We were off our bikes exploring the highlands a total of 7 days, and each of those days was cloudy and cool. So of course just as soon as we are on our bikes the sun comes out in all its glory to burn our skin, dehydrate us and cause us heat stroke! That being said, we had views of all 4 volcanos leaving Antigua on Saturday (Acatenango, Feugo, Agua and even Pacaya). We also had the best roads and the best scenery of the whole trip. Getting out of Antigua and to Escuintla (40km) was almost entirely downhill and so steep in some parts that it was almost scary. We made really good time though. Arrived in Escuintla at just after 8 and had only been going about an hour and a half. We stopped at McDonalds in town to take a break and it took all of my willpower not to order a Snickers McFlurry! After an hour of break and trying to figure out the right way out of town we were on the road again. The scenery got even better and the road stayed nice with a continuing slight downhill, a wide shoulder, and little traffic. The day was turning out to be our best biking day so far. We had views of gorgeous mountains and volcanos and the road was lined with a tunnel of giant beautiful ceiba trees offering tons of shade. We had endless blue skies and miles and miles of sugar cane fields. Truck loads of sugar cane were passing us filling the air with the sweet smell of molasses. The day was absolute bliss. Around 10 we took an hour break at a bridge over a pretty river and watched the sugar cane trucks go by. They are double long double decker trucks and from far away they look like giant baskets of french fries.
After our break we were hit by hills. Not very bad hills, but a slight incline began shortly after our break and lasted for 45 minutes and was enough to wipe us out. Our shade went away, and the sun boiled down on us and the hills continued. And something about it was worse than any other day, although I feel it shouldnt have been any different. After several more grueling hours, we made it to Chiquimulilla (62 miles) where we spent the night. To my surprise, Craig was more wiped out than me, usually I am the weak link. Turns out he got some kind of stomach bug and is finally now today recovering. I like him better when he is sick, it means I can keep up!
Yesterday we managed to get out of our hotel in Chiquimillia by 5:30 am, after quite awhile spent figuring out how to open the gates to leave. Neither of us felt well rested, something about the day before just did us in. It was rather dark still, the stars were out and we rode by headlamp. We only got a couple kilometers down the highway when we were directed off the road for a detour, only we didnt know it was a detour cause I didnt see the sign and Craig couldnt read what it said. We were on a pot holed rocky dirt road and it was really hard to see in the dark. We spent awhile crusing around lost and asking locals for directions, about an hour later we were back on the highway only 5 km down the road from where we got off. My best guess is that the bridge over the river on the highway went out. We had more hills, heat and blue sky and Craig was sick and not eating, so we only made it as far as Ciudad San Pedro de Alvarado (border with El Salvador). All day I craved watermelon because of the heat, so when we arrived I ate an entire half of a watermelon, just scooped it out with a spoon. We died of heat all night but I slept really well.
This morning we backtracked a few kilometers to the junction for Moyuta. Our plan was to head over the mountains and cross the border into El Salvador at Las Chinamas. So we biked only a few kilometers up the road at the juntion and determinded that the uphill was not gonna stop and I was about to poop myself from eating so much watermelon the night before! There were school children walking all over the place and the street was lined with houses, so nowhere to relieve myself. We decided to hitchhike and got picked up by a truck after only a few minutes of waiting. The ride up to the top of Volcan Moyuta was incredibly pleasant. We had views all the way to the Pacific and the surrounding mountains and a lovely breeze and of course it is always nice to ride a car instead of a bicycle up a mountain! The downhill from Moyuta to Jalpatagua was steep and windy and scary! I locked my arms and rode the brakes the whole way down, the wind was blowing me all over the road. Somehow Craig found it fun, but my arms were numb from squeezing the handle bars so hard. We continued with downhill past Jalpatagua, but of course all good things must come to an end and it did when the hills came. :( The rest of the way to the border, only about 12 miles, took us more than 2 hours. We died of heat again. When we finally got to immigration, we were instantly surround by a mob of guys that all wanted to change our Guatamalan Quetzales to dollars (they use US in El Salvador), they also tried to take our passports and charge us $10 for something. I told em we would go insead and get our passports stamped on our on, and of course there was nothing we had to pay. Getting into El Salvador was a 3 mile uphill. My knees were hurting and I pushed my bike the whole way. At the top we tried unsuccessfully to hitchhike, but finally got a bus to take us and our bikes the remaining 15km into Ahuachapan. We are killing time until our hotel lets us check in for the night at 6. Its a real classy establishment that rents rooms by the hour during the day! We dont mind though, we are only paying $5 for the whole night. There is a market going on in town today with lots of street vendors selling lovely foods. I have purchased a tiny avocado and a banana and a mutant pineapple (the stem at the top is like 6 inches across and oval shaped intead of round!). I also got some homemade ice cream in what tasted like a homemade corn flake bowl thingy. I plan to also try chocolate covered watermelon and some other interesting fried things I spotted! Im so happy!
Oh and in case you were wondering we stopped to take a break at a gas station about an hour after my initial urge to poop my pants and I got to use a real toilet instead of the side of the road! :) AND I plan to eat another watermelon half tonight!!
Tomorrow we head to Tacuba to stay at Hostel Mama y Papa. We will stay there a few days to rest, do laundry and visit Parque Nacional El Imposible, which is one of few places you can see native Salvadoran plants. This is the most deforested country in Central America and it also has the densest population!
I added a map at the top, of our route the last 3 days, which I will try to continue to do. Dont know if it is very easy to read or actually helps any. I will post maps as we go as nothing is set in stone as far as where we are going.
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