January 23 :: El Zonte, El Salvador

January 23 :: El Zonte, El Salvador :: 152km / 1526km total

An early-ish start, but as the day would prove, not early enough. I pushed off towards the border, less than 50km away, well fed from last night. The road was hillier than the map suggested, and mixed winds made me truly earn the distance. But the border came, and went, too easy when you flash your beloved, world-respected Canadian passport. Where´s the border guards trying to fleece me for $$? Where´s the on-the-spot made-up rules to confound and confuse the gringo traveller? Travelling through Central America has been, from a logistical standpoint, a piece of cake.

El Salvador! Not so long ago I wouldn´t have dared ride here, but now its a safe, friendly, peaceful place. And hot. I clung to the edge of the road´s right shoulder, picking up as much shade as possible from the roadside trees. The currency here is American dollars, even further simplifying travelling here. The drinks are still cold, and the road is still wide and good. The only thing that changed in crossing the border is that local bike riders ride down whatever side of the road they feel like (i.e. against traffic, the WRONG side), quite unnerving for me to be riding head-on towards another cyclist. In my experience cyclists are the most dangerous aspects of road traffic - having crashed several times with them abroad, and it was with great attention (and annoyance) that I crossed with them.

Eventually the road truly became coastal and I could look out at the Pacific as I rode. It also became brutally hilly, as the mountains extended into the Ocean, turning a hard-ish 150km day into a real epic battle - one that I wasn´t really in the mood for. For 40km the road twisted, rose, fell, usually climbing for about 2km then dropping for about 2km. No hotels, mostly just the road, hills, Sun, and me. The coastal landscape was so rugged that I went through a total of 5 tunnels cut through the mountains. They were a little unnerving as well, being unlit and narrow, the longest one being 570 metres. But at the 135km mark, as I was really suffering from the heat and hills and wondering what the Hell I´d gotten myself into, I came across a little roadside restaurant/Godsend. A calamari meal, 2 Cokes, and an orange juice set me straight and I pressed on reinvigorated for the final mileage. Exhausted and saddlesore I rolled into El Zonte, the first area with hotels on this stretch of the coast. The waves and beach are beautiful but I´m too messed up to even think about swimming. I´ve promised myself an easy 60km-ish day to Zacatecoluca tomorrow.