León has a distinctively comopolitan flair. But not as you find in more internationally famous cities such as New York, Paris, Rome or San Francisco, but rather unique amongst its Central American counterparts. Not gentrified and roaming with gringo tourists as you might find in Antigua, rather still brimming with a traditional culture yet reaching […]
I find the road leaving Selva Negra to Matagalpa and then onto Managua much different in sunlight than my previous experience in rain. It’s easier to avoid the potholes and I’m quickly buzzing through Managua making my way to Leon – one of the oldest cities in all of Central America. Along the way I […]
By the time I avoided my 900th pothole and was in the city limits of Matagalpa, Nicaragua’s 4th largest city a worn hand-painted sign welcoming me simply and scribbly stated that the national government was responsible for the condition of the road. Up till then the Nicaraguan roads had been perhaps the best I’d encountered […]
The Honduran/Nicaraguan border at Los Manos was the busiest and most frenetic I’d encountered. Before I could pull my GPS off my trusty Touratech mount I was surrounded by young boys. One wants to watch my bike, the others are shoving immigration forms into my hand. I do the best I can to explain that […]
I had hoped to make it close to the Nicaraguan border before sunset. Even the one-legged man at the gas station in Tegucigalpa assured me that I’d get to Danli before nightfall. In his sixties, he had an easy going demeanor for a panhandler. A torn and dirty baseball cap slipped over his matted straw-like […]
I like Tela. It’s quiet. It’s on the warm water of the Caribbean. And it has a mix of Latin America and Caribbean culture. I’ve decided to stay here for a few days. My intent in coming to the Caribbean coast of Honduras was to visit Roatan or Utilia, two the islands that make up […]
In Many third or second world countries, organized public transportation is virtually non-existent. For major routes scheduled “chicken” buses depart from parking lots or sometimes in the larger cities and actual bus station. But for locals to shuttle from small towns to slightly bigger towns for market, visiting friends or simply getting around, transportation is […]
With twilight sinking to moonlight I rode into Ruinas de Copán, just a few clicks from the border town of La Florido in southeastern Guatemala. I’m getting used to quickly adjusting to new currency and quickly calculating conversion rates. Complete with new faces of people from the past, denominations and colors, I made the mind […]
With Guatemala City fading in my rearview mirrors, I meandered slowly and surely through the outskirts. It was then when I swallowed hard. Gulped. Then gasped. And my mind spun wildly. I was screwed. Should I turn back? Battle my way back to the BMW dealer? It was surely closed. And it was Saturday and […]
My driver picked me up at 7:30 from my Antigua hotel. Before he put the van into gear he handed me my envelope containing my important vehicle documents — the same documents that the BMW dealer insisted they have prior to working on my bike. And with a solid plan to pick up my bike […]
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