Nicaragua: Hanging Out in San Carlos

So I spent a couple of days wandering around San Carlos. I took pictures. I visited the fort and the park up on the hill. I ate in a restaurant overlooking the lake or munched on hot dogs, and bathed from a bucket.

There was an acute water shortage. I noticed how people adapted by filling barrels every time the water was turned on. Only one of the hotels in town had a water tank.

A doctor's shingle emphasized she had been trained in Cuba, a plus here. Cuba is supposed to have good doctors that have no medicine or other equipment to work with. Being trained there is obviously important

It was one of those towns where you run into people just because they are the only other toursists there. So about half of my walks to anywhere were slowed by a chat with the Italian couple from the boat or the English couple from the hot dog place.

The hot dog place was a find, because restaurants in my price range tend to serve exactly the same meals. And even increasing the price doesn't get you additional variety. Imagine only having McDonald's and Burger King to choose from. They may be different chains, but the difference between what they offer is small.

My room was very cheap, less than $3, but very, very small, and open to the air and the mosquitos. I had to go downstairs to use the facilities. However, it didn't matter, because it had a verandah and rocking chairs. And, apparently, even if I had paid $15 per night, I would have been bathing from a bucket anyway.

So I sat with my book and rocked. I even snaked the cord from my laptop back into the room and sat and rocked while I unloaded my photos.