Tosh and I crossed the Nicaraguan border Sunday afternoon without any questions
or problem at all, thanks to a very nice, helpful, Nica man who knew everyone at the border and also
happened to be crossing over from Costa Rica at the same time. He informed me that a lot of people get robbed at the border crossing area, and therefore he wanted to make sure that nothing happened. He was a wonderful help and much appreciated, keeping us safe and speeding up the unkowns of the whole border crossing process. There were a couple of policemen who joked about seeing Toshy's passport, but when I replied "sure" they all laughed and told me they were only kidding - crazy Nica border cops!
The nice man - I've forgotten his name already - saw us to the bus, introduced me to the bus driver, who then took over looking after us, and who also tried to set me up with two different single friends on the bus. All was in good fun, and the bus driver
found it amusing during our hour-long conversation while waiting for passengers that I had not been married yet, and when he asked me if and when I will get married, cracked up at my response which was "mas tarde", meaning "later". He insisted on relating this to at least five of his pals who in turn, boarded our bus. The nice Nica man from the border crossing referred me to Hotel de Coco in Rivas, the closest town to the border since it was getting late and pouring rain like gatos and perritos, which charged a mere $8 per night for a bed, a 'super deluxe rotary fan', and a bathroom which has no doubt seen better days, with a very tiny trickle of water for a shower in the morning for only a couple of minutes at most and then..... no water.
Who needs water anyway? No problem though, we then found our way to the bank and then to the bus station, although ended up taking a cab to San Juan del Sur
for a mere $1.75, a steal for an hour cab ride with four others.
So far, I find Nicaragua to be refreshingly pleasant without anyone hassling the token American tourist for taxis, goods, or unnecessary services. God bless Nicaragua!
or problem at all, thanks to a very nice, helpful, Nica man who knew everyone at the border and also
happened to be crossing over from Costa Rica at the same time. He informed me that a lot of people get robbed at the border crossing area, and therefore he wanted to make sure that nothing happened. He was a wonderful help and much appreciated, keeping us safe and speeding up the unkowns of the whole border crossing process. There were a couple of policemen who joked about seeing Toshy's passport, but when I replied "sure" they all laughed and told me they were only kidding - crazy Nica border cops!
The nice man - I've forgotten his name already - saw us to the bus, introduced me to the bus driver, who then took over looking after us, and who also tried to set me up with two different single friends on the bus. All was in good fun, and the bus driver
found it amusing during our hour-long conversation while waiting for passengers that I had not been married yet, and when he asked me if and when I will get married, cracked up at my response which was "mas tarde", meaning "later". He insisted on relating this to at least five of his pals who in turn, boarded our bus. The nice Nica man from the border crossing referred me to Hotel de Coco in Rivas, the closest town to the border since it was getting late and pouring rain like gatos and perritos, which charged a mere $8 per night for a bed, a 'super deluxe rotary fan', and a bathroom which has no doubt seen better days, with a very tiny trickle of water for a shower in the morning for only a couple of minutes at most and then..... no water. 
Who needs water anyway? No problem though, we then found our way to the bank and then to the bus station, although ended up taking a cab to San Juan del Sur
for a mere $1.75, a steal for an hour cab ride with four others.
So far, I find Nicaragua to be refreshingly pleasant without anyone hassling the token American tourist for taxis, goods, or unnecessary services. God bless Nicaragua!
1 comment:
Gotta love los Rotarios! They pop up everywhere. On Saturday, my eye doctor told me he'd heard I was interested in joining the RotarAct (which is true but no one's ever called me back and then I dropped it as life got busier). My doctor's son was in RotarAct a couple years ago, so he had me talk to his son and get the advisor's name and number, who lives in my same city. So funny!
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