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December 10, 2017
Day 28 [Sun 12/10/17] - Portobelo, Panama
No destination planned.
Today, I wake up in a hostel in Portobelo, Panama. It's a shared room that set me back $10 a night. Ouch. I spread out all of my gear over 2 beds, because I need everythin to dry out. The owner coms to me to complain, and I explain to him that I need the beds to dry out my things and, I can pay for both beds, if necessary.
This is shocking to him. He's apparently never seen such a brash display of wealth.
One of the helpers comes in and offers to bring me a cup of coffee, which I greatfully accept. Con asucar y leche, por favor.
Someone rings the church bells in the town. Stray dogs bark at the challenge. Now there is a service going on, broadcast through that eternal, perpetual, 3rd world speaker. At least this time, I know what they're selling. They're pushing religion on the masses. Only the dogs seem to mind.
The sun comes out. How glad I am to see the sun. I was beginning to question if it still exists.
A smarter person would waterproof their gear, but I am not a smart man.
I update my expenses online. Now, to try to get some photos uploaded. Watching that power line explode yesterday in the rain was absolutely surreal. I wanted to call someone, but I didn't even know who to call.
Photos uploading now from yesterday...
Like...a noise ordinance would go a long way towards making a place like this semi-tolerable.
The rains start again, but quickly stops. I'm thinking that I should go for a ride. It's 10:22 a.m. here. It seems as though I'm somehow wandered from PST to EST. Go figure.
As I'm looking down from the hostel where I'm staying (for $10 a night...ouch), I see 2 motorcycles pull up, and one of them has Colorado plates. I'm like...no freaking way. I've been on the road for 28 days. I rode 6,400 miles to get here. And now, there's another guy here, in Portebelo, with Colorado plates? What are the odds? I have seen very few other motorcyclists doing what I'm doing down here. And yet, here they are....2 guys riding to Ushuia, same as me. One from Virginia. One from Colorado. On Suzuki thumpers. Getting it done.
Over dinner, Ken shows me how to load all of the maps for South America into my Garmin. It takes about 5 minutes. So, that's a big improvement. Also, I start using WhatsApp for the first time.
They stay at the same hostel as me, but they're sailing on a different boat tomorrow. Their boat leaves at 8:00 a.m. Mine sails at 10:00 a.m. So, we'll try to meet up in Colombia once we both get over there, I think. Would be nice to have some people to ride with, for a change.
Posted by Rob Kiser on December 10, 2017 at 7:22 AM
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