after one week biking across el salvador today marks my longest and toughest day yet in today's
adventure i run into quite a few roadblocks this is absolutely crazy and a broken down bike
but i also meet more incredible people inviting me in for a warm meal
and helping me out along the way i am honestly shocked
good morning it is day eight of riding my bike across the entire country of el salvador
which is known to be the most dangerous country in the entire world based on murders per capita again
my goal in this series is to meet the local people form my own opinions of el salvador and hopefully
show you guys another side to the country that you won't see in mainstream media i cannot
believe it's already been one week and i'm over halfway done last week i started in la union the
easternmost part of the country and i'm making my way all the way to the border of guatemala i'm not
sure where i'm going to end up today but that's part of the adventure and we'll find out together
i'm finally on smooth asphalt and i've never been so happy to be on smooth asphalt ever
in my life we still got the potholes but for the most part we're good this is amazing
i really don't like speed bumps for my bike because all my stuff
jiggles on the back and moves around but i love them because the cars drive fast here and
it makes them slow down we got another one
it is beautiful i am on open road and it feels good douglas my bike
is also acting nice today at least so far let's hope he stays that way
i've gone about 21 kilometers away from Suchitoto. I am near a town called Aguilares it is 8
30 in the morning got myself a nice big coffee did not realize it was going to be this big
also did not realize it was going to be that hot i got my favorite little pastry
in latin america an alfajor so good and then i got a muffin i know not a very healthy breakfast but
there aren't a lot of options unless i want something fried that are relatively quick
so many buses and semi trucks here anyway i'm going to enjoy my breakfast and we are going
to continue on and hopefully make it quite a bit further today but again we'll see go with
the flow it's not a rush i'm enjoying the process and i know once i get to the
destination i'll be like dang i wish i was still biking okay maybe not but it's been great so far
we are heading out of Aguilares back towards the semi main road
and when i said main road well this is the main road yep all right let's go
i'm about a kilometer to outside of Aguilares and my chain seems to be broken on my bike
it's not working i don't know what's happened and i don't know how to fix
it i'm going to try my hands already all black but yeah not great
we are back and running i'm so thankful for isaac the guy who helped me fix my bike
on the side of the road i saw him biking the other way i stopped him i was like i need help my
bike is broken he came over the chain was taken off my bike it was stuck in the pedals i mean
it was only a matter of time with these roads and this bike yeah but
thankfully douglas my bike is back up and running and we are trying to climb this hill
look at this view
so incredibly beautiful
i'm walking my bike up another steep hill he was giving me some hope realized i was tired
and told me that in not too long we'll be going downhill again thank you douglas thank you
i found a place selling juices like smoothies but i don't see anyone here and like inside the
shop is just someone's home i don't want to intrude but i'd love a cold smoothie right now
i've made it to san pablo tacachico it is about 10 30 in the morning which means i've been going
at it biking for about four hours already today i've gone about 40 kilometers since Suchitoto
and if i can make it hopefully this is the halfway point of where i'm going to end up today i'd love
to get to santa ana well i hope i do because right now this is the biggest town i will pass
until i get to santa ana so i'm not sure i will be able to sleep anywhere else but i'm just
rehydrating getting a nice fruit smoothie going to chill here for a little bit and then continue on
so good
i'm heading out of san pablo tacachico that was such a nice break the girl's name was
avi she was so sweet she almost didn't let me pay for the drink she tried but in the end i won
love a good speed bump
we were doing good until my chain popped out again
i am properly in the middle of nowhere so hopefully i can fix this myself i'm confident
i can figure it out just might take a little while longer than when isaac did it for me
all right i think that might have done the trick i hope so we'll find out
all right so i've come to a little roadside stop here to refuel on some water
my legs are quite tired
and this cold water is hitting the spot
those ladies were very kind they invited me to have lunch with them
for free but i just don't want to eat so much right now
while i'm biking no heavy meals until later but super super kind people
i am absolutely exhausted my phone is dead so i'm going to have to rely on people to ask for directions
but i think i'm about seven kilometers away from santa ana we can do this
hey cows!
i'm here with my bike trying to walk my bike
because we got some construction some heavy construction going on
this is absolutely crazy this construction site but honestly i'm glad there's construction because
some of the roads have been pretty tough made it through the construction
something around five kilometers left to santa ana no idea exactly to be honest because my
phone is dead but i am thoroughly exhausted and so excited to get there
as if the day couldn't get any longer there is a roadblock and now we are driving through
a cemetery all the cars everyone the main road is blocked to get into santa ana and
the only way is through this cemetery that is a dirt road super bumpy what a day
just a bus going through a cemetery i am honestly shocked that the main road
into santa anna is blocked and every single car who wants to get into the city from this road
is forced to go through an entire cemetery
i don't know that it seems like there could be a better solution but i guess not i don't know
kind of crazy if you think about it like every car is passing through a cemetery a place where
you're supposed to pay respects and be quiet and you have beeping cars
i have finally made it into santa ana about 75 kilometers and 4 000 feet in elevation
later from Suchitoto i started at 6 30 in the morning today it is now 4 30 in the afternoon
i ended i don't know about 45 minutes ago so it took me around nine hours
to complete this ride after the whole cemetery incident i have calmed down a
bit i'm here in the central park in santa ana and for some reason there are a lot of
places selling like mexican tortas so i figured if the locals are doing it i should do it
this is the central plaza here in santa ana there actually is some really beautiful
architecture and colors here in the plaza you have the church a bunch of people just hanging
out really really cool and nice actually i'm quite surprised but in a good way
i feel so much better now that i have a little bit of food in me
some water and santa ana is actually famous for the church and it doesn't disappoint
wow really really nice
i am showered in my room and my body my body has been put through the ringer today by me
it's been a long day but another incredible day crossing el salvador by bike i met some incredibly
kind friendly genuine local people again today and if everything goes to plan i am just two days away
from finishing up my journey and reaching the guatemala border i cannot believe it's already
been eight days it's been incredible anyway i'm going to end the video here for today i hope you
guys enjoyed it if you did drop a like and subscribe down below if you're not already
so you don't miss out on the rest of my journey as i cross el salvador bye bike see you guys tomorrow