Costa Rica actually has quite a good overland bus system. Which means that there are nice airconditioned buses going to all the neighboring countries and even further. However, those luxury buses are not super cheap and they don't have a bus stop where I needed it. So, I decided to take the cheaper, but more adventurous way. I caught a bus on the Panamerican Highway, went up to the border, walked over to Nicaragua, caught a bus going north, changed buses in Rivas (first bigger town in Nicaragua after the border) and then went up to Granada. Nicaragua has exactly two interesting touristic places close to the Costa Rican border. One is San Juan del Sur which is a beach town on the Pacific side and the other one is Granada, a colonial city at a huge lake. I chose Granada because I read that Lake Nicaragua is the only lake in the world that has sharks in it. Not that I like sharks, but it makes the whole trip a bit more exciting.
Getting to Granada wasn't a problem at all. Although the border was very busy, I didn't have to wait too long and I had perfect connections with all my busses. I lost a few minutes at the border when I lost my way and couldn't find the immigration office for Nicaragua. But I met a couple on my way which had the same problem. That's why I don't feel too stupid and blame Nicaragua for it.
In the chicken busses in Nicaragua, I was the only white person. However, by now I have gotten used to that. By the way, they are called chicken busses because everything is transported in them, including chicken. And really, in the second bus which brought me to Granada, I saw a guy who was holding a living chicken in his arm. And the chicken was completely calm, as if it would travel in busses every day. Furthermore, those chicken busses are not real overland busses with comfortable seats or aircondition. No, those are old American or Canadian school busses. When they are deemed too old to be used in North America, Central America buys them and uses them for long-distance busses. Most of them are so old that they can't go faster than 40 km per hour and of course, they are extremely loud. And after 3 hours in them, you can be sure that every bone in your body hurts because the seats are too close together, the bus is crowded with an extra 40 persons standing in it although it doesn't have any handholds, and you always have an imense wind blowing into your face from all the open windows.
I arrived in Granada at the central marked: mega culture shock! It was dirty, loud, full of people and stinky. However, all the people were very heplful and could give me directions to my hostel. I had a bed in a dorm room for super cheap $5 per night. The first night there was only one more person in that room although it had 7 beds. But even without all the extra people, it was boiling in there because it didn't have a window and the two fans didn't produce anything except a hot wind.
My first full day in Granada I spent on my own. I walked around the city and took a few pictures. Some parts (the touristy parts) of Granada are very well taken care of. It looked like in a Spanish town. However, as soon as you leave the main roads where the sights are, you get to see the real Nicaragua: people live in little sheds, steal food from guests sitting in the outside-area of restaurants, starving dogs are looking for little crumbs to eat.... In Costa Rica, I often don't realize that it is considered a third-world country (probably because it is one of the richest countries in Latin America), but in Nicaragua you were reminded quite frequently that it is poor and far away from developed.
At night my dorm room filled up with 4 Chilenians and one American guy. They had met in the bus and decided to spend some more time together. So, on my second full day I decided to also join them. However, the Chilenians tried to get a ticket to Honduras which took forever and that's why O.R. (the American) and I decided to walk the town alone. We covered all the sights I hadn't seen yet. The lake, the main reason I went there, turned out to be a big disappointment. The beach was the dirtiest beach I have ever seen in my life! I can't understand how people can be so careless with their trash!
In the evening we rejoined with the Chileneans and had a mojito that cost $0,75! Unfortunately, it also didn't taste like much. And there it happened: We had odered nachos and they came with a small bowl of cheese, of mashed beans and of a hot sauce. While we were sitting and talking, a very skinny looking guy came along, grabed the cheese and ate it. At first I wanted to pull the bowl out of his hand, but he was so dirty that I was afraid to touch him. I was shocked. The cheese didn't cost much and we were finished with our nachos anyway, but how can somebody be so impudent and just steal food on an open street in a bar??? Plus I read that there is like a community centres that gives food for free to everybody who needs it. So, why didn't he go there if he was hungry? Other than that, the streets looked fairly safe at night because they were so full of tourists.
The next day was February 14, Valentine's Day, and the day of my return to Costa Rica. I was really looking forward to it! This time I saw what Rivas really is like. There were huge piles of trash in the middle of the city and kids were looking around in it to see if there was anything they could sell and/or eat. I guess, it is not the safest place for an European looking girl because they surely must think that I have lots of money. However, I again managed to be able to change busses immediately and did not have to wait at the bus station. Although this time I didn't have problems finding the immigration offices, it took forever! To get out of Nicaragua only took me 5 minutes, but to get back into Costa Rica 2 hours. Lots of Nicaraguans are working in Costa Rica, legally and illegally, and that's why this border is so busy and the Costa Rican officials really check their passports. However, when they saw my European passport, they barely looked at it and gave me the stamp. That was probably the easiest I have ever gotten into a Central American country! Normally they at least ask you where you are going, when you are leaving the country and if they are in a bad mood they want to see a flight ticket that shows that you will be leaving.
Interstingly, it cost me money to get into and out of Nicaragua ($11...and no, they would not take their own national currency, only American Dollars), but getting into and out of Costa Rica was free. In general, everything to do with tourism in Nicaragua is most of the time more expensive than in Costa Rica.
I stopped by at Tres Hermanas, the restaurant where Cristian works. But he was so busy that we barely had time to exchange two sentences. And when I arrived home by taxi, I was being awaited by a huge mess. Nala, our 3-months old puppy, was home alone for 10 hours the last 3 days. And although Cristian came by the house in his break after about 6 hours, she cannot hold on for so long. She usually has to go out to pee every 2 minutes. Plus Nala had managed to get out of her little prison we had built for her. That's why she had peed in our bed, on our sofa and pretty much all over the house. And since she was bored, she had chewed everything in her way, but mostly the toilet paper which was now laying in little pieces all over the house. Although Cristian had tried to tidy and clean up the biggest mess in that little time he had when he wasn't working, I still had to spend the rest of Valentine's Day cleaning the house. But since Cristian was working all day anyway, it didn't really matter. But now the house is clean, tidy and all april-fresh again and Nala is the happiest dog alive because I am back!
And here a few pictures of Granada. They are just supposed to give you a bit of an impression. I won't say anything else because most of the sights are churches (as in nearly every city) anyway. Sounds like I'm getting tired of travelling, doesn't it? Maybe I am...maybe I am happy that I finally have a nice little home with boyfriend and dog to settle down! :-)
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