We arrived at Lazybones Hostel mid-afternoon. We'd chosen not to stay at the go-to backpacker hostel in Leon, on account of prices, bike storage and the fact that we're no longer the party animals we used to be. Upon arrival we were very happy with our decision to stay at Lazybones - big, spacious dorms, free tea and coffee, a perfect courtyard for the bike, hammocks, rocking chairs and a wonderful swimming pool made it a perfect haven in the bustling city.
So first things first, we were very excited (well, Tom was) to receive our package and start revamping the bike. But alas, it wasn't there. The hostel owner kindly called DHL for us, who informed us that it was in Managua (the capital, 2 hours away) and that the hostel owner had to go and get it because it had the hostel’s name on it. We also needed to pay import tax. Why they couldn't ship it to the Leon DHL is beyond me, but we were faced with a horrible prospect: having to go to Managua with a letter from the hostel owner saying it was our package, going to customs to pay the substantial amount of tax, picking up the package, and then returning to Leon. Not a very attractive thought when we weren't planning on even going to Managua. After further phone negotiations we had the option of paying another $40 to get it shipped to Leon. So in the interest of not ruining our time in Nicaragua we opted to pay the extra and wait it out. Our first day involved Tom spending 3 hours roaming around the city trying to find an ignition coil (to no avail) while I scrubbed our motorcycle jackets in the shower trying to get 5 weeks of tropical sweat out of the lining. It was a glamorous day, and at least one of us was successful! Our jackets now smell of roses, albeit it only until our next sweaty journey. We spent our days in Leon mainly lounging in our fabulous hostel, chatting to other guests and ambling round the colonial streets. We found a very cool rooftop bar courtesy of our new French friends, and one night spent a very amusing evening watching the 'Father’s Day Dance Competition', which is apparently a very normal way to celebrate Father's Day in Nicaragua and involved hordes of school children screaming and twerking to very loud pop music. Volcano Boarding up Cerro Negro Volcano was a particular highlight of our time in Leon, trekking up through the volcanic rock to the vast steaming craters above, where there were 360 views and at least 10 other volcanoes in site, plus clear enough to see all the way to the Pacific. Then just as the sun was going down we hurled ourselves back down the slippery gravel on small bits of wood! We returned exhausted, covered in volcanic dust but pretty awed by what we'd seen.
After 5 days we felt we'd explored Leon enough, so planned to go north to explore for a couple of days while we waited for our package. So it was off to Matagalpa, the land of coffee plantations and blue-green mountains.