Oregon to Ushuaia on an XR650L

[alvincullumyork]

Man you suck at riding a motorcycle.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by alvincullumyork

Man you suck at riding a motorcycle.

Maybe, but last I checked, I have thousands of dollars and I'm riding through Central America while you are cooling your heels in college. Have fun being broke and doing homework! Hahaha!

[Ulyses]

We woke up this morning and still hadn’t decided where to go, so we flipped a coin and ended up heading for Honduras and the Copan Ruins.



We stopped at a gas station and we encountered a normal looking dude carrying two pistols in his belt. One of the odd things I’ve notice in Guatemala is the amount of dudes carrying around pistols. It’s quite common; I suppose it’s kind of like the wild west down here and you have to defend yourself. Still, it makes me wish I had one of mine with me. This guy was packing a glock and two mags while riding his Honda XL200 down the road:



And this gentleman was dual wielding with what appeared to be a pair of Browning Hi Powers:



I’ve been kind of surreptitious in trying to photograph the armed folk down here; don’t really want to offend anyone who is packing heat….

We were riding down the road when I saw these kids in the back of a truck. Everytime I raised my camera to take a picture, they would laugh and duck down in the back like it was some kind of "Don't let the gringo take a picture" game....


We made it to the border and immediately anticipated another crazy episode. Fortunately, everything was relatively low key and efficient. I got stamped out of Guatemala without a hassle and went to watch the bikes while Ed Zachtamundo had his turn.

Sure enough, Ed and one of the customs officials were soon walking back to Justin’s bike in order to fix a problem with his paper work. After a lot of hand motions and broken Spanish, we deduced that the guy wanted another copy of Ed’s title and passport. Funny how Ed just keeps getting the shaft from the customs official….



We then proceeded to the Honduran side and experienced a relatively hassle free crossing. All of the fees were posted on signs in the immigration office, so they couldn’t scam us. All of the Hondurans were supper friendly and we were in and out in under an hour.



Immediately across the border we stopped in the town of Copan Ruinas and had lunch at a BBQ joint. We decided to try the “Pork Spike”, which ended up being a pork shish kabob. We also saw a cute little puppy:



We then headed to the ruins. The Copan ruins were nice. All of the other ruins that we’ve seen so far have been totally restored. The Copan ruins were different. Some of the buildings and edifices were totally restored; however, the majority were un-restored or only half restored. I like that; it’s kind of disheartening to realize that the pyramid that you are looking at may look like it did back in the day, or it may look like some archeologists fantasy. In any event, the Copan Ruins were pretty cool.
















It was cool to see the immense tree roots growing out of the ruins....



And then we found the ballgame court. Ed Zachtamundo decided that he wanted to represent Team America....until I told him that the losing team was typically the victim of a ritual sacrifice.....



As we were finishing up at Copan, it started to rain. We decided to ride a little further and test the weather and road conditions. After a few miles it was apparent that the road surface was very similar to the road that I had crashed on yesterday. Slick as bacon grease.



We crawled down the road; at several points the pavement disappeared and we spun our tires through slick red mud. After about 60 klicks we reached the town of La Entrada and decided to stop for the night and avoid another session of pavement surfing.



We ended up finding the nicest hotel in town. Hotel y Resturante El San Carlos. This place is de-luxe. Hot water, working internet, soft beds, and a parking garage! All for 390 Lempira ($19.70). Tomorrow we wake up early and beat cheeks for El Salvador where hopefully we can meet up with elsalvadorklr and check out his bar. He's promised us a free round of beers if we buy some pallea.....

[mathews42]

Pallea?


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[purpledrake]

Originally Posted by mathews42

Pallea?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Paella.

[NotAllWhoWanderRLost]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Maybe, but last I checked, I have thousands of dollars and I'm riding through Central America while you are cooling your heels in college. Have fun being broke and doing homework! Hahaha!

There is nothing quite like the love between two brothers!

I'm still enjoying your amazing adventure, thanks for taking the time to share the photos and stories. You are definitely having the time of your life.

I hope you can find some more fun roads to burn all that cash on fuel, beer and memories. Enjoy!

[alvincullumyork]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Maybe, but last I checked, I have thousands of dollars and I'm riding through Central America while you are cooling your heels in college. Have fun being broke and doing homework! Hahaha!

zing.

It looks like mom and dad will be all alone for Christmas. I got an internship in the North Dakota oil fields over winter break! Maybe I can earn some money and not be so broke.

[Ulyses]

Ed Zachtamundo (Justin) and I crossed into El Salvador yesterday and were on our way to see elsalvadorklr and his bar. As we were passing through an intersection, Justin was hit by truck. We got him to a hospital and paid off the cops to keep him from getting in trouble.

He has a serious compound fracture in his right leg; it is broken in several places and the bone is protruding from the skin. An ortopeadic surgeon from San Salvador is en route to perform surgery in a few hours.

I'm currently staying at the Hospital with him. We are in the town of Ahuachapan at the private hospital. It's called "centro medico de ahuachapan". GPS coordinates as follows:

N 13* 55' 21.4"
W 089* 50' 38.0"





Justin does not have medevac insurance (i.e. Medjet Assist) and we are unsure if he is still covered by his Health Insurance in the states. I will be trying to set up a paypal link to his account if people would be interested in donating to a fellow rider who is in serious trouble.

Prayers and support are appreciated. Thanks to everyone in advance!

Bryce

[Hektoglider]

terrible news. He is lucky to be alive.

[Brown Falcon]

Holy crap! That looks bad...

I hope he can get patched up quick! I'll keep him in our prayers.

[macrae85]

Originally Posted by jfink

So, we are in Santiago Chile right now having shipped our bikes to Colombia and traveled from there. Here are a few things we have learned that may help as you pass through South America.

1) Insurance: in Colombia you will need SOAT (liability insurance). BUT, ask for and buy the international insurance if you can, not just the one for Colombia. You will need the insurance at least in Argentina, Brazil and we found in Peru (because we were stopped twice and were asked for it). In Peru we were stopped in Juliaca (I think that is spanish for cluster fuck) and Puno. If you act like you can't speak spanish (no act for us) and emphasize that the SOAT you bought in Colombia WAS international they may let you go without having to pay a bribe. One fellow we met from Germany who spoke spanish well, warned us about Puno and had to pay a $110 US bribe, for not having SOAT.

Argentina requires SOAT insurance. We tried to buy International Insurance at all the normal places in Santiago, (Fabella's, etc) but turns out they REQUIRE a RUT. Not sure what RUT means but what it is, is a national Chilean ID that everyone is given when they are born. These folks will not sell you insurance unless you have one. However; we purchased tickets for a ferry in Chile and they required a RUT and simply used our passport number. Hmmmm ... like I said, buy it in Colombia if you can.

2) Speed limits: In Ecuador they have just begun strict enforcement of the traffic laws. Over 15kmh and they impound your bike and take you to jail for three days. Be warned!!! After speeding by the policia at over 30kmh above the speed limit in Colombia, we were fortunate not to have been stopped before we found out about this. So far, about the only other place where speeding and following the law was important was Chile. Don't try to bribe an officer in Chile, it is the same as here in the states, you may go to jail.

3) Hotels: in South America add a couple things to your shopping list when looking for hotels. In additional to safe parking and wifi (which is NEVER wifi) add toilet lids and hot water. Nothing worse than sitting on porcelain and then having a cold shower.

4) Gasoline is really only a problem in Bolivia. Bolivia is a beautiful Country but the estacion de gasolina have been given the right by the government to fuck the tourist. For the nationals the gas is subsidized and they pay around $2/gal. But you will pay around $7/gallon for gas, poor quality gas (84 octane) if you are lucky enough to get gas. They don't have to sell us gas, and I think they don't like doing the necessary paperwork for tourists to buy gas. But, if you just stay, are persistent, act like you won't leave, eventually they will give in. Pull up, open your tank and don't take no for an answer (that is hard for us Americans to do, I know). And there are usually gas lines, but in most SA countries you can go around the autos in line to the "moto" gas line. There is no gas in Bolivia within 100 kilometers of the border, to reduce the potential of black market trade (Bolivians buying cheap and selling higher).

Many towns in Bolivia have "families" who sell gasoline from barrels. If there isn't a gas station or there isn't gas at the station, and you are running low, be persistent and ask for gasoline. Eventually they will send you to someone in town who sells black market gas. But, it won't be cheap. We paid over $12/gallon for gas in a border town with Chile. You should have no problem with quality, but the KTM ... eh?

5) Roads: Toll roads in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia are moto ride free. There are little lanes on the right side of the toll booth that allow you to go around. Some are pretty narrow and off camber so watch your cases. In Chile, there are tolls for motos.

Beware the "oh, this road is good!" advice you get. Wash board roads are a given. Riding 200 kilometers on roads that shake the fillings from your teeth is normal. Deep sand, mud when it rains, road construction, big rocks, trucks and buses ... did I say road construction? Best advice I can give is 'drive like a local'.

Great ride report!!! We will be in Ushuaia the 20th through 23rd of December.

Great information.......thanks!

[macrae85]

Just got to the end of this.......ouch!
I know nothing of of flights back to the States,but is it not better waiting where you are
until he's a bit better,and get a flight out of San Salvador and try and get his bike in secure
storage?
Everyone nightmare,hope you get sorted out OK,and he recovers quickly!

[coldgames]

Bryce, I am a friend of Justin's, my name is John. Let me know at all if there is something I can do to help out. I talked to his Father, sounds like he'll be down there in a couple of days. Thank you for all you are doing to help him out, PM me if you need my contact information for any reason at all... Not sure what I'll be able to do, and not quite sure what else to say, usually I can think of all kinds of smart-ass things, but I'm at a loss. Thank you again, PLEASE don't hesitate if you need help in any way.

[purpledrake]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Ed Zachtamundo (Justin) and I crossed into El Salvador yesterday and were on our way to see elsalvadorklr and his bar. As we were passing through an intersection, Justin was hit by truck. We got him to a hospital and paid off the cops to keep him from getting in trouble.

Prayers and support are appreciated. Thanks to everyone in advance!

Bryce

Oh no! That is terrible news. Yes, we will pray for his recovery (physical, financial, etc.)

[wbedient]

Prayers sent. Keep us up to date on the medical insurance/payment issues.