Nicaragua, bike tour
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Nicaragua, bike tour
You know,
Nikaragua is a nice place to visit.
Well, unless you click on something.
Anybody been there lately?
Nikaragua is a nice place to visit.
Well, unless you click on something.
Anybody been there lately?
#2
smelling the roses
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I was last there in 04. It seemed like a great place to ride if avoiding Managua, which was hardly safe to walk from hotel to restaurant. Old news I know. Likely of no help.
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I walked all over Managua. No idea what you are talking about.
Hot and boring, but dangerous?
Less crime than California.
Well, now there is some kind of trouble?
#4
bicycle tourist
Bicycled via Esteli and Granada when crossing from Honduras to Costa Rica in spring 2017.
My impressions in that trip:
- cleaner than Honduras
- lots of Ortega FSLN signs
- reasonable traffic/roads/drivers
- lower elevations where I went (warmer)
- southern coast was an up and coming "cheaper than Costa Rica" destination, many tourists, e.g. paying US$ at grocery stores
Overall, it was neither my favorite nor worst Central American travel destination when cycling Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras/Nicaragua/Costa Rica/Panama. However I made a fairly direct crossing.
Since that time, there was some well-publicized political unrest this year. So my guess is tourism is down. I would take some extra caution to avoid engaging in locations/activities where I might be an innocent bystander to other problems, but don't get sense issues are directed at outsiders - so would still travel there.
My impressions in that trip:
- cleaner than Honduras
- lots of Ortega FSLN signs
- reasonable traffic/roads/drivers
- lower elevations where I went (warmer)
- southern coast was an up and coming "cheaper than Costa Rica" destination, many tourists, e.g. paying US$ at grocery stores
Overall, it was neither my favorite nor worst Central American travel destination when cycling Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras/Nicaragua/Costa Rica/Panama. However I made a fairly direct crossing.
Since that time, there was some well-publicized political unrest this year. So my guess is tourism is down. I would take some extra caution to avoid engaging in locations/activities where I might be an innocent bystander to other problems, but don't get sense issues are directed at outsiders - so would still travel there.
#5
Senior Member
#6
smelling the roses
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We were told not to leave the hotel with a backpack or it would surely be stolen. Walking to and from the restaurant, I was mildly threatened, and I'm 6 feet tall. All that said, I came in on the TicaBus, and was possibly in the worst part of town. The TicaBus terminal was inside its own, walled compound, with hotel and restaurant inside. I stayed a couple blocks away, on the advice of a fellow passenger.
#7
bicycle tourist
Some of this was related to where I traveled.
- I liked Honduras a lot. Our route was in the highlands and not always on the largest roads. That combined with people made it among my favorites.
- I traveled the main highways, mostly along the coast in Costa Rica and Panama. It was direct, but probably least favorite.
- Nicaragua was somewhere in between.
- I spent a lot more time in Mexico than other places and there was a reasonable variety - so some places were tops and others were so-so.
- I liked Honduras a lot. Our route was in the highlands and not always on the largest roads. That combined with people made it among my favorites.
- I traveled the main highways, mostly along the coast in Costa Rica and Panama. It was direct, but probably least favorite.
- Nicaragua was somewhere in between.
- I spent a lot more time in Mexico than other places and there was a reasonable variety - so some places were tops and others were so-so.
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
The Tika bus is run by .... . Yea, stolen by the guy that works loading the bags on the bus. Don't ride it. Don't hold it against Nicaragua. I rode chicken buses a few hours a day, from DF to Panama city, cost 75% less than Tika, and they guard your bag instead of take your phone and computer like Tika does.
The southeast coast was not my favorite, the northwest mountains were, Esteli, Matagulpa. The best food in Central America was in a bus station with no electricity, they cook on a fire. Sorry, I got on the wrong bus and don't know the name of the town.
I was thinking to go back, this time with my bicycle. I mounted some old Moto Raptors tubeless, must want to ride up to the Caribbean coast. Then, I clicked, and, was surprised to read about political problems.
Drug Smugglers, She-males and Thieves: Bluefields to Puerta Cabezas to Waspam part 1/3 | rightsideguide.com
Guate, yes
Guatemala is dangerous, the Maya are so beautiful!
Last edited by chrisx; 11-04-18 at 04:26 PM.
#10
Senior Member
Che Guevara's take...
Che Guevara was in Guatemala during the 1954 coup against Arbenz. He wrote that of the Central American countries Guatemala was the only one worth fighting for, worth salvaging.
Last edited by Abu Mahendra; 11-04-18 at 10:18 PM.
#11
Senior Member
Thread Starter
and
face the worst devils
you will leave your heart in Guatemala
my mongoose on a 2,500 year old pyramid in Guatemala
Last edited by chrisx; 11-04-18 at 10:28 PM.
#12
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I chanced to meet a women named Rigoberta looking at the presidents palace.
We walk past a million people without a care, then one evening you see someone that looks like they have a story to tell,
for El Presidente Molina, the truth hurts more than lies, was a sad story she needed to tell.
Last edited by chrisx; 11-04-18 at 11:22 PM.
#13
Senior Member
#14
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I may stop to chat with Claudia, on my way back to Nicaragua.
I just remembered,
I was asking about Nicaragua_ Anybody been down there in the last couple of months.
#15
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Steps of the central acropolis at Nakum 2017
look in the mirror
seemed to be studying the lunar cycles
Chimaltenago, no idea why I am the only tourist that stops there, or in Itzapa. I found friends there.
look in the mirror
seemed to be studying the lunar cycles
Chimaltenago, no idea why I am the only tourist that stops there, or in Itzapa. I found friends there.
Last edited by chrisx; 11-05-18 at 12:04 AM.
#16
smelling the roses
Join Date: Nov 2010
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Guatemala is the other woman. I am in need of a visit there. Now you have me thinking about going by bike. It's close enough I could leave from my doorstep. Thanks for that carrot. I would be interested in hearing about your most recent trip there. Perhaps I should start my own thread. I could still go this winter.
__________________
Last edited by seedsbelize; 11-05-18 at 08:54 AM.
#21
Senior Member
Recent posting to the FB Americas group - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-d35q3SGM
#22
Senior Member
#23
Senior Member
#24
Senior Member
#25
Senior Member
Yes, I was thinking of active volcanoes. And I wouldn't consider Costa Rica or Chile, or any Latine American country to be politically stable for that matter.
To get more to the point, what volcanos would actively threaten bicycle tourists? In most countries I think political and economic stability would be more important. However, places that suffer major natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanos often have more civil unrest as a result.
To get more to the point, what volcanos would actively threaten bicycle tourists? In most countries I think political and economic stability would be more important. However, places that suffer major natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanos often have more civil unrest as a result.