Managua

I spent 2 nights in Managua and it was pretty ugly and dirty and everyone was trying to make money off everyone else.  Everybody seemed to work on commission.  Robert (a Dutch man I met on the bus) and I got off the bus and were immediately surrounded by taxi drivers and guys trying to take us to different hotels, which literally were just around the block and we were quite happy to walk alone, but they wouldn´t leave us alone.  The hotel we stayed at was quite good though.  It had a gate at the front that was always locked, the rooms were quite spacious with TV and fan and a shared bathroom, with cold water of course, but when it´s that hot and muggy you don´t mind a cold shower.  Then our hotel owner was always very curious about where we were going when we went out, because if there was anyway he could help us he wanted to.  Eg. When I was going out the first morning he immediately asked if I wanted to know a breakfast place, so he walked me, literally around the corner, sat and waited while I ordered, then walked up to the counter, I´m assuming to discuss his commission, because I´m pretty sure I got charged more than it was worth.  Oh well.  It´s only a dollar or 2 here and there in the grand scheme of things, but I guess that´s how they make their money.  Then I got harassed and followed around by little boys a couple times trying to get me to buy useless little flowers made out of corn who just wouldn´t take no for an answer.  It was pretty frustrating and aggravating.  I did visit the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, housing the Museo Nacional, which was alright for a museum entirely in Spanish, but not overly spectactular.  Lago de Managua unfortunately is brown, garbage filled, and completely polluted - quite the eyesore.  All in all, I´m glad to be out of there.