Arrived in Nicaragua.

After so many border crossings today didn't feel that special, perhaps entering a country that you haven't been in before should feel pretty good. I did make it across the border and have to sweat just a little because I had got about $10.00US on me and there were rumours flying around that there was not a cash point - or cajero automatico in Ocatal where I am currently staying. After finding two that didn't work I made it to the third which did and I was so overjoyed that I must admit that I nearly fainted with relief that I'd got some cash for the next few days. Things look like they're going well but I guess that the other complicating factor here is that there appears to be a strike on at present involving drivers and one of the roads that I want to pass is blockaded at present so I may be stuck here for a few days if the worst comes to the worst. Because of the hard days travelling, I was up at six to get the bus to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, and then on another bus at midday to get to the border and then another from there, I've booked into one of the better quality places that I've stayed at in Central America which is costing me about twelve pounds per night.

It's not been the most eventful of days, although, as I was boarding the bus in Juticalpa this morning there were checks of hand luggage taking place and there appeared to be one person being asked to take the bullets out of his pistol in order to be allowed on the bus. As I state the border crossing itself was uneventful - the only thing of interest was seeing the football on the TV behind the immigration official -the Germans were completing their victory over the Turkish as my papers were being stamped.

So far after a only a few hours in this country I've not been able to form any real opinion on what may provide the national flavour to the place. There does tend to be a slightly different mix of trees on the hillsides though that is most likely only due to recent agricultural policy - the mix of palms, pines and others does seem quite unorthodox. I've taken a short wander around the centre of town this afternoon on the way to cajero automaticos and it appears to be quite a nice centre. The old style colonial buildings appear to be intact largely and there is quite a peaceful atmosphere here. It was interesting to see the queue at the bank next to the cajero automatico - this was something that I started to see a lot of in Guatemala - I presume that virtually noone in the country uses cajero automaticos and as a result they have to queue to get their pay from the bank when it's the pay day in the week or the first of the month. It would also explain why there doesn't seem to be any incentive for the banks to get the cajero automaticos fixed when they break, it doesn't disrupt enough of their customers schedules.

The last few days weren't easy travelling and I did find myself staying in a couple of places that I'd got no intention of staying in. I tried to get from Trujillo to Tegucigalpa by chicken bus down the dirt road that runs through Juticalpa and was forces to stay a night in San Esteban which was a town with only dirt roads and horses tied up outside the cafe-bars which did have a slight feel of the wild west about it. Then from there I managed to get down to Juticalpa and was informed that there were no buses on account of the strike action that appears to affect both Honduras and Nicaragua. Both of the towns lacked any real excitement other than the meal that I had in Juticalpa in Oregano's Restaurant. The guy running it, Luis, was the only person I had a conversation with in English and he seemed really nice. He offered me a lift to Tegucigalpa early this morning but I wasn't up in time to meet him. It's a shame that the mountain scenery that you can see from the chicken buses as they trundle down the dirt roads is not that well publicised. I thought a lot of the scenery in Honduras was pretty staggering and is almost worth the visit for that reason alone.

The shot above is one taken from a bus window on the first leg of the journey from Trujillo to San Esteban and I assume that something like it has appeared at SBPS many moons ago. It does look a little familiar to me. Shots of Trujillo to San Estaban are online alongside those from San Estaban to Jutigalpa. There is also a few shots of the Atila Bars. For the strong willed there are a couple of duff shots of Trujillo too.