First stop in Nicaragua
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2010
1
334
366
Trip End
Jul 13, 2012
Where I stayed
Hostal Casa Santiago de los Caballeros
Leon, Nicaragua
Thursday, April 19, 2012
This was the first bus we've been on that has movies on in English with Spanish subtitles and watched 127hrs. We arrived at the border around 1pm and the bus conductor took our passports and fees to the office for us to get them stamped out. We had 15 minutes to stretch our legs and get some food if we wanted. We were also hassled by food sellers and money changers, but decided to wait to see what we were offered on the Nicaraguan side. We then got back on the bus while the conductor got on a tricycle tuk tuk to get to the Nicaraguan side and we followed. We parked up and had to take our big bags to a bag check room along with our customs declarations. We were immediately swamped by kids that wanted (for a fee) to carry our bags to the searching room, but we grabbed our bags before they got hold of them and waited in the queue. For the first time in Central America, they insisted on having us uncage our bags and had a rummage in the main compartment. It seemed a little half hearted, but the biggest pain was that we had to cage them back up again with other people waiting. Back at the bus, we loaded our bags and after a 10 minute wait were allowed back on to enjoy the nice air-con after sweating buckets in the heat outside. A few hours and the movie Mr Poppers Penguins later, we arrived at our stop just outside Leon's centre and shared a taxi with a fellow lady traveler to one of the hostels we'd read about. Unfortunately, they were full so we had to look somewhere else. The guy on reception kindly phoned a hostel that he knew had a kitchen and confirmed that they had a room and we walked the half dozen blocks to it. We did check a few others out on the way, but found the one he'd recommended to be nicer and in our price range. After checking in, we walked to the supermarket, bought a few supplies and then went back to cook cottage pie for dinner. Then we retired to our room to watch the cable TV (we're doing well on the cable TV lately) and settled in for the night.
Fri 20th April
Got up at a leisurely 9am, had pancakes for breakfast and then headed out to explore. First things first though, we had to go to the cash point to get some money to pay for another night, then had a wander round. There are 12 churches and the Basilica Catedral de la Asunción http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n_Cathedral_%28Nicaragua%29 which legend has it that the plans were switched with those of Lima in Peru by mistake. So we planned to walk round as many as we could. We managed to see 6 and the Cathedral before lunch then went back to the hostel to have a fruit salad lunch and chocolate ice cream that we made into a milkshake. After lunch and a rest, we walked round to see the other 6 which included a new/temp warehouse looking San Sebastian as the old one was a bit of a ruin as it was bombed in 1979. http://www.manfut.org/leon/sebastian.html Unfortunately, a link in Spanish is the only one I can find for now. We also had time to look round the museum dedicated to the work of poet Ruben Dario http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rub%C3%A9n_Dar%C3%ADo which was all in Spanish but was still interesting. Around 5pm we headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and settle in for the night. Would you belive that on a Friday night, with 100 channels, we can't find anything good to watch!
Sat 21st Apr.
Got up at 8am, had breakfast and caught a taxi to the bus terminal. On arrival we walked over to the Managua UCA bus line and got on the next one heading out. These buses are like collectivos and won't go until they're full, also you pay for the seat that you take, including the one we had to pile our bags on as there wasn't a roof rack. After paying for 3 seats and finally getting our change from the driver, he headed out of the bus terminal and zoomed off down the road. For an old guy, he knew how to floor it and overtake as much as he could with a few close misses.
