Day 18: Reaching the halfway point
I'm now halfway through my Nicaraguan adventure, so it's a good time to reflect on my travels so far.
First thing's first: I'm deeply relaxed and now I only have the capacity to make up to three decisions a day, most of these being about food.
Life is easy here, other than the not being at work thing, which is obviously amazing, it's an incredibly easy country to travel around and the locals are always happy to help, whether it be dragging you onto a bus or stopping you getting run over on the racetrack that is central Leon.
People are so lovely - an old man even stopped me in the street one day to thank me for coming to his country. Nicaraguans seem to have a default setting to 'friendly', I've had fun learning Spanish from taxi drivers, getting to know guides like David at Padre Ramos and enjoying the hospitality of warm hosts like Rosario at Casona Colonial.
When is comes to scenery, Nicaragua is an embarrassment of riches. Standing at the top of Leon's cathedral, there are volcanoes in every direction; in the north you can swim in the azure blue waters of Somoto canyon; to the west there's the fishing/surfing beaches of Jiquilillo and the wonder that is the Padre Ramos nature reserve; then you have cities like Esteli and Leon, where the country's history is illustrated in murals and bullet holes in the walls.
And I've only been here for two weeks!
I consciously decided to travel slowly, spending at least three nights in each place, often more, and I'm really pleased with how this is working out. Every place I've stayed has felt like home and I've had the 'bye bye blues' each time I've packed my rucksack and headed onto my next destination.
Travelling alone has been no big deal. I'm lucky to have the best friends in the world who are always up for an adventure somewhere, so deciding to go solo felt huge, but it's not.
Every single day I end up wishing 'such and such' was with me so they could see or experience a particular thing, but it's not loneliness, just the desire to keep all my friends and loved ones in my pocket so I can whip them at the appropriate moment!
Nicaragua is the ideal setting for writing; it's peaceful, inspiring and I'm luxuriating in time. Updating this blog is becoming slightly addictive, so thank you to everyone who's been in touch to say they are enjoying reading it. I'm loving writing it.
