I arrived at the San Salvador border town of Hachadura about 3:30PM which made me a little nervous because of the length of time it took at the last border. However, little San Salvador proved to be the easiest crossing of them all. The border offices were well-signed, the officials all wore uniforms and were polite and friendly. To top it off there were no charges for me or the bike! That done, I headed down the road looking for a place to stay the night. The road became very twisty as it climbed over some mountians, the air was cool and I thought nothing could be better until I rounded a curve and a long sandy beach on the Pacific Ocean suddenly came into view. This was my first glimpse of beach on the trip! I would have jumped in but it was about 500 metres below the road. The next hour was spent looking for an ocean-front motel and I stopped at the first one near La Libertad (no recipt and I can't remember the name). It was a bit of a hit on the budget ($35) but was very nice and I was in the water just as the sun was going down.

I was one of three guests and the only one at the bar that evening for dinner. consequently I had a captive audience with the bartender for my lousy Spanish.
The ride the next day was hot and windy as usual with things loooking very dry. I have noticed that poorer countries share some roadside features. first there are fewer private automobiles, especially newer models. a lot of people are living and walking alongside the road carrying wood, water or something to sell. You see more animal-drawn vehicles and the rivers always have people in and around them usually washing clothes. San Salvador from my perspective was very poor.
I arrived at the border about 11:30AM and exited San Salvador near Amatillo with again friendly officials.

I entered Honduras to find a situation similar to Guatemala. It was so hot and there was no shade anywhere. Why don't they put up a few small canopies over he waiting areas? This question was to remain unanswered as I discovered that I did not have enough US currency for the border transactions. I had to make a run back into Santa Rosa, San Salvador to find an ATM. Since I couldn't go back with the bike, a guy (for $5) drove me in an old pickup at breakneck speeds and the Scotiabank ATM gave me the cash. It was a rush because the Nicaraguan border shuts down at 2:00PM for an indefinite siesta period. The border charges for everything ran about $75. I made it in the nick of time (I think there was a special $10 fee for fast service) and hit the road right at 2:00PM. It was brutally hot and dry with scenery to match.

So I stopped a bit early for the night at Choluteca. I took the recommendation from a fellow at a gas station and stayed at the Pierre Hotel - seen better days but everything worked (including the ceiling fan - better than A/C and quieter) for about $7.00. The town was crowed with people, buses, trucks and vendors spilling onto the roads. There seemed to be students in bright white and blue uniforms everywhere looking and acting like students anywhere while hey waited for buses. Had a nice chat with the night manager and a few hangers-on and showed them pictures of the trip. They really liked the snow in Canada.