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I was not planning on going to Isla de Ometepe...which is 2 volcano's in the middle of the middle of Lake Nicaragua, but decided I was so close I could not miss it. So onto another chicken bus back to Rivas. The bus station is Rivas is a nightmare...the minute you are off the bus (or sometimes before you are off the bus) you are being hounded by a million guys trying to get you into a taxi! I was totally ripped off in the taxi I took from Rivas to the ferry, but I was on my own, surrounded by all this scary looking guys and decided not to argue! Luckily I arrived at the port just as the ferry was about to leave, so that was great timing. Once on the Island, I was waiting for the bus, and started talking to some Americans who recommended a beach, so on the spur of the moment, decided to go to Playa Venecia. When I got off the bus I had to traipse with my massive bloody backpack down a dusty road for ages. Eventually I arrived at a hotel and was told it was full, but I could walk 10 minutes along the beach to reach 2 more hostels / Hotels.... well what beach I asked myself...there was none, I had to wade through higher than knee deep water with my massive backpack for god knows how long!!! I was s***ting myself....here I was in the middle of nowhere, on my own, with everything I own on my back and wading through brown water....trying to cling onto a barbwire fence so I don't fall over, not knowing where I was going ...It was quite funny when I think back now! Luckily I found the place and got a room at the hostel on the banks of the lake. It was very quiet and relaxing. I met an English girl there and we hung out for the afternoon, swam in the lake and watched the local kids swimming, and watched the sun go down. The sunset was amazing! What a beautiful relaxing place. When the sun was down, there were hundreds of fireflies everywhere...very magical!
The next day I decided to venture to the other side of the island to a place called Santo Domingo. So I traipsed back up to the main road with my backpack (Luckily not through the lake this time) and ended up having to wait about 2 hours for the Rickety old bus to arrive. A Little local boy kept me company for most of the time. The buses on this Island are seriously old and rickety! and the roads on parts of the Island terrible....seriously I am sure only 4 wheel drives should be going there, but no...these crazy buses somehow manage it! The 2nd bus I caught from Altagracia to Santo Domingo was about a 20 seater, with about 50 people on board! Lucky me...I got to sit next to a guy that stunk of old fish...but if I turned away from him, to avoid the smell, my face was in another guys groin who was squashed up next to my seat! What a journey!!! But I must say half the fun is in the journey!
Santo Domingo was also lovely...on the banks of the river...even although the beach was no where to be seen. Behind us were rain forests. You could hear the monkeys in the evening and the bird life was amazing! Once again I bumped into a guy I had met in Leon.....so spent the evening with him and a few others. We got to see the most amazing moon rising over the lake that night...it was massive and bight red....just beautiful!
The next day I left Santo Domingo, back on the crazy bus...this time I got to stand almost all the way back....about 2 hours over these crazy roads. Luckily I arrived at the port just as a ferry was leaving again, so that was good...then back to the mad bus station in Rivas. OMG this bus station is manic....and no one was able to give me a straight answer on where or when the bus to Granada arrived! I luckily found another ¨gringo¨ couple who were heading my way so I waited with them. In amongst this madness, this guy kept walking past me and tapping me on my head!! I was getting quite frustrated with him. Anyway the bus finally arrived, but we had to wait another hour or so (on the 100degree Celsius bus, with about a 1000 people) for it to leave. Luckily I was next to a window (should I say squashed against a window) but at least I had fresh air! (If you can call it that). But it did mean I could watch the crazy goings on in the bus station....I spent the hour watching the guy who had been tapping me on my head...basically, he only had shorts on and would stand at one end of the station, watching everyone. If someone walked past, he would tap them on the shoulder or head or behind their neck 2ce. Then every 10 minutes or so he would leave his spot and make his way across the bus terminal tapping everyone he past on their head, shoulder or back of neck 2ce and then wait on the other side of the terminal and repeating the process. He seemed to be doing this all day long! If I was not in a developing country I would have thought it was candid camera or something!!! It was very funny!
Anyway, eventually we left and it was another very long, hot, cramped bus ride back to Granada!!! My bum was in pain and my legs cramped by the time we got there....It ended up being 7 hours of travelling just to get from Isla De Ometepe back to Granada which is actually not that far from each other! But I do love these journeys although sometimes stressful and uncomfortable...always entertaining and eyeopening!
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