Goodbye Guatemala!
We only spent a week and half in Guatemala so we really didn't see that much of the country, the Northern part is supposed to be very nice. However we gladly waved this country goodbye. There were no tears. It sent us off with a great finale though...
Leaving a place called Villa Nueva - which was insanely busy with traffic as it was on the outskirts of Guatemala city - we literally had to go up a vertical wall to make it out of that valley. The percentage never really dropped under 12%, Nyle's bike computer read 20% at one point. So we pushed, and pushed and pushed - 6 km to make it up to the main highway which was 600 m higher. That was fun. Not!
We did a little mind happiness dance when we left the ridiculously steep and never ending hills of the 'land of volcanoes' behind us (it was already way too hot to do a real, physical happiness dance).
We did a little mind happiness dance when we left the ridiculously steep and never ending hills of the 'land of volcanoes' behind us (it was already way too hot to do a real, physical happiness dance).
Yes, the coastal heat and humidity - the kind of sweating buckets 24hours a day combination - has us back. Sadly, ventilators and airconditioning are a bit of a rarity here, especially if you are trying to make it on a budget as those rooms are often twice as expensive. It also doesn't help that the currency of El Salvador is the US dollar which is pretty painful when your funds are in Canadian dollars right now. So we try to find hostels or restaurants that will let us camp for a few dollars. Wildcamping is pretty difficult and not recommended in these densely populated countries of Central America. Often we end up in a not-so-nice hotel.
That said, at least food got cheaper again (surprisingly, Guatemala was way more expensive than Mexico). And El Salvador has the greatest vegetarian cyclist food ever: Pupusas! They are cheap, delicious, filling and are meat free! Imagine a fat tortilla stuffed with refried beans and a salty cheese, then grilled from both sides and served with pickled cabbage and vegetables. Happiness! So delicious, and they are EVERYWHERE! You are never far away from the next Pupuseria here. Other than the amazing pupusas, El Salvador has a beautiful coast line (Balsam Coast) with nice beaches and wild waves for surfing. El Salvadorians are friendly and smile a bit more often than the people in Guatemala we found. They (mostly the testosteron controlled part of the population) also LOVE to throw any English word or phrase they know at you: Hi, Bye, How are you, I love you, I don't know, How are you... Usually yelled out of the window of a car passing us. If they don't have a piece of English to yell at you, honking, whistling, yelling something in Spanish or the good old 'Gringooooo' shout will do. Even their cars can whistle! No joke! A lot of cars have - like their drivers - too much testostreon aka built-in custom horns. Sometimes it is all a little tiring...
That said, at least food got cheaper again (surprisingly, Guatemala was way more expensive than Mexico). And El Salvador has the greatest vegetarian cyclist food ever: Pupusas! They are cheap, delicious, filling and are meat free! Imagine a fat tortilla stuffed with refried beans and a salty cheese, then grilled from both sides and served with pickled cabbage and vegetables. Happiness! So delicious, and they are EVERYWHERE! You are never far away from the next Pupuseria here. Other than the amazing pupusas, El Salvador has a beautiful coast line (Balsam Coast) with nice beaches and wild waves for surfing. El Salvadorians are friendly and smile a bit more often than the people in Guatemala we found. They (mostly the testosteron controlled part of the population) also LOVE to throw any English word or phrase they know at you: Hi, Bye, How are you, I love you, I don't know, How are you... Usually yelled out of the window of a car passing us. If they don't have a piece of English to yell at you, honking, whistling, yelling something in Spanish or the good old 'Gringooooo' shout will do. Even their cars can whistle! No joke! A lot of cars have - like their drivers - too much testostreon aka built-in custom horns. Sometimes it is all a little tiring...
Before we headed down to the El Salvadorian Coast, we climbed up into the mountains to cycle along the Ruta de Flores (Road of the Flowers). A pretty mountain road through lush, green hills, coffee plantations and pretty flowering trees that connects a handful of little mountain villages. The three main ones are pretty touristy, but not in a bad way. Although, with our bad timing we were there during Semana Santa (Easter Week) celebrations which are a huge thing in all of Central America as most of the population is Catholic. A lot of businesses shut down mid week until Sunday so people can hang out and celebrate with their families. The whole week sees numerous daily church services and processions, usually accompanied by a marching band. Those procession can happen ANY time during the night and day. Some at 10 pm at night, others at midnight, and our favorite ones at 5 am in the morning. Good thing we were camping in the middle of town so we never missed the blaring trumpets and thundering drums. It was amazing to see most of the village come out and create stunning mosaics on the streets. Some were made out of coloured coffee bean husks (made wet to stick to the street), others made theirs out of pre-coloured salt or sand. Watching old and young work together all day to create those pieces of art - all for the processions to walk over them - was sure something you don't get to see every day. Plus we found a really nice hostel (including a cafe with really good coffee from the region) that let us camp in their quiet oasis of a backyard in Juayua, the Kiwi Melon hostel and cafe (www.kiwimelonhostal.com). It was the perfect combination: Good coffee, palm trees with hammocks and the cutest cat of El Salvador, Minion. The shower was a real ice bucket challenge but that is really what you want in these kinds of temperatures.
Aside from the increased temperatures here, the amount of guns around us has also steeply increased. Almost every store - from bakery to bank to supermarket to shoe shop has at least one guard armed with a shotgun hanging from their shoulder. Also, every delivery truck no matter what they are delivering, be it Pepsi or concrete blocks has at least one armed guard on board. So delivering the sugar water takes about six people here, not sure what all their roles are but there are one or two armed guards, one driver, one guy with paper work and some guys to carry in the boxes, very interesting to watch how they all squeeze into the cabin and back of the truck.
Aside from the increased temperatures here, the amount of guns around us has also steeply increased. Almost every store - from bakery to bank to supermarket to shoe shop has at least one guard armed with a shotgun hanging from their shoulder. Also, every delivery truck no matter what they are delivering, be it Pepsi or concrete blocks has at least one armed guard on board. So delivering the sugar water takes about six people here, not sure what all their roles are but there are one or two armed guards, one driver, one guy with paper work and some guys to carry in the boxes, very interesting to watch how they all squeeze into the cabin and back of the truck.
How to NOT use bear spray:
We both have been carrying our bear spray (a large can of pepper spray) around with with us for the past nine months. We needed it for Northern Canada as a bear deterrent - not that we ever used it on a bear, instead we tried it on a wolf (see earlier blog post). Anyhow, as there are many wild dogs around these parts of the world - of which some are not so friendly and like to chase cyclists - we decided to keep it. Nyle carries his in his handle bar bag and mine is mounted behind my saddle in a little case. However, 9 months of partially rough roads can take a toll on a can. And my can started to leak, very very slowly.
1) Carry a leaking can of bear/ pepper spray on your bike just behind your saddle
2) Get it on your bike glove and spread it onto the back of your leg, hands, face and most enjoyable, rub it into your eye, then blame it all on some weird plant you may have touched
3) Park your bike in the hotel room and notice some strange, brownish stains beside it, but don't think too much of it
4) Shower and try to get the burning off your skin, hot water makes the burning a lot more intense, Aloe Vera lotion helps to cool it off a bit
5) Get your better half to grease the bike chains in the morning, he will get it on his hands and then rub his eyes to then run screaming and swearing into the bathroom splashing water in his face for the next half an hour
6) React with "See, I told you it wasn't sunscreen in my eyes or a heat rush on the BACK of my leg... it is some plant juice on our bikes!"
7) Then think again, connect the dots, the burning, the stains, the..... BEAR SPRAY
8) Last but not least, spend the next hour cleaning up bear spray from your bike with watering eyes and a bad cough and just think, later you will laugh about this with four watering eyes, just like now.
Lesson learned, bear spray cans are not made to last forever and it was not a plant, heat rash or sunscreen.
We both have been carrying our bear spray (a large can of pepper spray) around with with us for the past nine months. We needed it for Northern Canada as a bear deterrent - not that we ever used it on a bear, instead we tried it on a wolf (see earlier blog post). Anyhow, as there are many wild dogs around these parts of the world - of which some are not so friendly and like to chase cyclists - we decided to keep it. Nyle carries his in his handle bar bag and mine is mounted behind my saddle in a little case. However, 9 months of partially rough roads can take a toll on a can. And my can started to leak, very very slowly.
1) Carry a leaking can of bear/ pepper spray on your bike just behind your saddle
2) Get it on your bike glove and spread it onto the back of your leg, hands, face and most enjoyable, rub it into your eye, then blame it all on some weird plant you may have touched
3) Park your bike in the hotel room and notice some strange, brownish stains beside it, but don't think too much of it
4) Shower and try to get the burning off your skin, hot water makes the burning a lot more intense, Aloe Vera lotion helps to cool it off a bit
5) Get your better half to grease the bike chains in the morning, he will get it on his hands and then rub his eyes to then run screaming and swearing into the bathroom splashing water in his face for the next half an hour
6) React with "See, I told you it wasn't sunscreen in my eyes or a heat rush on the BACK of my leg... it is some plant juice on our bikes!"
7) Then think again, connect the dots, the burning, the stains, the..... BEAR SPRAY
8) Last but not least, spend the next hour cleaning up bear spray from your bike with watering eyes and a bad cough and just think, later you will laugh about this with four watering eyes, just like now.
Lesson learned, bear spray cans are not made to last forever and it was not a plant, heat rash or sunscreen.
On wards to Honduras tomorrow for a short two days before heading into Nicaragua. Already missing pupusas so much , just can't imagine a live without pupusas anymore!
(Author: Andrea)
(Author: Andrea)