With little sleep at 04:30am we sorted
out a hopeful 'TransNica' bus. After the
bus dilemma (no TicaBus until Monday we managed to snap up tickets for this one
at 09:00pm. I stocked up on food at a
market then realised I did not need to Costa Rican Colones at all as we left
for our exciting time in Nicaragua.
Turns out everybody in the bus was in
wrong seats, something which in the UK would cause uproar, and one of the
Canadian girls seats was broken but it still didn't stop her sleeping.
The border crossing was
interesting. Some woman was shouting
"Quesilla quesilla" on repeat trying to get tourists to purchase her
perhaps overpriced snacks, one of the Canadian girls exchanged money with one of
the guys who approve everyone foreign who steps of the bus and she got ripped
off, we bumped into a German volunteer from the park who was doing the opposite
and returning from Nicaragua so informed us of how amazing it was going to be,
and the ATM cash machine was playing up so I went overdrawn - however did not
consider taking it up with the security guy holding a machine gun next to me!
Upon entering Nicaragua I immediately
noticed how different it is. Very flat
with many trees, more mountainous areas staggered out in the open and a lack of
animals by the side of the road. Shortly
after the border we reached "Rivas" where a 'taxi' (unofficial
looking old rusty car) took us to the most beautiful beach town of San Juan Del
Sur (Saint John of the South) where the road leading in was simply long,
straight and looked like it would lead to nowhere.
.JPG) |
| Welcome To Rivas! (D.Philpot) |
The hostel, Suenos Del Mar (Dreams of
the sea), along with all the other buildings about was full of life, character
and colour.
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| My Weeks Food Stash (D.Philpot) |
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| Traditional Horse Cart - Front (D.Philpot) |
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| Traditional Horse Cart - Rear (D.Philpot) |
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| Interesting Architecture (D.Philpot) |
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| Colourful Buildings (D.Philpot) |
We headed to the nearby
beach to watch the sun set on this gorgeous place, the beach was absolutely
breathtaking with the thatched restaurants and palm trees lining the top.
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| Welcome To San Juan Del Sur (D.Philpot) |
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| Me Hitting The Beach (D.Philpot) |
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| He's 19 Don't You Know... (D.Philpot) |
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| Beach Front (D.Philpot) |
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| The Best Mango Daiquiri (D.Philpot) |
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| Coconut Rum (D.Philpot) |
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| Local Artisanal Kids (D.Philpot) |
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| View To The Pacific (D.Philpot) |
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| Looks Fancy But All Extremely Cheap (D.Philpot) |
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| SJDS Sunset (D.Philpot) |
We explored the lively town briefly (Video 127 shows a little nightlife),
discovering how different the Spanish is here, got some food realising how
cheap it is, had the best showers ever, met THE suenos - a gorgeous ginger cat
who was quickly nicknamed "Captain fuzzy boots" or CFB by some
unnamed person…
We relaxed in the hotel watching CFB as
he climbed around the wooden rafters whilst my pasta took absolutely years to
boil for some reason and we played cards for a while where the new Canadian
girl caused an "earthquake" during an intense snap game - she hit the
table exactly the same time as there was another huge bang from elsewhere in or
around the hostel.