Day 33 - Casa Vieja Hotel, San Lorenzo

After the nightmare that was the border crossing into Honduras, and Orlando’s warnings of how much stricter Nicaragua would be with regards to having the appropriate paperwork, we had also done some research the evening before and there is a hard and fast rule about NO DRONES in Nicaragua. It was a daunting challenge in front of us. We had discussed shipping the drone back to the Sates, on to Costa Rica, or even just leaving it in the hotel. However, we decided that the worst that could probably happen if we get caught with it, is that it gets confiscated, and we lose the drone. Decision made, we decided that we would stop a little short of the border crossing and then stash the drone in the rear of Jorik’s jacket, and I would put the controller in my riding trousers pocket. It was still a good hour and half to 2 hours to get to the border, but this time we were a little savvier and we were not taking shit from hustlers. Orlando, the thieving bastard, had told us to look out for a guy called Jorge. Sure enough, a guy called Jorge was there waiting for us at 10:30, when we said to Orlando we would be arriving. Jorik gave him an earful very quickly when he mentioned that it would be US$300 to get is through with no problems. We were not falling for that bollox again and after some strong words, the cost was all of a sudden US$200 for both of us. still, we told them all to bugger off and that we could get through the Honduran side of the border with no problem. I was more worried about the Nicaraguan side of the crossing. Sure enough, it didn’t take long to get through the Honduran side, they had had all they are getting from us, so it was with very little sorrow that we left Honduras after just 1 single night and moved on towards the Nicaraguan side of the crossing. It was hot, frigging hot and we were drenched in sweat, but we had been told not to mess with the Nicaraguan guards and to ride with our helmets and jackets on. So, after only about 20 minutes to pass through the Honduran side, we rode the short distance to the Nicaraguan side, with another chap called Joseph on his bicycle following us. We thought we had made it clear that we would try on our own to pass through the border, but this guy clearly didn’t get the message. However, he turned out to be quite helpful. Whilst the crossing took some time, and we were questioned about having a drone, which we casually suggested was not the case, nothing to see here, move on! It took a while to pass through the various sections, but there was aircon in most of the different spaces, and they definitely made us take all our stuff off the bikes and pass them through the x-ray machine. However, they didn’t take our jackets or my trousers, so we sailed through the Aduana (customs) with the drone on us. When we pulled up to the border control to park, there was a massive UNIMOG parked up with Montana plates on it. It was an absolute beast, very cool truck. We didn’t really chat with the couple that were driving it as we were in different parts of the process getting through the border. We also met 3 lads from Equator who are riding north to Alaska. I say lads, but I think they were probably the same ages as us. However, they had 2 x BWM 1200 GS and a Yamaha Super Tenere. Massive bikes compared to ours and about 3 or maybe 4 times the cost. We had a good chat with them, but the process demanded that we move on, so we exchanged details and then finally got sorted and allowed to pass into Nicaragua. We were aiming for the town of Leon, about 2 hours ride, which should be a breeze, but it had taken about 2 hours to get through the border. And of course, we ended up giving Joseph around US$200 and few of our remaining Honduran currency, which he wasn’t chuffed with, but the bastards have had enough cash from us. We only had US$20 on us in local currency after the second fleecing. After passing hundreds of trucks that were queuing up to go across the border in the opposite direction, we needed to stop and get some fluids in. It was seriously hot. As such, we pulled up at a roadside restaurant and had a coke and some water to cool down and shoot a quick video as we were chuffed to bits that we had made through, even if it did cost us a shed load of money, again. The ride towards the town of Leon was not great, but it was good to be in another country. After slipping through Honduras in only a single day, we were ticking off border crossings pretty regularly, and it was great to be in another new country, another 1 that even Jorik hasn’t visited before. We had booked a hotel called Casa Abierto, which means ‘Open House’ and we were looking forward to getting out of our sweaty gear, chilling for a bit and checking out the town of Leon. The hotel had a great pool, and as it was a Sunday, the pool and the restaurant were open to the public. It was great to see people enjoying the great space in a relaxed atmosphere. Very nice little spot. Big mosquitoes, but you can’t have everything I suppose! We went into town to look around the really cool streets and buildings. We had some food from a street vendor van and then walked along the streets to look at the photos that they have installed of the war heroes from the revolution. We saw Che Guvara and Emiliano Zapata’s contributions. I highly recommend a visit to Leon if you find yourself in this part of the world, but don’t go too far out of your way to visit Nicaragua.