Crossing Into Nicaragua

It was strange and confusing. I caught a bus from Liberia in Costa Rica to the north border and got my stamp out easily enough, but there were no clear directions to the other side. Was it far? Could I walk or did I need to take a cab there? I learned to walk along the road past the truck stop. It led to a bus terminal on the Nicaraguan side a few hundred meters away, but the migration offices were less obvious. After a few minutes, I found them on the other side of the bank building, little booths on the outside. It was handy to have some small US dollars on hand for the entrance fee.

At the terminal, I met a man who told me his NICA bus was going to Granada for a 20USD, which I learned was a normal price for a coach. I handed over my cash but got no ticket, only a baggage claim stub. Worried that I got ripped off, I asked him for it, but he said that was all I needed. It was a long wait while the other passengers crossing with the bus had their passports processed together and I had to endure the pain of the documents being handed back by calling out names into a crowd. It was a nice bus and I got on without ticket issues, but in retrospect, I would look for another bus that was ready to leave immediately. The trip to Granada took about three hours.