1-The night before: Make bus seat reservations, hostel reservation, and a taxi pick up reservation. Fortunately, all this can be done over the phone!
2-Day of departure:
1:30am- Wake up, get dressed, put on make up, be out the door by 1:50am to walk to the market where the buses are. It’s several blocks away and I’m always a little scared and very vigilant. Nothing has ever happened on these walks. There are drunk people around and some people still up watching tv, but nothing else.
2:00am-Bus leaves. I thank myself for remembering to make a bus reservation the previous night, because if you forget, they stick you in the way back next to the open broken window, and of course it’s raining like usual.
Lights are usually off with soft background music playing. Bus guy sings along to the music. Bus makes stops along the way and lights are turned on at every stop. All in all it’s a quiet and uneventful 5-hour trip. We carry our bags on our lap at all times and there is no sleeping! People are robbed every day on these buses- usually when they fall asleep!
There is also a 2:45am Express bus (only 5 hours), and all the rest of the buses for the rest of the day take 7 hours to get to Managua. It’s worth getting up in the middle of the night to shave off those two hours. Believe me!
6:20am-Call taxi to remind him to pick you up!
7:00am-Bus arrives in Managua. Wait a few minutes for taxi. Go wherever you need to go.
3-Day of return:
12:45pm-Taxi drives 30min. from central Managua to the far end of town where our bus station is.
1:15pm: Buy a bus ticket for the 1:45pm. Express bus. There is also a 3:20 Express. These are the only two Express buses for the day, which means they are only 5 hours instead of 7!
1:45pm-Bus departs, makes some stops along the way, and arrives in town around 6:45pm. Sounds nice, right? It actually isn’t all that bad, but there are sights and sounds to describe to give you the full picture.
A. There is no AC, only windows. We always carry our bags on our laps. It can get a little sweaty!
B. The bus is always full. When they pick people up along the road, those people end up standing in the passageway. Their butts, boobs, and bags end up in your face and seat!
C. They also pick up venders who walk up and down the crowded passageway selling food and drinks. One of the most popular is a tortilla with cuajada (a sort of cheese) in it.
D. Most buses have speakers and a tv screen above the drivers seat at the front of the bus. During the afternoon bus ride music is played the entire time at close to full blast. Sometimes they even have music videos to go along with the music! Yes, the music is Nicaraguan. Recently I heard one song about a pap-smear and another song about making black bean soup; oh yeah, and several about having multiple girlfriends at once! One time they played a really cheesy American 80’s action movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme in it. I’d take the movie over the music videos any day! There are only so many women shaking their butts I can take!
E. The views are amazing! Right around 4:30ish the sun starts to hide behind the hills, the rain starts to sprinkle (yes, as we near our town the rain starts!) and the grass becomes greener and the air becomes fresher. It’s beautiful and inspiring!
So, that’s what going to Managua entails. As you can imagine, I only go when I am told I have to go. Otherwise, I enjoy staying in my site. I really like it here and we’ve made a really comfortable home for ourselves. – Caressa