To the Mountains

Sunday, January 27, 2013--Masaya to Matagalpa

There were two non-stop buses today from Masaya to Matagalpa, one leaving around 5:30 and the other a little while later.  I didn't try to make either.  Instead, I arrived at the bus station around 8:10 and got on a bus for Tipitapa, a town about 45 minutes away.  There, I walked half a block to the Managua-Matagalpa highway and stood with many other people there waiting to get on long-distance buses going to their destination north of Tipitapa.  I askdd a young man who had walked there from my bus with me if it was the right place for the Matagalpa bus, and he indicated it was.  Then, just a minute later, he raised his hand, and we both got on the same bus headed that way.

The young man and I continued to visit on the bus.  His name is Sergio.  He works in IT just outside of Matagalpa and had been in Masaya for the weekend with his wife.  He is originally from the Matagalpa area and was headed home to visit his parents while having 10 days of vacation.  Half of what he said, I couldn't understand, but he was nice, and it was pleasant to visit with someone.  He shook my hand when he got up to get off the bus at his stop, then he looked for me and waved again as he walked away.  It's always nice to have someone like this to help look after me when I am traveling in an unfamiliar area.

It was a bit confusing when the bus pulled into the station in Matagalpa.  I took off walking in what I thought was the direction toward town, but I couldn't be quite sure.  I had my map in my mind, having checked it on the bus so that the taxi drivers wouldn't bother me and I could just walk quickly away.  Eventually, I saw the white cathedral in the distance (which was positioned correctly in terms of where I expected it to be) and then I came upon a park I was expecting.  At that point, I knew for sure exactly where I was and how I needed to go to get to the hotel I hoped would have a room for me.

I wrote an e-mail to the hotel last night, but hotels here are not very good at keeping up with such correspondence; they seem to rely on phone reservations more.  Fortunately, the Hotel El Castillo had a room, and there was no indication that they recognized my name or expected me.  The room is rather simple, but it is also cheap--$18 per night including breakfast.  It has a bed, a fan, a flat-panel TV, a bath with hot water, and a balcony.  The walls are white with nothing hanging on them.  The floors are white tiles.  She sheets are white.  As I said, it is plain.  But the building is only 2 years old, so the place is modern and mostly clean.  (In terms of the latter, there are some scuff marks on the walls and on the tile.)

Matagalpa is in the mountains.  The valley is so small that the town fills it and then goes up the hills.  My hotel, only 3 blocks from the cathedral, is partially uphill.  That gives me good views across the town and to the hills around it.

The town was very quiet today, since it was Sunday.  I walked to the cathedral/main plaza, then I walked down the main street as far as the other park I'd seen.  While passing earlier, I had seen a mobile van making a wonderful looking sandwich, so I thought I might have one.  When I got there, I realized they were large burgers, and I ordered one.  They are as big as the Macho Burgers from Chris Madrid's in San Antonio.  They have about a 7-inch bun which they slice and then put on the griddle.  The meat patty, already cooked, is added.  Then they put four slices of tomato, lots of slices of onion, a couple of spoonfuls of sweet pickle relish, a swirl of ketchup, a swirl of mayonnaise, a big slice of iceberg lettuce, and then add the top bun.  Unfortunately, the meat was not as tasty as it should have been, so that spoiled the burger some.  It was so nice, however, to eat the tomatoes, lettuce,  and onions!  I left part of the bun; it was just too much food.

I sat in the park watching people and reading, but then it began to sprinkle.  The sprinkles were cold.  I started walking back toward town where I went inside the cathedral and continued to read.  I was so thirsty, that I left there for a supermarket where I bought a 1.5 liter bottle of Coke Zero from the cooler.  It was so refreshing, and it was the first cola I had drunk since Wes left me two weeks ago.

One of the interesting things about Nicaragua is that they don't have the international franchise restaurants that all the other Central American countries have.  Maybe Managua will have them, but Granada, Masaya, and Matagalpa are larger cities.  No McDonald's, no Burger King, no KFC, etc.  I've seen a local franchise named Tip Top in two of the cities, and I saw a Papa John's Pizza in Masaya.  That's it.  I'm wondering if that is because of the period of time that the country was socialist?  I also wonder if that period of rule is also the reason this country seems to be poorer than the other Central American countries.  The socialists are back in office (with the same president--Daniel Ortega), but without an agenda of making the country completely socialist any more.  The government is most friendly with the other Latin countries which have an agenda to support the poorer classes--Venezuela and Boliva, in particular.