Country: Nicaragua.
City: Granada.
Currency: 1Euro = 14.6 Nicaragua Gold Cordobas
Elevation: m / ft

Arrival Date: Tuesday the 24th.
Date: Tuesday the 24th, 7pm Christmas Eve!!

OF COURSE I FOUND IT!!! I made my way to the Oasis Hostal which was 6dollars a night and had a little swimming pool and free internet and Really nice bunks!!! It was sooo clean!!! If anyone goes to Granada check this place out!! It wasn´t in my guide book cos it only opened this year but it`s definitely worth a visit!! You could put on free DVD´s too and just chill there by the pool!! A really nice place! So I met loads of people from Holland, England, the States and Hawaii again!!! They were all going out to dinner and so I was invited along! I had Xmas eve dinner with 8 new friends!! and I had the most yummy, tender, delicious steak ever!!! Oh it was just an amazing meal!! There was Ann, Ross, Jordan, Dick, Stein, Pius at dinner and more!!!

We all had a great night and it was a really nice way to spend Christmas eve!! Then had a few drinks before heading back to the hostal for a swim before heading to bed!! There were fireworks everywhere though it was kinda scary that these little kids had so many fire crackers and bomb things and they were just throwing them everywhere!! at cars and people on bikes!! It was really weird to see that!! Then the next day I got up late and decided to just chill for the day and not worry about doing anything or going anywhere!! After all that`s what Xmas day is for isn´t it!! I I had a later breakfast, swam in the pool, someone had put on a DVD called `The Cell` with Jennifer Lopez so I watch that before getting a pizza and a shower and hanging out for the Xmas games that Dick had organised!!

Basically everyone had a buy a present and wrap it and place it in a pile in the centre of the circle of people!! Then we rolled a dice and depending on what number you rolled you could choose a present or give one to someone else, get nothing, give all your presents away or get to keep one present!! or something like that anyway!! So we all sat around and played this game with a few drinks for the evening!! It was a lot of fun and I ended up with a tube of toothpaste, a watergun and a bottle of rum from Santa!! Nice going if you ask me!! hehehee That was a lot of fun cos there was loads of us just sitting around having a few drinks, chatting and laughing and eating Pizza in Nicaragua!! One Xmas day I wont forget for a while!! heheheee

Date: Thursday the 26th, 8pm!!

I woke up this morning as everyone was packing up to leave Granada! Half were going to Costa Rica and others were heading north in Nicaragua. I hadn´t really decided what I wanted to do so I had a look at the map and at the dates and when I heard that Ross (England), Pius (Austria) and Ann (USA) were all heading to Leon before moving on to Honduras which was the same way I was going I figured why no go with them!! Rather then go on my own the next day! So off we went and got a bus that morning to Leon in the north of Nicaragua. We got there in the early afternoon and so took a stroll around the town to see the famous church which is the biggest in central america and the nurals which are famous for depicting the story of how peace came to the country! Both were amazing! Besides that there wasn`t much else in the town so we went for a lemonade where we met Kevin and Ursela

They knew that there was a cinema that was showing Lord of the Rings that night so we all went and checked out the time that it was on!! We had enough time to get back to the hotel and change clothes in our room for four with the shower curtain for a door in front of the toilet! (but it was cheap so no matter!!) (one thing you can`t be when you´re travelling is shy!!) hehehee Anyway we headed out and all met up for a bite to eat before heading in to watch the Two Towers in English no less ...with Spanish subtitles for the Nicaraguans!! Hate that!! hehehee So the film was great!! very weird to come out and realise that you`re in Central America though!!! You forget sometimes when you`re writing a mail or chatting on MSN and then you finish and you say "oh yeah, I travelling around the world and I`m in Honduras!!" heheheeee Pretty cool!!

So after that one day sightseeing in Leon we had seen all there was to see really so that next morning three of us got a bus from Leon to Esteli and then on to Ocotal which is the last town before the border to Honduras. It took a while to get there as we had to change terminals and walk to another one and then wait in Esteli for an hour. Well we were having lunch there anyway so it wasn`t too bad. I did have a pretty tough time there though and got quite upset!! Well I`ll explain, we got to the terminal and it was about 2pm so we sat in a little place and I ordered chicken and rice that came with some salad kinda lettuce strips stuff. I ate the chicken and rice adn just left the bones and the rock hard fried chicken skin. A little kid stopped at the door just as I was finished, which wasn`t unusual as I`ve seena lot of dirty looking kids around and begging for money and that.

Only I stood up and walked to the other door into the place to see if there was a bus outside and when I looked back at Ross and Pius this kid was scooping up the leftover lettuce off my plate and stuffing it in his mouth!! crappy lettuce!! So I left him there and he sat down and ate the skin and every scrap off the chicken bones too!! Then Pius gave him some rice and I bought him something else to eat too. He finished off my drink and Pius gave him the rest of his too!! But it just broke my heart to see this poor kid starving adn scraping some salad off my plate!! It`s just aweful being in South and Central america sometimes when you have to see these things!! But it`s something I`m glad I`ve seen and I hope it helps other people to realise just how lucky they are to have a home and a family and food on your table!! Even if you have a boring job to go to that you hate!! or get stuck in traffic jams in your car!! At least you have a job and a car!!

Well we made it to Ocotal after a tough trip there. It was late at night so we just went across the road from the bus station to the nearest hotel which was El Mirador. It was quite cheap and pretty nice with our own shower, toilet with the usual tattered shower curtain in front of it!! And a TV!! We organised ourselves and headed across the road to the only lighted place on the road and had nice dinner and a few drinks before heading in for an early night!! Another day of travelling was ahead of us to get into Honduras!! Then as soon as I get to Tegucigalpa I`m gonna take it easy for a day and maybe try to get a flight to the Island of Roatan for New Years and some scuba diving!!

Date: Saturday the 28th, 10pm!!

So we got up this morning and had a nice walk about in Ocotal, there`s not much in the town really so we just got some breakfast and headed back to get the bus to the border! So there was yet another long and convoluted trek into a new country!! I`m getting used to border crossings now though so it wasn`t too bad!! hehehee We got off the bus at the border town of Los Manos where we queued on one side to pay 2dollars and get stamped before we could walk across the border only to queue again and pay Yet Again to get into Honduras!!! Only thing was it was lunch time so the guys decided to close up the desk and go for lunch for an hour! So we stood and waited in line for 45minutes until they came back to take our money and stamp us again!!!

They have this great system there though that you don´t have to be there with your passort to get into the country!!! No you can just give about 15 of them to one kid who will queue up for you as you sit comfortably in your car!! He`s gets a cut of course and everyone`s happy!! EXCEPT FOR THE REST OF US WHO HAVE TO WAIT BEHIND HIM WHILE THEY PROCESS 15 OR 20 OR WHO KNOWS HOW MANY BLOODY PASSPORTS FOR PEOPLE WHO MAY OR MAY NOT EXIST!! What the hell is that about!! No one at the desk cares!! they just take the money while this kid keeps getting people skipping the queue and handing him more and more forms!! This kept up until one decent lady from Honduras started complaining as well as us and we stopped them taking any more forms from people who weren`t in the queue!! Power to the people!!! or somethign like that!!

We eventually got across and stamped etc and had a quick bite to eat before getting one bus to a town called El Paraiso and then had to get another bus to another town called Danli only to get the last and final bus into Tecgucigalpa!! Finally made it out of Nicaragua!!! I like it there but not as much as Costa Rica or as much as I think I`m going to like Honduras!! Well that´s all for now! Onwards and upwards!! heheheee

Here are the photos!!

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