Cycling The Globe

Distance: 86.5 km
Ride time: 4:35:36
Average: 18.8 km/h
Max speed: 42.5 km/h
Total: 36032 km

I had packed my bicycle and was ready to leave my small hotel in the morning as I spotted two other cyclists also about to leave the same hotel. Somehow we had missed each other last night, but this was Jess and Nick from full-cycle.org.uk on their own ride around the world!

The British couple were heading south, so obviously I asked what they thought about the situation in Honduras. Their answer was the most positive I have heard in a long time, and after our chat I was cycling towards the border with renewed appetite to experience what this country would be like.

The border crossing was rather chaotic and the queues a bit longer and slower than what I have experienced lately, but I managed to get my passport stamped (3$ entry fee) and my money changed, all while keeping an eye out for the bicycle.

In the end it all went well and I was cycling through the green country side of rural Honduras.

A few things had changed. People in Nicaragua are rather shy, but here every kid would smile and scream Hola Gringo as I cycled past. A few times the smile was followed by “Darme un dollar”, give me a dollar.

I didn’t feel like taking out my big Canon camera to take photos today. The phone would have to do…

I had a long chat with a nice lady at a gas station who told me a little about life in Honduras. This is the safe corner of the country, and in fact life seemed good here.

I continued to the sea town of San Lorenzo where I found a Chinese run hotel for the night. I went to have a bite to eat at a restaurant at the central square. Apparently they like Karaoke here!

Everybody seemed happy and eager to hear where I was coming from. As I walked the short distance back to my hotel I felt the vibes of a friendly place – much different from the war zone I had in some ways imagined.