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19 Feb 2013
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Two Borders One Day
Sadly we had to leave El Salvador because we had to head south again Fernandita.
Screen Shot 2013-02-18 at 8.50.49 PM by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We left early for the border, but the lure of “the new road” led us off track for an epic ride thru the hills and left us 90 min behind schedule on our dual border day.
ride to the border with Mario 2 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
ride to the border with Mario 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
ride to the border with Mario 8 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
I have been dreading the Honduras crossing for the last few months. We had heard it was the “worst crossing in the world” and a bureaucratic nightmare. Ride reports are full of stories of how people are stopped by police every 20 km of the 150 plus crossing to pay trumped up fines costing hundreds of dollars. Mario did say that the police problem had been cleared up in the last year. We did here that it was easier at the customs on Sundays as that eliminated travel to the bank to pay fees that you can then just pay at the border.
We started our day from San Salvador at 730 on a sunny, but very windy day.. Reaching the first check to exit El Salvador and cancel the vehicle import at 1135 we were directed by a nice policeman where to park.
leaving El Salvador 3 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
leaving El Salvador 2 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
“Helpers” then mobbed us. The policeman came over and very slowly in Spanish explained exactly where to go and where and how many copies we needed to get. That got rid of our offers for “help”.
leaving El Salvador 1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
He also told us to drive 3.5 km to the border, and not to stop at the dome building before that that looks like it is the border. Daniel had printed off detailed and very accurate instructions from the net at Border Crossings | Life Remotely
Getting our El Salvador exit stamp.
leaving El Salvador 6 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
leaving El Salvador 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
leaving El Salvador 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
leaving El Salvador 9 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The helpers may also tell you that you need to change money with them, because you cannot get any local currency and they do not take US dollars in Nicaragua. There is an ATM at the Nicaraguan aduana that dispenses Cordoba and USD. Plus everyone takes USD in Nicaragua.
Crossing the bridge into Honduras you are stopped by an official who asks for your passport and directs you to park at the customs building.
border Honduras 1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 6 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 8 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 11 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The guys then headed to immigration while customs was at lunch.
border Honduras 23 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
They also made several trips to get copies.
border Honduras 15 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 12 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
My job as usual was to stay in the shade and watch the bikes.
border Honduras 21 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
There is such a lot of bureaucracy here, but just grin and bear it and maybe have some Flora.
border Honduras 25 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 18 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
border Honduras 16 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
This is the pile of paper they make with your 5 copies of everything.
border Honduras 22 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Checking the VIN numbers as there have been stories of getting charged a lot of $ on exiting the country if the VIN on your import is “incorrect”.
border Honduras 29 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Finally the transit import permit!
border Honduras 28 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We left the Honduras crossing at 230 despite having arrived there at lunch when they are closed and that the wind had knocked out the power so everything was done by hand.
crossing Honduras 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
imgres by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Crossing this country is a bit like driving a Mad Max wasteland. The last 50 km of highway is a mess with huge deep holes all over.
crossing Honduras 1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
crossing Honduras 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
crossing Honduras 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
IMG_8449 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
That said we had no real issues at the border and though we were stopped briefly at 3 police checks in Honduras, they asked politely to see our documents for the bikes and then shook our hands and welcomed us to their country. One of them even told me I should put sunscreen on since my cheeks were burnt.
crossing Honduras 3 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Entering Nicaragua was easy especially if you are on a bike.
Nicaraguan Border 6 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
After a quick spray down of the bikes with some toxic substance we headed tot the air-conditioned aduana (Ah back to civilization).
Nicaraguan Border 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 9 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 10 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 14 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 18 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
They are more efficient here and the official checked all three VIN numbers at once.
Nicaraguan Border 15 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 16 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 19 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 20 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We finally left the Nicaragua crossing at 530.
imgres-1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
This meant that the sun did set on us, but luckily we arrived at Chinandega just at dark.
Nicaraguan Border 22 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Nicaraguan Border 23 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
That meant it was time for Tona and Tostones con queso frito!
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25 Feb 2013
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Nicaragua
Leon Nicaragua is just a short drive for us, as we had to stop short last night with the dark and poor road conditions. We spent a few days there and then headed to the beach.
Screen Shot 2013-02-24 at 4.37.33 PM by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We checked into a hostel and had a Tona to beat the heat.
Leon Nicaragua 38 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
After two weeks in the company of the GSSWEDE we had to say goodbye as he headed south to make his flight home.
Leon Nicaragua 20 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 21 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon is a really nice colonial city with the largest cathedral in Central America.
Leon Nicaragua 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 11 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 13 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 15 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
There is a lost of history here and memorials to the revolution.
Leon Nicaragua 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 17 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 31 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 32 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 33 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
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25 Feb 2013
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Registered Users
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Location: Montreal (the road)
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Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride
Looks great
Amazing pictures.
How bad are the roads there?
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25 Feb 2013
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Contributing Member
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Roads
Quote:
Originally Posted by globalklr650
Looks great
Amazing pictures.
How bad are the roads there?
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In general not too bad. Even a small hole or bump in the dark can be a nightmare. That said the road in Honduras near the Nicaraguan border is awful.
Sara
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25 Feb 2013
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Registered Users
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Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride
Ok thanks.
Just with a super overweight KLR with 2 people we are always concerned about the road south to Argentina.
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25 Feb 2013
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Tope hell
Make sure you have a good bash plate to deal with the tope hell that is Mexico. Tope are "speed bumps", but can be all shapes and sizes. Some are very high. I scrape over about 20%. The triangle shaped pointed ones are the worst. There can be hundreds in a day....AHHHHHHH
Sara 
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25 Feb 2013
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Leon
There are also a lot of political messages in this Sandinista Party stronghold.
Leon Nicaragua 54 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 52 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 50 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 51 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We did a lot of wandering and taking in the sights.
Leon Nicaragua 45 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 46 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Leon Nicaragua 25 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Here was a first for us this guy actually got a ticket for not wearing his helmet.
Leon Nicaragua 55 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Here is Daniel skyping his parents in Hawaii.
Leon Nicaragua 56 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
This is how you order a drink in Nicaragua. You get a bottle, a bucket of ice, a bowl of limes, and a bottle of coke for $3.60.
Leon Nicaragua 58 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We stopped for our first Nicaraguan gas at the UNO.
Playa Quetzal 1 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
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25 Feb 2013
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Heat
Trying to beat the heat in Leon we headed for the beach 20 km away, where it is just as hot at 36 degrees, but at least there is a breeze.
Playa Quetzal 2 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Playa Quetzal 3 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Walking down the beach for lunch we could watch the locals surf.
Playa Quetzal 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Playa Quetzal 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Now we really needed to retreat from the heat by heading up into the hills near Estali. It was very hot riding the whole way, but It was almost 10 degrees cooler when we arrived.
Screen Shot 2013-02-24 at 4.38.57 PM by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
There is quite a nice cathedral here also.
Estali 7 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
These huge pigs were actually walking him!
Estali 12 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
We rode up thru the hills to Somoto, which is near the Honduras border.
Estali 13 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali 14 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
FILE2871 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
DSC07437 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
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25 Feb 2013
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Location: Emerald Queensland Australia
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Sara always look forward to your updates
Another stella installment ,Noel 
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26 Feb 2013
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Thanks
Hey Noel thanks!!
SP
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26 Feb 2013
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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When are you guys planning to get to Columbia? We are probably 3 weeks away?
Gino & Fiona
www.ginoontour.blogspot.com
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26 Feb 2013
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Columbia
Yes, but not till the end of August/ beg Sept. We are going home to work for 3 months at the end of May ish . The problem is where to leave the bikes for that long and still get to ride in the country we leave them. We can leave them in the Canal zone that long, so we are sort of dragging out feet as we have some time to kill, but CA not a bad place to do that.
We may meet on this side of the Darien then??
Great Blog reports by the way!!
Sara
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27 Feb 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saralou
Yes, but not till the end of August/ beg Sept. We are going home to work for 3 months at the end of May ish . The problem is where to leave the bikes for that long and still get to ride in the country we leave them. We can leave them in the Canal zone that long, so we are sort of dragging out feet as we have some time to kill, but CA not a bad place to do that.
We may meet on this side of the Darien then??
Great Blog reports by the way!!
Sara
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Thanks, ok we will be in CA by April sometime, keep up the border reports, very useful!
Gino & Fiona
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27 Feb 2013
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April CA
Great we will see you then!
re borders check out this great web site!!
Border Crossings | Life Remotely
Sara
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27 Feb 2013
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Exploring Northeastern Nicaragua
The area around Estali is lush with farming. There are large fields of tobacco for the local cigar companies.
DSC07439 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
DSC07443 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Thanks to some local advice we headed off on the back roads thru the mountains to San Rafael del Norte, Jinotega, and to Matagalpa.
Screen Shot 2013-02-24 at 4.18.22 PM by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
This is a not to be missed ride. Resist the Pan Americana turn left! The road initially is brick, but eventually goo pavement. The scenery is lovely on this often curvy road with little traffic.
Estali to matagalpa 8 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 23 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 4 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 24 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 10 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 19 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 2 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 5 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
There are several nice towns and we stopped in San Rafael del Norte for a snack. The bikes drew a lot of interest from the locals.
Estali to matagalpa 29 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 31 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
There is a nice square here in front of the church and the trees are filled with bromeliads.
Estali to matagalpa 38 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Ten km from Matagalpa is a Quetzal bioreserve (turn at the tank), but as we were there in the heat of the afternoon we did not stop to search out the elusive bird.
Estali to matagalpa 35 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 39 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 34 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 36 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Matagalpa is a busy place, but there are very few hotels. We did find a nice place for 22$ with AC/Fan/Hot water and secure parking 50 m away for .80$.
Estali to matagalpa 44 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 53 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The moneychangers or Coyotes in action. We just used the ATM seems easier.
Estali to matagalpa 43 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The cathedral as usual is the center of the city.
Estali to matagalpa 46 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 48 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 45 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The main square has a large revolutionary statue and there are murals everywhere.
Estali to matagalpa 50 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 51 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 54 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
The call to mass brought out a whole lot of nuns!
Estali to matagalpa 56 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Estali to matagalpa 57 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
Hey Joe this is for you!!!
Estali to matagalpa 52 by Worldwide Ride.ca, on Flickr
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
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Lots more comments here!
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Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
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The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
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