El Salvador - Honduras - Nicaragua all in a day .....

Night and day, night and day. If getting into El Salvador had been a breeze, although a very hot one, getting out and into Honduras was a different story. I think you have to accept that riding down this way some borders are going to be a challenge. I met up with Ronnie, the local fixer, and watched as he and the Honduran border guards and customs span out a real show for me. Having said that, I spent much of the time sat by the side of the road watching everyone else trying to get through. Those with El Salvador number plates were pounced on as soon as they got into the Honduras border area, guys would run along side offering to help with immigration and customs, I was not alone. The 'team work' shown by the officials and fixers was great to see, a couple of dollars here, a few there, all to 'get you through quickly'. I soon took the view that some experiences in life are worth paying for, here I was sat on a pavement in no mans land, smoking a cigar (oh OK, a marlboro), right next to a couple of shoe shine stands, out of the sun, watching a sort of 'dance' . I eventually got clear, shook Ronnie's hand, thanked him for the show and rode off.

This is a beautiful country

I had been told two hours gets you through this bit of Honduras and to the border wth Nicaragua at El Espino. Plenty of stuff out there to read about what to expect, 'keep clear of the police' and 'watch out for the pot holes' were just two of the warnings offered. Well, the Police ignored me and the pot holes were as promised but easy to see and steer around. In fact, this country was worth seeing, if only for a few hours. I climbed up into the highlands and out of the heat. I stopped to take these photos and have a drink and everyone who passed honked their horns and waved, I was even passed by a group of motorbikers on a mixture of 'big' bikes, I later met up with them at the border, they were heading back to Costa Rica.

..... very beautiful Honduras

I soon reached the border and easily signed out of Honduras under my own steam, a really helpful customs guy walked me through the paperwork, no cost. These smaller borders really do work well. I rode across into Nicaragua, had the bike steam cleaned and set about getting myself in, easy, and then the bike, a bit more complicated. Nicaragua want you to buy insurance, that was easy. After that the usual paperwork, stamps, copies, which customs guy to see, find the Policeman for his signiture, the bikers who passed me earlier helped and I managed to find my way through. Not once did I think I was getting to grips with this border process, although similar in some ways I now knew there was plenty that changed each time. On the plus side I had completed what I set out to do, two borders in one day, I rode off into Nicaragua and stopped at the first big town I came to, Somoto, where I checked into the local Hotel, met a couple of backpackers from the US of A, had a meal and then found my UK bank had decided to stop me withdrawing money, they had done this in El Salvador and I had rung them to advise, oh joy... I thought 'I bet they're just keeping my money safe' ....and also 'I really love bankers' ...

Parked up outside customs, Nicaragua