Into the Wild Spaces

Cavernous and cacophonous, if you can't find it for sale at Huembes, it's probably not sold in Nicaragua. Second in size (and in danger) only to the open-air Mercado Oriental, Huembes is a good place to get out of the rain on gloomy Saturdays to check out handcrafts in wood, leather, shell, and clay, to eat bowls of hot soup, and pick up some fresh vegetables to last you through the upcoming week.

Full of the exuberance, color, and life that so typifies Nicaragua, Huembes is also a good place to remember why you're in Nicaragua anyway, in case you'd forgotten.