Honduras/Nicaragua

Honduras-Nicaragua

Como havia comentado de El Salvador saimos na segunda pela manha depois de nos despedirmos do staff do hotel Izalco e da praia e rumamos para a fronteira com Honduras. Antes de sairmos do hotel o gerente Edgardo nos presenteou com 4 cocos para irmos apreciando a agua de coco e se afastou antes de sairmos pois disse que nao nos queria ver ir embora. Esta tem sido uma constante em nossas viagens de motorhome – fazemos amigos na maioria dos lugares por onde passamos e isto e o mais gratificante – marcar presenca e plantar a semente…

Bem, ja haviam nos dito que Honduras  nao estava muito bem e ainda bem que no nosso trajeto pela Panamericana nao necessitamos ficar muito tempo dentro do pais pois ha muita corrupcao da parte da Policia e nao tivemos vontade de permanecer mais do que o estritamente necessario no pais.Na realidade, atualmente, a policia nao exige “propina” diretamente mas sim atraves dos “tramitadores” que sao os intermediarios que fornecem “servicos” aos turistas em troca de alguma compensacao que depois “dividem” com os policiais. Muito dificil e triste de se verificar algo assim…

No caminho entre Playa del Sol e a fronteira em El Amatillo passamos pela cidade de Usulatan onde encontramos uma farmacia chamada “Farmacia Brasil” com bandeira brasileira e tudo…Dai passamos por San Miguel e depois chegamos na fronteira as 12h20 para sairmos somente depois da 14h30. Muita burocracia, “verificacoes” e supostas “infracoes” para coletar mais dinheiro, leia-se propinas, para os policiais, tipo necessidade  de colocacao de faixas refletivas, quando nosso veiculo nao e um caminhao e as faixas serem exigidas somente para veiculos de carga, etc…e la foi Daniel comprar e colocar as faixas…E alem disto, depois de termos ja oficializada nossa saida do pais, dois policiais acharam de complicar quanto a placa de nosso veiculo dizendo que nao se podia transitar com este tipo de placa em Honduras…mas os oficiais da Aduana ja haviam oficializado nossa saida, legalmente nao estavamos mais em solo Hondurenho…mas eles queriam na realidade complicar para, ao final, “ganhar” algo…   

Bem, depois de toda maratona, e de tirar pouquissimas fotos pois nao senti vontade alguma de fotografar esse tipo de pais, entramos na Nicaragua, sem nada de complicacao, somente pagamos o seguro obrigatorio, verificaram nossos passaportes e fizemos o doc de importacao temporaria do vehiculo, e a fumigacao do veiculo que tambem e exigida. Como ja havia escurecido, nos disseram que  a estrada, apesar de estar em boas condicoes,  era perigosa a noite, assim que acabamos dormindo num “parqueo”, um estacionamento  para veiculos de carga que aguardam para cruzar a fronteira, aduana e imigracao pela manha, e que sao muito comuns por aqui.

Na manha seguinte seguimos indo de Somotillo, passando por Chinandega, Leon, Managua e pelo Lago Managua descendo para o sul ate a cidade de Jinotepe onde estamos visitando nossos amigos Rafael e Roberta. Agora nossa rota ja se da pela Carretera Panamericana.

A, na fronteira entre El Salvador e Honduras encontramos um jovem casal da Nova Zelandia com uma camionete com placa do Chile que estao fazendo o mesmo trajeto pela Carretera Panamericana. 

Honduras/Nicaragua/English

As I had mentioned  we left El Salvador on Monday morning after saying goodbye to Hotel Izalco’s staff and to the beach and went on to the border with Honduras. Before we left the Hotel manager Edgardo gave us two coconut fruit so that we could enjoy its milk on our trip, and he went away before we left because he said he didn’t want to see us leave…This has been something frequent in our trips with the RVs, we make friends in most places we go through and this is something very rewarding – to sow the seeds…

We had been warned that Honduras isn’t the best of the countries and one good thing is that the route we are following through the Panamericana Highway we wouldn’t have to stay in this country for many kilometers. We entered and left the country in the same day. There is much corruption within the Police force and we had no desire to stay longer than that which was necessary to cross over to Nicaragua. In fact presently the Police does not ask for a bribe directly anymore, this is done through the “tramitadores” (middlemen) who render “services” to the tourists and get some kind of “compensation” which they call a tip, which they after “split” with the corrupt policemen.  It is very sad and disgusting!!!

On the way between Playa del Sol and the border town of El Amatillo we went through the town of Usulutan where there is a drugstore called “Farmacia Brasil” with the Brazilian flag on its outdoor panel. From here we went through San Miguel and got to the border town at 12:20 to leave the place after 2:30…Much bureaucracy, many “verifications” and fake “transgressions” or non-compliance with the law but things we knew were just made up so that the middleman would say “don’t worry, I have managed to talk the policeman into letting you go by with it, you just have to give him a little “something” and everything will be ok…” See how the game goes…We met two young man from the States who were returning from Costa Rica and they told us they spent U$ 600,00 to be able to enter and leave Honduras and at the end when one of the guys said they didn’t have any money left the policemen said he would take his guitar…can you believe that…We got by cheap with US20,00 and we needed to buy reflective stripes to place in the RV, even though we know they are only imposed for trucks, but we just wanted to leave asap…But then, when we were already leaving the country, with all documents checked by Aduana and Immigration two policemen at the border bridge decided that we could not ride with the license plate we had, we would be subject to a fine…but we were already LEAVING the country, we were legally out already…just before crossing the bridge to the other side and to the other country!!!They held us there for quite some time trying to make us offer them some money, but Daniel had put in his mind he would not give them anything…and so it was, when they realized we really wouldn’t give them a “present” they let us go on…terrible, isn’t it?

Well, after all that, and of taking very few pictures since I had no desire at all to take pictures of “such” a country, we entered Nicaragua with very little bureaucracy, we just had to buy insurance, pay to have our vehicle sprayed, passport verification and vehicle import docs. As it was night already and the people at Aduana had warned us that,  in spite of being in good condition, that road was dangerous to travel at night. So we stayed at a “parqueo” which is a parking lot for truckers who stay overnight to cross the border first thing in the morning and these  places are very  common here. The next morning we went from Somotillo to Chinandega, Leon, Managua and by the Lake Managua, going south to the town of Jinotepe where we are visiting our friends Rafael and Roberta. Now our route has been through the Panamericana Highway.

And when we were crossing the border between El Salvador and Honduras we met a young couple from New Zealand who are travelling the Panamericana since Chile.   

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