If its Monday it must be Nicaragua
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2006
1
19
90
Trip End
Dec 25, 2007
Granada,
Nicaragua
Monday, March 5, 2007
I really think I need a haircut as I am currently producing a damn fine mullet which has a life all of its own. My only options are the Jerry Seinfeld ¨11 year old boy¨ haircut, sported by a majority of Nica males, a complete shave or wait until I hit Costa Rica. Ah the tough decisions a traveller has to make.
I have found it hard to extract myself from Granada where I have spent the past week not really doing much but enjoying spending time in one location even given the Norwegian Princesses taking over the dorm usually after a clubbing session around 4am. Turning lights on to apply face creams at 4am is obviously a norwegian ritual right up there with ¨whale research¨. And whoever decided it was ¨too cold¨in the dorm and turning off the fan might be a good idea was starting a war they could not finish
01 - Granada´s blue rinse set out and about!
. Us top bunk people were dying I tell ya! So how did I get here...something like this:
And so it was that after inhabiting the Shell Service Station for an hour we ventured onto our luxury King Quality bus (well I did have two seats to myself), headed out of Guatemala, destination Granada, Nicaragua. After enduring what would have to be one of the worst movies ever seen, thank you Nicholas Cage as The Weatherman, an 80´s soundtrack on the bus containing such artists as Lionel Ritchie, Roxette, Richard Marx, Peter Cetera and a couple of gems from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack (don´t ask me how I know I just do alright), followed by the film Nanny McPhee, the suprise childrens flick given the fact there was not a single child on the bus.
Anyways 12 hours later and my dodgy stomach in tow we rolled into Managua, capital of Nicaragua. And lone contender for the title of sh!thole city of the year. Best described as a place to leave unless the words ¨robberies¨and ¨alarming frequency¨excite you into spending the week. As it was the four of us had to negotiate the dodgy taxi driver (his idea of a kilometere is our idea of 200 meters...he charges by the kilometre), his helpers (read I will grab your bag and carry it for a tip, whethere you want me to or not) and a two hour ride in a packed chicken to Granada in stifling temperatures
02 - To an aussie boy an all too familiar sight!
. Coming on top of a 12 hour bus ride your wits and concentration are really put to the test. Besides I decided to rack up some good karma points on the chicken bus and stand for a good hour as the local nica males decided that an old woman and a woman with baby in her arms are best left standing on the bus. As uncomfortable as this all sounds it is also a great experience being 1 of only 4 gringos on a bus as it tears down the highway, jesus bobbing away on the dashboard to the Mariachi music that fills the bus over the laughter and screams of delight from the young kids as they stick their head and practically whole body out of the window, wind in the hair and grandma holding onto their legs, sort of like the human seatbelt! And so it came to be that I am here in the colonial city of Granada...and have been for the past week, holed up in the Oasis, a hostel complete with pool (this is how Michael Jackson bleached his skin), hammocks strung around the courtyard, ceiling fans and cold showers, the only way to beat the Granadan heat. In fact I will fill you in on the past week some other time as I am about to embark on some physical exercise, a walk up to the top of a church tower to catch the awesome sunsets that accompany the beginning of the end to another day in Camp Granada.
And it goes without saying, thanks to everyone back home for your emails, a busy time given it is Mad March back in Adelaide with car racing, world music festivals, horse racing and the Fringe. And men, given the World Police and Fire Games are about to kick off in Adelaide can I suggest locking the ladies in after dark. Not very politically correct I know but sometimes you have to do whatever it takes! And judging by the ladies emails, just like Big Kev, ¨They´re excited!!¨.
Cheers, love and everything in between,
Daz
