Mike writes:
After a very adventurous couple of days in Rio Dulce, we remembered it was a road trip and returned to the dockside to collect the Cayenne. Time to say farewell to Guatemala, a fantastic country that far exceeded our expectations, helped in no small measure by the Carlows’ hospitality.
Today’s target was El Tunco across the border in El Salvador, a 400km trip for which estimates ranged between 6 1/2 and 9 hours depending on delays at the border. Last night’s noisy electrical storm seemed to have had no effect the road conditions and we made good time for the first couple of hours. The traffic increased and our speed fell as we entered cowboy country, where the prevalence of firearms made us reluctant to risk stopping anywhere local. Instead we settled for another Macdonalds for coffee.
We got out of Macdonalds, Chiquimula, without any problems, although we acquired a very persistent hitchhiker whose adhesive qualities were tested to the full as Chris pressed ahead for the border.
Road resurfacing work slowed us down further as we approached the border near Esqipulas and we prepared for a lengthy process negotiating our way across the border. Instead we were waved through with only a cursory passport check and we wondered whether “Don Francis” who claimed not to have used that border crossing for several years was perhaps concealing the extent and nature of his cross border activities.
A few hundred metres across the border we found a recently overturned truck at the side of the road, a reminder that the roads aren’t all as benign, nor the driving as proficient, as we’d experienced so far.
As if to demonstrate this Frankie proposed we take the scenic route to our hotel. This involved a narrow, twisting ribbon of a road which climbed up into the hills to 4,500′ and offered great views over the countryside near San Salvador. It was made even more challenging for Chris, who was now driving, by the need to dodge disinterested dogs strategically placed in the middle of the road at regular intervals.
After 7 hours we reached El Tunco on the Pacific coast where we were pleased to find that the locals were working hard to ensure we had the option of fish for dinner.
Tomorrow is a rest day but we may be pressured into surfing lessons as El Tunco claims to have the best surfing waves in El Salvador.
Our America’s Challenge Drive 