Driving along the tracks at the foot of the volcano we stopped to ask a couple of guys the way. They turned out to be guides waiting for a bus of tourists and one of them offered to come with us but we settled for some directions instead, safe in the knowledge that a path existed, although difficult to follow. After some interesting detours the landyable track finally expired and we struck upwards on foot through the undergrowth. After about 20 minutes of fighting through the arid scrub we found a gulley of volcanic rock, inhabited by a rather unfriendly yellow snake which T almost trod on. After an hour more of scrambling upwards in the heat we were close to the summit with great views of the bay, but mingingly covered in strange seeds and spines which irritated the skin badly. Eventually the vegetation became totally impassable so we turned back, still none the wiser as to the whereabouts of the path.

Retrieving the landy from its parking place we drove back to the old capital, Leon. Its a pleasant colonial town and is considered to be Nicaragua's intellectual centre but it still bears the scars of heavy fighting during the revolution. We were surprised to discover Wednesday night is party night in Leon so we checked out the busy disco before driving out of town and camping in a quiet field. Sleep was foreshortened once again when the farmhands woke us up before dawn, wondering what such a strange vehicle was doing on their land. They didn't seem overly impressed with our explanations and sent the only uniformed person they could find, a Pepsi delivery driver, to hang around until we packed up the tent and headed off to the beach at Poneloya to watch a beautiful sunrise.

After breakfast on the beach we made a quick adjustment to the roofrack which had been shoved forward by the Mog in Honduras. As there were no waves we went back to Leon and happened to bump into a poet doris we'd met the night before and we chatted over a coffee as she wrote us some wicked poems and arranged to meet the next day. Back at the landy we found that someone had forced the passenger window open and pinched a bag of european coins we used to give to kids. Fortunately nothing more important was missing, so we found a guarded carpark and went out. Thursday night wasn't party night.

Next day the poet doris took us to the Mausoleo Heroes y Martires which has many displays of Nicaraguan folklore plus some pics of the war. She turned out to be an excellent guide and we learned a lot in a few hours.

With a present of some tasty Nicaraguan coffee from poet doris's parents ranch in Matagalpa, we made a quick trip to Managua accompanied by fantastic views of the volcanic landscape as the sun was setting. Arriving after dark and a lot of landying about the signless city, we found a hotel for $4 each a night and went out for a few quiet beers...

Managua sits beside Lake Nicaragua, which is larger than the whole of El Salvador. Its a bit of a strange city as it dosn't seem to have a centre. Two areas have big modern shoppping centres surrounded by wooden and tin houses which claim to be the centre. We wanted to keep up the culture drive but the Ruben Dario Theatre and National Museum were both closed, so we checked out the local market instead where we met a few interesting characters. Saturday night saw us hit the town with some new friends and a couple of bottles of the excellent Flor de Cana rum.