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Published: March 4th 2013
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Granada is located about 2 hours from where we were staying so we set off in a taxi with another couple to spilt the costs. A round taxi from San Juan Del Sur to Granada is $50.00. However is it twice as fast and safer than the chicken bus so we decided to take this option. We arrived in Granada around midday to check into our hostel which was centrally located, we stayed in the dorms as everything else was booked but were pleasantly surprised to find most the beds were double beds and not bunks so was a nice change and cost us $8.00 a night, cant complain!
That afternoon we explored the tourist strip which is a paved street with bars and cafes on either side of it for about Km. Granada is one of central americas oldests towns along with Leon. Many of the buildings and churches date back to the 17 hundreds. There are still many families using horse and carriages as main form of transport and was a common sight along the roads and narrow city streets. One thing we had heard about Granada was the food, which definately lived up to its reputation. We
tried a local pizza place for dinner one night which was good however a bit pricey. The second night we went off trip advisor reviews and tried out locals little restuarant which was owned by Americans and setting was like a homecooked kitchen meal. Scott had a duck and noodle salad and I had quesdellas and salad. It was one of the best meals we had with lots of green salad and home made iced tea. Once again alot of Americans and candadians have retired down in Granada due to its relaxed lifestyle and being very clean and beautiful.
After two nights in Granada, we headed upto Leon which was a $12 shuttle. We stayed in a private room at a hostel called Calibri which was nice and central. The heat was only just bearable around mid 30's and we were keen to get to the beach once again. Leon is similar to Granada but a little bigger and busier. We met up with a group of friends we met in san juan der sur and decided to check out a local beach on day 2. The beach was completly deserted and almost a ghost town...we found a local
family run restaurant and had lunch there. We all decided that in the following morning we would comence the long journey to Guatamala with a stop over in El Salvodor at a beach called player el tunco. We had a9am start, the 5 of us caught a taxi to the local bus station to get a bus to the boarder. We looked into getting a direct shuttle to el tunco for $48 but this was full and the next shuttle wasnt for another 4 days so we decided to attempt the journey ourselves. We had with us a couple from canada who were same age as us, Ryan and Sarah and Daniel from Los Angeles solo lonesome traveller.
And a journey it was........
We got a mini van to a small town where we had to switch bus to a direct shuttle to boarder......arriving at the boarder we had men sweep in on us like a pack of vultars who hadnt eaten in a week. The boarder was about 5 km long and men with push bikes and little sets in the front would fight one another for toursits to ride in these cars for the 5 km.
We had them grabbing us atl all angles daniel said a few harsh words as he got mugged the most! We got told it would cost us 60 cords however we didnt finalize this as we were too distracted by the state of these men competing for people to get in their bikes. So we set off glad we didnt have to carry our bags in the scorching heat. About 20 mins later we had our stamps and paid the entry fees into hondurous ready to ditch the bikers and find a bus to the boarder into el salvodor. However these ever so friendly bikers turned quite evil by dropping us down an ally way and demanding 500 cords rather than the 60 which was what we were told. We had no option really as they started getting quite aggressive and hostle. Luckly we had american and still they were wanting 20$ usd, which is crazy as we pay 2$ for a 4 hour van ride.....we only had a 10$ note so our guy had no choice so we ditch them and were pretty annoyed our ripped off we got as another guy riding beside us only paid the 60
cord. Ryan and sarah only had 500 cord on them and daniel a 20$ note so we werent as ripped off.....but still makes you angry!
Within minutes we found a van to boarder number2 and set off once again.....it was about 4 hours to the el salvodor boarder and we were glad we werent staying too long as hondours is VERY VERY VERY DIRTY. Rubish everywhere andcwas a real eye opener that made us realise what a beautiful country New Zealand is.
So an hour in we find out we not on a direct van and we have to stop again to switch vans. Lucky the driver over took the direct van and flagged him down to pick us up at an agreeed stop once he had room in the van......great we thought until we heard a noise FLAT TYRE! So we thought we were going to miss the connection to the boarder, so 5 of us all piled into a taxi to meet van which was waiting for us......boarder number 2 was great, no lines, straight through, no people hounding us it was all very easy.
A public bus was last mode of transport for the
day to san migel which was named the "ugly step sister of the capital" and ugly it was apartment from the hotel we stayed in directly across road from bus station where we all in one room with 4 double beds in and hot shower and air conditioning. Arriving at night time we were all shattered from a long day.
Day 2 up nice and early and on a bus to the capital san salvodor arriving 4 hours later.....all pilling into another taxi and taken to another bus station across town to direct buses to el tunco....15 min wait and we were on a mini van heading to player el tunco and looking forward to the ocean.....
1 hour later, 4 taxis later, 6 mini vans, 2 buses, 1 bike, 2 boarder crossings and three countries in 48 hours we arrived at our destination El Tunco! And paradise it was!
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