Rockin' and a-reelin' through Nicaragua

It was a fairly long haul to Managua, via Leon, so I made pretty good time where I could, depending on how much rain and traffic there was.  But then I had the problem, not having a map, of finding where I had to turn off to go to Leon, onto Ruta (Route) 26. I stopped at a servo and asked some older guys.  I'd drawn a map, in case they couldn't understand me.  They started muttering something about "calleterre" (road) and gave the paper back to me. I really should have paid more attention to what they were saying.  But hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

I turned onto Ruta 26 - and soon found the Road from Hell!!   This is by far the most appalling road I've EVER ridden! I couldn't believe how bad it was, more deep potholes than remaining pavement for many km, then a short stretch of decent pavement which got my hopes up a little, then it reverted to potholes for many km, and so it went, up hill and down dale.  It was getting darker, as night was falling.  I stopped and asked a guy how much further to Leon. "90kms"!  I was horrified!!  Not another 90km of THIS, surely?  I started looking for somewhere to spend the night, but there were no hotels, as there were only tiny villages along the way.  I was so desperate I would have pitched the tent, but could find nowhere level enough to do so.

Plodding along slowly in the ever deepening darkness, dodging all sorts of obstacles on the road (horses, cattle, pigs, people, bicycles without lights, vehicles without lights etc) I was passed by one of the many trucks using this route.  He was travelling at a pretty good speed, so I tucked in behind him, letting him guide me through the obstacles.  Luckily, the road surface improved about 30-35km from Leon, so things became a little easier.

Boy! Was I glad to reach the metropolis of Leon!  Riding at night in Oz or the US is one thing, but down here it's a whole other world, one I don't want to venture into too much if I can help it. Early on in CA, I'd started the habit of reading all the roadside hoardings as I neared the towns, looking for hotels (preferably with wireless internet!) at which I could stay.  I'd spotted one on the way in, then did loops of the city of Leon until I found the hotel, quite by accident, as was usually the case, what with the lack of street signs.

Being back on the coast, it had warmed up considerably, and my back was aching badly from the heat.  Thank heavens for air conditioning!  Sometimes it's nice to be able to afford the little luxuries.  Don't get me wrong - I'm really looking forward to getting down into Chile and Argentina, so that I can camp, for a change. But speed is of the essence right now, in my quest to get to Ushuaia on time, so hotels are the better choice.

I'd come to Leon, as that is where the directions started from - the directions to arrive at Salcar's house, in the suburbs of the Nicaraguan capital city of Managua. Mapless as usual, I didn't want to risk attempting to get there from any other direction, so Leon it was.  "Salcar" is a HUBB (Horizons Unlimited Bulletin Board) regular correspondent, and had generously offered accommodation to travellers passing through Nic.

It was great to be able to stop, settle down and relax, in such a wonderful setting.  Salcar's "guard/gardener/custodian" , Ciero (sp, Salcar?) spoke no English, but we managed to have quite long chats, using our English/Spanish/English dictionaries! The poor guy could not quite accept that I could be the age I am, and not have a husband.  Why not, no husband?  Try as I might, I couldn't convince him of any good reason as to why I didn't have a husband! Have you ever tried to explain something as complex as this to someone, when you don't speak the language?  It's NOT easy!

Salcar arrived home with his visiting US friends, so we sat around in the "blackout" period and chatted by DC powered lights.  Nicaragua is experiencing such an energy crisis that electricity supply is rationed each day.  The night I was there, power was off from 6pm-10pm, although it came back on a little earlier than expected. It must be so difficult for people to organise their households under these conditions.  Some of the neighbours had generators running during the blackout period.

But what a mine of information Salcar turned out to be!  I found out so much that I needed to know: about shipping my bike from Panama to South America (go to Colombia!!); roads and conditions in Sth America; he kindly loaned me some good SA maps (thanks, Salcar!); and whole heaps of other good info.  It was a wonderfully informative night.

Of course, there was the obligatory photo next morning as I was leaving, which Salcar has put up on his website, along with some very kind and generous comments.

My mapping program showed that I should turn right then left, to get onto the main highway, CA1, south to Costa Rica.  With not very clear roadsigns, I turned right, then left.  Yep, you've guessed it - it was NOT the right road!  But at least it was going in roughly the right direction, so I rode this way and eventually arrived at Granada [a lovely old town I'll visit on the way back], filled up, and saw the first of the signs to "La Frontera".  WooHoo!  But I had to endure another horror road like Ruta 26, although not QUITE as bad this time, for about 50km, before merging onto CA1.

Costa Rica was a'callin'.