Cigars, a Cemetery, and an old Compound

Today Jonathan and I set out to buy our Tica Bus tickets. On the walk there, Jonathan got distracted (which is quite usual). He was peeking into someone`s windows. I didn’t think that this was the best idea, so I kept walking.

It turns out that he was peeking into a cigar rolling facility. One of the workers came out and asked if we would like to look around and have a small tour. We couldn’t pass that up!

For once, I was actually pleased that Jonathan got distracted – and was snooping.

The tour was brief, but we learned that each cigar has at least 5 leaves rolled together. They are then pressed for at least 5 minutes per side in a press built especially for cigars.

Then, they are given to a woman, and only a woman.

Only a woman can put the decorative leaf finish on the cigars. Why? Because a woman is more aesthetically able to do this part of the job. It´s really amazing to see one come together.

We were told that each person could make about 500 cigars per day.

That´s a lot of cigars.

We had so much fun at Mombacho Cigars that we wish we knew someone who smoked. They would have made a great gift. (But, actually, we´re thankful that we know all non-smokers.)

Then, our guide asked us if we would like to try rolling our own. Of course we took her up on that suggestion as well!

It was really fun. But, the professional roller got us started. Then, they said that if we waited, we could take them with us!

After rolling our cigars, they pressed them for us, and put the finishing touches on them. We didn´t have to pay for them. All we had to do was tip the workers.

Our guide then gave us some more recommendations for what to see our last day in Granada. She suggested we visit the old fort and the cemetery.

She had really great suggestions, so we knew we´d be missing out if we didn´t take her up on those ideas as well.

Off we went to the fort. It´s just like it sounds. An old fort. This one has a bunch of watch towers that you can climb up (for free), and get a great view of the city.

There´s also an old cannon in the middle. They left the old walls around it. It´s crazy how they built a fort with walls that were at least 3 feet thick.

Next we walked to the cemetery. What makes the cemetery in Granada, Nicaragua unique? It´s all above ground – similar to Recoletta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

From there we were went back to our original mission for the day: Tica Bus. The station in Granada is walking distance from any part of the city center, and really easy to find.

Tica Bus is an international bus company that runs all the way from Panama City to Mexico. From our experience so far, they´re good quality, and relatively in expensive considering the distance.

Here are the tickets we bought:
Managua, Nicaragua to San Salvador, El Salvador
San Salvador, El Salvador to Guatemala City, Guatemala
Guatemala City, Guatemala to Managua, Nicaragua
Granada, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica

All in all, that´s about 41 hours on a bus. But, by the time all is said and done here in Central America, we´ll have been on a long-distance (not city) bus for over 65 hours! Yeaouch…

It´s a good thing that all our touristy activities ended up being free today, since we spent a fair amount on bus tickets to get us around and through Central America from now until December 21st. Actually, $282 for both of us isn´t so bad at all to travel all that way.

Carrie at the top of La Merced church