I arrived at the Costa Rican / Nicaraguan border town of Penas Blancas (te he!) and the nice lady riding next to me held up her passport to give me a heads up that we'd arrived.

The money changers were 15 deep at the door of the bus and hounding us as we walked through to get out luggage from under the bus.

I grabbed my bag and probably took out a few of them swinging it onto my back!

I headed off in the direction I thought passport control was, and continued to be harassed by different people along the way ... I wasn't even sure what most of them wanted but just said no anyway ...

I'd read someones blog the day before and it forewarned that people try to sell you the customs forms when they're free and available at the counter.

A man came up to me and was waving some at me and I'm still repeating over & over, 'No gracias!'.

And he says no they're free take them.

I do and wonder what the catch is?

He then points me in the right direction for immigrations and leaves me be.

Wow - something for free!

I get into the immigration office and another nice local from the bus points me to the right line. I fill out the form while we wait, get my stamp and head off strolling round the building looking for the loo (remember 5 hour non stop bus ride previous!).

The money changers spot me and say, 'No, Nicaragua is that way!'.

'Gracias, pero donde esta el bano?' I say.

They point me in the direction of the toilet.  Grateful I let him change my Costa Rican Colones (1500) to Nicaraguan Cordobas (40).  Not the best exchange rate but was only our equivalent of $3!

He tells me to keep 100 to pay for the bathroom - how nice of him to let me know :-)

I use the bathroom then head for the frontier and stroll the kilometer into Nicaragua.  

I'm greeted by a man who wants to give me a cab ride so walks with me and points me to the right building then to the right line to get my entry stamp.

I pay my entry fee (I think $9?) & get my stamp but dont like the price of the cab ($25).

I hit up some other foreigners nearby to see if theyre also going to San Juan Del Sur?  They are but already have 5 people.  I leave them to get a bus instead and leave my guy with them to negotiate a price for a cab.

I stop at duty free!  First one I've noticed at a border crossing and stop in to purchase another memory card.

I then head out looking for the buses and pay another $1 tax ... 

A young guy approaches me and offers to drive me to San Juan Del Sur.  I end up negotiating it to $15 so take it as couldn't see the bus anyway & it wouldn't have been direct.

We head off for the 45 minute drive and he stops for me to take photos as we pass the 2 beautiful volcanoes that make up Ometepe Island.

We get to San Juan Del Sur and there's no accommodation at the first place he drops me, or the second!  A little nervous I pay him and throw my bag on my back to wander round & find somewhere.

My third place, Hostel Emperanza, had only a double room available, no dorm, but negotiated it down to $20 instead of $25 since it was just me.

I dropped my stuff & headed off for a walk to see how long I wanted to stay for, dependent on my feel of the place & what activities they offered.

I found quite a few places that offered surfing lessons and transport, and also stopped off at the popular beachside Iguana Bar to have a think about it and use their free wifi.

I decided to stay 2 nights & take the San Juan Del Sur Sport & Surf day trip to Playa Hermosa (ok mostly because that's where they filmed Survivor and wanted to check it out!).

Later that afternoon I did the 1.5 hour power yoga class at the Buena Vista Fitness Club.

Pregnant Julie was taking the class & she strolled around and made us work damn hard! Countless chatarunga poses (lowering yourself from a plank & hovering just above the floor in 'Crocodile') had me wondering if my arms would work in the morning for the surf lesson?!  

It also wasn't the coolest spot and my mat was soaked with sweat as if we were doing Bikram yoga class - yuk!

I finished feeling good though and still had use of my arms.  I listened to another American girl tell the instructor about some 'acroyoga' she does at home (a combination of acrobatics & yoga), as she was looking for someone to 'play with' (?!). It did sound fun so going to check it out when I get home :-)

That night at the hostel all seemed to be in familiar cliques so didn't get chatting to anyone.  I instead took myself out for a delicious dinner at Barrio Cafe & used their free wifi for entertainment.

The next day I had a light breakfast at the Barrio Cafe (first place with soy milk I've found for a while), and got chatting to the yoga instructor from El Camino Del Sol who was trying to drum up business.  

Interestingly she told me of how international instructors use the facility to host their yoga retreats (must remember that if I ever get into teaching!).

She left & was replaced from a Newcastle girl who I chatted with for a bit but had to leave quickly as service was slow & I was running late to meet my surf trip!

I arrived at the shop & waited about half hour ... True Nica (Nicaraguan) style!

Thankfully they'd also signed up more for the trip & all hopped into the ute to head for the beach.

Up front was driver Luis and typical chilled out looking San Franciscan, Tobias.  In the back with me was typical LA cool Sarah, sporting hot pink hair and a body covered in tattoos (as nasty as it sounds she looked fab!), and on the otherside of me was fast talking New Yorker, Leah.

Riding in the ute tray was Leah's friend Kat, Sarah's boyfriend Jake, and our 2 instructors Sowool (probably spelt completely wrong!) &  Danny (or Daddy Yankee (a Reggaeton singer) as Sowool was paying out on him & calling him).

It was interesting group - 3 of them were involved with film & television in some way - the LA folks were a camerawomen & lighting man and Kat a location scout who travels the world to do just that - how freaking awesome a job that would be!

The remainder of our jobs paled in comparison and are too boring to share!

Playa Hermosa was pretty although may have been beautiful had it not been an overcast day.

They were in the process of building a rustic looking surf school and accommodation - the place was looking good already with thatch roofed huts (apparently leftovers from Survivor set), hammocks and bamboo showers.

Sowool & Danny took us down to the beach to begin the lesson.

First they had us doing a 5 minute series of warm up exercises and then we went back over the basics again, using surfboard lines drawn in the sand.

This was good to cover again but the boys English was not perfect so our lesson ended up being in Spanglish with all of us only knowing a little of each others language.

All went well though & we headed out to the surf to put it to the test.  The guys helping us get the waves by giving our boards a push as we paddled to catch them.

Thankfully I was better then my previous (2nd lesson) and was up straight away ... I still need a lot of practice to getting to that point quickly, paddling & wave selection but think I'm getting it!

We spent the day having a go then resting for a bit and I was happy that by the end I'd had a chance a few times to practice turning the board in the wave.

I was covered in bruises again looking like I'd been wrestling the board and even sporting scrapes from the fins!  Fortunately though no sunburn as the day had mostly remained overcast.

I rode back to town in the back of the ute - such a nice way to ride & am going to miss it when I get home!

I arranged to meet Sarah, Jake, Tobias for dinner.

We met at Barrio Cafe for a drink first then headed down to the waterfront to a seafood restaurant. 

Good food & good company ensued.

After dinner Jake & Sarah headed home. Sarah and I organised to meet for yoga in the morning and the others for breakfast.

Tobias and I went to the Iguana Bar and met up with our surf instructors, Danny & Sowool.

We had a great night out joking & laughing with them, heading onto Blackwell Bar later in the night.

I ended up getting home late & hungover so didn't make it to meet Sarah at Yoga.

I did a walk up to the top of the hill beside the bay instead to take photos, then after met the others for breakfast.

I left them to do another day of surfing and i gathered my things & headed for the bus to Rivas.  I was pursuaded by cabbie Douglas to go with him, negotiating him down to $10, but that then meant I had to share the cab & we picked up & dropped off every man & his dog along the way!

From Rivas to San Jorge we were on our own & Douglas decided to introduce himself & get chatting to me ...

He was 32 and a local, asked me all about myself (the usual which country you from, where you going, where you been) and then asked for my email address!

I just laughed and said no!

He'd originally said something about the ferry arriving at a certain time & that's why I should get the cab over the bus, but of course he'd been lying as had an hour wait ... Or perhaps even the guy at the cafe was lying & told me that to get business while I waited?! One can't trust anyones advice around here!