Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 50: Urban Navigation
March 29, 2006
In the morning we finally had a chance to see more of Leon. Traditionally,
the principle attraction of the city is the colonial Old Town (El Centro),
with a lively central park and a large, beautiful cathedral nearby. A peek
inside the cathedral is a must - the massive murals on the inside walls portraying
Stations of the Cross are remarkable.
Leon's Old Town is pretty compact and most of the streets are worth a stroll
down. In addition to the conventional colonial architecture, plenty of language
schools, numerous shops and cozy cafés, you are sure to notice the
impressive frescos adorning the facades of numerous buildings. Most of the
wall paintings make an unequivocal statement about the political orientation
of the liberal Leon.
Outside El Centro, Leon is just another hectic, crowded and dusty Centroamerican
city with little to see or do (too little for the cultural capital of the
country…). All in all, in the afternoon we felt like we had explored
most of the city, and decided to spend the night in Managua.
It took us less than half an hour to realize that trying to navigate after dark in the completely unfamiliar city of Managua had been a bad idea. To begin with, objects, which are commonly used for indicating location, are non-existent. In the capital of Nicaragua, the streets have no names, the buildings have no numbers, and the roads have no signs. The only objects used for giving direction are the landmarks of the city, like, for instance, the central stadium (Nicaraguans love football (soccer)), the Old Cathedral, the New Cathedral or Malecon (the lake-front street).
In such an amazing system getting lost is certainly inevitable. And when
you stop to ask for directions, the real fun begins. Turns out, nobody in
Managua indicates distance by blocs or traffic lights. Instead, you will be
told to drive down the street "for about 5 minutes and then turn left
at the central post office". After 45 minutes of unproductive search
of the post office, you will finally find out that the building you've been
looking for was destroyed by the earthquake and has never been rebuilt :)
It is a very common practice in Managua to use no-longer-existing landmarks
as reference points when giving directions. (That's one of the reasons why
you might want to refrain from night driving - the non-existing buildings
are easier to see in the daylight :))
In case that were not confusing enough, the usage of north, south, east and
west has also been eliminated from the Managuan terminology, and new local
equivalents have been implemented. In Managua, "toward the lake"
means north, "toward the mountains" indicates south, go "up"
or "to the top" means go east, while go "down" or "to
the bottom" means go west.
So, feeling a little lost in Managua? Not a problem, the locals are always there to help you!! Just follow the directions: drive up for about 7 minutes and right behind the central post office (that no longer exists…) turn to toward the lake. Then go straight for another 3 minutes, but make sure you don't pass the yellow house - you have to turn into a little street on the right hand side before you pass the yellow house! The little street is easy to see, there is a pulperia on the corner (a little corner store, present on nearly every corner...). Once on the little street, continue straight for a minute, and you will see the object you are looking for on the left, next to the Pedro's bike repair shop. If you get lost, ask Pedro for directions… Good luck! :)
Hard to believe but after two hours of numerous tries and failures we somehow
managed to finally reach the budget hotel district and… drove straight
into the welcoming arms of a new, still unknown species, the hotel guides
:) "No need to run after our car, and please do not climb inside through
the windows… Thank you, but we must refuse the invitation to stay at
your hotel, and could you please finally stop tossing those promotional leaflets
onto the backseat of the car!…" - none of the arguments seems to
help, and when we finally choose a place to stay, the most aggressive hotel
guides follow us into the hotel lobby trying to drag us out, while the owner
of the hotel is trying to pull us inside… Luckily, the owner of the hotel
won and we stayed inside :) Such was our first encounter with Managua, perhaps
the friendliest city in Central America - everyone has a bed ready for you,
no matter you need it or not! :)
Cick on the pictures to enlarge
|
An ordinary day in Leon
Rytas Leone |
|
Another old town street
Leono senamiescio gatve |
|
Why is it easy to get lost in Central America? Try following the directions! :)
Kodel Centrineje Amerikoje taip lengva pasiklysti? Pameginkite vaziuoti pagal sio zenklo nurodymus :-) |
Be patient, and after several attempts you'll master this intersection.
Bukite kantrus, ir po keliu bandymu sioje sankryzoje pasuksite norima kryptimi. |
So what's the direction to Changuinola?
Tai kaip mums nuvaziuoti i Changuinola? |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
50-oji diena: Tarp ezero ir kalnu
2006 m. kovo 29
Ryte dar karta apziurime visa Leona - lygiai toks pats, kaip vakar... Labai gaila, nes salies kulturos sostineje planavome praleisti zymiai daugiau laiko, o nelabai randame, ka daugiau cia veikti. Bet gi nesedesime vardan sedejimo - apie pietus apsisprendziame daugiau laiko Leon'o kulturos paieskoms nebesvaistyti, ir isvaziuojame i Managua.
Buvome skaite, kad visi Nikaragvos miestai, isskyrus Leon'a, yra gana painus, nes zenklai su gatviu pavadinimais praktiskai neegzistuoja. Sostine Managua buvo pamineta kaip tipiskiausias sio nedidelio nepatogumo pavyzdys. Nors ir ta zinodami, i Managua atvaziavome be baimes - musu nuosirdziausiu isitikinimu, jeigu kas nors laimingai pora dienu pasivazinejo po Meksikos sostine, jau gali nebebijoti jokio didmiescio, nes blogiau uz Meksika siame pasaulye buti negali...
Taigi, kad gali! :) Gal "blogiau" ir nera pats tinkamiausias apibudinimas - pavyzdziui, eismas Managvoje normalesnis, vairuoti siek tiek lengviau. Bet - garbes zodis! - sitas miestas buvo pastatytas zmonems paklaidinti. Pirmiausia, zenklai su gatviu ir kvartalu pavadinimais, keliu numeriai ar nuorodos i pagrindinius miesto objektus - paprasciausiai neegzistuoja, todel reikia daznai stoti ir klausti kelio. Tada paaiskeja, kad miesta atstacius po zemes drebejimo, krypciai nurodyti senbuviai dar ir siandien tebenaudoja po drebejimo nebeatstatytus objektus. Kad nepasirodytu per paprasta, siaures krypti iprasta vadinti "link ezero", pietu - "link kalnu", rytu - "i virsu", o vakaru - "i apacia". Ir pabaigai - atstuma matuoti kvartalais arba sviesoforais - nemadinga! Daug populiariau pasiusti pasiklydusiji "5 minutes tiesiai, iki banko, tada i kaire ir dar 2 minutes tiesiai iki Coca-Colos zenklo".
Taigi, pasiklydote Managvoje?? Nieko tokio, tuoj padesime jums rasti kelia! Vaziuokit apie 7 minutes i virsu ir, is karto uz didziojo centrinio pasto (kurio po zemes drebejimo neliko nei zenklo), pasukite link ezero. Tada dar kokias 3 minutes vaziuokite tiesiai, bet neprivaziuokite geltono namo - turite isukti i maza gatvele desineje dar geltono namo neprivaziave! Mazaja gatvele lengvai atpazinsite, nes ant kampo ties isukimu bus pulperia (mini maisto parduotuvele, kokiu pilna ant kiekvieno kampo). Tada gatvele tiesiai dar 1 minute, ir kaireje, salia Pedro dviraciu taisyklos, rasite tai, ko ieskote. O jei nerasite, uzklauskite Pedro, kur vaziuoti toliau... Sekmes! :)
Savo didziausiam nustebimui, per pora valandu vis tik sugebejom rasti viesbuciu rajona. O ten musu lauke netiketa (netapatinti su maloni!) pazintis su dar neregetos rusies gidais - viesbutiniais. Si susitikima vis tik labiau tikru pavadinti uzpuolimu is pasalu! Vos ivaziavome i "zona hotelera" (viesbuciu kvartala), musu Nissana is visu pusiu apipuole gal 15 labai guviu ir garsiai rekianciu jaunuoliu. Dalis ju kazka labai garsiai aiskino ir periodiskai kumsciais pastuksendavo i galinius masinos stiklus; o tie, kuriems pasiseke uzsiimti geresne pozicija, eme ropstis per priekinius langus tiesiai i masinos vidu. Uz puses minutes musu Nissanas jau skendo "geriausiu miesto viesbuciu" reklaminiu popiergaliu susnyje, o viesbutiniai ir toliau taip nuosirdziai bruko mums tuos popierelius (jei atsisakydavom imti, nutaike momenta mesdavo pro langa gilyn i masinos salona), lyg butu sugalvoje is tu skiauciu suruosti mums simtasluoksni popieriaus guoli.
Sokui atlegus, begame i pirma pasitaikiusi viesbuti - laikas sleptis nuo
naujuju pagalbininku! Viesbutiniai, garsiai reiksdami nusivylima del musu
pasirinkimo, bega is paskos ir bando mus istempti is to viesbucio kiemo. Viesbucio
seimininkas mus tempia atgal... O mes tyliai laukiame, kuri gi puse laimes....
:))
Sako, kad tikras lietuvis kozna svecia sodins uz stalo ir vaisins kuo isgaledamas.
O tikras managvietis, mieli sveteliai, kozna is jusu guldys i lova! Tik ne
i savo, o i kurio nors ispudingo viesbucio, uz ka kita ryta ispudingai susimokesite
:) Kitaip tariant, Managvoje yra nemazai pigiu ir svariu viesbuciu, tik juos
sunkoka rasti; bet dar daugiau yra viesbutiniu, kuriu net ieskoti nereikia
- patys jus susiras. Bekite nuo ju kuo toliau, arba ginkites taip, kaip mokeme
gintis nuo pasienio gidu! :)
