This morning was our last for Nica breakfast. Being in an area with a lot of tobacco growers one of the big industries Esteli is cigar manufacturing. We wanted to go a visit a Tabacaria but we didn't want one of the prepacked tours so part of our afternoon yesterday was spent researching for where to go. The guy at our hostel also recommended a place in town which we found on Google maps and walked there. Then we realised that there was no cigar factory at the listed address. Instead we asked around, got directions and eventually walked for another 20 minutes before being at the gate of what was definitely a cigar factory. Only problem was that the guard didn't want to let us in. No visitors at all but he gave us directions for another place in town and we walked there - same story.
In the end we went back to the hostel, asked our guy there for more directions, had a small note with the name and address and took a taxi which dropped us off at the exact same spot as we were an hour earlier. Except this time we noted that there was a small place saying Tabacaria but the same story again. The guard didn't want to let us in. On the way there in the taxi Mikkel had spotted another Tabacaria at the main road so we did just do one last try by walking there and much to our surprise they let us in.
It was a small shop employing around 30 women and 10 men but we got to see the production of cigars and chat a bit with the workers. After 20 minutes on the guys showed us to their "walk in humidor" and showed us the finished product and Mikkel got to by a pack of local Esteli cigars. Sometimes it pays off to be persistent. We headed back to the hostel, packed our stuff, left it in the locker and went out for a bit of lunch before going to the bus station and our last ride to Managua. When we passed the cigar factory it looked completely closed - maybe for lunch. Sometimes its nice to be lucky. We had the express bus to Managua and were at our hostel after about 2 hours.
One of the big malls in Managua was just around the corner, so we went there to pick up some flip flops for Malene and to spend our last Cordobas. They had a shop that sold Reef flip flops and a huge selection so when we left we were stocked up on several pairs of flip flops. Ready for the beaches in Thailand. We bought a bit of bread and cream cheese in the supermarket for dinner and went back to the hostel, repacked everything for our long journey to Thailand starting tomorrow.
In the end we went back to the hostel, asked our guy there for more directions, had a small note with the name and address and took a taxi which dropped us off at the exact same spot as we were an hour earlier. Except this time we noted that there was a small place saying Tabacaria but the same story again. The guard didn't want to let us in. On the way there in the taxi Mikkel had spotted another Tabacaria at the main road so we did just do one last try by walking there and much to our surprise they let us in.
It was a small shop employing around 30 women and 10 men but we got to see the production of cigars and chat a bit with the workers. After 20 minutes on the guys showed us to their "walk in humidor" and showed us the finished product and Mikkel got to by a pack of local Esteli cigars. Sometimes it pays off to be persistent. We headed back to the hostel, packed our stuff, left it in the locker and went out for a bit of lunch before going to the bus station and our last ride to Managua. When we passed the cigar factory it looked completely closed - maybe for lunch. Sometimes its nice to be lucky. We had the express bus to Managua and were at our hostel after about 2 hours.
One of the big malls in Managua was just around the corner, so we went there to pick up some flip flops for Malene and to spend our last Cordobas. They had a shop that sold Reef flip flops and a huge selection so when we left we were stocked up on several pairs of flip flops. Ready for the beaches in Thailand. We bought a bit of bread and cream cheese in the supermarket for dinner and went back to the hostel, repacked everything for our long journey to Thailand starting tomorrow.
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| Last stop for old shorts |
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| Monday morning and the fruit sellers are "open" |
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| Going to the market |
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| Finally a cigar factory |
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| "The guy who ensures that the raw cigars are ok" |
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| Raw cigars |
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| The finished product |
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| Fast fingers |
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| Raw materials for cigars |
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| Inside the holiest of holy - the walk-in-humidor |
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| Deal done |
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| Last bus ride in Central America |
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| Ready for extra passengers |
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| Heading for Managua |
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| Strange feeling we've been here before.... |
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| SHOPPING |
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| Last beer in Central America |
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