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December 4, 2017
Day 22 [Mon 12/04/17] - Dominical, Puntarenas, Costa Rica to Paso Canoas, Panama
Update: I am alive and well and resting peacefully along the PanAmerican Highway in the Hotel Hocedaje in San Isidro, Panama on the border (frontera) with Paso Canoas, Panama.
Starting Odometer: 10,105
Ending Odometer: 10,235
Distance Traveled Today: 130 miles
Distance Traveled This Trip: 5,632 miles [10,235 - 4,603]
0 miles - Dominical, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica
95 miles - Paso Canoas, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica (2:12) 95 miles
5 miles -Border Station Terpel, Panama (0:10) 100 miles
My ride today looks something like this.
So I wake up in the morning, and I'm having some issues with my internet, so I don't get my photos posted for the day. Finally, I just give up and take off. Once again, I leave crazy late, and once again, when I get up, I see that the hotel has spectacular views, that no one would guess when they stop for the night.
So now, I running down the road in Costa Rica. Always, the roads in Costa Rica were very nice, but as I get closer to the border, they get worse and worse. Also, Costa Rica seems to decline as well, now with people living in tin shacks on the side of the road.
When I come to the border with Panama, it's kind of funny because I remember this place. Or maybe I remember the photos of it. But you get the idea. I definitely recognize the buildings on both sides of the border...Costa Rica and Panama.
I hate that I always have to go through this process in the heat of the day. The ideal way to do this would be in the early morning, when it's cooler.
Today, I get through the Costa Rica side of the border with no problems. Always it's easier to get out than it is to get in to the next country.
Now, my handler takes me to get copies, and we're standing at the copy store, and I'm just screaming at my handler that I already have copies.
"No necessito copias. Tengo copias." And, I'm not clear if he thinks I'm an idiot, or what. But I show him that I already have copies, and I'm not paying for more copies. It's very frustrating for me when they don't get what I'm saying, and I'm saying it in their language. Very frustrating.
Eventually, I get through Immigracion and Aduana for both countries. This time, I took notes on how long it took me. I got to the border at 12:50. And I was cleared to enter Panama at 2:48 p.m. So, it took me almost exactly 2 hours to cross the border, which is not bad.
But it's just so hot and miserable. I took off all of my motorcycle gear this time, so I wasn't quite as hot, but it's still just sweltering. And I'm just sweating like a whore in church for 2 hours. It's not fun.
One guy comes rolling up on a KTM with Pennsylvania plates, and I rush over and introduce myself. He's basically on the same track as me, I think. His name is Dan. He said he was from outside of Philadelphia, but I forget where.
I tell him that he's passed Immigracion and Aduana for Costa Rica, and he'll have to go back, and then I take off for Boca Chica. However, I get about 10 miles into Panama, and there's this huge thunderstorm ahead. Once it starts raining on me, I turn around and race back to the border, and get a hotel room on the Panama side of the border for the night.
The funny thing is that Panama has a little border checkpoint just this side of the border, and they asked me (as I'm heading back towards the border with Costa Rica)..."You're not going back into Costa Rica, are you?" And I'm like...no...of course not...why would I?
I check into my hotel ($25 a night seems like a lot), and then I ask her where to go for dinner. And she hands me a menu and asks if I want "Peeza" and finally I realize she thinks I want to order pizza. And I'm like....I want to eat what the locals eat. I don't want to get pizza. I can get that in the USA.
So, finally, she tells me to go to the frontera.
So I ride my motorcycle across a little concrete bridge between the two lanes of traffic between the frontera and the little checkpoint set up in Panama and roll back into town.
Once I get back to the frontera (border), I see that there is a road on each side of the border that goes south through the town, so that, at any point, you can walk across, or ride your motorcycle across a dirt path 8 meters long, and go from one country to the other. Pretty funny, really. So that's why they have the little border checkpoint on the Panama side. Because, you could easily cross into Costa Rica without clearing Immigracion or Aduana.
I stop and eat a chicken dinner with rice and beans in the madness that is the frontera.
The people that own the restaurant (really a more of a shack than a restaurant), but they notice my L.A.M.A. sticker on the bike and start taking photos of it.
"You are in the L.A.M.A.?" he asks in broken english.
"Mi amigos en the L.A.M.A. gave me that sticker. I rode with the in Nicaragua," I reply.
He starts taking photos and comments that he has friends in the L.A.M.A. That sticker carries a lot of weight down here, apparently. Who knew?
Then, it starts to rain again. Great. I didn't even think of that. I'm not a smart man.
So I've decided that I need to start watching the weather forecasts because that's 2 days in a row I've been rained on. And, it is not the rainy season, technically, but you don't look at the foliage down here and wonder if it rains a lot. Costa Rica has the densest jungles I've ever seen, so they get a lot of rain. There's no doubt about that.
I check the forecast for tomorrow, and it shows it's supposed to rain every day for the rest of the week. Great. But it looks like they are sort of spotty afternoon thunderstorms. So, I'll try to get an early start in the morning and see if I can get in a decent ride tomorrow.
Also, I caught myself riding today without food or drinks on the bike, which is against my rules. So I'll stock up in the morning before I hit the road.
Posted by Rob Kiser on December 4, 2017 at 8:13 AM
Comments
Hey Robster!
Posted by: Steven A Baldwin on December 4, 2017 at 7:10 PM
Hey Steveo. How's it going? Looks like I might finally make Panama City tomorrow (a day or two late, but I think we should be good for next Monday.
Posted by: Rob Kiser on December 4, 2017 at 8:18 PM