© Michael Hrncir

So. I don’t understand why all the guidebooks wax lyrical about Granada.

Yes, it is purported to be the oldest city on the American continent, and I guess it has got some kind of colonial charm, but the future of Nicaragua tourism it isn’t. At least, not for me, nor it seems, to the multitude of tourists passing through. I haven’t spoken to a single traveler on the road who has found Granada charming or romantic or befitting any of the purple passages dedicated to it in the guidebooks.

For the record I am comparing notes with both Lonely Planet and Moon Handbooks (because I am a geek that way) and although the Lonely Planet edition was published in October 2006 (later than the Moon Handbooks edition by Joshua Berman and Randy Wood, which was published November 2005), I found Moon Handbooks more up-to-date, and what was especially helpful was the information about transportation from one place to another within the country. I would recommend it to anybody, in addition to www.gotonicaragua.com maintained by the authors. Sure, Lonely Planet has and can afford to have more gossy photographs in their guidebooks but if you are anything like me, you won’t want to see beforehand pictures of places you’re going to go to. I hate seeing pictures of a place before I visit it, because most of the time reality doesn’t match up to the photoshopped image.

However, if you’re not the average traveler and intend to visit less-frequented places like Waspam on the Honduran border or Puerta Cabezas (Bilwi) on the Carribean or any of the places in the NAAN (North Atlantic Autonomous Region) and NAAS (South Atlantic Autonomous Region), I would recommend you buy the respective Lonely Planet chapters. They are more detailed than Moon Handbooks. In fact, the latter doesn’t make much of a mention of them, which is understandable as it is way off the beaten path.

People have drawn comparisons between Granada and Antigua, another colonial town in Guatemala. And I would say it is a fair comparison, except that Granada seems larger and a lot more spacious with broad roads and a couple of big squares. Antigua is smaller and a lot more sheltered, and there is something of the escapist about it. There are also a lot more tourists in Antigua, and thus tourist infrastructure there is a lot more advanced so perhaps that contributed to its almost fairytale-likeness, kind of like a little enclave separated from the real world. It really is a bubble.

Another factor I think is the difference in the weather. Antigua is warm in the day and it can get hot but in the evening it cools down. Granada, on the other hand, is hot hot hot - absolutely sweltering. It won’t matter if your hostel doesn’t have hot water, you won’t want it.

Having said all that though, Granada felt more real, more gritty. It is purported to be one of the most developed tourist destinations in Nicaragua (after San Juan del Sur, probably) but that is saying nothing compared to Antigua, which is a mecca for foreign travelers wanting to learn Spanish. Nicaragua is still less-frequented than its other counterparts in Central America and a lot of its purported attractions aren’t mindblowing because it’s an undeveloped region with a nascent tourism industry (but it is continuously changing - and rapidly, according to the locals). For example, after visiting the Fortaleza La Polvora in Granada, you may have to reconstruct your idea of what a fortress is. I mean it’s pleasant but hardly awe-inspiring.

I’ve only been in Nicaragua for two weeks and I will be here another three more, but already I’ve realised the essence of Nicaragua lies behind its its facade. The romance lies in the revolutionary history behind its walls and the stories of its inhabitants. Nicaragua’s outward beauty is not immediately apparent (for example, Lake Cocibolca doesn’t take your breath away at first sight the way Lake Atitlán in Guatemala does). You will need to have more patience and time here than you would in other countries, but when you find it… it will be worth it.