The Grand Detour

So, after nearly 4 amazing months in South and Central America we've hit the States.  It is a bit of a change of plan but we're off on a road trip to Las Vegas, and up to San Francisco via a few national parks:  Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and hopefully a couple more.  Should be good.  Will keep you posted!

The ancient Mayan gift shop of Chichen Itza.

 

 

  

The ancient Mayan golf resort of Tulum.

The ancient Mayan city of Tikal

 

Burnout

In Asia you find yourself with an overwhelming urge to scream at the top of your lungs, "if I see one more temple...!"

In Europe it's church or cathedral.

It comes after a couple of months or so.  They were splendid sights at first.  The camera snapping away at the slightest glimpse of an orange cloaked monk.  After you hit the wall, they have become so ubiquitous you don't even divert your eyes.

So we've reached that point.  It happened in Granada, the gem of Nicaragua's tourist trail.  A beautiful colourful city, where we summoned just about enough enthusiasm to traipse to an internet cafe and have a hotdog in the square.

So we jumped on a bus to the beach.  A fairly deserted one in El Salvador, where we planned to do virtually nothing for a week or two but eat, sleep, swim, read, surf a little maybe.  Anything to silence the inner monologue that's screaming at the top of its voice, "if I see one more bloody colonial city...!"


As it happened, as nice as it was in surf central, it didn't completely do the trick.  Maybe because we had to sleep with one eye open...

So we had a few days of relaxation and then we hatched a new plan: to hit Mexico sooner, enjoy a few truly beautiful beaches, and then spend a bit more time in the States.  Well, who can resist a side-trip to Vegas baby?!

6 weeks to go and 8 countries to get through!

Who were we kidding, something had to give.  So after a wonderful five day relaxing trip through the Caribbean, it was time to crack the back of about 500 miles and a couple of countries.  From Panama City we traveled to Rivas in Nicaragua and then crossed Lago de Nicaragua to our final destination, the Ilas de Ometepe, for a wee rest.

I'll do the first part fast so you don't get bored.  

Day 1, Panama: went to see the canal and then off to the international bus station.  Maybe harsh ditching the rest of the country but 'little America' just didn't do it for us.  We almost didn't view the canal, but relented, it being one of the 'Man-made Wonders of the World.'  Or so Wikipedia tells me anyway. 

 

Day 2, Costa Rica:  the night bus went without a hitch, or even better for you a, bodily functions story.  Costa Rica was all seen by bus, beautiful beaches laced with palm trees whizzed past us under bright blue cloudless skies (if we had stopped it would have rained!)  Paul also introduced me to the rambutan, a funny little fruit with bright red tentacles.  They look completley weird but when fresh, squirted juice everywhere and tasted delicious.

 

So two border crossings in one day.  The first a mind numbing 3 hours wait, the second a delightful 10 minutes!  Then within a couple of hours we were on the island.  Magic.

Ometepe is created from two volcanoes linked by ancient lava flow, rising magnificently from the lake.  We picked a great time to stay.  At first the town of Moyogalpa seemed quiet, dusty and full of tourists waiting to go either further into the island or ferry out.  But each day around 4 o'clock a procession of dancing horses would parade down the high street and we'd have live music. Even before it got dark the fire crackers would go off and the streets would come alive.  Many a drunk local would be-friend us and list all the dangers lurking on the mainland, proudly extolling the virtues of this safe haven.  Maybe we should have stayed? But I'm not sure they have any need for graphic design or physio.  Maybe we could have started a dive school (now we're divers and all, but not sure there's much to see in the murky waters) or open a traditional themed Ye Olde World Inn and Tavern (but we'd probably be driven out by the Americans and Irish who've got the themed idea covered).  Or just carry on travelling.  We did the latter.  Given the hassles we've had on the mainland, maybe we should have stayed put afterall.

 

So what did we do on this gem of an island?  Well we cycled to Punta Jesus Maria, a narrow sand bar that juts out into the lake making a calm swimming area.  It being Nicaragua and a volcanic island, the sand was black, the water was black and the fishes took great advantage of this, giving us a good nip now and again.  The place still had a relaxed charm and it was good to have got some exercise and earned our dip.

We also hired a scooter!  Yes, we did look like loser gringos on our banana coloured mean machine, wearing helmets and abiding by speed limits as families of 5 road past us, all perched perfectly on one scooter.  And let's not forget the kid on a push bike that even got the edge on us at one point (he ate our dirt soon as we'd managed the speed bump safely!)  This may sound like an OAP's grand day out and possibly it looked like that, but on small stretches of desolate road, both of us singing 'Born to be Wild' at the top of our voices, I do believe we captured at least the spirit of Easy Rider.