Ahh, nothing like a 2.5 day bus journey through 5 countries! With our bus-tirp-snack supplies in hand, we boarded the bus in Managua at about 5am and spent something like 14 hours travelling through Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador to stay in San Salvador for the evening. Very interesting journey and so glad we weren't doing all these border crossings in our own car like those American guys (respect to them though!).
We travelled through some pretty poor areas (Honduras especially) and it really makes you appreciate where you come from and what you have. We'd heard about how dodgy San Salvador is but it's not until get there and see a security guard with a shotgun outside every shop, business, etc plus barbed wire literally everywhere. The city is built out of barbed wire!!! The bus depot was behind and wall and (surprise, surprise) barbed wire with our own shotgun-wielding guard with a hotel next door that you can walk straight into without having to go on the street.
We took that option and checked in for the night but decided to try and get something to eat. We asked the security guard about places nearby and he said to get a taxi to a place about 5 minutes away. Basically we got ripped off, the taxi guy charged us about $6 to drive a few blocks to the local equivalent of KFC which was also horribly expensive and on the way back we saw just the kind of local stall we'd wanted just around the corner! The worst part was that the guard got a $1 kickback from the taxi driver. As Jack pointed out, it's scary when that kind of money means something to a guy with a pump-action shotty and 50 rounds of ammo on hit belt.
In actual fact we saw that it would have been fine to walk around during the daytime and probably ok to get around at night in taxis. Still, not a recommended destination but I'd like to go back to El Salvador one day to check out the waves. From various reports the waves can be world class and the coastal areas aren't nearly as dodgy as the capital. In comparison, I'm not sure Managua is much better than San Salvador with some huge rates of stabbings, etc while we had a great time elsewhere in Nicaragua!
Anyway, after a greasy chicken dinner and average sleep we got back on the bus at 6am and headed north through El Salvador and into Guatemala. Unfortunately we didn't get to travel around Guatemala but I'd love to go back there too. Some of the scenery looked amazing and lots of travellers I've met have said it's been their favourite destination! From memory the only time we got out was Guatemala City which wouldn't be at the top of your must-see list (unless you're into barbed wire and dudes with shotguns).
Onto another bus, through the rest of Guatemala and across the border into Mexico! Pretty weird going through the border, you have to push a little button and a traffic light goes green and you can walk through. Not sure what happens if the light goes red! A couple of hours later we arrived in Tapachula (the first real town across the border) and finally got off.
Our plan was to have the night here then get the bus to Puerto Escondido the following day but we quickly discovered that bus only goes once a day at 11pm. Not super keen to get on yet another bus with without much choice we bought our tickets, left our luggage and killed a couple of hours wandering around the town. We grabbed a bite to eat, stocked up on bus trip supplies and also bought some sleeping pills (we decided this was the only was we could face more time on the bus).
So once again we boarded the bus, secured our personal possessions and threw back a couple of pills each to settle in for the ride. What a revelation, sleeping pills are awesome! Not enough to knock you out completely but enough to sleep and/or be a bit groggy and not really care too much about the discomfort. Ended up being a fairly trippy experience with lots of toll booths and the odd Mexican soldier getting on and walking up and down the aisle to inspect the passengers. Once the sun came up the view was pretty interesting too with the road winding through dusty hills punctuated with the classic Mexican cacti.
Finally (!!!!) we arrived in Puerto Escondido. Mecca for surfers hunting the heaviest beackbreak surf in the world and popular tourist destination for Mexicans and foreigners alike. We weren't really after 10 foot beachie barrels but keen to check out Puerto given it's international surf destination status and also hopefully a fun place to chill out in Mexico!
