Off to Leon for the weekend.
Leon is a city due north of Granada about precisely 2 hours. Unless of course, you decide to leave on Friday afternoon and hit the worst of rush hour traffic in the capital. On top of that, the stretch of highway from Managua (the mid way point, and the capital) to Leon is currently being worked on and therefore our minibus transport had to stop several times in lines of cars and semis.... however stop is not exactly what it did. Our driver decided that nothing was going to make him wait, and so he weaved in and out of oncoming traffic, sometimes with 3 cars doing the same thing in front of him, up hills, around corners.... all what we would call standard traffic rules, were completely out the window. 4 hours later, we arrived, and were very thankful for that!
>>>> As stated in an article on Nicaraguan driving we just read, "If you have to subject yourself to public transportation as a means of commuting, pray to a higher being."
However, during this most adventurous drive, we did realize the truth behind Nica's most popular nickname. It truly is the land of lagos (lakes) y volcanos... as in any direction you choose to go, you are guaranteed to see at least 2 of the ginormous, ominous mounds along the way, half of which either have a cloud or a smoke stack sitting on top. It took Matt back to 5th grade as he said "Now that's the type of exploding volcano you make for the science fair!"
In Leon, we did not go volcano boarding, even though it sounded mighty tempting. After having a roommate recount how her friend ended up in the hospital post V-boarding, we decided volcanos are much prettier to look at from a distance.
But we did discover instantaneously that having a 2 year old guidebook and a 4 year old map handed over by a friend, is like being on a scavenger hunt where what you are looking for no longer exists. So we found our own hostal, Casona Colonial, which proved to be nothing fancy but clean, quiet, comfortable, affordable and nicely decorated with xmas lights around a palmtree in their atrium.
The highlights:
Leon is a beautiful city in that it is covered in: murals which tell the story of the revolutionary history, colonial churches blackened with sut from previous fires (set by those intent on destroying the city after being run out), plenty Christmas decorations, and a very vivid central park.
Leon is an affordable city that offers reasonable food at very tasty prices, including many vegetarian options. We are now on a mission to make Chana Masala, after eating it at Cocinarte! Also affordable and more abundant are clothes, and not story books persay, but other practical things one buys at a Libreria (bookstore) like notebooks, pencils, stickers, coloring books, etc!!! As far as educational information goes, don't expect to find anything decent on a weekend. We've decided books are like ghosts in that town, there are many stories about their existance, and everyone recounts having seen them, but alas we had no such luck. Nor do we have any photographic evidence that they exist.
>>>>>Double click the photo above to examine more closely the "macho" breakfast! The price of which coverted into dollars is 75 cents!>>>>>>
Leon is only a 20 minute taxi ride (cost = 5 to 10 dollars) / 1 hour bus ride (cost = 50 cents) from 2 beaches. Amazing the difference in price! The beaches are pretty and the towns offer good ambiance, however be prepared for some mighty fierce wave action! As our roomie said, the waves are like being in a Nica washing machine, lots of tumbling around, and good luck getting out clean.
Last but not least, Leon might just offer you up your own personal tour guide in the form of a shoe cleaner / student looking for a pair of shoes himself for his graduation. Whether the story is legit, one may never know, but needless to say we did get a very detailed description of 1 mural in 10 minutes, for the small price of 20 cordobas, or 1 dollar. Of course, he was hoping for the pair of new shoes, but with idea that money doesn't solve all problems, our motto is to focus on the time and interaction spent with people we meet on the street. >>>>>Stayed tuned for a story on Carlos: our neighborhood street kid who is now making the rounds to volunteer houses close by for meals, toys, and more.
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