Happy staya day, and fantastic looking bikes! Other than the spooky bit with the federales on the road, how's the security situation felt in Guatemala? Where are you planning to enter El Salvador / Honduras? I'm gearing up to do California to Columbia starting in April, and keep reading terrifying things about both thanks to the lovely CIA

We have had absolutely no problems at all. The people here are friendly and helpful, but we do avoid the places that we are told to avoid. If in doubt ask a local of the area and they will always tell you what the deal is. We have only once been told to avoid a place that was listed on the internet as also being bad.

Mate you will have a blast! It is hard to get away from the viewpoints of the media and what our governments want us to believe, but people are just the same everywhere. They want to live life, be comfortable, look after their family and be happy.

Your trip will be amazing! Hopefully you will post it on here so we can enjoy it too!

We are crossing into El Slavador at Valle Neuvo, not sure on the crossing into honduras as of yet!

T - After waiting for just over a week for this package we were greeted this morning by, nothing. The package had failed to turn up and the tracking for Fedex showed that they hadn’t even loaded it onto a plane from the UK yet. So after we emailed RST, who were very apologetic and I suspect not terribly happy with their shipping agent, we changed the delivery address to one we have been given very kindly by a friend of a friend in Nicaragua. So you know what that meant?

We were out of there like a shot and it wasn’t very long before we were packed up and off to pick up the bikes! I was so damn excited. It was time to hit the road again. Properly this time too! We figured it would take us around a week to get to Leon in Nicaragua which should give the parcel plenty of time to arrive.

C - I felt terrible for the customer service rep at RST, this must be just as frustrating for her. Never mind, it was time to the hit the road and I was super, damn excited about that!! It feels like it has been so long since we have had any momentum and I have been aching to ride, ride, ride.

T - We bumped our way down the old cobbled streets of Antigua, passing cars on the left and the right and soon we were screaming out of the town and straight into a series of steep climbs. We had picked the town of Jalpatagua which is 20kms from the El Salvador border. We figured it would take us a while to get there and didn’t want to try to cross over the border too late in the afternoon. So that will be a job for tomorrow morning.



C - Neither of us were keen to enter Guatemala City, so picked a route that would send us veering around the outskirts, rather than diving head first into what I imagine is a very chaotic city centre.

T - We cruised into Zone 2 of Guatemala City and cut down some back alleys and roads before we were plonked out on the main highway. We were hoping Zone 2 wasn’t one of the bad areas we had heard about, but no one bothered us or gave us the slightest bit of attention.

The highway was like any other. Mostly dual lane and full of traffic. We dodged and ducked and weaved through the traffic jams, squeezing between buses and tuk tuks. It was a blast!





C - One particular town had a complete traffic jam at its major intersection. The poor policeman who was meant to be directing traffic looked like he had given up and was standing on the side looking at the traffic jam with a look of despair on his face. An impatient bus driver, who had been beeping his horn flat out for at least five minutes, decided he had enough and wanted to let his passengers off. So, he pulled onto the wrong side of the road and the proceeded to drive up and over a kerb, force his way across another road to block that one too, and promptly parked there. After laughing at this very obvious lack of respect for road rules and any other person on earth, we ducked around some cars and squeezed past a car which had decided to just park in the turning lane and then we were free!! Well, almost… the very slow traffic continued for a while and we noticed the pick up in front had white powdery stuff blowing into the air out of a large plastic tub. After getting closer, we saw the tub was clearly labelled ‘Soda Caustica’. We decided it was best if we passed him very quickly….

T - The ride was quite nice with some gorgeous views down into deep valleys. This part of the country seemed very dry though and it looked as though there was a heap of slash and burn tactics being used here for claiming farming land.



We eventually rolled into our destination and found a nice place to stay called the Hollywood Hotel. We were the only guests there so it was nice and quiet. The owner suggested a nice cheap place for us to go and eat and then organised a tuk tuk to take us there.





The food was incredible! We both had pasta with Chantelle having a more typical spag bog, yuk, and I had a chicken carbonara type deal. Both came with a big serve of garlic bread and a bowl of soup. The food was incredible and the serves were so large that we had to ask if we could take our leftovers away with us for dinner.







Then it was back to the room and time to research tomorrow's border crossing. We are going to go along the coastal highway we think and cross into Honduras at the usual overlander crossing. A little different to our original plans but that's why we don’t plan too far ahead!

Bwahahahaha @ Todd
Please keep the story real....we do know what youse are riding ya know

__________________
My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

Hehe, Mabel and Rosie were screaming their lungs out, in first gear.......

T - I was up and ready to rock at 4 am this morning. Chantelle was neither awake nor ready and was very unhappy when I made any noise.

Eventually the hours ticked by and we were packing up and making our plans to hit the border which was around 20kms away. But first we needed breakfast. With both of our tummies seemingly finally on the mend we went in search of food. And went straight back to where we had dinner last night. The food was fresh, tasty and cheap, win win win! I had pancakes, again, and Chantelle opted for a huge bowl of oatmeal.







C - I have been so impressed with the oatmeal in Guatemala. Everyone makes it just how I like it, with the perfect amount of vanilla and cinnamon! I was super excited to cross into El Salvador, but as you can imagine, I did not exude this enthusiasm at 4am.

T - Bellies full we, and by we I mean me, started our bikes and headed off. Chantelles clutch is again playing up and the clutch seems to be sticking on when in neutral, making it very hard to start. We have a new set of plates here and it is about time to put them in.

We cruised down a very battered and broken stretch of highway and soon we could see the bridge that spanned the border between Guatemala and El Salvador. The moment we were in sight of the Guatemalan border control a heap of men came running out trying to get us to park and engage them in some work. But I blipped Mabels throttle and her nasty growl soon had them scampering for the verge in panic, well that and I didn’t even bother to wipe off any speed.

We had researched this crossing and knew that the ‘helpers’ would come thick and fast and before they could even ask us if we needed help Chantelle and I said no thanks, no help necessary.

We were soon processed through immigration and after making a heap of copies of our documents we then checked the bikes out of Guatemala. At this time we decided to change the remainder of our Guatemalan money for some US dollars. Chantelle argued and fought the money changer and I watched as he folded like a piece of paper and gave her the rate she wanted. I am very proud of her because this man was clearly trying to rip us off, but knowing a decent amount of Spanish now meant that Chantelle was able to argue the exchange rate until we got a good rate and the changer got a small commission. Needless to say he wasn't too happy but grudgingly passed over the money.

C - The exit was nice and easy and it felt good to have a win in Guatemala - so much of the time here was spent checking change and arguing to pay the advertised price, not what some person just randomly made up on the spot. Everyone here is obviously just trying to make money, but it gets difficult having to be on guard all the time.

T - From there we were free to head over the temporary bridge and into El Salvador. Immediately things were different. The border was quiet and ordered and the officials came up to us, took our copies, filled out our forms, took us to the next step and made sure everything was easy and pain free. It was a great border crossing, cost us nothing at all, and left us sitting in the shade for the majority of it.





C - The difference as we crossed the river was amazing. Neat and ordered with a very ‘unchaotic’ feel. Not what I expected at all.



T - Finally, two hours later, we were free!



We had decided to take the Ruta de Flores through some mountains and then follow the CA2 highway which ran along the coast. Most people coming through just stick to the main highway CA1, but we wanted to see more than just that.





What a road it was too! Curving back and forth, smooth bitumen with just a few potholes. There was way less rubbish on the roads here than in Guatemala and the whole place had a relaxed friendly attitude about it. People waved and said hello as we rolled past and gave us big smiles. It was so nice. I even managed to buy a bag of coke for less than a dollar. Yep a whole bag of coke!









We zipped along the coast road, catching glimpses of the sun bouncing off the ocean as we raced, at 65km/hr, through the curves and roared down hills, through tunnels, and then crawled up the next hill until finally we rolled into El Tunco, our stop for the night. Today was a great days ride, a proper ride, and we were loving it. Though on the sad side we managed to cover a third of the country in just a few hours. Not too worry, we can come back.









C - The Ruta de Las Flores was a lovely ride, and then the turn onto the CA2 proved to be a good choice as well. We were ‘whooping’ and ‘yahooing’ as it felt like a lifetime since we have had a good run of roads and little traffic.

My boots are now heading to Nicaragua, and the tracking proves this!! So we are keen to make our way there and enjoy our the riding in El Salvador.







T - After a nice stroll along the beach and a few s while we watched the surfers, cheap food and again, we chowed down on some dinner before retiring for the night. El Salvador is already proving to be very beautiful. Tomorrow we head further south.

C - Another early start today! It was nice to be up and at ‘em and my tummy was certainly telling me it was time to eat. We wandered down to the beach and picked a place for some break, before packing up the bikes and hitting the road by 8.30.

We left El Tunco behind, both thinking it was a lovely little town with a great vibe. If I wasn’t so keen to get to Nicaragua and receive my new boots, we probably would of stayed another night.





The road initially was a lovely ride, as we ducked and dived through the chaotic La Libertad and then continued on towards the small mountain town of Alegria.

T - I have been blown away by the quality of the roads here compared to in Guatemala. I kind of foolishly assumed both countries would be fairly similar in how they felt and operated including the roads and traffic. But here in El Salvador the roads are generally smooth and maintained, the traffic seems to obey stop signs and giveway signs, and people actually wait until it is relatively safe to overtake. No more closing my eyes as we are overtaken by a bus that is passing a truck as they both pass us around a blind corner over a sharp crest. Im really liking El Salvador!



C - After about 50km’s, the ride became a slog as the highway turned away from the lovely scenery and became a long, straight, featureless, double laned, divided highway. We plugged away and by lunch time, we were parking up next the main square of Alegria.



T - We were out of the mountains and onto the hot flat plains of southern El Salvador. I could see a line of mountains off to our left and watched sadly as they grew smaller and smaller before they just disappeared altogether.

C - Such a beautiful little town!! The main square was beautiful and venders had set up, selling all sorts of touristy wares and food. There really wasnt anyone around though - the only other people we saw were the shop keepers and vendors.

After a stroll and a cold drink, we decided it was too early to stop for the day and so pushed on to Santa Rosa de Lima, a mere 15km from the fronterra with Honduras.

T - What a pretty little town. Built around an immaculate square that was full of trimmed hedges and little white benches, it just oozed charm And yes I know, you can only ooze two things and one of them is pus. We were the centre of attention here and I was under the impression that it is rare to see two very hot and sweaty westerners wandering around in the sun in leather bike jackets.







C - The ride down the mountain was stunning, beautiful views and lots of twisties. It wasn’t too before we were on the PanAm Highway and the final 60km of the day was spent tackling traffic.

T - What a fun little road! We zipped down the mountain and nearly had the pegs scraping on every bend. We didn’t actually scrape pegs because Rosie keeps flinging her peg rubbers off at every chance and we didn’t want to lose another one.













C - Santa Rosa de Lima is a bustling little town and it didnt take us long to find a hotel. After sorting out the room, we moved our bikes to a corner of the parking lot. As I was walking Rosie along, I heard a very familiar ‘tink’ every time the rear wheel turned. Yep, you guessed it, a f#@$ing broken spoke. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ I yelled into the headset. I can not believe it. After having the whole rear rim trued and relaced in Tuscon, a mere (?) 15,000km ago, it appears that I may be back to square one. I just don’t understand - Rosie is carrying less weight than Mabel too. Of course, me being me, immediately go to the good ol’ ‘it must be my riding - I must be doing something wrong’... I haven’t even hit any pot holes!!!



T - That damn bike. The roads since we have left the USA have been anything from bad to terrible and I guess it was just a matter of time before one of the bikes lost a spoke or bent a rim, but Chantelle was devestated and I had to start defending Rosie as Chantelle started making plans to ditch the bike and buy something else. She didnt mean it I suspect, but it was a bit annoying to be back to that old chestnut again.

C - We will have to head out to the carpark once the heat of the day disappears and repair the spoke - and hope we can correctly tension the spoke to try to prevent further issues with this damn rear wheel of mine.

T - Well I have replaced the spoke and checked the rest and found one or two to be loose, but not really knowing what I was doing I may have inadvertently untrued the rim. If we have any more spoke issues we will take the bike to a dealer in Panama and see if we can’t get some oversized spokes made up or get some sent to us from Australia. I wish we had of just purchased to oversize kit last time.







I am enjoying El Salvador but I am getting keen to be out of Central America now. South America beckons us with more opportunities to free camp!

Our room has a bunker style door on it. How bad is this town??



C - Tomorrow, we will head to Honduras!

Ummm, that would be four, if you recall your recent illness

__________________
My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

Great report! I spent time in El Salvador years ago (Surfing). Most pass through without a thought. PS: There are several not so nice reasons why things are so "orderly" vs. Guatemala. Great for tourists, just don't look too closely!

Spokes:
The standard spokes should be OK if you don't strip them out by over tightening them. I would suggest checking them more often for snugness. I use the Tuning Fork technique to tighten them to proper tension ... when you find a loose one DO NOT over tighten it or go further than the others. This could put wheel out of True.

If possible, use the sound by striking the spoke and listen to tone ... tune each spoke to match frequency of other spokes that are tight. Clean spokes "ring" better than dirty ones. Use spoke tool to strike and get a tone.

You can also use a dab of BLUE (non permanent) Loc Tite on your spoke nipple threads to keep them from loosening. (applied to adjuster threads)

If you do not over tighten your spokes and snug them up EVENLY ... then unlikely you will put your wheel out of True. Snug all spokes evenly and don't over tighten any of them.

All the best of safe travels.

Thanks! We really liked El Salvador for sure, but we didnt dig too deep. There quite the tourist industry going on along the coast for sure.

I need to get a tuning fork thing for the spokes. I really have no clue what I am doing and basically just tighten the spoke until it matches the flex of the one next to it. I was kind of hoping the spoke problem would have gone away when we had it re-laced in Arizona. We have almost enough spokes left to re do the whole rim but heres hoping we wont have any more issues!

T - I have to be honest here. I was quietly crapping myself about todays border crossing. The infamous El Salvador - Honduras crossing. I have read so many horror stories about it where people have been bribed by corrupt officials, bribed by corrupt cops, ripped off by border helpers, and the list goes on. So I built this thing up in my mind. But when we got there I couldn't have been more wrong.





Firstly the El Salvador officials made sure we knew where to go, what copies of what documents we needed and then chatted to us about our bikes and our trip. Ok well that was really pleasant and easy! We were only approached by one man asking if we wanted him to help us, and after we said no thank you he pointed us in the right direction and wandered off. Exit El Salvador - check.

C - I don’t really worry about border crossings and I was feeling perfectly ok about it until we road up to the El Salvador exit and had to ride past one kilometre of parked trucks. This was when I thought ‘there are going to be people everywhere here’.. But, by the time we pulled up outside Aduana, there was hardly anyone around. I immediately relaxed and before we knew it, the bikes and us were checked out.

T - We rode over the bridge where another El Salvador official checked all of our documents to make sure we had everything we needed and then that was it. Next step was parking in front of the Honduras aduana building that housed customs and immigration. We weren’t bothered once by helpers and soon we were holding onto freshly stamped passports and going through the process of getting a temporary import permit for our bikes. Basically a kind lady did it all for us, she filled out the forms and then told us to go and get 3 copies of this document, 2 of that one, 2 of this one, 2 of something else, and another two of the passports. Lots and lots of copies were made in the next 5 minutes! But again we were soon free to go. We were in Honduras!



C - I couldn't quite believe how easy it all was, even with our limited spanish. The staff at both sides were very helpful and friendly.

T - Another official checked our papers as we left the border control area and that was it. Again everyone was super friendly and just wanted to know about us and the bikes.

We cruised along in Honduras for a while. It was hot and dry and we were loving it! We were riding in frigging Honduras! Brilliant!







We spied a little roadside eatery and soon the owner was talking to us excitedly in English about life in Honduras. He had lived in Houston in the States for quite some time, where he worked as a cook. He told us he wanted more for his country of Honduras, especially for the kids. He told us that they should be going to school and not having to work to help pay to put dinner on the table for their families. He seemed well liked and had a constant passage of people dropping in to say hello. If you’re passing by and you see this little stand, stop in and try his incredible food. You won’t be disappointed at all.









Then it was time to head for the Honduras - Nicaragua border so we could head to Leon where this package from RST was headed. At which point the road turned to a war zone. Massive craters were everywhere and we spent some 50 kms dodging them, trying very hard to not fall into one and do damage to our bikes. They were all rim busters for sure with sharp edges and deep depths.

Then I hit one. At full pelt. Mabel slammed into one and crashed into the nasty 6 inch sharp edge as she screamed out the other side. I heard the edge of the crater impact on both rims and knew I would have possibly damaged something. But we didn’t stop, just kept on trucking on. Mabel didn't feel any different, and she didn't get a flat!

Again an easy border crossing. It was simple. The only hiccup we had was that one of the customs officers wasn't 100% convinced that Chantelles registration for Rosie was an original and not a copy. So that took a moment to overcome and then we were free to go again. One more check as we headed out of the border area and that was it.



Each crossing took about 2 hours and the ride across Honduras probably took us 3 hours. Easy! No need for helpers, know the current exchange rates for each country, in fact we got better than the actual exchange rate in Nicaragua, and you’re good to go.

As we rode into Nicaragua Chantelle noticed Mabels rear wheel had a big wobble. Yep, I had dented it pretty damn badly, I also had managed to make sure the front rim had a matching dent. So its off to a tyre mechanic tomorrow to get them straightened out.





The scenery in Nicaragua was stunning! Volcanos sat smoking away in the distance and the air was cooling off. But the best bit, the road. It was smooth like silk. Oh it was such a perfect ribbon of bitumen after some of the horrible roads we have had since the States.

C - Honduras was dry, hot and dusty and definitely had the feel of a poorer nation. However the people were super friendly, welcoming and treated us well during our short visit. Nicaragua was a complete change though - like re-entering the western world. The roads improved, the driving improved, people obeyed traffic signs. The scenery also became green and lent a chill to the air. We decided to head for Leon, but stop as soon as we saw a decent looking hotel. Turns out, our GPS routed us to Leon on a route where we did not pass through one sizable town!







T - We cruised along and soon we were in the city of Leon where we found a hostel for the night and then wandered the streets in search of food. My entire dinner came to a grand total of $1. Cheap huh?









Hopefully our package will be here tomorrow or the day after at which point we shall start the route south to Panama City.

T - Well we have been told to not expect our package before Wednesday now. Im sure the poor lady we have been in contact with at RST is sick of this whole thing. It seems that the courier company they are using really has no idea of what they are doing as it has taken them the best part of 3 weeks to get this package moving. So we are relaxing in the very nice, lively and vibrant city of Leon at the moment.









We both are really liking Nicaragua. It has a nice vibe and even though we want to ride ride ride it isn't too bad to be stopped here.

C - The city is lively and the food and drink is relatively cheap. Leon reminds us of Mexican cities a bit - built around a central parque and catedral. At night, the parque is filled with families playing all sorts of games. Last night we saw kids rollerskating - yep, rollerskating, not rollerblading! It was pretty cool!









T - We have enjoyed wandering the streets, eating some local food, lots of buffet type places here, and generally just chilling out. Oh and I have been sampling the local s too,

Our hotel is called Via Via and it is very fancy, we decided to splurge, and they have let us park our bikes right inside the building.









We are hoping to stay here just for one more night before we head down to the coast and check out a couple of little towns there. Then we think it will be likely that we have to either return to Leon to pick up our parcel or that it will be in the capital city of Managua.













I have yet to get Mabels rim fixed, but it is a definate must do. We have managed to get a few little jobs done though including our laundry.

T - So this morning we jumped onto the tracking site for our parcel. We had been told 6 days until delivery as of the 31st January. But after the tracking showed that it was still possibly in the UK after 7 days Chantelle decided enough was enough and she rang Parcel Force. After being put on hold and then transferred around a bit she eventually was told that it had in fact not left the UK at all. Three times now RST have tried sending us this package with Parcel Force, and three times it hasn’t left the UK.

We had a hotel lined up on the west coast of Nicaragua who was going to accept the parcel for us, so we decided to send off another email to RST saying that this was getting rather tedious and headed to the beach.







It was only a short 30 minute ride and I was ever hopeful in finding a tyre fixer along the way. Normally these guys are every 100mt along the road. But today, not a single one. So sorry Mabel but you will have to wait another day.

We made it to the town of Las Penitas where our hotel was and soon we were checked in and enjoying a cool shower to wash off our sweat.













C - The ride was uneventful but it was lovely to pull into Las Penitas and feel the cool ocean breeze. It is a lovely beach town, but as with these sorts of towns, everything is just a tad more expensive. We enjoyed a nice lunch and a not so dinner, followed by a very nice banana split!

T - Hopefully we hear back from RST in the morning but our plan now is to start heading south again. Neither of us is interested in spending another 6 or, possibly more, days sitting and waiting for a package that may, or probably wont, turn up.

C - My life is completely consumed by this parcel now. It's difficult when you have nothing else to focus on.

T - All we do is think about the thing. We spend hours talking about it. Obviously we have a tough life if the worst thing we are worrying about is a package!

C - We rose this morning to see that the tracking had not updated. We decided to return to Leon and investigate further. We had received confirmation the package had indeed left the UK and would arrive in Nicaragua today.



Las Penitas was nice, but too expensive for us to stay another night. The ride back to Leon was uneventful and soon we were pulling up outside the hostel we first stayed in, as it was supercheap. They were full and after checking out a few of the other cheaper ones, we ended up back at the lovely Via Via Hostel.



T - We enjoyed a really tasty breakfast of pancakes, coffee and a smoothie. The owner of the hotel, Chris, really did look after us.



C - After unpacking, we met up with another rider from England who we met in Guatemala. We had a fun evening hanging out with Aaron!





Tomorrow - who knows. We will wait and see what ParcelForce and RST tell us in the morning.

C - The parcel is actually in Nicaragua! OMG! We received notification that the parcel was in the capital, Managua, at the Aduana office (customs). It was recommended that we contact customs to see if we could get the release of the package quickly.



T - This was such a relief. Finally it felt like we could get some control back with this parcel. We knew there was a good chance we could go to the city and wrangle the box out of customs. We could taste the victory! Then we would be free again to head for Costa Rica! It was all very exciting and there was a definite buzz in our camp!





C - First though, it was breakfast with Aaron and as all we all needed to get Yellow Fever vaccinations, we decided to look for the Health Department. It wasn't far away and the lady was helpful, but unfortunately the shots are only available in Managua, but they are free.

So a plan was formed! Rather than attempting to converse with customs over the phone, and given it was vaccination day at the clinic in Managua, we decided to ride the 70km today. Aaron joined us and we set off.

We took the back road out of town and it unexpectedly became a very fun and very dusty road! We had sand, mud, rocks, ditches, washouts!! It was an absolute blast, but poor Aaron, who was riding at the back, was super dusty by the time we had the 30km.

T - Aaron was nice enough to sit with us at our postie speed on his DRZ450. His bike made our bikes look so tiny. Mabel and Rosie bounced and flounced around on the rocky dusty road and Aarons bike looked like it just soaked up the bumps no worries.



C - After getting into the city, we found the clinic quite easily. But… it was the wrong one. After a somewhat productive conversation, a lovely gentleman jumped on his moto and took us to the right clinic, which really wasn’t that far away.

T - Yet another shining example of people who just want to help people. With a handshake and a fist bump he pointed us in the right direction and headed off on his way.

C - Unfortunately, due to the WHO regulations and funding, they can only administer shots to Nicaraguan nationals. Never mind, it was worth a try to get a free vaccination! Aaron was heading off to Las Penitas to meet up with another traveller, so he departed and we decided to tackle customs.

We found the right depot at the airport, but was advised that we couldn't find out any information without a shipping document from the shipper. The man suggested that ParcelForce usually use FedEx, so we should go to the FedEx office in the city centro.

Back on the bikes, we tackled ridiculously, crazy peak hour traffic jams and 30 mins later we were there, extremely hot and dirty. The gentleman spoke english, making my job easier, but unfortunately, it was no help. The FedEx office didn't know ParcelForce and couldn't recognise the tracking number.

T - Holy hell. That was some insane traffic. Two lanes of highway turned into three lanes, plus motobikes were scooting along the drains, the footpaths, between traffic, everywhere! We joined in the mess and soon we were bumping down footpaths dodging pedestrians and tuk tuks. It was fun and kind of scary all at once. If we hadn’t taken such an aggressive riding method I am sure we would still be sitting in line at a traffic light in the city.



C - Back to the drawing board.

We tried to find a hotel under an ever darkening sky. The cheapest we found with vacancies was $50US a night, without secure parking for the motos. Nope! We decided to get out of the city before it got any darker, as we were told it was not safe to drive around after dark, particularly in the suburbs where the cheaper hotels were.

Both feeling deflated, frustrated and out of ideas, we jumped back on the highway to Leon. The main highway this time though. We got back to Leon in the dark, but the ride was sensational. Watching the sunset, seeing the full moon rise and feeling the warm (not hot!) air blowing around us.

T - It was like a punch in the guts. I felt like we had fought so hard to get to this point of actually having the parcel in our hands, and suddenly it was gone. All the emailing, all the chasing this thing from town to town, country to country and when we could almost smell it, it was taken away. Damn it! I will admit I got really sour on the whole thing and I was quite happy to just abandon it right then and there and ride away. I seethed in my helmet for the next hour. Mentally writing emails to Parcel Force full of death threats and swear words. Neither of us could understand why they would have handed it to the local postal service. Deep breaths, deep breaths. F$%kers!

C - We tried to check back into Via Via, but alas, they had no vacancies. Nevermind, plenty of hostels all in a row, so I went into Hostal Los Cheles. One room left, great price, with aircon and we could park our bikes in the lobby. Perfecto!





After a cold shower, we both needed food, as we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We had a great dinner then settled into bed to read for a bit before sleep. Todd was in the bathroom when I noticed three small bugs on his pillow. I leapt off of the bed and called out to Todd, who said no, they can not be bed bugs, as there were a few in the bathroom too. You never see bedbugs outside of the bed right??? I wasn't convinced but decided to roll it, as I was sure they didn't live in bathrooms. A minute later… sting! I slapped whatever bit me… yep, another bug. We googled it and it was most definitely a big, fat, stinky, rat-bastard bed bug. It was then we examined the room a little further. Within a minute, we had spotted at least 20 of them, crawling on the mattress, sheets, pillows and walls in the room and in the bathroom. I was thankful there we didn't see any sign of them on the floor - as that's where all our stuff was! We both sighed and hung out heads. It had been a long day and it was already 10pm. The owner was most apologetic, but they didn't have any other rooms.

T - Wow. I couldnt believe it! I have never really seen bed bugs. We thought we had once but we couldnt really be sure. These things were coming out of the walls, the pillows, the mattress, every where! I was shoving our loose clothing into our sealed bags as fast as I could, hoping we hadnt picked up any passengers. The roof was badly infested. When we first walked in we both noticed a smell of kerosene in the air. But we thought nothing of it. Just assuming that maybe they had cleaned the bathroom and tiled floors with kero to kill germs maybe. It turns out it is a fairly common practise to use a kerosene based mixture to remove bed bugs. Now we know!



C - After a quick check on the internet, I found another reasonably priced hostel close by and we packed up the bikes, feeling even more deflated than before.

But… a blessing in disguise? The new hostel was cheaper and everyone was so lovely when we arrived. The other guests all introduced themselves and one was an overlander who is travelling from Argentina to Mexico on his Yamaha.

We finally relaxed, after thoroughly checking the few things that did touch the bed or walls in the last place.

Tomorrow - hopefully we have a reply from Parcelforce about which agent they are using in Nicaragua so we find out how to access the parcel from Customs. I was so close to my new boots today… a few hundred metres away I suspect!