Lost in Leon

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So, on to Leon now!
It took us 2 days to get there and to be honest we were a bit disappointed with our first place in Nicaragua after hearing so much good stuff about the country. To get there we had to do the trip in two journeys. The first got us to Chouluteca in Honduras where we stayed the night in another scummy yet extremely cheap room, but where we did manage to find a Pizza Hut!!! So we obviously chose to eat there….
The next day we got going early and got to Leon about 4 in the afternoon. It’s a really pretty town and very very cheap! We stayed at a place called Big Foot Hostel. It was the first time that we've stayed in a hostel like that. Our room was an 8 bed mixed dorm ($3pn) and it felt a bit weird staying there. Not just due to sleeping in a dorm but because we were constantly surrounded by other travelers, we seemed to escape the whole traveler scene up until then. However, after we’d been chatting to people also staying there we discovered that we'd actually met a few of them before in San Pedro (Guatemala) and that a few others were at the same full moon party we were at – not surprised we remembered to be honest cos both those nights out the other side of the lake were very messy!!!
Anyway, we seemed to get trapped a bit in Leon. Although we did absolutely nothing we didn’t manage to escape for 5 nights!! All we did was sweat profusely, watch DVDs and chill. However, Mita did have a 24 hour sickness bug which put her out of action and I came down with my second cold of the travels. Couldn’t believe I was in one of the hottest places I’ve ever been and I caught a cold! To be honest if it wasn’t for our illnesses we wouldn’t have stayed there quite as long as we did.
One thing we did do, the first full day we were there though was volcano boarding, and that was absolutely wicked, if not very hard work! We had to lug these wooden boards and orange boiler suits up to the top of a volcano in the searing heat. I’ve never felt so unfit in my entire life, except during that 10K I attempted once!! Anyway, once we got to the top, me and this other girl decided to do the extra bit with the lads and run into the crater of the volcano and out again. It was well hot down there and I’m glad I did it, Gem´s got some photos of me running into it but not sure if they are on her blog or not. Anyway, after the crater run we were ready to board down the volcano, which was ace! We donned our orange suits, did a practice run and then did the full slope of the side of the volcano – it was wicked, and quite scary actually hurtling down at the speed we did, sat down by the way, not stood up! When we’d all done our run, the guide was waiting at the bottom for us with several cold beers, result, so we quickly polished those off and then headed back to the hostel. The ride back on the jeep was ace as well – my new favorite mode of travel, it never fails to disappoint! The guide was driving us along a dirt track and it was sunset and he was driving quite quickly to give us all a cheap thrill! It worked! The sunset we witnessed was beautiful as well.
Anyway, think that’s about it for Leon, thank God really otherwise I’d be here all day! Good job we get free internet at the place we’re at at the moment!!!

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Photos

Mita on the climb up Volcan Negro
Her expression says it all!!!

The crater of Volcan Negro
I ran into it!!!!

Me in my attractive orange suit
Beautiful!!

The boarding gang
I've taken my shoes off and buried my feet a bit in the sound in case you were wondering!