3 countries in a day

Travelled across El Salvador from west to east today to collect the stranded bikes from the border. This was a surprisingly uneventful drive, with a great roadside breakfast stop for bean paste, eggs and rice.

The bikes had been stored on a trailer in a secure parking area, and we had to unload then get them ready for travel.



Whilst the rest of us were working, Ty managed to find something to keep him entertained.


We have decided to re route a little bit on Matthias' advice to to take in Antigua in Guatemala, which is apparently surrounded by volcanos (one still live). This meant that we cut across the bottom of Honduras, stopped briefly for lunch, then entered Guatemala.

Three borders in a day, and three different currencies is just about doing our head in with one Salvadorean dollar worth 21 Honduran lempira and worth 7.6 Guatemalan quetzals.

Lunch was a grand affair in a huge open hall that had a leaf roof over the top. For well under $20 for the four of us, we ate, drank, and chatted for quite a while. The chicken was not exactly the choice cuts that we might normally expect in Australia (see photo below), but the soup was simply sensational. In fact the food was so good that I needed a quick nap to digest in the hammocks provided for this purpose,



Another 70km found us in our home for the night (Cuilapa)' where we are perched on the top of an enormous hill that overlooks the town. Riding behind diesel engines all day leaves you caked with a fine film of dirty oil that gives you a nit of a shock when you wipe your face with a wet cloth.



Walking down into the town for dinner was quite atmospheric, it is dark here by 5:50 in the evening, and with no streetlights the smoke from cooking fires and roadside stalls makes everything seem quite mysterious.


There was one diner that we considered briefly for dinner before we noticed the name:


In the end we decided on on a little roadside stall that was cooking fresh nachos. The lady cooked the meals for us on the spot, and we perched in the dining room (plastic stools beside the stall) to enjoy the meal. Everyone ops really friendly and helpful, and it was great to chat with both Matthias and the locals to find out a little more about daily life in Guatemala.






The plan for tomorrow is to travel quit e quickly through Guatemala City (it's not safe there at all), then continue on to Antigua. With an early start, we should arrive by the middle of the day and have a bit of time to park the bikes and explore Antigua on foot.

Location:Cuilapa, Guatemala