Today we’re in Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua. Cathy’s firmly convinced she told me to book the shorter trip, but I don’t know that I agree with her memory, and so we were once again booked on a fairly long excursion. Today it’s Leon Viejo and Colonial Leon with Lunch. Once again, you start out with a fairly long bus ride, and I have to admit, at times we ended up somewhat napping on the bus. From what I did see, I don’t know that we really missed a whole lot in the way of a view. First stop for us was Leon Viejo, which is the ruins of the what had been the second oldest city in Nicaragua, and eventually was covered up with ash by the volcano Momotombo. 
I’ve seen it billed in some places as the “Pompeii of Central America”. I’ve got to be honest, while it was interesting in a way, any comparisons to Pompeii are vastly overblown. I’ve been to Pompeii, and this isn’t in the same league. If you’ve never been to a place like Pompeii, or are really fascinated by ruins, you might find it interesting. But to be honest, I was somewhat underwhelmed by it. Most of what remains are fairly low walls that have been capped by concrete to help preserve them. One of the churches and another building that has the original floor are somewhat more preserved. I’d say it took about 45 minutes to an hour to go through the area with our guide, and quite honestly, in my opinion the best part was really the climb to the top of the old fort (which you can’t really see) where you do get a truly impressive view across the lake towards Momotombo. 
Cathy might not be quite as impressed with the view from the top, because she did manage to get stung by some sort of insect while up there. Oh, and this is one of those annoying places that hit you up for the privilege of using your camera. It was only about $1.50 or so, but it’s still quite annoying.
After that, it was back on the bus to head back to the modern city of Leon. First stop there was the 
Hotel el Convento, which used to be a convent, but is now a hotel. This would be the site for our lunch. Once again, lunch was a buffet, and once again wasn’t too bad (heck, if I can find enough to eat, it couldn’t be too bad, I’m pretty picky). Choice of a coke or beer for beverage, and also free water and juices. After finishing eating, you then had a little bit of time to look around the courtyard area of the hotel, which had a very nice garden area.
From there, we walked down some of the streets and headed to the Cathedral of Leon, which is something like the largest church in Central America. We were told that supposedly the plans for this church and one in Lima, Peru got mixed up, and Leon ended up getting the larger church as a result. Inside was brutally hot, but we wandered around with our guide explaining some of the things in the church, then headed for the stairs to go to the roof. On the roof, you end up with a very nice view out over the city, and see some of the volcanoes off in the distance. 
You also realize that Leon is actually quite a bit bigger than it looked from when we drove into it. (In fact, I think it’s one of the larger cities in Nicaragua). The roof also has many large bumps in it that correspond to domes on the inside of the church. We were told not to walk on those because apparently the ceiling is thinner (although I saw several people who didn’t seem to get the warning walking all over them because they stuck up high enough to help you see over the walls, and nobody fell through).
After that, we were given some time to wander around and do some shopping. Vendors here were reasonably aggressive, but not as bad as Guatemala. Our guide took several of us that were interested over to the local grocery store which he had told us was really the best place to buy local coffee and rum. Some of the aged rums ran for about seven dollars. Between a little coffee and the rum, we ended up spending about $10. Lines in the grocery store were quite long. The length of time that we were given to shop here quite honestly was far more than was really necessary. Then it was back on the bus for the long ride back to the ship.
Back in the cargo port where the ship was docked, Cathy decided we needed to head out of the port area to the square nearby where lots of vendors had set up shop selling stuff. Personally I thought a lot of the stuff being sold here was of mediocre quality at best.
I really find I have mixed feelings about the excursion we took here in Nicaragua. Of the excursions that we took, I’d really have to say it was the weakest, and I’m just not overly convinced that the trip to Leon Viejo is really worth the extra time you spend on this trip. There were some shorter, cheaper trips that did the town of Leon and visiting mud pots that I think might have been a better value. It especially felt like a long day after having had another 8 hour plus excursion the day before.