1 hour late, our bus set off from San Salvador. 10 hours later we arrived in a hostel in Leon, Nicaragua, having successfully negotiated 2 borders but without a dime to our name. Border crossings never seem to be quite as cheap as the guidebook suggests - in this case I imagine the bus company was filling their pockets. However we made it to the random petrol station where we were thrown off the bus (just us 2, in the dark, and not exactly what we had in mind when we bought a ticket to Leon), with $2.45. That seemed to be just enough to persuade the taxi driver to take us somewhere that appears on our map. Found lovely hostel, complete with hammocks, deckchairs, swimming pool. But that could all wait - time for bed, where we lay listening to the gunshot sound of flares being let off, a sound we have now become accustomed to, but hate just as much...