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« Last post by Biggles on April 17, 2024, 09:37:53 PM »
The plan was to cross the Panama border that day and make it as far as David, the closest city on the Panama side, so we grudgingly pulled on our wet jackets and ventured back out into the damp, thick soup that hung over the world.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, we began to descend and started to notice small changes that hinted at lower altitudes and warmer air, although everything was still dripping with water. Just as I stopped shivering, Jesse gave out a yell of surprise and slammed on his brakes. I skidded to a stop beside him and we looked out on the strangest sight we'd ever seen. Standing just off the road was an old Mexican airliner, parked in the middle of a jungle clearing with no indication as to how it got there. With mist swirling around its fuselage, the jungle foliage encroaching, and a few locals sitting idly in the open doorways, it was a bizarre sight.
Eventually we broke free of the clouds and headed for the Coastal Road, a 70 km stretch of the Pan American that, compared to the roads we had been riding on for the past month, looked like a super highway. We felt like we were hurtling down the highway at neck-break speeds, but in reality, we were only going 110km/h. After spending over a month at less than 60km/h the speed made me feel giddy.
The Great Pan American Motorcycle Expedition Jesse & Jessica Eyer pp130-1