This is just a final post to let everyone know I made it home safe and sound. Unfortunately, my last day on my trip was actually my worst. I overslept my last day and missed my transport pick up to go river rafting, and spent that night in a casino playing poker (at one point being up $600 and then overall walking out about with $150 in profit) and not being able to find my friends who I planned to go out with. Despite this, the trip was obviously an unforgettable experience and adventure, and only foreshadows the amazing travels I will continue to have in the future.
Thanks to everybody who kept up with this blog and posted comments, and another apology for slacking the last couple weeks. Expect the next blog to begin this coming winter, when I begin my semester studying abroad...in a country to be determined. Pura Vida!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
1 Tequila 2 Tequila 3 Tequila....Suicides!!!
I apologize deeply for being so god damn lazy. I was in San José about a week and a half ago and had written up a whole blog, but the internet crashed right when I finished so I couldn´t post anything. Right now, I will attempt to lay out my trip and just a few really amazing stories.
From León I went to Masaya. Did more volcano stuff. Hitch hiked my way into town and got picked up by a group of 10 Spaniards. They were amazing, really helped out my Spanish. Gave me a ride to Granada where I spent the night.
Then went to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, a town on the Pacific known for great surfing. Met up with Zach. Lots of fun. Spent 2 entire days on the beautiful Playa Maderas surfing incredible waves, seriously improving, just having a complete blast on the beautiful beach. Did some serious partying both nights. My last night the guy I rented my board from bought me a ton of beers and we got into great conversations in Spanish about how great the town is and how everyone is like family. Definitely a place I would recommend to people.
A few days later, Zach and I crossed the border back into Costa Rica and decided to skip hiking Cerro Chirripó because we didn´t think we´d have enough time to do it and get Zach back to San José in time for his flight. Instead we made our way to the Caribbean side and went to a town called Puerto Viejo. The town is basically a reggae-style place surrounded by palm trees and sandy beaches. We spent Zach´s last day at the beach doing some surfing, but the waves were not nearly as good as they were in San Juan. It was still a good time.
The next day, Zach left and I hooked up with a group heading to Bocas del Toro, Panamá. The area is basically a collection of islands on the Caribbean but the main center where it all goes down is on Isla Colón, in the town called Bocas del Toro. We arrived at the hostel everyone told us about called Mondo Taitu. Really amazing story right now: When we got there and checked in, and made our way into the town to get a bite to eat, I passed a guy who stopped and pulled me over, stared at me, asked me to take off my sunglasses, asked my name, and after about 20 seconds, realized how he knew me....he was one of the soldiers on my bus on my Taglit Birthright trip to Israel - A YEAR AND A HALF AGO!!!! What a small world we live in. I hadn´t spoken to him in a year and a half, and now we are at the same hostel in the middle of the Caribbean in Panamá. Unbelievable. Anyways, I´m still here now, and this place is pretty much a party place. Of the group here, I am the only person who has been to a beach every day, taking full advantage of the shining sun that isn´t known for showing its face but for some reason has blessed us with its presence every day so far. Only today has it rained in the morning, and the entire afternoon it was gorgeous. Today I actually went on a 9 mile run out to a beach. It was really really awesome. This hostel is absolutely unbelievable. They attract a crowd every night for drinking before going out, and have some great weekly drinking traditions. For example, every Friday they put on a costume party until like 1 or 2 in the morning, with a different theme every week. Last week the theme was Punk, Goth, Rock, and Hip-Hop or something like that, and the week before it was Super Heroes. This past Friday´s theme: Cartoons, Clowns, and Queens. I dressed up as Aladdin. Pictures are to come, not to worry. Lots of people dressed up as Drag Queens. In fact, all the guys I traveled with did that, and I sort of felt left out, then looked at them and realized they were wearing a dress and make-up. That made me feel not so left out. There were some great costumes though, such as Duffman, Sponge Bob, Pinnochio, and a group of Aussies all dressed up as Transformers. It was a really fun night.
Another story: Our first night in, all the people I traveled with was just so happy to be at this beautiful island that we were just ready to get hammered. Before coming, all the way in Granada, I talked to some people who had been there and stayed at this hostel and said that whatever I did, one thing I absolutely had to do was a tequila suicide (also known in other countries as a stuntman or red-eye). So after throwing back some beers, I checked out the drink menu. The prices went from $5, $4, a couple 3s, some 2s, and finally: Free/Gratis. The drink: Tequila Suicide. The explanation: Snort a line of salt, squirt some lime in the eye, followed by a shot of the worst tequila we could get our hands on, leaving you wondering why you didn´t just spend a couple of bucks on a drink. How could I turn this down, a free shot of tequila! So after finding some Dutch guys who stayed in the same room as me, I convinced them to do it with me. For some reason, we decided to do another one right after - other nostril and other eye. Obviously, we can all agree that the best part of this trifecta is the shot of tequila. On the other hand, the worst: the salt up the nose. The reason is that the line of salt the bartenders give is not grainy, but chunky. So you´re literally snorting fairly big chunks of salt at a time, and this burning sensation just explodes all over. A farmer´s blow right after never looked so graceful. The lime in the eye was really bad, don´t get me wrong. The bartenders pull your lid, squeeze the juice, and just for kicks, just scrub the lime all over while you hurriedly try to close your eye and pull away. Finally, you´re rewarded with the tequila. Needless to say, the pictures are priceless (basically, I look like a friggin coke addict needing my fix on a crowded bar) and the experience is unforgettable. Finally, as a side note, 2 nights ago, a guy did 11 of those. I´m sure he´ll be very successful with the ladies using that as a pick-up line. "So, I snorted salt up my nose 11 times. What´s your name?"
Another small-world-story: After speaking with several of the people who work at this hostel, I discovered that the owners of Mondo are originally from San Francisco. Before my trip, I talked to my cousin Eric about where to go, and he mentioned that some people he went to high school with started up a hostel in Bocas. A few nights ago, I went out on a search for the owners and, amazingly, they and my cousins went to the same high school. One of them, Dave, even went to Israel with one of my cousins, Casey. This was a great conversation-starter and a perfect segway that led to several free drinks.
Tonight is Smokin´ Sundays at Mondo, which means they give out free Hookahs. Tomorrow is Power Hour. The hostel has a video of 60 1-minute clips of music videos from the 80s, so everyone just gets absolutely hammered singing classic songs that nobody really listens to but everybody knows. Tuesday morning I will go back to Puerto Viejo, do some more surfing, relaxing, and finish up with the best river rafting in Costa Rica, on the Rio Pacuaré. ¡¡¡Salud!!!
From León I went to Masaya. Did more volcano stuff. Hitch hiked my way into town and got picked up by a group of 10 Spaniards. They were amazing, really helped out my Spanish. Gave me a ride to Granada where I spent the night.
Then went to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, a town on the Pacific known for great surfing. Met up with Zach. Lots of fun. Spent 2 entire days on the beautiful Playa Maderas surfing incredible waves, seriously improving, just having a complete blast on the beautiful beach. Did some serious partying both nights. My last night the guy I rented my board from bought me a ton of beers and we got into great conversations in Spanish about how great the town is and how everyone is like family. Definitely a place I would recommend to people.
A few days later, Zach and I crossed the border back into Costa Rica and decided to skip hiking Cerro Chirripó because we didn´t think we´d have enough time to do it and get Zach back to San José in time for his flight. Instead we made our way to the Caribbean side and went to a town called Puerto Viejo. The town is basically a reggae-style place surrounded by palm trees and sandy beaches. We spent Zach´s last day at the beach doing some surfing, but the waves were not nearly as good as they were in San Juan. It was still a good time.
The next day, Zach left and I hooked up with a group heading to Bocas del Toro, Panamá. The area is basically a collection of islands on the Caribbean but the main center where it all goes down is on Isla Colón, in the town called Bocas del Toro. We arrived at the hostel everyone told us about called Mondo Taitu. Really amazing story right now: When we got there and checked in, and made our way into the town to get a bite to eat, I passed a guy who stopped and pulled me over, stared at me, asked me to take off my sunglasses, asked my name, and after about 20 seconds, realized how he knew me....he was one of the soldiers on my bus on my Taglit Birthright trip to Israel - A YEAR AND A HALF AGO!!!! What a small world we live in. I hadn´t spoken to him in a year and a half, and now we are at the same hostel in the middle of the Caribbean in Panamá. Unbelievable. Anyways, I´m still here now, and this place is pretty much a party place. Of the group here, I am the only person who has been to a beach every day, taking full advantage of the shining sun that isn´t known for showing its face but for some reason has blessed us with its presence every day so far. Only today has it rained in the morning, and the entire afternoon it was gorgeous. Today I actually went on a 9 mile run out to a beach. It was really really awesome. This hostel is absolutely unbelievable. They attract a crowd every night for drinking before going out, and have some great weekly drinking traditions. For example, every Friday they put on a costume party until like 1 or 2 in the morning, with a different theme every week. Last week the theme was Punk, Goth, Rock, and Hip-Hop or something like that, and the week before it was Super Heroes. This past Friday´s theme: Cartoons, Clowns, and Queens. I dressed up as Aladdin. Pictures are to come, not to worry. Lots of people dressed up as Drag Queens. In fact, all the guys I traveled with did that, and I sort of felt left out, then looked at them and realized they were wearing a dress and make-up. That made me feel not so left out. There were some great costumes though, such as Duffman, Sponge Bob, Pinnochio, and a group of Aussies all dressed up as Transformers. It was a really fun night.
Another story: Our first night in, all the people I traveled with was just so happy to be at this beautiful island that we were just ready to get hammered. Before coming, all the way in Granada, I talked to some people who had been there and stayed at this hostel and said that whatever I did, one thing I absolutely had to do was a tequila suicide (also known in other countries as a stuntman or red-eye). So after throwing back some beers, I checked out the drink menu. The prices went from $5, $4, a couple 3s, some 2s, and finally: Free/Gratis. The drink: Tequila Suicide. The explanation: Snort a line of salt, squirt some lime in the eye, followed by a shot of the worst tequila we could get our hands on, leaving you wondering why you didn´t just spend a couple of bucks on a drink. How could I turn this down, a free shot of tequila! So after finding some Dutch guys who stayed in the same room as me, I convinced them to do it with me. For some reason, we decided to do another one right after - other nostril and other eye. Obviously, we can all agree that the best part of this trifecta is the shot of tequila. On the other hand, the worst: the salt up the nose. The reason is that the line of salt the bartenders give is not grainy, but chunky. So you´re literally snorting fairly big chunks of salt at a time, and this burning sensation just explodes all over. A farmer´s blow right after never looked so graceful. The lime in the eye was really bad, don´t get me wrong. The bartenders pull your lid, squeeze the juice, and just for kicks, just scrub the lime all over while you hurriedly try to close your eye and pull away. Finally, you´re rewarded with the tequila. Needless to say, the pictures are priceless (basically, I look like a friggin coke addict needing my fix on a crowded bar) and the experience is unforgettable. Finally, as a side note, 2 nights ago, a guy did 11 of those. I´m sure he´ll be very successful with the ladies using that as a pick-up line. "So, I snorted salt up my nose 11 times. What´s your name?"
Another small-world-story: After speaking with several of the people who work at this hostel, I discovered that the owners of Mondo are originally from San Francisco. Before my trip, I talked to my cousin Eric about where to go, and he mentioned that some people he went to high school with started up a hostel in Bocas. A few nights ago, I went out on a search for the owners and, amazingly, they and my cousins went to the same high school. One of them, Dave, even went to Israel with one of my cousins, Casey. This was a great conversation-starter and a perfect segway that led to several free drinks.
Tonight is Smokin´ Sundays at Mondo, which means they give out free Hookahs. Tomorrow is Power Hour. The hostel has a video of 60 1-minute clips of music videos from the 80s, so everyone just gets absolutely hammered singing classic songs that nobody really listens to but everybody knows. Tuesday morning I will go back to Puerto Viejo, do some more surfing, relaxing, and finish up with the best river rafting in Costa Rica, on the Rio Pacuaré. ¡¡¡Salud!!!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Granada, León, and Cerro Negro
I hadn´t realized so much time has gone by since my last post.
Well, on the 5th, I woke up early with a British guy doing the hike with me named Tom, and we met up with our guide. He took us on this trail up the 1600 meter Volcán Concepción, and it was an extremely steep climb. The trail literally had wildlife covering it, so we had to duck under branches and swipe away at brushes in the way. A couple of times I rubbed up accidentally against a plant that has a defense mechanism that stings your skin and then a small rash develops, but as long as you don´t scratch it, it goes away. As it did about 10 minutes later. It was pretty weird though. It was about an hour and a half literally climbing up the ridge of this volcano. I loved it. Once we got towards the top, there were so many dense clouds that our visibility was literally only about 5 meters, and the wind was blowing super super hard. Like hard enough to make me regain my balance and step with more authority so as not to get blown away. We climbed to an elevation of 1200 meters, so we were only about 400 meters away from the peak of the volcano. And once the clouds disappeared eventually, we could see the entire island of Isla de Ometepe, all the way across the lake to the port town, as well as the gigantic side of the volcano, almost to the peak. We ate the snacks we brought up with us and played around with the fierce wind, walking up a bit where the wind was really blowing, strong enough so that if you leaned into it, the wind actually supported your weight and balance. It was super cool. We walked down, got to our hostel, I showered and took a 3 hour nap, then began to party. There were a group of Canadians on the island who organized a movie (Shrek 3) and then a party with a DJ to raise money for the people on the island. So Tom and I and a couple locals went to the party and had a fairly decent night, not too late. I was wiped out from the exhausting hike.
The next day, I wanted to go see the San Ramón Waterfalls in San Ramón on the other part of the island. So Tom and I got on a bus that said San Ramón on it. An hour later, we were in another town just on the other side of Concepción instead of on the actual other side of the island, in San Ramón. I didn´t want to spend the whole day getting there and miss a night of partying in Granada, so instead Tom and I just walked to a nearby beach, went for a dip, and then just caught a bus back to Moyogalpa. We then took the ferry back to San Jorge, then from San Jorge to Rivas to Granada. I checked back into the Bearded Monkey and met up with all the people I had met the last time I was there. One guy from London named Sam was getting people together to party because it was his birthday, so I knew it was going to be a late fun night in Granada. We went to this club called Cafe Nuit that had decent live music and lots of locals, but there were about 15 of us around a table just drinking and talking about the most random stuff. When the club started to close, we decided to find this bar on the beach that was open 24 hours. The walk was far. At least 5 or 6 kilometers, which is even farther when you´re drunk. But it was super fun. We eventually got to this bar and stayed there until the sun came up. Then we caught a cab and got back to our hotel around 6ish. It was a ridiculous night to say the least. The sky from the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous. Because we were on the lake facing west, it was literally the best sunrise I think I have ever seen. Pinks and oranges and reds all mixed together to paint a landscape that would make anybody speechless.
The next day I sat around recuperating from the night before, really not doing much of anything besides reading and playing chess with random people. By the time night came around, I was ready to go out but every single other person was too wiped out and drained from doing what we did last night for 3 nights straight. So we just chilled watching a movie.
Then, I woke up, watched the Wimbledon Finals (great match) and made my way to the other cultural city that rivals Granada as Nicaragua´s prettiest, León. I checked into the Big Foot Hostel and signed up for a volcano tour for the next day. I was trying to figure out what to do when I overheard some guy telling another guy about a poker game going on around the corner. I sort of butted in and invited myself along, but they were cool with it. It was taking place at a tour company called QuetzalTrekkers, a non-profit organization that takes people on volcano hikes and donates all the money to charity. The guides were the ones running the poker game, they were mostly volunteers from American and Britain. The buy-in was 100 cords, and it was a cash game. 2 rounds of Texas Hold ´Em and one round of Omaha. After the first hour, I clearly had the largest chip stack. After a while though, I got tired and began to play poorly. After 4 hours, there were only 3 people left who had money and we decided to call it. I walked out with 450 cords, a very fun night with lots of good card-playing and interesting conversations.
The next day, Monday, I walked around the city for a bit, checking out the Parque Central, the church in the park, which is the largest in Central America, and grabbing small bites to eat. A bag of fresh mango is only 3 cords (less than a dime) - absolutely delicious! The church was very old but beautiful. What was more striking was its mere size and architecture from the outside, it´s just absolutely enormous. The town of León really isn´t that different from Granada. I think I like Granada more because there is more color to the buildings and it´s a bit smaller so there are more churches, which make it a bit more nice. Also it´s right on the lake which is awesome for partying. When 1 rolled around, the tour started. There were about 20 of us, and we all got into the back of pick up trucks which took us out of town and on a dirt road for about 45 minutes to the volcano. On the way, we passed by small houses and the children that saw us would wave and literally scream at the top of their lungs at us. It was just hysterical, passing by these kids that would just go AAAAHHHHH when we drove by. The volcano is called Cerro Negro, which is actually a name for a mountain, but technically, it is an active volcano. We grabbed our volcano boards, which were basically just planks of wood, our orange suits (which made us look like prison mates) and began the 40 minute climb up the volcano. The climb was not that bad at all, and the smell of sulfur and the feel of the steam coming out of the volcano made the whole experience that much more intense. Eventually, we got to the top, where we could see other mountains and volcanoes and just fields of green. Next we walked to a nearby crater and literally ran into it. Just ran right into the bottom of an active crater. Some people didn´t know where the path was though and ended up slipping and sliding down, and one Irish guy tripped and literally rolled down a bit. By the time he got to the bottom, his back was all scratched up. It looked hideous. Luckily, I got a good picture of it at its worst. The climb up though was the hardest part. The inside of the crater was really loose gravel so each time you took a step, it was like stepping in sand and your foot just sank down. It was like taking one step up and going down 3. So it took forever to go up the 120 meters that we ran down in about 15 seconds. Then it was time to board down the volcano. After learning how to sit and brake on the board by our guide, we walked to the edge and saw the steep steep drop. This was where the Frenchman (I forgot his name) rode a mountain bike to break the land speed´s world record. His bike ended up snapping in half and he suffered broken ribs, arms, etc...We were all really anxious to go after that story. The total distance is about 400 meters, and the guide said one guy she did it with got down the whole thing in 22 seconds, going 60 km/hr. That was the fastest she´s seen someone do it. 22 seconds! That´s so long. When it was my turn, I braced myself and headed down. I picked up some damn good speed, but my board started to turn and when I tried to readjust it, I ended up tripping a little. That wasn´t so bad. I had about 300 meters left to go, and so when I got back on, I was going straight, no brakes, picking up major speed. I was definitely going between 40 and 50 km/hr when I hit a big rock and went flying. I made it to the bottom though in one piece. Only after I got to the bottom did I feel burn on my arm and saw that I had scraped some skin off my arm pretty badly. That´s ok, makes for a good story. Got it going down an active volcano!!! Sitting down in the back of the pick up truck on the way back also let me know how sore my tailbone was after that experience. I´ll manage though. That night, the same guys that ran the poker game at QuetzalTrekkers ran a Quiz or Trivia Night at the hostel/bar/restaurant across the street from my hostel. They do it every Monday night, to raise money for poor children in the town. I joined a team with a guy I met who goes to Dartmouth named Zach, and also on the team was a guy from Med School, a Spanish business teacher working with the Peace Corps, a high school Spanish teacher who was valedictorian of his college, and a graduate from Penn State. So overall, we felt our team was definitely the most educated. The questions varied from movies to math to sports to Nicaraguan history to random insignificant trivia. One question was where is Jim Morrison buried, and Zach turned to me and said, "Who´s Jim Morrison?" I blew up in his face for a comment like that, but after the whole thing was over and done with, we had come from behind and were tied for first. The major questions we got wrong were ones on Nicaraguan history (like how many political parties there were in Nicaragua in 1990 and who the president was in 1909), and those were the questions that the other team, a group of Nicas, got right to get tied up with us in first. The first place prize was a bottle of rum, while the second place prize was a bottle of wine. We all wanted the rum, obviously. It was weird though, because normally they come up with a tie-breaker question, but because the two teams were one entirely of gringos and another entirely of Nicas, we each didn´t want the question to be biased so the other team knew it easily. Then a coin flip was suggested. I hated this idea, to leave it all up to chance. But the Nicas kept insisting. It was actually quite humorous to see the cultural differences between our two groups. Us, the educated American/British group, screaming to use our intelligence and a question as the tie-breaker, and the Nica group screaming to do a coin-flip. Eventually, the people running the event decided it would be best to just do a coin flip. The Nica group picked a side, the coin was flipped, and it landed on our side. We won the rum!!! Whoooooo, it felt damn good. My first Trivia Night in Nicaragua with a victory. We got some coke and killed the bottle in good style!!! It was a really fun night.
I decided to stick around here one more night because the guys are having another poker night, so I figured I´d leave León with a bit more money for the rest of my travels, then I´m going to go to Masaya to check out the volcano there and the infamous market which is great for shopping. Then I´m going to San Juan del Sur for some surfing and hanging on the beach. Then I´m going with Zach all the way south in Costa Rica to hike Costa Rica´s highest mountain, Cerro Chirripó. He has to leave soon and I really wanted to do it, just not alone. So it works out perfectly. I´ll try and put up more pictures soon, as I have taken a lot of them.
Well, on the 5th, I woke up early with a British guy doing the hike with me named Tom, and we met up with our guide. He took us on this trail up the 1600 meter Volcán Concepción, and it was an extremely steep climb. The trail literally had wildlife covering it, so we had to duck under branches and swipe away at brushes in the way. A couple of times I rubbed up accidentally against a plant that has a defense mechanism that stings your skin and then a small rash develops, but as long as you don´t scratch it, it goes away. As it did about 10 minutes later. It was pretty weird though. It was about an hour and a half literally climbing up the ridge of this volcano. I loved it. Once we got towards the top, there were so many dense clouds that our visibility was literally only about 5 meters, and the wind was blowing super super hard. Like hard enough to make me regain my balance and step with more authority so as not to get blown away. We climbed to an elevation of 1200 meters, so we were only about 400 meters away from the peak of the volcano. And once the clouds disappeared eventually, we could see the entire island of Isla de Ometepe, all the way across the lake to the port town, as well as the gigantic side of the volcano, almost to the peak. We ate the snacks we brought up with us and played around with the fierce wind, walking up a bit where the wind was really blowing, strong enough so that if you leaned into it, the wind actually supported your weight and balance. It was super cool. We walked down, got to our hostel, I showered and took a 3 hour nap, then began to party. There were a group of Canadians on the island who organized a movie (Shrek 3) and then a party with a DJ to raise money for the people on the island. So Tom and I and a couple locals went to the party and had a fairly decent night, not too late. I was wiped out from the exhausting hike.
The next day, I wanted to go see the San Ramón Waterfalls in San Ramón on the other part of the island. So Tom and I got on a bus that said San Ramón on it. An hour later, we were in another town just on the other side of Concepción instead of on the actual other side of the island, in San Ramón. I didn´t want to spend the whole day getting there and miss a night of partying in Granada, so instead Tom and I just walked to a nearby beach, went for a dip, and then just caught a bus back to Moyogalpa. We then took the ferry back to San Jorge, then from San Jorge to Rivas to Granada. I checked back into the Bearded Monkey and met up with all the people I had met the last time I was there. One guy from London named Sam was getting people together to party because it was his birthday, so I knew it was going to be a late fun night in Granada. We went to this club called Cafe Nuit that had decent live music and lots of locals, but there were about 15 of us around a table just drinking and talking about the most random stuff. When the club started to close, we decided to find this bar on the beach that was open 24 hours. The walk was far. At least 5 or 6 kilometers, which is even farther when you´re drunk. But it was super fun. We eventually got to this bar and stayed there until the sun came up. Then we caught a cab and got back to our hotel around 6ish. It was a ridiculous night to say the least. The sky from the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous. Because we were on the lake facing west, it was literally the best sunrise I think I have ever seen. Pinks and oranges and reds all mixed together to paint a landscape that would make anybody speechless.
The next day I sat around recuperating from the night before, really not doing much of anything besides reading and playing chess with random people. By the time night came around, I was ready to go out but every single other person was too wiped out and drained from doing what we did last night for 3 nights straight. So we just chilled watching a movie.
Then, I woke up, watched the Wimbledon Finals (great match) and made my way to the other cultural city that rivals Granada as Nicaragua´s prettiest, León. I checked into the Big Foot Hostel and signed up for a volcano tour for the next day. I was trying to figure out what to do when I overheard some guy telling another guy about a poker game going on around the corner. I sort of butted in and invited myself along, but they were cool with it. It was taking place at a tour company called QuetzalTrekkers, a non-profit organization that takes people on volcano hikes and donates all the money to charity. The guides were the ones running the poker game, they were mostly volunteers from American and Britain. The buy-in was 100 cords, and it was a cash game. 2 rounds of Texas Hold ´Em and one round of Omaha. After the first hour, I clearly had the largest chip stack. After a while though, I got tired and began to play poorly. After 4 hours, there were only 3 people left who had money and we decided to call it. I walked out with 450 cords, a very fun night with lots of good card-playing and interesting conversations.
The next day, Monday, I walked around the city for a bit, checking out the Parque Central, the church in the park, which is the largest in Central America, and grabbing small bites to eat. A bag of fresh mango is only 3 cords (less than a dime) - absolutely delicious! The church was very old but beautiful. What was more striking was its mere size and architecture from the outside, it´s just absolutely enormous. The town of León really isn´t that different from Granada. I think I like Granada more because there is more color to the buildings and it´s a bit smaller so there are more churches, which make it a bit more nice. Also it´s right on the lake which is awesome for partying. When 1 rolled around, the tour started. There were about 20 of us, and we all got into the back of pick up trucks which took us out of town and on a dirt road for about 45 minutes to the volcano. On the way, we passed by small houses and the children that saw us would wave and literally scream at the top of their lungs at us. It was just hysterical, passing by these kids that would just go AAAAHHHHH when we drove by. The volcano is called Cerro Negro, which is actually a name for a mountain, but technically, it is an active volcano. We grabbed our volcano boards, which were basically just planks of wood, our orange suits (which made us look like prison mates) and began the 40 minute climb up the volcano. The climb was not that bad at all, and the smell of sulfur and the feel of the steam coming out of the volcano made the whole experience that much more intense. Eventually, we got to the top, where we could see other mountains and volcanoes and just fields of green. Next we walked to a nearby crater and literally ran into it. Just ran right into the bottom of an active crater. Some people didn´t know where the path was though and ended up slipping and sliding down, and one Irish guy tripped and literally rolled down a bit. By the time he got to the bottom, his back was all scratched up. It looked hideous. Luckily, I got a good picture of it at its worst. The climb up though was the hardest part. The inside of the crater was really loose gravel so each time you took a step, it was like stepping in sand and your foot just sank down. It was like taking one step up and going down 3. So it took forever to go up the 120 meters that we ran down in about 15 seconds. Then it was time to board down the volcano. After learning how to sit and brake on the board by our guide, we walked to the edge and saw the steep steep drop. This was where the Frenchman (I forgot his name) rode a mountain bike to break the land speed´s world record. His bike ended up snapping in half and he suffered broken ribs, arms, etc...We were all really anxious to go after that story. The total distance is about 400 meters, and the guide said one guy she did it with got down the whole thing in 22 seconds, going 60 km/hr. That was the fastest she´s seen someone do it. 22 seconds! That´s so long. When it was my turn, I braced myself and headed down. I picked up some damn good speed, but my board started to turn and when I tried to readjust it, I ended up tripping a little. That wasn´t so bad. I had about 300 meters left to go, and so when I got back on, I was going straight, no brakes, picking up major speed. I was definitely going between 40 and 50 km/hr when I hit a big rock and went flying. I made it to the bottom though in one piece. Only after I got to the bottom did I feel burn on my arm and saw that I had scraped some skin off my arm pretty badly. That´s ok, makes for a good story. Got it going down an active volcano!!! Sitting down in the back of the pick up truck on the way back also let me know how sore my tailbone was after that experience. I´ll manage though. That night, the same guys that ran the poker game at QuetzalTrekkers ran a Quiz or Trivia Night at the hostel/bar/restaurant across the street from my hostel. They do it every Monday night, to raise money for poor children in the town. I joined a team with a guy I met who goes to Dartmouth named Zach, and also on the team was a guy from Med School, a Spanish business teacher working with the Peace Corps, a high school Spanish teacher who was valedictorian of his college, and a graduate from Penn State. So overall, we felt our team was definitely the most educated. The questions varied from movies to math to sports to Nicaraguan history to random insignificant trivia. One question was where is Jim Morrison buried, and Zach turned to me and said, "Who´s Jim Morrison?" I blew up in his face for a comment like that, but after the whole thing was over and done with, we had come from behind and were tied for first. The major questions we got wrong were ones on Nicaraguan history (like how many political parties there were in Nicaragua in 1990 and who the president was in 1909), and those were the questions that the other team, a group of Nicas, got right to get tied up with us in first. The first place prize was a bottle of rum, while the second place prize was a bottle of wine. We all wanted the rum, obviously. It was weird though, because normally they come up with a tie-breaker question, but because the two teams were one entirely of gringos and another entirely of Nicas, we each didn´t want the question to be biased so the other team knew it easily. Then a coin flip was suggested. I hated this idea, to leave it all up to chance. But the Nicas kept insisting. It was actually quite humorous to see the cultural differences between our two groups. Us, the educated American/British group, screaming to use our intelligence and a question as the tie-breaker, and the Nica group screaming to do a coin-flip. Eventually, the people running the event decided it would be best to just do a coin flip. The Nica group picked a side, the coin was flipped, and it landed on our side. We won the rum!!! Whoooooo, it felt damn good. My first Trivia Night in Nicaragua with a victory. We got some coke and killed the bottle in good style!!! It was a really fun night.
I decided to stick around here one more night because the guys are having another poker night, so I figured I´d leave León with a bit more money for the rest of my travels, then I´m going to go to Masaya to check out the volcano there and the infamous market which is great for shopping. Then I´m going to San Juan del Sur for some surfing and hanging on the beach. Then I´m going with Zach all the way south in Costa Rica to hike Costa Rica´s highest mountain, Cerro Chirripó. He has to leave soon and I really wanted to do it, just not alone. So it works out perfectly. I´ll try and put up more pictures soon, as I have taken a lot of them.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
On to Nicaragua
Right now I am on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Catch up time.
So my last day in La Fortuna, I checked out of the place I was staying at with Ruth because she left and they were going to charge me double, so I checked into another hostel called Gringo Pete´s, which is a great place, only $3 a night for a dorm bed. On the way to this hostel, I ran into Slovakian guys who I had met at a disco in La Fortuna a couple nights ago. They told me they were leaving today but I had to see the lava, and I told them that´s what I wanted to do. Then they sat me down and gave me a detailed plan of how they were able to go around paying the expensive entry fees for either the National Park or for the Arenal Observatory Lodge, another place tour groups go to either to see the volcano or it serves as a hostel as well. So I pretty much followed this plan to the T. I hitch hiked my way to as close to the Observatory Lodge as I could. On the main road in town, I pulled over this bus, and the driver agreed to take me to as far as he could go before he split off from the road. We drove past the Tabacón hot springs and past the National Park entrance, and then after crossing a stream, which the Slovaks told me I would cross, the bus turned right and I got off to continue going straight. Walking on this gravel path was really intense, because I had great views of the volcano through trees and what´s more is I could literally hear the rocks being shot out of the volcano and rolling down its side. It was pretty intense. Another car pulled over and was kind enough to take me the rest of the way, all the way to the Observatory. Right before the gates to this lodge though was a trail that led into the forest. According to the Slovakian guys, this trail would lead me right to the lava bath. They warned me though of an old woman who would charge me to go through. So as I walked this trail, I came across a little shack with a desk, chair, and notebook, but no old woman. Figuring this was where she charged people, I ran past it before she came back from wherever she was. The trail continued for about another 2 kilometers, as I passed by signs that said "Enter at Your Own Risk". The sounds of the explosions coming from the volcano got louder and louder, and that combined with the shrieks of all the different animals in this forest made the image of the movie Jurassic Park come right into mind. (Little did I know, I found out later that that movie was actually filmed in Costa Rica, on an island owned by the country about 500 km away from the mainland in the Pacific.) Eventually, I got to a sign indicating that I was entering on the dried up lava from the 1992 eruption. As I walked on top of the old lava, I saw the massive Volcán Arenal in clear view, clouds apart, spitting out hot rocks and watched them tumble down its side. It was around 1:30, and I was determined to stay until I could see red lava. Unfortunately, this can only be seen at night, so I was stuck there until sundown. Anticipating this long wait, I brought my book along. So after some reading and more hiking around the volcano, I went back to the old lava bath and just sat there, reading, waiting for time to pass, with this active volcano about 3 miles away from me. It started to rain, and anticipating this, I had carried my umbrella along as well. So just imagine, as tour groups so clearly saw this, coming to see the volcano and along the trail passing by a random guy, who looks like a local (and I was treated like one by all the tour guides), sitting on a rock reading holding an umbrella over his head with this active volcano right in front of him. That´s me. Looking back on it now, I must have looked ridiculous. But I was determined to wait until dark to see the red lava. Finally, around 5:30/6ish, I heard an eruption, and saw rocks falling down, and all of a sudden, sparks of bright red showed. I was so excited. As time went on, more and more sparks flew by, clearly visible from where I was, but unfortunately, too small and not strong enough to be photographed. So while I have no physical proof of seeing lava, I can assure you I actually did see it. By 7, I had run into a tour group and was kind of ready to go, after really seeing lots of lava (in my opinion) at this point, considering I had no ride back and was banking on hitch hiking my way back. The tour group said they could give me a ride, so I walked back with them, all the while listening to the thunder of the volcano. This sound by the way sounds just like real thunder, which is a bit scary because you don´t know if that is thunder or the volcano. We got out of the jungle trail around 7:30 and as we exited, a group of girls ran up to us asking if we saw lava and how bad the trail was and if the guide could go with them. Keep in mind, it is very very very dark at this point. The guide said it would be $30 per person and the girls were obviously saying screw that, and I told them I really didn´t want to go back because I had just spent over 6 hours there and didn´t have a ride back, even though they had a rental car and would be willing to drive me to my hostel. So I walked over to the tour group, and the guide all of a sudden said I would have to pay to go back with them. I said screw that, so the tour group drove away, and I´m left there getting ready to hitch hike. Then, the girls come up to me asking if they gave me $10, and a ride home obviously, would I take them along the trail to the volcano to see the lava. I said sure, not haggling over the amount of money, since they were paying me after all, and I was getting a ride. Plus, I recognized they were speaking Hebrew (they were a group of 4 Israeli girls), so once I told them I was Jewish and had been to Israel, they jumped and cheered and felt much better, despite their surprise that I wasn´t Tico. So I led them through this jungle-path again, for the 3rd time, and learned all about them: how they keep kosher and so cook all their own food (including using their own pots and utensils) and follow the Sabbath and had volunteered in the States with Jewish communities doing stuff for an Israeli organization after being in the National Service (a substitute for the army which religious girls can opt for). I was a bit scared though at how they continued to pester me, asking me why I didn´t know Hebrew since I´m Jewish or made aalyiah yet. Nevertheless, they were still a lot of fun. So we got to the old lava bath that I was just at, saw the lava coming down from the volcano, made our way back to the car, and headed back to town. I told them though I would take them to the natural hot springs I had found because I really wanted to go there as it was my last night in town. So we went back under that bridge and it was just as gorgeous as the first time. Of course, the Israelis loved it also. After about an hour, we headed back to La Fortuna and they invited me to their dinner, which they were going to cook as soon as they found a hostel. I took them to Gringo Pete´s, but for some reason, the private room for $5 didn´t satisfy them (I figured it was some religious reason; i mean they went into the natural hot springs with all their clothes on). So for the next hour, we drove around searching for a place that was cheap enough and with a room good enough for them, me acting as translator most of the time because none of them spoke Spanish. Finally, they found a place, and started making dinner. I struck up a conversation with a guy there, who turned out to be from Nicaragua, and he told me he was a guide for a rafting company and said next time he would take me on a tour for free. I asked him when and he said next Sunday. I thought this was fucking cool, even though La Fortuna is a bit out of the way, it might be worth to come back for a free rafting tour. Unfortunately though, I love Nicaragua so much I don´t think I´m going to make it back. Anyhoo, he brought out his pet, an elephant beetle, the largest beetle on the planet, named Enrique. It was quite entertaining. Finally, after a nice kosher meal, I got into bed, knowing full well I had to make the 8 am bus out of town to get to Nicaragua the next day.
And of course, I woke up at 7:45 and rushed my ass out of the hostel, just barely making the bus to a town called Tilarán. From there, instead of waiting for a bus to the next town, I shared a cab with some people to a place called Cañas, which is on the Pan-American highway. And about 10 minutes later, a bus going north all the way to the border (the border town is called Peñas Blancas) showed up and I hopped on. It was completely packed though, and for the first time, I had to stand up. Really, I had always seen people on buses where they were forced to stand because there were no seats, but it was the first time I had to do it. And for about an hour and a half, until we reached the town of Liberia where hald the bus got off, I had to stand in the aisle of ths jampacked bus. I then slept the rest of the way to the border, missing the drive (I´m sure it was gorgeous, as always). Immigration was no problem, and walking in between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I met an Australian guy named Pete who was planning on going to the same hostel (Bearded Monkey) in the same town (Granada) I planned to go to. So we got our Nica stamp and got on a bus to head there. I turned to put my big pack down, and when I turned back around, I saw a familiar face come running towards me with her arms wide open. It was Nour, the Turkish girl from Santa Elena I went to the waterfalls with. She was so happy to see me, I was a bit surprised. Then she told me of her story getting into the country, and I realized why she felt so great to see a familiar face. She had signed up with a private bus to go straight to Granada, but the bus never showed and after she called back, it still didn´t show and ended up having to spend the night in Liberia. When another bus didn´t show, she met some a Tico family who was nice enough to drive her all the way from Liberia to Peñas Blancas (that´s a long drive, 2 and a half to 3 hours). Then she handed her passport to the immigration officer still in Costa Rica, and the officer was so shocked by a Turkish passport that he ripped the spine of it. Then he refused to stamp it because it was ripped. Then she had to talk to the officer´s boss´s boss and ended up crying because she was so upset over everything she had gone through. In her own hilarious words, "Being a woman and single, I used my most powerful weapon and cried. I cried my way into Nicaragua." Pete then laughed and said, "That´s the name of your first album right there!" Funny stuff. So the 3 of us made it to the Bearded Monkey in Granada and spent the night with another Australian Pete had met in Panamá named Nick, drinking Nicaragua´s famous 7-year spiced rum, Flora de Caña, on the steps of some random building across the street from our hotel, jamming on Nick´s guitar and making up songs from all of our crazy adventures. Nick had been traveling for 5 months already, going from Chile to Argentina to Uruguay a bit to Bolivia to Peru to Ecuador, flying to Panamá to go to Costa Rica and finally in Nicaragua and finishing up all the way in Mexico. What a guy! When we got screams from the hostel saying we were too loud, we went inside and talked for another couple hours about everything. It was such a chill night, I had a blast.
I woke up early the next day, naturally, upset that I couldn´t sleep more. Eventually, I made my way into the town of Granada, walking throughout the beautiful Parque Central. The town is very colonial, all the buildings are painted different colors (from blues to greens to pinks to yellows) and the park is a really nice place with well-planted trees and little tiendas selling everything. Hot dog stands are even scattered around. I walked to several churches, including one that had a bell tower that I climbed up and got a fabulous view of the entire gorgeous city of Granada. I walked to the shore of the lake and around the market. I am surprised at how the people will wear anything that has English on it, no matter what it says. If there´s English written on a shirt, then it´s cool. One big construction guy I saw working and was walking past wore a shirt that said, "I´m suffering from PMS." Great shirt!!! The difference between here and Costa Rica is also as clear as night and day, the place just reeks of poverty as well as culture though. I don´t think I´ve been to a place in Costa Rica that is as natural and not nearly as catered to tourism as much as Granada. Eventually I got super hot and tired and went back to the Bearded Monkey and just chilled and organized myself a bit. That night was a lot like the previous one, except that when the worker at the hostel told everyone they had to be quiet, and there were 3 other people jamming on various musical instruments, literally the entire hostel, about 20 people total, joined together and made way to the gazeebo in Parque Central to sit in a circle and just jam. One guy was just incredible at guitar and an Irish guy had a little flute/recorder with him and together they were just going off. And every single person had a drink! It was so damn awesome. We were there till about 1 at night, singing everything from Bon Jovi (Livin´on a Prayer) to Guns ´N Roses (Sweet Child o´Mine) to Chili Peppers (Under the Bridge) to originals people had written. It was by far one of the coolest nights I´ve had, maybe ever.
I passed out and woke up early, having packed the night before because I wanted to go to this island that I´m at right now in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, Isla de Ometepe. It has two volcanoes on it. I took a bus from Granada to a town called San Jorge, and from there a fairy to a town on the island called Moyogalpa. I was tired from a short sleep and fairly long trip, but I am not planning on staying long and want to see the island. So I rented a bike for the afternoon and rode about 12 km to a beach, took a nap, and rode back. There are a few British guys here who I had dinner with and celebrated the American Independence Day with no drinking, because I am getting up at 6 tomorrow to go hiking up to the island´s largest volcano, Volcán Concepción. My plan for now, because I am enjoying Nicaragua a lot and there seems to be a lot of cool stuff to do, is to stay on the island until Friday and then spend the weekend in Granada, to check out the night life there (it´s supposed to be absolutely amazing). Then I want to go check out other volcanoes more north, where you can actually go volcano surfing down after hiking up. Then do some other stuff around Granada and finish up Nicaragua with a few days at the beach and surfing in San Juan del Sur. Then I´ll head to Panamá and the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. I will now almost for sure skip some beaches and climbing I wanted to do in Costa Rica, but I´m willing to do that for some new experiences here in Nicaragua. Happy 4th of July!!!
So my last day in La Fortuna, I checked out of the place I was staying at with Ruth because she left and they were going to charge me double, so I checked into another hostel called Gringo Pete´s, which is a great place, only $3 a night for a dorm bed. On the way to this hostel, I ran into Slovakian guys who I had met at a disco in La Fortuna a couple nights ago. They told me they were leaving today but I had to see the lava, and I told them that´s what I wanted to do. Then they sat me down and gave me a detailed plan of how they were able to go around paying the expensive entry fees for either the National Park or for the Arenal Observatory Lodge, another place tour groups go to either to see the volcano or it serves as a hostel as well. So I pretty much followed this plan to the T. I hitch hiked my way to as close to the Observatory Lodge as I could. On the main road in town, I pulled over this bus, and the driver agreed to take me to as far as he could go before he split off from the road. We drove past the Tabacón hot springs and past the National Park entrance, and then after crossing a stream, which the Slovaks told me I would cross, the bus turned right and I got off to continue going straight. Walking on this gravel path was really intense, because I had great views of the volcano through trees and what´s more is I could literally hear the rocks being shot out of the volcano and rolling down its side. It was pretty intense. Another car pulled over and was kind enough to take me the rest of the way, all the way to the Observatory. Right before the gates to this lodge though was a trail that led into the forest. According to the Slovakian guys, this trail would lead me right to the lava bath. They warned me though of an old woman who would charge me to go through. So as I walked this trail, I came across a little shack with a desk, chair, and notebook, but no old woman. Figuring this was where she charged people, I ran past it before she came back from wherever she was. The trail continued for about another 2 kilometers, as I passed by signs that said "Enter at Your Own Risk". The sounds of the explosions coming from the volcano got louder and louder, and that combined with the shrieks of all the different animals in this forest made the image of the movie Jurassic Park come right into mind. (Little did I know, I found out later that that movie was actually filmed in Costa Rica, on an island owned by the country about 500 km away from the mainland in the Pacific.) Eventually, I got to a sign indicating that I was entering on the dried up lava from the 1992 eruption. As I walked on top of the old lava, I saw the massive Volcán Arenal in clear view, clouds apart, spitting out hot rocks and watched them tumble down its side. It was around 1:30, and I was determined to stay until I could see red lava. Unfortunately, this can only be seen at night, so I was stuck there until sundown. Anticipating this long wait, I brought my book along. So after some reading and more hiking around the volcano, I went back to the old lava bath and just sat there, reading, waiting for time to pass, with this active volcano about 3 miles away from me. It started to rain, and anticipating this, I had carried my umbrella along as well. So just imagine, as tour groups so clearly saw this, coming to see the volcano and along the trail passing by a random guy, who looks like a local (and I was treated like one by all the tour guides), sitting on a rock reading holding an umbrella over his head with this active volcano right in front of him. That´s me. Looking back on it now, I must have looked ridiculous. But I was determined to wait until dark to see the red lava. Finally, around 5:30/6ish, I heard an eruption, and saw rocks falling down, and all of a sudden, sparks of bright red showed. I was so excited. As time went on, more and more sparks flew by, clearly visible from where I was, but unfortunately, too small and not strong enough to be photographed. So while I have no physical proof of seeing lava, I can assure you I actually did see it. By 7, I had run into a tour group and was kind of ready to go, after really seeing lots of lava (in my opinion) at this point, considering I had no ride back and was banking on hitch hiking my way back. The tour group said they could give me a ride, so I walked back with them, all the while listening to the thunder of the volcano. This sound by the way sounds just like real thunder, which is a bit scary because you don´t know if that is thunder or the volcano. We got out of the jungle trail around 7:30 and as we exited, a group of girls ran up to us asking if we saw lava and how bad the trail was and if the guide could go with them. Keep in mind, it is very very very dark at this point. The guide said it would be $30 per person and the girls were obviously saying screw that, and I told them I really didn´t want to go back because I had just spent over 6 hours there and didn´t have a ride back, even though they had a rental car and would be willing to drive me to my hostel. So I walked over to the tour group, and the guide all of a sudden said I would have to pay to go back with them. I said screw that, so the tour group drove away, and I´m left there getting ready to hitch hike. Then, the girls come up to me asking if they gave me $10, and a ride home obviously, would I take them along the trail to the volcano to see the lava. I said sure, not haggling over the amount of money, since they were paying me after all, and I was getting a ride. Plus, I recognized they were speaking Hebrew (they were a group of 4 Israeli girls), so once I told them I was Jewish and had been to Israel, they jumped and cheered and felt much better, despite their surprise that I wasn´t Tico. So I led them through this jungle-path again, for the 3rd time, and learned all about them: how they keep kosher and so cook all their own food (including using their own pots and utensils) and follow the Sabbath and had volunteered in the States with Jewish communities doing stuff for an Israeli organization after being in the National Service (a substitute for the army which religious girls can opt for). I was a bit scared though at how they continued to pester me, asking me why I didn´t know Hebrew since I´m Jewish or made aalyiah yet. Nevertheless, they were still a lot of fun. So we got to the old lava bath that I was just at, saw the lava coming down from the volcano, made our way back to the car, and headed back to town. I told them though I would take them to the natural hot springs I had found because I really wanted to go there as it was my last night in town. So we went back under that bridge and it was just as gorgeous as the first time. Of course, the Israelis loved it also. After about an hour, we headed back to La Fortuna and they invited me to their dinner, which they were going to cook as soon as they found a hostel. I took them to Gringo Pete´s, but for some reason, the private room for $5 didn´t satisfy them (I figured it was some religious reason; i mean they went into the natural hot springs with all their clothes on). So for the next hour, we drove around searching for a place that was cheap enough and with a room good enough for them, me acting as translator most of the time because none of them spoke Spanish. Finally, they found a place, and started making dinner. I struck up a conversation with a guy there, who turned out to be from Nicaragua, and he told me he was a guide for a rafting company and said next time he would take me on a tour for free. I asked him when and he said next Sunday. I thought this was fucking cool, even though La Fortuna is a bit out of the way, it might be worth to come back for a free rafting tour. Unfortunately though, I love Nicaragua so much I don´t think I´m going to make it back. Anyhoo, he brought out his pet, an elephant beetle, the largest beetle on the planet, named Enrique. It was quite entertaining. Finally, after a nice kosher meal, I got into bed, knowing full well I had to make the 8 am bus out of town to get to Nicaragua the next day.
And of course, I woke up at 7:45 and rushed my ass out of the hostel, just barely making the bus to a town called Tilarán. From there, instead of waiting for a bus to the next town, I shared a cab with some people to a place called Cañas, which is on the Pan-American highway. And about 10 minutes later, a bus going north all the way to the border (the border town is called Peñas Blancas) showed up and I hopped on. It was completely packed though, and for the first time, I had to stand up. Really, I had always seen people on buses where they were forced to stand because there were no seats, but it was the first time I had to do it. And for about an hour and a half, until we reached the town of Liberia where hald the bus got off, I had to stand in the aisle of ths jampacked bus. I then slept the rest of the way to the border, missing the drive (I´m sure it was gorgeous, as always). Immigration was no problem, and walking in between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I met an Australian guy named Pete who was planning on going to the same hostel (Bearded Monkey) in the same town (Granada) I planned to go to. So we got our Nica stamp and got on a bus to head there. I turned to put my big pack down, and when I turned back around, I saw a familiar face come running towards me with her arms wide open. It was Nour, the Turkish girl from Santa Elena I went to the waterfalls with. She was so happy to see me, I was a bit surprised. Then she told me of her story getting into the country, and I realized why she felt so great to see a familiar face. She had signed up with a private bus to go straight to Granada, but the bus never showed and after she called back, it still didn´t show and ended up having to spend the night in Liberia. When another bus didn´t show, she met some a Tico family who was nice enough to drive her all the way from Liberia to Peñas Blancas (that´s a long drive, 2 and a half to 3 hours). Then she handed her passport to the immigration officer still in Costa Rica, and the officer was so shocked by a Turkish passport that he ripped the spine of it. Then he refused to stamp it because it was ripped. Then she had to talk to the officer´s boss´s boss and ended up crying because she was so upset over everything she had gone through. In her own hilarious words, "Being a woman and single, I used my most powerful weapon and cried. I cried my way into Nicaragua." Pete then laughed and said, "That´s the name of your first album right there!" Funny stuff. So the 3 of us made it to the Bearded Monkey in Granada and spent the night with another Australian Pete had met in Panamá named Nick, drinking Nicaragua´s famous 7-year spiced rum, Flora de Caña, on the steps of some random building across the street from our hotel, jamming on Nick´s guitar and making up songs from all of our crazy adventures. Nick had been traveling for 5 months already, going from Chile to Argentina to Uruguay a bit to Bolivia to Peru to Ecuador, flying to Panamá to go to Costa Rica and finally in Nicaragua and finishing up all the way in Mexico. What a guy! When we got screams from the hostel saying we were too loud, we went inside and talked for another couple hours about everything. It was such a chill night, I had a blast.
I woke up early the next day, naturally, upset that I couldn´t sleep more. Eventually, I made my way into the town of Granada, walking throughout the beautiful Parque Central. The town is very colonial, all the buildings are painted different colors (from blues to greens to pinks to yellows) and the park is a really nice place with well-planted trees and little tiendas selling everything. Hot dog stands are even scattered around. I walked to several churches, including one that had a bell tower that I climbed up and got a fabulous view of the entire gorgeous city of Granada. I walked to the shore of the lake and around the market. I am surprised at how the people will wear anything that has English on it, no matter what it says. If there´s English written on a shirt, then it´s cool. One big construction guy I saw working and was walking past wore a shirt that said, "I´m suffering from PMS." Great shirt!!! The difference between here and Costa Rica is also as clear as night and day, the place just reeks of poverty as well as culture though. I don´t think I´ve been to a place in Costa Rica that is as natural and not nearly as catered to tourism as much as Granada. Eventually I got super hot and tired and went back to the Bearded Monkey and just chilled and organized myself a bit. That night was a lot like the previous one, except that when the worker at the hostel told everyone they had to be quiet, and there were 3 other people jamming on various musical instruments, literally the entire hostel, about 20 people total, joined together and made way to the gazeebo in Parque Central to sit in a circle and just jam. One guy was just incredible at guitar and an Irish guy had a little flute/recorder with him and together they were just going off. And every single person had a drink! It was so damn awesome. We were there till about 1 at night, singing everything from Bon Jovi (Livin´on a Prayer) to Guns ´N Roses (Sweet Child o´Mine) to Chili Peppers (Under the Bridge) to originals people had written. It was by far one of the coolest nights I´ve had, maybe ever.
I passed out and woke up early, having packed the night before because I wanted to go to this island that I´m at right now in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, Isla de Ometepe. It has two volcanoes on it. I took a bus from Granada to a town called San Jorge, and from there a fairy to a town on the island called Moyogalpa. I was tired from a short sleep and fairly long trip, but I am not planning on staying long and want to see the island. So I rented a bike for the afternoon and rode about 12 km to a beach, took a nap, and rode back. There are a few British guys here who I had dinner with and celebrated the American Independence Day with no drinking, because I am getting up at 6 tomorrow to go hiking up to the island´s largest volcano, Volcán Concepción. My plan for now, because I am enjoying Nicaragua a lot and there seems to be a lot of cool stuff to do, is to stay on the island until Friday and then spend the weekend in Granada, to check out the night life there (it´s supposed to be absolutely amazing). Then I want to go check out other volcanoes more north, where you can actually go volcano surfing down after hiking up. Then do some other stuff around Granada and finish up Nicaragua with a few days at the beach and surfing in San Juan del Sur. Then I´ll head to Panamá and the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. I will now almost for sure skip some beaches and climbing I wanted to do in Costa Rica, but I´m willing to do that for some new experiences here in Nicaragua. Happy 4th of July!!!
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