I’ve had a bunch of thoughts and photos that don’t really fit into a blog post, so I figured I’d just throw them all here.

Mileage-wise, since leaving home July 27th, I have ridden my little XT250 a distance equal to riding from Los Angeles to Atlanta and back to Los Angeles, and then back to Atlanta again. It hasn’t complained yet. For those that think they need at least a 650cc motorcycle to do this trip, I still disagree. The speed limit on most highways in Central America is between 60 and 80 kmh, or 35 to 50 mph. In towns the speed limit is typically between 30 and 40 kmh, or 20 to 25 mph. You can do 100 kph on small stretches of the InterAmerican highway, but that’s about it. Most of the time, you will end up averaging about 35mph.

There are still several things I haven’t gotten used to:

• Nearly every male between the age of 14 and 80 walking beside the road is carrying a machete. Those between 10 and 14 are holding a rope attached to a horse.
• Bare electrical wires attached to shower heads.
• Open-air construction. Most roofing material does not touch the walls; there is a four to six inch gap between. This allows for good air circulation, good mosquito circulation, and good critter circulation.

Spider on the inside of the shower curtain. Overall diameter (including legs): about six inches. To her credit, the water from the shower didn’t bother her and she stayed put.

In the mountains, you get large spiders in the bathrooms. In the forests, you get large snakes, frogs, etc. Along the coast you get large crabs.

In my previous life, among other things, I spent time studying and discussing human factors — how humans interact with their environment, products and machinery. So things like this bathroom just drive me nuts. The entire room is three feet wide. I am just over six feet tall. I cannot sit on this toilet…my knees hit the wall long before then. Also, the only way to get to the shower is to squeeze between the toilet and the wall. But that’s exactly where they put the towel rack, as an obstacle, instead of on the opposite wall above the toilet. That wall was reserved for a picture of a tulip. And if there’s a towel on the rack, you can’t sit on the toilet OR get to the shower. There used to be a toilet paper holder to block your path also, but apparently someone already broke that off getting to the shower.

Random artwork in a hostel.