Comments on: Masaya, Nicaragua: Shop Til You Drop – Central America http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/07-07/masaya-nicaragua-shop-til-you-drop-central-america.html Tue, 31 May 2011 13:10:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 By: Onthewateralot http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/07-07/masaya-nicaragua-shop-til-you-drop-central-america.html/comment-page-1#comment-3019 Onthewateralot Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:58:32 +0000 #comment-3019 Hey, just got back from Nicaragua and had a great time. We too went to Masaya (twice) and explored both markets, locals and gringo. First of all you have to know the local market is where we all stand out like a sore thumb and having a bi-lingual guide is both a convenience and a curse when you have to pay them. However in Nicaragua (vs. Costa Rica) I found when you are in a local market, it is a real local market where few english words are spoken. If you can't speak spanish forget it for high value items. The tourist market in Masaya is actually a clean, government run market that, altho you may pay a higher price, we found the people friendly and bi-lingual. Guides are avaiable here as well but they are checked by the government. None of them forced anything on us and we felt no pressure to buy anything, in fact my 18 year old friend actually got some facebook addresses from some local girls. We found Nicaragua in general an un-tapped more cultural experience than Costa Rica. Now if you really want to have fun go to the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua but that's another story. Onthewateralot Hey, just got back from Nicaragua and had a great time. We too went to Masaya (twice) and explored both markets, locals and gringo. First of all you have to know the local market is where we all stand out like a sore thumb and having a bi-lingual guide is both a convenience and a curse when you have to pay them. However in Nicaragua (vs. Costa Rica) I found when you are in a local market, it is a real local market where few english words are spoken. If you can’t speak spanish forget it for high value items. The tourist market in Masaya is actually a clean, government run market that, altho you may pay a higher price, we found the people friendly and bi-lingual. Guides are avaiable here as well but they are checked by the government. None of them forced anything on us and we felt no pressure to buy anything, in fact my 18 year old friend actually got some facebook addresses from some local girls. We found Nicaragua in general an un-tapped more cultural experience than Costa Rica. Now if you really want to have fun go to the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua but that’s another story.

Onthewateralot

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