El Salvador-Nicaragua

I thought that the last four countries in this first leg could be written all in one post, scrap that! Why?! Nicaragua…I have too many thoughts to put down on written words. After leaving Guatemala, I was rather on a high because of all the familiarities to Malaysia and it’s almost reminded me of my childhood playing and venturing into forests for the sake of adventure (shhh…mom’s the word cos mother doesn’t know about it) 😉

I travelled from Antigua to El Tunco in El Salvador. I was, at first, excited with the surf lessons and to give it a try but after the tiring 16 hours ride to Antigua, my shoulder was screaming at me not to do anything (or else, one of those feeling that I learnt not to ignore) especially when the waves looked relentless. After chatting with a fellow traveller, Cait, and hearing conversation around the table at the hostel I know it wasn’t going to happen. I made the right decision give it a pass, when both Veronica and Alicia agreed and showed me their battle wounds with the waves 😀 brutal!

I’m not a water person, as I mentioned before, so I was happy to just enjoy the sight for now and chill while contemplating the crossing of two borders the next day into Nicaragua. I was supposed to go to San Salvador, stay a night and travel on the TicaBus (like UK’s National Express) to León but something kept nagging at me that this is not as simple plus all the chatters about Nicaragua were making me nervous.

I contacted the guys from Roneey Shuttle, who did a great job shuttling us from Antigua to El Tunco and ask for a quote. Done and done! They have a trip directly to León from where I am and the hostel was able to accommodate me for an extra night. Better be safe than sorry I’d say. It was a long trip but a pleasant one since the guys, Ronald and Julio, do this all the time and knew exactly what’s expected. So, it’s El Salvador into Honduras then to Nicaragua. The couple on the trip with me were crossing four borders for the day and I thought I was overdoing it.

Arrived at León around midnight and the owner (Cadi) of Bigfoot Hostel, where I was staying, came out to greet a bunch of us (yep, we picked up extra people in Honduras) and went through everything we need to know as quickly as possible. He probably realised that it was late and we looked a bit like zombies to him. I opted to do the volcano boarding the next day so that I could enjoy the rest of my time relaxing and just in case, nurse the shoulder if need be.

It was one of the most exciting activities that I’ve ever done. The walk up was intimidating at first but once we got started, it was great and there were view after view of the surroundings. Let’s remember that this is an active volcano and probably due for an eruption some time soon, even then we were spared from the smell of sulphur since the wind was in our favour. The way down was what everyone was eagerly anticipating. Our guide, Oskar, gave us the instructions and off we go! We had Oskar waiting midway (he ran down that slope…crazy bugger) to take our photos and the driver at the bottom clocking our speed. Mine was an unimpressive 33km/h but it felt so much faster than that. I can see it everyone’s eyes that they would like to do it all over again, that’s how fun it was and we’d probably clock a faster speed second time round.

I was glad to stay a couple more days to chill and check out the town to see what the fuss was all about. Cadi painted the picture of how the area was when the protest broke out in violence, Cindy (a beautiful young lady working at the hostel) how it was at her village and Marcos, owner of Get Up Stand Up Surf merchandise company across the street, describe the mood at that time. All were shocked by what happened and were now hoping that situation is going in the right direction, urging people to come back and visit Nicaragua. It’s great to know that there are people like Cadi and Marcos investing in the people and community with the focus on growth and providing opportunities rather than just profit. Respect!

Marcos from Get Up Stand Up Surf

Exploring the town, including its busy market felt like nothing happened except for the lack of foreigner or tourist in a town that was one swimming with them. León stole my heart because of its people and their hope, willing for things to get better for the sake of its community. Everywhere I went, there were people greeting me along the way ‘buenas‘ and their eyes were saying, thank you for coming. León would definitely be one of the places that I would like to come back again.

On the way to Granada, Managua looks peaceful and commotion free. Both cities seemed vastly different from León, extremely quiet and life is yet to seep back in. The owner of the hostel was very nice, gave me a private room as well as a tour of the city and recommended the local food to try in the town square, vigorón. Walking from the hostel to the lakeside, the place felt like a ghost town and there were police officers patrolling, doing random stop and questioning on locals on the street. As a foreigner and visitor, it does feel a little weird yet surprisingly safe.

I do hope that Nicaragua will get back on its feet and flourish. For travellers out there, do your research thoroughly and if possible, get in touch with people on the ground and ask what’s the situation out there before avoiding the country altogether. We can help by just being there, the people appreciate it 🙂