Mon 2206 about to go to bed. Fwiw despite the general low mood hangry? BNM vibe, I did feel a hell of a lot more like a real person once I had some local currency, despite having been able to pay just fine at hostel with dollars.
Tue 0759 at breakfast, picked scrambled eggs with gallo pinto (=rice and beans, which I had forgotten, but fine with me) over pancakes with banana. Didn't sleep great but not terrible either. Arms and body generally felt and feel a bit achey in ways I think must be due to sitting/sleeping on the bus.
Moderately pleased with myself for making an effort to be up early.
A few other people having breakfast but it doesn't suggest a super friendly meeting people environment. I did manage to get the last table to myself, there aren't that many. I suspect some of the people here are also part of couples.
I used my first chlorine dioxide tablet last night. I wasn't desperate but I woke up maybe 230 and felt like a drink and didn't have much water left so I (struggled; sink very solid and very deep but not depe enough with high side) filled up my litre bottle and dropped a tablet in and went back to bed with it fixing away. I had some well after 10 minutes, probably when I next woke up. It tatsed ok, definitely a bit funny but then the tap water tasted a bit odd when I had that mouthful of it straight from the tap earlier.
I do hate this feeling of using up a scarce resource with the tablets but I have plenty in reality for this trip and they are not expensive.
1001 back in room, I paid 50 for an extra coffee and semi enjoyed sitting there. Have been to reception and extended for another night, keeping same room on grounds that changing to a dorm would add disruption and also that if the volcano boarding is rough on me on Wednesday a private room might be welcome. Based on brrof research if you aren't too gung ho about it it is adventurous but not mega risky or stupid. Sorting out laundry and A06 and will hand laundry in and go and talk to people about sims. No pressure. May book boarding later. I think a quid pro quo of getting up early is that if I want to hang out here at the hostel midday/mid afternoon to avoid some heat that is fine. Anyway, let's get on.
1200 back at hostel. Vague "I am being too slow" vibes asielde, things going ok. Will waffle about volcano boarding in a bit. I wandered and found a helpfulish little shop where a guy tried a claro sim, said itbworked fine and charged me 50 for it but oddly didn't sell credit. I went to another shop and put about 70 credit on it (4gbish for 4 days, but that's OK and I wanted to keep costs down in case it didn't work) - remember it is about NIO 50 to the pound, almost exactly - and it worked, notwithstanding a bizarre flurry of "you have used up all your free allowance of tiktok/Facebook/Instagram/etc" messages when I never touched any of those services. So so much for all the llm advice, even though this feels exactly the sort of question (band support for models, practical real world reports, relatively straightforward official definitions of bands used) they should be good at.
I went and had a frappe capuchino at Jugoso (odddly only 100 not 110 as shown on menu) and did a little reading on web about volcano boarding and so on with my new sim then got a 68 (shell said 57?) Big bottle of coke zero to come back here with to sit and mull over boarding some more. Samurk has recommended volcano day sunset today which by coincidence is exactly where I was going in my own mullings.
I took sd card and sims out of phone (A06) and left it out of case to go out with and have just put this all back together.
1258 sitting on terrace out back with coke zero and just been given laundry back. It all seems there. It feels a bit warm and I am not 100% sure it hasn't been through a tumble dryer despite me asking not, but to be fair it isnt roasting hot and it's warm enoguu here it could just have been drying in sun and got like this. Probably be ok anyway. I had all tops (including red short sleeve) washed except blue craft, the black trousers, four sets of uw and my swimming trunks. I didn't put the packtowl or fleece in, I figures the latter isn't really that dirty (esp with sweat) and the former might benefit from a wash bit isn't terrible. And didn't want it to get lost or damaged.
Will hang out here a bit then seen about booking volcano boarding and maybe going up some bell tower this afternoon.
1440 just paid 1285 approx (35 USD more or less, but there are extras) for the volcano day sunset tour tonorrow. No receipt or ticket or anything but fingers crossed. This is the tour company and time Samuel did, it is what my own research led me to. Fingers crossed it sounds like if you aren't a darefevil idiot it is exciting but also a bit anti-climactic. There is some party potential(eg rum and cokes on the bus back) and Samuel hooked up with some people and went on after, I don't know if I will be able to do that or not but this feels a borderline better option that the perhaps (while inferiority inducing) very party tone of anything Bigfoot hostel related, and maybe the group being full of people who already know each other from the hostel and the after party being there and maybe it being too cliquey etc. Tbh I may experimentally stay at Bigfoot on a subsequent visit to leon but it sounds like volcano day has plenty of potential and maybe sidesteps some issues and there is no real need to mix the two things up.
I hope I don't feel too hungover on the Thursday when I have to checkout or too inhibited because I have to checkout but it should be ok and even if I do do well and go out with people in reality I am unlikely to get absolutely madly drunk plus I could probably stay on on Thursday here at a push, albeit the likely plan is to go on to granada Thursday. I should do some research on hostels there tonight when I can be thoughtful about it.
I don't feel massively nervous about having booked, ffs I could even just walk back down and based on what I have read it doesn't sound like an insane risk and I have wanted to do it since that Irish guy told me about it in xela in 2018.
Having more coke.
1717 back at Hostel, slightly bored to be honest, only just got back here. So after the last entry I went out to have a look at the view from the top of the bell tower at El Calvario, which I wouldn't have known about if it hadn't been mentioned on a poster in reception. Anyway I got over there, 80 cordobas to go up. Quite nice to be honest, I milked it slightly but it's actually a genuinely low-key pleasant experience and I'm glad I did it. At the top there is just a constant, it's not that high, there is a constant wind which is really warm as well. It's quite odd in a way, not bad and semi refreshing. As I say I did milk it slightly but I am glad I did it and I think it was quite a cool little low-key thing to do.
After that I went for a bit of a walk and I managed to find Comedo Pa Mi Fenteand I went in there, I was the only customer in there but I spoke to someone I was quite brave and anyway I got a very big plate of beans and rice and some cold but actually not that bad beef in sauce and a tortilla and a Jugo de naranjilla and that was about 120 cordobas that's not too bad.
So after that I was wandering around and I walked past some other church where there was some sort of music playing inside and I was wandering around and it was sort of low-key okay and I found a supermarket whose name escapes me at the moment (La Colonia) but it was different to the ones I've normally been to and I went in there and I bought some coke and a litre bottle of water so I'll have two litres because I've got two litre bottles for the volcano thing tomorrow and I got some snacks for later and a few peanuts for tomorrow just in case I was tempted to get some beer and to be honest I still am but it's like I haven't been drinking huge amounts but every day I'm having a beer or two or three and in part it's boredom and in part it's the last few days I've been trying to get rid of that aguardiente it is kind of tempting to have some beers tonight something to do but then I'm potentially going to be drinking a lot tomorrow night I don't quite see just how drunk you can get on one bus ride back but people say you do and maybe there'll be some stuff afterwards and we'll see and it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a night off and it was okay last night having those three beers but they were still not super cold despite having been in the fridge and it was a bit sticky and as I say I'll probably be drinking tomorrow and then potentially drinking Thursday when I get to Granada so won't hurt to have the night off and I've got a private room so I can try and go to the bed early and relax a bit and I got the big coke and some snacks which also isn't healthy but it's not drinking. I am stone cold sober now the stream of consciousness is because I'm voice typing this I will also say that I woke up in the night last night and while I certainly wasn't hung over I suspect there was maybe just an element of some of the wooziness was because I'd been drinking anyway it is what it is
I had half wondered about getting an ice cream or something but I didn't really pass anywhere I didn't massively fancy it the thought has crossed my mind of trying to go to the bar I think there is one at what's the party hostel thing the one that does the volcano tours oh yes Bigfoot tonight but to be honest it's like I said I probably shouldn't be drinking it would be good to be relaxed for tomorrow I'm not exactly in the mood so I'm probably just going to have a quietish night in maybe do a little bit of exercise maybe use the private bathroom to wash today's clothes so I've then got a full supply again and then I'll go and sit outside and maybe have some snacks or some of my Coke Zero I mean that will be like 3.5 litres of Coke Zero today in total but hey at least it's not the sugary one and you know it is what it is and go to bed early or whatever it's fine it just it just feels a little bit dull but you know in some sense dull is maybe good and no point forcing it when things aren't obviously otherwise exciting and maybe I'll get chatting to someone tonight and if I don't to be honest it's fine maybe that will make me a bit keener tomorrow etc etc I'm not super nervous about the volcano boarding tomorrow I'm more worried if anything about what will happen in terms of meeting people and chatting and afterwards and on the bus will I get drunk and will I feel shit and will I be able to check out okay I really don't expect you that drunk anyway it is where it is and I think that's more or less where we are right
Oh, I don't want to give the impression that I'm fed up with nicaragua or anything, but I did sort of notice while looking at the map that if I do indeed go to Granada on Thursday and I spend, let's say, four nights there, then Granada's right on the lake, so presumably I can get a boat from there to Isla Ometepeque and say spend four nights there. And although I'm not saying I'm going to leave the country, that sort of feels like all of the big ticket tourist items will be checked off without any major rushing or effort within the space of about a week and a half, at which point I can maybe start to enjoy myself. No, I'm joking. But, you know, putter around a bit, look for somewhere nice and quiet on the beach, turn back around and head north, maybe put a proper bit of time in in Managua, see how it feels. Just a note, I have no idea if that's actually realistic or I've forgotten something but that's just a thought that struck me.
Comedor pa mi gente did have a cool (if inevitably slightly lecturing, though not too bad really) mural in it.
1829 time flies eh? Washed today's clothes uw and top and done some exercise and had a shower and a (really bad) shave and it is already within about 2.5h of possible bedtime.
Yes ideally I would not be in transit the day after the volcano boarding just in case it is a big party but I will book a hostel with free cancellation if I can and although I toyed with it I really didn't want to rush into doing the volcano this afternoon so I'd have tomorrow to recover and it may well be a wash out anyway and I am keeping my options a bit open so not too big a deal.
There may be a free water dispenser in reception which I noticed earlier so I may go and see if there is anything doing there when I go out for a sit and mull and cold soft drinks and hostel booking.
1852 out on back terrace. No one but me a ln's a hostel hiy who is feeding the yowling little fat. But of drumming from outside but quick web check suggests there is almost certainly no carnival as such here tonight and I went out last night and I dithered but am not going tonight.
I feel kind of ok really.
1906 drumming has stopped and almost sure it is just wf some locals practicing or something. Web search suggests nothing major is on tonight. Some guy just said hi to me in Spanish and we pip pipes but he didn't seem over inclined to chat.
1953 that was interesting just had brief chat in Spanish with that guy who turns out to be Jorge quarter Ecuadorian from states and his Korean wife Helen (not that but something a bit like that) when I went to get more coke. even though he must be fluent in English too and his wife is leaning Spanish but doesn't speak it bit apparently speaks english. It was a bit odd as they were eating and we chatted a lot but it felt extended transient not a "permanent* chat, hope I walked away in the right way and after the right length of time, but still nice. (They live in Korea btw)
2045 a second hostel cat has emerged. Maybe just coincidence but there do seem to be more cars around here than in el Salvador. A mixed blessing as I am always worried they are going to be ill or in terrible condition, though to be fair condition so far.
Completely unsure what I need to take tonorrow eg fleece? Some suggestion somewhere of a torch to come down with?! I have a horrible feeling I am going to end up with too much stuff. Need to try to stay positive.
Not feeling too bad all same. Have done some research on how to get to granada without a shuttle (which I don't want to pre book and find I feel shit or wish I didn't have to go if things do get well tomorrow) and have a vague candidate hostel on mind which sounds partysh without being a bear-pit but will probably hold off booking it and just take make chances and maybe book tomorrow night or even Thursday morning.
Had 190g pack takis fuego with my coke. Still have a packet of jalapeno tortilla chips but I suspect I could eat those tomorrow night when I get home.
2052 I just finished Coke. I am not mega tired but a tiny bit and it probably makes sense to go to bed soonish, maybe do a rough pack for the boarding before bed. I would like to be up early for breakfast and then maybe got to a war muaeum jorge told me about and or have an early lunch in town tomorrow before tour.
2113 pseudo packed for boarding. Frankly dubious. But hey, the web page says it nominally finishes at 1900 so I will either be back here and cannot possibly be that drunk or something will happen but ffs it isnt like I have never had a drink before, eg it isnt as if I was a wreck after those nights out in Santa ana etc.
2127 ok, done teeth. Let's send this and go to bed. Positive attitude yada yada yada.
Tue 0759 at breakfast, picked scrambled eggs with gallo pinto (=rice and beans, which I had forgotten, but fine with me) over pancakes with banana. Didn't sleep great but not terrible either. Arms and body generally felt and feel a bit achey in ways I think must be due to sitting/sleeping on the bus.
Moderately pleased with myself for making an effort to be up early.
A few other people having breakfast but it doesn't suggest a super friendly meeting people environment. I did manage to get the last table to myself, there aren't that many. I suspect some of the people here are also part of couples.
I used my first chlorine dioxide tablet last night. I wasn't desperate but I woke up maybe 230 and felt like a drink and didn't have much water left so I (struggled; sink very solid and very deep but not depe enough with high side) filled up my litre bottle and dropped a tablet in and went back to bed with it fixing away. I had some well after 10 minutes, probably when I next woke up. It tatsed ok, definitely a bit funny but then the tap water tasted a bit odd when I had that mouthful of it straight from the tap earlier.
I do hate this feeling of using up a scarce resource with the tablets but I have plenty in reality for this trip and they are not expensive.
1001 back in room, I paid 50 for an extra coffee and semi enjoyed sitting there. Have been to reception and extended for another night, keeping same room on grounds that changing to a dorm would add disruption and also that if the volcano boarding is rough on me on Wednesday a private room might be welcome. Based on brrof research if you aren't too gung ho about it it is adventurous but not mega risky or stupid. Sorting out laundry and A06 and will hand laundry in and go and talk to people about sims. No pressure. May book boarding later. I think a quid pro quo of getting up early is that if I want to hang out here at the hostel midday/mid afternoon to avoid some heat that is fine. Anyway, let's get on.
1200 back at hostel. Vague "I am being too slow" vibes asielde, things going ok. Will waffle about volcano boarding in a bit. I wandered and found a helpfulish little shop where a guy tried a claro sim, said itbworked fine and charged me 50 for it but oddly didn't sell credit. I went to another shop and put about 70 credit on it (4gbish for 4 days, but that's OK and I wanted to keep costs down in case it didn't work) - remember it is about NIO 50 to the pound, almost exactly - and it worked, notwithstanding a bizarre flurry of "you have used up all your free allowance of tiktok/Facebook/Instagram/etc" messages when I never touched any of those services. So so much for all the llm advice, even though this feels exactly the sort of question (band support for models, practical real world reports, relatively straightforward official definitions of bands used) they should be good at.
I went and had a frappe capuchino at Jugoso (odddly only 100 not 110 as shown on menu) and did a little reading on web about volcano boarding and so on with my new sim then got a 68 (shell said 57?) Big bottle of coke zero to come back here with to sit and mull over boarding some more. Samurk has recommended volcano day sunset today which by coincidence is exactly where I was going in my own mullings.
I took sd card and sims out of phone (A06) and left it out of case to go out with and have just put this all back together.
1258 sitting on terrace out back with coke zero and just been given laundry back. It all seems there. It feels a bit warm and I am not 100% sure it hasn't been through a tumble dryer despite me asking not, but to be fair it isnt roasting hot and it's warm enoguu here it could just have been drying in sun and got like this. Probably be ok anyway. I had all tops (including red short sleeve) washed except blue craft, the black trousers, four sets of uw and my swimming trunks. I didn't put the packtowl or fleece in, I figures the latter isn't really that dirty (esp with sweat) and the former might benefit from a wash bit isn't terrible. And didn't want it to get lost or damaged.
Will hang out here a bit then seen about booking volcano boarding and maybe going up some bell tower this afternoon.
1440 just paid 1285 approx (35 USD more or less, but there are extras) for the volcano day sunset tour tonorrow. No receipt or ticket or anything but fingers crossed. This is the tour company and time Samuel did, it is what my own research led me to. Fingers crossed it sounds like if you aren't a darefevil idiot it is exciting but also a bit anti-climactic. There is some party potential(eg rum and cokes on the bus back) and Samuel hooked up with some people and went on after, I don't know if I will be able to do that or not but this feels a borderline better option that the perhaps (while inferiority inducing) very party tone of anything Bigfoot hostel related, and maybe the group being full of people who already know each other from the hostel and the after party being there and maybe it being too cliquey etc. Tbh I may experimentally stay at Bigfoot on a subsequent visit to leon but it sounds like volcano day has plenty of potential and maybe sidesteps some issues and there is no real need to mix the two things up.
I hope I don't feel too hungover on the Thursday when I have to checkout or too inhibited because I have to checkout but it should be ok and even if I do do well and go out with people in reality I am unlikely to get absolutely madly drunk plus I could probably stay on on Thursday here at a push, albeit the likely plan is to go on to granada Thursday. I should do some research on hostels there tonight when I can be thoughtful about it.
I don't feel massively nervous about having booked, ffs I could even just walk back down and based on what I have read it doesn't sound like an insane risk and I have wanted to do it since that Irish guy told me about it in xela in 2018.
Having more coke.
1717 back at Hostel, slightly bored to be honest, only just got back here. So after the last entry I went out to have a look at the view from the top of the bell tower at El Calvario, which I wouldn't have known about if it hadn't been mentioned on a poster in reception. Anyway I got over there, 80 cordobas to go up. Quite nice to be honest, I milked it slightly but it's actually a genuinely low-key pleasant experience and I'm glad I did it. At the top there is just a constant, it's not that high, there is a constant wind which is really warm as well. It's quite odd in a way, not bad and semi refreshing. As I say I did milk it slightly but I am glad I did it and I think it was quite a cool little low-key thing to do.
After that I went for a bit of a walk and I managed to find Comedo Pa Mi Fenteand I went in there, I was the only customer in there but I spoke to someone I was quite brave and anyway I got a very big plate of beans and rice and some cold but actually not that bad beef in sauce and a tortilla and a Jugo de naranjilla and that was about 120 cordobas that's not too bad.
So after that I was wandering around and I walked past some other church where there was some sort of music playing inside and I was wandering around and it was sort of low-key okay and I found a supermarket whose name escapes me at the moment (La Colonia) but it was different to the ones I've normally been to and I went in there and I bought some coke and a litre bottle of water so I'll have two litres because I've got two litre bottles for the volcano thing tomorrow and I got some snacks for later and a few peanuts for tomorrow just in case I was tempted to get some beer and to be honest I still am but it's like I haven't been drinking huge amounts but every day I'm having a beer or two or three and in part it's boredom and in part it's the last few days I've been trying to get rid of that aguardiente it is kind of tempting to have some beers tonight something to do but then I'm potentially going to be drinking a lot tomorrow night I don't quite see just how drunk you can get on one bus ride back but people say you do and maybe there'll be some stuff afterwards and we'll see and it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a night off and it was okay last night having those three beers but they were still not super cold despite having been in the fridge and it was a bit sticky and as I say I'll probably be drinking tomorrow and then potentially drinking Thursday when I get to Granada so won't hurt to have the night off and I've got a private room so I can try and go to the bed early and relax a bit and I got the big coke and some snacks which also isn't healthy but it's not drinking. I am stone cold sober now the stream of consciousness is because I'm voice typing this I will also say that I woke up in the night last night and while I certainly wasn't hung over I suspect there was maybe just an element of some of the wooziness was because I'd been drinking anyway it is what it is
I had half wondered about getting an ice cream or something but I didn't really pass anywhere I didn't massively fancy it the thought has crossed my mind of trying to go to the bar I think there is one at what's the party hostel thing the one that does the volcano tours oh yes Bigfoot tonight but to be honest it's like I said I probably shouldn't be drinking it would be good to be relaxed for tomorrow I'm not exactly in the mood so I'm probably just going to have a quietish night in maybe do a little bit of exercise maybe use the private bathroom to wash today's clothes so I've then got a full supply again and then I'll go and sit outside and maybe have some snacks or some of my Coke Zero I mean that will be like 3.5 litres of Coke Zero today in total but hey at least it's not the sugary one and you know it is what it is and go to bed early or whatever it's fine it just it just feels a little bit dull but you know in some sense dull is maybe good and no point forcing it when things aren't obviously otherwise exciting and maybe I'll get chatting to someone tonight and if I don't to be honest it's fine maybe that will make me a bit keener tomorrow etc etc I'm not super nervous about the volcano boarding tomorrow I'm more worried if anything about what will happen in terms of meeting people and chatting and afterwards and on the bus will I get drunk and will I feel shit and will I be able to check out okay I really don't expect you that drunk anyway it is where it is and I think that's more or less where we are right
Oh, I don't want to give the impression that I'm fed up with nicaragua or anything, but I did sort of notice while looking at the map that if I do indeed go to Granada on Thursday and I spend, let's say, four nights there, then Granada's right on the lake, so presumably I can get a boat from there to Isla Ometepeque and say spend four nights there. And although I'm not saying I'm going to leave the country, that sort of feels like all of the big ticket tourist items will be checked off without any major rushing or effort within the space of about a week and a half, at which point I can maybe start to enjoy myself. No, I'm joking. But, you know, putter around a bit, look for somewhere nice and quiet on the beach, turn back around and head north, maybe put a proper bit of time in in Managua, see how it feels. Just a note, I have no idea if that's actually realistic or I've forgotten something but that's just a thought that struck me.
Comedor pa mi gente did have a cool (if inevitably slightly lecturing, though not too bad really) mural in it.
1829 time flies eh? Washed today's clothes uw and top and done some exercise and had a shower and a (really bad) shave and it is already within about 2.5h of possible bedtime.
Yes ideally I would not be in transit the day after the volcano boarding just in case it is a big party but I will book a hostel with free cancellation if I can and although I toyed with it I really didn't want to rush into doing the volcano this afternoon so I'd have tomorrow to recover and it may well be a wash out anyway and I am keeping my options a bit open so not too big a deal.
There may be a free water dispenser in reception which I noticed earlier so I may go and see if there is anything doing there when I go out for a sit and mull and cold soft drinks and hostel booking.
1852 out on back terrace. No one but me a ln's a hostel hiy who is feeding the yowling little fat. But of drumming from outside but quick web check suggests there is almost certainly no carnival as such here tonight and I went out last night and I dithered but am not going tonight.
I feel kind of ok really.
1906 drumming has stopped and almost sure it is just wf some locals practicing or something. Web search suggests nothing major is on tonight. Some guy just said hi to me in Spanish and we pip pipes but he didn't seem over inclined to chat.
1953 that was interesting just had brief chat in Spanish with that guy who turns out to be Jorge quarter Ecuadorian from states and his Korean wife Helen (not that but something a bit like that) when I went to get more coke. even though he must be fluent in English too and his wife is leaning Spanish but doesn't speak it bit apparently speaks english. It was a bit odd as they were eating and we chatted a lot but it felt extended transient not a "permanent* chat, hope I walked away in the right way and after the right length of time, but still nice. (They live in Korea btw)
2045 a second hostel cat has emerged. Maybe just coincidence but there do seem to be more cars around here than in el Salvador. A mixed blessing as I am always worried they are going to be ill or in terrible condition, though to be fair condition so far.
Completely unsure what I need to take tonorrow eg fleece? Some suggestion somewhere of a torch to come down with?! I have a horrible feeling I am going to end up with too much stuff. Need to try to stay positive.
Not feeling too bad all same. Have done some research on how to get to granada without a shuttle (which I don't want to pre book and find I feel shit or wish I didn't have to go if things do get well tomorrow) and have a vague candidate hostel on mind which sounds partysh without being a bear-pit but will probably hold off booking it and just take make chances and maybe book tomorrow night or even Thursday morning.
Had 190g pack takis fuego with my coke. Still have a packet of jalapeno tortilla chips but I suspect I could eat those tomorrow night when I get home.
2052 I just finished Coke. I am not mega tired but a tiny bit and it probably makes sense to go to bed soonish, maybe do a rough pack for the boarding before bed. I would like to be up early for breakfast and then maybe got to a war muaeum jorge told me about and or have an early lunch in town tomorrow before tour.
2113 pseudo packed for boarding. Frankly dubious. But hey, the web page says it nominally finishes at 1900 so I will either be back here and cannot possibly be that drunk or something will happen but ffs it isnt like I have never had a drink before, eg it isnt as if I was a wreck after those nights out in Santa ana etc.
2127 ok, done teeth. Let's send this and go to bed. Positive attitude yada yada yada.
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