Our plan was to drive north through Central America as fast as we could and get back into Mexico. No sight seeing just drive, sleep and eat. We were going to basically duplicate our original route right down to the hotels we stayed at. We assumed that the drive was going to be fairly easy and uncomplicated. We never learn.
COSTA RICA
We knew we had to turn around at some point but actually pointing the truck north was a lot harder than we thought. We believed that this was going to be the hardest part of this section of the trip. But soon enough as everything started to go awry, we quickly forgot about it.
NICARAGUA
We took a wrong turn and ended up taking the worst road of the entire trip. It was horrible, full of craters and mud, we could at most manage about ten mph. It took us about three hours to navigate and was four wheel drive all the way.
 |
| after this the road got progressively worse - no photos |
HONDURAS
You may think the following sentences will be full of complaints, after our last Honduras crossing but we didn't have any problems. We were stopped three times and waved through one check point. We showed all original documents, we were polite and they were very nice in return. They only thing they asked to see was our license and registration. Makes us think we were the problem last time.
 |
| at the border, crossing into Honduras |
EL SALVADOR
It is such a tiny country, you think it would be easy to navigate and especially so, because we've already crossed it but not for us - we still managed to get lost. The first day, we ended up taking two wrong turns that added hours onto our drive.
The next day we intended on crossing into Guatemala but that didn't happen. As we were driving along we heard a bang and then smelled smoke. We came to a stop and saw that the trans brake/emergency brake was on fire. This ended up being a four and a half hour roadside repair. All of the bolts that held the backing plate, backed off causing the trans brake to jam resulting in all of the bolts being damaged. If we had the proper tools, it could of been repaired and we would still have an emergency brake.
 |
| wishing he had his old tools |
 |
| actually got to use the emergency triangle |
After that we were in no shape to deal with a border so we drove to the nearest town to find a place to stay. All we could find were auto hotels so we picked one and headed for the entrance. This would be our second time staying at one and very different from our first experience. When we got inside our room, we noticed a mystery box attached to the wall - this would become a great source of amusement for us the rest of the day. When we got inside the phone rang, we answered but couldn't understand anything that the lady was saying to us. We hung up and then heard noise coming from the mystery box. We opened it and ended up talking to her through the hole in the wall. It turns out, these hotels are even more discreet than we knew. All you have to do is place a call for food, drinks etc, put your money in the box, close the lid, listen for noise, then retrieve your item from the box. Its how you pay for the room too. We loved it!
 |
| dinner is served |
GUATEMALA
The plan was to spend three days and two nights in Guatemala. At the border we were told we were not allowed to enter the country. They said that we needed to be out of the country for three months before we could reenter with the truck (after September 18th). Big problem. We were also told we wouldn't be able to cross back into El Salvador - not sure how true that is. The only way they would let us in was if we paid $200 USD and then they would give us a permit that gave us 24 hours to cross Guatemala. With no good options we paid it and after close to five hours we were finally allowed to leave. On another note we were told that sometimes they enforce this rule, sometimes not. It just wasn't our day.
This started a marathon drive dodging truckers, potholes and animals. For seven hours we drove - without coffee or food (except for some melted Snickers bars and warm Gatorades) and we drove and we drove.
MEXICO
We arrived in the dark to an empty border. This could be good or this could be bad. Turns out it was bad. We had the most thorough and lengthly inspection of the truck yet and they didn't want to let Anna in. They said our paperwork wasn't good enough for her, but eventually they relented. The worst part was that they wouldn't give us tourist status (180 day permit). No matter what we said, she would only give us a 30 day in-transit permit. (If you remember, in our last post, our intentions were to spend the rest of our trip in Mexico). After flipping through our passports, she said that because we had already been in the country for a long period of time, she could only give us 30 days. She called her boss and he said no as well. We don't understand why she did this.
So with our paperwork partially completed, we drove to the nearest town to find a place to stay. We treated ourselves to a really nice hotel and finally had our first meal of the day at 10 pm that night.
 |
| very tired |
The next day after getting our truck permit we began looking into changing our FFM status. We were told that potentially they would change it. We would need to exit the country, cancel our current paperwork and try again. But exit the country where? We can't get into Guatemala, staying in no-mans land wasn't very appealing and we would need to find a new border to enter at. And it might not even work - they could give us a three day in-transit permit next time. We don't even know if this information is correct. We still can't find any information supporting why she could only give us a in-transit permit. So very frustrating. So instead of wasting our already dwindling days by trying to find a way to stay longer we're just going to make good use of the days we have.
 |
| getting the truck import permit |
So no more leisurely pace for us, we have to step it up a notch if we are going to do all the things we want to do in this country. We're still a little upset about the thirty days but we now have a new plan. Stay tuned...
 |
| huge tamales and mole sauce - yum! |
 |
| we're still so happy to be here |
