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2 days in San Salvador: Old Town & Volcano of El Salvador, El Boqueron Park
After a month in Nicaragua, we take an international bus from Leon to San Salvador (more details here). The trip is very long but at least the seats are comfortable and the border crossing (Nicaragua – Honduras – El Salvador) is rather smooth. We hesitated a lot to stay a little longer in Nicaragua, but we thought it would be better, even if we were there, to visit as many Central American countries as possible. These countries are so geopolitically unstable that it only takes a little trick to make them inaccessible for months or even years. Instead of going directly to one of the beaches of El Salvador, like…
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Prepaid 4G SIM card in El Salvador: How much does it cost? Where to buy it? What speed? Speedtest (2020)
Arrived in El Salvador, we are looking for a SIM card to have Internet Nothing urgent, the SIM offers work in all Central America whatever the country where you bought it (Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica). So Anh can use her Nicaragua card for a few more days while I (JB) use my international Drimsim card. There are 4 telephone operators in El Salvador: Tigo, Claro, Movistar and Digicel. Note that in El Salvador, it is the U.S. dollar that is in circulation. Buy a SIM card at the airport Having arrived by land, we couldn’t see the SIM card offers available at the airport. We will try to find…
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International Bus: from Leon (Nicaragua) to San Salvador (El Salvador): Timetable, Fares
If there are many shuttles proposed by the hostels going from Leon (Nicaragua) to the different beaches in El Salvador, we had a lot of trouble finding buses connecting Leon and San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. There are two companies providing this service: Platinum Tica Bus You will not necessarily see this information on the two respective sites because the buses all leave from Managua and Leon is just a stop on the way. Here are the departure times and fares for November 2019: Platinum : departure around 3am. Arrival around 2pm-3pm. Rates : 50$US Tica Bus: departure around 11am. Arrival around 11 pm. Fares : 45$US The…
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[Travel Guide] Itinerary 19 days in China, from Beijing to Hanoi in Independent (Bus, Train, Plane) – from China to Vietnam
Even if we were not interested in China during our 1st World Tour (in favor of the Philippines), we decided to go there anyway during our 2nd World Tour. Here is the 19 days itinerary that I recommend for China. The idea is to cross China from Beijing to Vietnam. Beijing (3 days) Datong (2 days) Xian (2 days) Zhangjiajie (4 days) Phoenix City (4 days) Yangshuo (2 days) Ghangzhou (1.5 days) Hanoi or Hong Kong & Macau, your choice Comments on the itinerary Everything can be done by train or bus, but I put a few trips by plane (if your finances allow) because I consider this particular train…
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Itinerary 2 months in Central America + Colombia
Here is the itinerary that we plan to do, from Colombia, through Central America, to Mexico, as digital nomads for 5.5 months. If you are on a trip around the world or on vacation, this trip can be done in less than 2 months. Note: we made a 5 month itinerary for South America + Cuba (excluding Colombia) here Comments on the itinerary Here are the countries that we did not include in our trip this time: Costa Rica : too expensive, we’ll prefer to go there when we’re on vacation Honduras: no time, Internet too slow Belize : too expensive Guatemala : not for this year (finally we made…
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Does the N26 card allow access to the Mastercard Airport Lounges?
Recently, on a Facebook group of travelers, a person presented what seemed to be an excellent plan: with an N26 black card, one could access free of charge the Mastercard lounge areas at the airport. Mastercard has more than 1000 airport lounges around the world where you can wait comfortably for your flight while enjoying a buffet and a good glass of wine. It sounded too good to be true (access to airport lounges are usually charged around 40 euros per person vs. 10 to 17 € per month for the N26 card for unlimited access, …). Information taken, it isn’t possible. Either the person in question was lucky, or…
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Practical Travel Guide 2020: Transportation in Nicaragua (Chicken bus, Microbus, Shuttles, …)
Nicaragua is a country where the majority of its inhabitants travel by local transport. They are very cheap and allow you to reach the whole country without difficulty. There are also private transportation such as cabs, private shuttles or international bus companies. The latter are more expensive but can save you a lot of time. Let’s go for a little practical guide! Local transportation tips and tricks In the majority of the buses, you will find a driver and a “cobrador”. It is the latter who is on the side of the road, shouting out the cities where the bus stops, telling the driver when to stop and asking you…
- America, Around the world, Country Guides, Digital nomad, During the World Tour, Nicaragua, TDM, Tips
Being Digital Nomad in Nicaragua (Managua, Granada, Leon): Reviews & Speedtests
If you have followed us on the blog, you can see that this year we have chosen the two “dangerous” (in the collective imagination) of Central America to spend the fall: Nicaragua and El Salvador. These two countries are often avoided by tourists crisscrossing Central America (who visit Guatemala and then hop, hop, hop, go directly to Costa Rica). I admit (and I wish to be honest with you), the idea of going there scared me too. I already imagined blocked roads, stray bullets, civil war. Without the very reassuring advice and feedback from Lauriane, an expat who has been living in Central America for 2 years, I wouldn’t even…
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Getting to and from Nicaragua by Land
The Nicaragua borders Costa Rica to the south and Honduras to the north. It is possible to enter and leave Nicaragua from both countries. There are 2 border posts in the south: – Penas Blancas– San Carlos / Los Chiles And 3 border posts in the north:– Guasaule (Somotillo)- El Espino-Las Manos Arriving in Nicaragua, customs formalities You will first have to go to the customs post of exit from Honduras or Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, you will have to pay a land exit tax of US$10, which you can pay at the bus terminals in San José or directly at the border. Afterwards, you will be able to…
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León (Nicaragua): the city of students
After 2 weeks in Granada, we move to spend 2 weeks in Leon, 2h30 drive away. Leon is a colonial city even more lively than Granada, it is here that thousands of students come to study. As usual, practical advice can be found at the end of the article. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Granada – Leon in shuttle We could have made the trip by public transportation (134 cordobas = 33 cordobas to Managua, then 71 cordobas by expreso (it is an air-conditioned bus that does not stop on the way to pick up clients, it leaves when it is full) to Leon,…
