I started today with another yummy breakfast of the exact same as what I had the day before (because it was so good). You know, one of the things that made that hotel, so nice is that they treat you like a country club or something where they all know your name, and you submit your breakfast order the evening before, and when you sit down in the morning, they just bring you your food! I have no idea how the night crew and morning crew communicate the people in the rooms and how they know who is who and their orders, but they get it right and it's amazing.
I really liked Granada. It has to be one of my favorite places so far for culture. It was hard to leave, but was enjoyable to see parts of town that I had not yet. So much color and pride and life here. I could definitely can come back here again and just relax and be like a local. As I headed out, I immediately had a 1,000 foot climb on the bike. But it probably worked out the best possible way having a full stomach, being early in the morning and somewhat cool, although I was still dripping in sweat by shortly after 8 o'clock, and it was very overcast. In fact, I think I might have felt a couple of raindrops. I was fighting a side wind most of the way, sometimes a headwind, sometimes a tailwind. Since it was Sunday, I saw lots of small churches on the side of the road with a loudspeaker in each one with the pastor always sounding really angry. I got to my destinations fairly early, and since some hotels get kind of picky about the check-in time, I found this really neat little restaurant a few miles before downtown so I thought I would stop off and try. What an amazing atmosphere it has! You'll have to see the pictures below. I sure am liking the fresh lemonades here. So refreshing and a good carb replenishment after a hot bike ride!
My hotel in Rivas, Nicaragua is on this street that is closed off to traffic. There is a little park across the street next to the bug church that is – well, not very well maintained. This has to be the nicest hotel in town, but you would not know that from looking at the outside of it. However, the rooms and the outdoor corridors for the rooms are probably the nicest I’ve stayed at yet. Although, the last one in Granada is still my favorite as far as just fitting in with local culture. Still looking for a hotel with hand lotion though – getting low on that. This one just has a real nice restaurant and tries to have great service (and succeeds!). It is also the only one so far with an electronic door code – no key. My hotel room has 15 switches and 8 plug outlets! It has to take first prize for that so far, but none of the walls are concrete, so we’re not really comparing apples-to-apples. 6 of the switches as his/hers on both sides of the bed that controls a light, the ceiling fan, and I haven’t figured out what the last one does. I tired some other ones too and I can’t figure out what they do either. I just keep turning them on and off but nothing happens. Perhaps the hotel owner will probably get an angry call from someone in Panama saying, “Stop doing that” or something. There does not appear to be many things to do in this town – we’ll see what the night life brings. The big church across the street was doing a service and some songs, so I went in to join that at the back for a few minutes and tried to just be in the moment and live like others. I went back to my room then and took the opportunity to do some pack maintenance (had an older opened almond milk in one of my front small packs that leaked and created quite the smell), oiled my chain, extended laundry (like in Granada, another real nice AC that is so quiet I can run it all night to help dry out the clothes), map out my next few days, took a dip in the pool (It just looked so inviting I had to), and even gave myself a bit of a haircut.
I noticed while doing laundry that I still have black volcano dust from boarding in my socks – and I’ve washed them at least three times since then too.
I’ve noticed a nasty trend these past three days – it rains in the afternoon. And as I have looked on Weather Underground actually, it looks like this trend is likely to continue. But it is very location-specific. Oh well, I will just have to deal with it. It is getting cooler though too, so if I must don all my rain gear, it won’t be quite as hot. And, my riding days for the future are pretty short – less than 60 miles (except for a couple in Panama), so, hopefully I can get to my destination every day before this recurring afternoon raincloud. Tomorrow I’ll probably leave about 6:00 and miss the free breakfast, which is a shame because I love breakfasts
This is my last night in Nicaragua, so you know what that means – a nice dinner (see pics below)! My thoughts on Nicaragua while they are fresh in my mind: Nicaraguans are very proud people. Many of the men wear button-front shirts buttoned all the way to the top and pants tucked in, and the ladies wear pretty colorful dresses. Very family and community oriented. It is thick with natural culture – not pretentious in any way. Loved the volcanoes. The main theme of Mexico and Guatemala seemed to be Mayan ruins, and El Salvador and Nicaragua was volcanoes. Not sure about Costa Rica and Panama yet. I don’t like all the brick roads to ride on, but am amazed still that they were created. Also, Nicaragua is very political. In most of the cities I stayed in, there was always a car driving down the streets broadcasting what I can only assume (could not make it out) to be political propaganda. In fact, the owner of the Hotel Austria in Leon – a true Austrian, told me at breakfast that its okay to live here as long as you do not talk politics or say anything outside of the mainstream. There were FSLA signs everywhere, including on a mountain even. Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (Sandinist Front of National Liberation, Nicaragua). A leftist political party in Nicaragua that first came to power in 1979, by overthrowing the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Generally referred to by the initials FSLN, the party took its name from the 1930s struggle of Augusto César Sandino, a charismatic peasant leader who organized and led a resistance to the United States' occupation of Nicaragua, which the United States had declared a protectorate. The party first held power from 1979 through 1990, initially as part of a ruling Junta of National Reconstruction. Voted out of power in 1990, it was reinstated in 2006 with the re-election of President Daniel Ortega (José Daniel Ortega Saavedra), its long-time leader. There you go.
I’ve liked all the countries so far for their own unique reasons, but have to probably put Nicaragua on top so far, followed by El Salvador, Mexico, Belize, then Guatemala. Its so hard to rank though because of the criteria and what could be important (activities, bikeable – roads and hills, nature, culture, etc.), but that’s what’s my knee-jerk thoughts are so far. We’ll see where my votes come in at the end!
Yummy breakfast at my Granada hotel one last time!
I probably saw a dozen bus stops like this - revealing the bricks under the blacktop where not paved over. Does this mean that there were bricks for 40 or more miles? Mind-boggling to think of all those bricks and labor.
