Nica Eventually And Things Are Better Here

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So after updating my blog in the internet cafe in Liberia i headed back to Alctraz/stalag 7 or locally known as the Guncaste Hotel, I sat in the cafe and read the Lonely planet for a while and evlvated and iced my swollen foot/ankle, after whiling away some time doing that i then went to my room to do some repacking and to tend my cuts and clean them up and use some savlon on them.

I then headed back to the cafe and got chatting to a Candian traveler Lisa and she has spent 2.5 months in Guate and Nica and was staying at the hotel and getting up at 4am for a flight from Libera back home, we chatted for a while and then i chatted to a Candian guy called Rich who lives near Banff and he had come for some surfing and was heading to San Juan Del Sur on the Nica coast.

Rich was getting up at 4am and was catching the same earlier local bus to the Border as the Candians i had met the night before. I also chatted to a couple from Canada (Canadians everywhere....lol), she was Candian and he was an Aussie and both were surfers and had their baby with them and were heading to Saint Theres in Costa to do some surfing, me and Rich told them how expensive it is in Costa and to go to Nica.

I had a salad for dinner and it tastede of vinegar it was not great and also not cheap either and gave me the squirts next morning, id just like to say a big thank you to the staff at the Guncaste for giving me bad guts and really not being happy or smiley or helpful, were as in Nica they are really nice.

Anyway i was gasping for a drink and Rich very nicely got me a bottle of water and we chatted a while me rich and the Aussie guy and then i headed off as i had a bus to catch at 8.30am.

Before heading to bed i passed on one of my stuff sacks to the couple for the babys things or whatever, as i am trying to ligthen the load of my bags.

I slept on and off as i got disturbed by the baby crying and a dodgey stomach and the exterior light outside my window extra.

I was up at 7am and went to check out and the Hotel Gestapo sent me back for their towel before i could check out, i mean honestly they will clean the room anyway so why not do it all in one go.

While waiting in the cafe for the bus i chatted to a retired Candian guy called Llloyd who takes regular breaks in Nica and was only in Costa as the was a cheap fligh into Liberia, i also chatted to a Candian couple, some polish folk and American couple (although she is orignally from Thailand) and an American girl.

I had taken some diorreah tablets but my stomach was still queasy, but i had breakfast which conisted of two slices of toast and a coffee and it was 1000 colones and then they expect 10 percent service which i think is a joke, anyway i gave the waitress a 2000 note and she handed me back 500 colones, its like what the hell you want a 500 colone tip, i complained and got another 350 colones back so really they had taken 15 percent service.

The bus eventually arrived and i was glad as i was not impressed with Costa Rica and wanted to move on, we all piled on and and i chatted to the American Girl and her name is Jodi and she was meeting her cousin at Mangua, her cousin is living in Nica learning spanish and well my spanish is Habol Esponol Poco (which means i speak a little spanish....lol) and also to the Canadian couple and then soon we were at the border.

I discovered the american couple travel alot as he is retired and they live of rental income of a place they have in the states and i chatted to the candian couple too and it was the whole long process of stamp out of Costa and Stamp in to Nica, it was 8 dollars to get into Nica (so there goes a meal or nights accomodation.

I then grabbed a cheese tortilla and used up my colones and exchanged some dollars for Cordobas, we got back on the bus and most of the folk i had been chatting to got off at Granada, it did not look much.

Nica seems to be alot poorer than Costa or Panama, but all three countrys litter there streets and there countryside and they slash and burn there countryside to replace it with corn,palms or cattle?, its crazy as they are destroying what makes these countrys attractive to tourists and ex pats looking to move out here.

Jodi was getting off at Mangua and so we sat together and chatted till we got there, she is a teacher in San Jose Californina and has taken a year off and had been to Europe before Central America.

We eventually got to Mangua and it was not a sight to behold and was very dirty but this seems to be the thing in Central America with theri capitals. We got to the bus station and Jodi headed off with her cousin and so i then tried to get my bearings from the less than accurate lonely planet and i could not and so i hailed a taxi as it was a less than great looking area and i asked the price and he said 20 cordobas, he took me two blocks and then said 40 cordobas and so i paid as being a gringo in a foriegn city i did not want his mates turing up and doing something to me and so another taxi rip off, i should be use to it by now.....lol

Anyway the first i saw was the Felipe Hotel and i could not be bothered hauling my stuff, the people behind the counter were nice and friendly and spoke english, the room was quite nice and had a tv and the was a cafe and internet there so i paid 15 dollars for the room, a little steep but so much better than Alctraz, I got a friendly taxi driver at the front of the hotel and he took me to the old catherdral and the Nacional Place which doubles as a musuem and gallery, he took me to various other sites at the city including a park above the laguna and city and a statue for Sardino who led the Sardnistas. I had the guy for 2 hours and it ended up costing me 16 dollars which hit the budget but otherwise i would not have seen anything of the city as certain places are not safe for a gringo.

I went back to the Hotel and watched some TV including spanish simpsons....lol, i cleaned me feet up again and then i went to the hotels cafe for some food and i had a plate of rice,beans, cheese (queso in spanish) and salad, tortilla and a glass of paya juice for 47 cordobas which is about 3 dollars i think.

I headed to the room and found the warner brothers chanel everything is in english with spanish subtitles and so i watched two and half men, supernatural and some other shows, it got to hitiing the sack time and in the room one side the US primarys was at full blast and the other side they were having sex....lol, ohhh and dogs barking near by, i managed to find my ear plugs and eventually got to sleep.

I woke up this morning showered and watched friends on TV and then got the reception to order me a taxi, i then got to the terminal for the Leon busses, the taxi cost 50 cordobas which is about 4 dollars and then i got on a microbus which doe not leave till full, eventually we got going and an hour later we were in Leon and it has nice colonal churches and buildings and it is dirty too.....lol

I spent a while trying to find a hostel that lonely planet suggested and sweat was pouring off me and and this Hostel Via Via had no rooms, i managed to get a room in a hostel over the road called the big foot Hostel and this is my first dorm room although its only 5 dollars a night.

I dumped my stuff and made some porridge and noodles that i had in my bag as emergency rations, i thought using them now would save money. Then i headed off and visted various squares and churches and a local museum and then i met up with a dutch couple(from the same hostel as me) who are spending 10 months in central and south america and we chatted and we went for a beer and they treated me to the beer which was cool.

Im in two minds wether to go on a 22 dollar volcano hike tomorrow or to try and get busses to the border, i think i will stay another day and then i can see a volcano and rest up.

I headed back to the hostel and chatted to an Irish guy Johhny and a scouse guy Ben and ben has been to South America and thinks its better than Central America and i will enjoy my time here im sure but i do regret not adding extra time to South America and missing out Central America....but hey hindsight is a beauty......lol.

After chatting for a while Ben and Johnny for a while i headed to the internet cafe and have just updated this blog entry and uploaded pics to my Picassa account, it was good as i had emails from my girlfriend and my parents and i spoke to my girlfriend on Msn for a while which makes life on the road easier.

I think i will stay another day in Leon

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Comments

[Anna]

Money
Costa Rica is really not that expensive. I spent less then a thousand dollars while I travelled through and I was there for a month and saw most of the country. You just have to know where to go I guess. BUt it is one of the most expensive of the latin countries because it is more developed. So I guess you have to expect it. It still is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen! =0) Good luck with the rest of your travels. Anna

[Mikey M]

Money
Hey Anna thanks for the comments, maybe it was my luck but i prefer Nica and Northern Honduras was good and so far Gute is good too Thx Mike

[Ariana Herrera]

Nice!
I like ur bloog, it`s nice, also U didn`t tell me that U were in Nicaragua, I was waiting for ur email, do u remember me? Am from Esteli, Nicaragua... I chated with u in the CS room

[Mikey M]

Sorry
Hey Ariana i was on a whistle stop tour and sorry i did not contact you, im now up in Mexico

[richard]

nice blog
hey andy --- hope your trip was okay and thanks for putting me in your blog! rich