Pupusa, Empanada, Tamale, Baleado…..... No, not the legendary Mexican back four from the 1970 World Cup, but a selection of the tasty delicacies on offer from the street vendors here in CA (Central America). Dinner for a dollar, al fresco dining, fast service, no IVA (sales tax) and no propina (tip). Sure, we’ve had some bad experiences like reheated, stale food, vege snacks full of meat and 6 pupusas when we only wanted 3. (No, wait a minute, that last one belongs in the ‘good’ section.) But mostly it’s delicious. Indeed our Hogmanay dinner was street food and we ate regularly at the stalls lined up behind Sonsonate bus station in El Salvador. Our favourite bus station so far by the way!
Street food leads me on to the topic of bus food and indeed the stunning range of commercial activity that one can witness on board our beloved chicken buses. You can get an incredible array of food such as a wide variety of boiled sweets (might explain the dentally challenged locals), all of the aforementioned hot snacks, fruit, nuts, fried plantain or yuca, gaseosas, aquas and the ubiquitous drinks in a bag. Cane syrup, dilute milkshakes and even Coca-Cola…in a plain, clear plastic bag, tied at the top with a straw inserted. But, boy, are these folk efficient. They have to be, as often the bus is stationary for only a few minutes which is their opportunity to parade on, squash past the folk standing on the packed bus while shouting out their wares and pausing to serve and take payment before exiting skilfully, baskets on their heads, as the driver accelerates away. Combine this with the blaring music, all manner of items being loaded and unloaded from all parts of the bus and a crazed conductor running around shouting something unintelligible but reminiscent of Speedy Gonzales’ cry of ‘andare andare arriba arriba!’. Colourful.
Before returning to the commercial traffic making it’s unsteady way down the aisles of our buses I must take an aside on one of the less savoury aspects of our journey so far. Rubbish, I hear you say. And you would be right. Having consumed whatever delightful snacks on the bus, the remains and wrappers will be unceremoniously chucked out the window, along with any other manner of detritus that they have accumulated along the way. I even saw one woman, with her family, neatly bag up all their rubbish, tie the bag (good for her I’m thinking at this point) only to open the window and chuck the whole thing out. I always like to search for a silver lining in these situations and I would have to admit that the buses were pretty tidy inside. And what happens to the rubbish lying along the roads? Mostly, nothing, until some bloke sweeps it up into a pile and burns it, thus providing us with a thick, acrid smoke that mixes with the pungent exhaust fumes to create a most unpleasant nasal cocktail. Not good.
So, we must now return to the bustling commercial activity, discussed earlier in this column, for food and drink is only part of the cornucopia of goodies on offer. We have also encountered all manner of travelling salesmen. Unlike back home where this breed have their own vehicle to enable the ‘travelling’ part of their job description, these folk just hop on and off buses all day. And what do they sell? A wide range of miracle cures, confections as yet unavailable from your local Tienda (corner shop), educational books to teach the kids (and adults), tacky gift sets, stationery and best of all, some folk just sell evangelism! This is a fast growing industry here as the hellfire and brimstone preachers whip up the crowds into a religious frenzy, stealing souls from the more pedestrian, traditional Catholic faith. And unlike the mumbled hymns of a Sunday Mass, these guys seem to get together any day of the week and blast out rousing songs together. However, it appears that evangelism has a particular appeal for all those who can’t sing a note for the sound they make is truly painful. Ah, God Bless ‘em.
So, what have we been up to? Having New Year’d in Antigua, Guatemala, we spent 2-3 weeks in El Salvador before scooting across the bottom bit of Honduras into Nicaragua, where we presently remain. El Salvador had it all - perfect beaches, great waves, pretty mountain villages, stunning lakes, top weather, a small earthquake and a pathetic attempted armed robbery of our bus. To pick a highlight, we stayed 4 nights at Tortuga Verde on Playa El Esteron, near the Honduran border, nestled on the Pacific Coast. This place is one man’s dream coming to life. Stunning location, a programme to save the turtles, his own TV show, an ego-driven ambition for greatness and a taste for surfing, circuses and playing with young girls (as he put it). If you haven’t guessed already, yes, he was American. Top place though.
The journey from Tortuga Verde to Somoto - our first stop in Nicaragua - was going to be a long one involving several changes of bus, two border crossings and a very early start. It was no surprise then as we limped into Choluteca, half way across Honduras, that hitting the Nicaraguan border before it closed at 5pm didn’t look likely. So, we checked into a bizarre little hotel on the main road to La Frontera (the border), which was lined with a liberal sprinkling of well known chains like Pizza Hut and Wendy’s. Now, as mentioned earlier, we like to trough into the local grub but the chance to have pizza at the ‘Hut’ and breakfast at Wendy’s was too good to miss. So, refreshed from our dip in the hotel pool (we got some strange looks in our skimpy costumes and patchwork skin tones) we set out for our Saturday night with modest expectations. First, find a bar. We heard some dodgy music coming from behind a wall in what appeared to be a municipal car park, devoid of cars but with two beer fridges installed in one corner and a small stage in the other. On this stage resided a bloke doing the worst DJ set I have ever heard. It wasn’t that the music was bad (it was) but more that he kept changing his mind about what to play soon after each song started. So, we had a couple of beers but were sure that we wouldn’t be returning after our pizza, when a large, jolly man came through and greeted us in English. I had a chat with him and he explained that he was a musician/singer and that there would be a band playing later that evening. Well, when we returned we found him and his mate doing a two-man (very professional) karaoke show! There were only a few tables scattered about this car park and unfortunately we chose the one that proved to be in the middle of the dance floor. They belted out some top tunes and even dedicated one to the two gringos stranded on the dance floor. The small (about 9) but appreciative crowd cheered and danced the night away. A surreal evening but one of the most memorable Saturday nights I’ve ever experienced!
So, to Nicaragua, where, while in Leon, we happened to hear of a place tucked up in the very North West corner of the country in an area called Consiguina. Like everywhere else on this coast it had its own volcano. That was interesting but having recently climbed up and sand-boarded down one (wearing virtually opaque goggles) a few days before, it was the beach that interested us more. The owner, Tina, was an engaging host who appeared to subsist entirely on local beer and Pall Mall menthol cigarettes. She insisted that once there (her place was called Rancho Tranquillo) we couldn’t leave as (like Hotel California) you could check out but never leave as there were no buses going back to civilisation (and besides she liked the music on my iPod too much). She explained all about her Rancho including the necessary process when taking a shower ie placing a conch shell over the drain to avoid large frogs taking residence there. People often forgot to do this resulting in a distressed, coughing (but clean) frog emerging as you soaped the sand off. The bar area (and the company) was super cool and consequently our evenings there started early and finished late. Luckily the days were spent stretched out in hammocks. We asked one evening why the bar stools were so wide that you could almost fit two people on each. Turns out that they were fashioned to accommodate the particularly ‘grande’ behind of the cook, affectionately known as Mommy. Perhaps the most lingering memory though would be Tina’s predilection with glitter and spreading it all over her guests in the bar. Our weary-eyed breakfast conversation was often around who still had the most on their face. We did check out eventually (and find a bus out) but the glitter has yet to fully leave us. Oh, and all the food was veggie!
So, as I write this today it’s the 12th of February which means that we’re now into the second half of our Central American journey. We still have some more time here in Nica before sliding through Costa Rica and then Panama before jumping back up to Belize, via the Bay Islands of Honduras, to fly home. Tomorrow, though, we head to the Corn Islands - should be a-maiz-ing. Sorry. Toodle-pip.
Roberto
Saturday 19 February 2011
El Blog (Part 1)
Hi everyone. Thought I´d capture a few things about our trip so far. I hope you enjoy reading it and do feel free to send it on to others if you wish. Hope it's not too boring. Funny how our priorities have changed. Things that matter most now include: hot showers, laundry, wifi, book exchanges and finding the cheapest beers. Okay, so that last one ain´t new.
Belize: We got there on 12 November despite the best efforts of border security at London and Houston. The conversations went as follows:
Jobsworth - "So, you´re returning from Belize in 6 months?"
J&R - "Yes"
Jobsworth - "We need to check the visa requirements before allowing you to fly"
J&R - "We can help you there. We can stay a month without a visa"
Jobsworth - "I´ll have to check that"..................20 minutes pass..............."You can stay a month without a visa"
J&R - "Yes"
Jobsworth - "You have a ticket for 6 months"
J&R - "Yes. We´ll be travelling around Central America"
Jobsworth - "We can´t allow you to fly unless you can prove that you´ll leave Belize within a month"
J&R - "We´ll be leaving within two weeks...on a chicken bus...and they don´t accept internet bookings"
Jobsworth - "I´m going to get my supervisor"....10 minutes pass.
UberJobsworth - (Repeat all of above)....another 10 minutes......."You can fly but we cannot accept any responsibility for you having the correct visa requirements. Do you understand?"
J&R - (Wearily) "Yes"
Best things about Belize - 5 days of very sunny weather (before we realised how cold it gets in Guatemala); Garifuna culture (basically Rasta, so Bob´s best hits on repeat 24/7 and knowing what 10cc meant by Dreadlock Holiday); the shock of seeing several Amish communities there; boats run by Rastas with cool names like Captain Doggie and Captain Buck; spending my 48th birthday on a tiny, tiny island called Tobacco Caye where we were looked after by an 82 year old lady called Lana; and seeing turtles, sharks, rays etc while snorkelling off Caye Caulker near the world´s 2nd biggest reef. Then we moved up country and the rain came. So, time to move on to Guatemala!
But, before we go, the best street sign so far seen on Caye Caulker - "Go slow. We have two cemetries and no hospital". Fab.
Guatemala:
The first thing that struck me about Guatemala is how lax the border crossing is. Luckily we did it right, literally walking across, but have met people who innocently missed the unsigned left hand turn to the ´Guatemala Entrada´ desk and paid heavily for it later when leaving the country!
Second thing that hit me was that everyone here spoke Spanish (in Belize it´s all English). No surprise of course but it felt like the adventure was really beginning - as should my Spanish lessons! For now, hiding behind Jo seemed to work fine.
The third thing? Just how much the Mayan culture is part of Guatemala. The traditional clothes, the amazing ruins (especially at Tikal) and of course the various languages. Spanish is very much a second language in many places. One advantage of that is they speak much more slowly! We´ve only sometimes had to resort to ´Mas Despacio Porfavor!´
Loving the breakfasts here. Fruit, granola and yogurt, huevos revueltos, pancakes, fresh juice, great coffee, frijoles etc. That´s not the menu btw, that´s one selection! And only $5 max. Things are quite cheap generally. Beer is $3 a litre, decent accommodation $10-15 and of course the chicken buses.......
I assumed the chicken buses got their name due to the manner in which they stuff so many people in the bus. It may however also relate to the impact they have on all other traffic ie if you´re anywhere near one of these you´re essentially playing ´chicken´! But, I´m starting to appreciate them. They are really quite iconic looking, reliable, frequent and never ever dull. The music selection is as diverse as it is loud and you´ll never go hungry or thirsty with all the hawkers that jump on at each town. Just be ready for the conductor to try and cheat you though...
We spent a month in Guatemala but I shan´t bore you with all those details. Highlights would be Tikal, Rio Dulce, Semuc Champey and Antigua. We stayed with a crazy Polish lady in a remote spot in the Rainforest off the Rio Dulce. Lovely place. The first night we all got a boat into town as there was a celebration of the Garifuna (them again) culture. We got back late and hammered and desperate to crash. I shone the torch in our bed and there, inside the mozzy net, was a very large spider....with only 3 legs...and a big eggsac attached to it´s abdomen (bum). No idea how it got in there and even less idea how to get it out. Best tool we could find (there wasn´t a vacuum cleaner large enough) was Jo´s Clinique soap dish. Only problem was that the spider was twice as wide as the dish! Brave from the beer and determined from the exhaustion however, mission was accomplished. And the spider smelled much better too.
Semuc Champey is just gorgeous (see the photos on Facebook). We stayed about 11k from there in Lanquin at a large hostel (more like a campus) called El Retiro. We stayed in a tiny loft accessed by a steep ladder from a narrow ledge. Getting up in the night for a pee, still wobbly from the evening´s libations, was actually a high risk operation. Lots of cool folk here, mostly young and all apparently called ´dude´! Once they realised we were staying and not there to take someone home we had a fabulous time.
We shall defer Antigua for another post as we shall return here for New Year. Next up is a two week diversion to Honduras. Oh, lowlights of Guatemala? Pretty cold at times, infuriating cockerels whose watches are clearly stuck at dawn time as they crow continually and missing our friends and family of course!
Honduras:
The trip to Honduras was painful, long and frustrating. Near the end of it we crossed the border and, quelle surprise, one of the guards tried to con us out of money. Managed to shake him off though. Copan is quite lovely and we visited the Mayan ruins nearby. They worshipped the macaw and who could blame them. Gorgeous, funny, beautiful birds. They also had a sport (the Mayans not the macaws) where the winning captain had the honour of being sacrificed. Apparently own goals were commonplace!
Next up was the town of Gracias. We soaked in some (very) hot springs and observed the growing frenzy for Navidad (Xmas). Parades, costumes, fireworks, Santa driving through the streets throwing out sweeties and local versions of all your favourite Xmas classic tunes, Also one of their own called, of course, 'Feliz Navidad' - horribly catchy in a birdie-song way.
We spent 5 nights at a cool wee place with it's own Microbrewery on Lake Yojoa. Until then the longest we'd stayed anywhere was 3 nights. The microbrewery was clearly not a factor at all..... There's a bloke lives nearby called Malcolm who does ace birdwatching tours and is a real character. A 60's man both in age and era with long grey hair, a pleated beard and earrings. Top bloke. We also had a crazy day when the manager's Jack Russell (Santiago) decided to follow us on the bus but not off it. Before he ended up miles away we rescued him, had to buy a lead for him and haul him around with us all day. No one here puts their dog on a lead so we got some funny looks. So, we leave you here in Lago Yojoa, our Xmas location on a beautiful lake by a bird reserve, relaxing and thinking of y'all.....sometimes!
Feliz Navidad!
Robert & Jo
Belize: We got there on 12 November despite the best efforts of border security at London and Houston. The conversations went as follows:
Jobsworth - "So, you´re returning from Belize in 6 months?"
J&R - "Yes"
Jobsworth - "We need to check the visa requirements before allowing you to fly"
J&R - "We can help you there. We can stay a month without a visa"
Jobsworth - "I´ll have to check that"..................20 minutes pass..............."You can stay a month without a visa"
J&R - "Yes"
Jobsworth - "You have a ticket for 6 months"
J&R - "Yes. We´ll be travelling around Central America"
Jobsworth - "We can´t allow you to fly unless you can prove that you´ll leave Belize within a month"
J&R - "We´ll be leaving within two weeks...on a chicken bus...and they don´t accept internet bookings"
Jobsworth - "I´m going to get my supervisor"....10 minutes pass.
UberJobsworth - (Repeat all of above)....another 10 minutes......."You can fly but we cannot accept any responsibility for you having the correct visa requirements. Do you understand?"
J&R - (Wearily) "Yes"
Best things about Belize - 5 days of very sunny weather (before we realised how cold it gets in Guatemala); Garifuna culture (basically Rasta, so Bob´s best hits on repeat 24/7 and knowing what 10cc meant by Dreadlock Holiday); the shock of seeing several Amish communities there; boats run by Rastas with cool names like Captain Doggie and Captain Buck; spending my 48th birthday on a tiny, tiny island called Tobacco Caye where we were looked after by an 82 year old lady called Lana; and seeing turtles, sharks, rays etc while snorkelling off Caye Caulker near the world´s 2nd biggest reef. Then we moved up country and the rain came. So, time to move on to Guatemala!
But, before we go, the best street sign so far seen on Caye Caulker - "Go slow. We have two cemetries and no hospital". Fab.
Guatemala:
The first thing that struck me about Guatemala is how lax the border crossing is. Luckily we did it right, literally walking across, but have met people who innocently missed the unsigned left hand turn to the ´Guatemala Entrada´ desk and paid heavily for it later when leaving the country!
Second thing that hit me was that everyone here spoke Spanish (in Belize it´s all English). No surprise of course but it felt like the adventure was really beginning - as should my Spanish lessons! For now, hiding behind Jo seemed to work fine.
The third thing? Just how much the Mayan culture is part of Guatemala. The traditional clothes, the amazing ruins (especially at Tikal) and of course the various languages. Spanish is very much a second language in many places. One advantage of that is they speak much more slowly! We´ve only sometimes had to resort to ´Mas Despacio Porfavor!´
Loving the breakfasts here. Fruit, granola and yogurt, huevos revueltos, pancakes, fresh juice, great coffee, frijoles etc. That´s not the menu btw, that´s one selection! And only $5 max. Things are quite cheap generally. Beer is $3 a litre, decent accommodation $10-15 and of course the chicken buses.......
I assumed the chicken buses got their name due to the manner in which they stuff so many people in the bus. It may however also relate to the impact they have on all other traffic ie if you´re anywhere near one of these you´re essentially playing ´chicken´! But, I´m starting to appreciate them. They are really quite iconic looking, reliable, frequent and never ever dull. The music selection is as diverse as it is loud and you´ll never go hungry or thirsty with all the hawkers that jump on at each town. Just be ready for the conductor to try and cheat you though...
We spent a month in Guatemala but I shan´t bore you with all those details. Highlights would be Tikal, Rio Dulce, Semuc Champey and Antigua. We stayed with a crazy Polish lady in a remote spot in the Rainforest off the Rio Dulce. Lovely place. The first night we all got a boat into town as there was a celebration of the Garifuna (them again) culture. We got back late and hammered and desperate to crash. I shone the torch in our bed and there, inside the mozzy net, was a very large spider....with only 3 legs...and a big eggsac attached to it´s abdomen (bum). No idea how it got in there and even less idea how to get it out. Best tool we could find (there wasn´t a vacuum cleaner large enough) was Jo´s Clinique soap dish. Only problem was that the spider was twice as wide as the dish! Brave from the beer and determined from the exhaustion however, mission was accomplished. And the spider smelled much better too.
Semuc Champey is just gorgeous (see the photos on Facebook). We stayed about 11k from there in Lanquin at a large hostel (more like a campus) called El Retiro. We stayed in a tiny loft accessed by a steep ladder from a narrow ledge. Getting up in the night for a pee, still wobbly from the evening´s libations, was actually a high risk operation. Lots of cool folk here, mostly young and all apparently called ´dude´! Once they realised we were staying and not there to take someone home we had a fabulous time.
We shall defer Antigua for another post as we shall return here for New Year. Next up is a two week diversion to Honduras. Oh, lowlights of Guatemala? Pretty cold at times, infuriating cockerels whose watches are clearly stuck at dawn time as they crow continually and missing our friends and family of course!
Honduras:
The trip to Honduras was painful, long and frustrating. Near the end of it we crossed the border and, quelle surprise, one of the guards tried to con us out of money. Managed to shake him off though. Copan is quite lovely and we visited the Mayan ruins nearby. They worshipped the macaw and who could blame them. Gorgeous, funny, beautiful birds. They also had a sport (the Mayans not the macaws) where the winning captain had the honour of being sacrificed. Apparently own goals were commonplace!
Next up was the town of Gracias. We soaked in some (very) hot springs and observed the growing frenzy for Navidad (Xmas). Parades, costumes, fireworks, Santa driving through the streets throwing out sweeties and local versions of all your favourite Xmas classic tunes, Also one of their own called, of course, 'Feliz Navidad' - horribly catchy in a birdie-song way.
We spent 5 nights at a cool wee place with it's own Microbrewery on Lake Yojoa. Until then the longest we'd stayed anywhere was 3 nights. The microbrewery was clearly not a factor at all..... There's a bloke lives nearby called Malcolm who does ace birdwatching tours and is a real character. A 60's man both in age and era with long grey hair, a pleated beard and earrings. Top bloke. We also had a crazy day when the manager's Jack Russell (Santiago) decided to follow us on the bus but not off it. Before he ended up miles away we rescued him, had to buy a lead for him and haul him around with us all day. No one here puts their dog on a lead so we got some funny looks. So, we leave you here in Lago Yojoa, our Xmas location on a beautiful lake by a bird reserve, relaxing and thinking of y'all.....sometimes!
Feliz Navidad!
Robert & Jo
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