At the Ticabus terminal there was no English spoken but managed to get the right ticket for the next morning no problems - I had to use all the cash on me to pay for the ticket - leaving me with 7 cordobas - 35 cents! Close!

I headed to the hostel Chris recommended which was on the same block as the Ticabus but the next corner.

The place did not have a door or a bell - just a locked large driveway gate with razor wire at the top (you always know you're in a great neighbourhood when you see this!).

I rattled the gate and shouted out 'Hola!' and a lady eventually came out to let me in.

She didn't speak English but was friendly and showed me to my room that was $10 a night equivalent.

I asked her where the ATM was and she gave directions to 2 places telling me one area was safer than the other but then pointed to my little black bag and said - don't take your camera it's not safe.

I decided to go to the more dangerous area as there's a plaza there with shops so something to do to kill time.

The streets around the hostel are dirty, not many gringos about but a few locals are.

I don't feel too on edge but even with daggy clothes on & my hair tucked up into my hat I still get attention from the guys!!! Is there no stopping these latinos?!

In the plaza there's air conditioning! It's blissful relief from the heat outside! There's also plenty of shops to browse & decide to go to a movie - 'Voltare de Inferno' - I knew nothing about it except Nicholas Cage was in the preview poster & it was in English with Spanish subtitiles - yay!

I got my popcorn & drink & headed in to the cinema.  An older couple were asleep in the right side of the back row and another guy sat alone nearer to the front.

I headed to the left hand side back row and took a seat.

The previews were good but dialogue was in Spanish, just the excerpts of the film were in English.

The movie started and noted the English title was 'Drive Angry'.  It was a pretty crazy film straight from the beginning but at least it passed a couple of hours time!

I grabbed a footlong subway for a late lunch & to keep the rest for dinner, seeing I was now paranoid about going out at night. (It tasted similar to home but not quite!).

Got a black take away coffee from a cafe and scalded my tongue and roof of my mouth!  No need to worry about serving it too hot here as probably no enforced public liability laws - not like home or the states!

When I walked back to the hostel there were more gringos about aswell as locals who looked like they'd finished work for the day & headed to the bars for beer!

One such guy hanging near a bar yelled out to me in english to ask where I was from? Are you from the States? Canada? 

'Austraylia!' I corrected him.  (Although mostly I do try to pronounce it clearly here as they say it 'Ow - stra - lee - ahh' and dont understand when I slur it!!!).

Come give me a kiss he yells! I just laughed, shook my head & kept walking ... Faster!

At my hostel I met Aussies Ellis & Bronwyn from Perth who gave me some great travel advice.  Most people seem to head north to south which has been good for me as they can tell me recent tips!

I also met a couple of Canadians who were off to watch hockey & tell me they like Aussies as they cheer them on & prefer us to Americans!

The hostel is run by a family and I tried to tell the daughter in my dodge Spanish that I had to be at the Ticabus at 4am.

I go to bed and after a night of tossing & turning I wake at 3.30am.

Seepless nights seem to be the norm lately ... I may have to take it easy on the coffee as have been hitting it hard again now Im in central America & it tastes better!

I pack up and am ready to leave at 4am.  Nobody's up and all is locked!!!

I knock on a few different doors & eventually wake the mum up who greets me in her gown, eyes half open & hair in every direction!

She lets me out and I walk to the end of the block alone - its still dark & a litle scary! Im mostly scared because last night I read peoples blogs where they (a couple) were staying 2 blocks from the terminal and hired an escort walk them to the terminal as had been advised it was unsafe!!!

I get to the terminal safely & already there's loads of cabbies out front.

I'm looking forward to getting out of the crime ridden cities - 2 more to go after today!

The terminal was filling up - half the passengers foreign, the other half look local.

I check in and wait another hour for the departure.