Mar 3, 2016. Choluteca, Honduras
Today I was supposed to bus back to the border with El Salvador and properly enter Honduras. However, Nicaragua was only 50km away and if I can avoid the exit office that would work too.
The trucks... they aren't actually giving me this much passing space. The road was in pretty bad shape but it was amusing to see semi's zig-zag around the holes.
Cant wait for the Central American olympics! The Pan-American highway obstacle course!
I know I am nearing the border by the few kilometer semi lineup, people on food and bikes sell food and drinks to the truckers. A man waves a stack at money at me.
"Cambio?"
I change my hondurian money into Cordobas and he points to the Honduras immigration building but is surprised when I just continue. The two officers at the bridge don't bother checking my passport. Bingo!
Entry into Nicaragua was easy, although I had to pay $12. The highlight of the whole experience was the armed security guard who was also looking after the goods in the fridges. Somebody bought one of those ready to dink yogurts. The guard asked him what flavour then took it out and shook it for him!!!
It was so amazing to see bicycles being used for everything. From hauling 90kg of logs, to passengers, friends and even picking up one's kids from school!
Now, I had already in mind to visit Volcan San Christobal ever since I saw it from El Salvador.
I speeded up my ride by grabbing onto a tractor, collectivo pickup and even a school bus (scary!). I made it to town in time for a quick lunch and then headed up.
Rode along a man going home and he told me there was a french guy on a bike going up this morning.
I thoroughly enjoyed and planned my visits to National Parks in USA to avoid the fees. Going in either before opening or after closing. I think its something that should be free and more accessible for more people to enjoy, that's a touchy topic though because the fees do help the parks. Anyway, after not seeing any other tourists on the way up and getting in at dark, I was charged. The double tourist fee, nontheless.
Regardless, there is a volcano to be climbed. This one starts off at 4am.
And goes straight up, I miss the sunrise at 5:30.
As I near the top sometimes sulfur fumes come down, they bring a burning feeling in my throat and lungs when I inhale. I cover my mouth, turn away and wait them out.
At the top, its a whiteout but sometimes I get a good view of Nicaragua and pick the next peak to visit. I guess this is how this works now...
The crater is obscured by fumes and the rim hike is not a good option, I stick around for few minutes and head back. I don't know if sulfur can be leathal and I dont want to find out.
My favorite part of the day is reuniting with the bike, followed by some nice singletrack to the road.
In town, I find a nice route to the next volcano. Its not the main (tourist) way and I'd get to ride some backroads too.
A man at the turnoff tells me its not a good way and its closed. He tells me to go to the main route and get a guide. I head in anyway. He walks after me whistling but I ignore him.
4 other people confirm that I can go to the volcano that way, so I am good to go.
The road was very sandy and I follow a bike track thinking that may be the frenchman whom I didn't meet yesterday but it disappears into a pasture after few kilometers. What was I thinking, not many people are this crazy.
Going to this volcano, starts with a "T" and its active.
The road becomes a bit less of a road and the trail isn't very bike friendly.
I pack up and stash my bike behind some trees. There are many times I wanted to ditch my backpack but its definitely worth having it.
And the crater was something else. Fresh powder covered the ground meaning it must have erupted recently. The walls were steep and massive, they brought back the feeling of being a tiny speck in this grand landscape. I take a breath, yup. more sulphur.
I go down to camp and meet a guide and two tourists. They tell me the volcano is about to erupt and camping isn't recommended. There hasnt been lava in the crater for 3 weeks, so its building up. They also show me where the rocks fell last november and I move my tent further away. Maybe that's what the first guy was warning me about.
Wind. Oh man. It was windy. I barely got any sleep and just waited for my tent to break. It didnt. I heard few rocks falling which made me nervous. And at 6 I was off. With the new information about the imminent eruption, I was way more cautious and the fumes racing out of the sides made me way more nervous. I still inched my way cautiously to the edge to take a look at the crater.
Throwing a rock in there was not a good idea...
Reunited with Deadhorse, instead of going back I continued the excuse of a road to see if I can find another wayback. Anything to avoid that sand. A man at the end told me to go back but after asking for a horse trail and making pushing and carrying motions with my bike, he told me of a way to go. At times it was tough, squeezing through a narow singletrack or walking down steep rocky slopes and letting out few words of frustrations everytime the bike slips ahead and the pedal digs its metal teeth into my calves.
But after that, I got this amazing cow-made maze of singletracks, following an old road (not drivable).
Made it to Leon, which seemed like a big tourist place, lots of gringos hanging around. 2 meals later I had an idea of where to go. The only problem.... is googling "Biking down Cerro Negro" only produced results about the world speed record for a downhill bike.... I briefly considered not going for my own safety. On his second attempt, the frenchman's bike broke in two and it ended his career.
Off on the wrong road, me and a Nicaraguan boy negotiate tough sand sections until we reach his house. He points ahead and says something I don't understand. I nod.
I get a flat and walk over to the nearest pullout otherwise if a truck comes he wont be able to pass me on the single lane road. A woman offers me ice cold water and oranges. Man I need to have flats more often.
Low and behold. Flats more often it is. This one split at the valve stem so I take out my only spare.
The sand is terrible at time, attempts at riding cost a lot of energy and effort. Pushing only will not work if I want to reach the volcano before sunset.
And another flat. Same spot. Not good. No more tires. Stupid low grade Guatemalan tubes! Not going to ride down the volcano now... but I can still go there and hike it.
I start pushing the bike while trying to keep the front off the ground. 6km to go. 2 hours of light. I have not seen any traffic going my way all day.
A truck pulls up and I hop in.
At the park, I hop off to chat with the rangers, nobody has a bike or bike parts. One of them grabs the tube to fix and I patch up the other one. I used a sleeping mat patch, covered with duct tape and they glued an old tube with an opening over the valve on top. I wonder if I would have come up with such a good solution if I was on my own.
$5 for entry and another $5 for camping. Ouch. I talk my way out of the camping fee. They have cold drinks but at 2x the cost. I settle for tap water, making dinner and watching the sunset. Thinking about tomorrow, the bike is coming up to the summit...
The trail was easy on the way up and I just caught the sunrise.
I sat on the hot steam while eating breakfast and trying not to get blown off by the wind.
one of these babies will keep your bum warm all morning!
The downhill, after this reasonably steep section really drops down. It was here where the world record for downhill bike was set. 164km/h. How fast could I go if I am trying to go slow???
I chicken out and ride down the trail...
In my quest not to go on the same crappy, sandy road, I find this awesome singletrack.
And not too sandy road,
And when you see this first thing nearing a town, you know you are in the right place.
The topo map in the visitor center had a big hole in it, I thought it was just a hole in the topo map... but I guess it was real...
$2 gets you to a viewpoint of a lake, I get that same feeling I had in Mexico, where all lake roads had a tiny toll booth. Who does the money actually go to? Nicaragua charges non-locals double or triple fee, also not fair and making me feel like an outsider. I decide not to visit any more tourist places. Not about the money.... toll booths seem to interrupt the flow of the ride.
The road to a small town, volcan Momotombo in the back. Way back when it erupted the town was evacuated and moved to where Leon is now. I wonder how the lava can reach this far but opt not to visit the old townsite as that would mean getting the tourist rate.
I hang around the beach for a bit before a drunk person comes to hassle me and I ride off. 6 young guys drinking vodka and playing some card game with money.
The way to Momotombo was on a super well maintained dirt road. Few people told me its dangerous, worst case I can go half way up or something.
However, I was stopped at a checkpoint for the geothermal plant and not allowed to continue, I guess I wont be climbing this one. I get back to the road but go north instead with the wind.
and I am glad they turned me back, otherwise I wouldnt haveseen this awesome eruption
I ride near a truck accident. Pretty sure this semi has moves like Jagger. Note, the most important thing to take out from the cab was the blue cooler by the side! Sadly, a lot of people here are talking on their phones or texting while driving.
Every stop turns into a long chat and rest in the shade. The kids are playing around and trying to crash two toy trucks into eachother. Maybe one day they will grow to be drivers and do it like the guy earlier :)
Thief!!! he waited while I was distracted and jumped up to steal my tortilla from the plate!
Its hot.
I pull up to a small store and ask if they have cold drinks.
"No, just chicken," the woman says and pulls out a frozen chicken from the freezer. Water is okay though and they offer me food too. The man, noticing I like all the chicken and ducks running around comes back with a crate of chicks... and then two puppies, I think he offered me one... I ask them to choose one photo of my album and they pick the one with eagles but change their minds to me facing off a logging truck on Brtish Columbia's dirt roads.
Still not sure where I'm going. Very split minded about hitting the mountains in the north-west. The moment I left the tourist bubble and the main highway things have been so much better. A different kind of ride, it feels more like seeing the real Nicaragua and not the postcard picture towns.
I pass what seems to be a chicken fight, with my experience of the rodeo, I dont think I will enjoy seeing two rosters killing each other. I was told up in Mexico the fights are to the death. Later I hop a fence, a very high one and pick a spot 200m from the road. Should be okay here.
Smoke from Momotombo rises above the trees. It's no time to be hiking it for sure. I spend the evening cooking and picking off bugs from my food.
1 cordova (~5cents) per banana, 10 wouldlast me till lunch. The numbered highway turns out to be a dirt road and everybody I ask for directions or distance only tells me that its too far. A kid on a horse talks to me and we race to his house where I grab some water. With the heat and desperation, I buy a bag of ice. Not sure what to do with it, I stick it under my helmet. I look silly but it works.
San Francisco Libre has an amazing comedor and lake access,
$1.5 gets you really well fed here.
And I meet two guys about to head out on their boat.
"Where?"
They say something and I assume its another town on the lake.
"How long does it take?"
"2 hours."
I wonder if I should ask to go with them....
Whoa buddy, you've got no idea whats coming for you!
I cant stop looking at these mountains and wondering if I should go. There is another border crossing I can take but the coast is good too. By far, deciding where to go is the toughest thing about bicycle touring. I ask a man if I can pitch my tent in his yard and he tells me to ask his friend who owns the land, in the next house. I pass the tiny metal hut and wonder where the house is, then I go back to it. Raul isnt here but his nephew calls him, and he speaks to me. As he helps me lift my bike over the fence, some guys yell from a passing pickup:
"Nooo, dont go, you will get a flat!"
In the morning I ride on the dirt road, no cars. Just bikes, horses and few motos.
A man from a tractor working on a rice field waves me over. Aeroplanes circle around trowing pesticides on the rice, apparently they are fighting some kind of bug.
when the road was finally paved, I kept seeing many women riding bikes. I ask one if its some special event and she says they are just going to work on the rice fields.
Some other examples of how important biking is here, definitely enjoying sharing the road with other cyclists. All of a sudden I am not so badass anymore. Now imaginethis: Man cycles from Alaska to Argentina with his wife and newborn baby! Or 50 kilos of logs...
The last 8k were perfect to ride along the beach, everytime it got too hot, I would jump in the water.
Granada was a big shock compared to the barely standing metal and wood shacks I've seen so far. Big colorful buildings, $3 coffees and busloads of tourists.
My quest for somewhere higher (and cooler) to sleep brought me to Catalina, where I ran the toll booth on the way up... and on the way back I whizzed past too. Heard laughter behind me, and spent that $2 on big Salvadorian pupusas dinner.
A man brushing his donkey, named Carlos by the road. Thats the donkey's name, he is a baby 1.5 years but i dont know if that is donkey years or human years.
But I made it and followed the day shift of workers leaving a textile factory. Hard work, 3 shifts working around the clock. I am told they get paid based on production and people arent allowed to go to the bathroom... so they dont drink much water.
I turned off into a ranch and asked to camp. It wasnt long before they noticed how much I love dogs. One of the women went off and returned with a friend, carrying a husky puppy. Now.. I was distracted and it all happened too fast, one moment I am talking to somebody and the next, there is a cute husky in my lap. They must have carried her far because the moment she landed, she peed on my pants :(
It was an amazing time with this wonderful family!
Off to where the roads are rougher...
A nice but windy beach ride took me across a roadless stretch to a house, where the road picked up.
I went for a warmshowers place along the coast, despite the detour. My host, wasnt there but I got to hang out with other folks. One working for a NGO in Peru. He was telling me how he is working with remote communities and helping them grow vegetables other than potatoes, since only potatoes can grow at such high altitudes. Thinking about potatoes and tall mountains made me really happy. What an odd thing to be happy about.
Instead of following the coast, I opted for Rivas and making it into Costa Rica. You can see the Conception volcano blanketed in clouds.
wow, that's so mean!
Then the popular island which I wont be visiting this time, to the right a man washing his chairs in the lake. I also saw somebody drinking the water earlier...
Counting kilometers to the border, Nicaragua. What a ride! I wish I could spend more time here but the mountains of Costa Rica call and so do the hopes of cooler weather at higher altitude!
On a side note, if you really enjoy these posts, please consider making a small donation for the website bill (click about page, and scroll down)