Allen and I crossed into El Salvador a few days ago. We crossed at the La Hachadura border with about 2.5 hrs of our time. The nice thing is that since we are currently in the CA4 (Central America 4, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua area) this border we did not need to pay for a tourist visa or the temporary import permits for the bikes. SCORE ! One fun thing while travelling is learning everyday. You can nerd out on the internet all you want to learn about particular countries, but the best way is to actually experience it is in person and fumble around. While we were at the border, I had about 600 Guatemalan Quetzals to change into El Salvador Colons. We had a money changer confront us with a handful of cash wanting to do a deal, so I asked him what I would get for 600 Quetzals, he told me about $80 American Dollars. I said, what about Colons, you guys use Colons right? Nope, we haven’t used Colons since 2005… Allen and I both were surprised, hahahaha.

So we’re in El Tunco, El Salvador. We found a rad little hostel near the Pacific ocean to celebrate my 34th birthday – pool party style 😉

Acajutla, El Salvador, night 1. We found this hotel about 20 mins before sunset. My room was too hot to sleep in so I slept in the hammock with the Pacific Ocean splashing 10 feet away…

El Tunco, Papaya Lodge. (I’m typing this blog post in one of their hammocks right now…)

Today is 101 days & 16,623 km’s since I’ve left Canada. So here is a tribute to my trusty Bumot Defender Panniers that have endured speed bumps, potholes, water crossings, desert crossings, dusty roads, monsoon downpours all without me stressing if my gear would get soiled.