October 2nd Quezaltenancha to La Libertad

La Libertad by 7pm, wet and warm by the pool

Forgive me if my post is somewhat shorter than usual as I'm very tired. Tinker Bell began a sulk today and refused to help me, and I must admit I missed her greatly. I thought  Google Maps on my phone would be fine, but I didn't account for over heating! Where I store the phone is in my tank bag. under a clear plastic cover (so I can see it). This was ok in the mountains of Guatemala where the temperature stayed below 20 degrees, but once I went onto the plains, where the temperature was 35 degrees, the phone switched itself off, with an over heating message. Once cooled down it would work fine, but it would lose the data input when I had Wifi in the hotel. I managed to input the data again at another McDonalds, but within 20 mins it would overheat and cut out. That was the last McDonalds I passed. So, it was back to old fashioned navigation with a map!
I was doing fine until I came to a town called Esquintia; here three roads led out of the town, but only the one to the countries capital had any signage. I wasted an hour riding around the town trying to find a way out and just when I was ready to give up, Tinker Bell piped in, 'Ready to Navigate.' With more hope than expectation I tapped in the next large town and strike me down with a feather, she started giving directions of a rudimentary type (Base map information is the bare bones) 'drive to Highlighted route.' It did the trick as I got out of the city and onto the right road. I know satnav systems are often ridiculed, but today brought home to me how much time I used to waste, trying to find my way out of towns and cities.
Apparently my South America satnav maps, include Panama and Costa Rica- so only three more countries being partially sighted.
When I came down from the mountains in Guatemala and headed east the roads began to improve and I could make good speed, however with stops for fuel and drink and getting lost I did not arrive at the Guatemala border with El Salvador until 2.10pm. I managed to do all the paperwork on the Guatemalan side within 1/2 hour - with the kind help of a lady who spoke good English (she'd lived in the States for a couple of years). I then headed to the El Salvador side and parked my bike and walked over to the passport office. On my way there I was met by a man, who my previous helpers at the Mexican/Guatemalan border had told me about. He must have been there waiting for me and to be honest, this time I didn't feel I needed any help. But once I started to fill in the necessary paperwork (all in Spanish) I was glad of his help. He also shortened the process by making sure I did everything in the right order and copied the requisite number of documents. Geraldo was great, not pushy nor overly sycophantic. He even noticed that I was 'steaming' and went and got me a soft drink. He also sorted all my foreign currency out and got a good rate of exchange. What I didn't realise, was that the currency of ES is the US dollar. I was pleased because I had a surplus of Guatemalan and Mexican currency which was next to useless, so having Dollars is great as they are easy to change anywhere - I've also learnt it is the currency of choice for potential bribees. I paid him about £17 but it was worth every penny as I was back on the road within 1hr 40m. I think the El Salvador border folk were excellent, friendly, helpful and efficient.
Upon entering El Salvador it was noticeably different, better infrastructure, openly more affluent and as far as I was concerned - less potholes and NO SPEED BUMPS. I could fly along at a good pace. There were less people selling stuff by the side of the road, but I was surprised the even here birds were being sold. Not on sticks, nor yellow and green ones but non moving, non breathing ones. They were chickens! I was totally misled by Tinkerbell when upon leaving the border it said my destination was some 60 miles away. Because it was a base map, it did not take into account the numerous hairpins around the coastline of ES. It took me 3hr 30m to reach my destination, by which time it was dark. I had no navigational aid to help me find the hotel and only a a very large-scale map. I drove through the town of La Libertad expecting to see my hotel, but no such look, I drove right out the other side. I turned around and headed back the way I came - I called into the petrol station, filled up and asked the man where was the hotel - he replied '8K DOWN THE ROAD' - the one I'd just driven down.
I eventually found it and drove my bike over rough terrain to get there - reminded me of our track to our house. By this time it was 7.10pm and when seeing the receptionist, who was also the bar manager I asked before I do anything could I have a beer. It was the nicest tasting beer, because of the day I'd had and not because of the brewing talents of the locals. El Salvador is nowhere like the same scale as Guatemala in its landscape, it is less grand, more manicured, but nevertheless beautiful in an understated way. If I hadn't been so tired I would have truly enjoyed the twisty coastal road with its brief glimpses of the pacific ocean. The houses, fields and villages seem better kept than their northern neighbours.
Tomorrow I am being very ambitious, I will seek to clear two countries (ES and Honduras) finishing up in a third - Nicaragua. I am expecting some help from another friend of Geraldo's on the Honduran border. It will be a 250 mile day with 2 border crossing, which will probably take 4 hours out of my travel time. I will leave at 7am and hope and pray that the roads are good. 
The hotel I'm staying at is right on the Pacific coast and I'm looking forward to seeing it in daylight. It is approximately 12 hour days here at the moment so by 7am I should be able to take a few pieces  After my tea I thought I'b better get some pictures as I had nothing from today. Out of the corner of my eye  I detected a movement, at first I thought it to be a mouse or rat, but it was neither it was a very large toad. At around the same time the heavens opened and the thunder and lightning began. I felt smug being out of it and siping my second beer. I had put all my wet weather gear in an easily accessible place today but had no call to use it - it's strange how that always seems to happen. I'll go through the same ritual tomorrow and hope i HAVE NO CALL TO USE IT.

My new best friend just about to leap in the swimming pool

*Foot note

I can't recall if in previous blogs I explained about the loss of the automatic function on my bike, which I put down to the rain. It wasn't, I had inadvertently pressed the manual button (this lies right alongside my hazard warning lights), so naturally it would only change gear when I pressed the toggle button. The bike by the way is great and perfectly suited to this type of touring.

In Guatamala, coming down gnarly and potholed descents I encountered numerous road cyclist - I couldn't believe it, descending these steep hills on skinny road tyres over this crater ridden road. They must get through so many inner tubes and wheels for that matter. I have the utmost respect for their bravery. I certainly wouldn't descend such roads