, "we live in a free country, but it is a marked freedom, it only goes so far and is only for a select few." A close friend who left us too early.

Originally I wanted to reserve this last post of the trip to the memories of friends and family without who's love, caring, or friendship I could not have made the trip to begin with. I also wanted to set up a list of places in Central America and Mexico that I felt good about that people reading this blog could donate to. My idea was to use something like Pay Pal, or another form of a international payment method that would allow readers to choose a charity and be able to make a payment that would go directly into that charities account. Ideally this could be an ongoing source of revenue (though perhaps small) for some of these places that might continue to trickle in for years to come, via my trip's blog and the Internet.

Outside of having written the blog and setting up the list of charities with a way for them to get paid, I would not have anything else to do with the process and it would be strictly between the person donating and the place receiving it. I might occasionally monitor the process to make sure it was continuing to function as intended but that would be my only involvement beyond a certain point. I soon found out that setting up a list of reputable charities while having a donation system for them was more complicated than I thought

Initial possible charities I wanted to focus on were children's orphanages and humane services for stray animal's that are abandoned and in need of help throughout Central America. While traveling I saw animals (dogs especially) that were starving and dying with apparently no service or shelter for them to turn to. Often simply skin and bones, with no food or water, they were slowly dying right on the side of a road or in a parking lot

Other causes I became aware of included a man and his girlfriend in Costa Rica that help prostitutes and abused women to get out of their current situation and begin to start over. And In Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala there are charities and church groups that work with the local Indians, providing schools, education and clothing. There are also groups that raise money to try to preserve animals like the sea turtles in Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica I was warned that orphanages, while certainly being able to use the money, would be more difficult to help this way because the government would not want me to advertise for them, or run any pictures of the children on my blog. Doing so could land me in jail. I was told of another man who did so for whatever reasons and is still in jail. Child exploitation is such a serious problem in many places in Latin America that even well intentioned publicity could be viewed as, or lead to child abuse. On top of this, not speaking the language well and trying to set up an account with a local bank that a orphanage could access could also be misunderstood. In fact, many of the places that might need money or help the most are the most ill prepared to receive it directly. Many do not speak English, may not have bank accounts, or use electronic funding. The logistics to involve them in a process they may not understand can be arduous to say the least. On top of this, many so called charity sites that advertise for certain causes never got back to me, or may not even exist anymore.

So instead of a possible auto pay system between the reader and the charity itself I have put up a donation widget. This will allow people anywhere in the world to use their credit card to make the donation to the Central America by Motorcycle site itself. It will also allow me time to research and select organizations and people who I think will use any money sent to them wisely, while giving their addresses and or links for people wishing more information, or a way to donate directly to them.

I would also like to see this site generate revenue for itself, and since up to this point I have not used advertisers, I would hope that if you have found the site to be useful, entertaining, or you would like to donate something towards it or a charity in Central America (places that are yet to be named), that you might consider doing so.

I believe the site has a lot more potential than just a blog about a motorcycle and dental trip. Perhaps it will morph into a focus on Latin American news, including travel with a information base for organizations that need assistance. Or perhaps a book, that not only deals with travel in Central America, but also explores the needs and reasons for seeking healthcare outside of the U. S. to begin with. Or maybe better, simply a way of sharing between cultures.

I again thank the people who followed my trip and my blog from beginning to finish. Knowing there were people who were interested in what I was writing about and the trip made me feel I was never alone on the trip and also gave me a responsibility to some sort of journalistic truth. One friend of mine said he could not wait for my next blog to come out. It was like a story he didn't want to end and coming home to read about the trip helped him get through the long Alaskan winter, high praise indeed. For anyone who writes, the most rewarding thing of all is to know someone is actually reading what you wrote and has gotten something out of it. Just about every writer at times wonders; Is anybody reading me? Is anybody out there? Feedback does mean a lot.

I am reminded to thank the different people in the world travel motorcycle community that left comments and encouragement during the trip. A retired police officer in Australia planning a similar trip, Dr. Greg Frazier who is now on his 6th trip around the world on a motorcycle and writing another book. And the many others who took the time to leave comments on the site, reminding me I was not alone.

And finally to say thank you for all the people who came before us, even as far back as the early 1900's when a man first circumnavigated the world on a motorcycle when there were more trails than roads.There have been many who have paved the way for us, allowing us to realize what is possible. Probably no one has promoted world motorcycle travel or done more in this regard than Grant and Susan Johnson, the creators and editors of the Horizon Unlimited motorcycle web site. Both of them spent 13 years living off of their motorcycles and going around the world. Since that time they have been advocates for world motorcycle travel, creating a huge interactive web site, teaching and having rally's worldwide. If you think you want to take a bike around the world or on an international trip, their site is the place to learn how to do it. The site tries to capture and promote that pioneering spirit. That longing for freedom and self determination that seems to go hand in hand with the solitary long distance motorcycle traveler out on a lonely road or trail winding their way across an African desert, a Mexican mesa, an Andean pass, or a Mongolian plain. Which no doubt someone is doing right now as you read this.

One beautiful clear morning in the mountains of Honduras by the Nicaraguan border on my way back to the states I was in a pine scented forest overlooking beautiful valleys and I seemed to finally understand what it must have been like for early explorers when they experienced these exotic places for the first time. Places unlike any other they had seen before. How the sense of adventure and hardship at having reached them in the first place made it all seem worthwhile, while knowing they would never be the same for having made the trip. Their restless spirits would need to be fed and satisfied time and time again (for good or bad!) with more travel and adventure. And probably like them, if our world travel experiences make us feel too different than our friends and family who stay home then not unlike the misunderstood soldier coming home from war, or the lone mountain men of old, the solitary rider too may come in from the wilds for the occasional rendezvous to conduct business and socialize with other like minded souls, but then may feel the need to go back out to travel or get outside the norm again. This solitary spirit felt in the world of long distance motorcycle travel, while not unique in history, is somewhat unique in this day and age of tourism and controlled travel. It is in this form of travel that this spirit and frame of mind has found a way to manifest itself again.

Perhaps what we fear most with travel is the need to confront ourselves. Having done so successfully there then becomes many possibilities. A word of warning for those who wander too far.....

The difference between the person who has climbed the mountain and the person who has not, is the person who has knows what's up there......from an Eastern saying

At its best travel is about learning and sharing, an exchange between the traveler and the place being visited. It is about a personal transformation that slowly sets in as unknown environments and different life rhythms gradually give one a new perspective of the world and themselves. It is when one begins to understand ones own home and culture on the planet is but a small part of a much bigger whole. And once having experienced one piece of this puzzle, we want to see more, we want to know how it all fits together. This is a journey once started, seems to have no end; an adequate metaphor for life itself. A journey that might be compared to what our inner child might want to see and experience if we could but let it out again. The world beckons us to explore, to be young again, to take the risks of growing and to keep moving from the old to the new. Travel for all its apparent challenges, risks and discomforts, always appeals to our youth, the dreams of new possibilities.

Unfortunately too often in our history travel has resulted in exploitation, conquest and destruction of the people and resources encountered; to some degree all these problems still remain. Like the giant tour boat with 5,000 people on it that visits a small island, the impact from its visit affects everything from the local economy (building up an unhealthy dependence on it) to the environment itself. And to say there is a healthy exchange of cultures in tourism is a stretch. It is unfortunately too often more about how each culture has learned to exploit the other one.

I remember watching a loud group of Harley riders coming down from what I assumed was California in December in El Salvador on my way back to the states. The contrast between quiet humble locals I had met and the hospitality they offered and this very loud group of bikes, seemingly imposing their own cultural will on another was striking. It seemed at least for a moment, the conquistadors had returned, maybe they had never left....

None of these observations are to condemn tourism or even motorcycle travel (though at times I felt part of the problem as well). The exchange of ideas and knowledge between different cultures has been the foundation for change and growth in civilizations for thousands of years. Rather they are ways to re-affirm the need to travel respectfully and like a being a guest in someone else's house, act accordingly.

It is also a warning that while adventure travel and self fulfilling goals can be important in some regards, they need to be used in conjunction with an awareness of a bigger picture. Our planet, and indeed our very existence seem to be moving into a crisis never before faced in our history. With global warming, overwhelming planetary pollution, and more species of plants, animals, cultures and whole ecosystems being threatened each day with extinction, the times seem to suggest we give up some of our personal goal orientated approach in favor of a more holistic, spiritually based one that is inclusive, whether than exclusive. In other words we need to be less selfish and perhaps take a different perspective to how and why we travel to begin with. If this pioneering, self determining individualistic spirit has been part of the problem all along, then it most likely will have to be part of the solution. Either through being partially given up, tempered or re-directed, a change will need to be made if any long term solutions to our current problems are to be achieved.

The only thing perhaps scarier then the precipice we seem to be resting on, is the fact that so few of us are aware of it, or if we are, feel we can't do anything about it.

Of course this really starts with how each one of us lives our own lives and the choices we make. It is how we choose to change or not change. The worldwide community of travelers in general, and the motorcycle traveling community in particular, can be part of a solution if we in some way bring attention to things like social injustices, environmental concerns, and our responsibility to travel respectfully. If we take the time to look, learn and listen to the places we are traveling in (perhaps the best and only reason to go to begin with), then perhaps our travel can make a difference.

With every corner of the planet having seen a footprint or been part of a satellite image, and no plant, animal or culture left unaffected by “modernism”, we may wonder if there really are any solutions and if there are what they might be.

As we move further into radical times with the need for seemingly radical solutions, perhaps it is time to put a moratorium on all unnecessary travel and tourism, and give the planet a chance to recover its human and animal cultural diversities and uniqueness again while just letting other things run their course... A century or two should do the trick.....d.k.f.

I feel like I am sending conflicted messages here because I am conflicted myself. Part of me promotes a message to travel, learn and explore. Marvel in the diversities of cultures and life on this planet, while challenging one’s self and one’s fears. Certainly there is something vital and necessary in our seeing other places and meeting other people and cultures. On the other hand I see the problems of an industry based on tourism that often contributes more to cultural and environmental problems than it solves. An industry that may need a total overhaul. And no matter which course may seem appropriate, there are the warnings from authors like Jack London, Rachel Carson or scientists like Jacques Cousteau who told us years ago our planet is dying a little more each day. Apparently this idea of us conquering nature needs to replaced with us conquering ourselves if we are to survive. For everyday we lose a little more of something of our planet that is ancient and wise, parts of ourselves that may never be replaced.

When we can learn to cry for every blade of grass on the planet, then we will have learned something…Grandfather, Tom Browns Indian Guide.

Life is never about what we do, as much as it is about how we do it. If we can learn to travel and live wisely, then no problem, we can do whatever we want. If we don’t learn this art of living, then no matter what else we do will matter. The goal then of good travel should be to listen and learn from the places we visit. Listen to what they are telling us about ourselves and let us see the connection that all things share. This then must be the art of good travel, understanding our deep connections with all things, all people and expressing a reverence towards them.

May we learn to travel well.....

Doug French
Lake Ann, MI
U.S.A 2010

People of Central America

2010-03-31T00:12:00.000-04:00

Starting the trip off of course was my favorite person, my dad.

While Stephan was not "of" Central America, he was someone special I met while in Texas. In fact I met him going both ways, on the way back we were both frozen from the winter wind and he bought me pizza before we went our separate ways.

I stay’d at Daniel's hotel in El Guadalupe, México. When I got to his place the night before in a rainstorm after two very hard days of driving I was about to turn back. After a good night of rest and lots of advice from him, I continued on my way the next day.

Yes finally, one of my last posts on this trip is going to cover one of the most important parts of the trip, the people. I often thought as I was traveling how it was the grace of the people of the country I was visiting that got me through ok. When your thousands of miles from home, don't speak the language, and are totally reliant on others patience and goodwill to give you directions, dinner, gas or a place to stay one gains a certain gratitude for others tolerance and an understanding that most people are curious and friendly, not out to get you. At times a feeling of vulnerability in such circumstances seems to contradict this fact. But the truth is we all have fears of the unknown but letting these fears rule our relationships with others or letting them stop us from visiting unknown places only means we don't get to meet unmet friends or experience ourselves in different ways. So much is lost.

Thanksgiving (el Día de Acción de Gracias) at Intensa in San Jose, saw people from all over the world observing the day with a school dinner.

In a long post earlier I devoted a lot of time to discussing the crime in Central America and Mexico, its causes, its consequences and how people learn to live with the reality of it and still go about their daily lives. This could be said about any place in the world, even in war zones where people adjust in order to live. Often its in these adjustments to often very cruel and harsh realities is where we find out the most of what humanity is about. Regardless of circumstances people still share common values that are no different than our own. They want to protect and honor their families, they wish to work and support themselves and they hope to be a little farther ahead tomorrow than they were today. And as I found out they can also extend warmth and hospitality to a total stranger who is passing through their country on a motorcycle and doesn't even speak their language.

Vera Cordero, myself, and Robert Patterson at Intensa, the Spanish Learning School in San Jose.

Mireya, one of my friends and teachers at Intensa.

While its true many people were not benevolent and many sized me up for what they could get from me; these for the most part were a minority and confined mostly to border crossings, cities, or heavly visited tourist spots. Most people like here in the U.S., are concerned with the business of their daily lives, not ripping travelers or strangers off, and some having no fear of someone new, went out of their way to offer directions or help.

Joleni, one of maids from Nicaragua in San Jose.

Whether it was an older couple in Texas who made eye contact with me and said "howdy" at a time when I was thinking others might think I was weird for being alone traveling on my motorcycle, or a local Honduran man on his lunch break posing beside his bicycle while I took a picture, I often found friendliness, or at least curiosity everywhere I went, if I was open to it.

I stopped to take a picture of this mans bike at home for lunch, he and his companion came out and allowed me to take a picture of him. To me I will always remember him for allowing me to do so without reservation. It gave me an image of his home and self to take with me, a hospitality that went against common fears of traveling in a foreign country.

I also found border "helpers" and officials that would be out to get everything they could from an inexperienced gringo, while at the same time find a man who was drunk who would turn out to be one of the most honest people I would meet, warning me that I was being ripped off by these guys. In the same border situations I would find young boys who would honestly help one for only a few dollars while the "big boys" weren't around. And as I left the situation I realized both the "big boys" and the little ones would both choose to do this dirty work for another day, or perhaps a life time. It was a sobering thought, to make a living off of overcharging others for services needed at a hot, busy border crossing. I could drive away from it, they would, or could not choose to.

One of my fellow passengers on our tour bus in Costa Rica, Elji was 84 and from Finland. He originally wanted to ride a Harley from the states to Argentina, but didn't want to wait 6 months for paperwork to go through. He ended up flying down to Costa Rica and then planned on taking a freighter back to Europe via Africa (or at least that was the plan). He did email me later saying he got back to Finland, had a new girlfriend, and they were heading up to Holland or somewhere for the weekend on his Harley.....

A lady from Japan that was on our tour. She was touring with a Syrian man (who had gotten kicked out of the country for refusing to go in the army), another Japanese friend and one other who were all students in Houston.

Most people were beyond curious about me and my bike and would either simply stare, or approach me. While a Kawasaki 750 is not considered a big bike in the states, many in Central America have never seen anything so big. I had soldiers at check points get on it for a picture taking, or a policeman in Nicaragua rev the engine to see how powerful it was while I stopped to ask him for directions. Security guards at hotels would dutifully guard it with their weapons like they guarded everything else on the hotel grounds. I'm sure for the most part I was thought of as crazy for traveling so far for no apparent reason, and on a motorcycle of all things. At best I was probably considered not worth hassling or robbing since what could I possibly possess that was worth anything, at worst they just thought I was crazy.

My bike was usually well guarded at some of the nicer hotels I stay’d at, like here at The Comfort Inn in El Salvador.

Perhaps the most memorable and lasting friendships came from my stay in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since I was staying with a family, taking Spanish language lessons and having dental work done all over a period of 3 weeks I got a chance to know a lot of people and form friendships. At the dental office that I visited for 5 weeks over a years time I got to know Melissa a young girl wanting to be a dentist who worked there, her father who was a driver and also the staff who made me feel quite at home.

One of our maids, Anna, at my homes stay in San Jose

The family I stay’d with had several people who were from other parts of the world who were also staying there, Jeff from Taiwan became a friend who I am still in contact with. One maid was from Nicaragua and the other two were from Costa Rica and they all had incredible work ethics. I got to meet the owners of the house's whole family who joined us for dinner on Sunday nights. Two sons, one is a senator the other an engineer who brought his wife who had a degree in marketing and their son.

From left to right, myself, Jeff from Taiwan, and Anna from the U.K. at my home stay in San Jose.

Later, when I came back in May for a follow up visit to the dentist, Jeff and I rented a car and went up to the Arenal Volcano for a couple of days.

Intensa the Spanish speaking school I attended had many warm and friendly people who did everything they could to help with my stay. Celebrating Thanksgiving at the school with people from all over the world was a highlight of my trip. Many of these people are still friends and contacts.

Llami (above) and Marceia (below) were both my teachers at the school.

And then there are those who are not Costa Ricans who were either traveling there from other countries or had started businesses there. From business owners in Puerte Viejo on the Caribbean side and hotel owners up in the mountains of Monteverde, I found like minded people who were trying to start a life for themselves away from some of the stress of their former lives. Often with mixed results, and for some still in a process of evolution. This is one part of the trip that is hard to explain, the different pace of life found in Central America and foreigners attraction to it.

My neighbor from Germany at the Santa Rosa National Park campground, where by the way, it was $2 a night to camp.

Either way, for the miles, trials and smiles, I never felt physically threatened (except by Guatemalan bus drivers) and many of my contacts with locals were genuinely friendly and even with the language barrier went ok. Again, not speaking their language and being in their land, it was I who seemed to be asking a lot.

Julieta (standing), who owned the house where I stay’d in San Jose, she was also one of five families that owned this orphanage close to her home. The lady sitting is one of the people who runs it.

To all the people who extended this hospitality to me, and the ones who didn't I am indebted to. They all taught me something about myself and made me understand and reaffirm that while we all maybe different in ways, we all have more in common than any differences. I also would like to thank the many people who followed this blog and supported me and gave me feedback and encouragement that not only helped me realize the trip was very doable to begin with, but also made me want to write about it and share it. They reminded me I was never really alone on this trip. It really idd make a difference.something about myself, themselves and their own lives as well as perhaps a part of God's grace that allows us to it with others.here one more day and be with each other.

And finally, one of the many "Our Virgin Mother of Guadalupe" shrines that are on the side of the road all over México.

Technorati Tags: People

Animals of Central America

2010-01-11T06:30:00.002-05:00

There were green alligators and long necked geese.
Some humpyback camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and eli-phants, and sure as your born...
The loveliest of all was the unicorn......
Irish Rover song....

No I didn't run into these guys on the trip
but seemed to have run into everything else....

A Pair of ? Parrots resting at the butterfly farm in Costa Rica.

Perhaps a Macaw at the same farm.

The infamous Blue Maroth Butterfly of Central America on the butterfly farm I visited; followed by a few more pictures of residents of the farm.

Shhhh................ its the butterfly nursery......

The first real differences in wildlife I noticed from what I am used to coming from Michigan was as I approached the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. Here there were signs saying not to feed the alligators as you approached certain small pools with walkways along them. These were in the National Wildlife Refuge of Laguna Alascosa, one of the last natural "coastal marsh prairies" left in the U.S. Here I was also treated to seeing the endangered small cat species, the Ocelot, as well as pelicans, whooping cranes, and a large variety of coastal birds; including the Piping Plover which is an endangered bird and is protected in Michigan as well.

A Pelican along the gulf coast.

A rare sight, an Ocelot in the Laguna Alascoca National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Vultures working a Caribbean beach in Costa Rica.

Outside of Vultures, Eagles and lizards that ran on their hind legs (looking like with shorts and tennis shoes they could be entering a race), and a friendly scorpion in my motel room in Nicaragua, most of the really "exotic" wildlife I saw came in Costa Rica.

Animals on the road or by them are very common in Central America.

Unfortunately not all the animals one encounters on the roads are alive.

Costa Rica has one of the highest concentrations of different animal and plant species in the world. To say one isn't in Kansas anymore is an understatement. From big snakes to big spiders it seems everything including plant life is not only larger, but in huge variety; Costa Rica has about 4,000 different plant species.

A local greets the bus for a "photo shoot" for tourists, for a dollar.

Also greeting the touristas was the local tree sloth, who at the rate it was moving may still well be there; it had moss growing on it it moves so slow.

Giant Rhinoceros Beatles and another large crawler were at the butterfly farm in Costa Rica.

Walking Sticks

As well as..........

Walking Spiders

Are all part of the insect life in Costa Rica

Examples of the variety of animals here include 63 different species of humming birds (according to one local), beautifully colored and vocal jungle birds of all kinds, many kinds of butterflies that can can be seen in farms where they are hatched, beetles and spiders as big as a small hand, Jaguars, Spider and Howler monkeys (there are more kinds of monkeys), crocodiles, boa constrictors, pythons and snakes of all kinds, walking sticks almost as big as one, bats (some with two foot wing spans), tree sloth's and sharks, whales, jellyfish and the incredible variety of life that lives in the tropic oceans; one could go on and on, if it lives on planet earth, it is probably in Costa Rica, in one form or another....

A few of the many varieties of hummingbirds in Costa Rica

The world's smallest bats, only a couple inches across sleep on this tree along the river during the day.

The dark outline of a Howler Monkey resting along the rivers edge can be seen as well.

Supposedly the only bird in the world without natural oils in its feathers, it has to dry out between dives for fish. (I don't have its name!)

Also along the waters edge were Caimens (spelled wrong no doubt, but small alligator like lizards), assortments of other different kinds of lizards including iguanas resting in trees everywhere. Again the variety, complexity and beauty of the plant and animal life in Central America is hard to fathom, let alone capture in simple photographs or words; one needs to experience it for oneself.

I often think of John Muir, the famous botanist and naturalist that along with a knapsack and a loaf of bread, walked out west to study it, later convincing Washington and the politicians the need for National Parks and preserving wilds like the Redwoods before it was too late. One of my heroes, not only for his passion for the wilds and preserving them, but his ability to go lightly into them, taking very little with him, yet finding ways to forage and thrive while in there. And as he put it, "live like a king in the wild with the abundance of natures gifts, while living in the splendid beauty that also is part of god's gift to us": 21st Century men and women have so much to learn from this philosophy...and reality.

One might argue we may not fully be healed as people without wild places to go to and reconnect to the health and vitality which nature represents. This vital "life force" in which we seem to get cut off from more and more each day as another shopping mall goes up, or more raw sewage and hospital supplies get dumped into our oceans, is more than just vital for our existence. It is like John Muir himself tried to tell us; without it we may exist, but without embracing, preserving or understanding our deep spiritual connection to all things wild, we shall surely spiritually die. We will as we have let many of our societies make us, be part of the walking dead. We have lost our profound and deeply connected place in the universe. For indeed if as CSNY told us, "we are all Stardust", shouldn't we all know this, not just believe it?

One of John Muir's dreams which he never was able to do was walk down to the Amazon. As a botanist Central and South America represented the "Holy Grail" of all plant life on the planet. And he could have spent the rest of his life exploring it, but became too sick later in life to make the trip.

This richness and diversity is something one begins to see for real as one explores Costa Rica. It is still here, and Costa Rica has been smart in making some 23 National Parks or so; It is as if California decided to add another 20 Parks. It ties up a lot of land and makes Costa Rica a sort of Disneyland with National Parks, dependent on tourism to generate its economy with protected lands that require fees just to enter. One might have to pay to even walk up to see a waterfall on a trail, something inconceivable in the U.S. unless one is in a National Park and has had to pay to get in.

Its wilderness is a little too controlled for my taste, especially having lived in Alaska. But this type of reality seems to extend around the world. Either land is exploited and raped and polluted, or it is overly controlled and exploited for its beauty through tourism. Both are sad realities in themselves. The days of the mountain man, where like John Muir, one could just go out and live alone in solitude in unpolluted beauty, or uncontrolled lands are fast coming to an end (I know some of this is romanticism, most lands have thousands of years of human history associated with them, but one wonders if human history, or the planets, have ever faced such population density, pollution or overall challenges they now do). A sad testimony to our stewardship; something Native Americans have also known and felt the results of.

So a small tribute to John Muir, and perhaps Native Americans who according to new evidence could have been in the Americas for as long as 35,000 years. Also a suggested possible solution for the rain forests of the Amazon, maybe like Costa Rica, it should be turned into a giant National Park with the entire world helping set it up, patrol it and giving land and proceeds to local indigenous populations to preserve their land and way of life. Unchecked capitalism has always been natures worst enemy; like Costa Rica it could provide some solutions as well...

I hope as Adventure Logs continues to evolve and perhaps more writers contribute, and more adventures are completed, part of its purpose will be to raise awareness of the planets plight, the natural world as well as humans, and perhaps at best offer a few solutions and inspirations to transform ones own world, inside and out, and in so doing continue transforming the planet. Or at worst, provide the arm chair traveler a way to experience new things....while providing a few laughs at my attempts at divine understandings.

10,000 monks chuckle.....

Good travels, and good awareness....

Trip Reflections, "continued"

2009-09-04T16:03:00.005-04:00

The Geography and Countries

I left Northern Michigan in late October, the end of the fall and beginning of the cold weather going into November. The weather was very cold, in the 40's at night until I got below Memphis into 60 and 70 degree weather. The forests of the north gave way to the farmlands of the mid west which turned into the Mississippi Delta and cotton fields and then turned into Pine forests again in Mississippi and Arkansas, not unlike the ones I had left in Michigan.

In Texas it turned to more brush with less trees and as I headed south along the gulf coast I discovered the beauty of "Prairie Marsh" for the first time. Long areas of protected shoreline that are ecologically driven by its close proximity to the ocean. At one time there were millions of acres of it in the U.S. Now just a few areas of protected shore are left in their natural state. The peace and serenity of this wild place with its large bird populations and even the endangered small cat, the Ocelot, combine for its own unique beauty,it reminded me in ways of Cape Cod in Massachusetts'. The food also changed, most places served fresh seafood and I got spoiled quickly eating great seafood dinners every night.

As I entered Mexico, at the Browning/Malamoros border it was hot and as I made my way south along the gulf side of Mexico the country did not offer up many trees. Rather it had a four or five foot tall covering of some sort of brush and I remembered thinking that it would have to be a bear to try to hike through it or simply walk from one hill to the other. Its all very pretty, and looks very inaccessible. Further down the coast one begins to get glimpses of the Caribbean while the warmth and humidity of the tropics gradually begin to take hold. The Dry rolling brush hills give way to larger interior mountain ranges that eventually the farther south you travel roll down to the Caribbean covered in jungle: Very tropical.

Cutting across South Central Mexico from one coast to another one encounters lush rain forests and winding roads passing high up in the mountains. As you approach the Pacific side and the mountains empty you out into long dry canyons with panoramic views I spotted a lizard running across the road on its hind legs, unfortunately I think I ran over it.....the first exotic wildlife of Mexico, and I kill it. Coming down from the mountains the heat continues to soar and everything seems to get higher and drier. Apparently all the moisture from the Pacific just blows over the mountains to be dumped on the Caribbean side. And speaking of wind, as you come down from the mountains on the Pacific side you are greeted by hundreds of giant electric producing windmills, and one soon sees why.

On the this side of Mexico you pick up the Panama Highway and make the 15

Technorati Tags: Trip Reflections,Geography,Mountains,Travel Route,Costa Rica,El Salvador,Guatemala,Honduras,Miexico,Nicaragua,Arkansas,Illinois,Michigan,Mississippi,Memphis,Texas

0 mile run or so down along the Sierra De Soconusco mountain range to Guatemala. The crosswinds coming off this range easily hit 60 mph's and were so strong I almost had to stop my bike. The Sierra De Soconusco's reminded me of the Sierra's in California, big, rocky and dry. They seemed to be inviting one to camp out and explore; for me perhaps on another trip.

As one continues on through Guatemala, it seems to get hotter and greener, there are more sugar cane plantations and a long majestic row of active volcano's line the country from one side to the other as you pass them by. Actually volcano's stretch from part of Mexico, all the way through Central America. The route I took through El Salvador brought me right along the Pacific for some of the most beautiful ocean scenery of the trip, complete with crashing surf, surfers from around the world, very friendly locals and long cool dark caves cut through volcanic rock to allow the highway to pass through.

Honduras was hot and dry, though the route I took brought me climbing up high into the mountains and cooler air as I approached the Nicaraguan border. The smell of Pine trees and cool mountain air reminded me of the states and amazed me that I would find this type of fauna and mountain air not far from the stifling heat of the lower elevations. Of course this was true in all of Mexico and Central America, the coasts and lower elevations were extremely hot and humid but the higher elevations usually offered some respite from it.

       Nicaragua while hot, was mostly dry and does not take long to cross on the west/south side, maybe six or seven hours at most. Lake Nicaragua is by Managua and seems like a huge inland sea, and I could imagine the Lochness might live there or something.
       Arriving in Costa Rica I ran into my first rain since the gulf coast of Mexico, things got even greener, more mountainous and wetter fast. Costa Rica has a lot more mountains packed together than the other countries I had been in, it holds the weather in them that comes from the oceans it rests between, creating lush rain forests and waterfalls. Like the other countries, the Pacific side appears to be the drier, while the Caribbean side gets all the rain and washed out roads. The country also has more of a variety of plant and animal life than just about any place on earth. Whether in the ocean or on land, animal or plant, it or its relative probably lives here.

On my return trip home I went much the same way as I had come except when I got to Mexico instead of heading up the gulf side again as I had come down I decided to swing over to Acapulco, heading up the dry mountainous Pacific coast. This side had better roads but also many more military check points. Apparently this is the preferred route for tourists and drug traffickers alike. Still, the long sweeping vistas overlooking the Pacific and good roads made the trip much faster and smoother than the gulf side with its poor roads and construction.

From Acapulco north to Mexico City the toll road while as well made as any interstate in the U.S., winds deep into the mountains and crosses breathtaking gullies on truly architectural wonders of bridges. These bridges and the expanses they cross are almost mind boggling, some crossing gorges that seem to be a mile deep. Meanwhile like other places south of the border the mountains give some reprieve from the heat of the coasts; the morning air on my motorcycle was almost bitter cold.

After somehow negotiating Mexico City, I headed north into the Sierra De Pachucas, some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. It was a couple of hundred miles of grueling mountain roads, with sometimes 6 or 7 thousand foot drops to the sides. At one point a truck and car had gone off one of the ledges and the bystanders with their expressions told me things were not good as I passed.

As pretty and as cold as this country is with almost frosty weather in the morning (the only place south of Texas I thought we needed heat in my motel room at night), it is also hell to drive through if you are trying to make any time. The up and down driving on hairpin curves often never being able to go more than 10 or 15 miles an hour mile after mile became more of a torture than a wonderful drive. I was wanting to get to Texas and get back in the states after so long, but the truth is I would love to have taken more time or later be able to go back to this area on a short trip from the states. It reminded me of the Swiss Alps with just fantastic alpine scenery along with Peruvian looking locals wearing heavy garments, cold weather garments that I hadn't seen anywhere else in Mexico. Much of the area is a National Park with campgrounds and hiking trails. Maybe a full days drive south of Brownsville Texas and Mexico's Malamoros. A place to get away from some of the craziness of other places in Mexico and do a little exploring in an incredibly beautiful area.

       Literally after the Sierra De Pachuca mountains it was all down hill to Tampico and on to Malamoros, Brownsville and back to the states. I had feared tackling Acapulco and Mexico City, and then these mountains, but somehow got through them all and was really glad I took the "chance" to go a new way and see more of Mexico.
       Emerson once said, "seek the new path and fear not, there is nothing new in the known". (or something to that affect.....).
        Or another one I like from somewhere is, "maybe strangers and strange places are just new friends and places you have not yet met, or been."

Trip Reflections

2009-08-28T07:01:00.002-04:00

The Bike

My bike, a 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 did as well on the trip as I could have hoped. While many others taking similar trips use "dual sport' bikes, bikes that are a cross between an enduro and a street bike, that have nobby tires, stronger shocks, a larger gas tank, higher ground clearance and are generally built to withstand off road use as well as rougher streets and highways better than a street bike could. Even so, my bike "Mr. Spock", held up well, though the 10,000 mile trip definitely put it through some stress.

I had new tires put on before the trip, changed the oil twice on the trip as well as the spark plugs, and had a sheared off radiator drain plug replaced on my way back. Outside of that I didn't do any work to it, though after getting it out again for the summer this year for the first time after the trip I noticed the front end probably will need to be rebuilt soon, both mufflers had come loose, and the battery needed to be replaced. The shocks probably will need work at some point, all things a new dual sport may not have had problems with since they are built more for rough roads. Also many of the speed bumps in Mexico were high enough that I often bottomed out with them, something a dual wouldn't have a problem with.

I saw and heard of Harley's making the trip, as well as Goldwings and even small bikes like 125 cc's believe it or not. I think the only thing more important than what kind of bike you choose, is how strong your desire is to do it. While choosing the best bike and equipment for the job should not be understated and can make a big difference on how your trip goes, one needs to remember for the most part it will be the parts of the bike itself, the shocks, frame, and moveable parts that may go, not the engine itself. It would be nice to have all the time and money to go prepared with the best and newest equipment possible but at some point one needs to make a realistic assessment of what you do have, and if you have a realistic chance for success, than go. I felt reasonably sure, mainly because my bike was newer that it would make it. If I was continuing on around the world I would have had to plan on more repairs, or using a different bike. I have heard of a brand new KL650 going around the world, 30,000 miles with one oil change and two flats, so................ and that is a $6-$8,000 bike fully loaded for travel, perhaps less. Not too big of investment for reliable around the world transportation.

For me, I had 3 luggage rack bags, 2 saddle bags, and my camping gear tied between me and the back rest. I also had a tank bag which was the one thing I really loved. It made getting at maps, a camera, money or paperwork for the bike so much easier. Things like a windshield, a engine crash bar with highway pegs, a rain fly for the bike and a water holder on the handle bars were all things that made the trip easier. A helmet with a face shield and sunglasses was the way to go, and much better than trying to use goggles in a rain storm, or having ones face exposed. And the windshield was a must, not only for deflecting wind and water, but anything else that might come flying your way.

Maps

Get them before you go. I had a local bookstore order them for me and also found a good map place out of Vancouver Canada, though ordering them from another country is not cheap. Make sure and have a back up, and something nice about my tank bag is it has a waterproof map holder on it for convenience and protection of the map. I found few gas stations or other places even carried them, and it became a hassle to try to find them while travelling.

A note about maps and travel in third world countries. While GPS's can be used instead of regular maps, as far as I know one still runs into the same problems one does with a map. For the most part there are no addresses, even main highways aren't always labeled, or labeled in way as to easily be found. Bringing a compass and going in a general direction of the way you need to go is often the best you can do to try to find your way. Not speaking the language at times was a handicap, but not always. Even if I had understood the place I was looking for was across from the statue of a revolutionary, it wouldn't have done me any good since I didn't know where that was either. I often spent an hour or two a day lost, especially around big cities in Mexico. And this was one reason being on a time budget I avoided most of the bigger cities. Without street signs and crowded congested roads getting lost in a huge city was a worst case scenario for me. And ironically I found the smaller medium size cities to be the worst when it came to getting lost.

Roads

The interstate highways in the U.S. are luxuries you seldom find in Central America. For the most part roads from El Salvador on through Honduras and Nicaragua were in as good or better shape than most rural highways in the U.S., often better. I mostly traveled on the Pan American Highway through these countries due to time, but I'm assuming many of the main highways throughout the country are mostly the same or better, depending on the road. Mexico had a variety of road conditions, some excellent that you had to pay for, and others absolutely horrible. In Guatemala the roads while not always great, were ok, it was the bus drivers that made the driving there dangerous.

In many places, road hazards if they were marked at all were marked only at the hazard itself, one seldom got any advanced warning. In Mexico one might come around a corner only to find half the road had been washed out and if you had proceeded to stay in your own lane you could well find yourself tumbling down a huge cliff. In Nicaragua as elsewhere, animals, mostly alive, were often to be found on or near the roads. Road delays, especially during the rainy season in Costa Rica are quite normal.

In general the maximum travel in a day in Mexico and Central America should be around 200-300 miles. While certainly one can do more depending on the roads, and I did have some 400-450 mile days, they were for the most part the exception. Unlike in the U.S. where one can just get on an interstate and never get off going 80 mph around the clock till you get where your going, Mexico and Central America has way too many variables. And like everything else down here, travel requires more patience, and a different attitude altogether than driving in the states. One can have great cruising in the morning, only to find terrible conditions in the afternoon, and than good conditions again in the evening. Sometimes 20 minutes of 60 mph driving on great roads is replaced by two hours of 10 mph in a dirt construction zone.

Consider Mexico, coming down the gulf coast side through town after town there are no traffic lights, rather there are speed bumps, dozens of huge bottom scraping bumps in each town that make you almost come to a complete stop at each one. Sometime towns are only a few miles a part so your stopping hundreds of times a day for each bump you cross. Then there are construction zones that put you in a place where you don't even feel your on a road. One place coming off the gulf side in Mexico it took about 4 hours to drive 30 miles on terrible roads, bumper to bumper with other traffic in very high heat. When you throw in traffic jams, accidents, getting lost, constant military checkpoints along with what ever local festivals maybe blocking the road (some times for hours) you begin to get an idea that even traveling a couple of hundred miles in a day can be an achievement.

Roads are also places of foot travel for both people and animals. They are places where people of the village congregate in the evening to visit, or during the day to sell you things while your stopping at all these speed bumps. One dark and stormy night there was an entire class of students walking down the side of the road not more than a foot or so from speeding trucks, I didn't see them until I almost hit them myself. Roads in Central America and Mexico are not just for cars, they are for everybody at all times! And paved roads are a luxury no human or animal is going to pass on when the alternative is trying to walk through the dense underbrush of a jungle. Roads and driving down here needs to be approached with a lot of respect, your not only sharing them with other drivers, your sharing them with all the local life, both animal and human.

Border Crossings

2009-05-30T13:03:00.003-04:00

This posting is mostly pertaining to crossing borders in Central America with a motorcycle or a car. Though obviously my experience was with a motorcycle, I'm sure having a car is very similar but brings up it's own nuances. If your lucky enough to be on a regular bus or a tour bus without a vehicle to deal with, the basic procedures are the same except it's less paper work and expense. If your hitchhiking (and I did see at least one person doing that) walking (didn't see anyone doing that) or riding a peddle bike I'm not sure what different procedures you might encounter but just the fact your not driving should make the procedure simpler (if that's possible) and cheaper. I would like to hear from anyone who has hitched or walked through Central America.

The basic procedures for crossing borders In Central America are as follows. First you need to get your passport stamped out of the country your leaving at migración (migration) and than get your vehicle permit and the permit for yourself canceled at aduana (customs) for that country (it may not be in this order at every country). Upon entering the next country you get your passport stamped in at migración and than go to la aduana for permits for the vehicle and yourself. That's basically it, migration and customs for the country your leaving and migration and customs for the country your entering. The amount of time and money you spend doing this simple process can vary considerably.

When you get to aduana (customs) to get the vehicle and your own permits they are usually good for 30 to 90 days, but check to make sure their for as long as you want, 90 is the max but they will often put just 30 down if you don't ask them for more (and don't let them charge you more for more days). As already mentioned when your leaving a country you need to first have your passport stamped out of that country and than again go to customs to have the vehicle permit (and your own) canceled. This is very important for in the case of Mexico if you don't cancel your vehicle permit on leaving, you may not be allowed back into the country ever (I'm not sure if this is just with a vehicle or is a life time ban on yourself as well), they figuring you sold it for a big profit without paying duty or import fees.

Its worth noting that the only places you should be spending money (outside of handlers fees or having someone watch your bike if you choose to use them) while crossing borders is when your getting your passport stamped in and out at migration (these are often the cheapest charges ranging from $0-$10) and at customs when you pay for the vehicle permit, your permit, possibly your vehicle insurance (some countries seem to require it, I bought no special insurance for the trip, basically I was uninsured as most motorcycles are that go south of the border, it is way too expensive, hundreds or maybe even a couple of thousand dollars for full coverage for a long trip), and any other charges like vehicle spraying. Having your bike sprayed with insecticides is required to enter Nicaragua and Guatemala and the charge is usually $2-$4. Costa Rica requires vehicle insurance and was $25 for ninety days. Also having copies of everything is important, as many as you need for the amount of borders your crossing. You should have copies of your title (try never to use the original by the end of the trip it will be worn out), drivers license, passport, insurance (whether its valid in that country or not) and vehicle registration. Know where your serial numbers are on your bike, they will want to see them at every border and check them with your title. Handlers will often want to run off with some of your copies or make copies after they have been stamped for another $2. I did not include copying charges in all this because they did not amount to much and having my own I often did not need to pay to have them made (but for some reason often did anyway). It's hard to know what is necessary in regards to copies without being able to talk to an official directly, at least having your own copies cuts down on some of this nonsense.

Nicaragua like Costa Rica is another country that apparently requires vehicle insurance to enter though I've heard varying reports. For me they told me I had already bought some on my trip down and didn't need to buy it going back (the problem with not speaking the language and using handlers, you never know what you are or aren't getting). All this is debatable, certain bikers say they just refuse to pay it and don't. Or you hear other stories of people going all the way through these countries without paying hardly anything. Knowing the language and having a basic knowledge of border crossings can save you a lot of money no doubt, but I've also heard some of the most outrageous claims like one guy saying he only spent $12 to drive from the U.S. to Argentina on border fees.

Customs is really the place where the hidden fees are, unclear charges and corruption can lie. If your going to get ripped off, here's the place. They may try to sell you bike insurance you don't need, or say the vehicle permit is good for all Central American countries when its not (saying that's why its so expensive), or make something up like your title is not the original so they need to charge more. As in the case of Honduras and Guatemala this is where both the vehicle and my permit came to $250-$300 contributing to a staggering some of $630 just to cross those two borders. On my return trip coming back the total for both borders was about $80! Later in this post I describe strategies one can employ to try to reduce some of these risks of getting ripped off.

Mexico

(Heading South) Texas (Brownsville)/Mexican (Malamoros) Border

$30 Vehicle permit, I put on a credit card, I was told this would be refunded when I left the country (by some people outside of the system), it wasn't.

$23 for a 30 day permit for myself.

$53 total

Time 1 and half hours, mid afternoon

(Leaving Mexico) Mexico/Guatemalan Border (By Tapachula Hwy CA2)

No charges that I remember

(Heading North) Guatemalan/Mexican Border (By Tapachula Hwy CA2)

(Entering Mexico)

$26.89 for vehicle permit, charged to credit card.

$20 permit for me, I paid cash for this.

$7-10(I believe, it might of been free) to stamp my passport, this was done at the border, different than the check station to get my vehicle permit and personal permit , this was done in Tapuchula almost 20 or 30 miles inside the border.

$56.89 Total to enter Mexico from Guatemala

Time, in the afternoon and evening on Monday, after I actually found both places it took probably a half hour to an hour.

$3-$4 Difference on return trip

(Leaving Mexico) Malamoros/Brownsville

No charge leaving Mexico either time

Guatemala

Embassy WASHINGTON, DC
2220 "R" St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 745-4952, ext. 106, 107
Fax: (202) 745-1908
E-mail: consulado@guatemala-embassy.org I recently emailed the Guatemalan Embassy stating my concerns at the border crossings and if they could comment on my charges or at least direct me to a division within their system to address these concerns. As of this posting I have had heard nothing back from them.

(Heading South) Mexican/Guatemalan Border

(Entering Guatemala) (By Tapachula, Mexico Hwy CA2)

$1.50 (10 Quetzals I think!) to get stamped into Guatemala

$243 vehicle permit (I was told this covers all of the Central American countries) I gave the " border official" $250 which he left with and never did give me my change back.

$50 Handlers fees which he said included bug spraying the bike (normally a couple of dollars) and a permit for me (in Mexico this would be $20)

$5 to the guy for watching my bike for 3-4 hours (he wanted $20 and was not happy at all after seeing what everyone else was getting)

$307 Total spent getting into Guatemala

(Total Time), almost 4 hours

Time and Day, Sunday late morning and into the afternoon.

(Leaving Guatemala) Guatemala/El Salvador Border (Hwy CA 2 Border)

$7 to stamp out passport

$13 for a handler and a guy to watch my bike (both guys really unnecessary since this was not a hard border to deal with)

Total $20

(Heading North) El Salvador/Guatemalan Border (Hwy CA2)

(Entering Guatemala) El Salvador/Guatemalan Border

$5 Handling fee to a young kid who helped me get out of El Salvador (no charge) and into Guatemala

$10 Vehicle Permit and my permit for Guatemala

$15 Total Cost to get into Guatemala $15

45 minutes, total time

Time and Day, Monday Morning about 8:am

$282 Difference between entering from Mexico and entering from El Salvador

(Leaving Guatemala) Guatemalan/Mexican Border (By Tapachula, Hwy CA2)

$10 Passport stamped out and to cancel vehicle permit

$20 (he wanted $50) Handler Fee, this one I needed

$30 Total to leave Guatemala with handler fees

Time; about two and a half hours in late afternoon

$10 Difference from coming and going

El Salvador

(Heading South) Guatemala/El Salvador (Hwy CA2)

(Entering El Salvador)

No charge, in fact they have signs saying that you shouldn't have to use handlers if you don't want to in English and that the El Salvadorian officials are more than willing to help.

You get stamped in, get a vehicle permit and an individual permit and your on your way. Still the whole procedure was not quick and in the heat with no water it took two hours.

As with many border crossings usually using a handler will include getting you out of one country and into another one, though if their not welcome like in El Salvador or Mexico they will simply get you out of their country and to the next countries border crossing. This is what happened going into El Salvador, the handler got me on the Guatemalan side and took me as far as he could go on the El Salvador side.

Time was about 5 p.m and it took two hours

(Leaving El Salvador) El Salvador/Honduran Border (CA1 By Valle)

No charges for leaving the country

(Heading North) Honduras/El Salvador (CA1)

(Entering El Salvador)

$20 to pay handlers to get thru the maze at the border on the Honduran side.

That was it, again no charge for El Salvador

Time; it was in the afternoon and the heat was oppressive, it took 2-3 hours total.

(Leaving El Salvador) El Salvador/Guatemalan Border (Hwy CA2)

No charges to leave El Salvador

Honduras

EMBASSY AND CONSULATE ADDRESSES

Diplomatic Representation in US:

Chief of mission: Ambassador Roberto FLORES Bermúdez

Embassy: 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

Telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702, 2604, 5008, 4596

FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751

Washington, DC (Consular Section) 1014 M Street, NW Washington, DC, 20001 (202) 682 7873 (202) 682 5947/48/49 Another Red Flag Country for having corruption at their border

(Entering Honduras) El Salvador/Honduras Border (Hwy CA1)

$225 for vehicle permit and my permit. Apparently this covered all the countries in CA, just like I was told in Guatemala.

$40 an extra charge because the border official "decided my title copy wasn't quite right" (this is what the handler told me, I should have been with him when he talked to the official myself".

$20 Fee to have a friend of the handler's drive me back to the nearest town to get more money at a bank. (after Guatemala and now these charges my cash was gone).

$40 handlers fees, guys who watched my bike fee, passport and copying fees, its hard to know at this point what the money was going for.

(Total to enter Honduras)

$325

Time of day, early afternoon, time spent 3-4 hours

(Leaving Honduras) Honduran/Nicaraguan Border (CA1 going towards Estel Nicaragua)

$3 Stamp Passport Out

$7 Cancel Bike Permit

$10 Handler Fee

$20 Total For Leaving Honduras

(Entering Honduras) Nicaraguan/Honduran Border (CA1, By Esteli)

$40 For Vehicle Permit

$2 For another copy of something

$5 Handler Fee

$47 Total to enter Honduras from Nicaragua I don't think there was a fee for stamping my passport in but I don't remember.

Total time leaving Nicaragua and entering Honduras about an hour. I got there at 7:30 a.m., early and there was no one at border. While apparently this is a CA1 border crossing, it seems a lot of the traffic takes the coastal route out of or thru Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. It didn't seem to have nearly the traffic some of the other border crossing had.

$275 Difference between coming and going.

(Leaving Honduras) Honduran/El Salvador Border (CA1)

$3 Stamp Passport out

$7 Cancel Vehicle Permit

$10 handlers fees to get me thru the maze at the border to the El Salvador side

Not totally clear on all these charges, it was all very confusing in the heat and the handler running off for this or that but I'm sure I only paid about $20 total.

Time of Day; mid afternoon

Difference between coming and going, it was all about the same amount spent.

Nicaragua

(Entering) Honduran/Nicaraguan Border (CA1 by Esteli)

$20 for vehicle and self permit

$10 Handlers fee

$30 Total for entering Nicaragua, this was a hard border for me to remember, it could well have been a little more than this and may have even included vehicle insurance...also they should have spray' d my bike with an insecticide but I don't remember them doing it.

Time, maybe an hour and a half, it was right at dark when I arrived.

(Leaving) Nicaraguan/Costa Rican Border (CA1)

$10 or $20 I'm guessing to get everything stamped out and permits canceled.

$10 or $20 for handler who also worked with me thru the Costa Rican border.

$10 to pay officer so he wouldn't tear thru all my bags and inspect them too heavily (I'm sure if I paid this they split it up themselves)

$40 Total this is another border that was hard to remember everything but I'm sure these estimates are right, and I'm sure the handler made at least $20 on me.

Time was early afternoon on Saturday, it took about an hour to get thru to the Costa Rican side.

(Entering) Costa Rican/Nicaraguan Border (CA1)

$3 to get biked spray' d for insects

$7 to get passport stamped in

$10 to pay officer for not inspecting my bags more closely (this according to the handler who barged in and took over again) I'm sure it went to the handler or at least half of it did.

$10 Handler Fee

$30 Total to enter Nicaragua from Costa Rica

It seemed there was not much difference in cost between coming or going.

Time about 9:a.m, it took about an hour to get in.

The handler said I had already paid for insurance for Nicaragua so I didn't need to worry about it?

(Leaving Nicaragua) Honduras Border (CA1 by Esteli) I know my original post said this was CA2, but I'm sure it was still CA1, just not a busy crossing on this route at this time.

$3 stamp my passport out

$3 to cancel my vehicle permit

$3 in handler fees

$9 total to leave Nicaragua

20 minutes total time

8:00 a.m.

$31 about the difference between leaving Nicaragua at the Costa Rican border and leaving on the Honduran side.

Costa Rica

(Entering) Nicaraguan/Costa Rican Border (CA1)

$58 for bike insurance (its required for Costa Rica but was told later it might have really should have been $25 for 3 months)

$22 for handlers fees and any extra costs

$80 total to enter Costa Rica

This was another hard border to remember because I had the same handler who helped me out of Nicaragua and seemed to be ripping me off the whole way. I think the only for sure fee was for the bike insurance which may have been as much as $55 but I think it was less, and I was pretty sure there was no other charges to get into Costa Rica. So about $25 total or maybe a little more is what one should expect to pay without handlers to get in.

Leaving Costa Rica

Costa Rican/Nicaraguan Border CA1

No charge to leave (there is a $25 charge to leave Costa Rica at the airport, but I'm pretty sure they don't charge that for driving out).

Tips for keeping your money in your wallet.

1) Ideally before you go spend two years studying and becoming fluent in Spanish.

2) Realistically; write out the actual Spanish phrases you'll need to know to ask directions and cover all the procedures, like ?donde estas aduanas? (where is customs?) how much is it? How much is a vehicle permit? How long is it good for? Where is migracion ?etc. Everything you can think of that you might need to know and have them handy (having practiced basic phrases will help you countless times on you trip, not only at border crossings).

3) Write down what the actual border procedures are, which are you go thru migracion and aduanas of the country your leaving, and then migracion and aduanas of the country your entering.

4) You can try to write to each embassy of the countries your visiting and ask them to send you all the expected fees for your border crossings. It is doubtful you will get many responses, but if you can manage to secure something that looks official with some sort of expected price it could carry a lot of weight. Remember these border guys are looking for easy targets and the more road blocks you can throw at them the better. Guatemala and Honduras were the most corrupt borders and remember all handlers and officials are not corrupt or out to get you, but the ones that are have it down to a science.

5) In the end if you feel like your getting totally ripped off, have a back up plan. You can refuse to pay and either go back to the country you came from and wait for a different time to come back (often if your not driving very far into the country they may not charge you a vehicle permit to simply spend one night. Mexico has a 20 mile buffer zone around the border so you don't have to get a vehicle permit if your simply visiting a border town), or you can look at trying a different border crossing (most countries except for Costa Rica have at least two) spending the time to drive to another one. Going back the way you came to find another one sounds like a hassle (and it is), but it could save you 2 or 3 hundred dollars (or at least give you the satisfaction of knowing you didn't give in to some ones corruption). When planning ones trip if possible one should try to plan on quieter border crossings (like non Pan American Hwy. ones), in an effort to avoid a lot of these hassles.

6) The Pan American Hwy. crossings are the busiest and hardest to deal with. Also with all border crossings try to get there early like at 7 or 8 a.m. Many of these borders close at night and getting to them early in the day can be well worth it. You might avoid crowds and the heat and the bulk of the corrupt handlers. I had much better luck approaching these borders early in the day and on week days.

Handlers

Remember, anyone who speaks Spanish well enough doesn't use them. And many who don't speak Spanish at all still suffer thru not using them. It just takes a lot longer to get thru with out them, but it can be done. As someone once put, how much you end up spending at these crossings is directly related to how determined you are not to accept help.

If your going to use them agree on a price before you start, $5 to $10 for some ones help, especially if they can help you out of one country and into the next can be well worth it. Be clear about this, don't just accept someone's help without agreeing on a price, hopefully for both borders.

Paying some one to watch your bike is debatable, most times I don't think its necessary, just carry your most valuable stuff with you, plus I found these guys didn't want to ruin their reputations by petty theft!

Most importantly don't just give your passport or paper work to a handler with money and have them run off to take care of business. Go with them to every window, and give the money directly to the person at the window, this way they can't fabricate charges as easily and you will be dealing with the official first hand, seeing how much is being given to them. This is where I lost a lot of money, by giving the handler money to go pay for something having no idea if they even went to any window or official at all. In fact don't give the handler any money unless you can see who their giving it to. Pretty much the only money you should be giving them anyway is when everything is done and your paying them for their service. They can show you what windows you need and act as an interpreter for you at the window, but that is all you really need them for, again paying them your agreed upon wage when your are all done.

On my way back when I could I chose young handlers, kids about 12 years old who were basically honest and not out to rip you off. These kids would often be run off by the older handlers later on in the day. I thought about just choosing the younger ones over the older ones but I was afraid the older ones would just take their money from them later on so I just used the older ones when they were both present. The older "seasoned" handlers are the ones that are the hardest to deal with, they don't take no for an answer and have the whole rip off system down to an art.

Don't flash much money, do your homework and know about what you should be paying for. But remember if you have to drive 20 miles back to town and take more money out of a bank to pay them, they have you. Refuse, say you only have so much money and if like I said if they still want more, just tell them and no and go back the way you came, either waiting for a different time to come back or going to border different crossing.

Summary

Remember these guys are the pro's, this is what they do for a living day in and day out, they see thousands like us every year. If your not prepared or have strategies for dealing with them the odds are in their favor for you spending more than you should. Be prepared, like I said, how much you spend is in direct proportion to how determined you are not to spend more than you should.

Your best bet is to go early in the day, avoid weekends, and use non Pan American Highway crossings....learn as much Spanish as you can before you go. Also when you see a long line of trucks (sometimes a mile long) before the border, just drive right up to the front of them and start your business. If your going to use a handler, choose one that hopefully speaks your language. As they flash their badges at you trying to woo you with their professionalism, know this is all part of their act. Most of them have no official role to play outside of some times being the lead man for some corrupt official behind them.

Even with all these warnings it is hard to imagine the chaos, the heat and the slickness of these characters trying to get your money until you've experienced it. The good news is it is all doable and you can reduce your risk of losing money by being prepared. The bad news is the crossings are unavoidable and have to be dealt with. They can be unpredictable, chaotic, hot, time consuming and totally frustrating, but I never felt physically threatened or in danger from all these characters. So be patient and guard your wallet at all times, the borders are not the only places where some people will try to get all they can from you....

Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee in the fog.

2009-01-10T12:58:00.002-05:00

Its dinner time in Henderson Louisiana and Landry's Restaurant and Art Gallery.

After getting up and getting back on the road I was soon thru Beaumont Texas and into Louisiana. While the rain had stopped it was still cold and damp, and the day was turning into one big fog bank. After a couple of hours I stopped at a Welcome to Louisiana Rest Stop and warmed up and had some coffee. I wasn't drinking much coffee of late, but with this weather and riding in it I was quickly picking up the habit again. The good thing about these state rest stops is they always have free state highway maps, usually as good or better then the ones you get at a gas station for $5. So on the way back I try' d to stop at each welcome center and get one for the state I was entering.

The trip thru Louisiana and Mississippi was all spent basically in a cold fog bank, traveling east on Interstates 10 and 12. I stopped in Henderson, LA at a place called Landry's Restaurant (a famous chain I'm told) for some seafood (my favorite food by this time) and treated myself. It was scallops and shrimp again with some really good chowder.

The place had an art gallery called The Cajun Palette owned by a local artist named Anne S. Logan right inside of the restaurant. I went in the gallery and toured around while talking with Anne the owner. She was so easy to talk to, she said owning a gallery had always been a dream of hers and it had finally happened. She was an artist herself and afterwards, with some regret, I thought I hadn't really had a chance to check out her work. I did buy some prints from her by another local artist and she said she would mail them home for me for no charge while also giving me some greeting cards to go along with them. She even called a week or so later to make sure I had received everything by Christmas.

Before leaving I asked her about hurricane Katrina and if they had gotten hit hard by it. She said while they had some heavy winds, not much else happened that far inland. So after some good food and some more Christmas shopping done, I got back out and headed east.

As I crossed the Mississippi River on just a mammoth bridge and headed into Baton Rouge, the weather had turned noticeably warmer, like I had finally gotten ahead of that Texan front I had been in for almost two days. I headed into rush hour in Baton Rouge and a traffic jam, where we all snaked along in five lanes of traffic. It was warm and raining a little, but as I have said before, I don't think any traffic jam in the U.S. will ever be quite the same after facing them in Central America. I was warm for the first time in a day or two and the traffic jam was actually a nice break. Showing again that the way we perceive our situation is often what makes it bad, not necessarily the situation itself.

As you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change..... Dr. Wayne Dyer in one of his seminars....

The bike gets to rest, after 9000 miles, the last 1000 are a piece of cake.

As I got on the other side of Baton Rouge and found Interstate 12 heading east, it started to rain heavier and also get cold again. It was almost like the warm front was just hanging around the Mississippi River and Baton Rouge. So I headed out into the night and the fog and rain looking for Interstate 55 heading north into Mississippi. At one point I made a stop for gas and a couple of guys with heavy southern accents (of all things) came up to me and talked about their own bikes and also asked where I was heading. When I told one guy Michigan, he asked "well then where 'd you come from?" I said Michigan. And then he said, "well what was in between?" And when I said Central America and 9000 miles he just sort of looked at me like Uncle Jed might and said "whoo doggy now!" Well ok after 9000 miles I'm entitled to a little writers embellishment. He really didn't say whoo doggy now, but he was amazed none the less, that kind of made two of us.... One guy also told me they had just had snow there the previous week which almost never happens. Both guys were really friendly and I enjoyed talking to them.

We're ready.

Pretty soon I hit Interstate 55 and headed north towards Mississippi and Memphis. I was probably 300 miles from Memphis, and Memphis is about 500 miles from Chicago, and Chicago is about 300 miles from my home in Michigan. I was getting close, if I had any kind of decent weather at all I knew I could get home in two days if I had to, if I could stay warm enough.

That night as the fog got thicker and thicker, and the air got colder I just kept heading north in what had become very light traffic. Finally it started raining pretty hard and I was getting cold, even with my Frog rainsuit on, so I started looking for a place to spend the night. A Super 8, my other budget hotel of choice came up and I pulled under their overhang for the lobby, got my room and then left my bike under their awning for the night. I was very cold, not shaking which would have concerned me and I wouldn't have gone any further if I had been, but cold enough to know I couldn't handle much more of this, and it was only going to get colder. I was 150 miles south of Memphis and had thought originally if I could get that far, that would be half of the journey back in the U.S., and then that would cut down what I would have to pay to get my bike back in a U-haul. Memphis seems to the line that runs between extreme north southern weather, and extreme south northern weather (if that makes sense). In winter this can mean freezing rain, of course, something I hadn't run into yet.

Interstate 55 thru Southern Illinois.

After sleeping in a little and having a very annoying house maid come by my room every five minutes to see if I had checked out of my room right at 11:00 or not, I called U-haul in Memphis to see about renting a truck or trailer for the rest of the ride home. It had not warmed up at all, but at least it wasn't raining either. When I finally got to Memphis a few hours later and found the U-haul place I was once again very cold. It felt like it was going to snow and it confirmed the fact that my trip on my bike was almost over.

This was another part of my trip I should have planned out better. It turned out that U-haul wouldn't rent a motorcycle trailer to go just one way, or a pickup truck to pull it either for that matter. They had enclosed trailers available, but nothing to pull it with. I called Enterprise and they said they wouldn't rent anything less then a commercial vehicle for towing. So I would have to end up renting two things, quite possibly from different companies. U-haul had a smaller truck I could use but no ramp to get the bike onto it with. And it was only $20 cheaper anyway. I should have priced all this and made arrangements before I left, but of course I didn't know if I would need it or not, or even how far north I was going to get. Still it is one more thing I could have priced before I left so I knew what I could expect to pay. As it was, with tax, a 1000 mile limit and without gas, it was almost $600 for a 14 foot truck which was way more room then I needed. And when I asked for cargo straps they said they would have to charge me extra! Oh and if you don't pay $70 for insurance your liable for any and all damage to the truck. I said fine, I'm not paying another $70, I'll get it there in one piece.

Winter in the upper midwest

A guy helped me put it on, we put it on its center stand, checked the gas gauge of the truck and I was on my way. I had asked where a good place to eat ribs was and now headed for that place. You hear so much about ribs down here, and while I've never been a big rib fan, like Cajun food, I had to try some. Unfortunately on the way over to the rib house the bike rolled off of its center stand and crashed in the back of the truck with a loud thud. I had to strap it up to the sides with what straps I had, keep it off its center stand and just on its kick stand and this seemed to work fine the whole way home. Unfortunately the bikes windshield had broken in places from the fall and will have to be replaced. This was only the second time on the whole trip it had been down, and maybe the 4th time total in its life.

I stopped in Mike's Rib House or something like that and had some dry baby back ribs. Which amounted to just heavily seasoned ribs with no sauce. They were good but I think I would have preferred a sauce. After that I got in my truck and got on the road again.

After all that it was getting late so I only drove another 100 miles and then got a room for the night, and then what turned out to be two. Here north of Memphis there was some snow on the ground, the first I had seen in probably 10 months or so. It was cold and it reaffirmed I had made the right decision to give up the bike. I stay'd and rested one more day, knowing now I was not much more then a day away from home, and it was a week before Christmas.

This is a typical midwest winter scene I have grown up with.

Another annoying maid, this one came by and pounded on your door at 9:20 every morning to ask if you were going to be leaving that day. Check out wasn't till 11 anyway and most hotels don't check with you until just before check out. I almost complained about it, but its like what's the point, you would think they would know, if I had wanted a wake up call I would have asked for one. Yup, I think I was getting ready for home!

The next day I drove about 500 miles to Holland Michigan and my last hotel of the trip. Chicago looked like it had been hit by an ice storm as I drove thru it. I stopped at a Red Lobster for dinner, and guess what, I had shrimp and scallops. The waiter charged me for a lemonade even though I just had lemon water. I brought this to his attention, he went away and came back with my change, not having changed the bill at all. I just sort of sat there and was going to say something again, but he wouldn't come back so I just left without giving him a tip. It was so strange, I could just imagine him thinking I had stiffed him, but I wanted to say your tip is in the overcharge, but I just left. Having worked in the food industry myself for so long and knowing what its like to live on tips I guess I think about it a lot as well. But to have someone tell you you made a mistake, and then do nothing about it.....maybe I could do a post just on the service I received on the trip!

As I got to Holland Michigan and looked for a hotel, the town had just been hit by a storm. I almost got stuck in the hotel parking lot there was so much snow. As I stomped my feet off and entered the cold hotel room, for the first time in my life I wondered why I should put up with snow if I didn't have to. Having experienced riding my bike in December in 90 degrees, I just could not rationalize putting up with it. And that had been the first time I had ever been away from snow in the winter, the very first time. I think as long as I continue to own a bike, my future maybe already set! I'm going to end up somewhere warm year round!

The next morning feeling chilled to the bone I headed toward the last stretch before home. I stopped by my sisters house to pick up my package I had sent her from Costa Rica, my Christmas presents. They had so much snow on her street I got the U-haul stuck and once again contemplated turning around and driving south, never again to approach Michigan in the winter. I managed to rock it out, park on a main street and walk down to her house and get my package. Next stop was stopping by to see dad at the AFC home. I spent a couple of hours with him watching television, him not really even having an idea of where I had been, but he did kind of cause he did ask me if I had taken pictures. Its hard to know with him these days.

No the bike was done for the year.

So then leaving him I again headed north. I saw a sign for Traverse City 70 miles, and it seemed like such a short distance from the many other times I had seen that sign before. I contrasted it to signs I had seen like Acapulco 360 miles, or a sign just out of Chicago saying Memphis 495 miles. Or how just a couple of weeks ago I had been 4500 miles from home. Yes I was almost there, but with all the stuff to do, unpack, get ready for Christmas, catch up on two months worth of bills, get ready for school and finish my blog contacting the many who have helped on the journey, it was going to be awhile before I would be able to rest.

It has been almost 3 weeks now since I've returned, and while most of the preliminary work of getting settled back in and organized has occurred I still have a lot to do. This is the last blog of the trip itself, but as promised I still want to organize the whole site better, do a post just on border crossings, planning, lessons learned and highlights with my favorite pictures. Also as I said I would like to dedicate the trip to some special ladies and get more information for the orphanage in San Jose , hopefully setting up an account and raising money for them as well.

So as I pulled the U-haul into the snowy drive that I had left just two months ago, it seemed like it had been longer. I knew I was home now and everything for awhile at least would look and feel just a little different. As the trip itself seems to gradually wear off, part of me knows it will never totally wear off. I feel a little like the hobbit Bilbo Baggins thinking about writing a book about my "great adventure". All the brave deeds, the dragons slay' d and the beautiful damsels rescued. And then I think what will I name that book, and how long before I set my feet on that path that leads away from my hut and down the road to go adventuring again.....perhaps a question for the soul......

Leaving Texas for Michigan

2009-01-08T08:29:00.002-05:00

I run into an old friend again, this time he wasn't wearing shorts like he was in this picture, nor was I!

As I got ready to leave Brownsville I had one last stop to make at a sporting good store. Since my gortex hiking boots had been stolen in Costa Rica I wanted to price some kind of insulated boots. I also wanted to get some better rain gear. The rain gear I had was either too tight to go over my other clothes or just a hassle to put on quickly in a storm. I had sent my insulated clothes back to Michigan before I came south of the border so outside of my Carhart winter jacket and a couple of pairs of wool socks I didn't have much cold weather gear either.

Getting the right mix of riding gear like everything is a matter of experience and finding what works well for you. I could not afford a full Gortex riding suit nor was I into buying boots just for riding that are both protective and waterproof. Both of these things are significant investments and while certainly worth it for serious travel, are not worth it if your not going to use them enough for that. For me at my level and commitment a combination of backpacking, kayaking and general cold and wet weather living clothes (don't forget I lived in Alaska for 10 years where wet and cold is everyday weather along the coast!) have to be made to work for riding as well. While maybe not ideal, one can get by with a lot of "dual purpose gear" as to not have to invest in things you are only going to wear for one activity. This being said, there is no substitute for having great gear designed for exactly what you need it for. You just have to be willing to pay for it and use it.

So since for this part of my journey at most I only had 3 or 4 days of travel left, and while riding in the 30's was probable, I was hoping for relatively dry weather in the 40's. And with this short window of time in mind I wasn't going to buy any gear I felt I couldn't use beyond my trip. Plus its hard to find arctic gear in Southern Texas! I ended up buying some gloves and a set of Frog rain gear which I had heard good things about. They seem to work well for keeping you dry, though I have yet to use them in a total downpour. They are lightweight and pack up into a small carry bag, and they are very easy to put on. For now without getting into more expensive gear like gortex and protective suits, a suit of this seems ideal, and can also be used for other activities as well, like fishing or even backpacking though I don't know how well they breathe. And at $60 a suit they aren't expensive.

So with a new rain suit and some insulated gloves I decided to hit the road. I do have some boot covers for rain which with my wool socks and tennis shoes was going to have to be enough to keep me warm since I really couldn't find any good boots I would want to wear beyond this trip. Eventually buying good water proof boots will probably be something I address for future trips.

With checkout at noon and me running late after my shopping I managed to get out of the motel by about 12:30 and start my trip north. Kind of a late start but I had gotten a lot done in my two days in Brownsville, and as many of my days seem to go, a late start didn't necessarily mean a none productive day, nor that I wasn't going to put in a lot of miles either that day.

It was 90 degrees when I left Brownsville and very humid (here it was the 15th of December). With weather reports ranging from freezing rain in Houston to temperatures in the 30's in northern Texas this balmy weather seemed somewhat ominous. None the less I took off heading north debating if I should put on my new rain gear or not since the clouds were dark and rain looked probable in the north.

About 40 miles down the road from Brownsville the weather started getting cold. The wind was coming from the north and the temperature had plummeted to 40 degrees. The wind chill felt like it was in the twenty's. It was cold, and I felt it. As I moved into this new front a sign said that there was no gas for the next 60 miles. I looked at my gauge and it was just over half full. I only get about 125 miles to a tank when the bike is fully loaded. Driving between 60 and 70 mph's into a stiff wind I knew it was going to be close. I can put in 75 miles and still have three quarters of a tank on the gauge, and then watch it plunge to empty quickly over the course of 50 miles. I had filled up the previous night on my way home from San Padre Island and should have been alright except I had driven 30 or 40 miles out of the way when I got lost going back to the motel. This difference was going to make it closer then I wanted. And while I was glad the sign let me know that there would not be gas for 60 miles, I thought it would have been a lot more helpful if they had put that sign before the last exit where I could have gotten gas instead of 10 miles past the exit. My lazy side did not want to turn around and go some 20 miles back now to get it.

I bundled up and slowed down to about 45 miles per hour to conserve gas. Several times I even thought about pulling over and asking a rancher or someone on the side of the road if they had a gallon of gas I could buy. As cold as the weather was getting I didn't relish the thought of leaving my bike on the side of the road to have to hitchhike to get gas. There was also a highway patrol or a cop every 10 miles it seemed with radar. I thought about even stopping and asking them for gas. Why this stretch of road needed so much speed protection was kind of beyond me, though being a main route from the border must have had something to do with it.

So as I continued to drive slower and slower, and watch my gas gauge go down more and more I just couldn't believe I was going to make it. I came upon a military check point for traffic heading north and was stopped and questioned for my country of origin. I asked the soldier how far before the next gas and he said about 20 miles. I almost asked him if they had any for sale there, but they all looked a little too official to be selling gas! My reserve tank which I had just gone onto might be good for 25 miles under ideal conditions, these weren't. So I pulled out of the check point and headed into the cold north wind keeping on. I couldn't believe I was working on 9000 miles and here I was in real danger of running out of gas for the first time, in Southern Texas of all places...

Fortunately the total distance turned out to be about 50 miles instead of 60 or I don't think I would have made it. I pulled into a gas station and filled up. It was so cold and the wind was just howling. Hard to believe just a couple of hours ago it was 90 degrees in Brownsville. I stay'd in the station for awhile and had some hot cocoa before putting all my clothes on and heading out. I think a snowmobile suit with winter boots and a full face mask might have been enough to keep me warm in this cold, I don't know.

In a short time I came to a small town west of Corpus Cristi, I kind of recognized it from when I had come thru the first time down. It was also the place I had met and made a friend. As I was passing a gas station I spotted him, this guy with a cross standing in the howling wind... Steven, I pulled up in front of him and of course he remembered me. We laughed and looked at each other. Both of our faces were beat red from the cold and wind, and with the traffic noise and the wind howling it was like we were meeting on another planet. It is hard to describe how cold it was, or how cold we were. We talked for a few minutes and he asked me if I wanted to get something to eat, his treat. For some reason Mexican food was out! And we decided on Pizza. He put his cross in the back of his pickup and we drove to a place down the road.

We ended up ordering a large Stromboli and splitting it, it was sooooo good.....Between the cold and a diet totally lacking in anything Italian for a couple of months, this was a real treat. I did not want to face the cold again so it was easy to sit there and talk for two hours. I told him about my trip and he told me about his calling to carry the cross. We also talked about the difficulty of giving up ones personal desires and trying to hear what god wants for you instead. I have my respect for Steven because like he says, he could be doing many other things, but he feels carrying the cross and spreading Jesus's word is a higher calling. I had to question my own trip compared to his in ways, and it reminded me as well that most of the happiest and highest people I know are all people who in some way are giving something to others. Quite often in ways, giving them selves.

Can you imagine Mother Theresa saying something like, "well I think I'll go do something I want to do today instead of helping the poor". You kind of get the picture. Sometimes also I think when pursuing spiritual paths and ideals it is "responsible" to enlist the aid of a teacher or guide, someone who has been where you are at or trying to get to. I suggested this to Steven as well, the dangers of going it alone in spiritual matters are evident. Even the highest of the high have their friends or teachers they check in with to make sure they aren't making huge decisions based on their own information alone. Of course the other side of this is that each person in the end must make their own decisions based on the present circumstances as they see them and their own conscience.

At one point a waitress had to come over and ask Steven why he had a cross in the back of his truck. His answer was straight from the bible and retold the tale that Jesus died so we could live. I added, it also was a symbol of suffering of which in ways we all have to endure. Each of us have our own crosses to bear, and our greatest lessons and opportunities for growth come from our willingness to embrace our own suffering, make it holy, and allow it to transform ourselves. The required amount of faith to approach life this way is the highest pursuit or endeavor we as humans can achieve. Its a beautiful thing to see and to know. The fact that our own suffering like Christ's can be viewed as also our greatest opportunity for growth and change is something that is not usually taught in traditional Christian circles, or at least not quite in that way. Christ is often viewed as a super being that was perfect and the best we can do is try to be like him, in ways this is a useful belief and no doubt true. But I also believe his message was more, It was," just don't worship me or idolize me, but become me." Whatever I have achieved so can you, it not only is your birthright, it is your duty.... This message comes more from monks and people leading contemplative lives perhaps then simply people preaching the word of God. But I think the more one actually study's mysticism or read writings of people who do, one begins to understood the deeper meanings behind all ritual, faith and beliefs.

As we finished our meal and long conversation Steven had mentioned he had some friends north of there that could probably set me up for the night. He said they smoke and then kind of backed off the invitation perhaps thinking I wouldn't want it for that reason. I was hoping to get on the other side of Houston and hopefully get into Louisiana that night if I could, which was pretty ambitious, so I wasn't really interested in a place anyway. Here it was nearly six o'clock and I had barely come 100 miles on the day. It was bitter cold and dark, and for the first time on the trip I really didn't look forward to riding my bike. After exchanging addresses again and a hug I left Steven. He was driving to a warm home and I was envious, as I headed out into the cold Texas night.

There was nothing to do but drive and persevere. I found if I held one arm up cross ways in front of my chest it would block the wind from hitting my face and head. My face and my feet were the most exposed parts it seemed and if I could have found a scarf for my face it would have helped a lot. I was about 4 hours from Houston and that was my first goal.

I stopped mainly just for gas and at one place I stopped I went into a McDonalds to warm up and had a cup of coffee. It was also a bus stop and there were people waiting everywhere. I sat there and again sort of felt like a alien, or someone coming from a different place and seeing our culture in the states differently for maybe the first time. Probably not unlike a soldier who has been out of the country for awhile and then after coming back everything may feel familiar, but it doesn't quite feel the same as it did when you left. I guess time to a degree changes this, but as I wrote in an earlier blog, the feeling one gets from traveling outside one owns culture and to exotic places I don't think ever totally wears off, and on some level home will never be the same because you've had a chance to experience something else that is at times a deep contrast to it. Maybe again, not so unlike a soldier coming home.

Somehow I seemed to be able to keep warm, do alright, and just keep heading for Houston. At least after I got on highway 59 off of 77 I was heading Northeast and it was no longer directly into the wind. I reached Houston about 10 or 11 and it had started to rain, which meant it had warmed up a little, and it wasn't snow. Being that late, traffic was light and as I wound my way thru the skyscrapers looking to pick up Interstate 10 east I was reminded of my night riding, floating and yoga post I wrote earlier in my trip after traveling thru Chicago late at night. Again traveling thru the skyscrapers on winding freeways late at night at 70 miles an hour in light traffic is like floating, it is one of the neatest experiences of motorcycling, and a great way to experience some of this countries biggest cities.

Unfortunately the rain started to come down heavier as I stopped for gas. I knew I wanted to at least get 50 miles on the other side of Houston before I stopped for the night. This would get me closer to Louisiana and ahead of the weather front where the warmer air should be. Houston was also forecasted to be on the edge of possible freezing rain which would have stopped me cold, no pun intended. It was a little warmer here in Houston but it was still cold as the rain continued to come down and I found myself on a 5 lane Interstate heading east. I drove for another two hours before I started looking for a hotel, and the rain was becoming too heavy to drive any further.

Unfortunately I was just north of Galveston and the hurricane that had come thru there this year had left many people homeless and living in motels. This meant that even if I could find a room I would be paying 2 to 3 times what I would normally have to pay. After checking with several different hotels with prices ranging as high as $120 a night for a room I found one for about $90. It was 40 degrees, raining, cold and 1 o'clock in the morning, I took it. I had managed to drive over 400 miles for the day, this after leaving Steven at 6 o'clock at night and maybe having drove only a hundred miles for the day.

I had done some of the worst riding of the trip but had managed to get ahead of the front and into slightly warmer weather. I was about 50 miles west of Beaumont Texas and would be into Louisiana early in the morning and for some reason just the sound of Louisiana seemed to warm me up. Of course I did not realize that just the previous week they had had a rare snow storm and their winter was also turning into a hard one. And with at least another 1400 miles to Michigan, I wasn't sure how many more of these kind of days I could put in, especially if it was going to get colder. I was now more or less in survival mode, the rain gear had worked well and I was staying dry, but the cold and damp was starting to get to me. This kind of riding I needed to take a totally different approach to, or none at all, like maybe just not riding in it! But like riding in the mountains in spring if your going to do it you have to prepare for weather similar to this. And I have thought of riding to Alaska for my next adventure and I would need to look at perhaps getting different gear. Of course preparing for winter and the tropics on the same trip does complicate things a little.

This post is was my first one without pictures, or at least any new ones. While there will be a few on the rest of the trip and my next post, for the most part for these two or three days I could have taken one picture and that was basically what all three days looked like traveling across the south. A big cloud bank of mist and cold with visibility at about a half a mile or so. It wasn't ice fog and it wasn't raining hard, but it was just cold and damp. My Frog rain gear made me feel like a frog, but it did well and kept me dry and blocked the wind.

Tomorrow Louisiana and Mississippi, some more great food, and a great Art Gallery and its owner. And more of the same weather......

Last day in Mexico and my return to Texas

2009-01-06T01:48:00.001-05:00

On the way to Matamoros, I passed this windmill and the cold ground clinging mists of the morning.

After getting up I left Tres Palos for the last 150 miles to Matamoros and the border. Since there were basically no towns in between and the roads were in good shape, it only took a couple of hours or so to get there.

It was cold though and mists hung over some of the lower parts of the fields. It almost felt like fall in the northern reaches of the U.S. And again I thought of the weather reports not too far to the north, and the arctic temperatures. I wondered how far I would actually be able to get, and if the 3 or 4 day window of warmer weather I was hoping for would actually occur so I could ride all the way home. It was still one day at a time and I had to get a lot closer, because even if that window I was looking for did happen I needed to be two or three days from Michigan to use it, not 4 or 5 as I was now. I figured the sooner I got to Mississippi or even Memphis the sooner I could just position myself to wait on the weather to change, and finish the last leg when it did. And again it would do no good for the weather to change if I wasn't in a position to use it.

I also thought about my bike and getting to Brownsville. I had left at first light thinking I might be able to get to the Kawasaki dealer and get my radiator plug fixed that day instead of having to wait till Monday to do it. I also needed my oil changed, laundry done and to catch up on my blog. The Motel 6 in Brownsville where I had stay'd coming down was where I could stay and rest while getting all these things done. Even if I had to wait till Monday to get my bike fixed the day of rest would not go to waste. It was funny, even though I could use the day off after pushing across Central America and Mexico, I just wanted to get everything done as soon as possible, and it made sense to just keep moving and not spend any time in Brownsville, even though I had sort of dreamt sometimes of just getting back there and being able to relax. The luxury of being back in the U.S. didn't seem to be all that luxurious, and the truth is I still had a long way to go if I was going to get back before the holidays.

The somewhat barren landscape stretching hundreds of miles from the gulf, and south and westward from the U.S. border and Brownsville.

The ride to the border was uneventful. I did pass a couple of the police check points on the other side of the road I had to go thru the first time heading south. There was also one military check point heading north I met but they just waived me thru.

As I reached Matamoros I began to remember how big this city was and also that they had 3 separate border crossings into Brownsville. I thought it would be easy with multiple signs showing the way but there wasn't that I could find. I thought to myself that Mexico would have one or two more things to throw my way, and it did. I stopped and asked directions one more time and again thru luck and some general sense of direction I found the border I had crossed at originally coming down.

My last fill up in Mexico. The Pemex's what I assume are state owned gas stations, were my life line for gas and water for my entire trip across the country.

I still had to find the right building to get my passport stamped and my vehicle permit canceled. Someone pointed the way for me, and again I was relieved there was no handlers and he wasn't going to take over and end up trying to charge me something. After going back to the same building I used to enter Mexico, it was all pretty easy. There was a 45 minute wait in line and I had parked in the wrong place and the clerk made me move and bring my bike up and pass the military check point, where the soldiers once again went thru my bags. Everything was pretty easy to get at, and by now I was getting to be a pro at this since this was probably the 7th time now my bags had been looked at on my trip back thru Mexico. And that's basically all they did, they just looked in all the pockets, they never meticulously went thru every little thing, which I was grateful for.

Back in the U.S. and Texas. This is one of the last places along the Texas Gulf still building oil rigs. I was told the other two had been temporarily closed down due to the economy.

So my passport stamped and my vehicle permit canceled (again make sure this gets done before you leave the country or it could be an expensive hassle) I headed across the International Bridge for one more traffic jam at the U.S. border. This took about an hour and while I was in line I called the Kawasaki dealer to see if they could look at my bike. They said they were open till six and could do it that day. They also said they would be closed Sunday and Monday so today being Saturday it was a good day to get it done.

When I reached customs for the U.S. the guy checked my license plate number, asked me if I was a U.S. citizen and where I was from, and that was it, welcome home. Now it was time to go get my bike fixed and maybe find a place to eat some American food since I hadn't ate anything yet that day. I headed for the Kawasaki dealer where I was kind of treated as a hero almost. They couldn't believe I had taken my bike all the way across Central America and Mexico. In fact when I walked in the sale room one of the sales guys asked me " you must ride a lot " and I said "why". He said "because you have a tan mark on the side of your face from your helmet". Yes I felt like a real warrior at this point!

Sunset on San Padre Island, Texas.

The good news after they looked at it was that it was only the radiator plug itself and not the hose, or worse a hole in the radiator. The bad news sort of, was it was going to take several hours to fix it since they had to go to the store to get the part and they seemed to be tied up with other repair work as well. After some of my past experiences with having to be on guard constantly for being overcharged I was almost tempted to get their estimate in writing. And when he wouldn't give me a direct estimate when asked I was apprehensive to say the least.

I visited with one of the sales guys for awhile and gave him my blogsite so we visited that and checked it out, and then we went to Adventure Riders website where I checked out that rather popular site for the first time. In fact I think Dr. Greg Frazier maybe the editor of that site (I know one of you can help me out with a comment here!) for I've heard about it now from different people. KL650's seem to be the theme here, and taking the bike as far as it will go into some amazing places. Sort of like out of bounds skiing, only this is out of bounds motorcycling! Some pretty amazing stuff, and some really neat pictures. When I get my site a little more organized that would be another good link to add. While I'm not into simply pushing the limits of a bike and myself per say (there are too many other stories happening as well, mainly the country and people your visiting), certainly any trip south of the border or into the many remote places of the world push the limits of your bike anyway as well as yourself, so the theme here between the two sites is consistent. I can appreciate what they do and why.

This gulf Pelican, one of many that are along the shores of San Padre Island.

So after having made a connection with the people at the dealership, and kind of picking the guys brain on the KL650, Kawasaki's Dual Sport, as well as the new Kawasaki 1200, their answer to a BMW I guess, complete with an automatic adjustable windshield, I decided to head out for lunch. I walked about a mile down to the nearest strip mall and went in to order the basics, a Grilled Hamburger and Fries and an Ice Tea. The service was not very good, in fact it was terrible, I had to go to the bar to get waited on. When I finally ordered and then got my food, I didn't see the bartender again until I was ready to leave. My thought was ,gee, in Mexico and Central America they don't expect you to tip and generally you get great service. In the states they expect you to tip, and often don't. Any "obligation" I had carried to tip in the states regardless of the quality of service was fast dissipating. In fact a contrast in work ethics, at least on a certain level would not be hard to imagine exists. Another debate for another time perhaps.

After my first American food in weeks, and yes it did taste good, I walked back to the shop expecting my bike to be done. It wasn't and it took another hour and a half before it was. At this point with what appeared to be 3 mechanics in the garage not overly swamped with work, and really just a plug for my radiator to be gotten, I could not imagine what was taking so long, and I was still apprehensive about what the bill was going to be. So with time to spare I made some calls now that my cell phone was working again. I have Alltel and about the only place it might work outside of the U.S. is down around Mexico City.

This view of the gulf, in the distance you can see the bridge that connects San Padre Island with the mainland.

I called my dad first and he wondered where I had been even though I told him where I was going. With his Dementia he just couldn't seem to place where Texas, Mexico, or Central America are. It was Ok, it was good to hear his voice even though I don't think he understood a word I said, or maybe even that it was me. He may have thought it was my brother Ron. I then called a friend and then my sister, I was back in the loop.

Finally the bike was ready, the charge for the plug, new radiator coolant, and topping off the engine oil, and putting air in the tires $30, or basically a half hours labor. They also cleaned the entire bike up and the mechanic said I might look at getting a valve job after I got back to Michigan, but everything else seemed fine. He also felt both tires were good for the rest of the trip back. After 8,000 very hard miles on them it was a nice surprise. This was very reasonable and I wrote them a letter later thanking them for the good service, even if it had taken a long time, which they had apologized for as well. It goes without saying that at many places where you get service you feel that you often pay for more then you got, here was not the case, and being a traveler one tends to be even more grateful for good service and not being overcharged.

So to think I not only had finished my leg in Mexico but had gotten the repairs on my bike I needed all in one day on a weekend felt good. If I didn't have so many other things to do I think I would have just headed back on the road that night. But I had to get my oil changed, do laundry and catch up on my blog. For some reason while I had fantasized at times about being able to rest in a Motel 6 (of all places), watch cable t.v. and do my laundry, it now for was not that appealing. Kind of strange, like now I just wanted to travel and luxury didn't seem to have that strong of pull on me. I guess I was changing into a Road Warrior...

Well I went to the Motel 6 I had stay'd at on my way thru the first time. It was very busy being a Saturday night, it looked like a lot of the people checking in were actually traveling to or from Mexico. Something also I noticed in Brownsville was that everyone either spoke Spanish exclusively, even in businesses, or spoke both Spanish and English. Its as close to being in a foreign country without leaving the U.S. as possible. It would also be a good place to practice Spanish while still living in the U.S. since just about everyone was speaking it. Apparently even some business owners would refuse to speak in English even though they could. I thought this was odd too. Another debate for another time perhaps.

After refusing the first two rooms because they smelled so bad from cleaning chemicals I finally found one that was tolerable and settled in for a couple of nights. About all I wanted to do was relax, but I did have a lot to do and knew that wasn't going to happen.

The weather was warm, in the 70's the next day as I headed to Walmart to get my oil changing materials. The Kawasaki shop had quoted me $60 to change my oil. When I was traveling out on the East Coast last year a dealer had charged me $85 (as noted in a previous post) for one. For $15 in oil, a $6 filter, a cheap oil drain pan and some towels I could do it for about $25. The question was where to do it, and where to dispense of the used oil here in the middle of suburbia and strip malls.

I figured if worst came to worse I could always leave the oil at a car instant oil change place with a note asking them to please dump it for me in their recycle bin. Being Sunday nothing was open anyway. However Pep Boys or Auto Zone often accept used oil and I found one that said they would. I should have just asked them if they minded if I changed my oil in their parking lot but didn't want to have them so say no, so I thought I would find an empty lot or something to work in and bring the oil back to them. As it was I felt guilty doing this.

I found an empty lot right off of a main road next to a bar restaurant and got to work changing my oil. As traffic drove by and someone from the restaurant drove out to the lot to see what I was doing, I began to feel guilty like I was trying to get away with something and should have just asked for permission. I kept waiting for the cops to pull up and ask me what I was doing.

It took about 25 minutes to change the oil and filter, get the used oil back in a container, get cleaned up and bring the old oil over to the Auto Zone for recycling. There were a few drops of oil on the ground where I had worked but basically there was no evidence I had been there at all. I guess to alleviate this feeling of guilt next time I'll simply ask until I find a place that will let me change it on their property. The oil drain pan I got from Walmart I wiped out and left next to a bathroom at a county park hoping a camper or someone would find a use for it, or at worst it would get recycled.

I still needed to do some shopping for winter clothes for the trip back and the upcoming cold weather, but everything else now was basically done. I decided to go over to San Padre Island one last time and see if that restaurant with the great shrimp was still open. The wind had been blowing really hard almost since I had arrived and I wondered what the island and the waves would be like over there.

I drove into the night and the heavy winds the 30 miles to the island (there is a great long bridge to the island by the way) and watched the sunset and then headed out for dinner. The place I had eaten at the previous time was closed but I found another good place, a quiet little bar that had a good menu. I stuck to seafood, shrimp and scallops and again wasn't disappointed. At this point I decided I could live along the Gulf Coast quite easily, if for no other reason then to eat their seafood.

Later going back to the Motel I took a wrong turn and ended up going about 30 miles out of my way. This would turn out to be almost disastrous the next day as I headed north into the cold and a stretch of highway that had few gas stations. After coming all this way, at this point about 8000 miles without any gas scarcity issues, to have to face them on a stretch of highway in Texas seemed sort of ironic.

Back at the motel I watched the weather reports north of me. With below zero temperatures in most of the Plains States and freezing rain from Houston across Louisiana into Mississippi and up to Memphis, it seemed my window I was looking for to get back to Michigan was not going to happen. Still I had to try to get as far north as I could to either position myself for that window in case it happened, or if I was going to rent a u-haul as I had planned if needed, I wanted to get as close as I could to Michigan to reduce that expense of having to do so. It seemed the current weather front extended only as far as Houston and not quite into Louisiana so if I could get ahead of it I should run into a different weather system.

So the plan was to do some winter clothes shopping in the morning, bundle up, and head north. As it turned out I was going to need all the protection I could get.

In the Motel 6 parking lot in Brownsville, once again heading north on the road.....

Seasons Greetings to All

2009-01-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

My friend George's house where I'll be staying for awhile.

Hope everyone had a peaceful and meaningful Holiday Season and the New Year brings you closer to realizing your deepest wishes.

I want to thank everyone again for following my blog and giving me feedback on it thru out my journey. Doing the blog as I traveled meant I was never really alone on the trip, and knowing others were following and getting something out of the it has meant a lot to me and was also motivation to continue writing and traveling. I hope that part of all this does not end.

I still have a few posts to put in yet to finish the trip which I think you'll find interesting and how I actually got back. I also make some new friends and run into at least one old one we all met earlier on the trip. So stay tuned!

Norma (my sister) and my dad back at the AFC home.

I am sorry I have been a little behind getting these updated posts out faster, since I have gotten home just before the holidays and am catching up on everything else it has been difficult to also do enough writing as well. So your patience is appreciated. I really hope you continue to follow the blog, if you subscribe you will get them sent to you automatically anyway, if you only check in from time to time I hope you will continue to do so. Like I said this journey in particular is not yet completed nor even the journey of the site itself, and there are some things to look forward to.

One is the actual finish of the trip itself and my last day in Mexico as well as my journey into the states. I also said I would break down the border crossings and show how much I paid going and coming, and possible strategies for us non Spanish speaking people to maybe cross them a little easier and less expensively (there was a difference of almost $700 in price of going down and coming back). This will be done in a separate post, and I would also like to do posts on travel tips and lessons learned, as well as some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Opening presents at my sisters in-laws house, Mary Ellen and Dick.

Also since we all hopefully got something out of this trip and might want to give something back there is an orphanage in San Jose that is having financial problems and I'm hoping that one of the services of this site might be to advertise or raise awareness of different needs of places I visit so that maybe we can give something back in return. As of yet this site is not generating income so it can't donate anything itself, though we are planning to set up an account for the orphanage for those who would like to make private donations, myself included. I wanted to get more information on the place before I left, pictures etc. But time was limited so I'm hoping that will get set up in the near future with more details for those who may want to help.

The site itself hopefully will become more user friendly with links to different parts of the trip so people may access them easier to get at the information they want. It also will have different links to different sites of interest, whether related in travel, motorcycles, kayaks, hiking or spiritual, any link that fits in with a broad purpose of this site and an overall mission statement (yet to be fully developed!). Hopefully advertisers may come in that I can vouch for as well and may help the site generate some money. I think if the site profits off of some of the places I travel to, then it has an obligation to give something back as well.

My brother in law Bob playing Christmas carols on his harmonica for the residents at my dad's Adult Foster Care Home.

I would also like to have this trip dedicated to three very special ladies I know of, and have a dedication or remembrance for subsequent trips as well, I will announce them later. Also announcing upcoming trips, one of which I was hoping to ride to Alaska in the near future and add that to Adventure Blogs. Of course with the current financial problems, I like many people found out I don't have as much money as I thought I did! So what I can do will to some degree be influenced by what I can afford and have time for. With going back to school this semester and juggling everything else I hope this site doesn't get neglected and some of these goals I just listed will come about. I also hope you will stick with the site or check in from time to time. Thank you all again for your encouragement and support for my trip and the site.

I hope this finds you well and we are all able to find peace and meaning in this New Year. Part of healing and recovering ourselfs, which in these times seems to be so much of what our journey is about, Is maybe for me and this site, about a greater transparency. I think thru blogging it allows you to know me better while giving you an opportunity to express yourselfs to me and others thru the site while sharing the adventure. I think this has happened to some degree, in fact I know it has. At some point later I will share some of the positive feed back I have received by people from all over the world, friends and family. Thank you again.

One of my goals for the New Year is greater transparency, both of who I am and of my life itself. This is not always easy. Its one thing to say you want to be honest make resolutions and embrace all aspects of who you are, it is quite another to go down and meet all these different aspects of ourselves, the dark places that also need light and love, and become whole. Greater transparency means greater light, and lets the light shine in as well as out........

A reminder from Yogi Bajhan comes to mind, If you can stay clear, stand honest and know love then God will find you, there is no need to search, he will find you..

Yours in travel and spirit...... Doug

Have a good journey in the New Year.

The Sierra De Pachuca's and my last night in Mexico

2008-12-31T03:12:00.001-05:00

Cactus's reaching for the skies in the Sierra De Pachuca's

As I got out of my bed and got ready for another day on the road, it was 6:30 am and once again the firecrackers were starting. I guess here as in many countries loud noises like fireworks are common with celebrations. For me I wasn't viewing it that way at all, and it reminded me I was in someone else's country with their own customs, even though I was having a hard time with fireworks at 6:30 in the morning.

As I got on my bike and started riding again I had to debate whether I was going to try to find a radiator shop and bank and try to fix my leak or just drive it to Texas. I had already driven it from Mexico City and it seemed to be doing alright. I thought if I ran into a bank and a radiator shop I would try, which in Mexico means neither will happen without effort, so I guess I was going to try to make it to Brownsville Texas. Though in these mountains there seemed to be a radiator shop in every town, though none appeared open first thing in the morning. Well I tried.... :)

The center top ridge is where I just came from and it is here I'm watching for the ever dangerous and annoying torch runners to come from so I can stay ahead of them.

It was very cold riding as I started out, in fact it felt like we almost had had a frost during the night. Most of the winding roads coming in and out of canyons were still in shadows in the morning and they weren't warming up too fast. I wasn't on the road 10 minutes it seemed when I ran into my first torch runners. Another long line of buses, cars and a police car with flashing lights. After the previous night of getting caught behind these slow moving caravans I had little patience for them this morning and seeing traffic was light up here in these distant mountains I wasted no time zipping around the whole mess and getting ahead of them. It was Friday and I would be passing different forms of Virgin Mother's celebrations all day.

I thought at first these might be Sequoia Cactus's but I'm unsure.

The drive this morning was just beautiful. The cactus standing high all over this high desert would give way to Pine Trees later which as I came down in elevation would give way to waterfalls and tropical like vegetation. It was going to be an interesting day for travel.

You can see the smoke rising from these fireworks set off down in the valley at a hotel on this morning. I would soon be passing right by it and heading up the other side of the canyon. The first of many to come.

It was also going to be a slow day for travel. My first 100 miles took me between 5 and 6 hours to cover. These roads were so winding and steep, with such sharp curves and at times torn up surfaces, that 10 to 15 miles an hour was the best you could hope for. The views were magnificent and riding along a ledge that had a drop of anywhere from 5000 to 9000 feet was not uncommon. I have been on many mountain roads before from the Western U.S. to the Appalachians to mountain ranges in Europe but seldom have I been on anything quite like this. I really felt like I was in the Swiss Alps again, or even somewhere in the Andes which is how I imagine them to look. With beautiful valleys and towns built onto the mountain sides, about the only thing they lacked was glaciers.

Its so hard to describe how beautiful these mountains and their passes are. I compare them to the Alps or perhaps the Andes.

As I passed thru one village after another, and one Virgin Mother Celebration after another, and out of one canyon and valley only to pass into another one, I was beginning to wonder if this road or the mountains were ever going to end. At one point I passed a village and shrine and then for perhaps the next 5 miles or so there were people walking up the mountain in the opposite lane towards me even as trucks came rumbling thru curves to spring quickly onto all these pedestrians. It was typical in the sense that any main highway in Mexico or Central America is also a main passage for the locals, their animals, and whatever else needs a clear path to walk on. Unfortunately all the fast moving cars and trucks share this passageway. It is considered normal here, a normal risk of everyday life, that sometimes ends up taking it.

One of the many Mother of Guadeloupe shrines along the side of the road where people come and have services, prayers and pay their respects.

I stopped for gas and a lady was at the pump selling me tacos. I hadn't had breakfast yet so I bought some, plus I really needed to warm up, it was cold. Everyone seemed to be dressed for snow up here, even though it seldom does, if ever. Still I knew I wasn't the only one that felt the cold. After getting back on the road the road continued to snake in and out of valleys next to huge rock faces and even some of the first waterfalls I had seen in Mexico. It was all very beautiful, and the mountains and the people all seem to say this is a very different part of Mexico then the rest, in fact it felt very different then any part of my trip so far. It also made me want to come back to it as well. Like it would be a safe place to explore, and much of it being a National Park meant you camp as well as hike in it. I think it may even be part of the Jaguar's range, though maybe a little high up.

One of the many passes and views in the Sierra De Pachuca's, at 9000 feet you could touch the sky it seemed.

After about a hundred miles, five hours and me wondering if I was ever going to get out of these mountains I came upon another huge valley and I could see the road snaking down towards the flats way down below. This is when I realized I had been traveling at about the 9000 foot altitude level. Pretty high up for a road in just about any part of the world, no wonder I was cold! I started the long descent to the valley miles below and with each passing curve downwards the temperature became warmer and the vegetation more tropical, until I was passing vendors selling oranges and pineapples again. Soon I was sweating and wondered if my bike really could handle the heat without any coolant. I knew my lazy side was winning, but I just didn't want to stop and have to deal with it, it had come this far apparently ok. Though I continued to look for a shop that might fix it along the way.

I believe this is either El Zoquital or Zacualtipan tucked away in the "Alps" here. It is hard to know sometimes since towns seldom have city limit signs coming into them.

As I made my way thru towns with names like Huejutla, Puaton and Tempoal, usually getting lost temporarily in each one, the road had straightened out and I continued to see more signs for Tampico. I didn't want to go into Tampico again, in fact I was looking for a highway that went around it completely coming out north of there, but I couldn't find it and knew really, I was lucky to have found the one I was on. Sometimes simply knowing where you are at is better then maybe looking for the shortest route and getting lost again! So it seemed I was destined to see Tampico again. The first city I had really gotten lost in coming down and had taken two hours to find the road out of it that I needed.

As the afternoon was wearing on and I stopped for gas, the sign said I was about 60 kilometers from Tampico, or about 36 miles. If I could get on the other side of the city with light of day to spare I could probably put in another hundred miles or so towards the Texas border. As far as I could remember Tampico was somewhere between 200 and 250 miles from the border. And it was a straight shot almost, no turns, only a couple of towns that weren't very big to deal with. Any where north of Tampico would put me in really good shape for the morning ride back to the states. Tampico felt like my last obstacle in Mexico, but something told me there probably would be something else. A country with military check points, police check points, immigration check points, weekend long festivals on the roads, speed bumps in every town, extreme heat and cold, winding mountain roads sometime blocked for hours by accidents, traffic jams and at times roads that can barely be called roads, it seemed yes there probably would be something else.

As I arrived in Tampico recognizing some of the roads I had previously been lost on which you think would of helped me get my bearings but really didn't, I pulled into a gas station to go the bathroom. They wanted one Pesos to use it, which I thought I put in but for some reason the door wouldn't work. I mumbling walked away as another guy got up to it and put some money in, I warned him it didn't work but he put his money in and it did. As he went in I jumped in behind him before the door closed. I had already lost enough Pesos in these bathroom machines and wasn't going to be denied here. Plus I had to go!

The views coming down from the high passes just kept getting better.

We started talking in the bathroom, he spoke very little English, and my Spanish while certainly better then when I came down is not conversational yet. Still I showed him my map and where I was going. He rattled off every town I had to go towards and thru to get to Matamoros (the Mexican border town) and the states. I didn't realize it at the time but this was incredibly helpful. Had he not rattled off all these names as I drove into Tampico I would have missed a number of exits that were labeled with some of the towns he told me. I'm sure he saved me an hour or so of being lost in Tampico again. Who knows maybe I would have run into that lady at the toll booth again!

This all brings to mind again that I could not have done this trip alone. From people following the trip and giving me encouragement on my blogging site to the many many locals who try' d their best to help me even though they didn't always understand what I was asking. Or when I wasn't sure how much they were asking for a product or service I would hold out some money and they would simply take the money they needed. I never felt I was ripped off this way, because for the most part I knew what the money was worth, just not exactly how much they were asking for. So again for all my and others fears of the danger of traveling down here, and there are some certainly like anywhere, for the most part it was the kindness or at worst the lack of interest of the locals that allowed me to pass and go about my business. Kind of an interesting phenomenon of foreign travel I think, this feeling of isolation in another culture and thinking that perhaps by some grace outside of yourself you are allowed to pass. A basic respect and tolerance by people for others that is more universal then a non traveler might think.

It was just a beautiful day for travel.

So after my conversation in the bathroom I headed for Tampico and found all the exits I needed from his directions and after paying one last toll booth (and no that lady wasn't there again, at least not in my lane) I made my way out of the city and began the last leg in Mexico. I had one last highway to find, that was 180 that cut off of 80 and would keep me from having to go into Cuidad Victoria, another large city, and also save me some mileage. After about 30 miles and thinking I had missed another highway there was a huge sign for the exit, its like you couldn't miss it. I was thinking why couldn't the rest of Mexico be this well marked. I know this was a well traveled route to the U.S. and Matamoros but still it was like reaching another country as far as the roads went, yet I was still in Mexico. Its why I looked at reaching this part of Mexico as if the journey south of the border was all but over.

With good roads and clear weather I drove into the night finally stopping at Tres Palos about 150 miles from the border. Finding a hotel for about $20 and then dinner for about $8 (I felt being close to the border I was overcharged for dinner. Also the waiter corrected me on my Spanish somewhat arrogantly I thought, however he did roll his r's beautifully and I had to for the first time appreciate how beautiful the language is when spoken so well), I then could go to bed knowing I would probably be in the U.S. fairly early in the day on Saturday.

Some farmland south of Tres Palos where I would spend my last night in Mexico.

That was a good feeling, but I had so much more to do and such a long way to go. I had come about 2600 miles from San Jose, Costa Rica in about 10 days which was kind of amazing in itself. Once in Texas I would still have about 2000 miles to go to get back to Michigan, and already in Mexico I was getting glimpses of how cold it was going to be up there. Following the weather in the U.S. as I could it looked doubtful that I was going to get that 3 or 4 day break in winter weather I would need to drive the whole way home. In fact not only had most of the U.S. got an early winter, it had stay' d without any real breaks in it either. The weather now in the U.S. was in the teens or below zero in most of the country. While I had been thru a lot on this trip including cold, I wasn't prepared to go 2000 miles in freezing weather and with the danger of ice on the roads.

I was to find out for what gear I had left and what little gear I could buy, 40 degrees and rain was about the most I could handle for hours on end. And that was by no means comfortable, but was doable.

Of course if this whole trip has taught me anything, its one day at a time, one town at a time, one storm at a time, one traffic jam at a time, one stretch of highway at a time and maybe most important, worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes, all you can do is what your doing now. Still it was hard not to think about those arctic temperatures not even a thousand miles north.......

Tomorrow I'm back in the states......and also probably my next post will just be on border crossings, what I paid going down, and what I paid coming back, and possible strategies for all situations. I have had some positive feedback from people who are planning on or are now traveling in Central America in regards to posts that contained information in this area. So I'm hoping one of the goals of this site which is to provide useful information to others will do just that. Border crossings are such a big part of the trip down here ( I would say a third of how the trip goes centers around them), not only because you have to do so many of them, but also because they can take up a lot of time and money if your not prepared, and if you don't speak Spanish and have never done them before its hard to be totally prepared for what your in store for. Any planning and preparation you can do ahead of time can pay off ten fold in regards to borders, or really any part of your trip.

Mexico City and Pachuca

2008-12-27T21:12:00.002-05:00

After getting up I had breakfast and headed out towards Mexico City. Being that most of the road runs thru the mountains and is quite high up, it actually felt cold. The first cold I had felt since early in my trip in Texas on my way south. I was about 160 miles from Mexico City and since it was basically a toll road and a freeway going there I expected to make good time. I thought if I hit it about lunch time this would give me all afternoon if needed to get across it without encountering the evening rush hour. Like that would make any difference, since I think it is probably always rush hour there. Though I can't imagine what the go home rush hour looks like.

The highway was dotted with some magnificent views. As I said in my previous post the toll road running from Acapulco to Mexico City is as modern as any Interstate in the U.S. and some of the rivers and canyons it crosses, sometimes with thousand foot drops, seemed to have made them have to create architectural and engineering wonders. It was impressive, and also I guess because it was a toll road, traffic was quite light.

The closer you get to Mexico City the more the highway climbs. Up and up until you pretty much know your going to get to the top and then descend into this huge valley and city of 20 million people. At one point I got a glimpse of the huge volcano that overlooks the whole valley and the city, but found it, like most views of the city as well, became lost in smog. There is no great view of the valley, city and volcano all together, at least not on this day. The smog hangs over the whole valley and seems to cut visibility down to a mile or two. So the awe inspiring view of a city this size I expected to see did not happen.

What looks to be tepee's of a type of hay dot these fields just before Mexico City.

I continue to descend into the city, there is one last toll booth to pay at. I find it kind of funny how you pay to get on, and then have to pay to get off, seemingly not getting anything for your money after the last time you pay except to be ushered into the city traffic and streets.

I remembered looking at my city map of Mexico City and seeing how the toll road ends and just turns into a main street heading north right thru the city. I also see that highway 105 which I need to pick up to keep heading north thru Mexico runs thru a town called Pachuca about 30 or 40 miles north of the city. So this then needs to be my strategy. Too stay on this road thru the city which appears to basically head due north, no matter what, and hope it eventually leads me to some signs for either highway 105, or Pachuca.

I have read different accounts by world travelers traveling in such obscure places like Mongolia where with no signs to go by, and incomplete maps at best, one basically must return to ones instincts. Almost like being lost in the woods, one must get a bearing on the sun or whatever to first determine your direction, then like in this case knowing there are only a given number of roads that will eventually take you cross country to your destination (in Mexico like in Mongolia usually just one), keep heading in the direction you need to go in and in a process of elimination, eventually find the road you need. This coupled with the universal asking of directions, usually gets you on the road you were looking for. Eventually, and usually.......

This strategy worked really well for Mexico City. I was just glad I came in on a road that basically didn't change direction and I didn't have to get off of to find another road. Though I wasn't sure it would work until I got on the north side of the city, I just inched my way along in the traffic and kept moving. And there are some things I have learned about traffic jams in my travels.

One is you will always encounter them, certainly at places of construction, cities or public events. Two, in Central America and Mexico since there are so few roads or freeways that actually go around towns, you will certainly find them at just about every village or city you have to go through. The size of the traffic jam being determined to a big degree of course by the size of the village or town encountered. And finally the most important thing to remember is that they do move. I think everyone will agree, we have never got in a traffic jam that didn't eventually move and we were able to get out of. Worth remembering every time the thought occurs "I'm never going to get out of here, or this traffic is never going to move so maybe I need to find a different route". When you feel like you already maybe lost, trying to find another route, especially in Mexico City, may not be the best option. For me patience was the word of the day.

Welcome to the state of Morelos, this sign was at the mountain pass going the other way just before Mexico City.

I had planned on at least 4 hours to cross Mexico City, not even knowing the distance I needed to go, what roads I would need to use, or what the traffic would be like ( this is another instance where tour books, better maps, and better planning all could of paid off big time for me). Amazingly it took about two hours. I just stay' d on my original road which first crossed thru the new city where I went by what looked like the 1968 Olympic Stadium and some other major downtown attractions, and then headed thru the old city. This road had 3 or 4 lanes going each way (along with a bus lane) and we just seemed to inch our way from one traffic light to another, with all lanes being full. No one really beeped their horns much, or hurried, this was just a fact of every day life here, you moved when the person ahead of you moved, at least that was my attitude and seemed to be shared by everyone. But that didn't mean if you saw an opening to change lanes or gain that extra few feet to get across the city you didn't take it!

Its worth mentioning here that in many places, especially Costa Rica where there are so many small motorcycles (usually in the 90cc to 125cc range) that if riding one one can save an amazing amount of time by going between cars, passing on the right, moving to the head of any line and even running red lights. Its sort of like if you can do it, do it (after almost 5000 miles south of the border, I don't think I ever saw anyone get pulled over for a traffic violation, except me once!). I think its not only not seen as being rude, its expected of bikes to be driven this way. And maybe even this way they don't take up a whole lane that a car could use. While I don't know if I would say bikes are more respected down here or not, I do think people are more aware of them, and I often saw even the smallest of bikes moving slow out on a main highway be given the same lane recognition that a car would get, not always, but most of the time. Of course Guatemalan busses come to mind, but they didn't seem to give respect to any creature, whether alive or dead!

For me having a bigger bike, and coming from a place where it maybe either seen as being rude or you might get a ticket for driving like this, I usually didn't take advantage of my size. No doubt standing out to other drivers like a sore thumb waiting in traffic that other bikes would have simply gone around, or gone thru between the parked cars. Though the longer I am down here, and in certain circumstances I do begin to go around or thru traffic. And I begin to understand that driving down here is just a way of life. Not really that different then negotiating the L.A. freeways every day, the Ohio Turnpike, or a New York rush hour.

This all being said I definitely was not taking any chances here. There were no places to park or pull over, these were strictly traffic lanes. Where ever people parked for work or whatever other business they might have wasn't on this road. This made it hard like many other places in Mexico for stopping and taking any pictures. It also made it hard when I noticed my temperature gauge was running hotter then ever and I could smell radiator fluid and wanted to pull over to check it out. There wasn't any place to do so and I certainly didn't want to make any turns here. My mind set was very simple, just head north. No turns, stops or anything. A driver next to me pointed to the bottom of my bike and I looked down and saw a puddle of anti-freeze. If I had been driving a car I would have had to stop and deal with an overheated engine. But I figured since most bikes are air cooled anyway, I was hoping it would not overheat enough to do any damage and I could at least get it out of the city before dealing with it. Like most of the lower elevations in Mexico, Mexico City was hot. The coolness of the morning and being up in the mountains had given way to the heat along the valley floor and the city. In my sort of I'll deal with it later philosophy, I just kept going. I didn't have a lot of choice since I couldn't even pull over without blocking a lane.

Mexico City did impress me in ways, at least the small amount of it I was seeing. The downtown area seemed to have a lot of interesting architecture and just reminded me culturally and business wise of any other major city I had been in. I could see it would be a neat place to come back to and really spend some time visiting. Even though the traffic and smog seemed overwhelming at times, and there were even people wearing filter masks, I assume to help with pollution, it just seemed to have so much to offer, and I also got a sense it was a world city with all the amenities and problems that come with being one. Yes I so hope I get a chance to get back.

The bike was running hot, but never got into the red zone. The thing is, once it ran out of coolant the temperature gauge and the external fan for cooling wouldn't work because there wasn't any fluid to get a temperature reading from. At one point once I got out of the city I did put some water in it but of course that leaked out as well.

So after about 2 hours of sticking religiously to the street I was on I came upon a divided highway and a sign for Pachuca, the next town I needed. It seemed almost too easy and I was grateful. For something I had worried about so much, it turned out to be not that hard after all, and nothing major had happened. In fact Pachuca, Tampico and Veracruz and countless other cities much smaller then Mexico City proved to be a lot more trouble to cross or find directions in.

As I began to clear the city traffic and head out towards Pachuca I felt good that that obstacle was passed, and I was just that much closer to Texas and the states. Pachuca looked to be a town of about 100 or 150 thousand people nestled up on the south side of the Sierra De Pachuca mountain range.

Getting thru the city of Pachuca to this point overlooking it just north of Mexico City was one of the hardest things to do on the whole trip.

I had checked my bike and it looked like just the drain plug had snapped off of the radiator and that's where it was leaking fluid. It seemed a small problem and I was glad it wasn't a hole in the radiator itself. The question is where would I stop to try to get it fixed, and also I didn't have many Pesos left and getting it fixed in Mexico might mean I would have to find a bank and change more dollars. Finding a bank down here is never my a favorite thing to do. As mentioned before they are often buried in cities somewhere, where there is a lot of traffic and people. You have to more or less leave your bike out in the open so someone could snatch something off of it. Go thru a metal detector to get in the bank, struggle with the language barrier, get it done and then find your way back thru the traffic and people to the main highway. No, I know I could look at it differently but finding bands and going thru all that just isn't fun, and its also very time consuming. At this point I thought since the bike seemed to be doing ok I thought I would just try to make it to a hotel and then in the morning maybe look for a bank and a mechanic to see if they could fix it.

So I headed into Pachuca hoping to find my highway 105 heading north, get on the other side of the city and then start the trip up 105 hopefully going around Tampico, a town that I had been lost in the first time thru for several hours. I knew once I got north of Tampico the roads would be good again and it would be a straight shot to Matamoros and Brownsville Texas. Tampico was the last city going north that I thought would pose any problem, either with traffic or getting lost. I was getting close to the states and I knew it. Having just got thru Mexico City it seemed like only a few obstacles remained. One of them being Pachuca, and the Pachuca Mountains.

Pachuca turned out to be one of my hardest cities to cross and find the highway I needed out of it. Its a cross roads for about 6 major highways coming in from every direction and I'm sure I got on each one of them at one point or another. I had to continually stop and ask directions. I would get directions, make one turn, and then go ask someone again. Always narrowing my search but never quite finding the right road. And the old problem of not having a more detailed map came up to get me. Though I'm not sure that would necessarily have helped since not everything is on every map anyway. So many times the town they used as a direction indicator would be changed to another town at the next direction indicator or turnoff. So you would be looking for something saying Pachuca to head for, but instead of that major of a town to use as a direction they would put in something quite smaller so I wouldn't know I should have turned there. This continually using different towns names for directions would give me problems on the whole trip, and certainly going north towards Tampico would be no different. At one point I got a sign saying Tampico 360 kilometers, and then didn't get another one for 180 kilometers. So for those next humdred miles or so you were never sure if you were heading in the right direction or not.

After what seemed to be several hours of driving in circles and asking directions I still could not find the highway I needed. I was so frustrated, like I just can't do this. Finally I looked at the sky to see where north was and noticed an incredibly steep and winding road heading up into the mountains. It was the only one heading in the direction I needed to go so that had to be it. I asked again at gas stations while I continued to narrow my selection down to streets that brought me towards those mountains. Finally as I climbed into the mountains I found a sign for Tampico letting me know I was finally on track again. Pachuca had turned out to be 10 times harder to get thru and find my road then Mexico City.

As it was getting dark I started my way into the Sierra Pachuca Mountains. Unfortunately I soon ran into the proverbial runners with torches celebrating the Mother of Guadeloupe Festival. On mountain roads with large busses and lines of well wishers following them at a crawl we all snaked our way along to the next shrine of the mother that is often placed on the mountain roads between villages. This was the weekend of celebration for her and every village seemed to have runners, firecrackers and these long lines of people and cars following them. It was one more thing to "deal with" as I tried to make some time crossing Mexico. It was also one more reminder that Mexico for the most part is not set up for any kind of speed. You simply, like in so many aspects of life here, take what she gives you. For someone trying to get back to the states after two months on the road, tired and with a bike not at 100%, their celebration was unfortunately turning into my obstacle.

After what seemed like it was going to be a decent day for travel, especially after getting thru Mexico City, now seemed to have turned into a typical hard day in Mexico. Having spent so much time lost in Pachuca, and now climbing into some serious mountain roads with ongoing lines of runners and busses from the festival having to be passed on very dangerous roads, not to mention a horrendous accident with backed up traffic for miles each way, things had taken a definite turn for the worst.

The accident looked like a truck had nearly completely gone over one of the sides of the road and guard rail and was dangling a thousand feet or so up from the bottom of the ravine. Another car had been demolished and was at its side. Police were directing traffic (for a change!) and they were alternating using the one lane that was open between traffic coming from each way. I could see the traffic backed up behind me twist all the way around the canyon and back up the winding road to my right. Another hour or so delay for most of us. For the people in the accident it looked to be quite a longer delay. I don't know if anyone was hurt.

I could not see over the side to see if there was a car at the end of that 1000 foot drop, and only hope there wasn't. It like so many accidents down here was at a curve and looked like maybe the truck had taken the turn too sharp and to avoid a head on collision veered off and to the right almost completely off the mountain. It was a sobering sight, but it was not too long before the traffic had seemed to forget about it and was off at a breakneck speed again!

It was not long before I ran into another line of runners and we all had to slow down. The thing is they always had police escorts with them and you didn't know if you should pass or not. Finally I just thought flashing lights or no flashing lights I'm passing. Curve or no curve, on coming traffic or no on coming traffic I was going to pass! My god I was turning into a Central American driver! What was next, maybe applying for a job as a Guatemalan Bus Driver! My life was changing before my eyes. Or maybe just passing before my eyes on these roads.

As the it became darker and darker, and colder as well (at this altitude it was probably in the 40's as it was getting dark), I had just passed another long line of runners and their entourage, I had had enough for the day. I would think about my radiator and getting more Pesos in the morning. I found a hotel for 240 Pesos, walked across the street where I got 4 tacos made to order, a Coke, and a donut for about $3. Went back to my room and on my t.v. which only had 5 channels watched a Sam Elliot movie. In the style of Rambo or Chuck Norris he was exacting vengeance in South Africa for a wrong done. I like Sam Elliot but his role as a vigilante in this didn't do him justice and it really was a pretty bad movie. It seemed to be just another pay check for the actors and that's about it. Still it was something to watch in the remote mountains of the Puchuca's before retiring.

As night settles in in the Sierra De Pachuca's, so does the cold.

It was very cold that night and of course none of these places have heat. I don't think anything does south of the border. I got my sleeping bag out as the temperature dropped and try' d to sleep as fireworks seemed to going off everywhere, in honor of the weekend festival no doubt. Boy did I choose the wrong weekend to cross Mexico on.

I had traveled about 270 miles that day and it seemed that I might only have one more day in Mexico, and that was kind of hard to believe. I had left El Salvador Monday morning, here it was Thursday night and I had put in one day of 400 miles, two of 300 miles, and one of 270 miles. About 1300 miles in four days and it was kicking my butt. Mexico again was proving that you have to adjust to it, or you just really make it hard on yourself. Because it certainly was not going to adjust to me.

Tomorrow I would be heading thru some of the prettiest and most challenging mountain roads I have ever been on.

Mexico and a couple of days of De javu

2008-12-24T15:28:00.002-05:00

As I begin my trip back, the road signs become varied. This one is about 200 miles into Mexico from Guatemala.

Feeling I had kind of lucked out with the hotel I stay' d at the night before, I was reluctant to leave it. But as so often happened on this trip getting back on the road in the early morning before the heat of the day and having time to think were often the best times on the trip. This morning after getting lost almost immediately in the first town I came to and getting back on track I came to this crossroads with the sign above. I wish I had maybe taken more pictures of all the different signs on the trip to sort of give perspective to where I was at.

This home with a hammock on the front porch and wide open land and mountains around it with a horse nearby seemed to have everything a home needs.

There was a restaurant nearby where I had breakfast. A good breakfast with coffee for about 3 or 4 dollars. After words in the clear morning I got back on my bike in the Mexican desert and headed out feeling a little like Peter Fonda and Easy Rider again! And a sort of pride came in that here I was, alone in southern Mexico, kind of living a dream, riding my bike, making it. Within a short distance I came upon another rider heading south, here out in the solitude of southern Mexico it seemed almost mandatory to stop and say hi. I think we both kind of slowed down maybe thinking the same thing, but I didn't stop. It sort of seemed like what was the point, we both knew what we were doing down here. And while it would really have been nice to talk to another biker on the trip since I hadn't the whole way, I continued on my way, and he his. It looked like he had all the world traveler gear. Like a full Darien Suit, neoprene or gortex riding gloves, a dual sport bike with metal panniers, the whole outfit for the professional motorcycle traveler. I wondered if it was Greg Frazier the author of Riding South. I had spoke with him in Duluth at the "Very Boring Motorcycle Rally" in September I believe and he said he was planning on driving down to Costa Rica for Christmas. Well here it was December 8th and if it was him I passed I kind of wish I would have stopped.

This area of Mexico before Saline Cruz and the Pacific Coast seemed very arid and dry, though there were some rivers coming out of the mountains.

Its funny as big as the world is, travelers still tend to know each other, or know of each other. Like sailors who know who's in port and who's not. And thru word of mouth may find out so and so is in Lisbon, or Rio or the South Seas. The points of crossing paths are somewhat limited, even in world travel, so its not hard to keep track of the few people who actually make travel a good part of their lifestyle.

When I lived in Alaska it was no different. As big as that state is, the roads only go a few places and so people tend to congregate, or travel to the same places. I remember when I lived in Seward Alaska for a time and one day I was looking out my window and my best friends old girl friend was walking down the street, I called to her and we ended up talking for awhile. We were all from Michigan, and here 4,5000 miles from home, we just happen to run into each other. Yes the world is not that big a place and is made that much smaller by the limited amount of roads and ports that are our crossing points.

Saline Cruz is a big port on the Pacific about 360 miles from Acapulco.

Later on this part of the trip I was to run into another Dual Sport bike with two riders on it, something I had not seen before. I saw at least one other dual sport rider and a Honda Goldwing along with a couple on bicycles heading south and a hitchhiker heading north, he looked like he was from the states as well. These two things, riding a bicycle or trying to hitchhike down here were things I had to have as much or more respect for then what I was doing. I could not imagine trying to ride a bike loaded with gear on these roads with the heat and heavy traffic. I also could not imagine hitchhiking because I would think you would often have to just sleep wherever you got left off. I would be curious to see how those things went. I should have stopped and talked to the hitcher. Another opportunity missed, probably because of trying to make time and get where I was going. Again the discipline of travel, to get good stories and good pictures, you often have to work for them. And realize you may never be back again so its worth the extra effort to take the time every day to get them.

Much like Acapulco, much of Saline Cruz is built on the surrounding mountain sides.

This was indeed a busy part route for travelers coming from the north heading south. Unlike my trip coming down the east side of Mexico, or my trip in Central Mexico, this stretch running along the Pacific Coast from Saline Cruz to Acapulco (about 360 miles) was obviously a well traveled route. It was also a heavily checked route by the military. There were about 6 military check points on the highway, half of which stopped me and ended up searching the exact same bags as the last check point. It was sort of annoying. At one point one of the soldiers got on my bike so his friend could take a picture of him with his cell phone. Meanwhile their CO looked totally annoyed. I thought it was pretty unprofessional to be taking up my time and sitting on my bike just so his buddy could take a picture of him, but then again what can you do. I thought I should have just had fun with it and taken their pictures as well. I'm not sure how their CO would have taken that though.....perhaps another opportunity lost.

Saline Cruz from a distance, you can see its port and the Pacific Ocean.

Just deciding to take this highway and come back a different way then I had taken down was a big decision. I wasn't sure what I would find coming this way. My plan was to drive the Pacific Coast to Acapulco, maybe stay a day there, and then drive straight north, thru Mexico City and up to Texas. This looked to add about 300 miles to the trip, but I knew how bad the roads were coming down the way I had, and the traffic and maze of roads around Veracruz and Tampico were no fun. I thought whatever I run into going this way, it can't be worse then what I came down on. The only thing that really bothered me was having to go thru Mexico City. There was no way to go around a city of 20 million people and looking at the map it didn't look like there was freeway that went thru it either. The only way would be to just get in it, and keep driving north until I got out of it and hopefully recognize a highway that would keep taking me north.

The start of the highway from Saline Cruz to Acapulco. 360 miles of winding coastal road with not much in between.

I spent about two days on the highway between Saline Cruz and Acapulco. It is a beautiful highway that follows the coast, winds thru the mountains and gives beautiful views. It is also sparsely populated and there are few towns or hotels the first couple of hundred miles coming from Saline Cruz. When I did finally find a hotel one night, over priced again at 300 Pesos and not nearly as nice as the one I staid at the previous night, I ended up getting some sort of skin rash from it. I generally just slept on top of beds of hotels I staid at and used my sleeping bag which worked out well. This was the first time I had contacted anything on the trip. The skin problem lasted for a week or so and I almost suspected I had lice or something, even maybe scabies. I was kind of bummed because it wasn't something I wanted to deal with, especially on the road. Usually you have to buy something like Quell, or whatever it is for your skin, and then you need to wash all your clothes etc. Being on the road in Mexico was not the place to do this, but I was also worried about infecting other places I went to. It did not seem to get worse though and eventually went away all together, knock on wood. Considering all the interesting places I had been and slept, it was amazing I had not gotten sick or gotten anything else on this trip.

Looking out over the coast and where the highway takes you on your way to Acapulco.

With all the winding roads coming out of Saline Cruz I was only to make about 300 miles my first day in Mexico, which was about the best I could hope for anyway. My second day I was able to get into Acapulco late in the afternoon. It was more then I expected. The traffic was terrible and it consisted of at least two very big cities right next to each other. Much of them built on very steep hills and mountains along the ocean. While my plan was to try to find that great Acapulco beach front and maybe stay for a day or two and do some Christmas shopping, the reality of the traffic or of even finding the beach front became apparent.

I was stuck in traffic for about two hours while heading for downtown Acapulco. I think the whole time I was there I was in a traffic jam. At one point one guy was yelling at me because I wouldn't let him in and I thought ok here I am going to get in a physical confrontation with a guy and his buddies in a traffic jam in Acapulco. I let them get way ahead of me and lost them in traffic. I missed my exit to the beach front while I got just a quick glimpse of some of the huge hotels there along the ocean. They probably would not have been cheap to stay at even if I had got there. Finally I was able to turn around and I decided to just get out of the cities and all the traffic. Its one thing about the cities, if your going to visit and stay in them, then you have to commit to being in them. You have to have the time, patience and make security a priority if your going to spend any amount of time in them. I was continually conflicted between simply wanting to get out of the country and back into the U.S. where things would be easier for me, and wanting to try to take as much time as possible since I didn't know if I would ever be back this way. Acapulco just turned out to be too much of a hassle though and finally like I said, I just started heading north out of the cities and towards the serenity of Mexico City of all places.

The service at this gas station between Saline Cruz and Acapulco was terrible. After waiting an hour for an attendant, I just left.

One town I thought would be nice to come back to and visit was San Marcos. It was maybe 100 miles farther down the coast from Acapulco. It is right on the ocean, looked to have good beaches and also lots of internet cafes as well being set up for some tourism. It also was not huge like Acapulco yet seemed to have everything Acapulco has, without all the traffic and maybe crime as well.

So as I made my escape from Acapulco following signs for Mexico, which meant Mexico City, I was so happy to get out and away from the city and find some good roads. There is a five mile tunnel that goes under the mountain and takes you out of town towards Mexico City. It is a toll road and costs about $6 to use. There was hardly anyone on it, due to the price no doubt. From this point to Mexico City, about 240 miles, it is all a toll road, and not cheap. While in some ways worth it considering the time you save and the fact that this is really a good road that rivals anything built in the U.S. as far as technology or ingenuity and its engineering marvels for some of the canyons and gorges it passes over, it none the less came to about $28 to drive the whole thing to Mexico City.

I ended up staying in a Hotel along the interstate (I'll call it) in a protected area. These areas can only be accessed by people driving and paying the tolls. They have gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. They seem safe and the hotel was certainly cleaner then the one I had stay' d at the night before, and even had internet. I think it was also the same price at 300 Pesos and check out wasn't even until 1 p.m. the following day. I had some tacos before going to bed and a coke, all for probably two or three dollars. Again pretty inexpensive. In the morning I headed out for my dreaded crossing of Mexico City, I was not looking forward to it, but meanwhile the road going in and the scenery were some of the best of the trip.

The road goes on and on, and.....

Tomorrow I get into Mexico City and after that start to tackle some of biggest mountains and toughest roads of the trip.

Guatemala and back in Mexico

2008-12-21T17:12:00.001-05:00

One of the many volcano's along the Pan American Highway in Guatemala

I left El Salvador yesterday and headed for my other "dreaded border crossing" with Guatemala. As it turned out it needed not be. Its hard to figure. Coming down it came out to be $310, mostly from a corrupt official and handlers it seems. This morning I arrived early and again there was hardly anyone in line, or much of anything happening.

A young kid offered to help me, and I told him $5 and he seemed fine with it all. For some reason the young kids don't seem to be out for everything they can get like the older one's do. Their just happy when you give them something. He was one of the nicest I've had with all the borders. I wonder where he'll be in 10 years if he's still doing it. The nice thing with him too is he did both sides, the border coming out of El Salvador, and the one going into Guatemala. It makes it so much easier if the borders are close enough together where if your going to hire a handler you negotiate one time for both borders migration and customs. Instead of having to do it with one leaving and then getting to the next one and having to do it all again. Usually you should only need one for both, but sometimes their not needed for the other one, or physically the customs of each country it too far away from each other.

At any rate he helped me do my paperwork with the El Salvador immigration and customs which of course is free, just like entering the country is. Went to the Guatemala immigration who stamped my passport, and then on to their customs which did the paper work for my bike and gave me my permit for $10. That was it, it all took about 45 minutes and I was done. Total cost $15. The kid was so nice, he saw me off, we shook hands and for $5 to do both borders it was well worth it. Too bad the big borders aren't like this. The big borders on the Pan American Hwy. is where the adult handlers hang out, and if the kids try to take any of their work away from them they just won't allow it. Its too bad. If you can, hire a kid, and when the older guys come to shoo them off, tell them you hired them first. The problem is they'll probably make the kids pay them for taking you away from them in the first place, or who knows, maybe even get physical with them, their such crooks. But like my Honduras border this time thru, this was not the Pan American Highway crossing. it was the La Hatchadura one. So it was less busy and easier to deal with. I got there early and things did seem to go better. I took the southern route because it was more convenient any way for the route I was coming and going on.

Guatemala was fairly uneventful crossing, unlike the last time where the road was closed for five hours and it took me all day to drive 150 miles. Since I changed maybe $10 at the border, (I changed $20 but 10 went to my vehicle permit), I wanted to get across and do my last border crossing into Mexico the same day. No stops in Guatemala.

My main memories of the crossing are of the impressive rows of volcano's that line the front range of mountains bordering the highway. One after another, some of them still smoking, all presenting a background to daily life here. One wonders wether it's tomorrow, or a thousand years from now, when the next time one will go off.

Also the heavy smell of molasses as you drive by big the sugar cane plants all in full production. Apparently December is harvest month for most fields, and they are already bare and harvested, or their stalks have flowers and look to be ready to harvest. The trucks heavily laden with cane creep down the highway towards the plants and must be negotiated with as your driving, their moving so slow. But their usually helpful and signal you when its clear to pass.

I remember briefly getting lost here or there and having to ask directions and thru arm gestures get the idea of which way to go. Anytime the highway goes thru a city of any size the odds of getting turned around or lost are good. After one such time I finally found my highway and I run into a race their having. This on the main road thru town, actually a freeway of sorts. There are runners and the police are following them holding up traffic as we're all following at a snails pace. I'm wondering why you would have a foot race right on your main freeway crossing your country during the day. But again like so often the answer down here seems to be, why ask why? Talk about pressure on the last runner, here there's a mile of backed up traffic right behind you. If you poop out, we all poop out! At this point we're all rooting for the last runner. The faster she can finish, the faster we can all get going again!

While most of the roads in eastern Guatemala are fairly good, the ones in the middle and western part are terrible. At one point I got behind 3 other bikers apparently from the states heading north it looked like, and watched them push their bikes and themselves on these roads to make time. Trying to pass on the right and on hills, I couldn't keep up with them. Which was fine, while I do want to make some time to get back before Christmas I don't need to push to do so. If anything these roads and the traffic down here will beat you up enough without trying to make time as well. That is a big adjustment to make down here. If you want to not just be driving all day, and you want to stop for some meals, and not drive after dark then 200 to 300 miles a day is about the best you can hope for. In fact if I come back and plan another trip that's about what I will plan on time wise. And if your going to stop and say see the pyramids then you need to plan your days off as well. To simply jump on your bike and go and figure things out as you go is fine, but one needs to a lot time for how far one can realistically travel in a day down here as opposed to other places.

Anyway my over all approach to travel, the planning, the places to stay, sites to be seen and coordinating it all with time and money are all part of the challenge of putting together a good trip. And as I'm understanding these things that I've never been necessarily good at (like organization and sticking to a schedule!), are essential factors in having a successful trip. All these things also become more difficult or at least put in a different context when one is engaged in long trips such as this, or crossing South America, or even going around the world. Which are other trips I weigh against this one and think about wether I would want to do them or not. The sights to be seen and what one really has time for actually takes a back seat to finishing the trip itself and having the time and money to do so when on a longer trip. So comparing distance traveling, to just touring in general one realizes the different goals involved and thus the different approaches. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. While I like the idea of covering great distances and getting a "feel" for the bigger lay of the land, in the end I think taking shorter trips that get more out of a certain area, its history and scenic spots etc. are in a way more appealing. But again, both have their advantages.

Before I approached the Guatemala Mexican border I stopped at the family diner I had stopped at before. The diner consisting of a tent, two picnic tables, and a fire pit for grilling with the whole family working the various talks. The father wasn't there and I ended up having a bowl of chicken soup and tortilla's. What should have been 2 or 3 dollars before, now was $5 with the mother charging me. I only had dollars on me, and felt again I had paid too much. But that's what she asked for, I should have bartered, just one more aspect of life down here to get good at. To know when and how much to barter for is the key. For her doing it before the meal would have been the time. But I thought I had already eaten there before, surely they would remember me and give me a good price wouldn't they? No, trust no one, barter for everything, and ask for everything you want, rules to live by......

So as I approached my last difficult border crossing, getting out of Guatemala and into Mexico I was hoping for an easy crossing. This whole area, from Guatemala into Mexico and vice versa is very confusing. This crossing which is by Mexico's town of Tapachula is so confusing. I knew I went thru Tapachula on my way into Guatemala, but I had no idea where that border was that I went thru. I assumed I would be going thru the same border crossing, only in reverse, I wasn't. As I approached from the opposite direction I came to a crossing guard that seemed to telling me I had to be going a different way. Its like I was coming in the reverse side, like the side that people coming out of Mexico and into Guatemala use. I needed to have my passport stamped out of Guatemala and my vehicle permit nullified. Instead I seemed to be in a place where they wanted to stamp me in, and give me a vehicle permit to enter, not leave. I thought I should have been at the place I should have been at when I came into the country 5 weeks ago, but wasn't, it was very confusingI if I was in the same place I was at when I entered Guatemala the first time I would have known where I was, but even though I was using the same highway going out as I had coming in, the customs buildings and immigration were totally different. Like the same highway had two sets of customs and migrations for both countries. If your confused now, you can imagine how I was. I just kind of knew I was in the wrong place to exit Guatemala, and no one spoke English.

Finally one guy offered to help, somewhat reluctantly I accepted, it was like here we go again. Another handler finds his way in. He walked me over to another building and they told him something that confirmed that I was at the wrong border. We walked back to the building we were just at and a friend of his told him we needed to be at another border crossing as well, and apparently offered his motorcycle to him so he could lead me over to it on his bike. He asked me how much I paid to get in the first time. I told him over $300. He said this would cost me about $50. I told him I only paid $10 to get into the country this time. He said it was going to cost $50 to leave, and I suspected he was talking about handlers fees for the other guy helping me and him letting him use his bike. But for now we'd just have to wait and see.

Guatemalan countryside

The guy got on an incredibly slow moving bike and I followed him about five miles to a totally different customs and migration building. This was the one for people leaving Guatemala. And again it was totally different then the one I used when I entered the country the first time. Why the same entrance point should have two separate buildings and roads to them that do the same thing is beyond me. I didn't recognize any of it and I'm not sure I could have without help.

So after winding thru crowded streets we finally come to the immigration and customs building. His bike was so slow if I had known where I was going I would have left him a long time I go, but I didn't know where I was going and we finally get there. Immediately two other handlers join us to take me to the window to get my passport stamped out, and then we go to another window I think to get my vehicle paperwork stamped out and we're done. I tell the handlers I'm not paying anyone else any money and they get the idea and split. I also find a money exchanger at this point and change over $300 to Pesos at 12 Pesos per dollar. I was thinking I would have a hard time finding a bank in Mexico to do this so I would do it here. The exchange rate at banks is about 13.7 Pesos to the dollar. So on $300 I was taking a big hit. Like 30 to 40 dollars worth. That's where the money exchangers make their money, and we lose ours. Its that one or two percentage points on the exchange rate. As it was there were a lot of banks open in the border town Tapachula and I could have done it there where they were relatively easy to find. Unlike interior towns where you often had to get off the highway and go looking for them. But of course I didn't know this at the time, and by me not wanting to do any more work in Mexico then I had to it would cost me some money. The thing is on the reverse side, in Texas the banks told me to go to the border exchange places since they offered a better rate of exchange then the banks. So go figure, its hard to know what to do half the time.

Of course the guy who brought me over, my new found handler who never even discussed a fee with me sees all this money get exchanged, so now he knows that I can afford to pay him some money as well. After we're done getting my vehicle permit canceled and he points me onto the Mexican side of the border crossing he wants to get paid. $50 is what he asks for, surprisingly enough. I tell him we never talked about any fee at all. I start out at $10 or $5 or something. Again I'm too soft. I know he borrowed a bike to drive this whole way hoping to get some money, and I'm trying to justify giving him more and avoiding conflict. We're sort of at a stand off now while some lady sitting on a bench is following this whole conversation, I don't know if she could understood English or not, but I'm sure she got the gist of our conversation. At any rate I finally tell him $20 and that's it. He seems to agree, I mean in the end what are they going to do? He's lucky to get anything really considering how they go about their business, hoping they get what they ask for. We shake hands and are done. Like all deals they do tend to end in handshakes. So if you want your handshake to mean something, make sure you feel like you got the bargain!

The other thing that really bothered me and I saw many times in Central America were homeless starving dogs. Many of them with broken legs and were just skin and bones. They have no animal shelters or humane society's down here. Though I did see a statue later in Mexico City of a dog with a broken leg. I wanted to take a picture but I was in heavy traffic. But I thought what a humane statue to have to remind people the plight of these animals, it really is horrible.

As I was leaving Guatemala and was between handlers, the money exchangers and the high heat, I saw a puppy come walking up, probably no more then 3 months old. It had a broken leg and was all skin and bones, it could hardly walk. I wish I had offered it water at the time or something, but like everyone else there I was under as much stress in ways. To think this dog will probably just starve to death on the side of the road is sort of hard to think of. Like how many children will die of the same thing today on this planet. And how separated are we from all this suffering that occurs all around us and remain oblivious to it. Its kind of hard to imagine. Later after I got back to Texas and I saw people hanging out in McDonalds, it was hard to relate in ways. The United States is so different in so many ways. For good and bad I guess, but the differences for anyone having spent time away from this country are striking. That dog and the total lack of help of any kind was just one example.

These two borders were the most confusing of the whole trip for some reason. Nothing was set up as the other ones were, and no one spoke English. The Mexican side was almost as confusing. The lady did stamp my passport out, but wanted to know how long I would be in the country, how long it would take to drive thru, and also couldn't take any money for anything. If there wasn't another lady from the states in line there that spoke Spanish I would not have known that I needed to find a bank to pay for my permit before I left the country and also stop at immigration in Tapachula to get my vehicle permit. This is not what I wanted at all. To miss the immigration station somehow would mean I could lose my bike. And to find it meant driving around an unfamiliar town until I did find it. Just one more to me unnecessary hassle, everything could have been take care of at the border itself, instead giving me two more things to have to do after entering the country. I really just wanted to get thru and then drive into the night, as far away from the border as possible.

The good and bad news were both ahead of me, the good news was I had only one more border to cross and that would not be for 4 or 5 days. The bad news is I had a long ways to go to get to that border. Driving across Mexico is some of the most challenging driving I've done anywhere, and I know it was not going to be any easier going back then it was coming across the first time.

After I left the border still frustrated that I had to go find the immigration place somewhere in a strange town and if I missed it perhaps lose my bike, I made my way to Tapuchula. It like most of the towns I entered was easy to get lost in and it didn't take long to do it. I kept asking for directions and assumed by heading out of town, I would eventually come to customs before I could head out into Mexico. Then I could get my vehicle permit. Fortunately I was right. I soon came upon a traffic jam that was indeed immigration checking traffic. After gently being pushed in line by a car changing lanes I decide to just go to the side of the road and head to the front of the line. When I got there I discovered the immigration office where I got my paperwork done for the bike, I was also able to pay for my permit for me so I didn't have to look for a bank later. This time they charged my credit card $26 for my vehicle permit (coming in they charged me $30) and for me it was $20 (again coming in the first time it was $23). So who knows why it would be different each time but it was. But all in all Mexico did seem a lot more organized in ways and professional then almost any other Central American country I had been in. Somewhat of a contrast to many of our perceptions of Mexico to begin with. And they certainly didn't tolerate handlers either and this was refreshing.

So I had finally taken care of everything to get back into Mexico and this seemed like such a big step in my return home. Now all I had to do was drive for 4 or 5 days, no more borders! I ended up driving 400 miles total that day all the way from where I started in El Salvador that morning, well into the Mexican night. The last 200 miles of Mexican Highway going towards Tapachula are some of the best in Mexico. I had no fear of driving late into the night. I wanted to get well within the border my first night.

Eventually I found a hotel, one of the nicest on my whole trip, and it was only 1800 Pesos, or about $15. It was very clean and also inspired me to start my practice of Tai Chi again. Gentle stretching exercises that are actually a Chinese martial art that I have practiced on an off since I lived in Alaska. Done twice a day they are a great benefit both physically and mentally. In this atmosphere and being on the road alone and in a routine it seemed and easy time to start my practice again. It also made me think of living in New Mexico or the southwest for awhile and knowing the change could be quite good for me, physically and mentally. Plus being able to drive my bike year round another plus. Anyway all these thoughts came to me as I was starting my way back across Mexico, The feeling of making it on a very difficult trip came to me again, I appreciated a again just how difficult this trip has been in ways, and also sort of like easy rider and Peter Fonda, it felt kind of neat to be living a dream in a way. While I have a lot to learn to be able to travel comfortably south of the border, or at least get a lot more out of it, I still was doing it, and it was still sort of hard to imagine what I had done and was doing. By the grace of god and a lot of help in different ways, I was like an old cowboy making his way thru the wild west, or just a modern day traveler on a motorcycle who not at all unlike any other traveler thru out history or time, just wanted to push and challenge himself, and see what was on the other side of that ridge, mountain or ocean.

As I contemplated navigating Mexico I realized too some of the personal changes in my life I needed to navigate as well after returning from this trip. None of them being easy, but all of them necessary to some degree for personal growth. I realized again how getting so far away from what most of us look at as normal on a daily basis gives us a different view of ourselves and our country and also helps us keep track of what is important to us all, which usually starts with our faith itself and our family. To find one's self thru the maize of relationships and distractions with work and life itself, to try to become whole and hopefully arrive at some sort of balanced perspective with life itself is no small task. To some degree that is one of the goals of this site, and in trying to do so hopefully will help enable myself and maybe you reading this to achieve some of that as well. For are we all not all on a constant journey, even when we think we're not?

So the name freedomthrumovement describes to some degree what physical movement can do for our mental and spiritual movement as well. And hopefully by changing our perspective thru movement we find some freedom from our believes and ways of seeing and relating to the world which hold many of us hostage on a daily basis. Thru diet, excercise, travel, or maybe a good roll in the hay! Anything that gets us outside of ourselves can be a positive thing......

Where the body goes, the mind follows, where the mind goes, the spirit follows..... old spiritual teaching

Life within the shadows of the volcano's

In my next log my return across Mexico begins.....

The Biker meets the Surfer Bum (and I think the surfer wins)

2008-12-19T17:41:00.001-05:00

View from the beach near the Surfers Hotel

What happens when two distinctly different cultures collide? Its always interesting to see how they adjust to each other and end up co-existing. While I'm obviously no Hell's Angel, I'm still on quite a different trip down here then surfers who seem to have come to this part of El Salvador from all over the world to just surf, surf and surf some more, hanging out for the "perfect wave".

Surfers at Sunset, many would surf until it was completely dark out there.

So as I pull my bike into the "Surfers Hotel" the sign that says "rooms for rent", all written in English, I know in a way I'm looking for my own perfect wave. Or at least a cool place to hang out for a couple of days, speak English and meet people from all over the world while getting into the surfer scene. Having been a ski bum myself for a couple years after high school, I figure we probably have a lot of common ground.

My bike and room at the Surfers Hotel

I talk to the owner and though he doesn't speak English, I get that its $8 a night. At that price I pay for two nights. He shows me my room in a shaded back yard with assorted rooms in different buildings all around the property. There's hammocks everywhere, and no one around, it seems almost too quiet like, maybe I'm going to be alone here as well. I look at one of the picnic tables between the rooms and it looks like it has left over party things from the night before. A couple of almost empty whiskey bottles and some empty plates. It was close to my room and I didn't like the idea that there may be partying all night right outside my room. Well no one was here now, it seemed peaceful and the ocean was a short walk away. I had to stay someplace and hopefully this would be my "beach time".

The path to the beach, the side streets and alleys were often just two tracks that served as main roads

Having only slept really one good night of the last 3 I took a nap. When I awoke the surfers had returned. It looked like 3 or 4 guys from Germany and one lady were in their group. They were all in there 20's and seemed to speak Spanish well as well as English and German. I had to initiate any kind of conversation though, they didn't seem to notice me or care about me one way or the other. So my first hope of having some good conversations and learning something about surfing was not going to happen with them. Either I was too old, not part of their group, or maybe more likely they were just on their own trip, though somewhat stoic like some Germans can be, and it was all about business, or surfing. In fact I don't think I heard any of them laugh the whole time they were around. They would get their boards and head for the beach about 3 times a day, hardly say anything on departing or returning. While the guys would acknowledge me and say hi if I said hi, the one lady wouldn't even make eye contact or even say hi. It was like I was invading her or their space or something. It was sort of odd being in a country where you don't speak the language, have a group right next to you who do, but they never say a word to you. Oh well, another part of travel....

Here I am catching my first big wave.

Well Ok, so if I wasn't gonna be with the in crowd here I'd have to strike out on my own. The beach was a short walk away and I went down to explore it. It was really hot and the Pacific Ocean while somewhat cooler then the air, was not refreshing by any means. There seemed to be 30 to 40 surfers at any given time out "working the waves" a few hundred yards off shore. I could see why this was such a good spot. The waves were all about 10 to 12 feet high, and perfect for novices as well as more experienced surfers. I don't think you could get hurt trying to learn here, and the waves were big enough to have fun. Plus they seemed constantly the same size all day long.

Sunset along the Pacific

A fisherman watches the sunset and prepares to cast his hand fishing line out into the surf.

There was maybe 5 or 6 Hostels or Hotels along the beach, and while not crowded, there seemed a fair number of people from different parts of the world there. A surf shop, a few restaurants and of course a security guard with a gun were all present. I thought seriously about renting a board and giving it all a shot, but at the moment the heat was too much and I retreated back to my room. Later I walked back down for the sunset and watched a couple of locals casting nets into the rising surf as it got dark though I wasn't sure what they were trying to catch.

Last light in the tropics

After getting back to my room I thought about asking the surfers where the local scene was at night, but there wasn't anyone anywhere on the whole place. Here it was 6 o'clock and it was already dark. I decided to write up some posts so the next time I got to an internet service I could use it. There was a internet place across the street but the lady didn't speak English at all, and we got no where with it. If I had just wanted to use a computer we could have figured it out, but asking about wi-fi and being able to use my laptop seemed more of a hassle then it was worth. I was a little frustrated too that here again, what should have been the simplest of things, like using a computer in a internet cafe was made overly complicated by the language barrier.

A Nearby River draining into the Pacific

The river canyon coming down from the mountains.

So I used the time to really do some writing, I hadn't planned on doing a lot of long posts on the way back, but here I was again with a lot of experiences I wanted to record and a lot of time do to it because of it getting dark so early down here. And doing a lot of the writing now will save me from having to do it later when I get back. Then most of the work will be just organizing my writings.

The road heading away from the coast and towards Guatemala

One of the many tunnels along the coastal highway.

So I was deep into writing when people started coming back and I could hear them outside my room. There seemed to be a lot of the family from the owners there as well. Loud music, firecrackers and lots of yelling pretty much told me it was going to be a party night. To make a long story and night short, the partying mostly done by locals lasted till 4 or 5 in the morning. I wrote till after midnight knowing I wasn't going to get any sleep anyway. After that I try' d to sleep but between the fireworks (much louder and powerful then in the U.S.), the blaring music, the kids running all over the yard screaming till 1 am and the adults laughing and shouting all several feet from my room I ended up with no sleep at all. My neighbors the Germans seemed to have retired about the time I did, I had no idea how they could have slept either.

In the morning I asked my neighbor if this was a normal night here, and he kind of said, no, then yes and then well no. I knew with the long drive coming up thru Guatemala and Mexico I needed some rest, and I couldn't take a chance on another night of no sleep, plus I needed to get closer to the border anyway for the morning. So it was settled, I would leave, the surfers could have their hotel back.

I went to the owner to get some water and tell him I was leaving. Between my broken Spanish he understood I got no sleep the previous night, was heading to Guatemala today, and that I wanted a refund for one night. He tried to tell me something but I couldn't understand him. I think he was saying it was a one night celebration. As I looked around at his assembled family ( probably 15 kids and 12 adults) I thought even if they don't decide to party again, it was probably not going to be too peaceful of an evening. The music was already starting to play again. I felt bad in a way and tried to not be angry or rude. The surfers were in their own world, the family and owner in there's. I was the guest coming thru, and I'm not in my 20's anymore wanting to hang out and party. Next time I'll know.

Another set of brilliant flowers along the road to Guatemala.

I know not drinking or partying gives me a little different experience with traveling. Sharing drink is a universal way of relating to each other. Even if you don't speak the language you can share a drink and come to some sort of understanding or feeling of mutual ground. I know Carlos the owner of my home stay house offered to have a drink with me, and I know we would have bonded on some level more quickly if I was a drinker. This sort of social interaction centered around drinking I do miss in ways. I did it for years with my parents and with friends and in my travels. Not the drinking itself as much as the bonds of friendship that often formed thru a shared activity. Drugs for awhile especially back in the seventies were a way to bond thru a shared experience as well. One problem is why it does allow one to have a good time, and make it easier to get know one another and form a bond which on some level as humans we all need anyway, it also for some of us becomes the only way that we end up doing this. It means to express our feelings, and "feel" we begin to ritualize drinking, and partying to a point for some of us it becomes a lifestyle. Also the feeling itself becomes the addiction, and there is only one way to feel that way, and that is to party. There is a certain dependence on the drink or drug itself which is used to let people know who we are, or what we feel. Its very seductive and for many of us can lead to much more serious problems. For some turning into a form of isolation which is not why we started drinking or using drugs to begin with.

That all being said, I do miss it some times, again mainly for the social interaction it often incurs. But the partying and hanging out lifestyle is not really where I want to be at anymore. I'm not in my twenties and being in a dormitory type situation like the Surfers Hotel reminded me that if I had spoke Spanish and was ready to cut loose for a night I could have had a great time. I guess wanting this is what I miss sometimes. But its also a temporary state that usually comes with a hangover and a not so great feeling about what I may have done or said, and that I don't miss. Again wether in traveling or at work and the business world there is still that part that uses partying or sharing a drink as part of the whole process of living. Some seem to handle it better then others and it does seem to have its place.

I was trying not to judge the situation and not think in terms that it is incredibly rude to rent out a hotel room and have a full blown party going the whole night. But again this is part of life and you run into it everywhere, I left and got a refund, and I don't think was rude. Now I am staying at a hotel close to the Guatemala border where I stay' d the first time thru. Kind of like the night before the Honduras border, I know this one might be the hardest one, and Guatemala itself was a tough country to drive thru the first time. Still even with Mexico being a long tough drive, if I'm in Mexico tomorrow night, I will only have only one last border to cross, and then I'll be back in the states.

While the weather is not an issue here, it is as hot as ever, the forecast for Dallas tomorrow is in the 70's which is good news because I need decent enough weather in Texas to get some things done before I figure out how I'm going to head farther north. After Mexico everything will depend on the weather.

I also need to remember that as difficult as parts of the next part of the trip maybe, I still need to have fun and enjoy this experience as much as I can. Take my time and remember I'm doing something I've always wanted to do. I'm in pretty good shape time wise, the bike has done well and its up to me to enjoy the ride.

The time is now, and now is the time.....Yogi Bajhan

Returning thru Honduras and El Salvador

2008-12-16T17:32:00.001-05:00

High in the mountains at the Nicaragua and Honduras border

The border coming out of Nicaragua went very easy. It must be noted that the route I took coming and going was CA 2, which is at El Espino on the Nicaraguan side, not the main route of the Pan American Highway, CA 1 which runs thru Managua. Managua, like San Salvador, Mexico City and Guatemala City are all big cities I purposely made sure I missed as to save time, avoid the nightmare traffic, or avoid getting lost or maybe even robbed. Perhaps on another trip I will make them when my Spanish is better and I have more time. Anyway I got to the border early, like before 8 am., and there was absolutely no traffic there and just one handler who approached me. There was also a few kids that wanted to help. I more or less took their directions and the handler told me he would help, I told him I would not pay him, and he said fine, but he still walked me to every window.

It ended up being $3 to punch my Passport out and $3 to cancel my vehicle permit. It all took about 20 minutes and I was on my way. I gave him $2, and one of the kids $1 for basically doing nothing, while another kid was insistent on shining my shoes for $2 (I was wearing tennis shoes, but that wasn't important to him). I laughed and said no, well just give me $2 anyway he said. Right, a sense of humor has to come in sooner or later.... So to check out of Nicaragua, a total of $9, and 20 minutes. Things seemed to be looking up.

At the Honduran side it was a little more expensive. Honduras is known to be the most expensive of all the countries for just the vehicle permit. I have heard $40, and paid that, but again who really knows. I have also heard nothing, but I don't think so. There was no one here either. At this border anyway, at this time of day it was great. There was a lady in the office (for the first time of any of my crossings) who was quite polite and it seemed like it was going to be easy, and it was. No lines, what questions she had the handler answered (of course she didn't speak English), even though I had copies of my passport, title and drivers license already done, she needed another one of something, the handler rushed off to do this also and was back. The whole process with the two borders was about an hour, no waiting and the total came to about $45, the handlers coming to about $12 of that. Things seemed to be improving. Again the two big lessons here if possible. Agree on a fee before the handler takes over, and then follow him to every window to make sure your actually getting charged for what he says you are. And then of course choose quiet out of the way borders in the morning when ever possible!

I stopped to take this picture of this bike with a hat on it. To me it summed up a part of Central America perfectly. The owner came out and was more then pleased to let me take his picture. Its interesting I have met more people by taking pictures and by having them come up to me. I was worried some might get offended or label me as just another one of those "picture taking gringo's", but in reality just the opposite has been true.

I did not get much sleep the night before with the "threat of scorpions", a rooster who seemed to be guessing all night long when the sun might come up (so thus he cockle doodle dood all night), not to mention an an assortment of other odd noises that I didn't even want to know what they were. So getting thru the border and on my way quickly without too many extra expenses felt good. That coupled with the fact that I exchanged all my Cordoba's for dollars and got a fair price. The handler spoke English, had a calculator and I with my pen and paper made it easy to agree that 19.5 was the going exchange rate, and that's what I got.

There will be different moments that really stand out on this trip. When I first got to El Salvador after a week crossing Mexico and Guatemala. Driving from sun up to sun down over some of the worst roads in some of the hottest weather and in the most terrible traffic. To finally get to a country that took dollars, and to see the Pacific break on to El Salvador's tropical shore and see tourists for the first time, or at least people who might speak English. Knowing I had just been thru a rough stretch, but I was making it.

Or having Thanksgiving at Intensa with people who really seemed to get along and also care about others. I felt touched in a spiritual way there. And now having gone thru so much, I kind of understand why people are drawn to Latin America, even for all its hardships. Like when a traveler gets back after a six month trip thru Latin America, or a 2 year trip around the world, and regardless of the obstacles, the heat, ridiculous border crossings, the constant threat of being ripped off, or run over if your driving, or the bad roads, or, you get the idea, the person is ready to go do it all again. Its hard to explain unless you've literally risked life and limb to do so in the first place. There is a certain calling to foreign and distant lands that no amount of hardship in the travel itself can ever fully silence. The novelty of it, the life so different then what you were raised in, the exoticness, the need to learn how to travel and not just survive, but enjoy the trip itself. For isn't that what life is all about anyway. Not just surviving, but living a life well lived, as someone once said. I know of nothing that teaches such intangibles in such a way as foreign travel does, and maybe Latin American specifically. Though I know Africa has its own call, as I'm sure China, India, Mongolia, and so many other places all do, I don't know what it is, but I think I may have caught it, or maybe just understand it a little better. Wander lust, restlessness, whatever, I just can see the attraction of learning Spanish better, and then getting more and more out of each subsequent trip I might take in Latin America. Yes I'm very much a novice when it comes to this, but maybe in ways you could do it for years and always be, that's what makes it great, and why it never really gets old.

Every once in awhile a bird will get up from its nesting area and for no apparent reason just up and fly away to a new place. No one knows why, it just does. ......Taken from a quote on Horizons Unlimited web site.

One of my favorite volcano's of the trip, San Miguel dominates the landscape in eastern El Salvador

So all these thoughts are kind of settling in on this morning up in the mountain pass between Honduras and Nicaragua. This is one of those memorable times in the trip. The air is cool this high up in the mountains. The traffic light and the sky is clear. Its just a beautiful morning as I wind my way down thru the twisting turns and the magnificent views. And again I think, its these moments that make everything else worth it, and I understand. I may not come back right away, but I will come back, I hear the call of foreign travel, and certainly of Latin America, its beat both tangible, and intangible, a pull once felt, can never fully be resisted, because maybe it can never fully be understood....

So my morning of rapture and profound thoughts over, its time to get back to the reality's of Central America. Honduras, as I come down from the mountains the heat becomes oven like. The roads filled with the usual traffic stops by police, traffic line ups, and poorly marked roads. If I had not been this way before I surely would have got lost, and even then I did for a minute. Asking for directions to El Salvador when there's probably at least 3 different borders crossings doesn't help much. So I had to go by what I remembered, even with out signs. And In the end I was right, I did remember this part of the trip.

From Nicaragua to El Salvador across Honduras is only about 110 miles. Nicaragua was about 240 miles across, and the Costa Rica border to San Jose about 200 miles (I'm saying this for my own reference so I won't forget, and also maybe it will help others making the same trip). El Salvador is maybe 150 to 200 miles across depending how many times you get lost (there are spots in El Salvador that you will probably get lost in no matter what you try to do). Guatemala maybe 180 miles across, and then Mexico (the route I took) is maybe 1100 miles across. This is sort of a breakdown of my trip coming and going. And it is the shortest routes that I could find, much of it in Central America was the Pan American Highway. All these countries have many different ways to cross them and the next time I come I will hopefully not be on as tight of schedule time wise as I was this time. This for me was the shortest way distance wise. If one has the time, I would recommend finding other ways across. Less busy roads and border crossings could make for a very different trip in a lot of ways. Plus a lot of site seeing attractions aren't anywhere near the Pan American. Like the Pyramids in Belize, or Guatemala (I believe). Nicaragua has remote areas of Caribbean Coast that are suppose to be beautiful as well. Basically all the countries have two coasts,with a tremendous amount of history, volcano's , wildlife, culture, you name it. There is so much to see, and the Pan American Highway only cuts thru a small section of each country.

A close up of San Miguel, I would like to come back and hike it someday, a night on the mountain top looking at all the surrounding towns and lights would be an experience in itself.

So at 110 miles across it did not take me long to cross Honduras and reach the El Salvador border. The border that was so expensive when I was coming into Honduras from the other way I thought had to better coming this way, after all I was leaving, not coming. Even so I arrived at the border just before lunch and like before the heat was oppressive, if anything it seems like its gotten hotter since the last time I was in these two countries. I stopped right in the middle of chaos and was immediately surrounded by the handlers. Three of them who knew me from our time before. They seemed surprised when I wasn't happy to see them and told them they had cost me over $300 the last time. The one told me it was because it was covering 3 countries. Again you have no idea if what their saying is true or not, just assume its a lie and usually you'll be right. He said that for $20 this time they'll take care of everything, and I just said no. I had no idea how I was going to deal with all this chaos, people everywhere, windows everywhere, shops everywhere and a person is suppose to be able to figure out where to go? I did follow one guy over to one place that was closed for lunch. There was another guy standing there that spoke a little English and pointed me in a direction of migration. Not knowing where that was and that it wasn't labeled didn't help much. But he did say don't give your papers to anyone, and don't pay them. That's all I needed to hear, I told the handler to get lost, I got back on my bike and just got in line not knowing where I was going or how I was going to handle this. One of the other handlers that had helped me before was now undercutting his buddies and said he would do it for $5. I probably would have taken his help but he didn't stick around long. I was in a long line of vehicles not even sure I was going in the right direction. Some one else came up and said they could help me and to pull over out of line. He showed me where immigration was (it was clearly unmarked of course) and I succumbed to his help, and we didn't talk about a fee of course. So we first had to go make copies (for some reason we had to do this three times, after every signature stamp or whatever we would have to go make copies of the change to the document, the only border I had to do this at, again, you don't know what to believe) then he took my license and $10 and ran across the street, (I should have went with him at this point) came back and we went back to immigration, for a change or stamp or something then back to the copier, then back to immigration and then we're clear to proceed to the El Salvador side which is a good five miles away. He jumps in a cab (a 3 wheeled motorcycle) and has me follow him. If I knew what I was doing I would have just taken off with out him. So I follow him to the other border, he makes copies again for no reason that I can see, this is like the 3rd or 4th time now, gives me a bunch that apparently I don't need anymore, and then is ready to get paid. I offer him $5, he wants $20, I tell him I don't have $20, how about $10. He takes it but is not happy. I don't really care for some reason. If it costs me $10 to get thru that mess back at the border and checked out of Honduras then it is worth it. When my Spanish becomes fluent, or it starts snowing down here to drop the heat I'll consider doing it all myself at these hot border crossings. And again its the Pan American Highway ones that seem to be the worst. There are at times lines of trucks a mile long or more waiting at these borders. I don't know how they ever get thru, or even what their doing waiting. I like everyone else that wants to get thru, I just drives past them all. Again if you didn't know this you'd be there at the end of the line waiting all week...

The Pacific Coast of El Salvador

Ok the good thing with El Salvador is they do not charge you anything to get into the country, nada (how's that for throwing my Spanish around). But the bad news is I'm on my own again and not sure where to go or what to do. I'm pointed at some main building and I go to that. No one speaks English and I'm getting a little frustrated because I don't even know if I'm at the right building. They do point me to an office that says Aduanas (customs officer), so I know I'm close but its locked. The guard points to a bench and I sit down and wait. The heat is getting to me. I constantly wear a sweat shirt to guard against the sun and also because I carry a money pouch around my shoulder and it needs to be hid. I pay the price though in this heat. I know a lot of the serious riders that go around the world have full Darien Suits that are part Gortex and also have protective padding for falls etc. At $800 their the best protection you can buy, but I'm told their just as hot. So either way you pay the price. But if your not going to wear that kind of protection then light breathable clothing will work, maybe even loose fitting well made water resistant hiking clothing. and then good light rain gear on top of that when necessary (as long as its fully waterproof). Either way you go, jeans and a sweat shirt aren't the best way to go. Of course I saw a Harley rider Thursday wearing a leather vest, jeans and tennis shoes. He looked like he was heading home to California. Most of the time at home I wear shorts and a tank top when I can get away with it. But if something happens I know I will pay a price. Like when my bike went down in sand this summer and my bare leg had laid against the hot tail pipe, I'm still not completely over that. In the end any experienced rider will tell you, despite the discomfort, and the hundreds of times you wear protective clothing and don't need it, the one time you do and you have it on is worth having to wear all those times you didn't need it.

So without too much of a wait the Aduanas official comes over and between his little English and my little Spanish he is able to stamp my Passport and fill out a vehicle permit for me within a short time. No charge and I'm on my way. So all four border crossings this day cost me a total of $70, with $25 to $30 of that being handlers fees. Coming the other way leaving El Salvador, going into Honduras, leaving Honduras and entering Nicaragua cost me about $350 to $370. A difference of $280 to $300 or so. When questioned about this the handler that I saw again at the Honduran border and had charged me all that when I came into Honduras the first time kept saying that yes, but it was for all the countries, I heard something similar at the Guatemalan border when they charged me $310, "for all the countries".

These divers a long the coast would fill their netted tubes with their catches, but I was unsure what they were diving for.

Before I got my paperwork done to go into El Salvador I tried to cross the border without it. I didn't know where to go to get it done and the guard pointed me to the Aduanas building. As I was turning around I saw that handler there with his buddies waiting for someone to come into Honduras. I don't know if he saw me or not. After I got my paperwork done, and cleared the guard to go into El Salvador I passed him one more time on the side of the road looking up waiting for the next person to come down the road and see how much money they could take him for. I didn't like the idea of laying into him and his buddies like I did. I could have just said no thank you, not this time. But like all the handlers I felt they almost always got what they could, and I was partly to blame for my own naiveness and my willingness to play along if it would just get me thru the heat and the chaos and get me on my way. So whatever, do what you have to do, just get me thru was my attitude as well as part of the problem.

The whole ugliness of it everyday having to, or choosing to make a living that way under those circumstances. Chasing people down, fighting with competitive handlers in the heat, paying officials bribes, and then doing it all the next day and have someone come up like me and basically call you a thief (well he came up to me and asked me why I didn't want him again). I thought of this as I was driving past him on the side of the road. The spiritual damage we do to ourselves by engaging in the insanity of life and the trying to get ahead mentality no matter the cost. The cost for him spiritually is heavy indeed, and for me too by just engaging in it all. Just one more reason to learn Spanish, or choose a different mode of travel, I'm not sure sometimes.

Until we find some spiritual strength and self awareness (a certain amount of self reliance) within ourselves we will find difficulty in using relationships in a liberating way, instead of in binding ways.... Satchakrananda, a spiritual guide.

Surfs up, like Satchakrananda might say, "jump in, embrace the chaos that originates from you, and learn" (or something like that!)

Anyway I was on my way apparently having saved a lot of money. One of my worst borders was over, and I could enjoy the relative ease of travel in El Salvador, knowing my destination and not having to worry about the exchange rate since we were back to dollars. In fact in basically two days I had done about half of all my border crossings I would need to do on my way back. Guatemala was coming up, but first I was heading for the Pacific Coast of El Salvador to find that Surfers Hotel I had spotted on my way thru. My two days on the beach that I had waited so long for was coming up.

As I drove across El Salvador getting lost immediately and going out of my way, I found myself back on the Pan American where I probably saw 20 or 30 Harley's heading south, usually in packs of 2 or 3. More traveling bikes then I had seen on my whole trip down here. I waved to most of them but few of them waved back. Probably stressed out by the heat and the new experience of Central America riding, I don't know. I don't know if they seemed out of place or not, but when two really loud ones came by, like the unnecessarily loud ones you hear in the states, you wonder what the people here think of them. It just seems sort of out of place to bring your loud bikes and your leather to Central America. Like the Hell's Angels doing a tour down here. After so much solitary riding, and seeing the occasional world wide traveler usually on a dual sport, to now see packs of Harley's was a little disappointing, like I hope they have respect for the culture their riding into, and I hope this isn't habit forming! I would hate to see this become just another great ride for someone, and nothing else. But in many ways that's what tourism can be about, a way for people to exploit each other, but that's a different story.

I remember when I was on Martha's Vineyard and I was thinking about camping because I was on a motorcycle, they would not allow me in the only campground on the island! They said bikers were to loud and disruptive. Apparently a group came over from the mainland, loud Harley's no doubt, and now no bikes are allowed in the campground. Even though mine isn't loud and I have camped in many campgrounds with it without complaints Anyway I do have a problem with noise.... but that's also another story.

I ended up getting lost my allotted times (which is two) for El Salvador, in fact I was coming from the opposite direction (obviously) and ended up lost in exactly the same way, on the same road as I had 4 weeks ago. In fact I wasn't lost because I knew exactly where I was, miles from where I was suppose to be. Its amazing you can get lost at the exact same spot, leading to the same place, coming from two different directions! In ways the story of my trip, and maybe my life!

Well tomorrow its its the long awaited Surfers Hotel and a swim in the Pacific.

I start the drive back from Costa Rica, with scorpions, walking sticks and howler monkeys.

2008-12-14T11:02:00.002-05:00

A roadside gift store and gardens in Costa Rica

I left San Jose about 12:30 yesterday after having lunch with Carlos the owner of the house and Jeff the student from Taiwan. The weather was nice all morning and then a heavy rain came in. I had looked at the weather report and it said 40% chance of rain almost every day for the next week. Carlos offered to let me stay one more day at no charge, but I knew I had to get going, and it wasn't like the weather the next day was going to be any better then this day.

So we parted with me promising to call him when I got back to Michigan, I knew he was a little worried about me on my return trip. I gave gifts to everyone including Ana and Jolenis the maids (for all the great work they did), and headed out to cross San Jose one last time. Of course it was as busy as ever and it took a good hour to drive the 10 miles (if its that far) across town and finally get going north and towards the Nicaraguan border. Of course I took a wrong turn once, by the airport, but quickly got back on track.

One of many Iguanas they had in a cage at the souvenir shop.

My plan now was to try to get as close to the borders I had to cross the night before, and then try them first thing in the morning, when I'm fresh and hopefully the border people are too. I was also planning on not using handlers this time and stumbling around all day if I had to if thats what it took to save some money. I wanted to reach Santa Rosa National Park up in the Northwest corner of Costa Rica by nightfall. This would put me close to the Nicaraguan border for the morning. I had not done any camping on this whole trip and wanted to do it at least once in Costa Rica before I left. Costa Rica is warm and wet, and is certainly different then camping in the northern U.S. (where I'm used to camping). But it does have a lot of National Parks and places to camp.

I drove in just after dark to the campground. The entrance information booth was closed, and there was no one to pay. It was only two dollars a night anyway. I made my way in and it was pitch black, and really warm and humid. I was soaked with sweat just getting my tent up and everything unpacked. After I did though I was able to relax and sit on the picnic table and listen to my MP3 player. I hadn't used it at all on the trip and wanted to see if I could pick up any stations. I got one kind of fuzzy one that was playing a song by The Moody Blues of all things. I just sat there in the now cool wind blowing thru the trees in just my underwear with the moon coming out, and it felt so good. Worth the effort to try and camp, and certainly a lot cheaper then a hotel would have been.

Finally I get to camp out, here in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica

Of course right on schedule a big storm came in and it rained really hard for a good part of the night. The bike and I were covered and we did fine, though I really didn't get much sleep because of the rain, and also because it was so warm. Tropical camping is somewhat different then what I'm use to.

In the morning even though I wanted to sleep in I knew I had the border to deal with, and wanted to get across Nicaragua by night fall. So I was up at 6, still late for the sun, but...My goal was to hopefully get to the El Salvador coast by Friday night after crossing Honduras. This would get roughly half of my border crossing's over within the first two days and then maybe I could spend a day at the beach before heading north and having to deal with Guatemala and Mexico (I remember that long trip across Mexico!). The El Salvador coast was one of the prettiest places on the trip, and I wanted to get back there, having done almost no beach time on this trip.

So as I got up and started breaking camp I met my neighbor Harold from Germany. We talked for a bit about our trips. He was in Costa Rica for 3 weeks and had rented a car and was traveling around camping. The park has two campgrounds, one up by the park offices where we were at, and another one down the road by the ocean, about six miles. There is a warning sign not to use the road because its so rough, he did anyway and got his rental SUV stuck. It cost him $180 to get it towed out! I told him he was lucky he was in a place he could get one. Some of the places I've been on this trip I'm not sure you could have found a tow truck.

My neighbor Harold at the campground, he was from Germany and touring the country for 3 weeks.

He told me a troop of Howler Monkeys had come thru earlier in the morning making their characteristic deep throated grunts and howls. In fact they were still in trees not far away and we could hear them making their howls. Its funny in Michigan we have flocks of crows that come in and make racket and then move on. Here they have groups of monkeys that do that. As we were standing there talking the worlds largest rodent, I forget what its called came walking into the campground. Harold got all excited and told me it was just the right size for eating. I thought that's kind of an odd first thing to think of seeing a new animal for the first time. I don't think Harold was a vegetarian!

For me being down here is like going to a local zoo in Grand Rapids when I was a kid. Every time you turn around there's something you've seen on television or at the zoo. Leaving the park they have a Armadillo crossing sign, and an Iguana crossing sign, later I was to see a snake crossing sign in Nicaragua. I'm not sure there is anything they don't have down here. The nice thing of getting out and going camping or like taking the tour last week is that you don't have to go far, or look very hard to find them. Harold told me the pond down by the ocean has crocodiles in that as well. Ok, I'm ready for a Python or a Jaguar now..

Speaking of sharks, I got to the Costa Rican side of the border, refused help from the handlers and was able to get stamped out of the country and with some questioning and remembering the building that I got my vehicle permit in, was able to take care of that paperwork as well. It helped that the guy spoke some English too, but at least I was the one who found him by myself. I started out at the Nicaraguan border OK, two kids and the immigration guys helped me. The kids were determined to see me thru the whole process. I got my bike spray' d for what I don't know, supposedly mosquito's, that was $3, and then with the kids help I found the place to get my passport stamped, that cost $7. Then who shows up but the guy that helped me get into Costa Rica. I tell him I'm not paying him anything, but the truth is he's asking me questions about my insurance and other things, and I can tell I'm going to have problems if I try this alone.

We discovered this "hitcher" at the border crossing, ironically right after they spray' d my bike with insecticide. A walking stick over a foot long, reportedly its bite is painful and can cause swelling in the throat. A crowd gathered and in typical mob fashion, stamped it to death (well one guy did, the others were just worried and told me it was poisonous).

The bottom line is he did help me not have to pay insurance, he did get a good rate on my money exchange for Nicaraguan money, (unlike another guy who ripped me off for probably $25 with a bad exchange rate for Colones a short time earlier) and all the paper work he was throwing at me I ended up just letting him do it for me....... Another $10 for the permit (someone else told me that its free for Nicaragua), another $10 for the police to help get me thru faster, (no doubt more money for him) and then a $10 fee for him. So I probably lost $30's with him, and another $25 on the money exchange even though I try' d to stop by a bank before I got to the border to have it exchanged there. They said I would have to do it at the border. I did not agree on the exchange rate before hand and by the time I figured it out it was too late, he had given me a terrible rate.

I did try to find the exchange rate on line, but Nicaragua's currency (the cordoba) wasn't even listed at the site I was at. I also try' d to find a calculator before I started back, but of course their so overpriced in Costa Rica I didn't want to buy one. But those are at least two things you can do ahead of time. One is know what the exchange rate is, and then either figure it out yourself how much your going to change and how much you should get, and either write it down for the exchange guy to read, or better yet, bring a calculator, figure it out, and then show it to him. This works really well as well going into a store, a hotel, or anywhere you don't know the price or can't understand them. Either have them write it down, or give them the calculator. Some people can't even read, but everyone seems to know numbers. Especially when it comes to money. The other thing to do which I didn't do was call each embassy, talk to someone and find out the exact procedure and how much it should cost. Then ask them to fax, or give you the web site that has that information on it. Make a copy and then have that and the embassy of that countries phone number with you when you go to the border, if you have problems, show them the paper, and the phone number of their own embassy. Granted this takes a lot of time to do, but I think in the case of Guatemala and Honduras it maybe the best way to get some insurance against corrupt officials. However this doesn't solve the problem at the borders of the maize of lines and paperwork you try to get thru on your own in the heat and being pummeled by handlers, all without speaking the language. Eventually its like you end up asking one question or accepting their help, and then your in for it, you can't get rid of them. Its hard to understand just how difficult this situation is, and how hard is to deal with it if you've never done it before. And believe me the handlers know....But having said that you can still try to barter a deal, and state it before they start helping you. If they want your business bad enough they will often take a quarter of what some of the other ones are offering. This still does not cover mysterious charges they keep coming up with as they run away with your license and $10 only to return and say, that's over, now we need to do this. The only thing to do in that case is I get guess stay with them every step of the way.. You get the idea again how hard this is. All these suggestions help, but still don't solve the problem of using handlers, corrupt border officials and not speaking the language.

One of the many volcano's in Central America. This one in Nicaragua.

So for the border it came to $40, $30 of it I'm sure went to the handler, and I probably lost $25 in the exchange rate, but I did reduce the damage in a lot of ways, and I had done almost three quarters of the crossing alone. I should have stuck with it, or simply not given him anything for his help, considering what he did to me the last time. I wasn't sure how he would take that, the thing is his service is worth something, just not what he thinks it is. Actually its the governments themselves that allow it to go on. They could seal off the area from non-authorized personnel and also have instructions printed up in different languages and mark things to make it easier so people could find their way around. Like that's going to happen. ( I know, I just need to learn to be the tough gringo!).

I drove all day after getting thru the Nicaraguan border, stopped to eat once and though I spent maybe two hours at the border I still was only able to put in about 250 miles today. While the roads are pretty good, its the traffic, slow vehicles and a lot of towns that end up slowing you down. I got as close to the Honduras border as I could before dark, now tomorrow I'll have to deal with it and the money exchangers, first thing.

More of the Nicaraguan country side.

The prices in Nicaragua are probably the lowest of anywhere. Gas is under $3 a gallon. I had a lunch of 3 taco's, coleslaw, beans and a drink, and it came to $2. And this was at a gas station restaurant, not a roadside stand. My hotel, while no television or hot water, or screens for that matter, is about $10. As I was unloading my bike a scorpion came walking in the front door (my first sighting in my life of one of those too). A dark brown one, about 4 inches long. I literally kicked it out. I was so ready to just leave after that, like how am I going to sleep thinking its going to come in under the door again. The thing is, where am I going to go? Its dark, I'm at the border, I'd have to drive back 30 miles to find a place. No, people all over the world live with scorpions, and all these other creatures I'm running into. I'm just banking on them not being able to climb! I also sprinkled baby powder all around the door, hoping that would detour it. My gringoness coming out again I guess,

It should be an interesting night as well as an interesting morning at the border tomorrow....

Leaving Costa Rica

2008-12-11T17:52:00.001-05:00

Two "birds of a feather", in this case Parrots roost together.

As I get ready to leave Costa Rica and start my journey back I wanted to write down some of my impressions of my time here, and also a few regrets, or things if I had more time and hadn't had other commitments I would have like to have done. Or even if the weather had cooperated more.

First due to time and also distance I'm not going to go into Panama as I had planned. Round trip from San Jose to the end of the road in Darien is close to 1400 miles as close as I can tell. It was longer then I expected and it could take 4 or 5 days of constant travel, with border crossings to do that part of the trip. Having to be back in Michigan, preferably before Christmas, and not knowing the weather or what to expect on the way back, I've decided to start back as soon as I can. Having finished things up with school and my dental work. I also just mailed extra stuff back to Michigan I didn't want to carry with me., so I'm pretty much ready to leave. I did get some posts set up so as I travel there won't be any long gaps between posts. So even as you read this I maybe getting close to, or actually be back in the states.

First I would like to talk about money in Costa Rica and basic expenses. Like anywhere I guess if you don't shop for things and look around your going to end up paying as much, or more then you would in the states. While some things like doing a home stay, or maybe Spanish classes, staying in hotels or renting a flat by the week, or even tours can be found at reasonable rates, even cheaper then the states, Though something like gas is close to $5 a gallon. The malls often have a lot of U.S. brand names at U.S.prices or even more, which would make sense since those things are getting shipped all the way down here to begin with. I found the prices at the malls to be ridiculous on some things, other things like seeing a movie at the mall on Wednesdays for instance, is $2.

I mailed a box home with some gifts in it, my school helped me set it up. With Fed Ex they only do over night delivery, they quoted me $169 for a 15lb box! We called the Post Office and they said $83, and it should be there in 6 to 7 days. I did send it, but it really was just added to the cost of the souvenirs I bought to make them even more expensive then they already were. Its like if your not flying it home with you, or carrying it out of the country yourself, its not even worth buying it.They never even weighed the box, they just assessed their fee by its size and what I said was in it. So again some things are just so outrageous and others can be gotten reasonably.

A cab ride, you have to tell them to turn on the meter or they'll just charge you whatever they want to. A gas station will sell you a free map for $5 if you'll pay it. Looking for authentic Central American made clothing. Supposedly you use to be able to find Latin American made products before NAFTA, now it seems all you get is U.S. products that are more expensive then in the U.S. I'm not sure where you go to buy good local products. Some say the big central market downtown, but even their it seems your getting a lot of tourist stuff at tourist prices. I'm not sure where the local markets, and merchants are that are selling to local people. The main stream looks more and more like the U.S. with mainstream prices and nothing special to really want to buy. I'm sure one needs to find the out of way places and spend the time trying to find them. I didn't have the time, didn't speak the language, and was very disappointed over all with what I found. But again without experience in shopping here that's to be somewhat expected.

With food since my meals were part of my home stay I didn't go out to eat a lot. But my experience was that it seemed to be a little cheaper then the U.S.at some places, at others not, and your not expected to tip. Rice and beans are served all the time here, as well as chicken and fish. Their main cheese used seems to be a cross between mozzarella and muenster, its quite mild, as really most of their seasonings are. I did not get any food I thought was too spicy, in fact I loved the way they mildly spiced their food. The cook in our house made a Lasagna that was the best I think I ever had, and even with that the flavors were subtle and balanced.

Hotels often include breakfast with the cost of the room. Expect rice and beans, eggs, coffee and fruit. Papaya, Mango, Melons and Bananas ( often fried) were the norm with maybe toast and juice (usually always freshly squeezed). Hotels range from $15 all the way up over a $100 a night depending, but over all they seem to be lower then in the states.

Directions and finding things can be very difficult until you get to know your way around. A lot of basic services or things we might take for granted in the U.S. like a motorcycle part store can be hard to find. Parts in general can be, and like most specialty items, if they carry them, expect them to be expensive.

The weather in San Jose and the Caribbean was constant rain thru November. I thought it ended come November, but in many parts of the country the rainy season is April thru January. This was too bad because of the active volcano's and the great views you can get of them when the weather is good. In three weeks here there was maybe a couple of clear days where it would have been worth it to go up and see them. Lesson, this is the first place I have ever brought and been glad I did, an umbrella. People here usually don't go out without them. The other lesson, choose your season well, but then of course the prices probably go up as well.

Not having gotten out of San Jose enough is like not seeing the real Costa Rica with its varied geography and animals and plants. This place is so unique and beautiful in so many ways, but you have to not only get out to see it, you also need to be here in the right season, or your not going to see a lot of it. One might say like people use to say about Anchorage, Alaska, the nice thing is its right next to Alaska, but its not Alaska. The pace of life, the scenery, everything seems to be night and day when it comes to San Jose and the rest of the country. San Jose is "right next to" Costa Rica.

But from the Caribbean side, to the Central Highlands, to the mountains and volcano's to the Pacific side the country is so varied and has so much beauty and uniqueness, its not hard to see why people come from all over the world to be here, and there is such a large population of U.S. citizens down here.

And yes from the Simpson's on television, to men sitting around watching soccer and the Price is Right every morning, there is a lot that is so similar to other places in the world, and in ways it seems like its t.v.'s and the internet is what really keeps us connected. As I watch the Christmas trees go up in the malls, and hear all the traditional Christmas music, I realize again how connected we all are on this planet, sometimes just by our media and commercialism, for good or bad I guess. But the one thing it also does, is remind us that no matter how we express our values, we're really not that different, and we all share a common ground.

Our maids here at the house do their laundry by hand, and hang them out to dry. I have a sweat shirt from my trip down that Jorlenis washed by hand that has not been this clean since it was new. In some ways things seem too simple and almost backwards, but more often then not they don't "technicize" everything for the sake of having the latest gadgets. If its not broke then don't fix it. That seems to work just fine down here. We in the states tend to have to replace everything we own every 3 years or it becomes old and useless, even though its fine. Here people can't afford to waste things, and generally don't. It is a refreshing contrast to the states, though as they incorporate our values, and malls etc. one wonders how that will go as well.

This place is so unique in so many ways, especially with its nature and geography, one could spend many years exploring its great diversity. I do look forward to more trips down here, and also all of Central America. Each trip just creates a little more of an appetite for more.

The La Paz Waterfalls and the Jungle Voyage

2008-12-08T18:11:00.001-05:00

A young Maroth?

So after having a great lunch we started hiking on the trail to the falls. Elja, the guy from Finland, got a ride in a cart which showed up and then disappeared. Like the sun, we knew we would "meet again", somewhere down the trail. We went thru a hummingbird feeding area. Like everything else, Costa Rica has an abundance of hummingbird species, something like 60. As beautiful as hummingbirds are up in Michigan where I come from, not surprisingly down here, the birds are bigger and brighter. There was an absolutely brilliant purple one at the feeder, probably 4 times the normal size of one from Michigan. I try' d to get a picture of it, but if you can get a good shot of a hummingbird, your doing pretty good. They were everywhere feeding on the sugar water feeders. Our guide said you should never mix the sugar water any stronger then 80-20, water to sugar, because it will rot their beaks. A lesson for all the hummingbird feeders out there.

We also walked by a Spider Monkey exhibit. While not native to Costa Rica, there is an abundance of monkey species here as well. One begins to wonder if there is anything that doesn't live down here.

Scenes along the way

The canyon leading to the falls

As the trail narrowed into a stair heading down along the river canyon we were treated to some amazing views. The rain was now mixed with mist coming off the river and the upcoming falls. Here too you got the sense that this jungle never get's a chance to dry out. Especially along the rivers and falls. Heavy rains have pounded the area continually and the rivers are all very high. In fact some of the roads on the Caribbean side of the country were closed. We would see everything that they told us we would on the tour, but we would have to back track on our journey and also deal with a mud slide that had taken out part of the road. This all added two more hours to an 11 hour day, it was going to be a long day.

The trail gets steep

The closer we got to the falls, the wetter we got. It was hard to even take pictures because I was afraid my camera was going to get wet. It also was a lot more humid then up on the Volcano summit, and I was getting as wet from sweating as from the rain and waterfall mist. Still it was all beautiful, and going swimming would have been the thing to do.

Overall being on the tour did save a lot of time. I couldn't have found a lot of these places very quickly on my own. And having the guide to explain things was of some help. Not having to worry about the drive back was a plus too. That being said I am not use to taking a tour. While this was not a hurried tour, you did have to stick together, and any sort of self exploration was not really allowed. You saw and stopped at places that were part of the tour. The guides speal was obviously set up, and one had to sort of press the guide to actually get other information that they didn't deem part of the tour. These are the down sides. Still again it would be hard to see as much as we did trying to find these places yourself...

The La Paz Waterfalls

The upper falls

The Mist kept everything soaked for hundreds of yards around it.

This was the lower part of the upper falls, they were so big you had to take several pictures to get them all in.

The second set of falls down were as big as the first ones, they made four in all.

After seeing the first set of falls, we then cut away on the trail to get back to our bus. We would see the lower falls from the road. It was really getting hot now, and the trail was making us go single file the whole way. If you didn't move fast enough you would be taken over by another group. If you moved too fast you could find yourself in the middle of a family and be part of their group. Finally the trail came to an end, conveniently right at a gift shops door. You had to walk right thru the gift store to get out. I ended up buying a candle for my host family and then ran into Elja eating a candy bar. He had gotten dropped off ahead of us and was waiting. A group of Quati's ( Central American Raccoons ) were being fed by the tourists gathered around the end of the trail. The family I had been caught in the middle of was having problems. The hike was more then the mother and father had anticipated and mother was complaining loudly. I felt bad for them, it was a rough trail, and mom was losing it yelling at her kids (her kids were 40 years old!).

Finally after getting our group all together we boarded our bus and headed down the mountain for an hour and a half trip towards the river and our jungle cruise.

As we were driving along our guide suddenly told the driver to pull over. He jumped out of the bus and ran back down the road, stopping right in the middle to reach down and get something. Camera ready several of us jumped out to see what was going on, after all we were on an expedition! He had found one of the things I really wanted to see on my trip down here, a tarantula. Outside of a python, or a jaguar, this was right at the top of my wish list, even ahead of a crocodile, which I had seen on my previous trip down in July.

Here's our brave guide letting the tarantula climb up into his hand.

He offered me to take it in my hand, I had to decline, though I did pet it.........

One of the Asian ladies allowed it to climb in her hands, everyone else, including myself declined. While our guide was out in the middle of the road I thought he was going to get hit by some wild driver coming around the corner. Another bus showed up and stopped and he brought it over to their bus to show them. Obviously not the first time all this had occurred. Still to me it was the highlight of the tour, and one of the ones on the whole trip, to see a live tarantula in the wild. After he had let it go on its way, we continued on ours.

The road coming down from the volcano and the falls was as steep and winding as most of the roads in this country. Eventually we made it to where our river boat tour was waiting for us. We unloaded and got on the boat, a rather shaky long narrow boat powered by two Suzuki 115 hp. engines. If everyone rushed to one side you got the feeling that the whole boat may tip over. Our guide grabbed a microphone, our driver untied us and we were off.

The boats tied up on the other side of the river, they looked just like the ones we were in.

The river was quite wide and there were a lot of boats tied up, most off them looked like tour boats as well. Our guide told us the river is like a road would be anywhere else. People use it to get around, and there are even "boat taxi's" for people to get from one town to the other. He said if you follow the river for a couple of hours it would take you to the river that follows the Nicaraguan Costa Rica border. The river was high and was moving fast after all the rain that they had been having.

Looking down the river, it was obviously higher then normal. It was also lower then it had been, there was debris 6ft above the current level up in the trees.

At this point I could feel the difference from anything else I had experienced on this trip, or really any river I had ever been on before. It was a tropical river with a lot more different things going on then any other river I've been on, and I practically grew up on a big river in Michigan. I finally got a small sense of what a tropical river is about, and it wasn't hard to imagine what the Amazon would be like. The air was warm and humid, and so many kinds of wildlife I have never seen before, or just on t.v., or in the zoo, all either lived by the river, in it, or over it. The sense of wildness, and feeling like you could disappear on a river into an impenetrable almost primeval forest was not much different in ways then being up in the northern wilderness of Canada or Alaska and knowing the tundra was just as vast and just as impenetrable, except for maybe the rivers that enter it. It also was not hard to imagine the early native people who lived here and made there livings in this jungle, much like they still do in remote areas of the world. That primordial feeling sort of came on me, like this is the real wildness from which we came. Almost unnerving in ways when one can imagine the early primordial man is on some level still alive in us.

I have often wondered what it would be like to paddle the Amazon. This boat ride was just giving a hint what a trip like that would be like...

After we got going we headed down river, there wasn't very much boat traffic at all, and the only people we saw were a couple of fisherman on the banks with their dogs. Our guide said there were over 5 different fish that lived in the river, I got a sense there was a whole lot more of other things living in and around it.

The Howler Monkey's, kind of far away, but you could hear their deep throated grunt really well.

We first came upon a band of howler monkey's high up in the trees. We couldn't see them very well, but our guide with his microphone made the sound they make. A deep throated sound that sort of vibrates up into the mouth. To hear a whole band of them make that noise was kind of unnerving as well. I couldn't imagine camping out and hearing that sound at night.

As we moved down the river we found a group of nesting bats on the underside of a tree. Their the smallest bats in the world at only an inch and a half long. They looked like they are part of the tree. Other animals we saw were Iguana's, a Kayen (kind of a small alligator), an assortment of birds, and a lizard that runs on top the water. Again I was on a river, but that's where the similarities ended. There was nothing here that lived in Michigan that I could tell.

The smallest bats on the planet, sleeping on the underside of a tree.

After about an hour of touring, and our guide did do everything he could to show us what was on the river, we returned to our bus after we unloading from the boat and tipping our boats captain. We had to get ready for the long trip back over the volcano and the pass in the fog and coming darkness. Normally we could have taken a quicker route back to San Jose but the road was out due to heavy rains.

Here was one of the Iguanas we saw, this one on a branch overhanging the river.

This bird which is the only bird in the world without natural oils in its feathers must dry itself off after each hunt.

They told us it would be a two hour drive back, but with heavy traffic, fog and winding mountain roads it was probably closer to 3. As we got back to San Jose and started dropping everyone off, me being almost last since I was the first one picked up, I said goodbye to Elja and wished him luck. He said he was going to be in San Jose for a week before heading to South America. As he unloaded, got a cigarette offered to him by our guide and stood there at the locked gate to his hotel entrance smoking it, us waiting to make sure he got in, I couldn't help but think again of him as being sort of an oddity. Alone at 84 traveling the world. I guess in ways it made me feel uncomfortable like that was basically what I was doing now, except I came down for school and dental work, but it wouldn't be hard to find myself in his shoes some day, and I'm not sure I was comfortable with that, judgement and clinging on my part? The more of the world you see sometimes I think the more you feel you may need to see, knowing that it in itself will never be able to fill you. I don't know but I think there is a certain loneliness that comes with travel, and when you expand your travel to countries, cultures and languages your not use to, it can kind of amplify that feeling. I remember feeling it in Alaska sometimes like out on the Aleutian Islands, their hauntingly beautiful, and isolated with some of the most extreme weather on earth. Cold, wet and lonely is how I described them once.

So we said goodbye to Elja and wished him well, after another stop it was my turn and I said goodbye to the kids from Houston, they all gave me a rousing farewell, and we wished each other well. I thought too of Mo Mo the Syrian guy seemingly without a home. I hope he can travel again in the middle east and that he takes that overland route he was talking about. Maybe he can find his people and a part of himself again. A journey we all seem to be making in one way or another.....

A banana plantation along the river, the bags are wrapped around the bananas to protect them from birds and insects.