We ate a good although not gourmet lunch in a small restuarant across the hotel in Mangaua and then rushed out in a taxi to the bus station for Granada. The ride took us through downlown Managua which reminded me of a mid sized city in India. Sadly the chains have inundated this city and so its a mish mash of natural beauty , immense green patches and then some horrendous buildings selling hamburgers and rottiserie chicken. Btw rottiserie chicken is the biggest selling food item in both south and central America.

We jumped into a micro that was in fantastic  shape, was air conditioned and only just a bit crowded, and it cost us $ 1 each for the 1 hour ride. The route reminded me of Kerala with a 2 lane highway that had lush green on either side. The houses we passed were again similar to Kerala or Mangalore. Tiled sloping roofs, the quadrangle structure for the bigger houses and wooden boaded shops.

Granada is the oldest colonial town in central America. It is very pretty in the colours of the building, the massive church in the central parque, the cobbled stonne alley and the beautiful tiles that they have used to tile the sidewalks. Outside of the centre, it is a poor central american city with massive crowded markets the dirty building next to each other in a haphazard fashion.

We found a really cheap hostel with a bathroon Yannick labelled 'The Inca Bathroom' because of the old tradition style. Honestly it wasn't a very exciting bathroom but it would do, at least for me. Like in  traditional Kerala houses, it had a receptacle that stored water, and an excuse for a shower that creapt up from it. A hole in the ground was the drain and there was no wash basin.  Luckily the centre of the hostal was a beautiful quadrangle with plans and hammocks, and some of the friends we made here made up for a bad bathroom.

Nicaraguan food tantalised only to disappoint. The Gallo Pinto is nice but not outstanding, the meat isn't really their forte, so one would imagine fish and sea food but once again it hasn't really hit the spot! Don't get me wrong,  Its no Argentina, but its just not great! The women here are the prettiest I've enountered on this trip although as people South Americans are far more friendly! Nicaragua is inexpensive, maybe even more inexpensive than India in many situations, definitely on par with Bolivia so that feels real nice! Petty crime is high but that should be expected since most Nica's are so poor that anything they find might mean the difference between having a meal or not!

The depressing part is the levels of education here. It is pathetic! I've encountered many many people who voluntered at teaching jobs and every one of them has the same story to tell. The kids are bereft of imagination, don't have even the basic math or language skills even at 14 and 15. The test papers are a joke and there is no attempt to remedy these questions. It looks like the govt prefers a dumb populace. It is a long discussion but one that i find really interesting especially given the Indian context!