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Panamericana adventure
  • Meike Grothe
  • Herbert E
  • Meike Grothe
  • Herbert E

Panamericana adventure

A dream comes true!! Starting in Vancouver, our plan is to go South until we reach Tierra del Fuego - World's end. Our chosen way of transport: 2 fantastic travel bikes. Follow us on our adventurous trip with all the expected highs and lows 🚵‍♀️😀 Read more
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  • Panamericana adventure
    Swimming in the lake Petén Itza
    Second breakfast in FloresScenic hilly landscapeUs on the ferry

    Chilling in Flores and some km spinning

    January 11, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We left El Remate after a really good Guatemalan coffee the owner of the posada had made for us. As we had tail winds on a relatively flat road, it only took us just over an hour to get to Flores, our next stop. First, we went to a bike shop. It opened at 10am and we arrived 8:45am, so what to do if you don't want to wait? We knocked at the door, a guy opened and sold us the pedals we needed. Then he even mounted them with his pro tools - easy as that in Guatemala!
    Flores is located on an island accessible by a bridge. The island is really small, you can cycle around in about 5 min. It's a tourist place, but absolutely beautiful with many colorful houses! We decided to have an extended second breakfast at the waterfront and go for a swim. We found out that a triathlon took place and were really tempted to stay for a night. However, it was also very tempting to go on. We were still feeling very fresh after 4 easy days on the bike and more importantly, the wind came from the right direction!
    So we went back on the bikes and continued our way to Sayaxche. It was easy rolling with some minor hills, passing green and hilly scenery and some villages with many animals such as pigs, dogs and chicken running around.
    In Sayaxche, you need to cross a river in order to get further South (meaning there is no bridge on one of the main routes in Guatemala!). There's boats for different means of transport: one for passengers, one for cars, one for motorcycles. We went on a small boat for motorcycles. Prices are 2 Quetzales (about 25 € cents) for passengers, 5 Quetzales for motorcycles. Foreign cyclists: free of charge - thanks to the guys on the boat 😁
    In town, it wasn't easy to find an economic hotel as it was Saturday and Sayaxche seems to be a party town for locals, full of dodgy bars. However, in the end we got lucky as one of the hotel owners offered us a cheap room in his new hotel that wasn't completely ready yet. Our room was bright and everything was working, so no complaints here!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Barber shop advertisement: Germans have to be shaved pretty well
    Second breakfast at a bakeryWinding roadmelon stopSteep 15% climbYummy local dinner

    The rolling Gringo

    January 12, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    5am - wake up call by hundreds of birds in the trees next to our hotel. But as we had a long day ahead of us, this was a good reason to get up early. We left Sayaxche, passed some rainforest where we could hear monkeys again and had a first stop in Las Pozas, a busy little market town, to have some bread. The route had been VERY hilly, right from the beginning, so we had burned our breakfast calories already. Afterwards, there was a long straight stretch of 30km with no curve - still rolling up and down though.
    When passing the villages, the kids all called us "gringo". It was funny at the beginning but kind of annoying after the 100th times. It must also be the first words kids learn as even 2-year-olds screamed "gringo" as soon as they saw us. We felt a little bit like in a zoo, because once one kid saw us, they called everyone else in the house and neighborhood to come out and see us. I fear it will be like this for another 11 months or so...
    Once the straight part ended, the scenery was stunning, turning mountainous again. The road was still rolling: 50m climb, then down, then up again. At some stage, we needed a break and were happy to find a guy who sold melons. Even though we paid a tourist price, we still very much enjoyed the fresh fruit!
    We arrived early in Chisec where we wanted to stay for the night. Hotel options weren't too good. In the end, we decided to stay in a run-down, but very cheap one. Thus, we could better spent the money on food. I think we also looked quite hungry: at the bakery, the guy put more bread in our bag as we ordered (no extra charge) and in the restaurant they gave us bananas for breakfast on the way. The people here somehow know what we need 😉    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Morning views in the mountains
    Breakfast stop: already done for the day after some 45kmCoffee plantationOne of the many other stops: at least they had hammocks to relaxCobán central square

    Burning legs

    January 13, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Last night, a guy at our hotel couldn't believe that we were going to Cobán today. He told us right away that we were crazy. Today, we knew what he meant. We had a full experience of the mountain roads in Guatemala. They are incredibly steep, usually up to 20%. And they go up and down and up and down all the time. Our legs were burning like hell and we had to stop really often to take a rest and get something to eat or drink.
    The views, on the other hand, we stunning! The landscape is just amazing with the green mountains. As we are now in the higher region around Cobán, we also passed coffee plantations. Very scenic!!
    When we arrived at our hostel, the bike computer showed 2314m of elevation gain over 75km. We only had some energy left to get food from the market, go for a short stroll around the centre and cook dinner.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
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    Semuc Champey

    January 14, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Again an early start: But today by bus for a change. We took the 6am bus in order to be able to make it to Semuc Champey in a day and back. Semuc Champey is one of the natural highlights in Guatemala and pretty famous among backpackers for cave tours and tubing. We just wanted to visit the park, enjoy the views and swim in the natural turquoise pools.
    The place is located only 65km away. We were going to go there by bike, but after a warning of a fellow cyclist regarding the road conditions decided to use public transport. The first 43km are on a new smooth road. By local bus, this took about 2 hours including a break (as usual when you take the local buses). We enjoyed the views from the bus and were happy we didn't have to climb those 20% hills today. Then we turned onto a gravel road towards Lanquín. It was REALLY bad, especially as it had rained all night. So for the next 11km, we needed about an hour. We were just happy we weren't on bikes! In Lanquín, we had to change to a different vehicle. One of the public collectivos, old 4WD where you stand on the back. Quite an adventure as the road got even worse, steeper and very slippery. But our driver managed to get us safely to the park entrance within another hour. So 4 hours in order to get to the national park - puh.
    In the park, we hiked up to the lookout point first where we had a stunning view over the pools and the amazing mountain scenery. Afterwards, we went for a well deserved swim and had our sandwiches for lunch.
    Then the same procedure for the way back. As the road had dried in the meantime, the ride on the collectivo wasn't as adventurous anymore. We then went on the bus to Coban. Also this road was much better now and we could go fast. But there was also construction work going on, so they blocked the road and we had to wait for 1.5 hours. Thus, we arrived at the smooth road after 2 hours. Our driver was then eager to hit the normal time and only stopped in order to drop people, just ignored the ones that wanted to get on the bus. In the end, we arrived in Coban after 4 hours traveling, same time as going there. We were more tired than after a day of cycling and slept very well after Jimmy, the guy who runs the hostel, shared some of the good Guatemalan rum with us.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Pool with it's pretty fast slide: we almost flew over the edge if the slide

    Guatemalan festivities

    January 15, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    When we got up today, it rained and we were not too motivated to do a long stretch as originally planned. So we started slowly with a great coffee of the Coban region. In the hostel, we chatted with Jorge, who works there. He told us about his village Tactic which is located 30km South of Covan and what to do there. Furthermore, he invited us to stay at his house. So of course, we couldn't say no to the invitation. On top, he took all our luggage in his car, so riding felt almost like flying.
    First, we went to the central square. There was a stage and music and it was packed with people waiting for something. When we asked what was going on, they told us that the local government had changed and everyone was eager to see the new mayor. We didn't want to wait for the guy for another 2-3 hours, so instead rode up a short but incredibly steep hill to the church of Cristo de Chi-Ixim. Jorge had told us that today was a special religious festival again that they celebrated at that church. And yes, we saw people doing religious burning ceremonies. Apart from the ceremonies, it looked more like a street food festival with lots of food stalls. So we decided to try some small local dishes as an appetizer.
    Because next, we wanted to go to a food corner shop in the market. Jorge knew the ladies running it and had raved about the food. And indeed, for about 1.5€ each, we received a plate of rice, vegetables, salad, beef broth and a glass of water and it was yummy!
    Our last activity for the day was Chamche, a mix of a small zoo (they even had a Bengal Tigre) and natural swimming pools. The water was freezing cold but refreshing. We spent the rest of the afternoon at this place reading and watching animals.
    At 5, the place closed and it started to rain. We rushed into the city center again to buy some dinner. Then we went to a restaurant to have a beer while waiting for Jorge to finish work at the hostel. Unfortunately, there was a lot of work, so he didn't get home u til 10pm. Luckily, his sister was home at 8:30pm, so we could at least get into the house, cook some dinner and chat for a while. When Jorge got home, we were really tired, so didn't have much time for a longer chat. But we were very lucky to stay with this great and hospitable family.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Morning sun - already seeing the rain coming ahead of us
    Breakfast stop in a bakery - our favorite placeChanged landscape after having crossed the mountain rangeLucky to have a ride on a pick up truck againYou really don't want to cycle hereTalking to some guys in Sanarate who couldn't believe we can go from Canada to Argentina by bike

    Rainy riding into a different landscape

    January 16, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Luckily, it didn't rain when we left Jorge's place. The route was pretty as usual, rolling through green mountains, but not too steep. After some 20km however, it started raining and didn't stop for a while, so we got quite wet and decided to stop in a bakery to fill up some calories and warm up as well. We cycled through a beautiful forest, but couldn't enjoy the views that much due to the rain. People told us that you can usually see quetzals, the bird on the Guatemalan flag, in this forest. But birds don't like rain either and prefer hiding.
    After about 50km, we reached the turning point of today's ride, the end of a mountain range and also an intersection leading to some bigger towns. Here, things changed significantly: We had a long downhill ahead of us (50km, 1200m elevation loss), it stopped raining (positive!), but on the other hand, the landscape got way drier, there was a lot more traffic and rubbish along the road.
    It felt like being in another country - what a difference a mountain range and the close distance to the the capital can make!
    After the downhill, we reached a road that several people had warned us about because it's the main connection between the Atlantic and Pacific side in Guatemala. There's heavy traffic, exhaust gases and climbing on a one lane road - so no fun to cycle. So we hitchbiked again and were very lucky when we got a ride after only 10min. The family from the North of Guatemala dropped us after 30km at Sanarate where we found a hotel to spend the night.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Lunch Stopp and Guatemalan flag - finally we found onePan-American highwayGuatemalan festivitiesJairo preparing dinner

    Last day in Guatemala

    January 17, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Our last day in Guatemala already... What a beautiful country with super friendly people! Last night, we decided to change our route a little because we got an invite from Jairo to stay at his house in Asuncion Mita. We were going to cross the border to El Salvador at a place closer to the coast, but as we enjoy staying with locals, we are now just crossing at San Cristóbal.
    In the morning, the road was rolling again for the first few km. Then, it went just uphill and was in a pretty bad shape. So it took us quite some time until we got to our highest point of today of about 1550m.
    However, once we got to the top, we were also delighted to see and feel that they had recently built a new road with perfectly smooth asphalt. So the rest of the day was easy cycling. We stopped at Monjas for our lunchbreak and continued via the "Colonial and Volvano Route". We enjoyed the downhill riding and the views.
    The last 20km we rode on the "real" Pan-American Highway. The road was much more busy and every kilometer there was an Auto Hotel. You can rent hotelrooms per hour to take a "power nap" 😉
    When we got to Asunción Mita, we heard that there was a parade scheduled for the night. So we went to the main square to see the pilgrims from Esquipulas (another village close to the border to Honduras) on horses and the mariachis. Apparently, they have been coming every year for the last 100 years, so there's always a little festival at that time of the year.
    Our day ended with an amazing dinner that Jairo cooked for us. Best tacos and tortas we've ever had. How lucky are we to stay with someone who runs a little restaurant?? !!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Breakfast with Jairo, Wendy and their daughter Angie
    Road conditions on the last 20km in Guatemala

    Entering El Salvador

    January 18, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Our last morning in Guatemala started with a great breakfast of tamales (traditional dish on Saturday), bread, frijoles and coffee. Thus, we were ready to hit the road.
    From Asuncion Mita it's only about 20km to the border of El Salvador, but there was lots to see: love motels, a Panamerican nightclub, a beautifully decorated cemetery like you can see it quite often in this country, and nice landscape with a view of a volcano.
    Border crossing was easy and fast, it took us only about 10 minutes to leave Guatemala and enter El Salvador. From the border, we had to cycle about 35km to Santa Ana, our destination for the night. Santa Ana is a colonial with beautiful houses. We checked into our hostel (also a nice colonial building) and explored the city where we - like in the other Central American countries before - ran into a parade with loud music. We also went to the market to buy vegetables for dinner. The markets are similar as the ones we know, but weird to pay in US$ again, the currency used here.
    First impressions of country number 6: relatively good roads, low but crazy traffic, similar landscape like on the other side of the border, people a little more reserved, lots of security guards with rifles. Let's see what we think tomorrow.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure

    The vulcano ride

    January 19, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    What do we do when it's hot? Climb a mountain to get into nicer temperatures! Today, we decided to cycle to Volcano de Santa Ana. After some busy kilometres on the CA-1, the panamerican highway, we turned onto a smaller road that lead around Lake Coatepeque, a crater lake. The road was awesome: smooth asphalt and stunning views of the lake and the volcano.
    At the end of the crater rim road, we had to climb to Cerro Verde from where the hike started. That road was in a pretty bad condition, so the elevation gain of 1000m was tough work. At the top, we checked with some locals where we can start our hike. They told us that the next guided tour would start in about 15 minutes. We didn't want to hike in a group (worst case scenario for us), but they convinced us by saying that it's for security reasons and groups are accompanied by an armed security guard. Plus, other travellers had raved about the views from the summit.
    So we took part in a group hike with about 15 participants - and REALLY didn't like it. People just walked too slowly and stopped every few metres. Furthermore, our guide was a 20-year-old girl and no armed guard walked with us. Interesting security, more of a tourist scam I think. However, there were quite some armed officers based along the route, so they do take care of the visitors.
    Interestingly, our guide saw that we got impatient after stop number [stopped counting] and told us we may as well go on our own - which we did straight away. So hiking up got more fun! Until we got close to the top - that was when we saw those hundreds of people who had the same idea for their Sunday activity. No fun at all! Plus, when we got to the top, we saw: NOTHING! It was VERY windy as well as the clouds had come in. So we quickly took a photo and went back down - as fast as possible with hundreds of people on the way.
    Finally back on the bikes, we were happy to have escaped the masses. Downhill on the crappy road wasn't fun but at least quick. Then we were back on the amazing crater rim road which calmed us down. We didn't have enough time for a swim in the lake, but stopped for a cold coke and enjoyed the view before heading back to Santa Ana.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Swimming in a hot spring waterfall
    Salto de MalacatiupanColourful murals in AtacoCoffee on the roof terraceApanecaJuayua

    Ruta de las Flores

    January 20, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today, we left Santa Ana to get to the Ruta de las Flores, a nice mountain road with several cute colonial villages. In order to get there, we headed West again. On the way, we detoured some 5km on a dirt road in order to swim in Salto Malacatiupan, hot spring waterfall, we had heard about. And what a great place! Apart from 2 friendly dogs, 4 goats and the family living there, no other people. The water was very warm and we went for a bath. Very relaxing, although with almost 30 degrees outside, a cold waterfall would have been ok as well 😉
    We then continued to Ataco, the first village on the Ruta de las Flores. Just after Ahuachapan, we saw a bad accident which had just happened. 2 guys on a motorcycle crashed into a car that came out of a smaller road. The guys didn't look good, but they were alive. As several people were already busy calling the ambulance and taking care of securing the scene, we quickly passed by and let them do their job.
    We then had to climb for about 900m in the middle of the day, so we sweat a lot. Ataco is a little touristy, but has colourful murals and colonial style houses. It's quite pretty and we stayed a while, mainly to sort out our local SIM card (we had found out that they had sold us one without credit before...) and buy food for dinner.
    Then we went on and climbed a little more until we got to a small hotel we had found on AirBnB. The place is owned by Dave (US) and Sonia (originally from El Salvador), who welcomed us warmly. We wanted to get something a little cheaper, but the 20$ we paid in the end were well worth it: a perfectly neat and clean room, a washing machine we could use for free, regional coffee in the room, a roof terrace, a kitchen we were alllowed to use and a great discussion on the Salvadorian culture.    Read more

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    Back at the Pacific Coast

    January 21, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    After a breakfast of good coffee, beans, bread, egg and lots of fruit, we cycled the second part of the Ruta de Las Flores. We stopped in all the little villages on the way: Apaneca, Juayua and Salcoatitan. In Nahuizalco, we decided to have our lunch and tried purpusas, the traditional street dish in El Salvador. These are basically filled tortillas, very yummy!
    Afterwards, we had a long downhill to the Pacific coast, taking CA12 before heading South onto CA2. The coastal route is very pretty, but as we are back at sea level, we have to fight with almost 40°C again. It's also not flat at all, lots of curves, hills and even tunnels. First, we stopped at a beach restaurant, but they didn't want to serve us for no reason. So we continued and stopped at a road side shop for coke. The guy who owns it, Omar, was very friendly and we stayed for a chat about cycletouring and his family.
    By about 4pm, we made it to Taquillo, a quiet surfer beachtown and went for a well deserved swim in the ocean. Unfortunately, there's pretty much nothing here, so we had to improvise our dinner a little with what we could get from the corner store: chicken soup with additional spaghetti, avocado tuna paste as a side, a banana and a beer. Plus some more purpusas, as the corner store was also a "purpuseria" 😉    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Beach time at San Blas
    Lunch break with icecream as a treat

    Auto Hotel adventure

    January 22, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    As we couldn't get anything for a normal breakfast last night, we had bought some more purpusas for takeaway. We were also lucky as a young guy on a motorcycles past, selling: fresh French bread. Exactly what we needed and better and cheaper than in a bakery here. Love this service!
    The cycling day started as the last one ended. A rolling coastal route, lots of curves, beautiful ocean views. We made the 11000km after 1 hour of cycling.
    After about 25km, we stopped in San Blas for a swim as we would leave the road would go inland again. It was difficult to find a public access to the beach, so we just went to a restaurant, had a drink and could use their shower after the swim which was convenient.
    We continued via La Libertad, a harbour town which looked a little dodgy, so we just passed it. The road went inland and got relatively flat. We could see more volcanoes and many sugarcane fields. Other than that, the ride was uneventful. Even for lunch, we just stopped at a roadside shop which with a tyre shop next door. Nothing special...
    We were going to stop at a motel, but full night rates only started after 5pm (before you could only stay for some 3-4 hours). As it was before 4pm, we decided to go on for a while, bought some food for dinner and continued for another 20km.
    In Jiquilisco, we found another motel and wanted to stay. They looked a little confused, we are obviously not the standard visitors in this type of hotel. Anyways, we got our own garage to put the bikes in. From the garage, we could directly go into the room which had a condom on the table and a mattress surrounded by a layer of plastic. We cooked our dinner in the garage with the garage door open so we could look outside. This totally confused as the whole place is designed for coming and leaving completely anonymous.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Volcan de San Miguel
    Sharing the road with cowsConchagua32Enjoying the view

    Mirador Esperitu de la Montana

    January 23, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    As the love motel wasn't too cosy and as it was going to be hot again, we were on the road by 6:30am. Furthermore, we didn't have breakfast, so we had to stop in Usulutan to buy some bread and bananas.
    The road was pretty busy but at least relatively flat and the asphalt was good, so we could complete this stretch quite fast. All the time, we could enjoy the views on the volcano de San Miguel.
    After 50km, we could finally leave the busy road. This however came with a deterioration of the asphalt and a 450m climb. We also had to share the road with some cows who didn't care about cyclist who wanted to pass at all...
    We had heard about a great lookout where you could also camp. Apparently, there's transport available every day at 3pm from the village Conchagua and you can take your bikes. We didn't know if we could make it on time, so didn't organize anything in advance. When we realized we can make it, I called Luis, who runs the tours, and he told us we can go up with him. So we went to the central square in Conchagua and bought food and water for the night while waiting for Luis. Once he arrived, we put our bikes and luggage on the truck and jumped on the back as well. The ride to the top took about 45min and the road was very steep and bumpy, so it was an adventure itself. However, the lookout is absolutely amazing. You can see the bay of El Salvador, Honduras and all the way to Nicaragua. And we can put up our camp right on the wooden platform, so we can see the stars and the sunrise out of our sleeping bags. Really looking forward to the night and the morning - but definitely not to ride down!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    1Sunrise from the mirador
    Going slowly down the roadSometimes, we had to push the bikes - even the cows were wondering about thatBridge between El Salvador and HondurasEnjoying a beer with Juan Pablo

    Short stop in Honduras #1

    January 24, 2020 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    What a great start into the day!! We woke up watching the sunrise from our sleeping bags. Ranja, the husky living at the mirador and sleeping next to us, enjoyed it as well 😉 we had breakfast (including fresh coffee they sold us) and took off for the downhill ride.
    The ride was as bad as expected, but we made it. 1.5 hours for less than 10km - DOWNHILL! We had to go really slow, sometimes had to push the bike or even stop and wait for the breaks to cool down.
    Once back on the main road, we headed to the border of Honduras. We had a quick stop for a second breakfast along the road, yummy chicken with rice and cheese. At the border, we met a Canadian cyclist, who is on the same route as us, just riding from South to North.
    Border crossing was relatively fast, some questions about our itinery and jobs, 3$ migration fee and here we are in country number 7.
    People here seem to be very friendly and outgoing, cheering, waving, greetings everywhere we pass. We stopped to get something to drink and people started chatting to us. All of them seem to be called Jose and all of them have worked in the US at some stage.
    In Nacaome, we stopped at the market to buy some food for dinner. The kids were fun, asked lots of questions and helped us to find water gallons to fill up our bottles. A guy stopped and invited us to stay at his home. He even showed is his place and was a little sad when we told him that we already had a host for the night.
    We cycled for another 5km until we reached Juan Pablo's house. After dinner, he took us to some thermal pools where we tried SalvaVida, the beer in Honduras. Not bad at all... We enjoyed the time discussing cultures, politics and music in a mix of Spanish, English and German (yes, he speaks a little German as well) and went to bed really tired.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Old wharf at San LorenzoSan Lorenzo beachSome bike maintenanceParty night

    Short stop in Honduras #2 - a long night

    January 25, 2020 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Most cyclists stay only one night in Honduras as the stretch you cross in the South is only some 130km long. We decided to stay for 2 nights to have at least a little bit more time in the country. We also found another host in Choluteca, so a good chance to get to know the people better.
    We headed off after breakfast and had a first stop in San Lorenzo. The town has some colonial style houses and is a lot less busy than Nacaome before. It's also located next to lagunes and rivers so it has a waterfront. Afterwards, we continued on a surprisingly good road to Choluteca and our host Jaime where we could stay at his mother's house.
    As we got there at noon already, we wanted to take the bus to the beach some 40km away. But when we walked to the bus stop, we realized that it was too late already - everything just takes longer here, especially rides with a local bus. Instead, we walked around in the city, had an iced coffee and pizza in air-conditioned places as it was above 40°C.
    At night, Jaime invited us to go out with him and his friends. First, we went to a "cantina", a cheap place to drink beer. Except for me, only guys. Jaime told us that Honduras is still a very macho country and usually women stay at home when guys go out to cantinas. But the place was relaxed and we quite liked it.
    Afterwards, he took us to a bar to show us a totally different place where men and women could go out together. The bar had live music (latin american sounds) and people could sing karaoke as well (pretty high quality voices though) which was cool. Compared to the other one, it was very fancy which you could also see when looking at the people inside - noone was poor here. The later the night the more dodgy looking people came in. One of the guys told us that most of them are probably drug dealers. Not really the people we wanted to hang out with. So at about 1am, Jaime gave us a lift home. 10 beers are obviously no reason to not drive in Honduras 😞 But we got back safely (only a 3 minute drive) and set up our camp in the backyard. It was still way too hot to sleep inside a room that his mum provided.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Our camp in Choluteca
    Last stop in HondurasBorder crossing - the bag scanner roomFinally made it!!

    An inconvenient border crossing

    January 26, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We didn't use our mosquito net as we didn't see any mosquitos when we went to bed. Bad decision! They all came during the night. Plus, it didn't cool down at all and the neighbours had some private party, so we didn't sleep well. Still got up early to make it to the border to Nicaragua.
    We only had some 48 hours in Honduras, but still got some impression of the people and the culture. We saw a lot of poverty, people living from the rubbish of the nearby landfill. At this time of the year, there is also a constant shortage of water and running water is no standard at all in general. People openly express their disgust of the current government and how the politicians steal money from the people. On the other hand, they are amazingly friendly and hospitable, always open for a chat. And the roads were the best so far in Central America.
    When we reached the border, we first had to pass a long line of trucks waiting to cross. I guess they have to wait for a couple of days, as going through customs takes forever. We got a warning that also for tourists, the crossing can be quite tiring, so we were prepared.
    Exiting Honduras was fast. Luckily, we arrived just before a big bus, so no line for us.
    Then, the part for entering Nicaragua started. We crossed a bridge between the two countries where they checked our stamps in the passports. Then they directed us to a building. The entrance was hard to find as everything was under construction and no signs to be seen. We queued in a line until they directed us to another room with scanners for the luggage. Here, they told us we need a declaration form for all the bags, otherwise we cannot enter. They should have given us those forms at the bridge where they checked our stamps. Plus, we had to go to another window for migration. As the people from the bus were behind us, we decided to go to migration first. This was a 20min interview process about our itenary, motivation, jobs, hotel reservations etc. A guy noted everything down on a photocopy of our passports (that we had to provide). Afterwards, we had to go to a different window again. Here we paid 12$ per person and had to answer the same questions again. This time, an unfriendly woman typed the answers into a computer. We also got 3 receipts for the money we paid - all handwritten of course. What a waste of time! But we got our stamps and passed the migration part.
    Then I ran back to the bridge to get the declaration form while Herbert watched the bikes. We quickly filled it out to beat the bus crowd, went to the scanner room again, unloaded the bikes and had all bags scanned (even though nobody looked at the computer). Easy! Loaded the bikes again and off to the next bridge where they checked the passports and stamps again. They also collected the forms - and told us that they lacked a signature from the guys at the scanner and we'd have to go back to get it. Seriously??? I was about to explode (all this was also around midday and it was above 40°C again) when the guy asked his partner if he could confirm that we had all bags scanned. His partner nodded and confirmed (of course he did NOT see it as this was in another building, but good for him he confirmed anyways). So after 1.5 hours, we were finally in Nicaragua.
    We only continued to Somotillo, 5km after a border and decided to call it a day. We were tired and it was hot, so we took a hotel with nice owners and rested for the rest of the day.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Oxcarts on the road
    Yummy breakfast!Volcano viewsDirt road funLeón cathedralNice houses in León

    León

    January 27, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    As most shops and markets are closed on Sundays in Nicaragua, we couldn't find anything for breakfast yesterday. So we took of early today and stopped after 20km at a restaurant for rice, beans, cheese, eggs with ham, and a refreshing handmade lemonade. Good start into the cycling day!
    After the first few km, the road was also perfectly smooth with few traffic, so we could enjoy the view of the volcanos and observe people on horses and in oxcarts which seem to be common means of transport here.
    At some stage, we turned towards León, and the road wasn't smooth asphalt anymore but dirt. Luckily, we got back on a main road after 6km.
    We rode into León, where we looked for a hostel for the night. We decided to stay in the 3rd one we checked as it offered good value for money. After the general chores (laundry, shower, cleaning water bottles and sunglasses), we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this awesome colonial town, bought food at the market, cooked dinner and planned out the route for the rest of Nicaragua as well as part of Costa Rica. There's actually quite some tourists here which we haven't seen in a while...    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    2Quesillo stop
    Smoking Momotombo volcanoManagua malecon3Plaza de la revolucionSwimming pool in ManaguaManuel, JoPo and us

    First ("real") capital: Managua

    January 28, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Actually, we had planned to avoid the capitals in Central America as it's no fun biking in big cities. However, we got an invite again, so we decided to stay a night in Managua. It's our first capital on the trip (as Herbert doesn't count Belmopan in Belize as a real capital).
    The route was quite uneventful, quite some construction at the beginning and strong headwinds for the rest of the day.
    We met a Dutch cyclist on his way from Panama to Mexico. Finally, we meet others on a similar adventure.
    In Nagarote, we stopped for lunch. JoPo, our contact in Managua recommended to get Quesillos, a typical food in this region. It consists of tortillas filled with a special cheese, onions, salt and creme. Not too bad for a snack.
    Next stop was at a mirador from where we had spectacular views of Momotombo, a smoking volcano. Here we met a family from Costa Rica. Roger and his wife invited us to their place, so we exchanged numbers. Let's see if we will pass by.
    In Managua, we had some time until we were going to meet JoPo, so we visited the harbour, the malecon, and the Plaza de la Revolucion with the cathedral. The city of Managua is quite different to what we've seen before: big alleys, many monuments, huge buildings that resemble more a former Soviet city.
    As we still had some time, so we went to a swimming pool. Although it was hot, the pool was nearly empty. When we heard the price (about 1.50US$ per hour), we knew why. That's a lot of money here! None the less, Herbert went for a swim - his haircut was suitable for the pool. I had to opt out as you needed a bathing cap with long hair... Instead, I just enjoyed a free cold shower only.
    Then we headed to the Japanese park to meet JoPo. He had organized a stay with his friend Manuel. His house is like a museum with old telephones, discs, cans, books, and whatever else he had collected in his life. We had an interesting evening discussing bike travel, politics and other things. Always interesting to talk to locals and learn about their country from them!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Laguna de Masaya
    Cathedral in GranadaBuildings in GranadaBoarding the ferry2Us in our sexy life vestsView of the volcanic island Ometepe

    Ruta colonial y de los volcanes

    January 29, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Wakeup call at 5:30am, on the road by 6:20am, including breakfast we had prepared last night - not bad! We had a longer day ahead of us, so had to leave early.
    Getting out of Managua was no fun, 4 lanes, no shoulder and climbing - but we made it. Traffic got a bit better once we got out of the city. It was also cloudy which made out ride a little less strenuous.
    After about 25km, we had some nice views of Masaya lagune. It's located next to Masaya Volcano, so the land around is all volcanic rock. In general, we saw quite a few of volcanos today. As Nicaragua has 39 of them, all along a the fire circle which we currently follow, it's no surprise.
    Today, we were also on the "Ruta colonial y de los volcanes" again, the one we already followed in the South of Guatemala and El Salvador. In Nicaragua, it took us to the beautiful colonial town of Granada where we spent some time on the central square to watch people.
    From Granada , we had another 75km ahead of us, most of them with headwinds, so it was a bit of a struggle. We tried to get to San Jorge to get on the 3pm ferry to Isla de Ometepe. When we arrived just in time, we heard that there was only a 4pm ferry. So we took that one instead.
    The cost system for the ferry is pretty weird: First you need to pay US$1 tourist tax to get into the harbour. Then you buy a passenger ticket for 50 córdobas. Then you pay another 8 córdobas taxes for the bikes. When we arrived on the island, they asked for 30 córdobas for each bike. We refused to pay because when we asked on the other side they told us nothing about additional costs for taking the bikes. We had quite some discussion with the guys, but in the end they let us go.
    We found a hotel a bit outside of town where we relaxed in order to be ready to explore the island tomorrow.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Hard work - a guy cutting a big tree with his machete
    Second breakfastSecond breakfast for the monkeyHorses swimming in the lake1Swimming pool

    Ometepe - a volcanic island

    January 30, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today, we had some time to explore this beautiful island. We had a bit of a sleep in and had breakfast at our hostel. Then we headed to Punto Jesus Maria, a sand strip with some bars where you can swim and enjoy views of Volcan de Concepción.
    As the breakfast in the hostel was quite small, we had another breakfast stop at a roadside restaurant which also included yummy fresh melon and maracuya juices.
    On the way to our host, we had to go to the Northern side of the island. On the way, we saw interesting trees, monkeys, lots of birds and friendly people. There's almost no traffic on the island, so cycling is fun.
    We arrived at Rolando's at midday. He is turning an old banana farm house into a hostel and lets bike tourists stay there for free. Unfortunately, he wasn't at home so we didn't get the chance to meet, but seems to be a great guy!
    In the afternoon, we explored the Southern part of Ometepe and went to Santo Domingo beach. You really don't need to go to the Caribbean when you have this island in Nicaragua. The water is warm, there's bars, nice beaches and all for much cheaper with less tourists!
    On the way back, I jumped into a river where the locals swim. It was a bit colder than the lake, so quite refreshing after a day of cycling. Back at the farmhouse, we cooked dinner and enjoyed the seaview from the deck. Ometepe is definitely a great place to visit and relax!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Sunrise at Ometepe
    Ferry loadingSunset at the bay of San Juan del Sur

    Relaxing at the Pacific: SanJuan del Sur

    January 31, 2020 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Alarm at 5:30am, on the bikes at 5:55am - new record in the morning. But we had to leave early as the first ferry left at 7:30am from the South side of the island. On the way to the ferry, we enjoyed some last impressions of the islands including its pigs and cows next to and on the street.
    We got to the ferry half an hour before it left which gave us some time to watch the scenes of loading it. 3 big trucks, several cars, motorbikes, our bikes, many people... We couldn't find any information about weight or people limits but are sure the ferry was overloaded. Anyways, the locals didn't seem to bother and we made it to the mainland again without any problems. Costs this time: 50 córdoba for each of us - no harbour tourist tax, no bicycle tax, no additional costs for the bikes like on the way to the island. Interesting policies they have!
    We really enjoyed Ometepe and hope that this little paradise stays as it is. Obviously, the government has granted the Chinese permission to build a second canal like the Panama Canal. According to the plans, this canal should be built right through the lake Cocibolca. However, permission was granted in 2014 and until now they haven't started building anything yet (in 2014, they said it should be finished by 2019...).
    As we made good progress over the past weeks, we decided to stay another day in Nicaragua. The Pacific Coast is only 18km away from the lake, so we went to San Juan del Sur. It's a very nice beachtown, beautiful bay, touristy but neither overcrowded nor overpriced. We spent the afternoon at the beach, had a local beer and icecream and stocked up food for Costs Rica which is supposed to be really expensive.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Many changing while waiting in line for the border crossing
    2Rules in our hotel room - there's not much allowed to doPreparing dinner at the main square of La Cruz1German basic food 🍻

    Border crossing no. 9: Costa Rica

    February 1, 2020 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We left San Juan del Sur at 7am and cycled against strong headwinds to the border to Costa Rica. It's our 9th border crossing (8th by land), so we are getting into a routine.
    Leaving Nicaragua was easy: we paid 1US$ tax to some woman when entering the migration office, then 2$US for some other fee at the lady who checked the passports and got our exit stamp.
    Then we cycled some 300m to the Costa Rican migration and had to wait in line. We used the time to exchange the rest of our Nicaraguan Córdoba into Costa Rican colones. We had to queue for about an hour until it was our turn at migration. (If you pay the right person enough money like some other people did, you can actually skip the line and go directly to the migration desk.) Quick questions about our profession and our first place to stay, then we got our stamps. Next, we had to unload the bikes in order to have our bags scanned. Like in Nicaragua, noone looked at the screen, so it's a totally useless procedure. Then we could load the bikes again and were in Costa Rica.
    In Costa Rica, we passed a long line of trucks waiting to enter Nicaragua. After 5km, I stopped and asked a guy how long it usually takes to cross if you go by truck. He told me they had been waiting since the day before and were hoping to cross tomorrow. He also said that it's all dependent on relationship and you should better have a relative or a friend working at the border to accelerate the process. Hmm, and we thought 1.5 hours was already long... We continued passing the line of trucks which was 12km long in total.
    Even though it was only 1pm, we decided to stop in La Cruz and call it a day. We found a hotel, discovered a well-organized supermarket with Paderborner beer (!), prepared dinner and the central square and enjoyes the sunset view.
    At first impression, Costa Rica seems greener than Nicaragua, people are very friendly and it's more developed (and more expensive) than the Central American countries we visited before. Let's see what is awaiting us here in the next few days.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Windy morning
    1A family easily fits on a motorcycle!River crossing12.000km 💪Lunch cooked by our host Carlos3 dogs taking care of us, so no need to worry

    Vamos al verde

    February 2, 2020 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    When we got up, we weren't too motivated to get on the bikes. During the night, the wind had picked up significantly, so we woke up quite often. And when checking windfinder, we saw that it was blowing at 26knots (48km/h) from a Northeastern direction. Our route went Northeast today 😥
    We started anyways and were faced with crazy headwinds for the first 30km. Sometimes so strong that we had to use our lowest gears to keep moving. In Santa Cecilia, we decided to have a short stop for some food and something to drink. Then, the road changed from asphalt to gravel for the next 20km. At least the wind had calmed down on this stretch.
    Despite the wind and the road, we very much enjoyes cycling today as the landscape we passed was really beautiful, very green with lots of rivers, hills, birds and few traffic only.
    For the last 35km, we went back on asphalt, but more headwinds again. On this part, we also passed our 12.000th kilometre - wohoo 💪
    We reached Upala and the farm of Carlos, our host, at about 2pm, just in time before it started raining for pretty much the rest of the afternoon. After a nice shower, Carlos prepared lunch for us - so yummy and exactly what we needed after an exhausting day of cycling.
    We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, reading, chatting, and watching the animals on the farm, before having a great chicken dinner and going to sleep on the nice open upstairs porch.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    2Bed with jungle view
    Bird watching at their feeding placeCooking session

    Day off in a jungle finca

    February 3, 2020 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today, we had a day off to just relax. The finca is the perfect place for this, as it's in the middle of nature. We spent the day eating, reading, eating, bird/animal watching, eating...
    From the terasse we could see some iguanas climbing the trees and hanging around in the top of the trees. Very relaxed life style 😉
    At night, we cooked some "Bratkartoffeln" for everyone to introduce the family to the German cuisine. Nice and quiet day to charge our batteries for the next longer stretch to Panama.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    People working in the Zapote River
    Steep and exhausting climbNice descent to Lake Arenal4German restaurant at Lake Arenal 😅

    Remote Costa Rica

    February 4, 2020 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Carlos and his mother sent us off with a big breakfast of Gallo Pinto (rice & beans), eggs, cheese, ham, tortilla and Costa Rican coffee. Thus, we were ready for a day on the bikes. The first 40km were relatively easy rolling on a paved road. It was cloudy, so not too hot, and not much traffic, so we could enjoy the ride.
    Then the tough part started. We turned right onto a pretty remote road leading to Laguna de Arenal. In order to get there, we had to gain 700m in elevation over 14km. The first half of the road was paved, the second half pretty rocky gravel. After the heat in El Salvador, we thought we couldn't sweat no more, today prooved us wrong. We may as well have had a bath in a lake with our clothes on...
    The lagune area is quite touristy, so once we got there, we noticed some tourist buses and cars with foreigners. The road here was paved again, so the last rolling 30km to Tilarán were a little easier again.
    In Tilarán, we stayed with Cristian and his partner Jose who rent out a spare room as an AirBnB. Cristian welcomed us with homemade lemonade and coffee and cheese and crackers. We could use their kitchen to cook dinner and Jose even took us on a short tour to the Tilarán lookout and the centre of the village. We really enjoyed staying with them and were lucky that we found this place!    Read more

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