4th April 2015 – Leon to Gracias

We decided last night that we would get an early start this morning to beat some of the heat so we leave our hotel at 5:30 am, with a packed breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us, a 571 kilometer drive and a border crossing into Honduras. We head out of town as the sun is coming up and we have the most magnificent clear view of a volcano to our right that has a slight sulphur gas cloud above it.It’s hard getting up at 4:45 especially on holidays, however it’s interesting to watch towns wake up, people starting their day, volcanoes and solar farms to look at, makes it all worthwhile. The road deteriorates as we get closer to the border and dodging the huge pot holes is good motorkhana practice, but not so good for the wheels, tyres and suspension. We all get through both borders easily in just under 2 hours and are back on the road. The road this side is just as bad as it was on the Nicaraguan side, so cars are zig zagging down the road to avoid the deep holes. It doesn’t take long and we’re onto a lovely smooth divided highway and we can pick up speed as at this stage we won’t arrive until after 6:00 pm. As we drive towards the Pacific Coast we get a nice breeze and then we turn north and head up into the mountains. We climb to 1,800 meters above sea level on a fabulous windy road, we even get a light shower of rain, so it’s much cooler up the top when we stop for lunch next to a temporary roadside medical clinic on the side of the motorway. Interesting to note that they use Toyota Landcruisers as ambulances in Honduras. We make good time and as we drive into Gracias it’s 5:30 pm and the sun is setting over the mountains, it’s very pretty.We have been stopped numerous times today by the Police, mostly wanting to just shake our hand and say hello, ask us where we’re going and then take a photo of us, they are very friendly. There are Police & army control points regularly along the motorway and going into towns, because of the Easter week end and they just want to slow us down as Honduras has a high road toll. A couple of times they have asked for paperwork, but we just say we don’t speak Spanish and don’t understand them, and they just smile & wave us on and we smile & wave back and thank them.