Ten to Fifteen Dollars

Logan

When we tell people about this bicycle tour, one of the most common questions, here and at home, is how much it costs. The days vary. We've generally kept to $10 or $15 a day, sometimes less, and generally never more. Camping cuts transportation and shelter, the expensive parts, and raises the need for food. Not a bad trade.

Markets and street vendors. In Guatemala a mango was 13 cents, a filling breakfast $2, a big bag of peanuts a dollar, a cold young coconut 75 cents. A bar beer should be $2. Pupusas, about a dollar, spinach and chicharrones between cheese and two tortillas. Eat two and you're full. Nicaragua was the cheapest of the trip. Two dollars for gallo pinto, eggs, plantains, and a batido. In Belize, Mike, the Chicagoan who became Belizean, cooked fried jacks, beans, and avocados.

Hammocks as often as possible. Open camping when a place was hidden enough to be free. Hostels and campsites negotiated toward $3. Lanquín was $2 a night. Schools, police stations, churches, fire stations, gas stations. Or mention the trip to a local and get offered the yard. In cities, a bed for $5 to $10, and don't expect the drinking water thrown in.

The cycling is free. The ferries are not. Companies with a monopoly dock you for the bicycles even when there's room. Chetumal to the cayes, $25 and three hours. La Ceiba to Utila, $20 and one hour, and watch the woman in the ticket booth. San Jorge to Ometepe, $4 or $5. Nicaraguan ferries are far cheaper than Honduras and Belize. Hitch-biking, when the climbs got cruel, was usually free and sometimes not, and it covers serious ground if you have the time.

The ruins are worth it, and they are not all cheap. El Potrero was a dollar. Teotihuacan and Palenque, $5, or free at Palenque if you are foolish enough to come in through the jungle. Chichén Itzá was $17, the new wonder tax. Tikal $18, because the city is enormous and it is also the national park. Semuc Champey, $6, and it should not be missed.

Cycling keeps us happy and financially on point. American money goes far here, and farther on two self-propelled wheels.