Day 117
So after another day in puncture city I was ready to continue my journey. I set off at 8 am and I was more than a little relieved that everything on the bike seemed to be working normally but it was not long until I reached the roadworks and the stretches of gravel roads.
I negotiated the roadworks with ease but I knew that as soon as I reached somewhere more urbanised I would have to obtain a couple of replacement relays to avoid any further starting issues. The two new tyres that I had gotten fitted to the bike are more suited for off road (gravel roads) than tarmac and because of this they caused the bike to squirm about more in corners than the previous ones, it took me a while to get used to the different handling.
I reached the town of Siuna about lunchtime and I decided to take a different road from there to the West coast rather than the one that I had previously used to get there. I took road number 5 and just outside the town it became a gravel road. It lasted for 60 miles! The scenery was quite spectacular but I seldom had a chance to look at it due to the more than occasional steep inclines and declines as the road wound its way through the mountains.
There were also a few bridges over rivers without anything to stop a vehicle from running over the edge and down in to the river below. I did stop a couple of times however to take a few photos of the gravel road and one of the bridges over the river.
Eventually the road turned in to tarmac and I made for the town of Matagalpa where I found a very nice hotel for $35 for the night. It was a little on the expensive side but after a day of hard riding and because it had secure parking for the bike I gladly paid the money. I found a small restaurant near to the hotel and I had some grilled beef and a couple of coffees for about $7. I then headed back to the hotel and settled down for the night.
Day 118
I had seen on the map that there was a small town called Corinto on a small peninsula on the West coast and according to the photos of the place on Google maps it looked quite nice, so I chose that as my destination for the day. I set off about 7 am but my mind was on obviously other things and I missed my turn to the coast. By the time I realised my mistake I had just entered Esteli province but fortune was smiling on me as I saw a cigar shop at the side of the road.
The reason that I was so pleased was because until now I had not been able to find any cigars for sale in Costa Rica or the rest of Nicaragua. I asked the woman in the shop why this was so and apparently this is the only province in Nicaragua where they are freely available. So having purchased what I needed I retraced my steps and headed on my route for the coast. About an hour later I stopped at a roadside shack for a coffee. They were barbecuing meat so I had to have some, $4 for a plate of grilled pork and a coffee.
I set off again and after another hour or so I reached my destination. I was so disappointed. There was nothing there except a major container port and access to the coast was near impossible. Not wanting to waste any more of my time I about turned and headed for Managua, the Capital city.
By the time I was approaching Managua it was about 5 pm and again I saw some food being grilled by the roadside. I stopped to eat and I had 1/2 a grilled chicken , 2 coffees, a bottle of water for $7 and I finished it off with a nice cigar.
I found a nice hotel in the centre of Managua and it cost me 3 nights for $89
However, I did notice that in most of the street in the area where my hotel was situated there were lots of road blocks manned by armed police. I inquired about this with the hotel staff and they told me that this was normal for this area!
Once I got settled in I spent the evening on the balcony smoking some of my newly purchased Nicaraguan cigars and very nice they were too! I then spent the next couple of days catching up with my blog posts and trying to find some new relays for the bike.
I also had plenty of time to walk about Managua and take in the sights and sounds of the city. I must say that I liked the feel of the place despite the massive police presence. As it is quite a small city, the place was very much quieter than Panama city or San Jose in Costa Rica, it was also very much cleaner than both of these other cities.
The main street running through the city to the front of lake Managua was not clogged with traffic and this helped give the city a very relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
In the middle of a roundabout in the main road was a giant image of Hugo Chavez.
One other odd thing is that a lot of the taxis here in Nicaragua are a small 125cc motorbike with the front end chopped off and a small two wheeled carriage stuck on to the front of it.
Very odd indeed.