25/09/2019 to 26/09/2019 - Somoto/Nicaragua → Choluteca/Honduras → El Tunco/El Salvador → Antigua/Guatemala

We said goodbye to Nicaragua and made our way to the next country. Unfortunately, it is not possible to travel directly to Choluteca by taxi or bus. So, in the morning, we were picked up by a taxi driver who took us to the border crossing. Then we continued on foot. Have your passport ready, collect stamps, exit Nicaragua and enter Honduras. We were given information on where the buses to Choluteca depart. We walked in the direction mentioned. It went through small houses and an endless line of trucks trying to cross the border. No bus in sight for 15 minutes. With a few Spanish words, some English, hand gestures, and pointing, we asked a family sitting in front of their house and observing daily life. 'There is no bus to Choluteca here.' We could only go as far as San Marcos de Colón or take an outrageously expensive taxi. So Ben made his way back to the border to check for the bus to San Marcos, and I stayed outside the family's house with all our belongings. Suddenly, two heavily armed police officers stood in front of me and wanted to see my passport. Well, stupid me. Of all things, Ben still had it in his pocket from the entry. How do you make people understand when you don't speak Spanish and they don't understand English? Fortunately, the family explained to them what was going on. I was relieved when they walked away without giving me any further attention. Of course, they stopped Ben, but fortunately, he could show them our passports and stamps. We caught a minibus to San Marcos and from there, took a large and fairly modern bus to Choluteca. We drove for an hour through small towns and incredibly green nature. Choluteca was just a stopover for us to continue the next day. We had a delicious meal and on the way there, we could watch a fire-spitting street artist. He stood in the middle of the busy street but was able to earn a lot of money with his talent. Other than that, the city has nothing to offer, so it didn't matter that it poured rain the rest of the day. The next morning, we were supposed to leave at 5 am. At least, that was the plan. The driver came with two travelers from León, Nicaragua. One of them had entry problems at the border, so everything got delayed a bit. We didn't leave until 6:30 am. We soon arrived at the border from Honduras to El Salvador. The entry and exit process was very fast. Only our car was checked, and we had to wait here for half an hour. Unfortunately, you won't see anything about El Salvador in our passports. They are so advanced that everything is recorded electronically, and they save the stamps. We continued on. We made a lunch stop in El Tunco. We had a snack, changed vans and drivers, and then we were already on our way to exit. We drove through all of El Salvador and left the country again. And now came the problem that everything is only registered electronically. The nice border official couldn't see that I had ever entered the country. He searched everything, even checked under my name and Ben's passport number. I didn't have any proof that I was legally in the country since there are no more stamps. After half an hour of waiting and some consultations between the official and his boss, I was eventually allowed to exit the country. And again, there was no stamp. Now we were waiting to enter Guatemala. We had endless heavy rain, and the border control point in Guatemala is not covered. Every car had to drive up individually to the official and get the entry stamp. In addition, there was only one lane for both entry and exit, and there was an accident with a motorcycle and a truck. It took forever. Eventually, our journey continued, and we finally arrived in our accommodation in Antigua at 8:30 pm. We had completed the 3 country borders and 678 kilometers. Along the way, we drove some kilometers on the Pan-American Highway. The highway that connects Alaska with Tierra del Fuego extends over about 48,000 kilometers along the entire American continent. We have already covered about 280 kilometers of it. We will do the rest on another vacation ;-).