Steady rain all yesterday kept me away from the village for much of the day, but by this morning it had stopped and left behind a thick foggy mist covering the surrounding mountains.
I caught a ride in the back of a pickup--the village is a steep quarter mile trudge up the hill from Perkin Lenca--and arrived at the Salvadoran Revolution Museum early.
Inside are photos, posters, news clippings and many artifacts from the rebels' side of the brutal conflict that ravaged the nation from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. A highlight for me was the various maps of the conflict including one that showed the extent of FMLN territorial control. Other maps included hand drawn ones of combat operations planned against government forces.
Artifacts include weapons, communications equipment, medical supplies, diaries and personal effects of fighters and their leaders. Though most of the accompanying explanatory texts are in Spanish, the visitor gets a good overall picture of the history of the war from about 1975 until a U.N. brokered peace was established in 1992.
Outside the museum are remnants of American made aircraft which crashed in the area or were shot down. Perquin was the center of a very large area of the department of Morazan which was under rebel control for much of the conflict, so it was also a major target for government air raids and bombings.
The guerrilla camp features much evidence of those raids including shrapnel stuck deep in trees, unexploded (deactivated) ordnance, and bomb craters. Like the Viet Cong before them, the FMLN fighters built tunnels to shelter them from those raids.
The rebel camp also had a display of the party's clandestine radio station Radio Venceremos and a photo of the captured vice minister of defense being interviewed by rebel journalists.
After a day or two up here the visitor gets a good sense of how and why the rebels were able to control this area for so long. This is high, remote, heavily forested country, and though the main road is now paved, everything off the main road is dirt (or mud, as it is now). Is it any wonder that a weak central government, unable to outright defeat the rebels, sought material assistance in the form of aircraft and airborne bombs from the Reagan administration?
Although there wasn't truly an FMLN "revolution" in El Salvador in the strictest sense, I think it's pretty amazing what did, in fact, take place. The FMLN and ARENA--the main government party--eventually came to an accomodation with each other, and since 1992 the FMLN has been an active participant in the political process here. To me that seems a fair outcome after a war which obviously couldn't be won by either side--even with American assistance for one of the parties.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Why Not Travel With Fiddle in Central America?
Now that I've arrived in a place that's crying out for some good oldtime fiddle music, it seems the ideal time to address the issue of travel with musical instruments, or in my case, why I haven't traveled with my violin on these recent trips to Central America.
Since we were kids in a growing "Suzuki violin family" I had always traveled with my instrument, whether to Disney World or on other family road trips, but especially to Grandma and Grandpa's. Our parents felt it was important for us to play impromptu concerts for our relatives and friends, but we also had a fairly strict rule in our family: we had to practice every day, even on family vacations, as Shinich Suzuki always urged Suzuki families to do.
As a young adult my fiddle became both my "passport and bank account" as I used my musical skills to earn money for travel, eventually becoming a globetrotting busker in 1980s Western Europe and 1990s Southeast and Northeast Asia.
My instrument and the music I played weren't only a means of earning a living, but also served as a great way to meet people of all stripes--especially other musicans and other buskers who traveled along the same routes that I did. This was a great advantage to me in my globetrotting as well as in life in general. My fiddle has taken me inside many situations which never could have happened without the very fact that I was a working musician, and mostly outside my home element in the United States.
These are some of the reasons I have always traveled with my instrument. But now that I've become a teacher, it's been possible for me to join a world of the ordinary tourist. I think of it as a type of "accidental tourism," to qoute from the novel and movie of that title, because in doing so I felt way outside of my usual element.
When I first started traveling in Latin America in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a couple trips to Mexico, I continued to take my instrument along even if I didn't use it very much. Colonial cities such as Guanajuato or San Luis Potosi were made for the itinerant musician, but I didn't do any busking there, preferring instead to hear Mexican groups in the streets and plazas of those cities.
When I returned to Thailand for visits in 2005 and 2006 I continued to bring the instrument because many of my friends there are musicians and it was always possible to sit in and jam with them while they worked. And on my 2007 visit part of my purpose there was to record some 22 fiddle tunes which I did with a couple collaborators on guitar.
So why not travel with the instrument now? Really it comes down to a couple logistical issues, starting with post-9/11 hassles and airline baggage restrictions. For a time in the mid-2000s musicians all over America were complaining that the airlines were, in some cases, forcing them to check their instruments in the cargo hold. Though that era seems thankfully to have passed, more recently the airlines have become very strict about the size and number of carry on bags they allow, and they charge about $25 for each bag over that they require you to check in.
Secondly, my first two trips to Central America in 2008 and 2009 were only two weeks in length. Because of some uncertainty regarding the difficulties of bus travel in the region, and since I anticipated that I wouldn't use my instrument very much--if at all-- I decided then to leave the violin home and travel only with a small backpack and a day bag. This turned out to be the most convenient way to get around, but especially on the airlines and on some of the notorious "chicken" buses (they just keep packing them in like Colonel Sanders) in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and neighboring countries. I have to admit that questions of security also weighed heavily in my mind: would I lose my instrument to forgetfulness (a life-long nightmare of mine)? Even worse, would I lose it to theft? It didn't seem to be worth the risk for trips of such short duration. Yet I also must admit that I felt very strange traveling without my fiddle on those two occasions.
What about this trip now, which is seven weeks long? Well, I'm still dealing with the issues outlined above, but a major difference now is I'm taking a lot more time with this journey, so now the question has reasserted itself. And with my arrival in Perquin, it seems a shame that I won't be able to get to know the villagers and their children by offering up some fine impromptu fiddle music for their entertainment and enjoyment. Music has always been a cross cultural way to break the ice and form some connection with strangers. And that I'm not doing so on this trip is indeed a bit disconcerting for me.
This question certainly will pop up again whenever I decided to take more than a week or two in a given region. I would like to find a way to travel again with a backpack, a day bag, and an instrument, but for the moment I'm glad I don't have to worry about an expensive violin, and how I'm going to transport it safely on the next crowded, rattletrap of a bus I board.
Since we were kids in a growing "Suzuki violin family" I had always traveled with my instrument, whether to Disney World or on other family road trips, but especially to Grandma and Grandpa's. Our parents felt it was important for us to play impromptu concerts for our relatives and friends, but we also had a fairly strict rule in our family: we had to practice every day, even on family vacations, as Shinich Suzuki always urged Suzuki families to do.
As a young adult my fiddle became both my "passport and bank account" as I used my musical skills to earn money for travel, eventually becoming a globetrotting busker in 1980s Western Europe and 1990s Southeast and Northeast Asia.
My instrument and the music I played weren't only a means of earning a living, but also served as a great way to meet people of all stripes--especially other musicans and other buskers who traveled along the same routes that I did. This was a great advantage to me in my globetrotting as well as in life in general. My fiddle has taken me inside many situations which never could have happened without the very fact that I was a working musician, and mostly outside my home element in the United States.
These are some of the reasons I have always traveled with my instrument. But now that I've become a teacher, it's been possible for me to join a world of the ordinary tourist. I think of it as a type of "accidental tourism," to qoute from the novel and movie of that title, because in doing so I felt way outside of my usual element.
When I first started traveling in Latin America in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a couple trips to Mexico, I continued to take my instrument along even if I didn't use it very much. Colonial cities such as Guanajuato or San Luis Potosi were made for the itinerant musician, but I didn't do any busking there, preferring instead to hear Mexican groups in the streets and plazas of those cities.
When I returned to Thailand for visits in 2005 and 2006 I continued to bring the instrument because many of my friends there are musicians and it was always possible to sit in and jam with them while they worked. And on my 2007 visit part of my purpose there was to record some 22 fiddle tunes which I did with a couple collaborators on guitar.
So why not travel with the instrument now? Really it comes down to a couple logistical issues, starting with post-9/11 hassles and airline baggage restrictions. For a time in the mid-2000s musicians all over America were complaining that the airlines were, in some cases, forcing them to check their instruments in the cargo hold. Though that era seems thankfully to have passed, more recently the airlines have become very strict about the size and number of carry on bags they allow, and they charge about $25 for each bag over that they require you to check in.
Secondly, my first two trips to Central America in 2008 and 2009 were only two weeks in length. Because of some uncertainty regarding the difficulties of bus travel in the region, and since I anticipated that I wouldn't use my instrument very much--if at all-- I decided then to leave the violin home and travel only with a small backpack and a day bag. This turned out to be the most convenient way to get around, but especially on the airlines and on some of the notorious "chicken" buses (they just keep packing them in like Colonel Sanders) in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and neighboring countries. I have to admit that questions of security also weighed heavily in my mind: would I lose my instrument to forgetfulness (a life-long nightmare of mine)? Even worse, would I lose it to theft? It didn't seem to be worth the risk for trips of such short duration. Yet I also must admit that I felt very strange traveling without my fiddle on those two occasions.
What about this trip now, which is seven weeks long? Well, I'm still dealing with the issues outlined above, but a major difference now is I'm taking a lot more time with this journey, so now the question has reasserted itself. And with my arrival in Perquin, it seems a shame that I won't be able to get to know the villagers and their children by offering up some fine impromptu fiddle music for their entertainment and enjoyment. Music has always been a cross cultural way to break the ice and form some connection with strangers. And that I'm not doing so on this trip is indeed a bit disconcerting for me.
This question certainly will pop up again whenever I decided to take more than a week or two in a given region. I would like to find a way to travel again with a backpack, a day bag, and an instrument, but for the moment I'm glad I don't have to worry about an expensive violin, and how I'm going to transport it safely on the next crowded, rattletrap of a bus I board.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 35 in Perquin: Cool Remote Place Charms The Soul
Perquin strikes one immediately as very quiet (there's hardly any traffic noise apart from the bi-hourly bus); very beautiful! (we are high in the mountains here, and even as it threatens to rain, the calm, cool forest green surrounding the area is pleasing to the soul); and very remote (the 40 mile bus trip from San Miguel takes more than two and a half hours).
Here we are in FNLN country: communists! Perquin was their HQ during the civil war, and the rebel guerrillas controlled considerable ground in this region, with many sympathizers living in the area. As we drive up we see evidence of this on the walls of people's houses and businesses: the red of the FNLN serves as a backdrop to iconic portraits of Che Guevara and other leftist heroes.
I'm staying at Perkin Lenca, a fine hotel/restaurant built and owned by American aid worker Ronald Brenneman who made his name in the 1980s building housing for refugees made homeless by the conflict. I was skeptical when I heard that this place has hot water, but I can confirm it is true: today I had my first truly hot shower since I left the States. . .
Perquin village at first glance is extremely charming. In a sense, this is the most remote area I've visited on this trip--maybe the most remote place I've visited since I was in northern Laos in the 1990s.
By remote I mean it takes some time and effort to get here. We are in a mountainous border region of El Salvador which supposedly doesn't even have an immigration checkpoint with Honduras, just a few miles up the road.
By remote I also mean there are no chain supermarkets, fast food joints, or even banks here ( I visited the ATM in San Miguel today to make sure I'd have enough cash for the next few days). Yet there are a couple cyber shops, a handful of cellphone shops, and a couple dozen restaurants.
There is the usual church, albeit a very small one, and the parque central/municipal square. There also is the Museo de la Revolucion Salvadoreña.
But mostly there is a lot of peace and quiet along this so-called Ruta de Paz which runs from here to the Honduran border. Perhaps this route is a testament to the possibility of reconciliation between once deadly enemies who--even today--collaborate hopefully in government for the good of all Salvadoreans.
Here we are in FNLN country: communists! Perquin was their HQ during the civil war, and the rebel guerrillas controlled considerable ground in this region, with many sympathizers living in the area. As we drive up we see evidence of this on the walls of people's houses and businesses: the red of the FNLN serves as a backdrop to iconic portraits of Che Guevara and other leftist heroes.
I'm staying at Perkin Lenca, a fine hotel/restaurant built and owned by American aid worker Ronald Brenneman who made his name in the 1980s building housing for refugees made homeless by the conflict. I was skeptical when I heard that this place has hot water, but I can confirm it is true: today I had my first truly hot shower since I left the States. . .
Perquin village at first glance is extremely charming. In a sense, this is the most remote area I've visited on this trip--maybe the most remote place I've visited since I was in northern Laos in the 1990s.
By remote I mean it takes some time and effort to get here. We are in a mountainous border region of El Salvador which supposedly doesn't even have an immigration checkpoint with Honduras, just a few miles up the road.
By remote I also mean there are no chain supermarkets, fast food joints, or even banks here ( I visited the ATM in San Miguel today to make sure I'd have enough cash for the next few days). Yet there are a couple cyber shops, a handful of cellphone shops, and a couple dozen restaurants.
There is the usual church, albeit a very small one, and the parque central/municipal square. There also is the Museo de la Revolucion Salvadoreña.
But mostly there is a lot of peace and quiet along this so-called Ruta de Paz which runs from here to the Honduran border. Perhaps this route is a testament to the possibility of reconciliation between once deadly enemies who--even today--collaborate hopefully in government for the good of all Salvadoreans.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Unanticipated Honduras Leg Adds Excitement
We've had fairly steady rains for three days straight in northwestern Nicaragua, southern Honduras, and eastern El Salvador, but meanwhile I've managed to cover some miles the past two days, and I've fixed an itinerary for the coming week.
With the postponement of the Costa Rica leg, a new Honduran leg becomes feasible, even desirable. Apart from two recent transit trips through Choluteca and a brief visit to Copan Ruinas in 2008, this will be my first extended visit, so as always with a new place, I feel excited.
After a day or two in Perquin, to begin hopefully tomorrow, I can continue north on that road to Sabanetas at the Honduran border which will place me in western Honduras. The first big town on that road is Marcala.
Continuing further northwest will bring me to the the colonial town of Gracias, founded in the 16th century, another of the many Spanish capitals dotting Central America. The Lonely Planet tells me this region is seldom visited by the tourist, but that it's even more charming for that reason. This is relatively high country, surrounded by beautiful mountains and populated with friendly rural folk.
From Gracias the road winds up in Santa Rosa de Copan which-- the Lonely Planet warns--is still some hours from the famous Copan Ruinas, which is another primary destination for me. Though I visited this massive Mayan attraction two years ago, the archaeological site is so impressive and well preserved that I feel I should pass through again in order to get some photos.
From Copan Ruinas, the Guatemalan border is just ten minutes away, so I can cross back there, take a bus to Antigua, and hopefully have time to visit Chichicastenango before wrapping up this trip.
With the postponement of the Costa Rica leg, a new Honduran leg becomes feasible, even desirable. Apart from two recent transit trips through Choluteca and a brief visit to Copan Ruinas in 2008, this will be my first extended visit, so as always with a new place, I feel excited.
After a day or two in Perquin, to begin hopefully tomorrow, I can continue north on that road to Sabanetas at the Honduran border which will place me in western Honduras. The first big town on that road is Marcala.
Continuing further northwest will bring me to the the colonial town of Gracias, founded in the 16th century, another of the many Spanish capitals dotting Central America. The Lonely Planet tells me this region is seldom visited by the tourist, but that it's even more charming for that reason. This is relatively high country, surrounded by beautiful mountains and populated with friendly rural folk.
From Gracias the road winds up in Santa Rosa de Copan which-- the Lonely Planet warns--is still some hours from the famous Copan Ruinas, which is another primary destination for me. Though I visited this massive Mayan attraction two years ago, the archaeological site is so impressive and well preserved that I feel I should pass through again in order to get some photos.
From Copan Ruinas, the Guatemalan border is just ten minutes away, so I can cross back there, take a bus to Antigua, and hopefully have time to visit Chichicastenango before wrapping up this trip.
U.S Knocked Out of World Cup!
What a disappointment! Just as I'd checked into my room across the street from the San Miguel (El Salvador) bus station and turned the TV on for the U.S.-Ghana match, Ghana broke a 1-1 tie in overtime to knock out the Yanks in what must be a shocking disappointment for a team that certainly had higher hopes.
But even European powerhouses (and former champions) Italy and France were knocked out in this year's event in South Africa, so is it any wonder? The U.S. can take some comfort in the knowledge that it's never been a world class soccer power, but still it must hurt. I've heard that the U.S. teams improve a little bit at every World Cup.
I think this might be why it's such a popular sport: even relatively poor countries like Ghana and Slovakia can knock out the mighty rich countries while lowly Honduras can hold rich and powerful Switzerland to a scoreless draw.
But even European powerhouses (and former champions) Italy and France were knocked out in this year's event in South Africa, so is it any wonder? The U.S. can take some comfort in the knowledge that it's never been a world class soccer power, but still it must hurt. I've heard that the U.S. teams improve a little bit at every World Cup.
I think this might be why it's such a popular sport: even relatively poor countries like Ghana and Slovakia can knock out the mighty rich countries while lowly Honduras can hold rich and powerful Switzerland to a scoreless draw.
Friday, June 25, 2010
To Perquin Via Choluteca, or From the North?
My next decision is one of logisitics: should I return to El Salvador right away from the east and proceed to Perquin from there? Or should I travel by way of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa and approach Perquin from the north?
The Lonely Planet warns that because of a border dispute with Honduras, El Salvador does not have an immigration checkpoint on the road to Perquin from the north. This may not be a problem for me since technically I'm still traveling on my initial 90 day stamp I received from the Guatemalans at the start of my journey.
But the Planet warns that if I exit from another El Salvador checkpoint, I could conceivably face the issue of having formally exited Honduras without formally entering El Salvador. Because of this potential uncertainty, I'm probably inclined to enter El Salvador from the east, just to be on the better-safe-than-sorry side of things.
On the other hand, since I've now postponed Costa Rica until late this summer, that gives me more time now to visit Honduras for a bit, which I'd really like to do. Though I'd prefer to skip Tegucigalpa, it might be worth my while to explore some of the area to the north of El Salvador.
My original intent had been to use Honduras as a transit point between destinations, but now that the option is open, it seems a shame to completely pass on by.
Thus I'll be busy with my guidebooks tonight to fix some alternate plans.
The Lonely Planet warns that because of a border dispute with Honduras, El Salvador does not have an immigration checkpoint on the road to Perquin from the north. This may not be a problem for me since technically I'm still traveling on my initial 90 day stamp I received from the Guatemalans at the start of my journey.
But the Planet warns that if I exit from another El Salvador checkpoint, I could conceivably face the issue of having formally exited Honduras without formally entering El Salvador. Because of this potential uncertainty, I'm probably inclined to enter El Salvador from the east, just to be on the better-safe-than-sorry side of things.
On the other hand, since I've now postponed Costa Rica until late this summer, that gives me more time now to visit Honduras for a bit, which I'd really like to do. Though I'd prefer to skip Tegucigalpa, it might be worth my while to explore some of the area to the north of El Salvador.
My original intent had been to use Honduras as a transit point between destinations, but now that the option is open, it seems a shame to completely pass on by.
Thus I'll be busy with my guidebooks tonight to fix some alternate plans.
In Choluteca Everyone Wears Honduran Blue
I'm writing from Choluteca, Honduras where I just watched perhaps the most exciting 0-0 draw ever between lowly Honduras, fighting for its life in the World Cup against European bigshots Switzerland. Today's prime time match comes after another hard-fought 0-0 contest between Portugal and Brazil this morning.
In Chinandega, Nicaragua where I saw the Brazil match, everything in town stopped while people gathered in the cafes to watch perennial favorites Brazil.
The Honduras match was just beginning as I crossed the border this afternoon. Though I don't know enough about the standings to report much here, I'm pretty sure that Honduras's valient effort today won't help it to gain a spot in the "knock out" round. But boy! The last 20 minutes or so, which I watched in the lobby of my hotel with some locals, was non-stop action, back and forth across the field, as both teams expended their utmost as if it was the most important match in the world.
Afterwards, when it was done, the players lying on the field collapsed in utter exhaustion, the quiet streets of this southern Honduran town filled with locals going about their business, many of them dressed in their team's blue jerseys.
In Chinandega, Nicaragua where I saw the Brazil match, everything in town stopped while people gathered in the cafes to watch perennial favorites Brazil.
The Honduras match was just beginning as I crossed the border this afternoon. Though I don't know enough about the standings to report much here, I'm pretty sure that Honduras's valient effort today won't help it to gain a spot in the "knock out" round. But boy! The last 20 minutes or so, which I watched in the lobby of my hotel with some locals, was non-stop action, back and forth across the field, as both teams expended their utmost as if it was the most important match in the world.
Afterwards, when it was done, the players lying on the field collapsed in utter exhaustion, the quiet streets of this southern Honduran town filled with locals going about their business, many of them dressed in their team's blue jerseys.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Return to Leon Via Managua and Via Via
After my encounter with Moses I cleared out of my hotel room. My timing was excellent as I headed back to parque central with my backpack because the Managua express was just leaving and I got one of its last seats. In Managua I transfered right away for a microbus to Leon. Unusually, this micro was airconditioned, so it was a nice cool ride.
As we approached the city I could see storm clouds coming in, and I wondered if I really wanted to continue as far as Chinandega. To put off the decision, I decided to take a taxi into the center for coffee. It was only 1.00 p.m. or so and I had plenty of time to continue my journey.
But in the city we passed a hotel that I'd noticed before, having walked past it many times. If I stay, I'll try this one, I thought, rather than go back to the "widower's" place.
That's how I found Via Via. Though I didn't choose it from my guidebooks, it turns out this place gets very high marks from the Lonely Planet.
I like it for a number of reasons. First, the bar and restaurant seemed very inviting. Second, I could tell the place was popular with a certain type of young, western traveler. Third, even though a bar was attached, the hotel was far enough away from that potentially raucous action, that it wouldn't matter to me. And fourth, the rooms were really nice, cozy and inviting, with high ceilings, a very clean bathroom, a large bed, and (I always like this rare touch) a reading lamp! The fan was in great shape, and the room was really big, too. I was immediately sold on it. Best of all, it cost only 350 cordobas.
So that's my plug for Via Via--a fine place to stay, especially if you're a traveler of a certain age, and want to meet others like you. As an added bonus, the restaurant/bar turns out to be popular with young locals, too. Remember Willy? He spotted me last night where he was seated at a table with a young woman (his Salvadoran girlfriend?). "Yo, man, whassup!" Believe it or not, it took me a moment to remember his name.
"Willy!" I finally said, as we shook hands.
Via Via has nice large maps on the wall of Nicaragua including a bumpy topographical one with the mountains rising out from and around the country's principal geographical features of the very large Lake Managua and the even bigger Lake Nicaragua. The walls of the place are full of other useful and not so useful information.
According to one notice, Via Via's clientele in 2008 consisted of the following:
Europeans 53.25%
Americans 19.29%
Canadians 10.41%
Asians 6.07%
Latin Americans 5.85%
Oceanians 4.84%
Africans 0.29%
Via Via has a book exchange with volumes in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and Japanese.
I met a couple Quebecois Canadians, Max and Hugo, who were watching England beat Slovenia 1-0 this morning while the U.S. beat Algeria, also 1-0. Ghana managed to hold mighty Germany 0-0 until the 60th-something minute.
In Via Via's bar/restaurant and in the courtyard where the magnificent rooms are located, I hear the accents of other Americans (and possibly Anglo-Canadians), British, Scottish, and Europeans including Belgian and Scandinavian. This smorgasbord of young backpackers reminds me in a nostalgiac way of my younger days as a backpacker in Europe and Asia. What happens to our youth?! sigh. . .
As we approached the city I could see storm clouds coming in, and I wondered if I really wanted to continue as far as Chinandega. To put off the decision, I decided to take a taxi into the center for coffee. It was only 1.00 p.m. or so and I had plenty of time to continue my journey.
But in the city we passed a hotel that I'd noticed before, having walked past it many times. If I stay, I'll try this one, I thought, rather than go back to the "widower's" place.
That's how I found Via Via. Though I didn't choose it from my guidebooks, it turns out this place gets very high marks from the Lonely Planet.
I like it for a number of reasons. First, the bar and restaurant seemed very inviting. Second, I could tell the place was popular with a certain type of young, western traveler. Third, even though a bar was attached, the hotel was far enough away from that potentially raucous action, that it wouldn't matter to me. And fourth, the rooms were really nice, cozy and inviting, with high ceilings, a very clean bathroom, a large bed, and (I always like this rare touch) a reading lamp! The fan was in great shape, and the room was really big, too. I was immediately sold on it. Best of all, it cost only 350 cordobas.
So that's my plug for Via Via--a fine place to stay, especially if you're a traveler of a certain age, and want to meet others like you. As an added bonus, the restaurant/bar turns out to be popular with young locals, too. Remember Willy? He spotted me last night where he was seated at a table with a young woman (his Salvadoran girlfriend?). "Yo, man, whassup!" Believe it or not, it took me a moment to remember his name.
"Willy!" I finally said, as we shook hands.
Via Via has nice large maps on the wall of Nicaragua including a bumpy topographical one with the mountains rising out from and around the country's principal geographical features of the very large Lake Managua and the even bigger Lake Nicaragua. The walls of the place are full of other useful and not so useful information.
According to one notice, Via Via's clientele in 2008 consisted of the following:
Europeans 53.25%
Americans 19.29%
Canadians 10.41%
Asians 6.07%
Latin Americans 5.85%
Oceanians 4.84%
Africans 0.29%
Via Via has a book exchange with volumes in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and Japanese.
I met a couple Quebecois Canadians, Max and Hugo, who were watching England beat Slovenia 1-0 this morning while the U.S. beat Algeria, also 1-0. Ghana managed to hold mighty Germany 0-0 until the 60th-something minute.
In Via Via's bar/restaurant and in the courtyard where the magnificent rooms are located, I hear the accents of other Americans (and possibly Anglo-Canadians), British, Scottish, and Europeans including Belgian and Scandinavian. This smorgasbord of young backpackers reminds me in a nostalgiac way of my younger days as a backpacker in Europe and Asia. What happens to our youth?! sigh. . .
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Helping Moses Stay In School
I was walking across the Granada's parque central late last Saturday afternoon when the kid caught my eye. Later what struck me was the pure desperation I glimpsed in his eyes.
"Hey, man, hello, how are you?" he said as he approached me. Thus began a short conversation of small talk with Moses, a 19 year old native Granadan. He was yet another of several young local men that I met over the weekend who have an excellent grasp of English from their interactions with tourists.
Granada is the main town that kicked off Nicaragua's recently successful experience with tourism, and it shows. There are so many hotel rooms that it's easy to find a decent one for less than $20. And there are plenty of "touristy" type amenities such as horse and carriage rides, and restaurants--some with "international" cuisine--that have inflated "tourist prices" to match.
Unfortunately, there are also some of the more unpleasant kinds of things you find in a tourist town, such as an unusually high number of beggars, hustlers and even drug dealers.
So I was already on my guard when Moses approached me. But he was catching me at a bad time, toward the end of a hot day, when I was on my way back to my room for a cold shower and a nap. And since I sensed he was about to pitch me for some dough, I quickly brought things to a close.
"Listen, it was nice to meet you, but I have to get going now, " I said as we shook hands. "Maybe I'll see you again here in the center." And I turned to leave.
Just as I turned onto the street of my hotel, I heard him calling me, half a block behind. This I really didn't appreciate--he had followed me for a block and a half--but I turned around to face him.
He began to tell me the story of how he is a student who goes to school everyday. "The school is free, and this is my last year, but I can't afford the cost of the notebooks. . ." I let him speak in this vein for another 30 seconds.
"Listen," I said, "I'm sorry but I cannot help you at the moment. Look for me again sometime later in the center, but right now I can't do anything for you."
This was true since I had only a little cash, not even enough for a coffee, on my person. But I was annoyed that he'd followed me almost to my hotel, and that just wouldn't do in my book. So he turned away in defeat, still with that look of hopelessness in his eyes, and we went our separate ways.
I didn't see him again on Sunday or Monday but this morning as I was having my coffee and watching the first half of the Uruguay-Mexico match, he spotted me and approached, "Hey man, how you doing?"
"I'm good, how are you?" I said as he joined me at my table. And he began to tell me his story, that he's a student in his last year of a five year "college" (but I think he meant high school), that most of his family lives in Costa Rica. "There is more work there, so my mother, my brother and my sisters live there to work. It's very hard to find a job here in Nicaragua."
He said his father died eight years ago in a car accident and his mother remarried "but my stepfather doesn't like me." In Granada he stays in the house of a friend's family "but they are very poor. Basically I'm alone here."
He wants to visit his mother in Alajuela, near Costa Rica's capital San Jose, but he doesn't have a passport. "I have no visa, either." His mission now is to graduate from school where he takes "all the subjects: history, geography, Spanish, mathematics, physics." He will graduate in November this year, then "when I have my diploma I can start to look for a job as a waiter or bartender or..."
"Tell me about the notebooks." So he explains that although school is free, he needs five notebooks, one for each class. "They are too expensive." He said he skipped school on Monday because he doesn't have anything in which to take his notes.
So I question him a bit. "When does your school year begin?" In January, he said. "So since January you go without notebooks?" No, but the ones he had are now full. "What about your teacher? Can he help?" The school is already free, he said. It's not his teacher's responsibility to come up with the notebooks. "What does your teacher say if you go to school but without the notebooks?" He says, Moses: where are your notebooks? How can you finish your schoolwork with no notebooks?
"How much do the notebooks cost?" About 110 cordobas for five notebooks at the market, a little more than five bucks. "That's a lot of money!" I say, and it's true, there's no doubt about it. It's about what we in America would pay for the same thing--maybe even more expensive than what we would pay.
"At the library," Moses said, "they are even more expensive, maybe 30 cordobas each."
Five bucks is a lot of money, I thought to myself, but if his story is true I should help him out. Five bucks is a lot, but not if it helps a kid to stay in school.
I finished my coffee and made a decision. "Okay, let's go to the market and buy you some notebooks."
So off we went. It's clear Moses isn't a street kid. He's clean but ragged around the edges. His jeans and t-shirt are a little bit old, maybe, but they are freshly laundered. Like me, he wears open leather sandals, but his are a few years old and worn, probably in need of repair. I'm sure it's not just notebooks that he needs.
We approached a woman's stall where thick notebooks were stacked up. Moses has been here before, and he knows exactly what he wants, but I'm not sure what he's asking the woman.
I ask her how much for a notebook. "Vente cinco." Twenty five. So that would be 125 for five, even more than what Moses had said.
But now Moses is picking up only three notebooks, and he seems to be asking the woman for some kind of discount. Since my Spanish is "pre-Twinkle," I'm kind of lost, but I've already made a decision, and I'll follow it through.
"One hundred five cordobas," says the woman, for the three notebooks Moses has in hand. I pay her and we leave. "Will this help you? Do you have enough pens?" I ask.
"This helps me very much, " he says. "Thank you for helping me with this. Yes, I have enough pens."
Was this some kind of "notebook scam"? Did he have an "arrangement" with the owner of the stall? Why did she tell me they cost 25 cordobas, but then charge me 30 cordobas more than the 75 total that three should have cost? The woman had been hesitant to name her price, and I had been in the dark with my limited Spanish.
But I had already made a decision, and I wasn't interested in any more details. I didn't feel that it was useful to pursue any more info from Moses if the cost of that info required either one of us to lose face.
Besides, when he turned my way to thank me, the look of pure gratitude on his face was enough to set my mind at ease.
We walked back to the center, and we parted ways with another handshake. "Thank you very much again for helping me with this."
"Buenas suerte, " I said to him, "Good luck in school, and maybe I'll see you again next year if I come back to Granada, and then you will have your diploma and your job."
"Good luck!" he said. "I hope to see you here again."
"Hey, man, hello, how are you?" he said as he approached me. Thus began a short conversation of small talk with Moses, a 19 year old native Granadan. He was yet another of several young local men that I met over the weekend who have an excellent grasp of English from their interactions with tourists.
Granada is the main town that kicked off Nicaragua's recently successful experience with tourism, and it shows. There are so many hotel rooms that it's easy to find a decent one for less than $20. And there are plenty of "touristy" type amenities such as horse and carriage rides, and restaurants--some with "international" cuisine--that have inflated "tourist prices" to match.
Unfortunately, there are also some of the more unpleasant kinds of things you find in a tourist town, such as an unusually high number of beggars, hustlers and even drug dealers.
So I was already on my guard when Moses approached me. But he was catching me at a bad time, toward the end of a hot day, when I was on my way back to my room for a cold shower and a nap. And since I sensed he was about to pitch me for some dough, I quickly brought things to a close.
"Listen, it was nice to meet you, but I have to get going now, " I said as we shook hands. "Maybe I'll see you again here in the center." And I turned to leave.
Just as I turned onto the street of my hotel, I heard him calling me, half a block behind. This I really didn't appreciate--he had followed me for a block and a half--but I turned around to face him.
He began to tell me the story of how he is a student who goes to school everyday. "The school is free, and this is my last year, but I can't afford the cost of the notebooks. . ." I let him speak in this vein for another 30 seconds.
"Listen," I said, "I'm sorry but I cannot help you at the moment. Look for me again sometime later in the center, but right now I can't do anything for you."
This was true since I had only a little cash, not even enough for a coffee, on my person. But I was annoyed that he'd followed me almost to my hotel, and that just wouldn't do in my book. So he turned away in defeat, still with that look of hopelessness in his eyes, and we went our separate ways.
I didn't see him again on Sunday or Monday but this morning as I was having my coffee and watching the first half of the Uruguay-Mexico match, he spotted me and approached, "Hey man, how you doing?"
"I'm good, how are you?" I said as he joined me at my table. And he began to tell me his story, that he's a student in his last year of a five year "college" (but I think he meant high school), that most of his family lives in Costa Rica. "There is more work there, so my mother, my brother and my sisters live there to work. It's very hard to find a job here in Nicaragua."
He said his father died eight years ago in a car accident and his mother remarried "but my stepfather doesn't like me." In Granada he stays in the house of a friend's family "but they are very poor. Basically I'm alone here."
He wants to visit his mother in Alajuela, near Costa Rica's capital San Jose, but he doesn't have a passport. "I have no visa, either." His mission now is to graduate from school where he takes "all the subjects: history, geography, Spanish, mathematics, physics." He will graduate in November this year, then "when I have my diploma I can start to look for a job as a waiter or bartender or..."
"Tell me about the notebooks." So he explains that although school is free, he needs five notebooks, one for each class. "They are too expensive." He said he skipped school on Monday because he doesn't have anything in which to take his notes.
So I question him a bit. "When does your school year begin?" In January, he said. "So since January you go without notebooks?" No, but the ones he had are now full. "What about your teacher? Can he help?" The school is already free, he said. It's not his teacher's responsibility to come up with the notebooks. "What does your teacher say if you go to school but without the notebooks?" He says, Moses: where are your notebooks? How can you finish your schoolwork with no notebooks?
"How much do the notebooks cost?" About 110 cordobas for five notebooks at the market, a little more than five bucks. "That's a lot of money!" I say, and it's true, there's no doubt about it. It's about what we in America would pay for the same thing--maybe even more expensive than what we would pay.
"At the library," Moses said, "they are even more expensive, maybe 30 cordobas each."
Five bucks is a lot of money, I thought to myself, but if his story is true I should help him out. Five bucks is a lot, but not if it helps a kid to stay in school.
I finished my coffee and made a decision. "Okay, let's go to the market and buy you some notebooks."
So off we went. It's clear Moses isn't a street kid. He's clean but ragged around the edges. His jeans and t-shirt are a little bit old, maybe, but they are freshly laundered. Like me, he wears open leather sandals, but his are a few years old and worn, probably in need of repair. I'm sure it's not just notebooks that he needs.
We approached a woman's stall where thick notebooks were stacked up. Moses has been here before, and he knows exactly what he wants, but I'm not sure what he's asking the woman.
I ask her how much for a notebook. "Vente cinco." Twenty five. So that would be 125 for five, even more than what Moses had said.
But now Moses is picking up only three notebooks, and he seems to be asking the woman for some kind of discount. Since my Spanish is "pre-Twinkle," I'm kind of lost, but I've already made a decision, and I'll follow it through.
"One hundred five cordobas," says the woman, for the three notebooks Moses has in hand. I pay her and we leave. "Will this help you? Do you have enough pens?" I ask.
"This helps me very much, " he says. "Thank you for helping me with this. Yes, I have enough pens."
Was this some kind of "notebook scam"? Did he have an "arrangement" with the owner of the stall? Why did she tell me they cost 25 cordobas, but then charge me 30 cordobas more than the 75 total that three should have cost? The woman had been hesitant to name her price, and I had been in the dark with my limited Spanish.
But I had already made a decision, and I wasn't interested in any more details. I didn't feel that it was useful to pursue any more info from Moses if the cost of that info required either one of us to lose face.
Besides, when he turned my way to thank me, the look of pure gratitude on his face was enough to set my mind at ease.
We walked back to the center, and we parted ways with another handshake. "Thank you very much again for helping me with this."
"Buenas suerte, " I said to him, "Good luck in school, and maybe I'll see you again next year if I come back to Granada, and then you will have your diploma and your job."
"Good luck!" he said. "I hope to see you here again."
Monday, June 21, 2010
Projected Itinerary Beyond Perquin
Following Perquin I may re-enter Honduras and travel by back roads to re-visit the Mayan ruins at Copan. This is worth another look for me because this time I will be able to take photos, unlike when I made the journey there in August 2008. Alternatively, I can reach Copan by traveling to the El Salvador/Guatemala border near Esquipulas then cross to Honduras from there.
At that point I anticipate traveling by microbus from Copan to La Antigua de Guatemala, a six hour trip which is the reverse of the one I did in 2008. From Antigua I can make connections to Chichicastenango and other towns further northwest.
That will pretty much wrap things up for me for this round of Central American travel. As of today I have just over three weeks to catch my flight back to the U.S.
At that point I anticipate traveling by microbus from Copan to La Antigua de Guatemala, a six hour trip which is the reverse of the one I did in 2008. From Antigua I can make connections to Chichicastenango and other towns further northwest.
That will pretty much wrap things up for me for this round of Central American travel. As of today I have just over three weeks to catch my flight back to the U.S.
TV's Survivor Being Filmed in San Juan del Sur
The current issue of the Nica/Tico Times also has a letter to the editor about the filming of the television hit Survivor at Nicaragua's surfing mecca of San Juan del Sur. I guess this means that pleasant little town has "arrived" on the world stage.
But when I read that I also more or less decided to give it a miss this time and start heading back north tomorrow.
I've had a relaxing few days in Granada, taking advantage of a surprisingly decent $12 room with a very nice local family; I've had a chance to enjoy several World Cup matches over the past few days;
I've got the Costa Rica/Tortuguero leg of my trip satisfactorily postponed; I have my laundry freshly done and packed; and I have a strong desire to get back to higher country and visit remote Perquin, El Salvador.
But when I read that I also more or less decided to give it a miss this time and start heading back north tomorrow.
I've had a relaxing few days in Granada, taking advantage of a surprisingly decent $12 room with a very nice local family; I've had a chance to enjoy several World Cup matches over the past few days;
I've got the Costa Rica/Tortuguero leg of my trip satisfactorily postponed; I have my laundry freshly done and packed; and I have a strong desire to get back to higher country and visit remote Perquin, El Salvador.
Report Says "Sandinistas Strive for One-Party System"
According to the most recent edition of the English language Nica Times of June 18, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega told Cuba's state television during an April 2009 visit that "he envied the communist island's single-party political system and dislikes democracy because it 'brings about division.' "
"Multi-party systems are nothing more than a form of disintegrating a nation and dividing the people, " Ortega reportedly told the TV station.
This came as part of a report by Nica Times staff writer Tim Rogers which claims that Sandinista government officials are coopting members of the opposition Liberal Constitutional Party, including the mayor of Granada, with funding for municipal governments.
The mayor, Eugolio Mejia, has denied that his alliance with the Sandinistas is "political" but that the city of Granada needs money, and since "I have to ask whoever has the money...that's the central government."
The report further claimed that "in Ciudad Sandino. . .the Sandinistas used the police and a questionable city council ruling to stage a virtual coup against dissident mayor Roberto Somoza, a Sandinista who refused to toe the party line." The report did not provide further details of that incident.
Meanwhile, the outgoing Canadian ambassador to Costa Rica told the Tico Times that passport thefts are increasing with 124 reported thefts of Canadian passports in the first three months of 2010, about a 20% increase over last year.
Tico Times staff writer Mike McDonald also wrote that "the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica replaces more lost or stolen passports than any other U.S. Embassy in the world." The embassy reportedly processed 1569 such cases in 2009.
"Multi-party systems are nothing more than a form of disintegrating a nation and dividing the people, " Ortega reportedly told the TV station.
This came as part of a report by Nica Times staff writer Tim Rogers which claims that Sandinista government officials are coopting members of the opposition Liberal Constitutional Party, including the mayor of Granada, with funding for municipal governments.
The mayor, Eugolio Mejia, has denied that his alliance with the Sandinistas is "political" but that the city of Granada needs money, and since "I have to ask whoever has the money...that's the central government."
The report further claimed that "in Ciudad Sandino. . .the Sandinistas used the police and a questionable city council ruling to stage a virtual coup against dissident mayor Roberto Somoza, a Sandinista who refused to toe the party line." The report did not provide further details of that incident.
Meanwhile, the outgoing Canadian ambassador to Costa Rica told the Tico Times that passport thefts are increasing with 124 reported thefts of Canadian passports in the first three months of 2010, about a 20% increase over last year.
Tico Times staff writer Mike McDonald also wrote that "the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica replaces more lost or stolen passports than any other U.S. Embassy in the world." The embassy reportedly processed 1569 such cases in 2009.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
World Cup Fever
Nicaragua's national pasttime is baseball, but like most of the rest of the world they're crazy about futbol, too. With daily matches in South Africa at around 5.00 a.m., 8.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m., I find myself getting into World Cup fever like everyone else.
The last time I was in a country that cared about the World Cup (yes, this is a barely veiled criticism of Americans who see "soccer" as a kids' game that otherwise is reeally booring on TV) was in 1994, the year the U.S. hosted the event for the first time.
I was in my fourth year of "exile" in Thailand, at that time living in Bangkok and in a work situation that was making me increasingly unhappy. Therefore, I welcomed the distraction of the month-long tournament, and I felt more than just a little pride that my country turned out to be such a fine host. (The U.S. team didn't do too badly, either, as I recall, making the semi-finals.)
So I'd head out to the bars and cafes in my neighborhood to watch the matches with other fans, Thais and Westerners alike. Only problem was these matches were on Thai TV at 2.00 a.m. until 7.00 or 9.00 a.m. daily. Everyone in Thailand, indeed everyone across East Asia, was going sleep-deprived.
But it was that month that I discovered World Cup football isn't always as boring as some of us say. Yes, sometimes on TV it's just a wide shot of 22 guys kicking a tiny ball around that you can barely see. And yes, a 0-0 draw usually ain't much of a game.
But once you get your mind set fixed on what's happening, you begin to see how exciting it can be at times, even when it's 1-1 at the half and no sign of either team pulling ahead.
If you don't believe me, I suggest patience, my friend! Crack open another beer, enjoy the fact that they don't interrupt this 45 minute half with commericals, and wait for the next score. Then check out the slow motion replays. If you don't get hooked on what these amazing athletes are doing by watching all the angles of every score, then I'll eat my hat.
I watched a couple 1-1 draws this morning and yesterday. If I don't have any skin in the game, I´ll root for the underdog. Yesterday the underdog was Ghana matched up with Australia. While Ghana is having an excellent year, winning its first match against Serbia, and Australia was expected to be very strong, the Aussies have been struggling with their game while one of their best players was suspended with a red card in the 24th minute. They barely managed to hold Ghana to the draw.
Then today Italy was the powerhouse vs lowly New Zealand. It was thrilling to see the New Zealanders take the early lead, but the best they could do by the 90th minute was hold tight to that 1-1 "lead." Italy has won 44 World Cup matches while New Zealand has won none.
Meanwhile "underdog" United States managed to hold former World Cup champs England to a 1-1 draw in their first match. Go U.S.A.!
Perhaps many Central Americans will show their support for Honduras, which is the only representative from the region, and which lost its first match against Chile. Tomorrow the Hondurans face Spain.
Even if I go for the underdog, I gotta admit it was fun to watch Brazil kick some North Korean butt 2-1 last week. Today the bigshot Brazilians are in the prime time 1.00 p.m. match against Ivory Coast. Don't miss it 'cause the Brazilian fans put on a great show, too!
The last time I was in a country that cared about the World Cup (yes, this is a barely veiled criticism of Americans who see "soccer" as a kids' game that otherwise is reeally booring on TV) was in 1994, the year the U.S. hosted the event for the first time.
I was in my fourth year of "exile" in Thailand, at that time living in Bangkok and in a work situation that was making me increasingly unhappy. Therefore, I welcomed the distraction of the month-long tournament, and I felt more than just a little pride that my country turned out to be such a fine host. (The U.S. team didn't do too badly, either, as I recall, making the semi-finals.)
So I'd head out to the bars and cafes in my neighborhood to watch the matches with other fans, Thais and Westerners alike. Only problem was these matches were on Thai TV at 2.00 a.m. until 7.00 or 9.00 a.m. daily. Everyone in Thailand, indeed everyone across East Asia, was going sleep-deprived.
But it was that month that I discovered World Cup football isn't always as boring as some of us say. Yes, sometimes on TV it's just a wide shot of 22 guys kicking a tiny ball around that you can barely see. And yes, a 0-0 draw usually ain't much of a game.
But once you get your mind set fixed on what's happening, you begin to see how exciting it can be at times, even when it's 1-1 at the half and no sign of either team pulling ahead.
If you don't believe me, I suggest patience, my friend! Crack open another beer, enjoy the fact that they don't interrupt this 45 minute half with commericals, and wait for the next score. Then check out the slow motion replays. If you don't get hooked on what these amazing athletes are doing by watching all the angles of every score, then I'll eat my hat.
I watched a couple 1-1 draws this morning and yesterday. If I don't have any skin in the game, I´ll root for the underdog. Yesterday the underdog was Ghana matched up with Australia. While Ghana is having an excellent year, winning its first match against Serbia, and Australia was expected to be very strong, the Aussies have been struggling with their game while one of their best players was suspended with a red card in the 24th minute. They barely managed to hold Ghana to the draw.
Then today Italy was the powerhouse vs lowly New Zealand. It was thrilling to see the New Zealanders take the early lead, but the best they could do by the 90th minute was hold tight to that 1-1 "lead." Italy has won 44 World Cup matches while New Zealand has won none.
Meanwhile "underdog" United States managed to hold former World Cup champs England to a 1-1 draw in their first match. Go U.S.A.!
Perhaps many Central Americans will show their support for Honduras, which is the only representative from the region, and which lost its first match against Chile. Tomorrow the Hondurans face Spain.
Even if I go for the underdog, I gotta admit it was fun to watch Brazil kick some North Korean butt 2-1 last week. Today the bigshot Brazilians are in the prime time 1.00 p.m. match against Ivory Coast. Don't miss it 'cause the Brazilian fans put on a great show, too!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Escape From Las Peñitas
Perhaps I overstayed my welcome in Las Peñitas, but my last day and evening there weren't so fine for my privileged and pampered norteamericano posterior.
I still don't know if the electric company was busy doing repairs, as someone informed me, or if the incident was part of a "routine" rolling blackout, but at around 3.00 p.m. Thursday the power went out in the entire village, just as I was returning to my airconditioned room for a nap and some much needed refuge from a very hot day.
By 6.00 p.m. I started to worry a bit because dusk was fast approaching with its attendant swarms of nasty mosquitos, but my informant assured me that the power would be on "by 7.00." How did she know this? "We called them and they said they were doing repairs" but that the power would soon return.
Before the black of night descended completely I took a walk around only to discover that everyone else was suffering from the mosquitos as much as I, but further down the road a couple places had gasoline operated generators. One of these places was the $50 hotel I mentioned several posts ago, the Suyapa Beach, which had mysteriously doubled its rates from Lonely Planet's last edition of 2-3 years ago.
I was torn about bailing from my $30 room at Barca de Oro and moving to a place that I felt barely justified the cost, so I walked back to my place to wait for 7.00. And then I waited til 8.00.
By then, the Barca de Oro had provided a few candles but not much else. Apparently there was only one flashlight in the house for use by the staff who were still doing okay business with their excellent restaurant. I felt kind of sorry for them because they seemed a little embarrassed, but under the circumstances I was feeling a bit more sorry for myself! I couldn't even take a shower by then because there was no way to see anything in the bathroom. (I was their only guest in the hotel side of the business.)
Finally I headed back to the Suyapa Beach to see if they had a room. It turns out they had one room left, with no TV, but at least it was airconditioned and I'd be able to get a shower. Why was the hotel full that night? Because it was hosting a private party, either a wedding or a birthday, complete with loud disco music for everyone's enjoyment! The music continued, to my relief, only til 12.30 a.m. And by then, though I'm not 100% certain, I believe the electricity finally returned to the rest of the village.
There was a time not too long ago when I would've ridden out such a "crisis" and "gone with the flow" and suffered whatever it took to get through the night. But there also was a time, not so long ago, when I stayed in dorms when traveling, or crashed on people's couches, or didn't own a car or a bank account or even a credit card.
These days are a little different from the past: let's just say that I won't stay in dorms anymore because I can afford more comfortable alternatives. And owning a credit card is definitely convenient whenever such an "emergency" disrupts the best laid plans. . .
I still don't know if the electric company was busy doing repairs, as someone informed me, or if the incident was part of a "routine" rolling blackout, but at around 3.00 p.m. Thursday the power went out in the entire village, just as I was returning to my airconditioned room for a nap and some much needed refuge from a very hot day.
By 6.00 p.m. I started to worry a bit because dusk was fast approaching with its attendant swarms of nasty mosquitos, but my informant assured me that the power would be on "by 7.00." How did she know this? "We called them and they said they were doing repairs" but that the power would soon return.
Before the black of night descended completely I took a walk around only to discover that everyone else was suffering from the mosquitos as much as I, but further down the road a couple places had gasoline operated generators. One of these places was the $50 hotel I mentioned several posts ago, the Suyapa Beach, which had mysteriously doubled its rates from Lonely Planet's last edition of 2-3 years ago.
I was torn about bailing from my $30 room at Barca de Oro and moving to a place that I felt barely justified the cost, so I walked back to my place to wait for 7.00. And then I waited til 8.00.
By then, the Barca de Oro had provided a few candles but not much else. Apparently there was only one flashlight in the house for use by the staff who were still doing okay business with their excellent restaurant. I felt kind of sorry for them because they seemed a little embarrassed, but under the circumstances I was feeling a bit more sorry for myself! I couldn't even take a shower by then because there was no way to see anything in the bathroom. (I was their only guest in the hotel side of the business.)
Finally I headed back to the Suyapa Beach to see if they had a room. It turns out they had one room left, with no TV, but at least it was airconditioned and I'd be able to get a shower. Why was the hotel full that night? Because it was hosting a private party, either a wedding or a birthday, complete with loud disco music for everyone's enjoyment! The music continued, to my relief, only til 12.30 a.m. And by then, though I'm not 100% certain, I believe the electricity finally returned to the rest of the village.
There was a time not too long ago when I would've ridden out such a "crisis" and "gone with the flow" and suffered whatever it took to get through the night. But there also was a time, not so long ago, when I stayed in dorms when traveling, or crashed on people's couches, or didn't own a car or a bank account or even a credit card.
These days are a little different from the past: let's just say that I won't stay in dorms anymore because I can afford more comfortable alternatives. And owning a credit card is definitely convenient whenever such an "emergency" disrupts the best laid plans. . .
Sometimes Microbus Is The Way To Go
My "escape" from Las Peñitas yesterday was fairly easy and relatively painless as I journeyed by bus first to Leon and then by "microbus" (minivan) to the Nicaraguan capital city of Managua.
I find that this is a good way to go if the leg isn't longer than 2-3 hours. It costs just a little more--maybe 40 cordobas ($2) instead of 20 cordobas--but it's well worth it since once they fill the van, they make good time to the destination.
In the case of my itinerary yesterday, to Managua and Granada, there was added convenience in the fact that I didn't have to change bus terminals, as one often has to do in the big cities.
So within minutes of my arrival in Managua, I was in another micro to Granada. My total travel time yesterday was in the neighborhood of four hours which included lunch and a long coffee break in Leon.
As soon as I was set up in a small family guesthouse in Granada, the skies over the big lake opened up with heavy rains, so my timing was excellent. . .
Check out the link I've posted to the upper right from an About.com article on Granada, the granddaddy of Nicaraguan tourism.
I find that this is a good way to go if the leg isn't longer than 2-3 hours. It costs just a little more--maybe 40 cordobas ($2) instead of 20 cordobas--but it's well worth it since once they fill the van, they make good time to the destination.
In the case of my itinerary yesterday, to Managua and Granada, there was added convenience in the fact that I didn't have to change bus terminals, as one often has to do in the big cities.
So within minutes of my arrival in Managua, I was in another micro to Granada. My total travel time yesterday was in the neighborhood of four hours which included lunch and a long coffee break in Leon.
As soon as I was set up in a small family guesthouse in Granada, the skies over the big lake opened up with heavy rains, so my timing was excellent. . .
Check out the link I've posted to the upper right from an About.com article on Granada, the granddaddy of Nicaraguan tourism.
Costa Rica and Tortuguero Leg Postponed Until August
Many of us can't resist a sale at our favorite store or at the mall. Americans are addicted to "getting a great deal" on something, whether it's designer labels and shoes or weekly specials at the supermarket.
That's how I am when I see a great deal on an airfare; I feel almost as if I have to book the flight or lose out on it forever.
So as I passed the halfway mark of my trip yesterday (at about Day 26) and was finalizing plans for the remainder of my journey, I received a "special" offer from Travel Zoo (I'm on their mailing list) for Costa Rica flights starting at just over $200 round trip from Chicago. I immediately booked myself a flight to San Jose for the week after I complete my summer lessons schedule but before the new school year starts.
Thus I will postpone Costa Rica til the end of August and use the week or so I will have at that time to visit Tortuguero.
I like this new plan for a lot of reasons, now mainly because I don't have to travel much further south but instead can begin to return to Guatemala via Honduras and/or El Salvador. This also gives me more time to revisit the massive ruins site in Copan, Honduras--an amazing place which I visited in 2008 when I didn't have a camera.
This also gives me plenty of time to go to the Guatemalan market town of Chichicastenango where my aunt's church has its "sister" church.
That's how I am when I see a great deal on an airfare; I feel almost as if I have to book the flight or lose out on it forever.
So as I passed the halfway mark of my trip yesterday (at about Day 26) and was finalizing plans for the remainder of my journey, I received a "special" offer from Travel Zoo (I'm on their mailing list) for Costa Rica flights starting at just over $200 round trip from Chicago. I immediately booked myself a flight to San Jose for the week after I complete my summer lessons schedule but before the new school year starts.
Thus I will postpone Costa Rica til the end of August and use the week or so I will have at that time to visit Tortuguero.
I like this new plan for a lot of reasons, now mainly because I don't have to travel much further south but instead can begin to return to Guatemala via Honduras and/or El Salvador. This also gives me more time to revisit the massive ruins site in Copan, Honduras--an amazing place which I visited in 2008 when I didn't have a camera.
This also gives me plenty of time to go to the Guatemalan market town of Chichicastenango where my aunt's church has its "sister" church.
Boycott JPMorgan Chase!
Normally I would not contaminate my trip blog with a post like this, but since May 28 JPMorgan Chase has charged me $24 in bogus fees related to my ATM activities in Central America. Some of these charges I was aware of ahead of time, some of them I admit I should have known about but didn't, but a couple of them are so pernicious it makes my blood boil.
Basically what they did was nickel and dime me with fees until one of my accounts went below a minimum balance requirement. Most of this "feeing" happened under my radar screen because I wasn't checking these accounts online everyday. Since one of the accounts was briefly below the minimum, it seems now they have charged me a total of $10 more for that sin!
I wrote to them twice to complain, but all I get are form replies. Does anyone else have any banking horror stories like these? It's easy to forget that 20 or 30 years ago banks wouldn't have dreamed of charging all these bogus fees for the "privilege" of having access to our own money. I consider this fee-based banking to be a form of legalized theft. We should always complain when we are getting ripped off even if we don't get the results we deserve.
Basically what they did was nickel and dime me with fees until one of my accounts went below a minimum balance requirement. Most of this "feeing" happened under my radar screen because I wasn't checking these accounts online everyday. Since one of the accounts was briefly below the minimum, it seems now they have charged me a total of $10 more for that sin!
I wrote to them twice to complain, but all I get are form replies. Does anyone else have any banking horror stories like these? It's easy to forget that 20 or 30 years ago banks wouldn't have dreamed of charging all these bogus fees for the "privilege" of having access to our own money. I consider this fee-based banking to be a form of legalized theft. We should always complain when we are getting ripped off even if we don't get the results we deserve.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Poneloya/Las Peñitas Links
Check on the upper right hand side of this page, or at the blog list below for links to Poneloya/Las Peñitas. This blog has good photos of the area which is the best I can do for my readers at this stage of my journey.
Enjoy. . .
Enjoy. . .
This Morning in Las Peñitas
The Barco de Oro is located inside a small, shallow lagoon in Las Peñitas and therefore is sheltered from the big surfer's waves that constantly crash ashore in these parts. Even at high tide you can walk out very far and the water still only comes up to your knees.
At low tide some fish get caught in the wet sand that spreads for a quarter of a mile from the terrace of the hotel's restaurant out to the sandbar in the distance. This morning, the villagers caught at least three or four stingrays in this manner.
Other fish trapped at low tide quickly become carrion for black garbage-picking birds as the many ravens that flew high above attest. Neighborhood dogs also attempt to get their share.
Every now & then a local fishing boat returns from sea, and the villagers--men, women, and children--walk out into the lagoon to get first dibs on the freshest of the morning's catch. Little toddlers "help" their mothers by carrying back a fish half their size, but back ashore their fish becomes a toy to play with in the dwindling pool of salt water.
It's very quiet and peaceful here; I'm not surprised this place sticks for me. Unlike San Juan del Sur, it still remains largely undeveloped in terms of infrastructure for rich foreigners and not-so-rich backpackers like me. As the scene this morning seems to indicate, the original character and ambiance of the village remains for the casual visitor to enjoy.
Major changes have already happened here, and surely there are more big changes to come. Hopefully it won't be as quick and as jarring as in other places such as Koh Samui, Thailand which was turned upside down and shaken to its foundation in less than five years.
At low tide some fish get caught in the wet sand that spreads for a quarter of a mile from the terrace of the hotel's restaurant out to the sandbar in the distance. This morning, the villagers caught at least three or four stingrays in this manner.
Other fish trapped at low tide quickly become carrion for black garbage-picking birds as the many ravens that flew high above attest. Neighborhood dogs also attempt to get their share.
Every now & then a local fishing boat returns from sea, and the villagers--men, women, and children--walk out into the lagoon to get first dibs on the freshest of the morning's catch. Little toddlers "help" their mothers by carrying back a fish half their size, but back ashore their fish becomes a toy to play with in the dwindling pool of salt water.
It's very quiet and peaceful here; I'm not surprised this place sticks for me. Unlike San Juan del Sur, it still remains largely undeveloped in terms of infrastructure for rich foreigners and not-so-rich backpackers like me. As the scene this morning seems to indicate, the original character and ambiance of the village remains for the casual visitor to enjoy.
Major changes have already happened here, and surely there are more big changes to come. Hopefully it won't be as quick and as jarring as in other places such as Koh Samui, Thailand which was turned upside down and shaken to its foundation in less than five years.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Return to Las Peñitas Beaches
Leave it to yours truly to pick the rainiest day of the week to flee Leon for the quiet fishing village of Las Peñitas and its beaches!
I splurged on a $10 taxi to get here and splurged more on an aircon room--a treat to myself after putting up with five very muggy nights in Leon without.
The Barca de Oro, a small family-run hotel/restaurant, is staffed by friendly people, and they serve good, real coffee, not Nescafe or something worse. Everyone in the village is glued to their televisions now for the World Cup broadcasts. Prime time in South Africa is just past noon here.
The sound of the big waves is constant and similar to the sound of a jumbo jet aircraft in the distance, but much more pleasant and soothing. The rain has stopped, but you can see the cloud cover stretching across the entire Pacific horizen, so perhaps there's more to come. It doesn't matter to me very much because I'm exactly where I want to be today.
My sense is, barring a sudden crisis of boredom brought upon by lack of the usual city distractions here, a couple or three days in Las Peñitas will be good for the soul.
I splurged on a $10 taxi to get here and splurged more on an aircon room--a treat to myself after putting up with five very muggy nights in Leon without.
The Barca de Oro, a small family-run hotel/restaurant, is staffed by friendly people, and they serve good, real coffee, not Nescafe or something worse. Everyone in the village is glued to their televisions now for the World Cup broadcasts. Prime time in South Africa is just past noon here.
The sound of the big waves is constant and similar to the sound of a jumbo jet aircraft in the distance, but much more pleasant and soothing. The rain has stopped, but you can see the cloud cover stretching across the entire Pacific horizen, so perhaps there's more to come. It doesn't matter to me very much because I'm exactly where I want to be today.
My sense is, barring a sudden crisis of boredom brought upon by lack of the usual city distractions here, a couple or three days in Las Peñitas will be good for the soul.
Liking the Rainy Season for the Same Reasons I Once Hated It
I like traveling in the tropics during the rainy season which contrasts sharply with my attitude during the time I lived in Thailand in the early 1990s.
Contrary to popular belief, the rainy season doesn't mean it rains all day everyday. But often it rains toward the end of a very hot, humid day which can cool things off considerably. Even when it doesn't rain, there might be thick cloud cover which cuts the blinding glare of the tropical sun.
In Thailand I played fiddle in a Thai country music band. We worked nights, often every night of the week. In Thailand, the high season is known as the "cool" season because the weather is not too hot in the daytime, while at night it can be pleasantly cool (or "cold" as the Thais call it). The high season (November thru Februrary) was very busy and lucrative for us musicians.
In March and April comes the brutal hot season. It gets so hot that even the Thais complain about it. Temps of 100 Farenheit are not uncommon. Nighttime doesn't bring much relief.
The rainy season in Thailand is the longest season of all--May thru September or October, just as in Central America. As musicians, we still had work every night, but it was definitely the "slow" season for us, and we had much less extra work gigging on private parties, for example.
While now I enjoy the late afternoon rains here in Nicaragua, in Thailand at the time these would hit just when I getting ready for work. Since my principal mode of transport was by motorcycle, this often could be problematic for me if the timing of the rains was bad. Once I had to skip a high paying gig because I was caught in a heavy downpour, ending up completely soaked and in no condition to join my colleagues for the gig, who mostly had real cars and pickup trucks.
Now that I'm not working nights in the tropics, I really like the feel and the sound of an all night thunderstorm. It's very refreshing. And on rainy days here, often the buses are a lot less crowded, so it's easier for me to get around with my gear.
At this time of year in Central America, as in Thailand, there are fewer tourists and fewer crowds in general. Often this means that I can get discounted hotel room rates. What costs me $20 now might cost double in December or during Easter week.
Perhaps the worst thing for me about the rainy season in Thailand was simply the long, dreary length of it. Similar to the length of a Wisconsin winter, by the end of September, as I recall, I was very weary of the rains--even a little bit depressed by it.
That would make the imminent arrival of the cool season in October/November something to rejoice in and celebrate. . .
Contrary to popular belief, the rainy season doesn't mean it rains all day everyday. But often it rains toward the end of a very hot, humid day which can cool things off considerably. Even when it doesn't rain, there might be thick cloud cover which cuts the blinding glare of the tropical sun.
In Thailand I played fiddle in a Thai country music band. We worked nights, often every night of the week. In Thailand, the high season is known as the "cool" season because the weather is not too hot in the daytime, while at night it can be pleasantly cool (or "cold" as the Thais call it). The high season (November thru Februrary) was very busy and lucrative for us musicians.
In March and April comes the brutal hot season. It gets so hot that even the Thais complain about it. Temps of 100 Farenheit are not uncommon. Nighttime doesn't bring much relief.
The rainy season in Thailand is the longest season of all--May thru September or October, just as in Central America. As musicians, we still had work every night, but it was definitely the "slow" season for us, and we had much less extra work gigging on private parties, for example.
While now I enjoy the late afternoon rains here in Nicaragua, in Thailand at the time these would hit just when I getting ready for work. Since my principal mode of transport was by motorcycle, this often could be problematic for me if the timing of the rains was bad. Once I had to skip a high paying gig because I was caught in a heavy downpour, ending up completely soaked and in no condition to join my colleagues for the gig, who mostly had real cars and pickup trucks.
Now that I'm not working nights in the tropics, I really like the feel and the sound of an all night thunderstorm. It's very refreshing. And on rainy days here, often the buses are a lot less crowded, so it's easier for me to get around with my gear.
At this time of year in Central America, as in Thailand, there are fewer tourists and fewer crowds in general. Often this means that I can get discounted hotel room rates. What costs me $20 now might cost double in December or during Easter week.
Perhaps the worst thing for me about the rainy season in Thailand was simply the long, dreary length of it. Similar to the length of a Wisconsin winter, by the end of September, as I recall, I was very weary of the rains--even a little bit depressed by it.
That would make the imminent arrival of the cool season in October/November something to rejoice in and celebrate. . .
Monday, June 14, 2010
Something Out of a John LeCarre or Graham Greene Novel
Okay, I guess it's official: Leon has turned out to be "the place that sticks" for me on this trip, at least for the present moment, since tonight I'll spend my fifth night in a row here (Day 22). I'm still agnostic on returning to Las Peñitas for a couple days, but I'm definitely sure about heading out somewhere else tomorrow.
I'm staying here a bit longer not because there are tons more westerners here, including young European backpackers and American college kids, than I've seen anywhere else in three weeks.
Indeed, there are also plenty of Our Man in Havana types lurking about in the bars and cafes. Am I one of them? It reminds me of the time I returned to Bangkok after a long absence and encountered two Brits who tried to wind me up by accusing me of being a DEA narc.
There's another "quiet American" type sitting over there in the cafe where I'm writing this "dispatch," but he's drinking beer while I'm enjoying my late morning latte. He's "old school", I guess.
By my demeanor, the folks from Witness for Peace must think I'm an operative for the top secret "ABC" agency, with a direct line to the Managua station chief himself. "I'm a Suzuki violin teacher," I tell them, feeling somewhat lame as I do so. Yeah, right! That sounds like a perfect cover, or "legend", for my true purposes here. After all, why else would I be asking so many questions about the Colombian, the Venezuelan, and the Cuban legs of their fact-finding mission?
M says WfP has offical permission from the State Department to make this trip to Cuba. The organization also requires Cuban government permission--not difficult for them to get if they are as liberal as they are made out to be on the internet. "The bad thing about that is we won't be able to escape our Cuban government minders," he says. M and R both invited me to join them for the Nicaraguan leg--"There's always room for more"--but I mentioned that I knew I'd have to pay $1000 for the privilege, which they readily confirmed.
R acknowledged that WfP does make a profit from their volunteers at this $100 per day rate. "But that also includes room and board with local families, overland transport, expert guides and interpreters," she says.
We discuss the risks of traveling, as Americans, to Cuba without offical U.S. sanction. I've heard that a common route is through Cancun, where the cheapest Havana flights and Cuban visas are available at around $300 for the total package.
I remember a story about a California musician who bought old upright pianos to refurbish which he then turned around and exported to Cuba for use in the dance and music academies. Upon his return to the U.S. from one of his Cuba trips, the authorities nailed him, and the Treasury Department imposed an $8000 fine. As I recall, the musician's reaction was something along the line of "this is a situation of can't pay, so won't pay." He didn't even have enough money to hire a lawyer because all his extra money was going into second hand pianos.
M claims that if I failed to slip back into America from Cuba without the authorities noticing, and if Treasury were to hit me with a big fine, then the ACLU would take my case. "And they've never lost a case," he says. I don't know how accurate this information is, but it's an interesting question: Is full liberty to travel, where and when you please, without government interference, a First Amendment right? How ironic that Washington demanded the end of all Iron Curtain travel restrictions at the height of the Cold War, yet today retains its own anachronistic restrictions.
It seems that this 50 year-old Washington anti-Cuba policy serves no one except a small but vocal constituency in Florida. This policy does not benefit the U.S.A., and it doesn't prevent the Cuban government from doing exactly what it wants.
These economic embargo policies really have only losers: both the American and Cuban peoples. Cubans miss out on the economic benefits of free trade with the U.S. And Americans miss out on the many cultural benefits of Cuban arts, music, dance, food etc. In other words, the good stuff.
But beyond all that, in the 21st century, isn't it time to end all passport restrictions for Americans? Currently, even this "minor" restriction vis-a-vis Cuba seems just a bit. . .well, unAmerican.
I'm staying here a bit longer not because there are tons more westerners here, including young European backpackers and American college kids, than I've seen anywhere else in three weeks.
Indeed, there are also plenty of Our Man in Havana types lurking about in the bars and cafes. Am I one of them? It reminds me of the time I returned to Bangkok after a long absence and encountered two Brits who tried to wind me up by accusing me of being a DEA narc.
There's another "quiet American" type sitting over there in the cafe where I'm writing this "dispatch," but he's drinking beer while I'm enjoying my late morning latte. He's "old school", I guess.
By my demeanor, the folks from Witness for Peace must think I'm an operative for the top secret "ABC" agency, with a direct line to the Managua station chief himself. "I'm a Suzuki violin teacher," I tell them, feeling somewhat lame as I do so. Yeah, right! That sounds like a perfect cover, or "legend", for my true purposes here. After all, why else would I be asking so many questions about the Colombian, the Venezuelan, and the Cuban legs of their fact-finding mission?
M says WfP has offical permission from the State Department to make this trip to Cuba. The organization also requires Cuban government permission--not difficult for them to get if they are as liberal as they are made out to be on the internet. "The bad thing about that is we won't be able to escape our Cuban government minders," he says. M and R both invited me to join them for the Nicaraguan leg--"There's always room for more"--but I mentioned that I knew I'd have to pay $1000 for the privilege, which they readily confirmed.
R acknowledged that WfP does make a profit from their volunteers at this $100 per day rate. "But that also includes room and board with local families, overland transport, expert guides and interpreters," she says.
We discuss the risks of traveling, as Americans, to Cuba without offical U.S. sanction. I've heard that a common route is through Cancun, where the cheapest Havana flights and Cuban visas are available at around $300 for the total package.
I remember a story about a California musician who bought old upright pianos to refurbish which he then turned around and exported to Cuba for use in the dance and music academies. Upon his return to the U.S. from one of his Cuba trips, the authorities nailed him, and the Treasury Department imposed an $8000 fine. As I recall, the musician's reaction was something along the line of "this is a situation of can't pay, so won't pay." He didn't even have enough money to hire a lawyer because all his extra money was going into second hand pianos.
M claims that if I failed to slip back into America from Cuba without the authorities noticing, and if Treasury were to hit me with a big fine, then the ACLU would take my case. "And they've never lost a case," he says. I don't know how accurate this information is, but it's an interesting question: Is full liberty to travel, where and when you please, without government interference, a First Amendment right? How ironic that Washington demanded the end of all Iron Curtain travel restrictions at the height of the Cold War, yet today retains its own anachronistic restrictions.
It seems that this 50 year-old Washington anti-Cuba policy serves no one except a small but vocal constituency in Florida. This policy does not benefit the U.S.A., and it doesn't prevent the Cuban government from doing exactly what it wants.
These economic embargo policies really have only losers: both the American and Cuban peoples. Cubans miss out on the economic benefits of free trade with the U.S. And Americans miss out on the many cultural benefits of Cuban arts, music, dance, food etc. In other words, the good stuff.
But beyond all that, in the 21st century, isn't it time to end all passport restrictions for Americans? Currently, even this "minor" restriction vis-a-vis Cuba seems just a bit. . .well, unAmerican.
Willy: A Typical Upper Class Nica Teen?
Last night the rains came in again heavy at around 4 p.m. which more or less restricted me to my immediate block. Hanging out in front of our hotel were M from WfP, a couple security guards from across the street, and Willy, a kid from the neighborhood. His family's shophouse is just three doors down the block.
Grabbing an opportunity to practice his pre-Twinkle level English, Willy engaged both M & I in a spirited discussion of all things Nicaraguan and American--including his circle's favorite rap musicians (Snoop & Dr Dre), clothes, pastimes & so on.
Grabbing my opportunity to practice my pre-Twinkle level Spanish, I learned that his family is actually Cuban on his mother's side, but that he grew up in Leon. His family business makes metal plaques for other homes & businesses, but also busts & stylized pictures of Sandinista heros & other icons from Nicaragua's history. The shop does very high quality work.
Willy, 17 years old, is still a high school student, but also works for the family business. He plans to attend university in two years. He told me the family's shophouse is valued at $80,000 (very cheap, he said) but when I joked that I didn't have that kind of money lying around, he quickly assured me "it's not for sale." If his shop house was in America it would be worth a million dollars, he said: "Twenty million cordobas! Mucho dinero. . ."
He has traveled to the U.S. a couple times (he has relatives there), and he was struck by the differences between homeless people in the two countries. "The American homeless are very crazy--they'll do anything. There are a lot of crazy people in estados unidos."
The very little English Willy had seemed to come partly from Afro-American culture with a lot of "whassup" and "you feel me?" But this kid was so energetic and engaging, it was no problem at all catching his meaning. He talked about how he likes Nicaragua's "natural life (style)" but that he prefers foreign girlfriends (from other Latin American countries). "My girlfriend now is from (El) Salvador."
Willy admired M for using some of his retirement time to volunteer for an organization in Nicaragua. And he seemed to appreciate my efforts to listen and commnicate with a typical middle to upper middle class Nicaraguan teenager.
Grabbing an opportunity to practice his pre-Twinkle level English, Willy engaged both M & I in a spirited discussion of all things Nicaraguan and American--including his circle's favorite rap musicians (Snoop & Dr Dre), clothes, pastimes & so on.
Grabbing my opportunity to practice my pre-Twinkle level Spanish, I learned that his family is actually Cuban on his mother's side, but that he grew up in Leon. His family business makes metal plaques for other homes & businesses, but also busts & stylized pictures of Sandinista heros & other icons from Nicaragua's history. The shop does very high quality work.
Willy, 17 years old, is still a high school student, but also works for the family business. He plans to attend university in two years. He told me the family's shophouse is valued at $80,000 (very cheap, he said) but when I joked that I didn't have that kind of money lying around, he quickly assured me "it's not for sale." If his shop house was in America it would be worth a million dollars, he said: "Twenty million cordobas! Mucho dinero. . ."
He has traveled to the U.S. a couple times (he has relatives there), and he was struck by the differences between homeless people in the two countries. "The American homeless are very crazy--they'll do anything. There are a lot of crazy people in estados unidos."
The very little English Willy had seemed to come partly from Afro-American culture with a lot of "whassup" and "you feel me?" But this kid was so energetic and engaging, it was no problem at all catching his meaning. He talked about how he likes Nicaragua's "natural life (style)" but that he prefers foreign girlfriends (from other Latin American countries). "My girlfriend now is from (El) Salvador."
Willy admired M for using some of his retirement time to volunteer for an organization in Nicaragua. And he seemed to appreciate my efforts to listen and commnicate with a typical middle to upper middle class Nicaraguan teenager.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Americans Abroad as "Witnesses for Peace"
My first night at the Casona Colonial I had the entire hotel to myself, but last night more visitors moved in. This morning I met them, a trio of Americans from Duluth, MN and Superior, WI who are on a volunteering mission for an organization called Witness for Peace. You can check out their website linked to the right. I've also added Wikipedia's controversial articles about the organization, which supposedly is very pro-Sandinista.
The man, who I will call M, is a retired academic, and he told me they are part of delegation that will tour various agricultural regions in Nicaragua to assess the impact of NAFTA & CAFTA on the economies here & in other countries like Colombia & Venezuela. M is traveling with R, a woman--also an academic from University of Wisconsin. And a third younger woman is also traveling with them for part of their journey.
I visited WfP's website and checked out the page about the Nicaragua delegation. It appears to be another one of those deals where you pay big bucks to "volunteer." It's not a bad thing, I don't mean that, but $1000 plus airfare for a ten day mission strikes me as a little dear, at least for me personally.
At some point in the future, I might want to do some "volunteer travel." It seems to be not such a bad way to put in some time, somewhere, for a good cause, to try to do one's part for the bigger picture, and so forth. But I'd prefer to sign on with some organization that doesn't require me to pony up the thousands of bucks some of them ask for. I can see giving either my money, or giving my time (and paying for my expenses as I do so). But I can't quite bring myself to give just a little bit of my time and a lotta bit of my money, both.
The man, who I will call M, is a retired academic, and he told me they are part of delegation that will tour various agricultural regions in Nicaragua to assess the impact of NAFTA & CAFTA on the economies here & in other countries like Colombia & Venezuela. M is traveling with R, a woman--also an academic from University of Wisconsin. And a third younger woman is also traveling with them for part of their journey.
I visited WfP's website and checked out the page about the Nicaragua delegation. It appears to be another one of those deals where you pay big bucks to "volunteer." It's not a bad thing, I don't mean that, but $1000 plus airfare for a ten day mission strikes me as a little dear, at least for me personally.
At some point in the future, I might want to do some "volunteer travel." It seems to be not such a bad way to put in some time, somewhere, for a good cause, to try to do one's part for the bigger picture, and so forth. But I'd prefer to sign on with some organization that doesn't require me to pony up the thousands of bucks some of them ask for. I can see giving either my money, or giving my time (and paying for my expenses as I do so). But I can't quite bring myself to give just a little bit of my time and a lotta bit of my money, both.
The Hotel Garden is a Pleasant Oasis
In Leon I'm staying at the Casona Colonial, a very nice old-fashioned hotel set in a traditional courtyard structure owned by a man of retirement age who appears, perhaps, to be a widower. It's a bit of an oddity to see a man running a small hotel when this business is largely dominated by women.
Our man spends his days reading the newspaper, La Prensa in his case. He listens to the local talk radio. And now, with the opening of the 2010 World Cup soccer championship tournament in South Africa, he's been watching some of the matches on TV.
A woman (his daughter? a hired hand?) comes early in the morning to cook & clean, but she's usually out of there by 3 or 4 p.m.
The garden in the courtyard is one of the most beautiful I've seen with multi colored flowers, a mango tree, and another fruit tree, of what I haven't yet identified. There are at least two turtles living there. The ambiance in the garden is very refreshing after a long day in the heat around 4 or 5 p.m. when a sudden thunderstorm drenches there area so quickly it catches me off guard.
Our man spends his days reading the newspaper, La Prensa in his case. He listens to the local talk radio. And now, with the opening of the 2010 World Cup soccer championship tournament in South Africa, he's been watching some of the matches on TV.
A woman (his daughter? a hired hand?) comes early in the morning to cook & clean, but she's usually out of there by 3 or 4 p.m.
The garden in the courtyard is one of the most beautiful I've seen with multi colored flowers, a mango tree, and another fruit tree, of what I haven't yet identified. There are at least two turtles living there. The ambiance in the garden is very refreshing after a long day in the heat around 4 or 5 p.m. when a sudden thunderstorm drenches there area so quickly it catches me off guard.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Daytripping to Poneloya & Las Peñitas Beaches
The Pacific Ocean is a mere 12 miles from Leon so this morning I hopped on a bus full of Nicaraguan daytrippers (and more than a couple westerners) to visit the beachside communities of Poneloya & La Peñitas.
The main problem with beaches in this part of the world is that private property development blocks off almost all access to the beach. This is very nice for the people who own houses there but not so nice for the casual visitor like me. I spent 90 minutes walking a couple miles this morning trying to find my way in.
For sale/for rent signs abound. Beautiful, huge mansions sit on lots next to totally ruined shacks while there are occasional parcels of vacant land. The Lonely Planet blames foreigners for driving up local housing & land costs.
I had a taste of this affect when I was informed, to my shock, that the rate for my chosen hotel room (with AC) has doubled to $50 per night. At 11.00 a.m. it was 93 degrees Farenheit in the shade, so AC seems necessary, but these rooms didn't really seem worth the cost. However the beachside restaurant looked clean & professional and featured $10 fish dinners on the menu.
I'm not really a beach bum type, though I identify with the surfer crowd which hangs out here. Like mountaineers, ski bums & yacht crew, they're the type who work seasonal jobs at home to pay for trips to cool places abroad.
Although Poneloya & Las Peñitas are fairly sizeable, there's not much commerce happening apart from the hotel/restaurant biz. I found only one cyber cafe and only a couple basic ma & pa corner stores. And there was no sign of any good coffee even at the $50 per night joint, so maybe an overnight there isn't worth it for me. Just give me the cooler, higher ground with all my creature comforts & a few really old churches.
But I'm very impressed with the relaxed security situation. Unlike in El Salvador or Honduras, these private dwellings and scattered businesses on the Pacific didn't sport much of the usual tall, intimidating walls & gates topped with razor wire or electric fencing. And I didn't see even one armed guard anywhere!
Check back tomorrow to see if I decide to return to Las Peñitas for a day or two anyway. . .
The main problem with beaches in this part of the world is that private property development blocks off almost all access to the beach. This is very nice for the people who own houses there but not so nice for the casual visitor like me. I spent 90 minutes walking a couple miles this morning trying to find my way in.
For sale/for rent signs abound. Beautiful, huge mansions sit on lots next to totally ruined shacks while there are occasional parcels of vacant land. The Lonely Planet blames foreigners for driving up local housing & land costs.
I had a taste of this affect when I was informed, to my shock, that the rate for my chosen hotel room (with AC) has doubled to $50 per night. At 11.00 a.m. it was 93 degrees Farenheit in the shade, so AC seems necessary, but these rooms didn't really seem worth the cost. However the beachside restaurant looked clean & professional and featured $10 fish dinners on the menu.
I'm not really a beach bum type, though I identify with the surfer crowd which hangs out here. Like mountaineers, ski bums & yacht crew, they're the type who work seasonal jobs at home to pay for trips to cool places abroad.
Although Poneloya & Las Peñitas are fairly sizeable, there's not much commerce happening apart from the hotel/restaurant biz. I found only one cyber cafe and only a couple basic ma & pa corner stores. And there was no sign of any good coffee even at the $50 per night joint, so maybe an overnight there isn't worth it for me. Just give me the cooler, higher ground with all my creature comforts & a few really old churches.
But I'm very impressed with the relaxed security situation. Unlike in El Salvador or Honduras, these private dwellings and scattered businesses on the Pacific didn't sport much of the usual tall, intimidating walls & gates topped with razor wire or electric fencing. And I didn't see even one armed guard anywhere!
Check back tomorrow to see if I decide to return to Las Peñitas for a day or two anyway. . .
Friday, June 11, 2010
An Economy Roars Back To Life
Last night I read My Car in Managua (1991), a book by an American sympathizer of the FSLN--popularly known as the Sandinistas--who worked for an aid mission in 1980s Managua. He paints a very frank picture of how the post-revolutionary FSLN completely messed up the national economy with failed socialist policies, a lack of work incentives, and a hyperinflation that impoverished everyone and drove the most skilled and talented people to other countries.
Today it's clear that in the 20 years since the opposition came to power by election, the economy has roared back to life with the cordoba--Nicaragua's currency--stabilizing at 20 or 21 per dollar, and there are signs of a dynamic economic life everywhere in towns and cities such as Leon and Granada.
Even with the FSLN having returned to power in the past decade and with controversial, albeit popular, president and former commandante Daniel Ortega up for reelection in 2012, this economic activity appears to continue at a healthy pace.
Contrast this to the situation in El Salvador where there appears to be plenty of economic activity but perhaps not of the sort that can grow the economy over the long term. Acording to my trusty Lonely Planet guide, a big chunk of El Salvador's GDP comes from remittances sent from abroad, principally the USA, and of that amount it's estimated that up to 80% is spent on consumption--basically for paying bills and buying groceries. The LP writer speculates that by such dependence upon friends and family working abroad for their daily living expenses, Salvadoreans have created a sort of "welfare" economy that cannot grow over time.
Today it's clear that in the 20 years since the opposition came to power by election, the economy has roared back to life with the cordoba--Nicaragua's currency--stabilizing at 20 or 21 per dollar, and there are signs of a dynamic economic life everywhere in towns and cities such as Leon and Granada.
Even with the FSLN having returned to power in the past decade and with controversial, albeit popular, president and former commandante Daniel Ortega up for reelection in 2012, this economic activity appears to continue at a healthy pace.
Contrast this to the situation in El Salvador where there appears to be plenty of economic activity but perhaps not of the sort that can grow the economy over the long term. Acording to my trusty Lonely Planet guide, a big chunk of El Salvador's GDP comes from remittances sent from abroad, principally the USA, and of that amount it's estimated that up to 80% is spent on consumption--basically for paying bills and buying groceries. The LP writer speculates that by such dependence upon friends and family working abroad for their daily living expenses, Salvadoreans have created a sort of "welfare" economy that cannot grow over time.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Nica´s One of My Favorites
Leon is a premier destination for me on this trip, but I gotta admit that Nicaragua itself is a prime destination for me.
With all due respect to my Costa Rican Suzuki mother and her beautiful country and people, I have to declare that Nicaragua might be my favorite Central American country. However, I´m not sure I can explain why. There´s something about it I immediately notice once I´m past the formalities and on a bus moving toward my destination, but as I write this I´m still trying to put my finger on it.
It´s not only that Nicaragua, compared to Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, seems so much less menacing, though that truly seems to be the case. Lonely Planet claims El Salvador has 16,000 shotgun-toting private security guards, and it´s clear that Nicaragua is not nearly as obsessed with basic security as the other countries I´ve mentioned.
And like the others, in Nicaragua there is poverty, broken infrastructure and the usual political conflict and controversy.
Yet it seems that Nicaragua has better tourist facilities and more features for ordinary joes like me. For example, I love a good cup of coffee, and El Salvador was almost completely horrible for getting one. Nearly every day last week I struggled in the morning just to feel awake with the muddy water that passes for coffee in that country. But in Leon I´ve counted at least three espresso shops so far and I´m sure there are more. The infrastructure here is already set up to get me moving on a daily basis.
In El Salvador at least so far there are very few entrepreneurs stepping up to provide guiding and other services to places like Volcan de San Miguel. As the Lonely Planet points out, if you want to go there you have to do all the legwork yourself. But here in Leon, there are plenty of businesses geared toward meeting the needs of the foreign visitor.
I´m not saying that espresso shops or guide services make it for me. El Salvador is a fascinating place with very hardworking people who generally are quite welcoming to foreigners, and I still want to swing back there to visit Perquin on my way back north. But I gotta say the Salvadoreans have a lousy cup of coffee, and after 10 days that´s wearing for me, on top of all the usual chores I have to do just to get around and be around in safety.
Here in Leon and other Nicaraguan towns I feel there are many people in a nascent tourist industry who care about what I need, about where I want to go, and about how I might get there. At the same time the local scene isn´t spoiled to the point where the visitor feels any pressure to kick up bucks to an industry. Most importantly, the security situation here doesn´t feel nearly as ¨edgy¨ as in other places in the region. Altogether that´s a most basic definition of hospitality, and my impression is the Nicaraguans have it in spades.
With all due respect to my Costa Rican Suzuki mother and her beautiful country and people, I have to declare that Nicaragua might be my favorite Central American country. However, I´m not sure I can explain why. There´s something about it I immediately notice once I´m past the formalities and on a bus moving toward my destination, but as I write this I´m still trying to put my finger on it.
It´s not only that Nicaragua, compared to Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, seems so much less menacing, though that truly seems to be the case. Lonely Planet claims El Salvador has 16,000 shotgun-toting private security guards, and it´s clear that Nicaragua is not nearly as obsessed with basic security as the other countries I´ve mentioned.
And like the others, in Nicaragua there is poverty, broken infrastructure and the usual political conflict and controversy.
Yet it seems that Nicaragua has better tourist facilities and more features for ordinary joes like me. For example, I love a good cup of coffee, and El Salvador was almost completely horrible for getting one. Nearly every day last week I struggled in the morning just to feel awake with the muddy water that passes for coffee in that country. But in Leon I´ve counted at least three espresso shops so far and I´m sure there are more. The infrastructure here is already set up to get me moving on a daily basis.
In El Salvador at least so far there are very few entrepreneurs stepping up to provide guiding and other services to places like Volcan de San Miguel. As the Lonely Planet points out, if you want to go there you have to do all the legwork yourself. But here in Leon, there are plenty of businesses geared toward meeting the needs of the foreign visitor.
I´m not saying that espresso shops or guide services make it for me. El Salvador is a fascinating place with very hardworking people who generally are quite welcoming to foreigners, and I still want to swing back there to visit Perquin on my way back north. But I gotta say the Salvadoreans have a lousy cup of coffee, and after 10 days that´s wearing for me, on top of all the usual chores I have to do just to get around and be around in safety.
Here in Leon and other Nicaraguan towns I feel there are many people in a nascent tourist industry who care about what I need, about where I want to go, and about how I might get there. At the same time the local scene isn´t spoiled to the point where the visitor feels any pressure to kick up bucks to an industry. Most importantly, the security situation here doesn´t feel nearly as ¨edgy¨ as in other places in the region. Altogether that´s a most basic definition of hospitality, and my impression is the Nicaraguans have it in spades.
In Leon, Nicaragua (Day 18)
Visiting old colonial Leon is a no brainer for me since I consider myself to be a ¨collector¨ of colonial cities in Spanish America. Among the attractions here is the largest cathedral in Central America but the central district is dotted with surprising old buildings from history.
I decided at the last minute yesterday to forgo Perquin and focus on making some miles toward Costa Rica. A couple buses got me to the Honduras border at El Amatillo, and the crossing was relatively hassle free.
On a very hot day I caught the slow bus for a 2 hour long trip to Choluteca in southern Honduras. This is cowboy country with plenty of cows, horses, and the men who ride and drive them. By now we´re also out of volcano territory and in a dryer landscape marked by short trees and scrubgrass.
Choluteca, the largest town in this part of Honduras, had everything I needed within a block of my hotel, itself not far from the bus station. Restaurants, internet, and gloriously an espresso shack! This morning I had the best coffee I´ve tasted since way back in Ataco, El Salvador. Buen sabor!
Much needed aircon and not so needed TV were cut off last night with sudden thunderstorms which cooled the area considerably.
South of Choluteca on a microbus this morning the landscape changed yet again into a much more lush version of 5 or 6 different shades of green. Cloud cover kept temperatures bearable for the travel.
The Nicaragua border at Guasaule was mercifully also very easy to cross without much bureaucratic fuss. Seven bucks and I was in for 30 days, though the experience was marred slightly when I was grossly overcharged for a cyclo taxi. Yet it´s the first time in 18 days that I´ve been grossly overcharged for anything, so I reckon I´m doing alright.
Another fast microbus took me to Chinandega where I connected for my final bus to Leon which is about 60 miles northwest of Managua. The countryside here changes yet again with 3 or 4 massive volcanos visible in the distant clouds. It´s still cowboy country but the land is much less dry than in southern Honduras and the soil appears to be very rich. Viva la cultura de los vaqueros. . .
Leon is a premier destination for me, along with Tortuguero and Caribbean Panama, so I´m privately celebrating my arrival here. I was so charmed by my short walk around today, I´m sure I´ll stay at least 2 or 3 days.
I have just 34 days to get back to Guatemala. In the week ahead I plan to hit Masaya, Granada, Rivas and San Juan del Sur before I go to Costa Rica perhaps a week from today.
I decided at the last minute yesterday to forgo Perquin and focus on making some miles toward Costa Rica. A couple buses got me to the Honduras border at El Amatillo, and the crossing was relatively hassle free.
On a very hot day I caught the slow bus for a 2 hour long trip to Choluteca in southern Honduras. This is cowboy country with plenty of cows, horses, and the men who ride and drive them. By now we´re also out of volcano territory and in a dryer landscape marked by short trees and scrubgrass.
Choluteca, the largest town in this part of Honduras, had everything I needed within a block of my hotel, itself not far from the bus station. Restaurants, internet, and gloriously an espresso shack! This morning I had the best coffee I´ve tasted since way back in Ataco, El Salvador. Buen sabor!
Much needed aircon and not so needed TV were cut off last night with sudden thunderstorms which cooled the area considerably.
South of Choluteca on a microbus this morning the landscape changed yet again into a much more lush version of 5 or 6 different shades of green. Cloud cover kept temperatures bearable for the travel.
The Nicaragua border at Guasaule was mercifully also very easy to cross without much bureaucratic fuss. Seven bucks and I was in for 30 days, though the experience was marred slightly when I was grossly overcharged for a cyclo taxi. Yet it´s the first time in 18 days that I´ve been grossly overcharged for anything, so I reckon I´m doing alright.
Another fast microbus took me to Chinandega where I connected for my final bus to Leon which is about 60 miles northwest of Managua. The countryside here changes yet again with 3 or 4 massive volcanos visible in the distant clouds. It´s still cowboy country but the land is much less dry than in southern Honduras and the soil appears to be very rich. Viva la cultura de los vaqueros. . .
Leon is a premier destination for me, along with Tortuguero and Caribbean Panama, so I´m privately celebrating my arrival here. I was so charmed by my short walk around today, I´m sure I´ll stay at least 2 or 3 days.
I have just 34 days to get back to Guatemala. In the week ahead I plan to hit Masaya, Granada, Rivas and San Juan del Sur before I go to Costa Rica perhaps a week from today.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Route Ahead After Perquin
I offer this post as a picture for the reader of what I face in the days ahead. Managua is about 9 hours from San Miguel by bus and includes two border crossings into Honduras & Nicaragua. Considering the fact that I prefer to travel 4-5 hours per day at most, that means a two day trip with an overnight in the Honduran town of Choluteca.
Once past the Nicaraguan border formalities I have to decide if I will stop in Leon and/or Managua (probably one or the other but not both). Then it's onward immediately to my true destination goals of beautiful colonial Granada & the charming Pacific coast town of San Juan del Sur. Last year I visited both latter two places but was very short on time. I would like to spend perhaps a week total in that area.
Then there's another border crossing nearby into Costa Rica and one or two days (at my easy-does-it tempo) to the capital San Jose. A day or two there hanging out with my student's Uncle Marco is sure to be a highlight of this trip.
From San Jose, another day's travel will get me to Tortuguero, famous for its turtle-hatching seasons and its remote beauty (the only way to get there is by air or boat). This is yet another place that, for me, is worth spending a few days.
At that point, Panama--or at least the Carribean coast of Panama near the Costa Rican border--becomes a viable option. However, if I go that route, then Merida,Venezuela simply becomes not viable at all--if it ever was, at my meandering rate of speed.
Probably the reader has figured out already that this trip isn't really about getting to Merida, or any other destination, but more about the voyage of getting to several stopping off points along the way. Budget issues also play an important part in my deliberations. For example, if it takes me 14 days worth of hotel spending to get to Panama City from here, but I can get a flight for the same amount or less, should I buy the plane ticket? The answer is, not if that expense puts me wildly above my projected costs for the entire enterprise.
Once past the Nicaraguan border formalities I have to decide if I will stop in Leon and/or Managua (probably one or the other but not both). Then it's onward immediately to my true destination goals of beautiful colonial Granada & the charming Pacific coast town of San Juan del Sur. Last year I visited both latter two places but was very short on time. I would like to spend perhaps a week total in that area.
Then there's another border crossing nearby into Costa Rica and one or two days (at my easy-does-it tempo) to the capital San Jose. A day or two there hanging out with my student's Uncle Marco is sure to be a highlight of this trip.
From San Jose, another day's travel will get me to Tortuguero, famous for its turtle-hatching seasons and its remote beauty (the only way to get there is by air or boat). This is yet another place that, for me, is worth spending a few days.
At that point, Panama--or at least the Carribean coast of Panama near the Costa Rican border--becomes a viable option. However, if I go that route, then Merida,Venezuela simply becomes not viable at all--if it ever was, at my meandering rate of speed.
Probably the reader has figured out already that this trip isn't really about getting to Merida, or any other destination, but more about the voyage of getting to several stopping off points along the way. Budget issues also play an important part in my deliberations. For example, if it takes me 14 days worth of hotel spending to get to Panama City from here, but I can get a flight for the same amount or less, should I buy the plane ticket? The answer is, not if that expense puts me wildly above my projected costs for the entire enterprise.
Crossroads in San Miguel
A touch of "Delhi belly" early yesterday kept me here for another day & today the imminent prospect of a temporary cash shortage is keeping me from moving on immediately. So I took advantage of the hotel laundry service & will have clean clothes tonight!
I'm still on the fence about visiting remote, mountainous Perquin, but the Lonely Planet advises there are no ATMs in this town of 5000 for when I expect a funds transfer to be completed on Thursday. Lonely Planet also claims that Perquin is a highlight "for most visitors" to El Salvador, whatever that means. It sounds cool to me, though.
Thus I'm at a crossroads of decision (or "indecision" might be a better way to put it). Perquin sounds exactly like something that's right up my alley, but of course the longer I don't move, the further I remain from my ostensible destination goal in Venezuala.
Today I took a bus to a point about 5 miles west of town where there was a great view of this region's main geographical landmark, the 2130 meter Volcan de San Miguel which looms like a towering, fire-eating god over this city. Today its massive cone was shrouded in an envelope of ominous looking clouds that seemed ready to burst with rain. This short trip to the outskirts of town was rewarded with a noticable cooling of temperature--a welcome relief from the brutal hot in the centro.
The volcano is less than 20 miles from here, but my guidebook explains that a trip there is a bit of an undertaking: you have to rent a car or take a bus & then a taxi to get to the base; if you want to climb to the top, it's a 9 hour trek & you have to hire police escorts ("reserve two weeks in advance"). Lonely Planet also reminds us that you have to provide lunch for your escorts. Now that's "mordida"!
I'm still on the fence about visiting remote, mountainous Perquin, but the Lonely Planet advises there are no ATMs in this town of 5000 for when I expect a funds transfer to be completed on Thursday. Lonely Planet also claims that Perquin is a highlight "for most visitors" to El Salvador, whatever that means. It sounds cool to me, though.
Thus I'm at a crossroads of decision (or "indecision" might be a better way to put it). Perquin sounds exactly like something that's right up my alley, but of course the longer I don't move, the further I remain from my ostensible destination goal in Venezuala.
Today I took a bus to a point about 5 miles west of town where there was a great view of this region's main geographical landmark, the 2130 meter Volcan de San Miguel which looms like a towering, fire-eating god over this city. Today its massive cone was shrouded in an envelope of ominous looking clouds that seemed ready to burst with rain. This short trip to the outskirts of town was rewarded with a noticable cooling of temperature--a welcome relief from the brutal hot in the centro.
The volcano is less than 20 miles from here, but my guidebook explains that a trip there is a bit of an undertaking: you have to rent a car or take a bus & then a taxi to get to the base; if you want to climb to the top, it's a 9 hour trek & you have to hire police escorts ("reserve two weeks in advance"). Lonely Planet also reminds us that you have to provide lunch for your escorts. Now that's "mordida"!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Still Looking for the Bus in San Miguel (Day 14)
I'm posting this from San Miguel in eastern El Salvador, gateway to Honduras & points further southeast. This town isn't as bad as Lonely Planet makes it out to be. Sure, it's blisteringly hot & humid, but so are a lot of other places.
From my perspective San Miguel has a lot going for it. For one, I'm staying in an excellent hotel just across the street from the bus station and the central district with the usual central plaza, cathedral & market is just a short walk away. True, the hotel is a bit above my budget, but at least they accept credit cards. Even better there's a Pollo Campero right across the street. Pollo Campero is Central America's answer to KFC and though this is my third trip in as many years to Central America, I still haven't tried Pollo Campero but I think I might do so tonight.
My room has all the amenities including the most important one, air con. The hotel also features free high speed internet and a nice courtyard with a swimming pool. And we have our very own hired guard, a "special forces-type" gentleman dressed in civvies who totes a very lethal looking double-barreled pump action shotgun.
My only problem, as I see it, is I'm still looking for the first class bus to Managua & beyond! But this town is small enough that I was able to invest a couple hours today on foot, trudging my way around for some 3 or 4 miles, still looking for the Tica bus--or at least the Tica bus office so I can book a seat for tomorrow or the next day.
I did manage to get a clue from a couple helpful citizens along the way, and I've been advised to show up at 8.00 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning at a certain location in town near the main road going south, etc. etc. So hopefully in about 14 hours I will know if I can get a seat on one of these elusive "avion de terra" buses!
Meanwhile, this is not at all a bad place to be. I'm not too far from the town of Perquin which was the headquarters of the anti-government FMLN during the civil war and which the Lonely Planet recommends as a destination in its own right. I may take a day or two there before I continue--depending upon what I learn in the morning.
From my perspective San Miguel has a lot going for it. For one, I'm staying in an excellent hotel just across the street from the bus station and the central district with the usual central plaza, cathedral & market is just a short walk away. True, the hotel is a bit above my budget, but at least they accept credit cards. Even better there's a Pollo Campero right across the street. Pollo Campero is Central America's answer to KFC and though this is my third trip in as many years to Central America, I still haven't tried Pollo Campero but I think I might do so tonight.
My room has all the amenities including the most important one, air con. The hotel also features free high speed internet and a nice courtyard with a swimming pool. And we have our very own hired guard, a "special forces-type" gentleman dressed in civvies who totes a very lethal looking double-barreled pump action shotgun.
My only problem, as I see it, is I'm still looking for the first class bus to Managua & beyond! But this town is small enough that I was able to invest a couple hours today on foot, trudging my way around for some 3 or 4 miles, still looking for the Tica bus--or at least the Tica bus office so I can book a seat for tomorrow or the next day.
I did manage to get a clue from a couple helpful citizens along the way, and I've been advised to show up at 8.00 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning at a certain location in town near the main road going south, etc. etc. So hopefully in about 14 hours I will know if I can get a seat on one of these elusive "avion de terra" buses!
Meanwhile, this is not at all a bad place to be. I'm not too far from the town of Perquin which was the headquarters of the anti-government FMLN during the civil war and which the Lonely Planet recommends as a destination in its own right. I may take a day or two there before I continue--depending upon what I learn in the morning.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Savior Saint is a Gritty Capital City
I've been to a few traffic-choked, chaotic and suffocatingly hot, polluted big cities in my time (Bangkok immediately comes to mind), but San Salvador comes close to taking the cake for its ability to exhaust the visitor after only an hour or so out & about the grimy central district. Like Mexico City the altitude here is already high while the city itself is surrounded by higher mountains. This tends to keep stagnant the noxious smoke & fumes from hundreds of belching buses that ply these city streets on a constant basis.
If the pollution wasn't so bad, the heat & humidity would knock anyone out by itself, but taken all together it makes for a health hazardous triple whammy. Every time I make an errand run I catch myself heading back to my aircon cool, cozy room after 60-90 minutes tops. But I've seen the usual sights: the one or two big cathedrals, the plazas, the parks, the markets, and the big colonial government buildings. This city makes you feel that if you've seen one Central American capital then you've seen them all.
So it's onward and outward again tomorrow, probably to the eastern El Salvador hub of San Miguel where I can catch a Tica bus to Managua. I went looking for the Tica terminal today but lost hope & gave up after an hour. I know I was close and maybe getting closer, but the locals I asked for directions from kept sending me in circles!
What more can I write about El Salvador and its capital? This country is the smallest in Central America--about the size of Massachusetts--and it has one of the smallest populations at around 7 million. It's the only country in the world named after Jesus Christ (The Savior), with its capital also named for "Saint" Savior. Salvadoreans suffered a brutal civil war in the 1980s, but now the country has been more or less at peace, at least politically, for almost two decades. Despite the fact that El Salvador has a somewhat dodgy reputation for crime & violence, I've noticed that the friendly people really seem to work hard to counteract that, welcoming the foreign visitor with goodwill & helpful advice.
It's definitely it a bit off the tourist's beaten path. You don't see very many Westerners here, American or European. But I feel it's worth a visit (it's my second in two years) to see how a remarkably tough, resiliant, vibrant people can climb their way back from such past horror & adversity--and with a generally cheerful & optimistic outlook for the future.
If the pollution wasn't so bad, the heat & humidity would knock anyone out by itself, but taken all together it makes for a health hazardous triple whammy. Every time I make an errand run I catch myself heading back to my aircon cool, cozy room after 60-90 minutes tops. But I've seen the usual sights: the one or two big cathedrals, the plazas, the parks, the markets, and the big colonial government buildings. This city makes you feel that if you've seen one Central American capital then you've seen them all.
So it's onward and outward again tomorrow, probably to the eastern El Salvador hub of San Miguel where I can catch a Tica bus to Managua. I went looking for the Tica terminal today but lost hope & gave up after an hour. I know I was close and maybe getting closer, but the locals I asked for directions from kept sending me in circles!
What more can I write about El Salvador and its capital? This country is the smallest in Central America--about the size of Massachusetts--and it has one of the smallest populations at around 7 million. It's the only country in the world named after Jesus Christ (The Savior), with its capital also named for "Saint" Savior. Salvadoreans suffered a brutal civil war in the 1980s, but now the country has been more or less at peace, at least politically, for almost two decades. Despite the fact that El Salvador has a somewhat dodgy reputation for crime & violence, I've noticed that the friendly people really seem to work hard to counteract that, welcoming the foreign visitor with goodwill & helpful advice.
It's definitely it a bit off the tourist's beaten path. You don't see very many Westerners here, American or European. But I feel it's worth a visit (it's my second in two years) to see how a remarkably tough, resiliant, vibrant people can climb their way back from such past horror & adversity--and with a generally cheerful & optimistic outlook for the future.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Hard Travel on a Rugged Coast
It didn't take long yesterday to get to the coast from the Salvadorean coffee highlands, but once I was there I discovered a largely undeveloped but beautiful region of high forested cliffs, rocky coves and small isolated beaches with big waves(but possibly dangerous undertows).
This is the back way, or the slow route, from Sonsonate to La Libertad. What I thought might be a simple day trip from the quiet fishing village of Los Cobanos (The Coves) to El Zonte beach turned out to be a half day's hard travel on local buses. In fact, I didn't even reach my destination. After a 90 minute trip the bus went down the coast only so far as La Perla where I would've had to change for another bus, but by the time I arrived in La Perla it was getting late already--I needed to be back "home" well before dark.
By the end of a very hot day (93 degrees Farenheit) I'd decided to give the rest of this coastal area a miss but only because there are almost no hotels to choose from. The dubious room I ended up with in Los Cobanos was perhaps the worst value I've encountered thus far: an overpriced $15 for a hot (and not so clean), mosquito-infested hovel with no windows, AC, TV or any other amenity. The only things this place has going for it is it's right on the beach and the attached restaurant serves an excellent $7 fish dinner.
So I made straight for the capital city San Salvador early this morning to grab what turned out to be the best value so far in a very clean $20 room at the Hotel Villa Florencia (Centro branch). This room is terrifically graced with windows, AC, TV & the other amenities! I'll be here for two days, then it's on to San Miguel in eastern El Salvador, then on to Honduras & Nicaragua.
Since I need to start making miles, I'm seriously considering booking a seat on a Tica bus--the first class airconditioned option--to go, if not to Panama City in one fell swoop, then maybe as far as Managua. I'd like to revisit the grand colonial city of Granada & the quiet little paradise of San Juan del Sur before crossing into Costa Rica.
This is the back way, or the slow route, from Sonsonate to La Libertad. What I thought might be a simple day trip from the quiet fishing village of Los Cobanos (The Coves) to El Zonte beach turned out to be a half day's hard travel on local buses. In fact, I didn't even reach my destination. After a 90 minute trip the bus went down the coast only so far as La Perla where I would've had to change for another bus, but by the time I arrived in La Perla it was getting late already--I needed to be back "home" well before dark.
By the end of a very hot day (93 degrees Farenheit) I'd decided to give the rest of this coastal area a miss but only because there are almost no hotels to choose from. The dubious room I ended up with in Los Cobanos was perhaps the worst value I've encountered thus far: an overpriced $15 for a hot (and not so clean), mosquito-infested hovel with no windows, AC, TV or any other amenity. The only things this place has going for it is it's right on the beach and the attached restaurant serves an excellent $7 fish dinner.
So I made straight for the capital city San Salvador early this morning to grab what turned out to be the best value so far in a very clean $20 room at the Hotel Villa Florencia (Centro branch). This room is terrifically graced with windows, AC, TV & the other amenities! I'll be here for two days, then it's on to San Miguel in eastern El Salvador, then on to Honduras & Nicaragua.
Since I need to start making miles, I'm seriously considering booking a seat on a Tica bus--the first class airconditioned option--to go, if not to Panama City in one fell swoop, then maybe as far as Managua. I'd like to revisit the grand colonial city of Granada & the quiet little paradise of San Juan del Sur before crossing into Costa Rica.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Oddness of Seeing Dollar Prices from the 1970s
I like to travel for the new people & places you can meet & discover. And I like to travel in the tropics for the weather & the food--both of which generally agree with me.
But I have to admit that I love traveling in the developing world because the lower costs also very much agree with me. Whether you get 33 baht, 10 pesos, or 8 quetzales for the greenback, those lower costs don´t quite compute like they do in El Salvador, which ditched its own currency in 2001 and adopted the dollar. Nevertheless, it´s truly odd to see prices in dollars & cents that I haven´t seen since I was 12 or 15, or even 20 years old.
How about pastries for 15 to 55 cents? Or an ordinary cup of coffee for 20-60 cents? Bus fares for between 35-75 cents, or a dollar at most. A can of Coke in the supermarket for 30-35 cents. A sandwich for two dollars, breakfast for $3.00. Fresh OJ for 50 cents. A delicious latte for $1.50 or $2.00. Aguardiente (the local firewater) for $2.35 in the supermarket. A short taxi trip for $2.00-5.00, a long taxi trip for $10-15. . .the list goes on.
I have high speed internet for 50 cents an hour! That´s a far cry from the $13 per hour I saw offered in an American airport.
Some prices are more "normal" for me, I guess. Hotels, for example, run the full spectrum of price points. I try to average $20 per night for two star rooms with TV & private bath, and I mostly succeed, but sometimes you have to pay $40-50 for something that´s not much better than Motel 6 at home. On the other hand, sometimes you pay that much for something really nice.
And gasoline, sold by the gallon in Central America, is usually the same or more expensive than in the U.S. Here in El Salvador it´s $3.30-3.50 a gallon.
But ultimately what can´t be beat is the fact that these places--where most of the ordinary people you meet are poorer than the average Westerner--often have some of the most natural beauty in the world. It´s a cliche, I know, because of a famous credit card commercial, but that´s fairly priceless. . .
But I have to admit that I love traveling in the developing world because the lower costs also very much agree with me. Whether you get 33 baht, 10 pesos, or 8 quetzales for the greenback, those lower costs don´t quite compute like they do in El Salvador, which ditched its own currency in 2001 and adopted the dollar. Nevertheless, it´s truly odd to see prices in dollars & cents that I haven´t seen since I was 12 or 15, or even 20 years old.
How about pastries for 15 to 55 cents? Or an ordinary cup of coffee for 20-60 cents? Bus fares for between 35-75 cents, or a dollar at most. A can of Coke in the supermarket for 30-35 cents. A sandwich for two dollars, breakfast for $3.00. Fresh OJ for 50 cents. A delicious latte for $1.50 or $2.00. Aguardiente (the local firewater) for $2.35 in the supermarket. A short taxi trip for $2.00-5.00, a long taxi trip for $10-15. . .the list goes on.
I have high speed internet for 50 cents an hour! That´s a far cry from the $13 per hour I saw offered in an American airport.
Some prices are more "normal" for me, I guess. Hotels, for example, run the full spectrum of price points. I try to average $20 per night for two star rooms with TV & private bath, and I mostly succeed, but sometimes you have to pay $40-50 for something that´s not much better than Motel 6 at home. On the other hand, sometimes you pay that much for something really nice.
And gasoline, sold by the gallon in Central America, is usually the same or more expensive than in the U.S. Here in El Salvador it´s $3.30-3.50 a gallon.
But ultimately what can´t be beat is the fact that these places--where most of the ordinary people you meet are poorer than the average Westerner--often have some of the most natural beauty in the world. It´s a cliche, I know, because of a famous credit card commercial, but that´s fairly priceless. . .
Grilled Meat--Made for Wisconsinites!
I tell people I´m from Wisconsin--often they know someone who lives in Milwaukee or someplace else in the dairy state. And so I tell them that Wisconsin people like to eat grilled meat, which they do very well here.
Last night I had an excellent meal of grilled beef & sausage with the usual staples: refried beans, tomatos, cheese, avocado & tortillas. The tortillas they make here are smaller but thicker than what you find in Mexico or Guatemala--just two of them were enough with all the other grub that came with it.
They love their fried breakfasts here, too--eggs many styles and all the extras that go with it. But maybe my favorite meal is the big lunch (the main meal in these parts), usually featuring soup and choice of meat with rice, beans, salad, juice or coffee (and sometimes dessert). Expect to pay $4 to $6 for a great feed in this part of the world! Yum. . .
Last night I had an excellent meal of grilled beef & sausage with the usual staples: refried beans, tomatos, cheese, avocado & tortillas. The tortillas they make here are smaller but thicker than what you find in Mexico or Guatemala--just two of them were enough with all the other grub that came with it.
They love their fried breakfasts here, too--eggs many styles and all the extras that go with it. But maybe my favorite meal is the big lunch (the main meal in these parts), usually featuring soup and choice of meat with rice, beans, salad, juice or coffee (and sometimes dessert). Expect to pay $4 to $6 for a great feed in this part of the world! Yum. . .
Time Moves Slow Here
I finally found some high speed computers here in Juayua, so this cybercafe is the most popular in town with the kids who come here to play Grand Theft Auto & other games. (These boys are in their school uniforms--are they skipping school to sit in front of a monitor?) Everything else around here is purr-ity darn slow, though . . .but I´m starting to get into the pace of things & enjoy the overall scene.
Salvadorans are generally very friendly & helpful people--even for a gringo like me. I´m still looking for a place to get "stuck." While the Ruta de las Flores ain´t a bad place to be, I´m not feeling really like sticking--after all, my ostensible mission is to get to Merida, Venezuela. But I found someone to do my laundry, and when that happens I have to take advantage of it ´cause I´m traveling way light.
We also have some rain today, so I´m not inclined to hoof it around looking for my bus connections to the coast (in other words I had a late start! See? Time moves pretty slow here) .
Again, how doable is this Merida mission anyway?
To have any realistic chance of pulling this off, I need to be in Panama City by June 15 at the latest. The quickest way to get there overland is by Tica bus from San Salvador via Managua & San Jose, Costa Rica--a three day trip. But of course, I want to mosey a bit, too, with stops on the Pacific coast (if not here then in Nicaragua) and then I want to revisit my student´s uncle Marco in San Jose & maybe go to Tortuguero on the Carribean side. How long will this take? I have exactly six weeks to be back in Guatemala City for my flight home.
Salvadorans are generally very friendly & helpful people--even for a gringo like me. I´m still looking for a place to get "stuck." While the Ruta de las Flores ain´t a bad place to be, I´m not feeling really like sticking--after all, my ostensible mission is to get to Merida, Venezuela. But I found someone to do my laundry, and when that happens I have to take advantage of it ´cause I´m traveling way light.
We also have some rain today, so I´m not inclined to hoof it around looking for my bus connections to the coast (in other words I had a late start! See? Time moves pretty slow here) .
Again, how doable is this Merida mission anyway?
To have any realistic chance of pulling this off, I need to be in Panama City by June 15 at the latest. The quickest way to get there overland is by Tica bus from San Salvador via Managua & San Jose, Costa Rica--a three day trip. But of course, I want to mosey a bit, too, with stops on the Pacific coast (if not here then in Nicaragua) and then I want to revisit my student´s uncle Marco in San Jose & maybe go to Tortuguero on the Carribean side. How long will this take? I have exactly six weeks to be back in Guatemala City for my flight home.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Daytripping on the Ruta de Las Flores (Day 9)
Considering the fact that this part of western El Salvador is a major coffee producing region, it sure is difficult to find a good cup of coffee! Sure, I´m a latte snob but this is getting ridiculous. Today, however, I scored a home run with the discovery of The House of Coffee, an upscale joint in the village of Ataco which has the first espresso machine I´ve encountered since Guatemala City.
Follow the winding Ruta de Las Flores east out of hot, stifling Ahuachapan for just a few miles and you are transported into a totally different climate of misty, fog covered mountain greenery dotted with several large finca--coffee plantations--and just two or three very easy-going market villages. Ataco is one of them.
Further along the route you arrive in Apaneca & Juayua, where I´ve snagged a room for the night. Up here it´s cool enough not to require AC & it looks as if it might even rain again. We hope not, however, as El Salvador also suffered its share of mudsliding this past weekend--the evidence of which is apparent all along the roadside where workers are still busy cleaning the debris three days later. MSNBC says El Salvador reported 10 killed in the storm.
My cash situation has mysteriously resolved itself: yesterday I was able to draw enough dollars to last me for the week.
Tomorrow: to Sonsonate & then Playa Mizata/El Zonte for some Pacific beachside doings. . .
Follow the winding Ruta de Las Flores east out of hot, stifling Ahuachapan for just a few miles and you are transported into a totally different climate of misty, fog covered mountain greenery dotted with several large finca--coffee plantations--and just two or three very easy-going market villages. Ataco is one of them.
Further along the route you arrive in Apaneca & Juayua, where I´ve snagged a room for the night. Up here it´s cool enough not to require AC & it looks as if it might even rain again. We hope not, however, as El Salvador also suffered its share of mudsliding this past weekend--the evidence of which is apparent all along the roadside where workers are still busy cleaning the debris three days later. MSNBC says El Salvador reported 10 killed in the storm.
My cash situation has mysteriously resolved itself: yesterday I was able to draw enough dollars to last me for the week.
Tomorrow: to Sonsonate & then Playa Mizata/El Zonte for some Pacific beachside doings. . .
Tropical Storm Agatha Devastates Guatemala
Check out the link to the upper right for some facts on the recent storm in Central America which hit Guatemala particularly hard, leaving at least 145 dead, 53 missing, and more than 100,000 homeless. Tropical Storm Agatha was the first major storm of the season and it also hit southern Mexico and the area of El Salvador where I´m writing this now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)