November 21, 2010

Cigars and Horse-drawn carriages in Nicaragua

tobacco leaves growing and drying at Mombacho’s

The best discovery I made in Granada was Mombacho Cigars, a brand new elite cigar company founded by three Canadian guys. They are hand picking and rolling tobacco from nearby Mombacho mountain, employing only locals and paying them well, and have established themselves on the main street in Granada in the most beautiful colonial house, complete with a cafe, restaurant and rooftop view. We almost walked right past it, but got enticed to come in when one of the founders Fraser asked us ‘Would you like to see how cigars are made?’ and of course, I did. I love cigars. And Mombacho cigars are really, really good, proven by the fact that I probably smoked 5 in 2 days.

tasting a Mombachito, a mini Mombacho premium cigar

We made a good friend out of Fraser, and he was happy for the English-speaking company, so the next day we spontaneously decided to take a road trip to Leon, another tourist, colonial town similar to Granada. The best part was probably the road trip itself, since we took in in a topless 70’s Toyota truck through some marvellously scenic landscapes.

no roof and no doors make an excellent road trip car

While I was in Granada I started thinking about how most forms of transport used to involve horses, either on horse back or with horse-drawn carriages. What a romantic and wonderful reality it would be, especially in a place like Granada, to have no cars, buses, trucks, tuck tucks, or dirt bikes.

a horse drawn carriage strolls down Calle La Calzada

I thought about this while traveling around town with a carriage, but later decided I wanted to actually travel like that. Guy was up for it too, so it only took stopping a couple carriage drivers before one offered to take us to our next destination, a town called Chinandega reachable by bus in 1 hr. Instead, we took a 7 hr horse and cart into the night and quickly realised why vehicles are so much more efficient as hundreds zipped past us. However, it was still more enjoyable, we appreciated the scenery passing by so much more, interacted with all sorts of locals on horse back or pedal bikes passing by, and made great friends out of our 2 chauffeurs. And, it did only cost $10, expensive compared to the $1 bus but still incredibly underpriced.

our cart driving out of Leon through some Market traffic

November 20, 2010

Picturesque Nicaragua

majestic Volcan Concepcion in Isla Ometepe

Leaving Costa Rica was actually pretty simple, as far as the scheduling and prices of buses, but I got so torn when I arrived in Liberia because I had the choice of going back south into the country and visiting Monteverde cloud forest but had so much anxiety about getting stuck in a bus for 2 days or having a bridge collapse under us that I decided to head north into nearby Nicaragua instead. It took 3 buses, a taxi and a ferry in a whole day of travel but I went straight to my first destination: Isla Ometepe. It is this beautiful island formed by 2 huge volcanoes that rise so high up from the middle of Lake Nicaragua, a fresh water body of water so big you’d swear you were in the ocean as you crossed the rough waves to get to Volcan Concepcion. It’s the most picturesque, perfectly symmetrical, cone shaped volcano, with a little bit of white cloud on its peak, and I’d definitely suggest anyone going to Nicaragua to be sure to spend some time on this sleepy island. However, don’t take the overnight ferry to Granada since traveling from 12 to 5 am on a rocky, oily smelling cargo ship doesn’t really let you appreciate the lake or the pitch black scenery going by. And, getting sea sick makes it much worse. So does drinking 3 double pina coladas before embarking… live and learn I guess.

A view of Mombacho Mountain behind the colonial-style roofs popular in all the sleepy colonial towns

I arrived in Granada, the most popular destination for tourists in Nicaragua, and it was pretty easy to see why. It looked like a post card from Cuba, with so many colourful, 1-storey homes and degraded colonial churches and facades scattered around the walkable, cobblestone town. I couchsurfed here too, but with one Spaniard and an American, since it seems half the town are actually foreigners who came and never left.

so many of the home fronts looked like colourful play houses straight from Havana

I spent one day with a couple American guys, one whose name is Guy and is a retired, professional cyclist and the other who owns a bike rental company in Granada. It was appropriate we spent a day biking together to nearby Lago de Apoyo, a big crater lake you can swim in, but on the way home I decided I was the weakest link in our bike gang so I traded my bike for a horse since riding those is more my forte. To my pleasant surprise, the pregnant belly on this mare made her waddle like an Icelandic tolter – perfect for sitting bareback.