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Our evening in Managua was serene. After divulging in a nice typical style dinner on a patio overlooking the barrio, we ventured across the street to our hotel, locked the gate and felt safe behind our barbed wire for a decent half night sleep
At about 9pm the barrio came to life. We could hear music, people hollering, dogs barking, clanking and roaring sounds. We could only imagine what was going on outside our gates but felt very secure in our room. Why all the worry about crime? Yes, if you are walking outside anywhere at the wrong time, bad things can happen. Yes, if we were walking around this neighborhood at that time sporting expensive items, bags - we may be robbed. All in all, we felt safe but intensely aware of our surroundings.
Fortunately, at 3:30 am, when our alarm went off, the street rumble had stopped. William, our driver, drove us the two so called dangerous blocks to the Tica Bus Terminal. I couldn't understand why people considered it to be so dangerous. Yes the streets were pitch black, yes, there were a few transients lingering about, street dogs digging through trash - but
otherwise, eerily quiet.
William dropped us off directly in front of the bus terminal, and then we were off for the longest bus adventure - ever!
Let's start with "the good" - the bus was plush, secured our luggage, had security and even showed movies. Smooth cruising compared to most of our transportation.
Now "the bad" - the bully behind me! AKA, the bruja, which is witch in Spanish. La bruja hit me directly on my head every time I tried to put my seat back. I finally confronted her and explained that I had every right to recline my seat as she did hers. She shrugged and brushed me off. I decided it may not be wise to get into an argument with this woman. I gave in by keeping my seat in its full and upright position for a while longer.
It was peaceful, until....Steve reclined his seat and the woman who was traveling with the woman(bruja) behind me, hit Steve on the head.. He didn't cave.. I then followed by forcing my seat to its full, declined position and telling her NO. Leave me alone! She left me alone. :-)
After four
hours, we arrived at the border with a stop before crossing, exchanged Cordoba for lempiras and across the bridge over the river we went. Locals, either Nicas or Hondurans, were bathing in the river below while we were traveling above in an international bus and military on the bridge. The military crew seemed more focused on the river below than our bus with 60 people.
The bus stopped again once we crossed the border for Honduran officials to view passports and inspect the bus. Very uneventful, and again... Safe. They had a mini-market and were cooking Honduran food... For the duration of our bus ride, we were blown away by the beauty of Honduras and breathtaking landscape. We stopped briefly in Tegucigalpa, and arrived in San Pedro Sula at 6pm...
We will go to La Cieba in the morning. Now-rest.
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