WHetting your WHistle in CA!

Central American Beer & Spirits!

             The first thing thing that needs to be said about this section is that for all you beer snobs out there, you will be sadly mistaken at your choices here! You won't find IPA's, Hefeweizen, or distinctive ale's but what you will find is drinkable, refreshing beer that will go down easy while you relax. Remember...you ARE in a place of beauty with turquoise waters and white sand beaches! 

            Another thing to remember is what spirits are big here; you are in the land of rum! Rum is KING! and the rum is delicious! So that being said here are our thoughts on the alcohol choices in Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, and of course Costa Rica.

Honduras:

             All four of the beers that are domestic in Honduras are pale lagers, and typically have an alcohol level around 4%. This first one gets a lot of advertisement from its dancing ladies and by sponsoring parties but don't be fooled by that-Barena is down right lousy! (I have to add this in-as the Girlfriend I quite liked Barena, I found it light and refreshing with a piece of lime or lemon!) In fact, of the four, its the worst for flavour and price. It comes in clear, classy bottle with palm trees. I would say it is on par with a Bud Light, maybe, on a good day. It has very little flavour and is quiet pricey within the country. I was fooled by it a few times but only drink it if there is nothing else. Next one up is... Port Royal! This beer comes in green bottles to hide the true nature of it. I have to say that it is better than Barena because it has flavour, albeit bad, but there is something there. It, like Barena, has a nice logo reminding you that you are in the tropics and can sacrifice on taste. Port Royal is about the same price as Barena, and almost exclusively drunk by tourists. It has a faint hint of hops but not really enough to enjoy, in fact most locals seem to think its quit skunky. 

              The next one up is not bad, its Imperial. Do not confuse this with the Costa Rican Imperial, they are two different beasts. Imperial is a little pricey in Honduran terms but it tastes quite nice. Its a real average beer but if you have tried the other two you will be happy with average. If you are only going to drink one beer with dinner I might even list this as the highest but lets be honest... are you really going to have just one? So the winner is... Salva Vida!

            Don't get your hopes up because this still isn't great but its super cheap, drank by everyone, and is great to drink on the beach. Again it tastes like a cheap beer in the states but this beer isn't offensive like some of the others, it can be bought at stores for around $3 a six pack or no more than $2 a bottle at restaurants. You can get American beers in grocery stores, I saw them sell PBR and Stroh's on separate occasions and to my surprise they were the cheapest. 

              So lets move onto spirits shall we...! You can find vodka, whiskey, and tequila here but remember the rum will be the best and most affordable. As far as rum goes you can get all the major brands like Bacardi, Mount Gay, or Captain Morgans but try something new. Plata is the first one that you might come across. It's light and goes with any cocktails you might want but I would't sip on it. It is also very reasonably priced. Next up.. Ron Carlos.. aka Dirty Ron. This little number will get you drunk for $5 and thats about it. It's drinkable and if you are making drinks it's just fine. It was my most consumed rum while in Honduras! Pirates Grog is a rum that is made on the island, and is very nice. It is being marketed to other parts of the world last I heard and it is sort of a craft rum. Finally the most dangerous.. Aristocrat 151.. aka Blackout! At $4 a bottle this is a steal, it's not nice but it's the most bang for your buck. It is hard to find and it is used by more than a few bar tenders to light the bar on fire! Other spirits you will find are typical whiskey/tequila's/vodka but there is one vodka we found that cost $2.50 for a 750ml. I cant remember the name though. So that does it for Honduras, there are plenty of choices so try a few and see what you think. 

              Another choice if you are on the islands is Guifiti, its rum mixed with herbs and roots from the jungle, then left in the sun for a week or two, then its ready. Apparently it has special powers that give men... a little extra strength...! It is safe to drink and a story to tell, most bartenders have a bottle tucked away so feel free to ask.

Nicaragua:

Nicaragua has beer and rum just like everyone else but they might have the best rum in the region. Flor de Caña is their rum of choice. Its cheap and its very good. It comes in a variety of blends but is typically sold in 4, 5, or 7 year ages. The more aged they were the better but to my non rum connoisseur tongue, they were the same. We bought 4 litres for $36 at the border, its not much more once inside the country. I highly recommend trying this. Next up on the beer is Toña... 
not much can be said about this other than it is cheap. It is a really light beer made for easy drinking on a hot beach. We drank it while we were there but I wouldn't buy it anywhere else. The other choice we saw was Victoria, I found it a touch better than Toña. Both are beers that are nice if they are ice cold on a hot day. Maybe stick to rum here as it was the best.

Costa Rica:

              Costa Rica is an interesting country within Central America. It is expensive.. similar prices to USA or Canada. Its about $1 a can in a store. All the alcohol here is going to be expensive so hit up duty free on the way in. 

             Once there you have a few beer choices: Imperial, Rock Ice, Pilsen, and Bohemia. There are a few microbrews in the area but I don't recall enough about them to give an honest opinion. 

              First on the agenda is Imperial; it is the beer of Costa Rica. It comes in 3 different styles: Silver, Light, and regular. I'm not sure what is going on with Silver but it wasn't particularly nice, kinda sweet. The light is lighter than regular but I preferred the regular, it's not too bad. It does have flavour which will come as a surprise after the rest of the countries on here. Next is Rock Ice, it comes in different flavours including michelada (lime&salt), don't buy them if you don't have to! This is by far the worst we had while in CR. Bohemia is what I drank the most of, its cheap, in a can, and doesn't leave an offensive taste. Finally there is Pilsen, this was my favourite to drink, maybe because of the other choices... but is very drinkable with strong taste. It will cost the same as Imperial. If you are like me you might not have known what michelada is. It is beer and a glass of ice with a small amount of lime in the bottom with salt on the rim. Its very popular there, it also keeps your beer cold. Give it a shot, I did, and that was the only shot it got! 

               Costa Rica also makes a special rum: Cacique-Guaro. Its very sweet and made from local sugar cane. Shots of it are cheap because it is local. The cool thing about it is that you can light it on fire and it improves the flavour immensely. Locals told me that it makes you hallucinate.. I never had that happen but I did drink a bit of it. Its a good thing to try since you are there and won't try it once you go home, its safe to drink, its not some crazy moonshine!

Belize:

               Last on the list is Belize. Their national beer is Belikin, brewed in the capital right next to the airport. It has a few different styles like Imperial but must were not to my liking. I did however like the stout, it was tasty. They also make a regular that is most common but this country really had the worst beer. Barrel One was a rum they made which was ok, if you mix the rum with the beer it makes them both quit enjoyable!

Getting through Central America Unscathed!

IT'S A ROUGH AND TREACHEROUS ROAD...

But oh so worth it for the Adventure!

             Having lived and travelled through parts of Central America, there are a few things we wished were written down a little more and shared with the travelling World. CA unlike South East Asia is not as tourist friendly and does not have all travel plans handed to you on a not-so-clean silver platter! It makes you think a little more, which to us...is the best way of traveling!

               The next few posts are going to be our stories, our advice and our travel tips to help you get from a few Point A's to a Point B's. 

HONDURAS TO COSTA RICA

Step 1: Roatan to Tegucigalpa

              Upon leaving the Island of Roatan, there is one main ferry service that is available - Roatan Ferry. Click here for schedules etc (http://www.roatanferry.com/). It will take you to the town of La Ceiba, this is the portal for buses to all your destinations around Honduras. 

         We opted to take the Cristina bus to Tegucigalpa. It was definitely the cheapest option, and if you ask any taxi driver they will take you over to the bus terminal to catch the bus. We left our bags at the terminal whilst we walked around the town and got some breakfast and some flip-flops. If you have had your fill of baleadas and are after some Western food, don't fret! There's KFC and Pizza Hut galore all close by. Make sure you leave your bags in a secure place or trust a security guard to keep an eye on them! The bus does stop from time to time for food and to pick/drop off passengers but still bring food and drinks since it can be a few hours between stops.

          Also there is no drinking alcohol on the bus for Religious reasons so just be aware of that!

           The total for the whole trip to Tegucigalpa for the 2 of us was USD $25!

Now, as we were pulling into Tegucigalpa we had absolutely NO idea of what to do or where to stay and it was getting dark so we were a little dubious as to what to do!

        We were lucky we had the laptop and the internet stick with us so we whipped it out and did some googling! We researched where to get the bus the next day from to Nicaragua, hoping there would be taxi drivers once we arrived to take us to a hotel near the bus station. What we read did not please us much! We learned that we would be dropped off in the part of town called Comayaguela, which is THE bad part of Tegucigalpa. 
         We actually got pretty lucky because we were able to get a cab to take us to a hotel called Las Periñas a few streets away from the Tica bus stop. I would not recommend exploring this part of town! There was a chinese restaurant across the street from us so we got a few meals to go along with our Salva Vidas and ran back to the hotel, with the doorman keeping an eye on us the whole time! The hotel itself was more of a prison since it had a few layers of bullet proof glass, dead bolts, and bars. It only cost about $12 though and we woke up the next morning safe and sound!

Step 2: Tegucigalpa to Managua

            We woke up in the morning, grabbed some more beers and snacks, then headed to the bus terminal. It was good that we stayed nearby because the bus left fairly early in the morning. Once aboard the bus we were able to get comfy and relax until the border, it was a good thing that we had food and drinks because we didn't stop until the border. Once at the border it's time to get your passports out along with money for entrance and exit fees. When we left Honduras it cost us $3 each and it cost $7 to enter Nicaragua. At the border you can change money if you want, be wary if you don't know the conversion rates or Spanish. They also have food and drinks for sale. At this time we had gotten thirsty so we introduced ourselves to Tona, the beer of Nicaragua!
           It was amazing how much changed once we entered Nicaragua, the prices were about the same but it was much cleaner and felt safer. The bus didn't stop again until Leon, where we let out passengers. I don't know much about Leon since we kept going but from what I read after, I wish we had explored it. Back on the bus we headed to the capital, Managua.

           We didn't arrive until late afternoon and we were tired from traveling. The bus drops you off at their station in a quiet part of town. Tica has an adjoining hotel at the station which were easy, affordable, and clean. There is food in little stands around the station. There was other accommodation but since we were passing through we just found a bed and fell straight asleep. They will even come and wake you up for your bus the next day!

Step 3: Managua to Costa Rica

          The bus we took leaving Managua left very early so again it was nice to be staying so close. The bus took us to the Costa Rican boarder before we finally stopped. The border crossing was similar to the Honduras/Nicaragua border as you have the same services. It cost us $2 to exit Nicaragua, but what we didn't know is that in order to enter Costa Rica you need proof that you will be leaving. Tica bus was more than happy to sell us open ended tickets for proof of further travel. At the border there are money changers again and stands selling food. I recommend hitting the duty free store at the border because you will be extremely surprised as to how expensive Costa Rica is!
         We had bought original tickets to San Jose but we realised looking at the map that that was way out of our way. The next bus stop that you have is Liberia. Tgey have a stop right next to McDonalds, which is where we got off. Liberia is a cross roads for those heading onto San Jose or headed to the coastal towns. Tamarindo is the main town near there onthe coasy. We made our way to the bus station which was just around the corner and looked for the bus to take us there. Tickets were $2 for chicken bus but didn't leave until late at night and seeing as how we just missed the one before we were stuck for a while. We were able to get a man to drive us for $30. All in all the bus from Tegucigalpa to Liberia cost $46 each. The bus was clean and comfy but very cold. Bring a blanket or sweatshirt, maybe socks. Bring food and drinks on the bus because it might take a while between stops. Also bring a bit of cash to pay the fees, overall though it was a lot of fun and not too hard to do.

 

Bits and Bobs Everyone wished they knew!

The conversion rate that we used while we were there was:

(give or take a few pennies!)

RPH10,000-AUS$1

RPH11,500- US$1

RPH18,000- UK£1

            I’m sure that the currency exchanges have all changed since we were last there but that should give you a rough estimate. The best currency converter website we recommend is http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/ . When changing money there are signs saying they exchange all over, but your best bet is to exchange in a bank or a money exchange business. I would avoid using a street converter with a hand written sign out front, as they tend to add a rather generous ‘service charge’ to their rates. However the establishments with the fixed sign outside are usually dependable.  The airport also has currency exchange services, or you can even ask your bank at home before you leave. USD and AUD is not commonly accepted especially outside of the major tourist areas.  RPH with tears in it is not accepted by many businesses so watch out for that. In small villages the owners may not have change… we found this especially true in the north, you can still buy their stuff but you will be giving them a tip every time. I recommend that you carry small notes unless you don’t mind paying extra (sometimes double)!

            Other bits and bobs… you can buy sunblock at stores but it is very expensive, so bring your own if you have the opportunity. Aloe Vera and any after sun treatments were expensive. Lotions, shampoos, and conditioners were expensive as well.

            Razor heads, hair removal cream, nail polish, make up, getting pampered, massages, and haircuts were all cheap though. *WARNING* a $3 ladies haircut is going to look like a $3 ladies haircut!

            If you smoke you will be pleasantly surprised by the prices, its $1.50-$2.00 per pack and you can find most popular brands. Smoking in bars and restaurants is not permitted. If you smoke rolling tobacco, bring filter tips; they are nowhere to be found on the island, although papers and rolling tobacco are sold in mini marts.

            Whilst out Wining and Dining, be aware of the 10% service charge and tax, some places include it in the price listed whilst some add it to the final bill. If you a person that leaves a tip, this 10% is sufficient, it will not be seen as rude if you don’t leave more.

            When entering Bali, they have strict policies on medicine and drugs. There have been a lot of stories recently of people being charged with bringing narcotics into the country; my advice is it is not worth it. Look at the sentencing’s that have been handed out, they range from the firing squad or life in prison to simple 10 year convictions- they are very strict on the matter. Over the counter medicine is ok as with prescriptions, although you might save a headache if you bring your doctors note.

            Check the up to date laws on the quantities of regulated items brought into the country before you travel.

            I would advise looking up any rules and regulations before entering the country, no matter where you go and try to use a government website, not just a travel website. We’ll try to keep this blog updated with these as much as we can.
             There is also a exit fee at the airport... RPH150,000 so don't spend all your money before you leave!

  

Extending your tourist Visa in Bali

             When you enter Bali you must pay a fee for a one-month tourist visa at the airport. It costs US$25. That gives you 30 days upon entry; if you decide to stay you can extend without leaving the island. We thought that this would be difficult but found it very easy. 

           The Office you want to extend your Visa is on Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai in between Kuta and the airport on the west side and next to a gas station (we are looking for the address as we spent a long time looking for the wrong place! Sorry for the vague instructions!) On the first day you show up to the immigration office, be sure to bring your passport. You will also need to make copies of the page that your passport was stamped in on and also the photo page of your passport. They have a photocopying place next door to the office though so don’t be worried if you can’t find somewhere to go. You will also need to fill out some paperwork. The paperwork is easy enough, the only thing that might trip you up is that it asks for your sponsor, this section doesn’t need to be filled out if you are extending just one month. The only other thing that you must bring is copies of your departure tickets, these are easy to get as you can just book the flights without actually paying for them and printing off the booking page. 

           So once all of these things are done you take a ticket number, and wait in line! Once your number is called, you go to the desk and hand in the folder they have given you and they replace it with a receipt and a date for you to return. Usually it is 3 days later. At the end of your first day you will have turned in your passport, copies of your passport and onward journey, and a basic questionnaire.

            When you return the next time, you must sit in the waiting area until your number is called again. At that point you go to the little window and pay your extension fee, RPH250,000. They only accept cash so make sure you have some. Once this is done you will be handed another receipt with another date to come back and collect your passport. We were told to come back in 3 working days. On the next visit you come back to wait in the line again until you are called, you then collect your passport and are free to go with your new 30 day visa. We were told that it can be expedited but we were never given that option. There are also Travel/Tour agencies that will do this whole show for you but they will charge you an extortionate amount on top and it still takes the same amount of time, but is less hassle for the traveller who has the money to do so. We extended only once but we heard that you could extend it a few times, however we read that it could only be done that one time.    

A small town on the East Coast-Sanur

          Sanur is located on the east side of Denpasar. It is on the coast and maybe twenty minutes away from the airport if there is no traffic. If you are a backpacker and don’t know where to stay or go get dropped off at the McDonalds on the main intersection. Once there you are on the main road to the beach and also where the “Homestays” are. Mc D’s also has the internet so you can get an idea of some of the places that you want to look at. Remember to bargain when going to the Homestays’, most of them will give good deals if you are staying a few nights or even better if you stay a week or more. Lily Pond was a very nice place to stay; it has a pool with rooms that have A/C or fans. If you want a budget room there it’s advised to book ahead of time since it is a popular place.  We stayed at Bali Sweet Homestay, we were charged RPH120,000 and were served coffee and a light breakfast each morning. The room was very nice with private shower and television. They also had free wireless Internet.

Sanur is much more laid back than Kuta but it still has the street vendors, restaurants, and lodgings. The beach is pleasant but you wont find much surfing so stick to sunbathing and beach volleyball. As mentioned before, there are some wonderful places to eat, and always-reasonable prices. The local Warungs each had there own specialties but we recommend The Bali Pub, Warung Kembang, and Mona Lisa. There is a Hardy’s on the main street in Sanur, there you can buy anything that you need. We got tired of the same food all the time so we would get stuff to make salads and sandwiches. You can also check out the night market, they have food, trinkets and DVD’s there; I wasn’t really that impressed. Especially when on a few occasions we got the same food as a local and were charged more than them!

           

             The beaches are nice to relax on but if you are tired of the sand and salt water there are pools all along the beachfront. The resorts own them but you can go in and get a few beers and relax by the pool... 

We spent many of our days doing this! 

            If you want to go diving I recommend going and staying in the north for a few days, kind of breaking up your vacation. The dive shops in the south drive up to the north to do a lot of their diving and it takes a few hours to get there. We thought that Sanur was a good middle place for day trips-it’s close to Kuta, Ubud, and not too far from the north.