Day 2: Notes for National Express...(Nicaragua travel)
Have you ever been on a coach journey and thought, 'goodness, I'd murder someone for corn on the cob right now'? Well then you need to get yourself to Nicaragua where the buses are essentially cafes on wheels.
During my 2.5 hours bus journey from Managua to Esteli yesterday, I was offered: water, soft drinks, apples, corn on the cob, a pork sandwich and an incredible looking quesadilla (that's a badass cheese tortilla).
Most of this smorgasboard was offered by sellers who jumped on the bus when it stopped, however, crucially there was also a 'bus waiter' - a man who's only role it seemed was to distribute drinks and snacks to folks up and down the aisles (he also helped me get my rucksack onto the luggage shelf) :-)
National Express, please take note. While your service down to Heathrow was punctual, I feel my experience would have been immeasurably enhanced by a variety of tasty treats and a bus waiter - this could be a key source of competitive advantage over MegaBus. Think on.
Travel tips:
1. The bus from Managua to Esteli leaves once an hour from the Mayoreo bus station and costs $3
2. The tickets have seat numbers, so make sure you're in the correct seat (unlike me!)
3. Keep your ticket handy as the bus waiter will come round to check it, and you hand it to the driver at the end too
4. At the bus station in Esteli there are taxis outside but rather than being mobbed by taxi drivers off the bus like in other destinations, I actually had to go and flag one, quite refreshing!
5. My taxi driver wanted cordobas not dollars, so try to have some handy. My journey to the far end of the town cost me about $1