Nica city trip: Granada, Leon and Managua
Door: Sjoukje
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Sjoukje
22 December 2016 | Nicaragua, León
Holaditos chicitos!
After all the nature, waterfalls and volcanoes it was city trip time! We started in Granada, which turned out to be a perfect place to beat the last germs. Granada is a really colourful colonial city. All houses are painted in different colours, red roof tiles, everybody is outside and the ambiance is really vivid. You can find huge markets, with literally everything in one market stall: food, cattle food, toys and soap, for example. It's one big chaos, but somehow without all the screaming pushy people. The city is marked by big churches, often surrounded by a park. At the parks are always people hanging out, and at night the ugly Christmas decoration makes it even a bit cosy. What a contrast to the horrible cities of Costa Rica! Conclusion; Costa Rica is amazing for its incredible nature, while Nicaraguas nature isn't that impressive. But its cities definitely are!
The night life in Granada is as well awesome as awkward. Dancing all night long! The bizarre amount of attention I got from men was more scary than flattering. When I refused the hands of several men, and they actually started to film when I was dancing salsa, we knew it was time to go to another bar. A super European reggeton bar. I felt like home.
Besides wandering around in the city, we visited laguna Apoyo, a giant crater lake, which was secretly not more than a ugly dusty lake with really clear water. We went also to the most active volcano of Nicaragua: Masaya volcano. Sadly it was "to dangerous to walk", so after paying a ridiculous entrance fee the drove us to the top. I saw lava for the first time of my life!
The transport in Nicaragua is done via the public "chicken busses". Indeed you feel like chickens in a cage. Super busy. When you push yourself in and you think nobody else is gonna fit anymore, they always get 10 more people inside. Including our huge backpacks. You stand literally butt to butt, and the conductor has to fight his way trough. Not uncommon, is a person in between this chaos, reading the bible with a loud screaming voice, trying to get money for "jesus". If this isn't enough, the drivers are insane. Zigzagging trough the busy traffic, ignoring all the red lights, overtaking cars on a one lane road... It's a wonder I arrived at my next stop:
Leon. This city is like the bigger brother of Granada. The same imposing churches and markets, the same coloured houses, just all a bit bigger. And less clean and maybe a bit poorer. Leon turned out to be the hottest place in Latin America, and after being there for 4 days I can totally confirm that I sweat more than I ever thought was possible. And what do you do in the hottest place ever: hiking in areas without shade of course! So... I went up to Telica volcano. In one word: amazing. An active crater, the sulfur smell, the sound of rocks falling and the view of magma. A sunset trough the smoke of a volcano; once in a life time experience.
The next day it was time for some more adrenaline: volcano boarding -please google this!-. We climbed up Cerro Negro, which is literally a mountain of black rocks, in the burning sun, with our volcano board and protective suit. If you think about hell... this is it. This feeling was strengthened when we saw the crater. Bare black stone, yellow and red mineral deposits, smoking vents, a soil hot enough to boil an egg, incredible. Then it was time to go down the mountain: in our overalls we sleight down the super steep and dusty slope. Adrenaline rush!
Next stop: Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. About this city I can be really short. It is ugly, big and it gave me a really unsafe feeling. Time to quickly go on!
However, traveling like this make me realize one thing: traveling makes hard and creative. Sleeping in a dirty and creaky bed; a lack of toilet paper; 3 hours of waiting for the next bus to spend the bus ride standing, backwards and squeezed; sweating with your backpack along the highway; wearing the same shirt for a week because you cannot wash... all seems to be super normal. You just adapt. The small European comfort things don't exist here in Latin America. But then suddenly, you are in an awesome bus with A/C and place for your luggage, or you enter a hostel with good beds, a clean kitchen and power outlets next to your bed! And when you see men pulling a car full of pineapples/bananas/chickens/garbage trough the mud in the burning sun... you put everything in perspective.
However, there are two thinks I really do not understand right now. One: Just two more weeks of to go. Two: It's almost 2017. Insane. Christmas will be celebrated in the Corn Islands, which means: from dusty volcanoes to sandy beaches! My dear friends, feliz navidad! :D
After all the nature, waterfalls and volcanoes it was city trip time! We started in Granada, which turned out to be a perfect place to beat the last germs. Granada is a really colourful colonial city. All houses are painted in different colours, red roof tiles, everybody is outside and the ambiance is really vivid. You can find huge markets, with literally everything in one market stall: food, cattle food, toys and soap, for example. It's one big chaos, but somehow without all the screaming pushy people. The city is marked by big churches, often surrounded by a park. At the parks are always people hanging out, and at night the ugly Christmas decoration makes it even a bit cosy. What a contrast to the horrible cities of Costa Rica! Conclusion; Costa Rica is amazing for its incredible nature, while Nicaraguas nature isn't that impressive. But its cities definitely are!
The night life in Granada is as well awesome as awkward. Dancing all night long! The bizarre amount of attention I got from men was more scary than flattering. When I refused the hands of several men, and they actually started to film when I was dancing salsa, we knew it was time to go to another bar. A super European reggeton bar. I felt like home.
Besides wandering around in the city, we visited laguna Apoyo, a giant crater lake, which was secretly not more than a ugly dusty lake with really clear water. We went also to the most active volcano of Nicaragua: Masaya volcano. Sadly it was "to dangerous to walk", so after paying a ridiculous entrance fee the drove us to the top. I saw lava for the first time of my life!
The transport in Nicaragua is done via the public "chicken busses". Indeed you feel like chickens in a cage. Super busy. When you push yourself in and you think nobody else is gonna fit anymore, they always get 10 more people inside. Including our huge backpacks. You stand literally butt to butt, and the conductor has to fight his way trough. Not uncommon, is a person in between this chaos, reading the bible with a loud screaming voice, trying to get money for "jesus". If this isn't enough, the drivers are insane. Zigzagging trough the busy traffic, ignoring all the red lights, overtaking cars on a one lane road... It's a wonder I arrived at my next stop:
Leon. This city is like the bigger brother of Granada. The same imposing churches and markets, the same coloured houses, just all a bit bigger. And less clean and maybe a bit poorer. Leon turned out to be the hottest place in Latin America, and after being there for 4 days I can totally confirm that I sweat more than I ever thought was possible. And what do you do in the hottest place ever: hiking in areas without shade of course! So... I went up to Telica volcano. In one word: amazing. An active crater, the sulfur smell, the sound of rocks falling and the view of magma. A sunset trough the smoke of a volcano; once in a life time experience.
The next day it was time for some more adrenaline: volcano boarding -please google this!-. We climbed up Cerro Negro, which is literally a mountain of black rocks, in the burning sun, with our volcano board and protective suit. If you think about hell... this is it. This feeling was strengthened when we saw the crater. Bare black stone, yellow and red mineral deposits, smoking vents, a soil hot enough to boil an egg, incredible. Then it was time to go down the mountain: in our overalls we sleight down the super steep and dusty slope. Adrenaline rush!
Next stop: Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. About this city I can be really short. It is ugly, big and it gave me a really unsafe feeling. Time to quickly go on!
However, traveling like this make me realize one thing: traveling makes hard and creative. Sleeping in a dirty and creaky bed; a lack of toilet paper; 3 hours of waiting for the next bus to spend the bus ride standing, backwards and squeezed; sweating with your backpack along the highway; wearing the same shirt for a week because you cannot wash... all seems to be super normal. You just adapt. The small European comfort things don't exist here in Latin America. But then suddenly, you are in an awesome bus with A/C and place for your luggage, or you enter a hostel with good beds, a clean kitchen and power outlets next to your bed! And when you see men pulling a car full of pineapples/bananas/chickens/garbage trough the mud in the burning sun... you put everything in perspective.
However, there are two thinks I really do not understand right now. One: Just two more weeks of to go. Two: It's almost 2017. Insane. Christmas will be celebrated in the Corn Islands, which means: from dusty volcanoes to sandy beaches! My dear friends, feliz navidad! :D
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
