The highway in Honduras. note the missing guardrail and pavement
Sean and Lou bringing up the rear. In line, uphill, 10-15 mph.
Lou says ¨¡Yo estoy feliz!¨A trip like this would be fast and easy if all you had to do was fill gas and find hotel rooms, but some days aren´t that easy.
When we arrived in San Christbal de las Casas we must have ridden through a puddle of paint, because the left leg of my fancy leather pants and my left boot were covered in purple paint. After dinner I walked by a shoe repair shop and asked if he could help me out. I ended up spending nearly an hour talking to Jorge Santiz Gomez , the owner of the Reparacion de Calzado at Nabarro No 7. It was interesting how we both tried to express our opinions, even though we didn't have a common language. I left with a little better understanding of Mexican culture and a really clean pair of boots.
When Lou's R100R started needing to be push started, I was pretty sure there wasn't too much to worry about. A short call on skype to Mikey at Martindale Motorcycle and a quick change of the regulator, and we were back in business........ until we found part two. Lou's battery had jumped out of the battery box and had been rubbing against the back tire for probably 500 miles, wearing a nice tire shaped hole in the battery case. We spent most of Monday morning walking the streets of tiny San Marcos de Ocotopeque and inquiring at more than seven businesses, only to find our best bet was a bus ride to nearby Santa Rosa de Copan. Fortunately, a local Peace Corp volunteer ,Connie, had the morning off and graciously guided us around during the morning. In the afternoon we boarded a "chicken bus" for S R. We went to a recommended auto parts store, who didn't have one, but loaded the four of us (this time Sean's friend Liz was guiding) in his SUV and drove us all over town until we found a suitable replacement. Funny how the place we ended up at reminded me of Mikey's. After buying the battery, the parts house owner even had someone drive us back to the other side of town so we could get some groceries. Everyone says he must have been from El Salvador. Oh well, he was very kind to us.
Some days the kindness of strangers is really amazing.
1 comment:
So were you riding backwards on your bike when you took the picture of Lou and Sean driving uphill at 10 to 15 mph? ... so glad the gas used to toast marshmallows was unleaded! Lou's beard does look rather gray in the photo!
Love,
Texas Mom
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