Jan. 23/25 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
Thursday, January 26th, 2006Day 175/177 – We are currently in Nicaragua. Meaning, since leaving Lago de Atitlan, in the past three days, we have crossed a border a day, and driven through a country per day. Since only my name is on the title and registration, I have to be the one to obtain the permit. This might be to our advantage because the officials may possibly be nicer to me since I am a lady š I never could have imagined how tiring it would be to deal with border crossings and officials everyday. It is like getting pulled over once a day, and then going to court, hoping they will let you off, even though you never did anything wrong!
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last bit of Guatemala
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Beautiful buses & crazy roads
overloaded bambo trucks
El Salvodorās border was great. A kid helped us up until I had to get the car permit. He was not allowed in the permit office because the officials are trying to crack down on people trying to get money from travellers like us. We didnāt mind giving him a few bucks to make sure we had all the correct copies; it was slightly helpful. The officials were also very helpful and even filled out all the paper work for me, after my attempt to fill it out myself ā though I thought I did a decent job š
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El Salvodor – a crater lake off a small highway
Honduras was the frustrating border to cross. We accepted the help of a gentleman that spoke some English. To exit El Salvador we didnāt need any help; again the officials were all professional and helpful. But the border crossing into Honduras was so chaotic that it is very hard to tell who is official and who is not. It made it hard to figure out who to trust and who not to trust. I still donāt know if I dealt with any officials, but it worked and we were okay. We unexpectedly arrived at the border and ended up crossing in the late afternoon. The bank had closed (it was closed, I saw it, but I still wonder…) and since it was closed we had to finish our paperwork in a round about way. At least it seemed like it; but we got all our paper work done and received what we hoped were official stamps (which must have been since we had no problems leaving the country) and didnāt pay more than the normal bribe for this border. I think we ended up paying around $10-20 bucks more than we should have. Though I’m still not sure. And then leaving Honduras was something else! Man, talk about unofficial officials. We headed towards the border, and in the middle of this completely rural area there were five guys, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, just standing near a chain that was blocking the road. One of the guys came up and asked for our permit. He says he needs to stamp it. We donāt trust him, so I walk over to an older man in a uniform who is sitting at an empty desk in a concrete hut. He, in turn, just points back to the guy wanting my permit. After watching the guy go up to a semi, and seeing him take care of the trucks permit, I gave him my permit and stood next to him, watching. When the chain was let down for the semi to go through, Jason also pulled through and waited. As I waited for the guy that had our permit, another man, who was standing next to me in the hut, and had a beat up badge on his shirt, said he is Immigrations. He asks to check our passportsā¦ I have no idea if he was official or not, but the permit guy handed my passport to him and he looked at it and handed it right back. Since we are all in the same small room, and he didn’t have any way of bolting, I gave him Jasonās also, and again he took a quick look. And that was it. Next the car permit guy says we need to go to another building, and for Jason to follow. We walked over to the other office, where some ladies finished my paperwork and stamped my passport with an exit visa for the car. Then we moved on to the Nicaraguan border.
Honduras countryside
Nicaraguaās border was very quiet when we got there. There are three borders that cross into Nicaragua from Honduras; we crossed at the Pan American Highway. This was the quietest border that I had to deal with. There were no con-men trying to push us through, only kids who gave weak attempts, as I was standing at the permit window waiting for the official. The kids were asking for $10 USD for their help, and then laughed with me as I laughed at them. There were a lot of kids around, just playing and trying to sell random items to tourists. They were all over Jason though, and he said this was the worst crossing for him, because the kids wouldnāt stay off the car. All the offices were marked, and the officials were nice and quick with their work. Along with the three borders, in the past day and half we were also pulled over by three officials.
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Nicaragua
The first one was in Honduras, because we had a headlight out (which we did) and so we paid the official $1 USD and $5 Guatemalan (80Ā¢ USD). Jason is a smooth talker with the officials. The second one was right before crossing into Nicaragua, at the check point by the police/army. After looking at our paperwork and taking a look around our van, they wanted proof of ownership of the bike (that we have on a rack on the back of the van), and a vehicle permit for bringing it into the country. I have heard of needing a title for a bike at a border crossing, but since it has been just an accessory, we forgot about it. Here the bike is a vehicle and many people would love to have it, but they knew we didnāt need a permit for it. They just wanted money, so smooth talking Jason got us away by paying the official $1 USD and $20 Honduran dollars (about $1.10USD). They were nice to us the whole time, and joking/smiling with us, but it took 20 minutes to finally get away. Lastly, yesterday in Nicaragua coming out of the capital city they pulled us over, and asked if we had the red triangles that you use when you are in an accident, to warn other drivers of your stopped vehicle. Of course we donāt have any, but we are going to buy some for the next official that asks (this is a common fee from the police for foreigners) š We gave him $50 Cordobas (around $3 USD) and he was very happy. I donāt mind handing out small amounts of money to people; I know they donāt make much money, but being taken advantage of so often leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially since we are supposed to use these guys if we ever need help; and right now there is no way I would go to the police to ask for any help because I am afraid they are only going to see United States dollars on my face and not even listen to me unless I pay them. I donāt like the feeling that we can not trust anyone, and can start to understand, a little bit, how people feel that live in corrupt countries with no one to stand up for them.
So, we have gone through three countries in the past three days, and on the road we have driven by many things. Oxen and horse drawn wagons. Self made log rolling carts; that is the only way I can explain it. Highway vendors selling dead iguanas, fish, and live parrots. A lot of bike riders and quality roads to drive on ā though most people that live in the country donāt own a car. And lots of colorfully decorated buses, I think we need to have that idea come into the states and decorate all of our buses with artistic colors and design.
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