Van not here, van gone...

So long story short were in Nicaragua.
Thee details of our recent journey are varied and absurd.
We rolled out of Guatemala city with the issues and made some wrong turns and decided to just head for El Salvador instead of Hondures as planned. So not a big deal, El Salvadore is a very beautiful place lots of greenery and friendly people. We got a little lost as we left San Miguel but figured it out around 11pm and made our way to the border. The Salvadorean border jefe on duty was very excited to see us and talk politics concerning the pending inauguration. This is the point where everything goes to shit, we cross into Hondures around midnight and proceed to get most of our paperwork done except of course the permission to bring the van in. We end up spending the night in a less than reputable truckstop each of us sleeping with one eye open. Were up bright and early to finish the papers which turn out to not be as complete as we thought, each person in the chain wanting a few more dollars or more copies of this or that. Copies and copying papers seem to employ more Latin Americans than any other industry and the totals really start to add up. We finally get through and instantly are stopped at a seemingly impromptu police checkpoint where im being written a citation for AJs liscense being "expired" (1/5/2009 is not jan 5th its may 1st didnt get through) ten dollars later we had an understaning and were on our way only to run into another 11 checkpoints where we were the only car stopped and the following reasons were given for either cash donation or driving infractions:

-We need drinking money
-Were unpaid police volunteers
-We need water money
-Your Car is missing the reflective safety triangle on the sides
-No fire extinguisher
-Expired Liscense
-No reason just give me money now
-and various unintelligible reasons

In short Hondures is the most corrupt place ever.
A fact which was ver soon underscored as we tried to leave their shit-hole country.
At this point we have 23 dollars US to our names and we need 28 for migration stamps. The van cost all sorts of extra but we have decided to ditch it and just walk. However Bob cant leave Hondures unless the van leaves or we pay the police to impound and destroy it. We settle on selling it. I guess a 1990 Chevy van for $20 in Hondures is not a great deal because it doesnt draw any buyers. Finally one of the guys helpiong us in imigration says he wants it but we have to get it into Nicaragua first so he can keep it there while he gets different plates for it. So he runs all our paperwork through and we prepare to cross the border. While were negotiating the other guys start selling everything in the van we dont need (binoculars, boxes, tools, spare tire, etc) all we needed was enough for the bus to Leon on the other side of the frontera. Eventually the bus gets over the border and we meet our buyer, he suddenly doesnt want the van and we send him on his way with ten bucks for his troubles. We make it about 20 miles down the road when the plot twist happens, this being a tragic comedy of course, we get a flat tire. So here we are in rural nowhere with no spare tire and a van we didnt want in the country to begin with. A couple farm boys walk up to the road and we have a good laugh as we pull the plates and VIN off and strap on our packs. I toss him the keys as we walk off in the the sunset and the looming shadow of the local smoking volcano. So truely begins the start of this grand adventura.
We walk about a mile down the road and a guy in a pickup offers us a ride. Hes delivering dough from place to place and as it turns out he lived in California for 15 years back in the 80s and 90s. I chat with him as we ride toward Leon and he makes his stops. He buys us some coffee and then drops us at a gas station outside the ciudad where cabs hang out. We meet a cab driver who will take us to a good cheap hotel for around four bucks. He reccomends the Via Via and as it turns out he knows what hes talking about. Its a very nice hostel where there are many people from around the world and a few we have seen on our way south. We got settled in and AJ and I ran across the street to post our blogs and here we are. Seems like a great place, lots of friendlies.
Costa Rica tomorrow? No se.
We`ll keep you updated.
Until next time,
Dean