Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
*Maggie, kochana, bardzo dziekuje za zyczenia - napisze do Ciebie wkrotce w e-mailu.
I landed in Panama and it was hot and humid again and I decided to get away from the city to some place where it would be cooler. I couldn't find a guide book for Central America anywhere and I am traveling without one now... not a really good thing... I feel rather lost. I asked someone at the bus station where it would be nice to cool down and they told me at St. Carlos which is about two-hours bus drive west of Panama City. I got there in the late evening - the bus dropped me off at Rio Mar resort, 4 km from the village. The resort is located at a really nice beach, it is a run down place but all the cabanas are on the cliff so you fall asleep listening to the waves... Except for me there was one Panamanian family so it was very quiet. I spent one night there because even though it was run down the prices of food and stay were not that low - in general I find Panama and Costa Rica more expensive. I decided to go through Panama and Costa Rica to Nicaragua - I don't want to leave all the money in Central America, I need some for other continents. If I can't find a place to stay for $3 and food for $1.50 I move on... In reality I pay more sometimes but in Panama and Costa Rica the prices are much higher. I went like wind through the rest of Panama and, with only one stop at San Jose which I found as a city without charm, through Costa Rica. Nature in Costa Rica resembles that of Ecuador except that small cities look like Florida - restaurant chains, gass stations, shopping malls... I came to Nicaragua and felt like home again. Like in all the countries where life is simple people are extreamally hospitable. I spent one night in Rivas, 30 km away from the border, in one of these b&bs where you eat your breakfast at the family table in the living room, with all the grandmas, kids, uncles and aunts (and ants which are huge here). It's a small town with a huge church which seems about to disintegrate. I visited the church and made some interesting discoveries there but more about that in a minute. From Rivas I went to Granada, a beautiful colonial town and walked around there in the afteroon. From Granada I went to Managua - the capital - but Managua has reputation for armed robberies of personals and buses as bad as Guatemala City has so I just changed the bus there to take me to Leon which the tourist office recommended as a good place to visit, for the beach and the nearby volcanoes. I am staying at Via Via hostal, a chain of youth hostals (run by the Dutch, I think), which is inside a big colonial house and has a very nice patio with tropical plants, hammocks and books to read. And a young female dog, whose name I don't know yet, lives there and the expression on her face is like Maksio's - like him she sometimes looks like a cameleon, gazing at things at improbable angles.
More about my discoveries in the church soon. They are connected to the book I have just finished entitled The Da Vinci Code and to the sacred feminine...
I landed in Panama and it was hot and humid again and I decided to get away from the city to some place where it would be cooler. I couldn't find a guide book for Central America anywhere and I am traveling without one now... not a really good thing... I feel rather lost. I asked someone at the bus station where it would be nice to cool down and they told me at St. Carlos which is about two-hours bus drive west of Panama City. I got there in the late evening - the bus dropped me off at Rio Mar resort, 4 km from the village. The resort is located at a really nice beach, it is a run down place but all the cabanas are on the cliff so you fall asleep listening to the waves... Except for me there was one Panamanian family so it was very quiet. I spent one night there because even though it was run down the prices of food and stay were not that low - in general I find Panama and Costa Rica more expensive. I decided to go through Panama and Costa Rica to Nicaragua - I don't want to leave all the money in Central America, I need some for other continents. If I can't find a place to stay for $3 and food for $1.50 I move on... In reality I pay more sometimes but in Panama and Costa Rica the prices are much higher. I went like wind through the rest of Panama and, with only one stop at San Jose which I found as a city without charm, through Costa Rica. Nature in Costa Rica resembles that of Ecuador except that small cities look like Florida - restaurant chains, gass stations, shopping malls... I came to Nicaragua and felt like home again. Like in all the countries where life is simple people are extreamally hospitable. I spent one night in Rivas, 30 km away from the border, in one of these b&bs where you eat your breakfast at the family table in the living room, with all the grandmas, kids, uncles and aunts (and ants which are huge here). It's a small town with a huge church which seems about to disintegrate. I visited the church and made some interesting discoveries there but more about that in a minute. From Rivas I went to Granada, a beautiful colonial town and walked around there in the afteroon. From Granada I went to Managua - the capital - but Managua has reputation for armed robberies of personals and buses as bad as Guatemala City has so I just changed the bus there to take me to Leon which the tourist office recommended as a good place to visit, for the beach and the nearby volcanoes. I am staying at Via Via hostal, a chain of youth hostals (run by the Dutch, I think), which is inside a big colonial house and has a very nice patio with tropical plants, hammocks and books to read. And a young female dog, whose name I don't know yet, lives there and the expression on her face is like Maksio's - like him she sometimes looks like a cameleon, gazing at things at improbable angles.
More about my discoveries in the church soon. They are connected to the book I have just finished entitled The Da Vinci Code and to the sacred feminine...
posted by Asia Kabat at 8:23 AM
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