I am now an non-solo traveller, as Richard Staelin joined me. Rick is a colleague of MFL’s and I have known him for close to 30-years. I have always gotten along with him socially, but never travelled with him. It was a bit of a “feeling out period” for the both of us, which lasted about 20-minutes and then we realised that we were on same page. Rick arrived but his luggage was determined to see Miami first; so, we had to retrieve his luggage the next day. After securing the luggage, we started our trip to the El Salvador border with the intention of interacting with the fine people and sights of Central America. Upon crossing the El Salvador border, I was actually taken back and surprised by the people of El Salvador. They are, by far, the nicest group of individuals, top to bottom, that I have ever met in any country. The people smiled, waved, and were curious about these two long-haired gringo with the “classico” car. Everyone wanted to see the beast and that enabled us to interact with so many people. It started at the entry customs point and ended at the exit. In travel, sometimes expectations fall short and, occasionally, they exceed. This country exceeded in every way. I will not keep hammering this point but will talk about what we did. About an hour outside of San Salvador is a ring road that goes up into coffee country. There are a series of little towns with unique features. One with a quaint square; another with ornate church; and another with a lively outdoor market. It was great to stop at each and just walk around and see the sights. Afterwards, we went to a valley with a series of waterfalls. A guide seemed intent of walking with us; so, we did not get lost as we descended into the valley. Not going to lie, it was a hike and the trail was very suspect. The reward was obvious as we visited each of the falls. The walk back was strenuous, but we were able to make it. The iPhone app claimed 47-flights of steps, but it felt more like 147-flights. From there, we headed to the beach to see the Pacific. I was envisioning a nice sand beach with resorts. Instead, I got a local beach with small boats tied to trees and the whole community watching soccer. This was a local beach and, not sure, if they had ever seen a gringo before(?). I took it in stride and talked a little soccer with the guys. Afterwards, we headed to the only restaurant in “town”. Given that this was a fishing community, I knew exactly what to order…fish. The owner brought out two red snappers, caught the day before, and asked, sheepishly, if $12.00 for the two was alright. Needless to say, the fish was awesome. The next day, we headed out very early to Honduras. Along the way, we stopped at La Palma, which is an artist community near the border. The town was painted in the style the legion of local artist’s, who use bold colors and geometric shapes in very distinctive style. I bought a few canvas pieces and really hope that MFL likes them. The border crossing took a little more time than expected, as we spent time talking to people about the car and doing photo-opts. This is where the day got longer. After clearing customs and all of the endless paperwork, we started down markedly worse roads. Relying on google maps is a double edged sword. On one hand, she wants the fastest route for us, but on the other hand, because she is not driving, she will take risks. Let me explain, she sent us down a highway with craters, no shoulders, and endless road construction and then thought it was a good idea to make it even harder. So, she said turn left on a hard packed, dirt road in the mountains to save time. Well, I did and it was absolutely beautiful. No traffic and vistas to die for. All was good until the road got narrower and more bumpy. Not too bad at first, but after 10-miles, I was driving on a one lane road with 6-inches of mud. It just kept getting worse and time was ticking, as we did not want to be caught in the dark. We happened upon a small house halfway down a steep hill with a group of machetes wielding guys standing outside. We decided to reaffirm that we were on the right track. Well, they kept pointing the opposite direction and English was not going to work and cell service was gone. With time ticking, I decided to turn around and retrace my path to the main road. The map said we were 18KM away on the muddy road or 100KM on pitted road with a few patches of pavement. We took the more certain route and arrived hours later at the Copán Ruines. Longest day of the trip, but I was just happy to not be trapped on a muddy road or off the side of a cliff.
From Arizona to Panama Canal 