2. San Miguelito, NIC
Day 76. Did I mention I hate roosters? Well, there was one keener out there somewhere today and he was trying (successfully) to wake up the whole neighbourhood at 4:30 in the morning. I want to get up early today just not THAT early. What can you do. I was on the road by 6:45.
The idea today is to get with a striking distance from CRC border. I have only 3 day transit visa so I don’t have time to spare here. I want to take the east side of the big lake and hoping for less traffic there. If I see something nice along the way I will entertain an idea of staying overnight. Otherwise all the way and that would be 400+ km. The last time I did such a distance was way back in Mexico. The issue here is not the distance but the weather. It appears that the rain comes even sooner in the day then in Guatemala. Basically, you want to be somewhere inside after lunch.
Nice road off the bat. It is the Caretera Panamericana which goes through the entire Central and South America. Traffic is OK so I am doing well. Not too much to see beside the settlements on the side of the road. Any off road excursions are out of the question as there are signs of heavy rain everywhere. I can see that country is poor. No new infrastructure along the way not even nice houses. Actually, it is really bad to see how the locals live here. Very, very tough life. There are lots of people on horses, I guess cheaper then a car. I feel like I am at least 50 years back. The funny thing is that I’ve seen many people riding their horse and on talking or watching their smart phone. It is very humid but with the airflow on the bike it is manageable. I just can’t stop … I am half way through and there wasn’t even anything to take picture of, not to mention any place to stay. There were few cops with radar guns lurking under the trees. I was always lucky that I was stuck in traffic Avery time I went by them. Dumb luck.
I turned off the main highway few kilometres from the capital Managua. The road got right away better and the traffic disappeared. Nice riding. Doing good time and my GPS is telling me I should be at my destination before 1300. But the clouds ahead are getting thicker and darker. I will be surprised if I don’t get wet today.
I went through number of police checkpoints but none of them were interested to see my bike today. I like it that way. And the rain comes. As I am contemplating if I should stop and put my rain gear on, I can see a policeman on the other side of the road waving at me and gesturing for me to stop. I am not aware that I did something wrong but I am sure I could find out soon. I even roll the throttle back a little but then my brain went into an overdrive. If I stop, I am screwed. The way the cop was waving at me, he was pissed. Not good. Plan B - what is my chances to outrun Nicaraguan police? I’d say pretty good. At the worse I tell him I didn’t see him. But he has to catch me first. So I twisted the throttle the other way. The part of my decision making process was that there is no way he can catch me in his clapped out Toyota Hilux. And I have a head start. Another point is, he can radio ahead but the road splits few ways about 5 km down the road. I have faith that Nicaraguan is not that sophisticated. So, not that worried, I continue. At the speed limit and turning all my extra lights off not to draw any more attention. Well, it worked. Went through another police checkpoint and nobody cared. That was close! I am turning into a rebel here … If I was in Canada, I’d be in jail, in the US, I’d be dead.
Anyway, I drove through few rain showers and the destination was getting close. But there was a BIG cloud right ahead of me. And as soon as I though I’ve made it it hit me like a fire hose. 5 km from my hotel! Soaked. It is amazing the amount of water coming down and how quickly everything fills with water here. Got to the hotel and after few minutes the rain was over. For now.
The little village I stay tonight is on the east shore of lake Cocibolca. Big lake but dirty. The village probably hasn’t change in a hundred years. The name is San Miguelito. Cow, dog, pigs and horses run freely on the streets. I went for a walk after I checked in and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Looking into open doors you can see that they have nothing inside. Not even flooring. Just bed, table and maybe a couch. Very sad sight. I couldn’t find a restaurant here so I bought some pastries and juice in one shop that sells everything. A gourmet dining tonight.
Back to my hotel. Very basic. And mean VERY basic. Nothing in the room works. The AC, the fan, not even a light. I have to have a bathroom light on so I can see around. What do want for $15/night… And the internet is slower then a turtle. I am not sure if I can upload anything tonight. Certainly not pictures.
I’ll try to go to bed early so I can get out of here as soon as I can. The CRC border is only 60km away and it is much more civilized on the other side. I have a place there booked already and it should be only 160km day. But I have to go through the border song and dance. What can I say, I didn’t expect much from Nicaragua and that’s exactly what I got. I have much higher expectation from Costa Rica.
Cheers