AXEL MAASS

Leaving Guatemala became the best decision Niseema and I could have taken. It was planned to travel together through Guatemala and if we still have money, time and desire, we would continue further south with the precognition that every meter south enlarges the distance of her return, furthermore every border is something annoying and the crossing will increase the costs. But our intuition commended us to travel towards Nicaragua. Well, we did. I get nervous twitches the moment I think about taking a bus. The whole day will be a test for my psych, to take a bicycle with you is a very complicated issue. A bus terminal in Central America is a place of chaos. One of the last places I want to spend just a minute of my time, with or without bicycle. The problem is, I am cyclists and this multiplies the stress. Unwashed fat men approach you. They never stop talking to convince you of buying their products or invite you to spend time at their hostels or they are hired to sell other bustickets for connections for further traveling. More personal are the capdrivers (or Tuk-Tuk).

It flushes over you the second the door opens or you enter the terminal/ stop. They don’t ask you nicely, they shout at you. No smile, no sympathy, no trustful information.

 

“That is the only bus!”

"Of course, it will go directly to the destination. No pauses. No detours.”

 

 

 

• The search for a connection

 

If somebody is searching for a bus he has to find his own procedure to find the right bus.

You might choose to trust in the information you get. You might ask around and verify the info. It is sometimes helpful to ask locals before  entering the terminal. You look in the internet to get some info etc.

 

• Organization luggage and prices

 

After you decided for a connection, everything has to happen fast. Most of the time you won’t have enough time to organize a nice treatment of your bicycle and bags. Most often the persons you talked with are actually not in charge of the later transport and the responsibility will be shifted to another person. It is always a good idea to talk to the driver. Either he decides or he points to his worker who organizes the luggage and later collects the money.You won’t stop talking to the person you think will be in charge of the bike. It will be discussed: the price for you, the extra money for your bike and the safety of the bicycle. Stay tough! Do not except high prices for your bicycle and the most important: look after your bike. If it is a “Chickenbus”, your bike will be on the roof. I always tried to climb on it and strap it by myself and be sure that nothing is on top of my bike.

 

In the same moment you have to look at your other luggage. Several bags, a tent, bottles and other pieces. As time and safety is rare, it will challenge you. Every time it was possible I took as much as I could into the bus, I did it. This gives you a chance to be faster at the stops and better organized. You can bring the bags outside and you will be sure that nothing happened with them in between.

 

• Arrival and reorganisation

 

To get out of the bus causes big troubles. You can be lucky if nobody waits at the stop or terminal to sell you something or ask to join him in his cab. The bicycle makes it extreme complicated to exit beyond the terminal. Even if they never are in time, even if they never follow a schedule, the moment the bus has to stop is a moment of hesitation. In an environment where people have to jump in and out of buses you can imagine how hard it is to get a bike from the roof without damage. At a terminal you often do not have more time, too. But it will be easier to get an additional minute.

You cannot be sure that your negotiation about the prices ends with leaving the bus. Most often they ask you for another fee but stay focused and remember them of the original discussion. The whole situation will be a mess. Your bags lay somewhere while you control how they put your bike to the ground. Then you will have to put your bags and everything on your bike. Imagine there are salesmen all over the place and they do not accept a "No", they keep on asking and stand in your way. Even if you present your bicycle they might not understand that you wont need a taxi. Once they spitted on my girlfriend after they realised I won’t take their bike-taxi. Busses arrive, the ground is dirty. People might sell food and push you away. Your stress will be at its maximum.

 

 

 

 

After I lost all my photos, a lot of money, my personal data copies and other things in a similar situation at the first terminal I arrived with Niseema to cross from Guatemala into El Salvador, I did not like to the idea of spending my time in several buses in El Salvador and Honduras until we would be able to cross the border; our destination in the north of Nicaragua.

 

We left our little room, a paradise for us both, and searched for a connection. It might be the nicest room we had while our traveling in Latin America. A boat, nor more than a little vessel, brings tourists and locals to a neighbor village. From there leave buses to the close border. I pushed and pulled my bicycle over the wooden panels and could see the water underneath. The driver pushed away the huge algae plants and we started our first stage of the travel through a mangrove river. Fortunately after that journey on the water, we easily found a connection to the border.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the open space behind the border, my eyes caught a glimpse of the buses. The same model as in El Salvador, an old US American School bus, but without a storage system on the roof. Apparently they have other and stricter security laws in El Salvador. After some discussions they accepted to put my bicycle in the back of the bus; totally loaded and a burden as it became crowded. The same way, I achieved with the next bus in direction to the capital, San Salvador. This bus was full until the roof with sweating people. It took all my strength to hold my bike and secure it from hurtng children and elders. We walked eight kilometer through San Salvador to minimize the distance to the other bus terminal where the buses to the Honduran border were supposed to leave. People told us about the risks to walk through the streets at night. My appearance as a cyclists who pushes all his values is not helpful in this circumstance, so, Niseema and I got stressed about where we will stay that night. There was no sign of hospitality nor hotel. Just before it became dark we found a hotel. The sunset increses the feeling of inhospitality. We had no local currency in our pockets and the room normally cost more than we had in foreign bills. We struggled a lot this day and the moment we solved every issue was a big relief. Two more borders and we would be in our chosen location: Nicaragua.

 

I hoped the capital San Salvador has a beautiful center. I was longing for some nice experiences in El Salvador. I was told that at least the church at the main square is quit eye-catching. Again, we walked ten kilometer to the terminal and all I could see was a damn ugly city. The church looks nice from far ahead. You are able to see it from far away because the center is located in a ditch. My opinion changed with the moment we arrived at the city center to behold some bagger and lots of traffic. Everything but breath taking. What actually really will take your breathe while a visit of the center are the continuously passing buses. The main square is enormously stressful and ugly, I couldn’t believe it. A huge street market begins just a few meters next to supposingly tourist magnet. Disorder, noise and dirt reigns the area. As a witness of the chaos you have to wonder what they are actually selling. After dozens of weird stands we arrived in the food section. Fruits and fish weren’t presented pretty well. Despite of those deficits in hygiene the crowd was searching is big hesitation. Unfortunately I pushed my bike through this mass. Further away we could buy our tickets to get almost to the border. From there Niseema took a little taxi and waited for my arrival. As I took my bike it was unable to roll and instead of apologizing, being patient or something else the fat bus-guy put the bus door on my back; his way to tell me to make space for closing it what almost motivated me to fight him. It took me some control to prepare my bike and myself. The street venders kept asking me while I changed my clothes and but all my luggage on my bicycle. After several transportations over the last days, my bicycle had some serious problems and it took me an hour more than I expected to arrive at the border, my hands covered with grease and dirt. I always wonder how easy going Niseema reacts to my cycling. She sat in a little kiosk next the border and smiled all over the face the moement I turned around the corner.

 

Another border, it became routine. We arrived in a city named Choluteca. It’s the city every cyclist stays because of the geography. Only 132km of road borders Honduras with El Salvador in the west und Nicaragua in the south-east. If you plan to transit Honduras, it is common sense to pause in Choluteca, which is located half way. You won’t like to be at a border for a nightstand. If you can choose differently, you do. By now we failed totally in our schedule. Pretty naive we planed one day to arrive in Nicaragua. Our currency problems progressed. After some discussion we found a hotel which allowed us to pay at the next day. By then my money would have been transferred to the credit card. Niseemas credit card would charge more for the transaction then the hotel costs and my card never charges anything. This is a stupid move but why charging if there is a non-cost option, I asked myself, Instead we had some talks and searched the area for the next ATM. Some little problems make life more intense or maybe my dislike of paying for unnecessarities is out of control.

 

Facts:

"According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras has the highest rate of intentional homicide in the world, with 6,239 intentional homicides, or 82.1 per 100,000 of population in 2010. This is significantly higher than the rate inEl Salvador, which at 66.0 per 100,000 in 2010, has the second highest rate of intentional homicide in the world."