Driving to Nicaragua

[Oil Stain]

So I've been driving to Nicaragua from Canada.

I'm in Mexico right now. Here's the best thing I have seen thus far:

[Pizza]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

So I've been driving to Nicaragua from Canada.

I'm in Mexico right now. Here's the best thing I have seen so far:

??

so... nothing?

[Oil Stain]

Apparently photobucket doesn't like 3rd party linking.

Any suggestions?

Something mobile friendly please.

[jeffporfirio]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Apparently photobucket doesn't like 3rd party linking.

Any suggestions?

Something mobile friendly please.

Try imgur

[Jiri Hrdina]

Looking forward to seeing the photos and hearing more about it. Man you do some crazy trips! And I mean that as a compliment.

[Nage Waza]

I used to live down there, PM me if you need a hand with anything. I can see if some old contacts can help out.

[jeffporfirio]

Awesome pictures. Again, stay safe and away from El Salvador.

[nik-]

I thought your North Korea trip was a bad idea (I think that was you?), but this seems like a really cool trip.

Potentially crazy dangerous, but cool nonetheless. If you go through Oaxaca, I'd like to know details, I really want to go there.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, this sounds like a super cool trip. I hope the experience is amazing for you.

[greyshep]

Heavy truck chassis go carts?

[Fuzz]

It's easier to get the drugs into all the nooks and crannies if you start with a bare chassis.

[Northendzone]

i wish my truck had a wooden seat frame......that msut be fun crusing down the highway in an open wheeled hvehicle with an uncovered motor. wonder if they were running without a muffler as well

[FlamingHomer]

Wow that's an ambitious road trip. Most people that do that write a book after it. I wish you nothing but good luck at the border crossings. They can ruin a holiday pretty quick for you.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i wish my truck had a wooden seat frame......that msut be fun crusing down the highway in an open wheeled hvehicle with an uncovered motor. wonder if they were running without a muffler as well

The more I look at those photos, the crazier those things look. No headlights, crappy wooden seats and no area to store even a suitcase. (maybe under the wooden seat??)

What is the point?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by greyshep

The more I look at those photos, the crazier those things look. No headlights, crappy wooden seats and no area to store even a suitcase. (maybe under the wooden seat??)

What is the point?

I think that's the chassis being delivered to somewhere prior to being coach worked, either that or the lengths that Mexicans have to go to too get across the border in a timely fashion is getting out of hand.

[jeffporfirio]

Originally Posted by greyshep

The more I look at those photos, the crazier those things look. No headlights, crappy wooden seats and no area to store even a suitcase. (maybe under the wooden seat??)

What is the point?

No suitcase needed. Valuable stored in the black garbage bag next to the wooden seat.

[Fuzz]

They have a headlight. Kind of.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i wish my truck had a wooden seat frame......that msut be fun crusing down the highway in an open wheeled hvehicle with an uncovered motor. wonder if they were running without a muffler as well

Kind of remind me of these vehicles in China.

[Huntingwhale]

The Costa Rica/Nicaragua border is the absolute craziest border crossing I have ever been to.

When I was in CR, we took a day trip to Nicaragua with a tour guide who arranged for us to do a day excursion at various cities. He was driving one of those tourist vans that had probably about 12 people in it. At the border he was instructed to park beside the building and wait for further instructions. He took all our passports and said he was waiting for the border guard.

Instead what happened was a group of a couple kids, maybe 10 years old, came up to the van's window and started talking to the guide (who was also the driver). I then witnessed the tour guide GIVE ALL OUR PASSPORTS to these little kids, who then ran off with them and disappeared into the building. I start asking wtf is going on. We f'ing need those!

The kids come back and magically we all have visas stamped in our passports. The driver gives the kids a couple bucks and off we go.

There were various checkstops on the highway and each time our driver would hand the guards bottles of water and they would accept it and let us on our way. Bribery is a way of life there we were told. Imagine giving a cop here some bottled water at a checkstop. Things like that just don't compute with our way of life in Canada.

Coming back into CR from Nicaragua was just as interesting. Apparently a huge semi truck had gotten busted trying to smuggle 100 kgs of cocaine into the country in the tires of the semi. We saw tables set up with tires cut in half and dozens of white bricks packed with blow on the tables, surrounded by armed guards.

As our van approached the border crossing, the semi in front of us stopped and we waited behind it. Suddenly 2 guards and the semi's driver open the back of the semi, and inside are about 20 people on chairs and blankets being smuggled across, just hanging out in the back of the semi. The semi had to pull over and we just drove past. Never learned what happened to them.

Nicaragua was a crazy place. But it was pretty cool. Extreme discrepancy between rich and poor. The beggers will hound you as soon as they see you're a Westerner. But the countryside is so beautiful, green and lush. I'd love to go back and I hope you post more photos Oil Stain.