Holiday Extravaganza

Day 145

Current Location: San Jose, Ignazu (Costa Rica)

Total Countries visited: 7

Total Miles Driven: Too many !

Dear readers, family and friends,

It is the most wonderful time of the year !  I hope you are all looking forward to enjoying some time with your family and friends, celebrating the holidays and upcoming new year in happiness, and taking some down time off work or other responsibilities.

I myself will be taking an extended break.  So will Large Marge.  We have come very far, and now is the time to rest a little and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about anything else.

Large Marge is still in Honduras (I am in Costa Rica).   Of course I had planned to drive her all the way to Panama (and it might still happen), but she has experienced some mechanical issues that forced her to stay behind for the holiday season.  Worry not, she is in good hands.  I will be back in Honduras to pick her up in about a month, and the mechanic (a trusted source recommended him to me) has instructions to care for her and get her back in top shape for the return trip to the US.

You see, the last few weeks have been a little stressful.  After leaving Mexico, the roads took a noticeable drop in quality, the cities became smaller, more scattered and less civilized, and navigation became more difficult (my GPS doesn't work outside of North America / Mexico).  On a few instances, shortcuts I was trying to take that would save me an hour or two of driving ended up costing me the same in delays, due to the roads becoming so muddy that Large Marge refused to continue and had to turn around.  

Border crossings have also been a minor nightmare.  I have never seen organizations so poorly planned or managed as Central America land border crossings.  I will just give you the example of the last crossing from Guatemala into Honduras, but they are all pretty much the same.  Here are the steps I have to go through:

- Leaving Guatemala, you have to visit Guatemala customs to pay departure tax (so each border crossing you have to go to two separate customs, one for the country you leave, and one for the country you visit).  Of course there is a long line of truckers ahead of me, so it takes 30 minutes to leave the country.

- Arriving in Honduras, first you have to go through immigration.  There is another long line of people, another 30 minutes and $20 in immigration tax, and you're finally legal in the country.

- Then you need a permit for the vehicle.  Of course, that's a different office across the street.  The permit takes 20 minutes to fill up.  Then you need to make 3 photocopies of your passport, immigration papers, drivers license and vehicle registration.  Where do you make photocopies?  The only place is 1/4 mile walk down the road, back in Guatemala.  The best part is when you realize that they had a copy machine in the immigration office but they only use it for "official business".  Cost of photocopies:  $2.  Cost of vehicle registration: $40.  Time it took to get it registered:  1 hour.  Feeling of getting it done: Priceless.

- Of course, in order to pay for the vehicle permit you have to to go a different building, to the bank next door.  There, you wait in line again and are told that the bank only accepts local currency (but you just got in the country so you have none).  So you have to get outside the bank, find someone who is changing currency at very unfavorable rates, and repeat one more time.

- But it's not over yet.  You also have to get the van fumigated - basically they spray the wheels with something that's supposed to kill whatever plague you are bringing in from Guatemala.  Of course, another line behind heavy trucks, and another fee.

I hope you're getting the idea why I'm so sick of crossing borders by land.  I actually do miss the USA border crossings, however harsh they may have been on me.

And all the bumping and grinding has not been easy on Large Marge.  The suspension is getting a bit squeaky.  One of my closet door handles flew off and I now have to tape the door shut until I get it fixed.  The radiator is not functioning properly and Large Marge overheats after just a few minutes.  She definitely deserves a break.  I can't wait to see her again in working order.

As for me, I am taking a huge detour in my adventures.  A few months ago, a friend of mine invited me to a wedding in mid-January in a remote location.  I am not working, so why not ?  Another good friend of mine who currently lives in China will be joining, so this will also be a great opportunity to spend a few days/weeks with friends and shed some of the loneliness that might have eaten me up these last few days.

Here is the cool thing - the wedding is in Kathmandu, Nepal.  I am flying there from San Jose on December 27th, back on January 21st.  Flying there takes about 30 hours, including connections and layovers.  I don't care, I am just looking forward to the break.  I probably won't do any blogging during that period, so please don't worry during my absence, and don't report my disappearance to the Canadian embassy !

I promise to take a lot of wonderful pictures and share with you on my way back.

Trip update

From Belize, I crossed directly into Guatemala.  I did not spend much time in Guatemala, because most of the interesting stuff is in the Southern part of the country and I will explore that area on my way back.  The only part of mention that I saw in Guatemala was Tikal - a massive park full of ruins of great historical significance.  Tikal is impressive - it is huge, but the whole park is in the jungle so you don't really see the buildings until you get right next to them.  Some of the ruins and artifacts are over 1300 years old, much older than other Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza.  And from the top of one of the temples you get a magnificent view of the jungle, with a few of the highest pyramids sticking out of the canopy.

Pink Monster playing in the ruins.

Main plaza.

Main plaza pyramids peeking out of the jungle.

After Tikal, I drove South and took a bend directly into Honduras.  I spent the night in San Pedro Sula, the economic and industrial capital of the country (generates 2/3rds of the GDP in Honduras).  San Pedro Sula is a modern city, with American restaurant chains all over the place.  It is also a charmless, dangerous place that has been taken over by gangs as part of the drug wars that are ravaging the country.

Then I went to La Ceiba, which used to be the party capital of Honduras.  Again, due to the dire economic and political situation in Honduras, La Ceiba is only a shadow of what it used to be... however, I was lucky enough to find a wonderful little hotel situated about 10 miles away from town, where you can completely forget about the perils of the town and roads, and lose yourself into the ocean.  The hotel is right on the beach, has a charming little swimming pool, bar, restaurant, incredibly friendly owner and staff who bent over backwards to make my stay a memorable one.

View from my hotel balcony, La Delphina Hotel.

Pink Monster getting a tan on the beach.

From La Ceiba, it's a short ferry to Roatan, an island off the Honduras coast which is known for its incredible diving and beautiful beaches.  I had a great few days in Roatan, where I went diving, met with new friends and enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

Beach at Roatan West Bay.

Beautiful sunset from West Bay.

Sunset.

Coral and fish.

Beautiful coral.

Close encounter with friendly turtle.

Lobster roll.

Bird and palm tree.

Then from Roatan, it was all pavement, dirt and stress as I drove in Tegucigalpa and Large Marge's radiator started acting up.  After three days of trying to patch it up (and failing), I decided to leave the van in Tegu and fly to Costa Rica.  Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras, and (along with San Pedro Sula) is constantly listed in the top-10 most dangerous cities in the world.  If you think Mexico is bad, come see this place.  It isn't an ugly town per se, the mountains in and around the city are quite scenic, but there is a feeling of badness to it.  Thank god I had a wonderful friend and his roommate who let me crash on their couch for a few days while I was figuring out the best course ahead.  Thanks Mike and Matt !

Now in Costa Rica, San Jose may not be the most beautiful town in the world, but it feels relatively safer and more civilized than the main cities in Honduras.  Without Large Marge, I am finally beginning to relax.  For Christmas Eve I will meet with a friend and his family here in San Jose, and for Christmas Day a wonderful host is having a party for people like me who are far away from their family - I look forward to a delicious Christmas meal with a dozen or so people from all over the world.  I will not be alone, but I will definitely miss the white Christmas that I am used to, along with my friends and family back in the North.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season !  See you in a month !  And Merry Christmas Ho Ho Ho !

DMR