Nica Nica Nica

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Greetings,
Getting to Leon from Tegucegalpa was a bit of risk. We decided to leave on Good Thursday when only a few buses were running. The challenge was to cross the Honduran border into Nicaragua and bus our way to Leon before Semana Santa weekend. This was a fateful leap because we had to make seven bus transfers before arriving in Leon. Our first ride was in an old school bus which was over crowded with passengers. Along the way we were stopped about four times by the highway patrol. Theywere enforcing a new law which requires each passenger to have a seat. At the first stop the driver quickly told those who were standing in the aisle to duck down so the patrol would not see them. The second time we were stopped the people in the aisles were taken off the bus and the driver had to bribe the patrol around $400 Lempira to allow them back on. The other stops were no problem. That ride was three hours long. I had a bad feeling as we were dropped off at the next bus station because the town was empty and there were no other buses around. We got off the bus and walked around the block to a small parking lot with one bus waiting to connect us which was already full and we luckily squeezed into the last two seats. This took us to another drop where we then had to take a taxi across town to a separate station running to our next destination. When we finally reached the border we were the only passengers on the bus. As we pulled into the parking lot a dozen bike taxies and half a dozen money changers faught for the ride over the border. I was able to push my way through the small crowd and focused on staying calm. The men were fiercley trying to get us on to one of their bikes and Travis and I got separated as we struggled to control our bags which were on the roof of the van. One man who was first to climb to my bag insisted I go with him and took my bag and put on his taxi. I was in a state of confusion at the time so I was not letting my bag out of my grasp and clung to it as it lay on the bottom rack of his bike. Finally Travis and I were able to ride togather side by side with our legs hanging from the front of the bench of the bike as our driver peddled us to get our passports stamped. Once we were stamped were were taxied across a small bridge to another bus that was about to leave and the driver chrged us $10 US dollars each for the ride which was a huge rip off, but we had no choice. The next bus took us another town where we had our last transfer which would take us into Leon.
Leon is a small Colonial city with some really beautiful churches and bustling business district. While we were there we stayed at Hostel ViaVia the first night. The room is large and has about twenty beds lining the walls. It looked like a vet hosptial. There was also a bar on the other side of the room that was open until midnight blarring music. Leon was hot as Hell! I was sweating all day and night. The second day we moved to Hostel Bigfoot across the street and walked around town for an hour taking pictures which was all we could take in the blistering sun. We spent the weekend in Leon for Semana Santa and each night we watched the processions. The procession would start from the entrance of the largest church at the square. There is small marching band that provided dirge style music as priests and patrons of the church sway back forth in a slow march through the streets. There are statues of Saints that are carried on the shoulders by five men on each side of a platform. There are also children that carry incence burners and many of the congregation dress up and march on the side of the street. After watching the procession we would go back to the hostel to talk with new friends and play pool. At Hostel Bigfoot I met a girl from Gainesville named Una and her da is half owner of Leo's by the slice which is a local favorite for pizza. Turns out that two other travelers were from Gainesville too which totaled at five including us in one place. What are the odds? The weekend was nice but it was time time to move on to Granada.
Granada is a bit cooler but still sweat provoking even as one sits and does nothing. We are staying at Hostel Oasis and it is super swank. It had a private pool, free internet, and a beautiful courtyard with plenty of hammocks to relax in. Yesterday was alot of fun. We went to the museam of art and met two local artists as they painted. We also went to the history museam which was filled with stone statues from the 1500's and amazing amazing Primitivist art work. This art is really detailed and depicts scenes of everyday life around villages and cities. Today we are going to sit in the Central Park and soak it in.
Chad

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