06 | December | 2012 | Joachim Löffel

64,2km – 1020m up – 1154m down – 2881 kcal – ~5h

The atmosphere at breakfast was brilliant this morning. No hectic, no pressure, no run for coffee and food. Obviously nobody wanted to be first to leave the hotel, compared to the past 4 riding days, when everyone wanted to have an early start. It was just 11km to the border and we would re-assemble there anyhow, to do a short convoy into Guatemala, as we expect big truck traffic. We even pushed our bikes down the cobblestone slope from the hotel as it was so steep and slippery.

We had a final scenic climb in Honduras into the deep hanging clouds before we ‘dived’ towards the border into sunny Guatemala. All of a sudden the temperature gained momentum and ended in a very hot day. Border crossing was easy – stamp out in Honduras, pay 2 bugs in Guatemala, done! The waiting for the last to get his visa took the most time and the little ‘buggers’ liked us hanging around in ‘no mans land’. As usual I was amongst those who got the most mosquito bites.

How easy this day was considered to be, could be seen at the first coke stop, or better say ‘beer stop’ I never saw one of us drinking beer at a so-called coke stop at around 9am, except this morning. Lunch at around 58km was just to give us final directions to the hotel in town. Nevertheless food and beverages were served and more time than ever was spent, which was wise, because it turned out that my room was not ready for another hour when I arrived. The usual ‘killing time’ situation to wait for a change.

After I had my cold shower I went to town to explore the local market. In the first side road I run into 5 to 6 scary looking guys, hiding behind vehicles, hands at their guns chasing a ‘suspect’. I better dared not to take a photo and turned around into another direction. The market was very busy, but great fun to walk through the narrow isles of the densely arranged market stands. I was joint by David and we were obviously the only foreigners seen here for quite a while giving us lots of smiles and friendly ‘holas’ or a rare ‘gringo’. It looks as if Guatemala is going to be as hospital as the previous countries. We later found out, that most of us went to the nearby ‘mall’ or even watched a movie in the cinema. The market was a mix of everything. Cloth, next to fruits and veggies, Chinese plastic toys and tools, car parts, toilet articles, etc. It was nice to watch how young and old, men and women tried to sell there goods or simply having there ‘siesta’.