We were set to leave Ometepe and decided to do the cheapest route back to Rivas and then from there on north to Leon. This meant we take the 8.30 chicken bus from Hacienda Merida to Moyogalpa, the capital city of Ometepe, with our bags. Was a daunting thought but it would only cost us $5 while the taxi was $35.
The bus got crowded but it wasn't too bad. We were the frst pick up, so we got seats, and our bags were thrown into the back. The ride itself was over 3 hours in the slowest, least powerful vehicle we've ever been transported in. We got to the wharf just in time to catch the ferry back to Rivas. A quick meal and we jumped into a min bus headed to Managua. In Managua, we took a short taxi ride to UCA where the micros to Leon start off from. The ride was much nicer than the crazy heat of the Rivas Managua ride as the micro was air conditioned. 2 hours later we were in Leon. All in all we had been travelling for about 10 hours and we were tired.
We headed to find the Tica Bus agent to buy our ticket to Tegulcigalpa. Yeah, we had decided to give El Salvador a miss and instead go to Honduras. There is a story there which I will write out soon. An hour or so later we had fixed on a hostel, got our tickets for the day after and started walking around exploring Leon.
Leon is the 2nd oldest colonial city in Nicaragua. It has an important University therefore the overall feel of the city is young. The catheral is the largests and most impressive in Central America. The story goes that the colonial head of the city got a plan approved in Lima, Peru from his superiors and then just went ahead changed the design and built a humungus cathedral in place of the much more modest one Lima had approved.
The town itself has an interesting history being build only 2 months after Granada, and being the capital city at one time. All in all, a nice town to hang around in for a day or tow. Once again we couldn't find any local food so had to make do with shewarmas and some other international food. We found a great super market and loaded up for next stop, as we knew Roatan would be crazy expensive.
The next morning we headed to the bus stop at 5.15am, crossed the border at about 9 and reached Tegulcigalpa around 12.30. A mad rush to reach the Headman Alas bus office before 12.45 to catch the 1.30 to La Cieba worked out. We got to La Cieba via San Pedro Sula at about 9.30 pm. Another long traveling day. Spent the night at a hostel, ate balleadas or Honduran tacos with a bean paste base and meat and eggs thrown into a roll. Next morning we headed out to the Ferry and two hours later we were in Half moon bay, Roatan, Honduras. Our first Carribean experience!!!
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