Part Seven

As previously arranged I waited at a hotel for Diane to return from the Guate Airport and her trip home for Xmas. It turned out that the hotel had closed down over the holidays for renovations so I just parked out front and dozed off until her shuttle arrived about 11:00 PM. We bumped back over the cobblestone streets to the 'Parqueo' I had been staying at and rattled the chains at the gate to get the attendant to come and let us in. Even though he was supposed to be expecting us, no one appeared. A police truck cruising by notice this odd sight and endeavoured to help out by putting on his siren and flashing his strobe lights. Even this didn't appear to work and he tired of waiting and left.

As we were discussing our options the gate finally swung open and we rolled in to "home". The next morning was my Xmas morning as Diane unloaded her pack with all the presents she had brought back with her from her family (and her) in Calgary. She had all kinds of treats for me, clothes, chocolates, candies, tools, books, story tapes, hot chocolate, peanut butter, US cash and a small TV that Diane picked up for only $80. It sure made up for my lonely Xmas morning a few days previous.

Next, we reorganized the van, which somehow seemed much smaller now as I had been spoiled by having the place to myself. This took until the early afternoon, and we then decided to walk downtown. We just started off when the Parqueo owner came chasing after us on his bicycle and told us that he and his family were leaving town to visit relatives for three days and that he would go and get a key made for us so that we could still stay (by this time we had become friends with the family and they trusted us). However, when we went to get a key cut, there were no blanks to be had and the locksmith was closing down! Our friend told us to wait and he took off on his bike somewhere and when he returned he had an older gentlemen with him whom he said had a place just down the road where we could stay. We said our goodbyes, giving everyone a small gift and drove down the block to another gate which led into our new home! You just never know what to expect but you learn to be adaptable and go with the flow.

As usual, this turn of events showed us another side of life in Guatemala. The place we were taken to was the site of an old ruins of a church. It had about 10 acres of land with it that the caretaker had turned into a wonderful garden and orchard. He was a proud man who was happy to give us a free tour of the site and show the restoration work that had been done up to that time. There had been a crew of 40 men working there for about 3 years but it appeared that funding had dried up for the moment.

He welcomed us into his humble abode and we watched TV with him for awhile. He was alone for the holidays as his wife had gone to visit relatives so he was happy to have the company. After a while we wandered back to the camper past all his animals (chickens, rabbits, dogs) and tried out our own TV which worked amazingly well! We got three channels, all in Spanish mind you, and our little van became to feel more like our front room at home. We had a quiet evening absorbing Spanish TV and munching on chocolates. Ah... what a life!

The next morning we saddled up and headed into Guate with the intent of getting our visas from the Nicaraguan embassy. When we got there and finally got someone to answer the gate, we were told the embassy was closed until Jan. 4 so we went exploring and found some very fashionable malls for Diane to browse in. She was in her glory... no hawkers, fine stores and wonderful decorations. Neither of us had seen a more upscale (and expensive) mall than that. We had to go back to the van to get the camera to take some photos!

Back in Antigua for New Years Eve, we walked about town, did some e-mailing, went out for pizza and took in a movie, the Truman Show. The "movie" was a pirated video shown on a 26" TV in a small room with a couple of couches. The cost was about $2.50 each and it was in English with Spanish sub-titles (which was good for us) but the quality was not great but it was still a treat to see a movie. Before heading back home we took a few tours around the busy downtown plaza.

We didn't get much sleep that night because of the ringing church bells and incessant firecrackers which culminated in a thirty minute binge at midnight and was followed by loud music played somewhere up the road that didn't stop until about 4:00 in the morning. Even before the music stopped, the roosters started up and another day (and year) began in Central America.

We had decided that we couldn't wait for the embassy to open so we hit the road heading towards the El Salvador frontier but not before giving our new friend a gift and a hug, thanking him for his hospitality. By now, the drive through Guate was not too terrible because I knew the way and also because few people were out yet after the long night. Driving up out of Guate we passed some of the richer areas that had elegant villas and modern condos.

By early afternoon we were at the border, being mobbed by guides and money changers. The crossing was slow and hot but presented no real difficulties even though they are all very confusing. We felt a lot more confident now that we could understand a little more Spanish, though still not enough. I had to give myself a pat on the back for deflecting the con of one of the money changers. He attempted to calculate the inverse of the exchange rate, dividing rather multiplying so I saved us about $20. We always use the table box in our van as a table so that all monies are laid out flat and calculations shown. They are very adept at rapidly counting out bills and passing them to you several short! Without the guides, the crossings would be horrible and we do not regret paying a fee for their services, usually only a couple of dollars for each side.

First impressions of El Salvador were that it was considerably poorer than a country we had seen to date. The effects of 12 years of civil war and an economy whose main export (92%) was coffee and 95% of the wealth was held by 2% of the population, showed. We later found out that what really held the country together was all the money sent back into the country from El Salvadoreans who had left and were working in other countries, mostly the US. The incoming monies were more than the gross national product! Those that were left behind had now to put the war behind them and try to rebuild their country not just physically but spiritually as well.

The return of garbage everywhere, potholed roads and crammed buses reminded us of Mexico. It was the dry season so this didn't help either as everything was covered in dust and dirt. Our book mentioned a few Tourocentros as possibilities to stay but after passing one that was wall to wall people and unable to find the others we began to anxiously look for a place to stop. We had done surprisingly well that day, covering far more territory than expected, even finding our way through the capital, San Salvador. It sure helped travelling on New Years Day as the traffic was much less than normal. We had a good map of the city but it wasn't too much help because there were few directional signs (or should I say none ) however following the main streets (even though the centre of town was closed, we believe from last night) and had to detour around it we found ourselves finally getting out of the city. Again, asking directions was a bit easier with out new found language skills. We arrived at a small town about 35 km past San Salvador and had to stop as it was getting dark. The gas stations were small, dirty and noisy so when we saw an Auto Hotel sign we pulled off and I went in to scout it out.

The owners were two brothers who had lived in New York City for a few years so they could speak English! I chatted with them for quite a while, getting some information about their country. Both carried sidearms and assured me that we wouldn't be disturbed in the night. They wouldn't allow us to just park there (they wanted to maintain the privacy of their clients) but a room was only $22 so we went for it as our options were limited. The room had TV, air conditioning, couch, cold water shower, tile floors, a large mirror adjacent to the bed, and a private garage.

We brought in our own sheets and pillows (Diane had picked a few pubic hairs off of the bed), ran an extension cord out to the van to plug in the fridge, and settled in for the night after Diane had sprayed everywhere with Raid. As we watched the news, we marvelled that this was only the second hotel that we had stayed in since we left!

We had a quiet night but were awakened at 6:00 by loud noises coming from the courtyard. I peeked out the garage and sure enough, one of the staff was busy flattening cans. He had two 45 gallon drums full of cans (mostly beer cans from the clients no doubt) and was spilling them out onto the concrete and then smashing them flat with a homemade tool that was a long steel bar with a concrete pad at the end. Oh well... so much for sleeping in!

Back to the potholes and heavy traffic with everyone apparently in a hurry to go somewhere as they continuously passed each other on corners and played chicken on the straight stretches. We just plugged along, always going slightly slower than most of the traffic (this seemed the safest approach).

It was beautiful countryside with farms, ranches and lines of small volcanic cones (cerros). Again, we were struck by the contrasts, old men pulling small carts with wooden wheels that were loaded down with firewood, oxen pulling larger carts filled with sugar cane stalks and new Toyota Landcruisers stopping at Texaco stations with Star Markets that could have been in Canada (with the exception of the two security guards armed with pistol grip, pump shotguns). Adobe huts (mud and sawdust bricks) were common, surrounding walled gated haciendas.

We began to see more evidence of damage from Mitch. Every bridge had some damage but we still could get through, sometimes with minor detours. The overwhelming amount of garbage everywhere, and the sullenness of the people made us decide to carry on into Honduras that day. The short distance to the border (about 150 km) took much longer than anticipated as the last 60 km were over dirt road that was supposedly under construction, even though we saw no signs of any recent activity. Thank goodness for the air conditioning as we had to close the windows for the dust, the temperature was above 30 and we weren't going fast enough to create any air flow from out vents. It took almost five hours to get to the border and we were hot and tired by that time.

The previous day we had passed through numerous police checkpoints along the road but were not stopped. Today was different, we were stopped often and sometimes for quite a while. Once, they were very concerned about our photocopied licence plate (which was beginning to show wear) but when we produced the metal originals and explained it was to divert thieves and souvenir hunters they reluctantly let us pass.

The crossing was very confusing as usual. It took about 3 hours to cross and considerable money (about $130). Honduras has the highest fees for vehicle entry but I suspect that our guides somehow got a portion of this. They showed me all the receipts for this amount but we wondered if some were not "adjusted" by their friends in the offices. We did learn one lesson though, always stay with the guide, never let him go to any office without you, and always pay up front rather than the guide paying and you reimbursing him.

Waiting around, we were approached many times by people asking for money, most of them under the influence of alcohol. This was something we had also noticed in El Salvador, that public drunkenness was quite prevalent. Anyway, we finally cleared all the officials, and were happy to get driving again to cool us down.

Not far down the road we were waved over at the first police checkpoint and we had visions of El Salvador all over again. The police were polite but insisted that we had an "infraction" and were obviously looking for a bribe (called "mordida", the bite) but we were not having any of it. They kept looking for something to fine us for, as I insisted to know what we were being fined for, and they finally settled on us not having a fire extinguisher, which was not correct. By this time I was getting a little irritated and I let it show as I leaped out of the van, dragged them around to the other side and waved the extinguisher in their faces. Once again I learned that anger can be a useful tool when controlled. Anyway, they got the message and we proceeded on to the next stop where things went more smoothly.

We finally got to the main highway junction that either headed east to the capital (Tegucigalpa) or south to Nicaragua and decided we had to stop for the night. There was a grungy gas station there, but as I was inquiring how long they were open, I noticed a sign for a place next door that said Touricentro so we drove over and asked if we could park there for the night. A friendly manager said that it would be no problem, that guards were on duty all night and that we could park for free! Inside, they had a swimming pool that was full of guests but we were hot enough, and also wanted to pay for some of their facilities, that we went for a soak in the pool until dark. It was very refreshing to say the least. We enjoyed a quiet night that was only slightly marred by the heat and the no-seems that came through the screens.

We had been told by our guides at the border that it was not necessary to have a visa for Nicaragua prior to arriving at the border, that they could be obtained there for a small fee, so we debated whether to take the risk or to continue on into the capital as planned. The decision was to take a chance at the border, so we headed out, getting a good start at 7:00.

Every waterway we passed showed the effects of Mitch. Every bridge had been taken out, some not yet replaced so we had many detours, always dusty, but which showed us a bit of life away from the highway. One town in particular (Choluteca) had been hit very hard as it was situated in a valley bottom surrounded by numerous mountains. The whole valley was flooded, we saw semi-trailers half-buried and pushed up against trees, houses that had been swept away, sand spits where roads had once been and row and rows of tarp shelters where the displace people were having to start life over again. The Red Cross was evident in the area and we saw several marshalling areas where containers (semi-truck type) had been shipped in with relief supplies. We were thankful that Burns Lake is situated in an area that seems to be unaffected by natural disasters! The road climbed out of the valley into the cooler highlands and we were treated to many beautiful views. The road had many washouts and slides but they didn't slow us down much. Before 11:00 we had arrived at the Nicaraguan border.

Part 8