Granada, Nicaragua

Hello to you from Nicaragua. I left Xela at 04:00 this past Saturday. After a 4 hour bus trip, I arrived in Guatemala City, a place in which I have never wanted to spend too much time. I got a Q35 (less than $5, very good deal) cab ride to another bus station for my bus to Nicaragua.

Since I had 3+ hours to kill before my bus, I went to the mall across from the station. It seemed more Tysons Mall Virginia than the Guatemala I knew for the past 10 weeks. The people I saw looked like those i would see in the DC area. After breakfast at Burger King, I headed back to the station.

I caught a 1:00 pm bus for Managua, Nicaragua. Along the way, I passed through El Salvador and Honduras. We stopped for the night in San Carlos (I think) El Salvador. The town is right next to San Salvador. What i was able to see of San Salvador, through the bus windows, looked quite nice. What I saw of San Carlos....not so nice.

For US$8, I got a 5.5 ft x 9-ish foot room with 2 ¨beds¨ and use of a shared toilet/(cold) shower (1 foot from each other).

I woke at 04:00 or so to continue the bus ride to Managua. One thing you notice on the bus ride out of Guatemala is that the roads are much better as you head south. the ¨highways¨in guatemala, outside the Guate City, are a mixture of dirt, stones, pavement, and small city streets. My bus ride seemed to be on real highways and nice two-lane roads.

I am not sure if i set foot in Honduras. If I did, it was only at a border. I did notice that it appeared to be sunny and hilly along my road. I am sure the people are quite nice.

During the ride to Managua, I met a El Salvadorean who works in Managua. She didn´t speak any English so I got to speak Spanish. I won´t say ¨work¨on my Spanish because i did not seem to use or to learn any new words. I spoke a bit too much English the last few weeks in Xela so it was good to speak to someone who had no English.

I also met an Aussie guy on the bus. Once we hit Managua, I hopped in a cab with the Aussie guy to catch a bus ($1.25) to Granada, Nicaragua.

The first thing you notice about Nicaragua, after Xela, Gautemala, is that it is hot - or, at least, quite warm. I am wearing shorts for the first time in 2 months. Not that many people want to see my skinny legs in shorts these days. I weighed myself, one more time, before leaving Guate. i weighed in at 165lbs. I think It is my lowest weight in years (20+ years) but i am not sure. I seem to have lost many of my muscles (or maybe i never had them).

I do not know what I will do here or how long I will stay.

I am told there is a big lake nearby. Maybe I will check it out.

bjm 7 jan 2008