In moving from Leon to Granada we made the choice to use the public transport for the first time in the region to make a long journey. Up to this point, going by advice from others, shuttles were definitely the best way to go for foreigners with luggage, through Guatemala and El Salvador, but heading further into Nicaragua the public transport is more "western friendly". Using the public buses was surprisingly straight forward and uneventful and we ended up making it to our destination at a fraction of the cost of a shuttle.

Our short stay in the town of Granada was punctuated by a late day trip to Apoyo Lagoon. We managed to misinterpret the instructions on how to get there, which meant a lot more walking than we anticipated. By the time we had to get out of there we were either going to need a taxi or try hitchhiking back to Granada. Luckily for us, a car full of backpackers stopped and let us climb into a car that only had one spare seat. With Sonja laying across a bunch of strangers we made the uncomfortable journey back.