Dia 90 El Banquito - Somoto 56kms
Tore myself away from Honduras today and cruised into Nicaragua. Stopped in San Marcos de Colon along the way to burn up what remained of my Honduran phone cards and was able to either talk to ar leave messages with my entire family, including the "Cyclery Family." Hard head wind today, although the distant, clear views make it tolerable. So, I've made it into Nicaragua, where once again, maps and ATMs are rare. So I find myself here in Somoto with limited Cordobas and once again at the mercy of local direction givers. I find out the nearest ATMs are 70kms down the road, too far for this tired biker to attempt today.... I do have a few Cordobas I traded for the leftover Lempiras and dollars I had. While searching for a cheap room, I encountered a couple of Canadian motorcyclists who in turn introduced me to Sal, their Nicaraguan guide. They listened to my story and Sal promptly whipped out his wallet and insisted I take $20! He had done a transcontinental moto journey and claimed that he was shown this brand of kindness repeatedly. He only asked that I pass it on to another needy traveler when their need arises...... I dropped some elevation after crossing the border, but it's still nice and cool here..... Oh yeah, another cooincidence today, when I stopped in San Marcos to make my phone calls, I ran into the same man whom I spoke to yesterday in another pueblo back down the road. I invited him to have a cold drink with me and he accepted. He was another of the ear to ear grin tribe. And his front tooth with a gold star on it shone prominantly. He had a smile that reminded me of Bob Roll, just made me want to laugh!! Jose Octavio something or other..... The wind is still howling tonight...
Dia 91 Somoto - Esteli 72 kms
Shared breakfast this AM with my moto buds and then moved on. Started in a light mist and it continued cloudy for much of the day, which helped make it a comfortable ride. Plus, after a few kms, the mist stopped and the wind kicked in behind me. Much of today was uphill, but the wind made it easy going. Great road with mild traffic once again. Made it to Esteli and decided to stay as I now had Cordobas and I'd like to bring the blog up to date.... It's beginning to sink in that I'm nearing the completion of this segment of my journey. The bikin' to Costa Rica part, that is. I do intend to continue the journey though in every other way. The pursuit of "Libertad," and beauty and justice and knowledge and understanding....... Peace, in my heart,in the world.......
Dia 92 Esteli - Tipitapa 133 kms
Today, I started early in the coolness. An early climb warmed me up, followed by a downhill tendency all day long. I entered another windy zone that reminded me of Tehuantepec, but nowhere near as strong. It was a side wind out of the east that at times favored me, at times not. Came over a small pass and got my first view of Lake Managua and it's surrounding volcanos. As I descended, it got hotter and dryer, not my favorite condition. Still haven't found a good map of Nicaragua. The tourist office in Esteli only had a Budget rent a car version that mostly shows where you can rent one of their gas burners. It's crazy that no one has maps here in Central America. Next time, (did I just say next time?) I'll acquire maps before I leave home and carry them along..... I'm so tired right now I can barely lift the pen to write. Even my brain is too tired to think. Guess I'll just drink beer and eat! At the restaurant, I struck up a converstion with Mariela, the waitress. She told me her story, which I think is a common one here in Latin America. Has 2 children, her man then left her 3 years ago without any support. She works for a monthly salary which is 2000 Cordobas a month ($110.) 6 days a week from 8 AM 'til midnight!!! I left her a healthy tip to kind of pass on Sal's generousity from 2 days ago...
I'm watching the world spinning right now as the full moon peaks out above the palms. I love to watch the world spin!!
Dia 93 Tipitapa - Granada 45kms
Found out from the guys at the Hotel Tikal that the ferry leaves at 1PM from the dock in Granada today. I'm gonna go for it as I'd like to hang out for a couple of days on the island Ometepe before pushing on into Costa Rica. So I shoved off early without breakfast as nothing opens around these parts 'til 9 or 10AM. I really crawled at first because this hard east wind is still blowing and without fuel in my tank, I'm hopeless. Found breakfast before Masaya and burned it as I powered into Granada. On the way in, a slow, loaded farm truck came by me and I sprinted to get in it's wake. It pulled me along for about 5 k and I found myself in Granada in time to make the ferry. Only think was, more bad info. The ferry doesn't leave 'til manaña! I guess I'll use this extra time to check out Granada and bring the blog up to "real time." Anyway, all the heat and wind has zapped me. I'd much rather climb mountains!!!
Dia 94 Granada - waiting for the ferry
A day off the bike today as I wait for this afternoon's ferry ride to Isla Ometepe. I strolled around Granada last night to check it out. Has some nice old buildings, but it's just another cheap ass tourist trap. Granada is another colonial city that's situated on the north shore of Lake Nicaragua. It's in the shadow of Volcan Mombache, which towers above directly to the west. It was probably quite beautiful many moons ago... It's famous for being the temporary home of American William Walker, who attempted to rule Central America with his army of mercenaries in the 1850's. He was eventually defeated, but managed to burn Granada to the ground in the process. He was perhaps the first "Ugly American" to visit here.
Ducked into a local tavern for a cold brew and met 2 ex-pat Americans sitting at the bar. One, Steve, was very talkative and enlightened me about the current land grab. Just as I've witnessed happen in Costa Rica, the foreign tourists are now loving Nicaragua to death. He and his drinking buddy were very boastful about the cheap mansions they bought here and how the young, beautiful "Nicas" are more than happy to marry them for their money. He gave numerous examples of old, rich, gringos who now had young and foxy wives. Neither spoke spanish, although they'd been living here for years. The talkative one told me, "It used to be nice here before all the Gringos discovered it." Now, the central park is ringed with offices for Re-max, Coldwell Banker, etc..... .... The ugly Americans are still trying to burn this place down........ Another thing Steve told me, "Don't wander more than 5 blocks from the central park, or the thugs, thieves and murderers will surely rob you, beat you, kill you and rape you!" "Oh yeah," he added,"the whores work over there, $20." I am so disgusted.........
Tore myself away from Honduras today and cruised into Nicaragua. Stopped in San Marcos de Colon along the way to burn up what remained of my Honduran phone cards and was able to either talk to ar leave messages with my entire family, including the "Cyclery Family." Hard head wind today, although the distant, clear views make it tolerable. So, I've made it into Nicaragua, where once again, maps and ATMs are rare. So I find myself here in Somoto with limited Cordobas and once again at the mercy of local direction givers. I find out the nearest ATMs are 70kms down the road, too far for this tired biker to attempt today.... I do have a few Cordobas I traded for the leftover Lempiras and dollars I had. While searching for a cheap room, I encountered a couple of Canadian motorcyclists who in turn introduced me to Sal, their Nicaraguan guide. They listened to my story and Sal promptly whipped out his wallet and insisted I take $20! He had done a transcontinental moto journey and claimed that he was shown this brand of kindness repeatedly. He only asked that I pass it on to another needy traveler when their need arises...... I dropped some elevation after crossing the border, but it's still nice and cool here..... Oh yeah, another cooincidence today, when I stopped in San Marcos to make my phone calls, I ran into the same man whom I spoke to yesterday in another pueblo back down the road. I invited him to have a cold drink with me and he accepted. He was another of the ear to ear grin tribe. And his front tooth with a gold star on it shone prominantly. He had a smile that reminded me of Bob Roll, just made me want to laugh!! Jose Octavio something or other..... The wind is still howling tonight...
Dia 91 Somoto - Esteli 72 kms
Shared breakfast this AM with my moto buds and then moved on. Started in a light mist and it continued cloudy for much of the day, which helped make it a comfortable ride. Plus, after a few kms, the mist stopped and the wind kicked in behind me. Much of today was uphill, but the wind made it easy going. Great road with mild traffic once again. Made it to Esteli and decided to stay as I now had Cordobas and I'd like to bring the blog up to date.... It's beginning to sink in that I'm nearing the completion of this segment of my journey. The bikin' to Costa Rica part, that is. I do intend to continue the journey though in every other way. The pursuit of "Libertad," and beauty and justice and knowledge and understanding....... Peace, in my heart,in the world.......
Dia 92 Esteli - Tipitapa 133 kms
Today, I started early in the coolness. An early climb warmed me up, followed by a downhill tendency all day long. I entered another windy zone that reminded me of Tehuantepec, but nowhere near as strong. It was a side wind out of the east that at times favored me, at times not. Came over a small pass and got my first view of Lake Managua and it's surrounding volcanos. As I descended, it got hotter and dryer, not my favorite condition. Still haven't found a good map of Nicaragua. The tourist office in Esteli only had a Budget rent a car version that mostly shows where you can rent one of their gas burners. It's crazy that no one has maps here in Central America. Next time, (did I just say next time?) I'll acquire maps before I leave home and carry them along..... I'm so tired right now I can barely lift the pen to write. Even my brain is too tired to think. Guess I'll just drink beer and eat! At the restaurant, I struck up a converstion with Mariela, the waitress. She told me her story, which I think is a common one here in Latin America. Has 2 children, her man then left her 3 years ago without any support. She works for a monthly salary which is 2000 Cordobas a month ($110.) 6 days a week from 8 AM 'til midnight!!! I left her a healthy tip to kind of pass on Sal's generousity from 2 days ago...
I'm watching the world spinning right now as the full moon peaks out above the palms. I love to watch the world spin!!
Dia 93 Tipitapa - Granada 45kms
Found out from the guys at the Hotel Tikal that the ferry leaves at 1PM from the dock in Granada today. I'm gonna go for it as I'd like to hang out for a couple of days on the island Ometepe before pushing on into Costa Rica. So I shoved off early without breakfast as nothing opens around these parts 'til 9 or 10AM. I really crawled at first because this hard east wind is still blowing and without fuel in my tank, I'm hopeless. Found breakfast before Masaya and burned it as I powered into Granada. On the way in, a slow, loaded farm truck came by me and I sprinted to get in it's wake. It pulled me along for about 5 k and I found myself in Granada in time to make the ferry. Only think was, more bad info. The ferry doesn't leave 'til manaña! I guess I'll use this extra time to check out Granada and bring the blog up to "real time." Anyway, all the heat and wind has zapped me. I'd much rather climb mountains!!!
Dia 94 Granada - waiting for the ferry
A day off the bike today as I wait for this afternoon's ferry ride to Isla Ometepe. I strolled around Granada last night to check it out. Has some nice old buildings, but it's just another cheap ass tourist trap. Granada is another colonial city that's situated on the north shore of Lake Nicaragua. It's in the shadow of Volcan Mombache, which towers above directly to the west. It was probably quite beautiful many moons ago... It's famous for being the temporary home of American William Walker, who attempted to rule Central America with his army of mercenaries in the 1850's. He was eventually defeated, but managed to burn Granada to the ground in the process. He was perhaps the first "Ugly American" to visit here.
Ducked into a local tavern for a cold brew and met 2 ex-pat Americans sitting at the bar. One, Steve, was very talkative and enlightened me about the current land grab. Just as I've witnessed happen in Costa Rica, the foreign tourists are now loving Nicaragua to death. He and his drinking buddy were very boastful about the cheap mansions they bought here and how the young, beautiful "Nicas" are more than happy to marry them for their money. He gave numerous examples of old, rich, gringos who now had young and foxy wives. Neither spoke spanish, although they'd been living here for years. The talkative one told me, "It used to be nice here before all the Gringos discovered it." Now, the central park is ringed with offices for Re-max, Coldwell Banker, etc..... .... The ugly Americans are still trying to burn this place down........ Another thing Steve told me, "Don't wander more than 5 blocks from the central park, or the thugs, thieves and murderers will surely rob you, beat you, kill you and rape you!" "Oh yeah," he added,"the whores work over there, $20." I am so disgusted.........
posted by Bicycle Bob at
8:36 AM
2 Comments:
Bob, Im starting to feel guilty about you not having the right maps along the way while I have all you could need collecting dust in my basement waiting for me to dream of "MAKING MEMORIES" like yours.
Bici Bob,
It bums me out to hear the stupid ex-pat story. I have seen it first-hand down there. When I first visited Nica, it was sooo not gringoized. That is why I fell in love with the place. Now it is in every headline from real estate mags to surfing mags. You are a good ambassador and the locals will see it in your words and actions. Have a few Tonas and a shot of Flora de Cana for me. Pura Nica, Dia con chimba. Bien viaje. Double D.
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