When I finally pulled myself away from SJDS, I began my backpacking journey northward to see more of Nicaragua before I eventually made my way into El Salvador.
Backpacking Nicaragua: Rivas
I went to Rivas on my first (and second) trip to SJDS, to get some groceries from an actual market and scope things out. It’s a standard town, but I quite liked it. There was something about the vendors with strings of hot dogs hanging from their stalls. The dirty water bottles of “hand sanitizer” (not hand sanitizer) on little tables. And people yelling at me. Perhaps I missed the world more than I realized; it had been a long time!
Backpacking Nicaragua: Ometepe
Ometepe is an island in a big lake with two volcanoes on it. I found Ometepe to be overrated – and I’m not just saying that because of alliteration. The hostel guy in SJDS sold it hard; he said it was his favorite place and he went there every weekend. He marked numerous things I absolutely must do on a map. Wrote them on a paper. Gave me his phone number just in case I needed more recommendations. So with these high expectations, my friend and I set off.
Ometepe has an entirely different feel than the rest of Nicaragua, which was clear from the moment we stepped off the ferry. There is a small main street, crumbly storefronts, and a ton of basic hospedadjes. My issue with Ometepe is transit. I guess I should get over my fear and rent a scooter, but still traumatized from the incident in Indonesia years ago, at this time I did not. Chicken buses are few and far between, making proper exploration difficult. This was how we found ourselves walking over 1 hour home from a sunset viewpoint, on a semi-deserted road, through an active airport after dark. Not ideal. We did see some zealous pigs eating mangoes, and an almost-unreal green parrot on a rocking chair. I was not particularly partial to the dirty swimming hole we visited (where a child fell from the diving board and appeared fine yet may have sustained life-threatening injuries), nor for the 10-hour extremely treacherous volcano hike in rainy season.
Backpacking Nicaragua: Granada
Granada reminds me of Antigua Guatemala. Neither are my favorite. Granada is cute. It does have good architecture. But it’s a little too pretty (and touristy) for me. The buildings were incredible, and the central market absolutely great. I wandered around it multiple days, and bought avocados for 28 cents and a crappy umbrella. The food in the park was cheap and good (while being simultaneously sick – I mean do people really like cold yucca? Answer: yes. I ate them myself).
But really, my favorite part of Granada was the ABANDONED HOSPITAL I discovered while on route to the bus station. Wow! See my Atlas Obscura listing about the hospital →
Backpacking Nicaragua: Masaya
While staying in Granada I became bored and hopped the chicken bus to Masaya. I knew nothing about it, but it wasn’t terribly far and looked appealing. I arrived and was greeted by a city that had an underlying sketchiness. Immediately, I liked it. It then began downpouring, the streets turning to rivers quickly. I took refuge under a concrete structure with some locals, until eventually accepting fate and wandering through the rain completely drenched. I stopped to eat in some massive food cafeteria-type dining establishment. When I got back I looked up the city and saw it was one of the most dangerous places to visit. The internet advises you to definitely not go there alone. Cool.
I also visited some of the smaller towns outside Masaya, and almost fell out the door of the chicken bus, but I do not feel like writing about it here.
Backpacking Nicaragua: Managua
I love cities people often describe as bad. So, I thought I’d love Managua. And I probably would have, if I hadn’t been ill with what may or may not have been covid. I blame what happened in Managua on this illness, for not being on my “a game,” and thus not remaining as vigilant and alert as I generally am…
I really wasn’t concerned about Managua, surely I’ve done worse, but everyone else was so concerned I started to get in my head about it. I took the chicken bus there figuring I’d scope it out once I arrived. Worst case scenario, I’d just wander the neighborhoods around the bus station and head back (why this seemed safer than going to the city center is, as I write this now, highly unclear to me). Within about 2 minutes I determined that obviously I was going to see more of the city than the neighborhoods by the bus station. I did a very rapid Google search, determined what local bus I needed, and without second thought boarded a bus with that number outside the market.
I did get on the right bus…but I went in the wrong direction. The route was circuitous, so I didn’t realize my mistake at first. But after a while I realized that despite the many turns, we were getting farther away from the city. In fact, I was heading directly into on one of the neighborhoods you are not supposed to go (I had the foresight to mark these most murderous areas on my map in advance to avoid wandering through them by mistake). At that point it was too late. I decided my best/only course of action was to stay on the bus. Eventually, it would have to turn around, right? I communicated this with the driver. He said something and shook his head, and we agreed on what I believed to be the fact I would stay on until the bus turned around and went back. This was not what we agreed upon.
A few minutes later we stopped on the side of a dirt road, in the middle of a small neighborhood way too close to the no-go area marked on my map. He opened the door. Pointed to a tree. Made me get off the bus. Drove to some unknown area. I decided I’d just wait there. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? To my left was a single man. Was he waiting for a bus? Or waiting to murder me (obviously, the latter). He was nefarious in my mind, and only increased my fear. Eventually a mother and child came up, so I felt slightly more at ease – and confident a bus would eventually come. Which it did. I got on and headed back downtown, to see what I intended to. I returned to the market. Ate some street food. Saw some sights. But nothing compared to this lovely situation. On my next bus from Managua station, a man sitting 3 seats ahead of me had a bald shaved head with MS 13 tattooed on it. I needn’t say more.
Backpacking Nicaragua: Leon
After the Managua mishaps, I made my final hop north to Leon. I had no expectations except to rest before continuing to El Salvador, but I loved it. The walk from the bus station through old crumbly streets made be think it might be the best place in Nicaragua (after SJDS, of course). I stayed in a hostel and spent my days wandering the streets, eating foods, and drinking coffee. The city has an old-world feel almost reminiscent of Cuba, with paint peeling and remnants of the revolution (unsurprising for Nicaragua’s most liberal city).
Before I knew what was happening I found myself atop a roof of an old crumbly building, trying not to fall through the holes. I also found myself on a lengthy tour of the Revolution museum, pretending I spoke Spanish because the guide seemed to think so and it seemed rude to alert him halfway through that I did not in fact fully comprehend the tour.
Leon also boasts a church with a (safe) rooftop view. A central market. 1 million corn carts (selling 1 million actual corns). And lots of pigeons. Also a wild traveling circus, which I wanted to go to very badly but the idea of transiting to the outskirts alone at night seemed ill-advised. I did converse with a rogue potential circus man in the day, however. There is also an incredible and very strange museum – Museum of Traditions and Legends – built in the walls of a former prison. I plan to write about this in another post.
Leon felt like a place you could stay a while, and I will be surprised if I don’t go back.
Backpacking Nicaragua: Las Peñitas
Of course I always seek out the beach, so while in Leon I took a quick chicken bus ride to nearby Las Peñitas. Desolate and a bit scary, it provided me with the best surfing experience I’ve ever had! The sand was black, the waves calm and the sun bright. I had a Victoria (beer) first, then hired a local guy for a lesson.
Backpacking Nicaragua: San Juan del Sur
I wrote about San Juan del Sur at length in another post, so I won’t repeat myself here.
