After a day in Honduras, I arrived in Nicaragua earlier today. It was an interesting experience.
I also checked on Wikipedia about GDP for the 15 countries I was initially planning to visit. See entry from Oct 31st for context.
Actually, it's the GDP (PPP) per capita using the IMF data.
| Country | $/capita | Rank in the world |
|---|---|---|
| US | 45,934 | 6 |
| Canadá | 37,947 | 12 |
| México | 13,609 | 59 |
| Guatemala | 4,831 | 112 |
| El Salvador | 7,355 | 93 |
| Honduras | 4,344 | 120 |
| Nicaragua | 2,892 | 130 |
| Costa Rica | 10,564 | 74 |
| Panamá | 11,776 | 69 |
| Colombia | 9,046 | 84 |
| Ecuador | 7,765 | 91 |
| Bolivia | 4,451 | 118 |
| Perú | 8,626 | 87 |
| Chile | 14,316 | 54 |
| Argentina | 14,525 | 52 |
"Nicaragüenses" seem to be the poorest. In my view, it's also the most chaotic country so far.
I've uploaded a few pictures from Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Güi
31 octobre 2010, Choluteca, Honduras (bus & 86km)
1 novembre 2010, Granada, Nicaragua (bus/taxi/pied/vélo)Llegué a la frontera entre El Savaldor y Honduras a alrededor de 9h00 en bus. Pedaleé después hasta Choluteca. Hacia tan calor (~40C) y, por la primera vez desde México, sobre una carretera sin lados y con mucho tráfico.
Vi muy poco de Honduras durante mi único día aquí. Le gente me parece mas rica. Creo que es un país mas desarrollo que sus vecinos. Pero, el guia de viaje dice que el GDP es menos que los de Guatemala y El Salvador.
No he decidido si, mañana, voy a pedalear los últimos 40kms hasta la frontera con Nicaragua o si voy a tomar un bus. Quería saber si hay un lado pero es difícil de obtener este tipo de informaciones aquí. Quiero dormir en Granada mañana.
I arrived in Granada, Nicaragua earlier. A long day that required switching buses 4 times with Surly, taking one cab to transit between bus terminals, a long border crossing, changing money from Lempiras to Coldobas, some pedalling, some walking, some negotiation, etc while trying to watch my belongings. At each stop, there was a little army of people wanting to help "por una pequeña propina", or changing money, and touching my things without asking me, while I was trying to gather and reassemble Surly and Bob. And I got ripped off so badly all day long. One cab driver wanted 75 córdobas (C$) for the ride between 2 bus terminals in Managua, to go along with 3 other passengers, while the next driver asked for 5, and just me in the car. On the bus from Managua to Grenada, I paid 150 C$ while regular passengers paid 20 C$. It should have been twice 20 C$ with the bicycle. I found that out afterwards by asking the person beside me after the bus had left. It's always a debate between arguing in Spanish afterwards, in an overcrowded bus with a crazy driver in heavy traffic, or simply accept that this is really just a few $US, and to focus on the destination where I wanted to be at the end of day. Minibuses here are all overcrowded, very hot, very slow and very uncomfortable. I was exhausted after the 1st one. And having the bicycle just makes things more complicated. I hadn't slept well as I had worried about not having a purchase receipt for Surly. The travel guide says that it can be required at the Nicaragua border. When talking to customs agents, I tried to not show that I'm travelling on a bicycle. Everything was so chaotic. I'm not sure if that strategy worked, or if they simply did not care. In the end, both Surly and I survived the day mostly unscathed. And I've had a good impression of Granada so far. But it seems like Nicaragua is such a disorganised country.
There are fewer security guards here, and they are less armed (just pistols instead of automatic rifle weapons). Yet, I've never been so worried about having something stolen. Walking back just a few blocks from the super-market after dark didn't feel so safe either.
Tomorrow, I need to find parts for Surly. I'm still not sure which activities or tours I will do in Granada. I'll decide tomorrow. The hostal here (Oasis) is very nice and has a beautiful garden and pool. Resting and reading are on the list. Maybe another massage as well.
