Costa Rica.

   12/01/2012

  The Border crossing at Las Manos/El Espino was almost easy. The 3 mile que of trucks at the border approach was a little worrying, but proved to be no problem. It did take me 2.5 hours to sweat my way through, lots of waiting and running around for the elusive photocopy and the compulsory bike insurance. It is always a good workout, tramping around the border, this one in particular was quite spread out, and the road and paths were covered in slimy mud. Borders are most unattractive, in so many ways. Always pleased to hit the open road again, Costa Rica was noticeably clean and tidy, with road gangs of men grass cutting the road side verges. I have not had the pleasure of the smell of freshly cut grass for sometime now.

The first sight of Costa Rica.

The Pan Am Highway to Liberia.

  The road was perfect all the way to the town of Liberia, light traffic, except for a convoy of trucks every now and again. I stopped to buy some cold water, the heat was quite intense, in the the time that it took me to buy the water the thermometer had hit 100 deg F in the shade. Rolling into Liberia, I was surprised to see so many familiar banks and high street names. It all looks very upmarket and modern, a good place to adjust to a new country and see what you get for your money. Whenever you see that blot on the landscape sign of Mc Donald's or Burger king, you just know that there will be no cultural surprises, and you just know that the big fast food chains would never open a restaurant in any thing but affluent areas or country's. There were no real surprises here, I stayed 2 nights for a clean up and country adjustment. Costa Rica is more expensive than the previous visited country's, at a guess I would say around 30% more expensive. Still on a mission south, I can afford the time to slow the pace a little now, but still feel the need to get closer to Panama. I head towards Puerto Limon on the Caribbean coast. The Pan Am Highway takes me towards the capitol city of San Jose, I try and avoid that by heading north towards Vulcan Barva north of the city.

San Jose from Vulcan Barva.

Beautiful views on the way to the summit of Vulcan Barva.

  It was a steep climb up the road to the volcano,the road eventually ended into a very steep rocky track that I decided might not be the best idea of the day to ride alone. The time was getting late and I have to find some place to stay, I turned around and continued on the road north to the Caribbean coast. After 30 odd miles road works had closed the road, and I followed the diversion that eventually led to a dead end. I had hoped to buy fuel too at some time, but there were no gas stations. I have been up this street before, in the middle of nowhere and low on fuel, it's always the same! Nothing like a little tension to keep you sharp. It is mostly all downhill back to San Jose, so I hope to make it, but the lack of sign posts or any other information makes for tense moments With diminishing light I stressfully make it back to the city buy fuel and look for an alternative route, and hopefully find some place to stay out of the city. There is the small town of Heredia, just north of San Jose, I saw one huge sign post and that was it, I was then presented with a spaghetti intersection with no direction. I  took a chance, it was a mistake, and I had to pay the toll at the end, only to pay again to return. Back in the city I have to make more guesses as there are no signs to give direction, I'll just take a road that heads north. Lucky for me the plan worked, I found myself in Heredia. I cruised every one way street in the town, the rain and the altitude made it cold and miserable. I asked questions, but got no answers, it would appear that this town is without hotels. The streets are crammed with cars and taxi cab drivers all honking at one another to move along in an impossible situation, a red traffic light! It is total mayhem, cold and wet I relent and go for a hot drink from Mc Donald's, but after a long wait the machine is broken. Down on my luck, the decision to leave town was easy, so I continued north with the hope of finding some place to stay. Out of town the road takes me higher in to the hills, with  fog and rain, the road eventually ends in road works and finally a dirt track. Unable to see clearly, and being pushed along by impatient taxi drivers I dive off the road to think what next. I see some lights in the distance, it turns out to be a dodgy looking bar, too rough to even ask I thought, the darkness and the weather was too dangerous to continue so I turned around, worst case situation I return to San Jose. Heading back to Heredia the headlights of an oncoming vehicle illuminated a wooden sign advertising Cabina's for rent, the site was still under construction, a deal was done, I had a roof for the night. Lucky at last.

San Jose from Vulcan Barva.

Rain over Heredia.

 It rained on and off for most of the night, so lucky I was, even had a hot shower with no dangerous electrical connections! I planned another route to take me to Puerto Limon, up over the hills and through some amazing scenery, the ride was interrupted often by rain, not wanting to get completely soaked shop canopy's and bus shelters provide shelter.

Shelter from the rain

Tropical rain, close to Puerto Limon

  The weather patterns are noticeably changing now that I am getting closer to the Caribbean coast, heavy intense showers that last for 20 minutes of more have replaced the cloudy gloom of the city. The road cuts through dense rain forest, the air is heavy and humid. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is so different. My destination is Puerto Viejo, where I can groove to the reggae beat and surf the waves, so I have been told.

Caribbean coast south of Puerto Viejo

Fresh coco's on the wooden table. I cut it open and drank the sugary liquid.

The coast at Puerto Viejo

A tropical storm on its way. It is still warm, about 30 deg C

The small town of Puerto Viejo, early morning.

Wonderful coast.

  And laid back it was, the Rasta cool was evident, the ganja is banned but you would never know it. Bob Marley is alive and well,the reggae beat drifting on the breeze, everyone happy, or was that the herb? So cool and easy, I could have stayed longer, 7 days was not enough !

A shanty town of wooden shacks it is.

The jungle extends to the waters edge. Monkeys clamber on the canopy of the rain for rest.

Banana's in the making. When the flower opens, the fruit develops.

Nicaragua.

Nicaragua.09/01/2012.

  The Las Manos border was not a problem; I would never at this moment in time ever say it is easy. In principal it is, the task is made difficult buy the lack of signs and the many ways in which you can make a simple task difficult. Every crossing is unique, and you get sent from pillar to post for a stamp or to pay some fee that is most probably a farce, or the favourite a photocopy, when often then is a machine within the room. It would appear to be a tough life stamping documents, the officer handling the stamp often grimaces at the effort required, and looks so relieved when the task is complete. I am always pleased to leave, and once I have local currency in my hand all is good. I stay with the Pan American Highway; the road is good and I make good time to the town of San Isdro.I found this prison cell for the night, the road sign did say Hotel, but it was safe for £5.00 .

 My shed is more attractive !!

The dustbin was full of water, with a bowl to chuck it around.

Close to Managua,the Capitol. The City was destroyed in 1972 by an earth quake.

Just caught my eye. It will be on its way home soon

The coast at Pochomi.

Franks dodgy bar. I stayed the night.

  Frank,an ex pat American on the run from real life, has this bar.I had just recently dodged two back packers from the USA, and had the miss fortune to meet in the bar again.The topic at the time was gun shot wounds, obviously a hazard for an American citizen. Much flesh was revealed, but I failed to see the damage. Apparently the bullet went in here and came out there !!!

The dirt coastal road south from Pochomi

Ox cart laden with sugar cane.

There were several river crossings.

Banana plantation.

The Pacifico at Las Salinas. I had it all to my self.

Just the sound of waves crashing.

Road chef at work,on the pacific Highway

Isla de Omletepe. (Volcanoes in the lake Nicaragua)

I paid the owners of this farm to camp. It was a big decision.

They lived in the wooden shack.

  It was late in the day, the border crossing was upon me sooner than anticipated. There was no place to fly camp safely. I saw this little farm, the gate was open.They thought that I had fallen from the sky, I asked them if I could camp on their land for one night. I offered money, there was a long silence and much looking. A discussion was called for.Much head shaking, so I asked the question again. I promised to leave no rubbish and be gone by 07.00 hours. The penny had dropped, a deal was done. The whole family watched me put up my tent. About seven in total. An alien has landed !!! They did have a generator for electricity that ran for an hour after sunset.At 05.30 the Ox Cart was ready to go and fetch water from a local source. In the second to last photo, the Ox are reversing the cart with the water in to the home. Many family's live this very basic life in Central America.

Honduras.

 Honduras 05/01/2012.

 The border crossing at El Florido/Copan Ruinas was quite easy and straight forward. As I left the rain started, and I just made it to Copan Ruinas before the light faded. I hoped to find money and accommodation for the night. The approach to the town was less than encouraging, with a mix of dirt and cobble stone road full of large pot holes filled with water, along with the greasy muddy cobble stones. I slithered in to town, stumbled across a bank and now had money. Out of the bank with my money, I had a piece of paper thrust in to my hand. It was the scout from a nearby hotel; he knows how to spot a Gringo in town.

Outside the Hotel. I had a watchful audience from the restaurant opposite.The slope was very steep and wet.

Streets of Copan.

The night light gave it a medieval feel

Copan Central Plaza.

 He promised me a good deal, but I was unsure what a good deal was as I have not looked around yet. I said I want to look around town, so he lowered the price. OK, I said, but for one night only. For £7.00 I did not have too much to loose. It was just right; I stayed a second night as I wanted to visit the Copan Archaeological Site, one of the most important of all Maya civilizations.

The ruins  Copan

A tomb within the pyramid.

The Tomb.

 I also had the good fortune to stumble out of the Sol de Copan. This is a micro brewery owned by self made Thomas Wagner; he built the brewery and brews the German beer from imported ingredients from Germany. The first beer in twelve days, it really did go down very well. 

Nice wheat beer. There were other brews too!

 Two days was not really long enough, but the pressure to move on nagged, don't want to miss the boat.

Lovely natural pasture.

Beautiful Largo de Yojoa.

 There was apparently another micro brewery here at the lake, but I failed to sniff it out, buy the given information on the card. I was on a roll, and had a high mileage day, the roads were good and fast most of the time. I made it to the the Capitol City of Tegucigalpa by dusk. I hoped to find accommodation on the west side of the city, but there was nothing roadside. The suburbs were fairly grim in appearance, very poor roads, with many manholes exposed with no covers, and open sewers flowing by the road. There were many road works and long traffic jams. It was very hot, the air was sticky and thick with fumes and dust. The light here diminishes very quickly, the roads are hazardous at night. Cars often drive with out lights, and locals take amazing risks.I found a hotel,up a very steep approach with a very steep off camber parking area. I could not make the bike stand up safely, and there were many yapping dogs in a fenced enclosure. I did not stay, and continued in the darkness. I left the city behind, and eventually found a hotel about 25 miles out of the city. The sign did most defenatley say HOTEL, and not AUTO HOTEL or AUTO MOTEL,as the latter are all seedy little rooms where you take a Tart from the street and pay by the hour. You have the benefit of a garage under the room and high doors to conceal the vehicle, so no one knows who is shagging in there. The price was £12.00 a night,a little more than I expected, so I asked to see the room first. I also had a garage too, some place safe for the bike.. High doors too, hmm, I am wondering. It was seven pm, the TV was switched on an playing. Coronation Street looks a little raunchy here I pondered. Don't think I want it, I said, he dropped the price a little, but not enough. It is safe and secure though, I thought. You can have one free beer from the fridge, he offered. Common sense kicked in and I said OK. I necked the beer and slept in my sleeping bag. It was a quiet night in the knocking shop, I did sleep quite well considering.the surroundings, but I was up early and gone.

 Not too far from the border to Nicaragua, Danli was the nearest town, so I planned to spend a day and one night there, research the exchange rates and the border crossing. I was there by 10 am and I found a hotel in the town centre. I parked my bike in the street, covered my sat nav with my scarf and helmet and nipped in to the hotel. It took only minutes, but some low life nicked my crash helmet in that time. Lucky for me they left the sat nav, but the strange thing is that no one wears a helmet here. I obviously had the hump about the theft, but I was going to buy a new one before I left. I struggled to justify the £300.0 cost, so I did not buy. It was after all , 7 years old and passed its best. Who ever stole it will be disappointed, as it was the smallest you can buy and the visor mechanism was worn out. I scoured the town, all I could find was something that resembled a bucket that did not fit.I pounded every side street and found just one that fitted,it cost me £39.00 after a bit of bargaining. As it was Sunday a lot of shops were closed, no internet here, and all the food stores were closed. So I opted for bag of milk and made porridge. It's not good all the time! I was up early,and got to the one and only internet cafe first. Did what I had to do, and ran for the border.