I intended to get up at 5am to catch a 6am bus to Managua for my long trip up to the coast of Honduras, but I slept too late and missed the 7am bus as well, leaving a 8am bus to Rivas (only half way to Managua). A couple of guys from last night were on the bus.
At Rivas, I boarded a bus to Managua and met a couple girls who were headed to Leon, and convinced me to go that way instead of my original path up into the middle mountains of the country. The girl in the short hair below (Hannah) was from England and working in Leon for a cool nonprofit , and had information on a guide for a canyon trip I wanted to take the following day.
Leon is the university town. There are lots of conversations over beers regarding the political future of the country. Many people may remember the US getting involved in Nicaraguan government back during the Iran Contra Affair. I won’t get into it here but safe to say there is a lot of passionate socialist Sandinistas around these parts. I also got the feeling that they are not to happy with Americans here and their involvement in their affairs. I was just glad I was Canadian and could join in the heckling. Hannah told me about a cool eco-hostel near the bus station and I checked for about $5. I was pretty much the only one here, so had the run of the place. This picture was some hammocks in the courtyard. All buildings in Nicaragua have a courtyard with plants or fountains. After dropping my gear and taking a needed shower I hit the town for some photography.
I thought the last picture above was interesting as you can see the jeans on the right are all facing out to show you how the butt looks in them. After taking in some sites I went to the main church in town, where for $1 you can climb up on the roof. They made it pretty complex as you had to go around back to this little 5ft doorway to bang on a door to get a ticket, and then return back to the front of the church to give the ticket to the guard. He then lets you and you need to find a backroom with a staircase to get up on the roof.
I returned to the streets, grabbed a few more shots and headed off to a restaurant to grab some local grub. I had to be up at 5am to make the bus up to the canyons in Somoto so I headed back to the hostel. I had brought a travel DOP kit with a cheap disposable razor. I tried to shave with it, but got about half way and it stopped cutting, and could not find anything close to the hostel to buy a new one. I decided to just go with the half-shaven look for the rest of trip.
Thoughts for the day:
1. In Leon and throughout the cities of Nicaragua people honk their horns more than a NYC taxi driver in a traffic jam. At first I thought I had it figured that they honked when someone walked in the road and maybe at intersections, but they honked at me all the time. Sometimes it was to see if I needed a ride, other times, when the taxis were full they honked I guess just to let me know that if I sprinted directly to my left I would get hit. It was fairly annoying.
2. Another thing I thought was interesting was how I was meeting people randomly that always seems to benefit me in some way. The first night I met the girls at the bar that showed me the city, then the guys from Costa Rica who went biking and split a room. The third night it was a girl from MI and some surfers that invited me to a Bonfire and last night the Englander Hannah that turned me onto the Hostel and gave me the necessary information for my trip tomorrow that would prove to be invaluable. Traveling alone allows you opportunities that would not be present otherwise.
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