So we got up and packed in the heat that was Leon while the house owner called us a taxi to take us to the main highway out of town to catch our ride to El Salvador by Ticabus. We arrived promptly at 10.45am at the bus stop to catch the bus that was scheduled between 11-12am. We soon realised the taxi had dropped us on the wrong side of the road so crossed over the the other side of the road which was devoid of any passengers or action......or buses going north. There we waited with baited breath in the heat, which on the petrol station sign said 36c in the shade. We waited until 12 but no bus, desperately searching down the highway in the heat shimmer looking for a mirage of a bus. 1pm came and went and we were getting seriously burnt as our shade retracted in the midday sun. The only sign of life was an very old lady selling drinks on the side of the road under a corrugated tin roof. Ambling over I enquired about the bus and she helpfully informed me the bus could arrive anytime between 11 and 3pm. Feeling obliged to buy something from the old woman for her invaluable info I purchased a bottle of water which she duly over charged me 100% of what it normally costs and was not even that cold. So we waited........and waited.....until the heat was cooking us inside out and the vultures started circling (this bit is actually true, there are loads of vultures in Nicaragua) until 2pm. By this time it was make a break time. What do we do? waiting for over 3 hours and no sign of a bus that is 2 hours late. Kathy suggested emailing customer services. I laughed at her suggesting this as it's not the USA but a 3rd world country that just does not do stuff like that for customers. I logged onto their website, sent an angry message and would you believe they responded in less than 5 minutes to say the bus would be with us in 30 minutes. Amazing!
Indeed the bus did arrive 45 minutes later and we boarded and were immediately given a meal and drink. The meal was probably prepared the night before and had lumps of bone in it so that was a disappointment but we had already eaten so that was no problem. We sat back and relaxed, then got served coffee and snacks and watched the scenery go by until the border exit point for Nicaragua which is where it got interesting. The bus attendant (trolley dolly) who was working the isles came up to us and demanded $10 each for the border crossing to sort it out as he put it in Spanish. I queried it as we had on this only occasion done our research and found out the border fees were $2 to exit Nicaragua and $3 to enter Honduras. He got in a huff at our belligerence and promptly stormed off. Other foreigners did pay the $10 fee each without questions. When we stopped at the border we were bundled off and had to queue to exit the country, pay our $2 fee at a separate window, X-rayed our bags then reboarded the bus. No hassle. Next was the Honduran border where we queued up but the guy on the desk took the fee off of us and pocketed the money with Kathy's fee but on mine gave me a receipt. I told Kathy about this and she went back to complain and the immigration guy made a song and dance when Kathy asked about the receipt but eventually got one. It was all a scam. The Ticabus trolley dolly was skimming the tourists for the fee if they paid him and if they did not then tried to skim it from the immigration staff. Corruption at it best. We noticed all the locals had receipts but we did not from the Nicaraguan border staff. So they obviously pocketed that money. The bottom line is if you go through any immigration checkpoint, get a receipts for any money you pay otherwise the staff pocket it.
We met a couple of other travellers while waiting in the queue at immigration as it was such a long wait being Easter week. One was a chap in his twenties of unknown nationality and he was behaving very erratically, so much so we thought he was on drugs and wondered if he would get caught at the border. Another was a solo Yank girl who also had some strange behaviour who said things to us and almost immediately contradicted herself. Weirdo.
Then it was dark so the lights were turned off as we sped through Honduras which had a reputation for bandit hold ups on the highway for tourists buses especially at night. After another 2.5hours we reached the Honduran Exit point where there were no fees or hassle apart from the long wait, back onto the bus and onto the El Salvadorian border which was a lot more rigid in their security checks, with sniffer dogs boarding the bus and luggage being removed and inspected by the army. We watched the druggie guy infront of us taking bets if the dog was going to pick him out. By this time it was 12 at night and being on the bus for 9 hours and including our 4 hour wait to board the bus at Leon we were exhausted. Luckily after all the border checks we stopped at a fuel stop to get supplies then 20 minutes later we stopped again to pick up another meal at 1am in the morning of grilled pork, beetroot potato and corn tortillas. Bizarre!
The bus rolled on for another 2 hours until we sped into San Salvador, murder capital of the world at 2.30am and turfed out onto the street opposite a funeral parlour. Looking around it looked grim. There were 3 people sat outside the funeral parlour sitting on the steps outside, which was unusual at 2.30am but I guess there was a demand for it in this murder happy city at this darkest hour. Supply and demand. Just hanging around waiting for the expected rush of bodies to arrive later as the body count rises. Not wanting to become their next customers we scanned the street looking for respite and luckily there was one taxi sat on the road. Trying to show we were not too desperate for the ride we enquired about the fare to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised the fare was only slightly above what the hotel had quoted us so snapped it up before any of the other poor suckers on our bus could take our salvation from us. Luckily the taxi did not take us to a drug den in the middle of a gang controlled suburb I am pleased to report and dropped us off at our hotel at 3am safe and sound but looking out the window on the way there we are so glad we did not have to hang around on the street as it looked like something could and would happen to anyone who walked these streets at this hour.
Indeed the bus did arrive 45 minutes later and we boarded and were immediately given a meal and drink. The meal was probably prepared the night before and had lumps of bone in it so that was a disappointment but we had already eaten so that was no problem. We sat back and relaxed, then got served coffee and snacks and watched the scenery go by until the border exit point for Nicaragua which is where it got interesting. The bus attendant (trolley dolly) who was working the isles came up to us and demanded $10 each for the border crossing to sort it out as he put it in Spanish. I queried it as we had on this only occasion done our research and found out the border fees were $2 to exit Nicaragua and $3 to enter Honduras. He got in a huff at our belligerence and promptly stormed off. Other foreigners did pay the $10 fee each without questions. When we stopped at the border we were bundled off and had to queue to exit the country, pay our $2 fee at a separate window, X-rayed our bags then reboarded the bus. No hassle. Next was the Honduran border where we queued up but the guy on the desk took the fee off of us and pocketed the money with Kathy's fee but on mine gave me a receipt. I told Kathy about this and she went back to complain and the immigration guy made a song and dance when Kathy asked about the receipt but eventually got one. It was all a scam. The Ticabus trolley dolly was skimming the tourists for the fee if they paid him and if they did not then tried to skim it from the immigration staff. Corruption at it best. We noticed all the locals had receipts but we did not from the Nicaraguan border staff. So they obviously pocketed that money. The bottom line is if you go through any immigration checkpoint, get a receipts for any money you pay otherwise the staff pocket it.
We met a couple of other travellers while waiting in the queue at immigration as it was such a long wait being Easter week. One was a chap in his twenties of unknown nationality and he was behaving very erratically, so much so we thought he was on drugs and wondered if he would get caught at the border. Another was a solo Yank girl who also had some strange behaviour who said things to us and almost immediately contradicted herself. Weirdo.
Then it was dark so the lights were turned off as we sped through Honduras which had a reputation for bandit hold ups on the highway for tourists buses especially at night. After another 2.5hours we reached the Honduran Exit point where there were no fees or hassle apart from the long wait, back onto the bus and onto the El Salvadorian border which was a lot more rigid in their security checks, with sniffer dogs boarding the bus and luggage being removed and inspected by the army. We watched the druggie guy infront of us taking bets if the dog was going to pick him out. By this time it was 12 at night and being on the bus for 9 hours and including our 4 hour wait to board the bus at Leon we were exhausted. Luckily after all the border checks we stopped at a fuel stop to get supplies then 20 minutes later we stopped again to pick up another meal at 1am in the morning of grilled pork, beetroot potato and corn tortillas. Bizarre!
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| This guy seems to be the patron saint of all central and south America. |
The bus rolled on for another 2 hours until we sped into San Salvador, murder capital of the world at 2.30am and turfed out onto the street opposite a funeral parlour. Looking around it looked grim. There were 3 people sat outside the funeral parlour sitting on the steps outside, which was unusual at 2.30am but I guess there was a demand for it in this murder happy city at this darkest hour. Supply and demand. Just hanging around waiting for the expected rush of bodies to arrive later as the body count rises. Not wanting to become their next customers we scanned the street looking for respite and luckily there was one taxi sat on the road. Trying to show we were not too desperate for the ride we enquired about the fare to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised the fare was only slightly above what the hotel had quoted us so snapped it up before any of the other poor suckers on our bus could take our salvation from us. Luckily the taxi did not take us to a drug den in the middle of a gang controlled suburb I am pleased to report and dropped us off at our hotel at 3am safe and sound but looking out the window on the way there we are so glad we did not have to hang around on the street as it looked like something could and would happen to anyone who walked these streets at this hour.
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