Muchas Cosas continued

Well sorry about the last time I started out with a lot to say and just could not keep my eyes open. Part of it was only having a few hours sleep the night before. The other part was being in a nice airconditioned cyber cafe after riding in really hot weather. I went from there and found a nice air conditioned hotel room. At any rate moving right along.

Cheap vodka
The national drink of El Salvador seems to be vodka. It`s a hell of a lot cheaper than beer. Everyone drinks it. There is one brand of vodka Sublime Vodka. At the local grocery store you get a package with one liter bottle and a half liter bottle for the huge price of $3.22 yes that is correct. El Salvador uses U.S. currency so that is the exact price.

Feelings about El Salvador
Overall I guess the people of El Salvador are as nice as anywhere else. But when I think of all the rude people I`ve encountered on this trip literally all of them were in El Salvador. People see you and think "There`s a gringo I`ll ask him for money" yes when you are in El Salvador people think you are el banco del gringo. Now I have to say that much of my negative experience is when I was in the town of La Union. For example one day I was walking through the outdoor market and a guy is pushing an empty cart and stops and says to me "Gringo darme dinero rico gringo" (translation gringo give me money rich gringo) I don`t give money to anyone screw them I`m not responsible for their poverty. Also I feel that it if I don`t it won`t encourage them to ask others.

I`m a star

As I was riding from San Miguel to La Union a small pick up truck stopped ahead of me and as I approached they motioned for me to stop. It turns out they are a film crew for a local tv station and they wanted to interview me-in spanish. I THINK I did alright. At least none of the crew burst out laughing at any of my answers. The interview was about 5 minutes and I had the presence of mind to ask them send a copy to my apartment in Mazatlan. So this is the third time I`ve been on tv so far. Once in Alaska for a German tv station once in Mazatlan for a national tv station and now here. At this rate I`m gonna have to get an agent.

Onto Honduras

I left La Union and not a minute too soon. It is a dirty funky town with nothing to offer anyone who is not Salvadoran. The streets are filthy the people are not friendly if you ever have a chance to go there don`t. At any rate I rode from there to the border and crossed into Honduras a distance of about 25 miles. Honduras is nice the scenery much the same as El Salvador. A lot of lush green scenery rolling hills and mountains. My first day I made it to the town of Nacaome. A nice enough peaceful little town. I immediately started looking for a place for the night. First I needed an atm which I found readily enough. I asked the guard at the bank for a cheap hotel and he sent me to a place just a couple of blocks away. The name of the place is Las Palmeras. I went there and looked at the room and it was nice and I asked the price and was told 220 Lempiras or about $14.00 I thought that was expensive since I had gotten places just like it in El Salvador and Guatemala for 7-8 for the night. For this price all you got was a fan not air conditioning. So I start unloading my stuff and turn on the fan, it doesn`t work. So I go and tell them and they get me another fan. After riding about 50 miles in the heat I am ready for shower. I go to turn on the shower and no water. Back to complain so a few minutes later I have water. Later that night I go to get some water to soak my dentures and again no water. Now all this time there is water for the toilet. Thank God! The next day I rode from there to Choluteca. That is where I started this post. Yesterday I rode from Choluteca to the border of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua

I crossed into Nicaragua and encountered the worst roads I have seen since the Dawson hwy. in Alaska. They are badly paved and then they turn into dirt for about 100 meters and then badly paved again. I am not carrying much cash with me going from one town to another that has an atm. So when I crossed the border I asked where the nearest town is with an atm. The nearest place is Chinandega which is where I am now. It is about 40 miles from the border and is a fairly big city. I was going to ride my bike but when I got to the first little town in Nicaragua I said "screw this" I can`t ride 40 miles like this. I have to say that after about 15 miles the road became decent but by that time I was on a bus on my way to Chinandega. I got here about 1:30 and found, with the help of the tourist office the Doña Maria hotel. I asked them for a cheap place and they came through $5.00 per night. Now it is much as you might expect for $5.00 per night you get a bed and a fan. The bathroom is downstairs. It is still better than camping. Today I am going to try and do the tourist thing. So that`s all for now. As that great American governor once said "hast la vista baby"