Hola Nicaragua !

So after a very long few days of travellling we arrived in to Leon, Nicaragua. We found a nice hostel, in the centre of town and settled in to our dorm. We would spend the next few days here, just exploring and finding out what there is to do in Nicaragua. The hostel was a lovely open and spacious place, which was a nice surprise as it is right in the centre of town. The front face of the building is deceptive and once inside opens out in a large court yard and small pool, with lots of shade and hammocks - perfect !

Leon is a fairly large town and was once upon a time the capital of Nicaragua. It is something like the 3rd largest town in Nicaragua but doesnt have the hustle and bustle of a town its size. It is a typical Cental American town, set out on a grid system of blocks (Streets running one way and and Avenues the other). This is nice to navigate round, but then on the other hand a bit boring when walking round, as everything appears samey after a while. 

One of the main features of Leon is the abundance of Cathedrals and Churches. This seemed to have been a hub for new designs and architecture, so as a result there is a lot of them. They are now old and on the outside appear worn and faded, but the insides have been kept maintained, so a nice contrast when you walk inside.

Our first few days were spent just being and mocching round and soaking up the sights, sounds and smells.

It was whilst in Leon that we discovered that we needed to obtain a Visa for Cuba......arrgghh !

We have found out that we couldn´t have got this in the UK, as it needs to be within 3 months of entering the country. Therefore we spent a whole afternoon trawling the internet to find out what we needed to do and how to go about getting one. In short we would need to go to a Cuban Embassy, either in Managua (the Capital of Nicaragua) or San Jose (the Capital of Costa Rica). More of this later. 

After a nice few days it was time to move on from Leon. Our next stop would be a slightly larger town called Granada, situated on the shores of Lake Nicaragua.But so far, Nicaragua is a refreshing change to El Salvador and Honduras.