"Have you ever been to a discoteca de gay?"

It wasn´t a question that I was expecting in Nicaragua, and they probably didn´t expect my answer. "Er, I´m not sure..." (I then had to explain, in Spanish, that I grew up near Brighton and used to live near Vauxhall. So I´d been to plenty of nights that were a bit... well... gay. Of course I should have added that I´m straight...)

After a fun enough day in León, a slightly gritty colonial town in Nicaragua, I´d decided to set off in search of "Old León" - the site of the original Spanish colony that was founded in 1524 (nearly half a millenium ago?!) and abandoned in 1610, after the Spanish had exhausted all the gold and indigenous labour and found better places to settle. Getting there was a bit of a challenge - 20km in a "colectivo" (minibus) then a 10km hitch down a windy road (in theory there´s a bus, but luckily a passing farmer called Arturo picked me up).

The site itself wasn´t much kop and I could see why the Spanish left. Hot, sticky, mosquito-infested lowlands with the remains of a few old buildings and a couple of statues. I walked back to wear the bus was meant to be and waited.

Then waited some more.

Then a car came past, the first for maybe half an hour, and asked me where I was going. León. "Us too, hop in." So I did. Sergio and Juan Antonio, both in their 40s and both health professionals (one a surgeon dentist, the other some kind of consultant). As we pulled away Miguel turned on the stereo. Eye of the Tiger. Not what I was expecting.

A couple of things were a bit incongruous. The music, the way they answered each others' questions, the way Juan Antonio patted Sergio on the head, Juan Antonio´s resemblance for Uncle Monty in Withnail and I. Maybe they´re gay, I thought.

"The Power of Love" came on the stereo.

After stopping for food we headed on to León, and after discussing travel, history, Nicaragua, and language the conversation finally turned to sexuality, in about seven tortuous questions.

"Do you dance?"
- Very badly, not like the Cubans. They can dance.

"What music do you like?"
- Er... not sure how to say any of this in Spanish... Er... The Beatles? (Easier)

"Do you go to discotecas?"
- Yes, sure

"What sort of discotecas are there in the UK?"
- Er... loads...

"Have you ever been to a discoteca de gay?"

Well, I answered honestly at least. I was also thrown by the music, which had turned to the Ghostbusters theme. We arrived at León a little later, I thanked them for the ride and shouted them a cup of coffee.

My first and maybe last experience of hitch-hiking in Latin America was also the strangest yet. Nice folk though, and they gave me a great tip for a hotel in Granada where I stayed for the next few nights (the Alhambra, apparently Granada´s signature hotel and something of a luxury). This was followed by a few days on Isla de Ometepe (in Nicaragua Lake) and now Costa Rica.

So still heading south, and still enjoying Central America. Next stop the Caribbean.