New Countries, New Hobbies, Mud Roads, and Maintaining Momentum

Day 131 I stayed in Guatemala City
Day 132 ta: 2193 kt:37.7 gps:N 14 degrees 33.533' W 90 degrees 46.448'
Day 133 to 142 I stayed in Antigua
Day 143 ta: 2138 kt: 68.2 gps: N 14 degrees 15.520' W 90 degrees 46.448'

I have spent the last week and a half sitting around and waiting for a new tent part. The vast majority of my time was spent being a lazy little fart. I surfed the internet a lot and watched a lot of movies since the place I was staying at had free internet and free movies.
On my most active day in Antigua, I took the tour to the top of the active volcano named Pacaya. We hiked to the top where there is a large crater of mostly dry lava. Small streams of lava flow out of many cracks at the top. While standing in the crater, it began to rain. Most of the rain vaporized before hitting the hot lava bed. That was pretty cool.
I did a little routine bike maintainance. My rear brake felt like there was no recoil so I replaced the cable housing. This worked like a charm in fixing the problem. The sidewalls of my tires are starting to burst so I taped the insides up with electrical tape hoping to extend their life a little bit. I want to try to sqeeze another 1,000 kilometers into them. I find it unexpected that my brake pads are probably going to outlast my tires.
My ride out of Antigua was quite lovely. First, I had to climb about 2,000 feet over ten kilometers and, then, I rode downhill for the last 58 kilometers. I descended almost 6,000 feet in this long downhill stretch. The temperatures where I am camping are noticably warmer and I am going to have to content with the insects again.
There was another unexpected road hazard today: vomit. While dodging puddles of puke, I saw the source leaning out of a bus and projectile vomiting. I made sure to let her know when I passed. Though not deadly like other road hazards, I did not want to be covered in someone's partially digested lunch.

Day 144 ta: 1546 kt:91.7 gps: N 14 degrees 03.780' W 90 degrees 27.907'

I suffered a mild case of dehydration today. Fortunately, I was only a mile from a town when it happened. Though I have heard many times before that it is bad to drink cold water, 90+ degree water does nothing to quench your thirst on a hot day. I started feeling fatigued at the 85 kilometer mark and was peeing a solid stream of concentrated yellow. I just took extra breaks and tried to satisfy my thirst with the hot water that I had, knowing that the next town was close.
There was a point in the road where there was no bridge and a bunch of boats. The boat operator quoted a price of 50 Quetzals and then doubled it when I was already on the boat. What could I do? I was probably the guy's only fare for the day as the road I was on was infrequently travelled.
Alvaro Colom, the president of Guatemala, has earned my respect by offering to declassify all of the military records from the Guatemalan civil war. This is a step in the right direction for the government to come to terms with the role its military played in the civil war. Of course, the military and right-wing opposition party have condemned this move.
I personally am of the opinion that a democratic government can not have secrets. Usually, they are secrets of an unsavory, antidemocratic nature that would enrage the population. The Freedom of Information Act (F.O.I.A.) of the United States was written with these thoughts in mind but is very limited in its power to shine the light on government activities. The U.S. government can use national security as an excuse to keep documents permanently classified. Unfortunately, the governments darkest and most unsavory secrets are classified thusly. I tried playing devil's advocate to think of a scenario where information should be classified. At first, I thought of keeping the information about invasion forces secret but then I realized that the government has no business invading anyone. Then I thought about keeping the president's security detail secret but I realized that the president shouldn't make anyone so mad that they would go through the trouble of hiring the small army necessary to assassinate him/her.
If I were in power, one of my first moves would be to eliminate the C.I.A. and N.S.C. They are not democratic institutions. A quick look at the history of C.I.A. supported coup d'etats and counterrevolutions should sufficiently prove this. I don't think that C.I.A. agents who die in the line of duty are heroes. They die because they are meddling in affairs that they shouldn't be meddling in.
Since Ralph Nader has entered the election, I might actually vote. He comes the closest to approximating my views. I might end up frustrated with the absentee ballot process, though, and give up. I am, and will always be, unrepentant about voting for Nader in 2000. There was not a large difference between the Bush/Cheney ticket and the Gore " I decry global warming yet live in an opulent mansion that has a larger carbon footprint than a small city/ Lieberman " I'm a war hawk that is endorsing the Republican candidate in 2008" ticket.

Day 145 ta: 2206 kt: 77.1 gps: N 13 degrees 43.651' W 89 degrees 59.014'

It is very hot where I am today and I drank a lot of water because I did not want to repeat yesterday's flirtation with dehydration. I can't wait to climb back into the mountains.
Crossing into El Salvador was, to my pleasant surprise, painless and easy. The money changers didn't try to rip me off and, as it turns out, the stamp in my passport is good for Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicauragua. The downside to this is that I only have a little less than two months to enjoy the rest of Central America as I burned a whole month in Guatemala. I haven't noticed a whole lot of differences here though Chicano chic seems to be in fashion among the youth here.

Day 146 ta: 4175 kt:63.1 gps: N 13 degrees 51.664' W 89 degrees 47.474'

So far, El Salvador is not half bad. The travel guide, which I inherited from an Aussie flying to Canada, makes it sound relatively expensive. Granted, I have only camped but I was able to stuff myself at a pupuseria for $1.15 For those of you who don't know. A pupusa is a gordita by another name. The presentation is slightly different, though. A pupusa is sealed and served with a vinager cole slaw while a gordita is open and served by itself.
I underestimated the amount of time it would take to get to Apaneca, El Salvador today. I am camped pretty close to it in a coffee plantation. My campsite is well elevated so I should be pretty snug and cozy in my sleeping bag tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to see la Laguna Verde before I go to el Cerro Verde National Park.
There was an article recently in the New York Times about how the United States imprisons 1 in 99 adults. It imprisons 1 in 35 hispanic men and 1 in 15 African-American men. I just wanted to make a couple of points about these statistics. First of All, our government should not imprison nonviolent offenders. The powers that be can come up with better, more creative solutions for drug offenders , thieves, and the likes. Second of all, I do not believe that blacks and hispanics commit crimes at a higher rate than white people. I believe that their higher rate of imprisonment rather reflects systemic racial profiling by police and their lack of quality legal representation due to their higher rates of poverty. In fact, I am willing to bet that if you did this same study using family income as an indicator, you would probably discover that poor people are imprisoned at a rate similar to blacks and hispanics. Ask any homeless person in the U.S. and I am sure that he will tell you that being poor in the United States is, indeed, a crime. Any why imprison so many people anyway? So we can have higher crime rates than Europe and most of Asia. I am tired of seeing the government resort to the same old, facile, "tough on crime" solutions to the problems associated with crime. Maybe we should attack poverty through expanded educational opportunities instead.

Day 147 ta:2446 kt:48.8 gps: N 13 degrees 42.924' W 89 degrees 43.277'
Day 148 ta: 3242 Kt:68.1 gps: N 13 degrees 42.595' W 89 degrees 12.708'
Day 149 and 150 I stayed in San Salvador
Day 151 ta: 1371 kt: 58.1 gps: N 14 degrees 07.654' W 89 degrees 08.923'

As usual, things don't always go as planned, or rather, plans change. I wanted to go to Cerro Verde National Park but I got sidetracked. I did manage to see la Laguna Verde but I wasn't overly impressed.
On the way to Cerro Verde, I stopped in a town called Juayùa where I found out that there is a weeked gastronomic fair. I, of course, had to stay because I figured that I might discover some new foods. There was one food that was new to me. It was called a rigua and consists of fresh corn pressed of all of its liquids, cooked inside a banana leaf, and then grilled. It was good but didn't change my life.
I didn't make it out of Juayùa until the early afternoon but it was still enough time to make it to the National Park. The only problem was that the entrance was not well marked. I missed it when I was zooming down a long hill.
When I rode into San Salvador, I thought it would be nice to stay for a couple of days. I didn't do too much other than watch T.V., surf the net, and talk with fellow travellers. I figure that I earn the right to some serious downtime since I exert myself so much on the road.
San Salvador didn't seem much worse than any other large city in Latin America. Contrary to its reputation, there are not large groups of Maras lurking around every corner. In fact, the city has many large American-style shopping malls filled with U.S. based chains. San Salvador is more prosperous than one might expect. The area around the central market seemed a little sketchy but I had a good time getting myself lost in the labryntine hallways.
It seems like the relationship between Colombia and Ecuador and Venezuela is deterioration after Colombia crossed into Ecuadoran territory to kill a senior F.A.R.C. commander. Both Ecuador and Colombia have mobilized troops on the border but I don't think that it is any more than chest-beating and posturing. This may not be front page news in the U.S. but it dominates headlines in Latin America. I don't think that this will affect my travel plans but I will, nonetheless, be monitoring the situation closely.

Day 152 ta: 4198 kt: 48.1 gps: N 14 degrees 26.224' W 89 degrees 10.997'
Day 153 ta: 4076 kt: 42.1 gps: N 14 degrees 31.276' W 88 degrees 56.936'

Crossing into Honduras yesterday was quite easy. I have developed a system for dealing with money changers: I make them quote how much money they will give me and I don't show them the money until I agree to their terms. I am always ready to walk away. I think that I will start gathering a group of them and let them compete for money. The only surprise for me was that I had to pay the Honduran entry tax in a Salvadoran government building.
I stayed the night at a hotel since the lodging is cheap. They had a television with cable and the other patrons and I ended up watching a bunch of American movies dubbed in Spanish. Good fun was had by all.
I got a late start because I was working on trying to solve the problem of my rapidly deteriorating tires. My solution has been to contact as many bike shops and hotels as possible that are south of my present location until I can find someone who can receive my tires for me. Hopefully, I will solve this problem by the time I make it to Colombia.
The area I rode through today is a legitimate cloud forest. After ascending to 5,000 feet, I could barely see more than a 100 feet ahead as I was right in the middle of the clouds. Of course, jackass drivers still pass in the opposing lane even though they have no visibility whatsoever. When I finally got to the top of Honduras's highest paved road, I was rewarded with the strongest headwind I have ever experienced. Judging by the movement of the clouds, I was in the midst of a wind that was moving by at least 20 miles per hour. I couldn't rest my bike on its kickstand it was so strong. Fortunately, the wind was only at the very top. I rather enjoyed my descent. I rode past lots of wildflowers. Many villagers had planted extensive orchid gardens as this is the ideal climate for them. They were quite lovely. I am looking forward to going through more cloudforests in Honduras.

Day 154 ta:4138 kt:51.3 gps: N 14° 47.562' W 88° 46.781'

I have been slacking. In all fairness to myself, I have done of 4,000 feet of ascent the last three days in a row. Maybe I subconsciously want to enjoy the mountains for what they are worth. I take frequent breaks just to stare reverently at the stunning scenery.
I should probably make it more of a point to eat prepared meals whenever possible in more rural areas. I ended up ascending a mountain for another 20 kilometers today after I had the opportunity to eat earlier on. By the time I reached the top, I was running on fumes.

Day 155 ta:2812 kt:82 gps: N 15° 17.347' W 88° 29.884'

I had several flats today caused by faulty rim tape. It kept sliding over and exposing the innertube to the spokes. The first time I just replaced a section of the rim tape. This only made the problem worse and caused a second flat. The second time I replaced all of the rim tape with a double layer of electrical tape. It is holding now and, hopefully, I will be able to make it to San Pedro Sula, Honduras by tomorrow. It is a large city so I should be able to remedy the problem there. I also discovered that two of the innertunes that I was carrying were nonfunctional trash. They were labeled "German type" valves and looked like prestivalve tubes from the drawing on the box but I should have examined them further. I should have examined them when I purchased them. Oh well, they were cheap. I am now down to one innertube and a hundred patches.
It seems like the standoff between Colombia and Venezuela and Ecuador has cooled off somewhat. Moreover Colombia killed another senior F.A.R.C. commander or, rather, a defector brought in the severed hand of said leader to prove his death. I am somewhat worried that we might soon see a F.A.R.C. counteroffensive of shelling of major cities or, worse for me, and increase in kidnappings.I continue to monitor the situation. I hope that the Colombian government doesn't think that it can successfully defeat the F.A.R.C. by killing off all of its senior commanders. Instead, this will only accelerate its transition from Marxist insurgency to drug cartel. This transition has already been occuring since before the fall of the Medellin Cartel. The F.A.R.C. would also probably lose its Colombian identity and become a destabilizing force in all of the Andean nations. They will go whereever the enforcement is laxest or most easily bribed. The F.A.R.C. will only disappear when the insatiable demand for cocaine from the United STates decreases. That will never happen because that would require an intelligent drug policy that attacks demand instead of supply. Our current strategy is the complete opposite of that and puts food on the table of many a drug baron.

Day 156 ta:2729 kt:78 gps: N 15° 29.921' W 88° 00.624'
Day 157 ta: 1568 kt: 63.4 gps: N 15° 34.604' W 87° 36.903'

Getting to San Pedro Sula was simple enough. The road to the city was mostly flat and it wasn't ridiculously hot and humid like the guidebook promised. The highlight of my day was when a young boy, who belonged to the owners of a restuarant where I ate, exclaimed, "Hombre feo." or ugly man and hit me in the back of the head. I shot him a very dirty look and he didn't bother me again.
In all fairness to the little boy, I am starting to look a little grungy. My beard now measures over 3 inches and my moustache is sun-bleached. I am starting to enjoy my vagabond experience. It still isn't enough to keep the beggars and conmen away, though. They only see my pale skin. My goal is to be so grungy looking that beggars give me money.
When I arrived in San Pedro Sula, I immediately made some new friends. When I was on the side of the road, looking at a map of the city, I met Nora and Luis Fernando, an elementary school teacher and her grandson respectively. Nora helped me find a bike shop and offered a place to stay for the night. I got lost looking for her place. All of the streets are numbered but it turns out there was more than one intersection of 7th Street and 14 Avenue in the quadrant of the city that I was in. I eventually was able to find her house by asking directions along the way. I almost ended up in one of those tragicomic situations like Clark Griswold in American Vacation where he takes a wrong turn and asks directions in a bad neighborhood only to have all of his hubcaps stolen. To limit the possibility of this happening, I only asked from people who were on the job: a security guard, a taxi driver, and a group of policemen. The latter group bought me some sugar cane juice and told me I was in a dangerous neighborhood which was pretty obvious from all of the thuggish looking kids walking around. I ended up with a machine gun escort to Nora's house so I felt pretty safe.
I found out after the fact that San Pedro Sula is where the most infamous Mara Salvatrucha massacre took place where a group of men machine-gunned 27 bus riders to there death for no apparent reason other than to gain notoriety. What I did not know is that this massacre occured two days before Christmas. Most of the victims were returning from Christmas shopping for their families. That is fucked up. This massacre was recently in the news again because a court just convicted the two men charged with orquestrating the massacre.
I left San Pedro Sula pretty late today after surfing the internet and eating brunch. The scenery was flat and uninteresting until I crossed through a crossroads at the town of El Progreso. Afterwards, the flat terrain was replaced by jungle mountains with crystal clear streams of water flowing down the slopes every kilometer or so. I am camped next to one of these lovely streams right now, staying out of the rain. The rain is not super heavy but it hasn't relented for the last hour or so. Hopefully, it will stop raining by the morning.

Day 158 ta: 2111 kt: 138 gps: N 15° 47.179' W 86° 47.581'
Day 159 ta: 53 kt:6.8 gps: N 16° 05.547' W 86° 53.502'
Day 160-167 I stayed in Utila
Day 168: ta:1243 kt:54 gps: N 15° 41.545' W 86°30.265'
Day 169 ta:1274 kt: 59.2 gps: N 15° 26.668' W 86° 22.571'

I wanted to get to Utila as fast as possible so I could find a dorm before the rush of Semana Santa vacationers arrived. I knew that all of the beach towns were going to fill up and that all of the banks were going to close. Being that this was a potentially disastrous situation, I decided it was better to hunker down in one place for a while.
I was interested in scuba diving but the cheapskate in me was saying that maybe I would just snorkel since it was cheaper. As soon as I put my face in the pristine water though, I knew that I was about to spend a lot of money on my scuba certification. I even took the advanced course so I can dive deeper and at night.
The coral reef here is an extension of the Belizian reef which is the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. When you first peer into the clear blue Carribean waters, an explosion of shapes and colors overwhelms the senses. Fishes of every color swim through coral formations of every shape and size. I saw parrot fishes, angel fishes, damsel fishes, stingrays, starfishes, barracudas, sea cucumbers, porcupine fishes, groupers, and many, many more fishes representing the entire spectrum of the rainbow. After spending a lot of time underwater. I am officially hooked. I now want to dive in the Phillipines, Indonesia, and many other places.
Utila is an interesting place that attracts an interesting assortment of people. The islanders mostly speak English with a Carribean accent but many speak Spanish as well. Scuba diving attracts people of all sorts. I roomed with party animals and Mormons. A couple of doors down, there was a small contingent of U.S. Army soldiers who were stationed in Honduras. Throw in a bunch of Europeans, some Canadiens, and Latin Americans and we were all one big happy family. One of the soldiers told me I was the craziest man that he ever met which surprised me because I figured that he would probably know some marine who base jumps into war zones or something like that. He gave me the number for the U.S. Army base in Honduras in case I need to be evacuated in an emergency. Hopefully, that won't be necessary.
I am now back on the road. It seems like the rainy season is fast approaching as it started sprinkling and then pouring in the afternoon. I decided to wait the rain out instead of use my rain gear. If it starts to rain every day, which I think it might, I will probably start carrying my rain gear at the ready and ride in the rain. I am warm and dry right now and grateful for being so.
When I was setting up camp today a woman came and told me I was in a dangerous place to camp. To emphasize her point, she told me that the authorities had found a dead body in the same general area. I wasn't too scared since I figured that the body was dumped there rather than murdered on site. To allay her fears , though, I moved my still empty tent behind some bushes where it was better hidden. She even checked in on me later. I have a guardian angel.

Day 170 ta:2684 kt: 38.6 gps: N 15° 17.357' W 86° 30.320'

Some days are smooth sailing with lots of flat ground and beautiful weather. Today was not one of those days. It rained most of the day and when it wasn't raining it was infernally hot and steamy causing me to peel off all of my raingear. To call the road that I rode on a dirt road would be too generous of a description. It was more of a mud road. When I asked a policeman which road to take to La Union he pointed at this road and my heart just sank. I saw buses riding down it though and I figured I could make it if they could make it. I am sure glad that my new tires were knobbies and not slicks. My traction was pretty good on most of the road but there were parts where I was sloshing around in mud pits. My favorite part of the day was when I came to a fork in the road that had no clearly labeled signs pointing the right direction to La Union. I took a guess, chose one direction, and asked the first people that I saw if I was following the right direction. They told me I was so I didn't have to turn around. I am now sitting in my tent and wearing dry clothes and hoping that it doesn't rain anymore tonight.

Day 171 ta: 2168 kt: 30.3 gps: N 15° 06.263' W 86° 34.087'

I woke up this morning to yet more rain. After several long ascents, I had sweated so much that my rain gear was practically useless. When I finally found a place to eat, I stayed for and extended period of time so I could dry off and ate four portions of food since I had been subsisting off of cookies and almonds since the morning before. After I finally made myself leave, I managed to reach the leeward side of the mountain where it obviously hadn't rained in the last couple of days because the cars still kicked up dust. I am hoping that there is no more rain on the 100 kilometers or so of dirt road that remains. I was pretty miserable when I was cold, wet, and hungry. I am a firm believer that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Day 172 ta:2441 kt: 48.2 gps: N 14° 52.240' W 86° 39.531'
Day 173 and 174 I stayed in Tegucigalpa
It rained a little bit at night but, other than that, it was dry all day. Thank the lord, Hallelujah. I rejoiced in not having to wear my rain gear. Once you sweat inside your clothes in the cold mountains, your raingear is useless. The towns are getting bigger which means there are more places to eat but there is still no pavement. In most of the villages here they never see white people. When I roll up on my bicycle, it is like I am a rock star and circus all rolled up into one. I am usually swarmed by locals asking about my trip. My belly was happily full or I might have bristled at all of the attention.
I am camped right now on the top of a hill on the side of the road underneath a moss covered pine tree. Tomorrow, I am determined to reach pavement again. I hope to celebrate my birthday in civilization.

Day 173 ta:3404 kt: 69.8 gps: N 14°32.543' W 86° 43.109'

I reached pavement today. Yay!! I think I now know how a sailor who has been lost at sea feels like the first time he sees land. All told, the road was about 143 kilometers of bone-rattling, tick-infested, desolate, and muddy hellishness. If my useless travel guide or GPS had given me better warning, I might have avoided the road altogether but I am stronger for having survived it. I will say, though, that it sure did feel good to go down a hill with no brakes again after I finally left the dirt.
Some of the internet cafes in the countryside might as well be filled with typewriters. They are that useless. It would often take 10 minutes for a page to load if it loaded at all. When I get to Tegucigalpa, I am going to find a true high-speed internet connection so I can watch Youtube videos to my heart's content.
It seems to me that people everywhere are so irrationally afraid. Their eyes bug out in shock when I tell them that I am camping in the countryside. They always tell me that they have found dead bodies in these parts. Usually not even a car passes by in the night. The people who are murdered are usually murdered for a reason. I am just passing through without stepping on anyone's toes. Nevertheless, the locals always seem to believe that the countryside is populated by roving bands of narcosatanists who roam the countryside looking for foreigners to torture, kill, and skullfuck. I haven't been skullfucked yet. Knock on wood. I blame the media for putting the fear in these people's hearts.

Day 174 ta: 5209 kt:111 gps: 14° 06.410' W 87 ° 12.166'

I passed through two different ecosystems today on the way to Tegucigalpa. The first was pine forests and the second, just to the north of the city, looked like it could be somewhere in Texas. It was very much a desert area. I passed through a large shantytown area outside of the city and was eager to get out. I saw what looked like a couple of glue addicts having an argument only for one of them to pick up a huge rock and threaten the other one with it. Fortunately nothing happened. I saw this all from the other side of the street as I had the foresight to cross the road when I saw these two.
When I arrived in the city, the sun was setting and I, of course, arrived in the part of the city that my tourist book referred to as the dangerous part of the city. I soon found out that the whole city is sketchy. This is definitely the sketchiest seeming city in Latin America that I have visited thus far.
I was starving so I stopped at a place that sells baleadas (Honduran bean tacos) and gorged on them. A old homeless man came up to the lady and wanted to buy a baleada but he didn't have the 35 cents necessary to buy one. He was too proud to beg and began to walk away. The lady sold him one for 25 cents instead. I bought him a baleada too as I was feeling kind of guilty after eating 9 and watching him go hungry. The sad thing is that he probably goes hungry every day. I know there is poverty in the United States but we have so much food that we throw away perfectly good food. You have to make an effort to starve in the U.S.
I found out that the itching on my head is indeed lice. I probably picked them up on that dirt road along with a few ticks and dozens of ant and mosquito bites. I bought some shampoo but if I have to, I will go to the nuclear option and shave my head. I will keep the beard and moustache, though, so I can go from a vagabond look to a satanic look. It is nice to stay in a place and not get eaten alive by bugs so I am enjoying a stay of a couple of days here in the capital.