TravellingStrom

Saturday – Granada, Nicaragua

As usual I was up early and doing some blog work, this four hours sleep lark is a pain, maybe I can grab a nanny nap later 😉 I sat around the inside veranda for a while, it was relaxing. This place is built in the Moor tradition, the Spanish borrowed it, but basically an external wall all the way around with an open courtyard in the centre and the rooms all around between the two. If you want to find the bar, just click on the link for a GPS co-ordinate. There was a nice view of a large church through the open roof, this of course lets the rain in, which there was lots of during the day!

I went for a wander down the street after a while, I needed some food and they only serve dinners here. I also wanted to buy some stickers for my panniers of Nicaragua, but the most important deed for me to complete is to get a copy of my Title printed out. It was raining on and off, I found out later that the east coast of this country just got hit by Hurricane Ida and this was the remnants, or the tail of it, so it was quite heavy at times. It is supposed to be the end of the wet season for 6 months.

As you can see they have a lot of horse drawn carriages here for the tourists, they all have numbers and the highest number I saw was 37, so it must be a big business in peak season, it is low at this time. I found an internet place with a printer, but he only had B&W, so I had to go the other way, but I did find a shop with some stickers, so that was good. There was a huge flag in the middle of the park as well as an old canon, it was too wet to look closer!

I found the other computer place and once we sorted out the printer, it printed an excellent rendition of my title document, I got two copies done and got them cut to size and once I fold and bend it a few times to make it look used, it should do the trick, better than nothing and only $5, better than $40+. I had been told Costa Rica is worse in some ways and they would take me to the cleaners without it. As I headed back to the Casa, it started to bucket down so I took shelter, but some street actors were not deterred, they kept on going, banging some loud drums and wearing funny costumes.

The rain set in for a while but when it slowed to a barely drizzle I hot footed it back and sat down in the courtyard for some internet work, which basically meant study the requirements for the next border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

This border looked like it may take some time as well, so it was good to have a title of sorts with me. The rain cleared up a bit later so I headed down to get some more copies of the title, but B&W this time so they can be handed in. Most borders have a photo copier nearby, and sometimes when they have stamped you in, or out, of a border, they want a copy of that page in your passport for their records/fireplace. This means I usually have to visit one anyway, but I like to have some copies with me of the basics, for those ‘checkpoint’ moments 🙂 I wandered around the streets for a while afterwards, it was different without the rain, and I spotted a triplicate door guard of a different kind, they had sharp looking teeth and loud barks.

Once back with my paperwork I did some more forum rounds. I spotted a great map on another person’s blog who was heading down this way and was ahead of me by weeks. Check this graphic out, it details the 10 countries with the most murders in the world. I have just left Honduras which is at #1 and had been through El Salvador as well without adding to the number and have 2 more on this list to go, Columbia and Bolivia, I am probably not going into Venezuela, it is supposed to be a bit dangerous at this time!!! 😯

By late afternoon I was in need of a beer, so I headed back to the bar and watched some gridiron while chatting with Jimmy and others. Dinner was nice, meatloaf and vegies 🙂 The music started around 10pm and it was loud, both in the bar and the courtyard, I could see there was no use going to bed until the noise finished, so I persevered. V had gone for a streak somewhere else and was planning on leaving in the morning, he was not happy here, I would probably see him in Panama before the crossing. Another good night and was only hassled by two prostitutes, but no beggars nor ceramic sellers, whew, lucky me! 😉

Day – 0 miles and 0 km
Trip – 42,525 miles and 68,437 km

Salud
TravellingStrom

WORLD

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