chrisx

You know,
Nikaragua is a nice place to visit.
Well, unless you click on something.
Anybody been there lately?

seedsbelize 

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.

chrisx

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?

mev

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.

Abu Mahendra

let me guess. Mexico & Guate were your favorites?

seedsbelize 

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.

mev

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.

chrisx

I think this is what I am asking about.

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!

seedsbelize 

I was in a bit of a hurry. Took the Tica from San Pedro Sula to San Jose, instead of flying from Guat City. And yes, Guate is beautiful and is by far my favorite C.A, country.

Abu Mahendra

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.

chrisx

The Maya are the most beautiful
and
face the worst devils

you will leave your heart in Guatemala

my mongoose on a 2,500 year old pyramid in Guatemala

chrisx

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.

Abu Mahendra

Which pyramid is it?

chrisx

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.

chrisx

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.

seedsbelize 

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.

DanBell

mev

Recent posting to the FB Americas group -

chrisx

You can find something to like about Nicaragua, for sure.

fietsbob

Guatemala's Volcano named after Fire, itself went off again..

djb

funny, I met that guy in Leon, Mexico in march or something, right before flying home. Gave him a bunch of repair stuff and toiletry stuff I figured he could use. I've kinda kept track a bit of where he has been via his vids, and was amazed how long he has spent in the region.

Abu Mahendra

par for the course, bob. It is the Ring of Fire, after all. You gringos get spooked easily.

willibrord

Countries with volcanos seem to be more unstable politically.

Abu Mahendra

Japan, Iceland, Costa Rica, Chile, USA, New Zealand

willibrord

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.