Leon
Day 327 Wed 27/7
A couple of buses from Granada, I arrive in Leon after about 2.5 hours. The taxi driver who drove me to the hostel spoke to me about Leon, sports and the people. Apparently Leon is the safest town in Nicaragua and there is a strong sense of community, which discourages “delinquencia”.
Leon is another colonial town, bigger than Granada and while pretty, not quite as pretty as Granada. It has the reputation of being more liberal than Granada.
Walked around town for a couple of hours before the heat drove me to the hostel for a rest! Luckily it rained in the evening and cooled things down.
Day 328 Thu 28/7
Wandered around most of the morning till the heat made it quite hard to continue. I was sluggish most day and was more than happy to spend the afternoon on the hammock reading.
When I did go for a short walk at ninght, there werent too many people out on the streets.
Day 329 Fri 29/7
After breakfast, which included pancakes at the hostel, went for a walk for a couple of hours and then spent quite some time reading since my bus wasnt to leave Leon till 14:30. 2.5 hours later, I was in Matagalpa. The scenery changed for the better. SO far Nicaragua hadnt been pretty, but the scenery around the highlands of Matagalpa changed and for the better.
The taxi driver tried to charge me double the normal fare for a ride, but luckily I had asked someone how much I should pay. His excuse for over-charging me was quite amusing: apparently the extra bit was for my backpack. I refused to pay the extra.
The hostel, Hostal Buena Honda is a really nice place, with an amazing collection of books for exchange. I met a girl from Indiana, who was working for the peacecorps in Matagalpa and we had a nice long chat over dinner. Off to bed with a book soon after.
Tags: Travel
Damu