Masagua, Nicaragua

An early start this morning.  4:45am at TransNica bus station in Tegucigalpa.  Boarded the bus and fell asleep immediately.  Woke up just before the Somoto to Choluteca high-altitue border crossing.   As usual, had to disembark and cross the border on foot.  TransNica conductor collected all the immigration, customs forms, passports and $10 entry fee on the bus and then handled all the paperwork leaving us free to wander the no-mans land between the borders - great!  The air is pleasantly cool due to the altitude and amazingly there is a Cafe Americano (Honduran coffee chain) next to the immigration office - I've never been so glad to see a cafe latte in my life.  There is the usual bustle as we are surrounded by men making currency exchange and a few skinny boys trying to maneuver our luggage to the inspection point in return for a couple of lempira.   Local women have set up market stalls to sell  cashews, baskets, textiles and hot food.  The Nicaraguan man who was sitting behind me in the bus seems to have assumed some responsibility for my well-being and hovers protectively, shooing away the beggers and vendors if they come too close.  

Doze and read for the rest of the trip.  Arrive the Nicaraguan capital of Managua around 12:30pm.  I'm staying at La Pyramid Hotel, which I found on TripAdvisor.  

The street address for La Pyramid Hotel is:  
Reparto San Juan
Gimnasio Hércules, 1c. al sur, 1 c. al este, 2 1/2 c al. sur
Managua

It has taken me a while not to be totally confused by this way of giving an address. As is typical in Central America, it's a coded system of landmarks and directions rather than street addresses and numbers.  For example, this address means:
"From the Hercules Gym, go 1 block (cuadra) to the south, 1 block to the east, then 2 1/2 blocks to the south.   Easy!!  It helps that there is often a handy landmark like a giant volcano to get your NSEW bearings from :-)


Arriving at Pyramid Hotel brings a huge smile to my face - it is literally a giant yellow and blue pyramid.  I can't wait to meet the owner, who gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor.  Manfred Maratzke is every bit the charming host he is reputed to be.  He is German and has been in Nicaragua for 20 years.  He is an engineer and came to Nicaragua the first time heading a German relief mission to rebuild a town that had been devastated in an earthquake.      

I have time to check out the local markets in Managua for a couple of hours.  This is my favorite starting point for a buying trip because I get an overview of all the indigenous arts and crafts that are made in the different regions of Nicaragua.  I can then decide where I want to travel to.  Managua is the third largest city in Central America with a population just over 2.2 million but does not give me the impression of such a large city.  Mostly sprawling low rise, my impression is of clean orderly streets with lots of parks and trees.  Well established houses (cinder block of course but no raw rebar poking out) with front fences and gardens.  One or two high-rise housing international hotels.  Not what I was expecting at all!    

Then back to the hotel to work some more on my "Stories behind the Art" as I'm now calling them.    I'm on a roll.  My writers block seems to have gone completely.  Travel seems to be the cure for me. Good to know.  I have a nice dinner at the hotel and early to bed.  Tomorrow I leave for Granada.

From the open-air dining room at Hotel Pyramid