Day 103 ? Short and Sweet ? 47.18 km
In the morning I decided to have breakfast at my hotel. Being extra hungry I ordered not one, but two breakfasts! I ordered a typical Nicaraguan breakfast as well as cereal. Although I really shouldn't drink milk from here, I just couldn't resist. Those Corn Flakes were so deliciously sinful that it's ridiculous! While reading the morning paper I had quite a good laugh. It turns out that during some parade the day prior a few guys started going at it with machetes. The highlight of the story was that one guy tossed a machete at another. Now, what I found truly hilarious was that they somehow managed to get a picture of the machete while it's flying through the air at the other guy! It's like they knew it was going to happen and were just waiting for the right moment to snap a photo.
Being as I nearly got killed by a car yesterday I decided that today I would take it easy and see some of the cool cities that are along the way here. In the morning I must say that I experienced a little dejavu as I had to bicycle the same ten kilometer stretch that I did yesterday leading up to the area I had my accident. Needless to say I was especially careful in the area where I had my accident, although now it was harmless since the restaurant was closed.
With good time and no near death experiences I had it to the city of Masaya, which is the best place in all of Nicaragua to find any arts and crafts you may need. I sidetracked into the city to seek around and also visited the market here. Maneuvering here with a loaded up between stalls and walking people was no easy task! But alas it was possible, and I even managed to buy two small paintings in the process!
From Masaya I headed with breakneck speed to Granada, which is the most visited and touristy city in all of Nicaragua. On my way in I was a victim of a vicious rainstorm, but I've grown quite used to those. In Granada I decided to pick out a nicer place to stay as they offered free wireless internet. I admit that at $15 a night the price is steep as the place isn't that nice, but this is a very touristy city after all and thus the most expensive in Nicaragua.
I must say that I was surprised when the power went out, and stayed out. It turns out that Nicaragua doesn't have enough fuel to power the whole country, and thus different cities are cut off at different times. That means that power is shut off to the entire city here for roughly four hours between two and six. Supposedly two weeks ago it was different and happened in the middle of the night. How crazy is that? Needless to say you could see many portable generators parked out front of restaurants and internet cafes alike.
Being as I had plenty of time to spare I made sure to thoroughly explore the city. Granada is a classical colonial town set upon a lake and is really quite beautiful. Although many of the buildings are in bad condition and falling apart, the architecture is still something to behold. The streets look as if they belong in a fairy tale as each building is painted a different very bright color.
While visiting one church I began to chat with a man who did some work around the place. I told him about my trip, and how I was a Polish person living in Canada. When he found out I was Polish he told me that he had traveled there many, many years ago. Needless to say, a one dollar donation to the church later I had a private tour up to the church bell tower! I admit that it was a fairly scary winding 25 meter staircase to the top, but the view made it all worth it. It is quite possibly the best dollar that I have spent on this entire trip!
I am currently back in my hotel where I am making the most of my wireless connection to the world. Granada is really a beautiful city, but the fact that it is so touristy ruins it's mystical aurora a bit. Either way I'm very glad that I made today shorter and decided to stop here for it was well worth it!
Day 104 ? The Day I Became a Millionaire - 86.23 km
Although my hotel did cost me an arm and a leg, they did at least serve a free breakfast. Unfortunately this breakfast was just enough to keep a normal person from starving, let alone a cyclist whose metabolism is racing. Needless to say after breakfast I filled myself up with a loaf of bread.
While cycling out of Granada I thought for a second that I had been caught in the middle of a shoot out, or that someone was shooting at me. While riding I heard a very loud bang like a gunshot, and I'm sure that half the street ducked, me included. It turned out to be much less interesting than that. I had experienced my first 'blow out' of the trip. That is to say, my rear inner tube basically exploded and blew my tire off my wheel. As I was going fairly slowly on these city streets I managed to stop without killing myself or causing any damage to my wheel. Being as I can now change a flat tire with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back, I fixed the problem and was quickly on my way.
The road to Rivas was fairly uninteresting. Apart from green rolling hills through farmland my only highlight was riding in zigzags on roads in worse condition than even in the Yukon. Cycling down here is a bit like playing Russian roulette. If you miss and ride into a big hole, you break your wheel as well as possibly yourself. Then there is always the risk of getting hit by a car which is likewise weaving around these holes.
For the first time today I had to unfortunately take a bus for part of my route. The road from Rivas to the Costa Rican border is supposedly a danger zone for cyclists for some reason. In the last month three cyclists have been robbed at gunpoint on this stretch of road, and since I haven't seen many traveling cyclists down here my odds didn't look too good. In fact, one of the people that had been robbed sent me an e-mail herself to warm me about this section. I thought about paying the police to follow me in a car or perhaps to even buy a handgun to be able to defend myself. In the end I decided that this was not worth the either the hassle or the risk and just decided to take a bus. I figure that I can forgive myself since I bussed a whole 24 kilometers, whereas Panama City is actually 700 kilometers further than I thought! It's not like I'm including this distance in what I've ridden anyway.
At the Costa Rican border someone of course tried to screw me out of money, it wouldn't be a Central American border if someone didn't! Some people on the Nicaraguan side were insisting that I need some special form to get into Costa Rica. I took one of these forms from the guy, but when he told me it cost $5, I laughed at him and threw it back at him. He looked taken aback and insisted that I needed it, and four other guys holding the same forms agreed. I rudely told them off, and rightly so, for on the Costa Rican side of the border this form was free! Getting across was otherwise hassle free and cost me a total of $3 in fees for paperwork.
The currency here in Costa Rica is called the 'Colone'. The funny thing about it is that one US dollar is worth 520 Colones. It's kind of odd when someone tells you that a bottle of Coca-Cola costs 300. On the other hand it is kind of neat to see your bank balance jump into the millions overnight!
After being in Costa Rica no longer than five minutes it began to pour. Being as I have become very used to bicycling in the rain this was no big deal. I unfortunately did not like the fact that I had to climb a huge hill after becoming so adjusted to the flat rolling hills of Nicaragua. To complicate the matter I received the first flat tire of my trip in my front wheel, which was caused by a puncture of some sort. Since there was nothing close by I had no option but to change this flat in the rain, which is never a pleasant thing to do.
I am currently staying in the town of La Cruz, roughly 20 kilometers from the border. Although the town has a bank, supermarket, as well as a variety of stores, it is really quite a dull place. I intended to make it much further today but unfortunately the bus ride as well as the border crossing ate up quite a bit of my time. No matter, Panama isn't going anywhere. But on the other hand is, my flight is, and I sure as heck intend to be on it when it does!
Day 105 ? The Map That Did Not Lie ? 181.40 km
I woke up bright and early today, managing to make it out of my hotel before 7 o'clock. Quite impressive I must say considering that I am usually quite lazy in the mornings. About 50 meters from my hotel was another hotel which was now abandoned. This place had an absolutely phenomenal view of the surrounding terrain as well as the ocean in the far off distance. While taking a photo a police officer walked up near me, how he saw me I had no idea. I asked him if it was prohibited to enter here, to which he replied no, he was simply making sure I was safe as this is supposedly a dangerous area! I found this kind of odd since this was a neat looking town of no more than 10,000 people.
The terrain today varied from rolling pastures to quite brutal hills. Either way I managed to make excellent time. I took a side trip into the city of Liberia, which proved to be a total waste of time. Although the landscapes here are absolutely incredible, the towns are terribly dull. They lack any sort of unique character that made towns in other Central American countries so enjoyable. By 1 o'clock in the afternoon I had made it to the town of Canas, 102 kilometers away from what I started.
Although I could have technically stopped here for the night, there was no way I was going to stop cycling at only 1 o'clock! I decided to push onward even though my map showed that there was no towns of any sort for the next 79 kilometers. On the way out of the city I met a German cyclist who was bicycling all over Costa Rica. He told me that last year he flew out to Kenya to bicycle around there! I was very surprised when he told me that the roads were in great condition and that it was very safe. I would love to bicycle from Cairo to Cape Town one day; perhaps in the future!
Alas, my map proved to be correct for once. The only things I passed along the way were very small towns and villages, containing perhaps a small store or a few restaurants. Being as Costa Rica is a very touristy place, I figured there had to be some sort of lodging around here, but I proved to be very wrong. I don't understand why these restaurant owners don't have a room or two available for rent. Unfortunately this unexpected extra mileage really killed me. I had counted on the fact that I would be able to find something earlier and thus wasn't too concerned about time. Before I knew it, it was becoming dark. I had to bicycle as fast as my legs could make me go, no easy feat in rain and sharp hills. It was a race against the clock.
I had no choice to to stay in the first available hotel I could find, as bicycling in the dark here is basically a death wish. Although I once did have a rear tail light, it became one of the many items that have fallen victim to this expedition. I managed to find a place to stay in the small town of Barranca. The anything but luxurious Hotel Frank charges $10 a night for a room equipped with bathroom and television. The television is black and white and does not get reception on any channel, and I'm afraid that if I enter my bathroom some foreign bacteria will eat me alive. Additionally, my room smells kind of funny.
I have decided tomorrow to deviate off my intended route through the center of the country and instead opted to take a much less traveled route along the coast. The downside to this road is that I will have to endure 40 kilometers of gravel and partially paved road. I should also mention that while in a restaurant today I saw some warning of a tsunami or hurricane for Central America, I couldn't really understand it as the warning flew by so fast. I sure hope I don't get caught in one of those, but if I do, at least I know how to swim!
Day 106 ? The Not So Flat Coast ? 129.76 km
Instead of going through Costa Rica's crazy capitol city of San Jose I opted instead to take a different route. I decided to take a coastal route which isn't exactly classified as a major highway. I figured this would be a more appropriate and interesting route as the name Costa Rica literally translates to rich coast! I thought that today my life would be simple since I would be going to the coast, this turned out to be quite wrong. I didn't think that there would be a ridiculously large hill that I would have to crawl over.
I was surprised to see a bicycle path next to the main road down here. The last one of these I saw was in Mexico and only lasted a few kilometers. This one wasn't much better, but it was ridable so I can't complain. After what seemed like an eternity of climbing I began to descend to the town of Jaco. The views were of course magnificent, but my legs claim that they weren't worth it! The town of Jaco is a nice beach town backed by mountains. Although a nice place, it is far too touristy for me, I prefer the off the beaten path places.
Going out of Jaco I thought I would have a heart attack. According to my Lonely Planet book it should have been only 64 kilometers from here to the town of Quespos. The first road sign that I saw told me it was 106 kilometers! To my great relief there was a sign two kilometers later which said 63 kilometers, but then I became once again confused when after ten kilometers there was a sign which said 61 kilometers. I really don't know who measures the road distances out here, but I think they need to find a new job! Along the way there were several bridges which I thought that surely I was going to get killed on. These bridges are wide enough for only one lane of traffic, and the bottom is composed of metal bars laid down horizontally. Things get quite scary when a bunch of these bars are loose, and others are simply missing! To make matters even worse, there really aren't any safety rails and a nice big drop off into a river. Crossing one of these bridges I had to actually get of my bicycle and carry it across a certain section where five bars were missing, which is a hole of nearly a foot wide across the whole bridge! Simply ridiculous I tell you.
I made it to the town of Quespos, which is located near the famous Manuel Antonio national park. I had heard from several people that this park was very nice, and being so close it would be a shame to miss it. Since it was only seven kilometers from this town to the small village near the park, I opted to head over there in order to have less problems with my bicycle. What a mistake taking that road was. What an absolutely, horrendously brutal road. Although paved and in good condition, we are talking 15 to 20% grades. Just killer, possibly even worse than in British Columbia! After nearly dying I stopped at the top of a hill, where I conveniently managed to find a hostel. It was still three kilometers to the park, but the last thing I wanted to do was bicycle down and have to work my way back up tomorrow! A hostel here cost me $9 for a night, which isn't such a terrible price. A room here would cost me at least $20 if not more as this is a very touristy place. This choice ended up working out for me since this place was very nice and I ended up having a room all to myself!
The road from the town of Quespos to the park is littered with various hotels, stores, and restaurants. There is one particularly interesting restaurant called ?El Avion?. The name says it all, the restaurant consists of a large plane covered by a roof and perched on the edge of a cliff. The plane is actually an American plane which was shot down over Nicaragua while delivering arms, and was thus at the center of one of the largest scandals of the 80s. It is quite possibly one of the coolest restaurants I've ever seen. Inside the plane is a bar, and all around the plane are tables setup for a restaurant. The kitchen is located below and food is sent up using an elevator which is constructed out of another plane's fuselage. On the downside, the prices are simply ludicrous. There is no way I'm going to pay over $6 for a sandwich in Costa Rica.
Tomorrow I plan on checking out this famous park in the morning and pushing on forward ever closer to Panama!
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