August 6, 2005

Stories and Photography by LARRY BLEIBERG Travel Editor

GRANADA , Nicaragua - As they have for centuries, horse-drawn carriages line up at the central plaza, waiting patiently for passengers. Buggies are the traditional way to tour Central America 's oldest city, once the haunt of Indians, pirates and Spanish gentry.

A procession through the streets of Le˜n commemorates the Stations of the Cross. Hundreds of parishioners follow a priest who preaches the Scripture through a megaphone.

Today, I made a different choice: a 21-speed mountain bike. With a guide leading the way, I bounced past the central market where you can buy everything from fresh iguana meat to bootleg compact discs. Then we pedaled down a dirt road, past farms and into the jungle.

That's modern Granada . History, culture, tradition and now, 21st-century tourism.

That both carriages and bikes are popular touring options show how the city is adjusting to its newfound popularity. The last few years have brought Internet cafes, nightclubs, galleries and coffee shops. Pastel-painted colonial hotels and homes now sparkle, although their lush inner courtyards are hidden from the street. Investors are lured by real-estate brokers, offering 200-year-old fixer-uppers and entire islands on Lake Nicaragua .

Granada has seen plenty of visitors since it was founded by Hernandez de Cordoba in 1524. It has been a magnet for pirates, drawn by the city's riches. And it was briefly ruled by American journalist William Walker, who invaded with a gang of mercenaries and declared himself Nicaragua 's president. He had planned to make the country a slaveholding region that would support the southern United States . Nicaraguans united and chased him off in 1856, but not before the Nashville native burned Granada to the ground.

At evening, Granada 's central plaza offers a tranquil vista for visitors and residents. Many consider the city to be the jewel of Nicaragua tourism.

That turmoil seems worlds away from the city's peaceful plaza now.

I wandered through one evening, drawn by harmonies of a choir drifting from open cathedral doors. Vendors packed up wooden carvings and ceramic pots, closing up shop for the day. Waiters tended a few tables, and carriage drivers hawked their tours.

Carriage isn't a bad way to see the city. The clip-clop ride provides a slight breeze as it bounces through light traffic of cars, Soviet-made pickups, bicyclists and pedestrians. A circuit might lead to Lake Nicaragua 's shorefront, past the old train station to Forteleza de la Polvora, an 18th-century fort.

Other favorite stops include the museum next to the city's oldest church, San Francisco . In an open-air pavilion stand dozens of 1,000-year-old sculptures, reminding visitors that Europeans weren't the first here.

But the best way to see the city is from the water. I got that view after my bike ride, which led across fields and past families harvesting plums. We braked at lake's edge, where we transferred to kayaks and paddled past fishermen's ramshackle homes. Soon we were weaving through the isletas, small islands that have long been retreats for the country's elite.

Some cover little more than an acre, offering room for a home, a tennis court or pool, and nothing else. Decades ago, it might have been a scary trip. Lake Nicaragua is home to a rare freshwater shark. But the predators have been hunted to near-extinction.

That left me free to take in the scenery. I followed one path through islands and into a brackish inlet. The water was still, except for a startled egret that flapped away in annoyance.

I stopped for a moment to listen to the silence.

Then I carefully turned around, paddled to a marina, and made my way back to the city.RIVAS, Nicaragua - I woke to the same sound that had lulled me to sleep. The Pacific.

The pool at the secluded Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge (below) overlooks the Pacific Ocean . The open-air resort opened last October.