Leon's Rival

Trip Start Nov 08, 2008
1
16
31
Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Nicaragua  ,
Saturday, December 27, 2008

Managua is supposed to be Leon's conservative rival, and I could tell the vibe was different here. It seemed a little rougher, maybe a little dirtier, the people a little less outgoing. I stayed in the Oasis, which was a nice hostel, but felt grungy compared to Lazybones in Leon, which I loved. The one aspect where I felt that Managua was far and above Leon was the architecture. There are so many bright colors and cool courtyards all around. That said, I didn't do much in town. Managua served as my starting point to visit the Laguna de Apollo and the markets at Masaya. I also met up with Birk, a German guy who I had met in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and in Honduras. I think he was stalking me.

The Laguna de Apollo is a beautiful lake that formed in a crater formed by volcanic activity. The water is slightly heated by thermal activity, so that it's not too cold when you jump in. I spent two heavenly nights at the Crater's Edge Hostel, right on the water. Day one was spent swimming and kayaking on the lake. I went kayaking with Birk and at one point started laughing so hard that I flipped us over. Then I had to drag the kayak all the way back to shore with no help from the German! Next time, he went kayaking by himself. On day two, I found a nice couple to hike to a lookout of the lake with. It was a hard trek straight up for a few hours, but the view was worth it. We could see all the way to the Lago de Nicaragua and Managua from our perch on top of the crater wall.

The market in Masaya was pretty touristy, but that's me, so I enjoyed it. For some strange reason there were lots of taxidermied frogs doing obscene things with each other. I'm not sure if this reflects the tastes of Nicaraguans or of the tourists who shop there.

New Year's Eve was a bit of a bust, as the Nicas and Nicos failed to tell the Gringos where the party was. We tried numerous places, but a few errant fireworks were all the excitement I found that night. Too bad.
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Comments

womandork
womandork on Feb 24, 2009 at 11:01PM

ok so when you have a stalker
i need to see a picture of him so i can play out the episode in my head. oh yeah, i'm putting in a formal request for more pictures of you.

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