I began the long journey back from Granada today at 9 am. I first stopped in Masaya and attempted to look for the famous market. My frustration level was apparently high early on because rain and muddy streets sent me back to the road I'd gotten dropped off on after only about 15 minutes of searching.
I caught another microbus (minivan) and was squashed into the area behind the front seat. At one point we must have had 30 people in that microbus. They must do alright...
I arrived in Managua around 1040 am and having just missed the morning bus to Ocotal (the next bus didn´t leave until 230 pm) I decided to get on a bus to Esteli and take another bus from there. All buses to Ocotal stop in Esteli so I assumed I would have no problem catching another 'expreso' bus which is a fairly comfortable grayhound (older, of course) like bus.
I arrived in Esteli by 115 pm and decided to check out the place recommended by Lonley Planet for their awesome sandwiches cubano style. It took 30 minutes to walk to the restaurant from the bus station, and so I was happy to sit down with a cafe con leche and water while waiting for my sandwich. The restaurant, while good, is unfortunately not very speedy. 35 minutes later I was still waiting for my sandwich and decided to ask for it to go so that I could catch the 230 bus back to Ocotal.
As I just made it to the bus station by catching a taxi for 60 cents, I boarded the chicken bus. As you can see from the picture it is an old US school bus. They have added storage above the seats for bags in the school bus, making it a bit more practical for travelling longer distances. Accordingly to Lonley Planet, the journey should have been 1.5 hours. The actual journey was 2.25 hours. Unlike expreso buses, Chicken Buses stop by every person they see on the road just in case they might happen to want a ride. In Nicaragua a lot of people are walking places so that´s a lot of stopping. Also unlike expreso buses, Chicken Buses give you tour of the town, even the tiny towns, going through, stopping at parque central and various other locations before heading back to the main highway. The only good thing about the Chicken Bus was that we missed the area where they are striking and so I didn´t have to cross the strike line and change buses. However, I will avoid taking the chicken bus again if at all possible.
I caught another microbus (minivan) and was squashed into the area behind the front seat. At one point we must have had 30 people in that microbus. They must do alright...
I arrived in Managua around 1040 am and having just missed the morning bus to Ocotal (the next bus didn´t leave until 230 pm) I decided to get on a bus to Esteli and take another bus from there. All buses to Ocotal stop in Esteli so I assumed I would have no problem catching another 'expreso' bus which is a fairly comfortable grayhound (older, of course) like bus.
I arrived in Esteli by 115 pm and decided to check out the place recommended by Lonley Planet for their awesome sandwiches cubano style. It took 30 minutes to walk to the restaurant from the bus station, and so I was happy to sit down with a cafe con leche and water while waiting for my sandwich. The restaurant, while good, is unfortunately not very speedy. 35 minutes later I was still waiting for my sandwich and decided to ask for it to go so that I could catch the 230 bus back to Ocotal.
As I just made it to the bus station by catching a taxi for 60 cents, I boarded the chicken bus. As you can see from the picture it is an old US school bus. They have added storage above the seats for bags in the school bus, making it a bit more practical for travelling longer distances. Accordingly to Lonley Planet, the journey should have been 1.5 hours. The actual journey was 2.25 hours. Unlike expreso buses, Chicken Buses stop by every person they see on the road just in case they might happen to want a ride. In Nicaragua a lot of people are walking places so that´s a lot of stopping. Also unlike expreso buses, Chicken Buses give you tour of the town, even the tiny towns, going through, stopping at parque central and various other locations before heading back to the main highway. The only good thing about the Chicken Bus was that we missed the area where they are striking and so I didn´t have to cross the strike line and change buses. However, I will avoid taking the chicken bus again if at all possible.
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