Nicaragua

Day 1743 Friday 24th July

I debated whether to put water proofs on, and rode out with none, my ‘risk’ paid off and soon we were in strong sunshine which dried my leathers only to get wet again further on. Although the sun did continue to warm and dry them.

We took a good backpacker in Granada, a must see colonial town, very pleasant.

Day 1744 Saturday 25th July

Research in morning, checking for sights to see in the next couple of countries.

Walked the street markets that reminded me of some of the African ones we had visited. Hectic, dirty, selling everything. Most of the veggies and fruit was appetising and looking healthy, however the rest was very very bad, fly blown and rotting. We bought some fish from an indoor stall with fridges and veg for a soup.

Talking with four Austrians who were in the country for a month, we exchanged ‘must see’ places further up the continent, at eleven we went to sleep, they went to a night club…..

Day 1745 Sunday 26th July

Aiming to leave early we were cooking fried eggs for brekkie and boiling two for the road. At seven I pushed the ‘go’ button only to find the battery had changed it into a ‘no-go’ button over the last thirty six hours. Failing to bump start it I borrowed a battery off a really broken car on the side of the road, the guy had the fuel pump in pieces on the pavement. Soon we were off, sweating more than we wanted to do this early in the day.

A pleasant and enjoyable ride was had the border town of Somotillo. As we got closer the banana and coconut trees thinned out, then disappeared along with most of the lush big leafed trees and bushes. The people got a little more pale skinned, but still remained very friendly.

The hostel, called a hotel, was very basic, clean and a cold shower that was very welcome. It was one of the more run down places we have stayed in, however it did have air conditioning, that worked! Usual for us we walked the dusty streets, bought food and cooked soup on the stoap. With tomorrows water filtered and bikes packed we slept and waited for a busy day to dawn.