Rivas, Nicaragua, 7/2-2007
Route: Choluteca - Leon - Managua - Rivas
Yesterday I got a email from Shane and Forrest saying that they were on their way north toward the border of Costa Rica. I therefore left Choluteca and headed toward the Nicaraguan border.
In the beginning the road goes through areas where it is much water. The areas are therefore green. Then it gets more and more dry, and the road passes small houses that lies in the shade of trees.
The border crossing was one of the better. The road when entering Nicaragua was not. Welcome to pothole hell. And when you think that the road can not be worse, you get to the sections with gravel road and potholes that can swallow both you and the bike. Not to mention that you meet traffic that waives back and forth in the road to avoid the biggest potholes, and do not care about the other traffic. And kettle and horses that are walking in the road. Nicaragua is absolutely worth visiting. And when you think that now it can not possibly be worse, you get pulled over by corrupt police.
My first day in Nicaragua was mabe not the best. It started ok. I soon get used to the potholes in the road and scan the road ahead of you so you can avoid them. The problem was to ask people about direction. I soon understood that they eighter did not understand what I said, or they had no clue about which way to go to the next town. I for instance stopped on a gas station and asked for direction toward Rivas. They sent me in the total wrong direction and gave me the wrong name of the town I was in. Well, that is what happens when you do not follow the important rule; ask severeal people and go in the direction where most pointed. I almost ended up in Managua before I met a taxi driver that, thanks God, knew which city he was in and could point me in the right direction.
On the way from Managua to Rivas I got pulled over by a policeman. This was on a straight strech with a lot of potholes where the traffic was going 40 - 50 km/h in a 80 km/h zone where I passed a car which was breaking very heavely in front of some potholes. The policeman asked to see my driving licence and when I gave it to him he took it and told me that I had been speeding. I told him that it was no way that I had been speeding since the traffic was going 40 in a 80 km/h zone. He then decided that I maybe had not been speeding, but it was not allowed to pass cars in this area, which naturally was crap, and that I had to go to Managua the next day to get my driving licence back. This was naturally just to get a bribe, which he got, and I got my driving licence back. But I again learned a lesson the hard way, and this was the last time I stopped volentarely and showed my driving license to a policeman in Nicaragua.
Rivas is a city well worth visiting. It has everything you need and is full of three wheeled bicicles used to transport people and groceries. I stayed in a cheap hostel. The standard was not the best, but I could park my bike in the back yarden, so then I was happy.
Yesterday I got a email from Shane and Forrest saying that they were on their way north toward the border of Costa Rica. I therefore left Choluteca and headed toward the Nicaraguan border.
In the beginning the road goes through areas where it is much water. The areas are therefore green. Then it gets more and more dry, and the road passes small houses that lies in the shade of trees.
The border crossing was one of the better. The road when entering Nicaragua was not. Welcome to pothole hell. And when you think that the road can not be worse, you get to the sections with gravel road and potholes that can swallow both you and the bike. Not to mention that you meet traffic that waives back and forth in the road to avoid the biggest potholes, and do not care about the other traffic. And kettle and horses that are walking in the road. Nicaragua is absolutely worth visiting. And when you think that now it can not possibly be worse, you get pulled over by corrupt police.
My first day in Nicaragua was mabe not the best. It started ok. I soon get used to the potholes in the road and scan the road ahead of you so you can avoid them. The problem was to ask people about direction. I soon understood that they eighter did not understand what I said, or they had no clue about which way to go to the next town. I for instance stopped on a gas station and asked for direction toward Rivas. They sent me in the total wrong direction and gave me the wrong name of the town I was in. Well, that is what happens when you do not follow the important rule; ask severeal people and go in the direction where most pointed. I almost ended up in Managua before I met a taxi driver that, thanks God, knew which city he was in and could point me in the right direction.
On the way from Managua to Rivas I got pulled over by a policeman. This was on a straight strech with a lot of potholes where the traffic was going 40 - 50 km/h in a 80 km/h zone where I passed a car which was breaking very heavely in front of some potholes. The policeman asked to see my driving licence and when I gave it to him he took it and told me that I had been speeding. I told him that it was no way that I had been speeding since the traffic was going 40 in a 80 km/h zone. He then decided that I maybe had not been speeding, but it was not allowed to pass cars in this area, which naturally was crap, and that I had to go to Managua the next day to get my driving licence back. This was naturally just to get a bribe, which he got, and I got my driving licence back. But I again learned a lesson the hard way, and this was the last time I stopped volentarely and showed my driving license to a policeman in Nicaragua.
Rivas is a city well worth visiting. It has everything you need and is full of three wheeled bicicles used to transport people and groceries. I stayed in a cheap hostel. The standard was not the best, but I could park my bike in the back yarden, so then I was happy.
posted by Øyvind Thiem at 3:45 PM
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