So much can happen when you open your eyes and say yes to the possibility of doing something exciting.
After I had sent off a few emails and was typing up some more blog entries and mails when W from Holland came in and said that we was goig to get something to eat, and quickly asked if he didnt mind me joining in, which he didnt.
We went out with F who was Canadian I think, and together we all wandered down to what was a lovely cheap restaurant just down the road, and right next to the bus stop.
The food and drink was acceptable, even though the waiter was a bit of a loon and kept making animal noises all the time, but I guess you have to do what you can do get by when the rain drives you mad, lol.
After the meal we walked back and I joked that the clouds had cleared enough to see the volcano, only when we looked up the joke was on me as they had.
All thre of us had tried to visit the volcano last night, and none of us wanted to pay another 10 bucks to see it again, but then neither did we want to miss it, as this was all our last night here as well.
We managed to show some interest for the tour, but not too much and in the end all walked away from the tour operator-receptionist saying that we would need a discount before we would agree to go again, and once we got back to our dorm room he realised we were serious and then came round with a reduced fare of 7 for us three only, which we finally agreed to.
W has a nice camera, but was short of memory so I offered to burn his photos onto a disk in order for him to free up some space, which made his night.
When we went out to the bus we were in a group of ten, along with some other Dutch, Canadian, American and Swedish tourists that had all just been kicked out of their hostel for accepting the tour with us for less than half of the cost that their own hostel was trying to charge.
In the bus it was a real party atmosphere, as we were all hyper with anicipation, most were still high from their earlier activities and someone had switched wine for water in their water bottle, so we were all kicking it large.
However, the real party animal was the young lady who was part Irish, Welsh, Swedish and Canadian - I think, I get all confused - but she had enough excitment and charisma to get a rio going in a library, and so for us bunch of lunatics it was almost a formality.
Once we got up to the Volcano viewing spot we were not dissapointed, and the view with the naked eye was great, just not so good for anyone with a normal camera. One good turn deserves another, and W managed to get a superb shot with his camera and instantly agreed to send a copy to me, which meant that I would have a great shot to use for my blog later on too - thank you W.
We must have stayed out there for half an hour, watching the bats and the fire flies dance in the sky as the volcano slowly and steadily pumped red hot lava out of its peak, only for it to slowly trickle down its side in a continuous river of heat.
There was also smoke rising out from the peak which when illuminated by the lava was like a red speach bubble always overhanging the volcano.
Occasionally there would be enough visibiliy to see the trail of glimmering red lava from the top right the way down, whereas as other times you could just see a pinpoint of light or two.
After about half an hour the clouds came again and that signalled a return to the bus and to our hostel, where we all ordered strange drinks like Panama Punch or Banana Daquari to celebrate before we swapped email details, said farewell and then headed on back to our bunks for an early nights sleep.
If the photo from W comes out well then the whole trip to La Fortuna would have been worth it alone, and the fact that next time I will have enough money to go white water rafting, etc, make it all the better.
Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts
Friday, 5 December 2008
Thursday, 4 December 2008
A wet second day in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Unlike some places where there are things to do if you look hard enough for them, here the tourist activities come looking for you and just going for a walk you would have to be blind and deaf for you not to notice at least a half dozen signs, adverts and places where you can indulge in any activity you like from Kayaking, Canoing, Zip Lining, Nature Watching, White Water Rafting to Bungee Jumping.
Here money, sun and time is all you need to have the time of your life and I bet that during the sumer every place and tour will be booked up for weeks in advance and the wise tourist would be one that either travelled alone ( thus could fill up any last minute cancellation or spare slot ) or preplanned well in advance.
Much like Cusco, trips can be found and booked just about anywhere and not only that but yet again the prices are far hiked up for the average tourist. A two hour horse ride to a waterfall will set you back abour $20, which might not seem like much but when you consider what the rest of the country populace earns, you might have ever right to feel ripped off when some people dont even earn US$20 a day, so from just one person for juse two hours the tourist agencies are raking it in and making a small fortune.
However, unlike Cusco, there is plenty of colour to La Fortuna, plenty of rain ( !!! ) and much more time and effort has gone into ensuring that the place looks clean, tidy and new. When it comes to hotels, restaurants or tour operators image is king here, not price or quality, and I have seen and be lured in by many a gleaming sign board and nice looking store frontage only to be dissapointed when I got inside and looked around to see what was on offer.
The other thing that confused me is they they have so many coins that have so little value in themselves, as 1000 colones is only £1 and yet they have 8 coins of lesser value than than 1000 colones note and most completely dwarf our £2 coin, so much so that my coin bag can barely hold more than 3000 colones in whatever variety of coins you may chose to think of.
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When I woke up in the morning I was the second up, and sadly the young lady who I saw last night on the twilight volcano trek was sitting reading her book and I tried to engage her in a conversation and find out why she was still here, but she didn't seem in the talkative mood though she did at least say that she had returned from the bus station and was unsure as to what to do next.
After checking out my emails and confirmin my flight to San Pedro Sula I asked about the spa at Baldi, which had looked great in the photos, only for the receptionist to try his hand at selling me a afternoon trip to there and the volcano for double the cost of just the Baldi Entrance with the added line that "I cannot guarantee you seing any actual lava, but this rain cannot lat forever and I am very confident that it will brighten up by the afternoon".
Why he is blatantly lying I dont know, but even the most optomistic person would have to say that after the last few days and the morning's grey skies that there was more chance of it raining fish, frogs and lizards than it had of brightening up enough to see any lava by the evening.
As such, I thanked him for his time, did not book any tour at all, and instead just went for a walk and took a few photos of closer hotels to the Volcano. After about an hour I returned having walked for ages and not seen anything that promised to be much cheaper than what I had already been offered and came back to an otherwise empty room with the bay windows open wide.
I think that they are trying to air out the rooms, but with the ledge of the window being so low it is easy to just step over it and walk into the room, almost without breaking stride and so I am even more glad that I locked away all my stuff before I went for my walk. Saldy one woman in the hostel wa snot so lucky, and as I went into the pc room to check for messages she came in wanting to use a pc urgently as her wallet had just been stolen while she was eating breakfast.
The hostel staff were very helpful, but soon said that it must be one of the guests ... yeah right ... like I believe that, but either way I am more sure than ever that this place is not the idylic paradice that the brochures offer it up to be.
After a rest and a charge to recharge my batteries, I switched bunks as there were no plug sockets in my room at all, drafted up some more emails and photos and then headed on out for another massage followed by a trip to the Baldi spa. If I am forced to be stuck indoors or getting wet then I may as well do so in a manner of my chosing.
Theft of Credit Cards in the Hostel
I am standing here trying to sort out the problems with my banks and one of the other guests have just come into the computer room to ask to sue the computers as their wallet has just been stolen from thier room while they were having breakfast.
That is two thefts in two days that I have personally witnessed.
Not good at all.
That is two thefts in two days that I have personally witnessed.
Not good at all.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Nighttime trip to the Volcano
After I had given up on the day when one of the girls who was staying in my dorm came in and said that she was just about to go on a night trip to the viewing point of Arenal Volcano, which seemed like something a little more interesting than just dossing in the hostel, so I asked her if she minded me tagging along, which she didn´t.
We ended up sharing a raggedy mini van along with four other guests from the hostel and although the rain had stopped for the moment, I didn´t trust it to hold off for long, so had grabbed my rainproof poncho and a pair of track suit bottoms, which was about the only thing left that I had with me that wasn´t soaked already.
The minibus ride took about fifteen to twenty minutes and along the way we were chatting and hoping that the clouds would be lesser up the volcano as down at ground level it was thicker than pea soup.
Halfway up the road the rain started up again, and it was pouring by the time we reached the vantage point.
Sadly when we got to the top the cloud was no less, and we could barely see the iluminated river 10 feet away let alone the tip of the volcano some several hundred meters away. It was a dissapointment for all, but especially for the girl I was chatting to from our dorm as she had come all this way just for this and was due to leave at 5am the following morning out again.
For laughs I got out my camera and took a few pictures of us all standing in the rain and then they started posing, which was fun for about three minutes, then we all just sighed and climbed back in the minibus.
I personally think that the hostel should have offered us half the money back, like what happened in Ecuador, as they had charged 10 dollars per person, and being locals they could have told us that there was no chance in hell of seing any lava, but they did and they just kept it all, so for me it ruled out any trips with them tomorrow.
When we got back to the hostel I confirmed that I was flying out to Honduras a day earlier than planned, skipping Nicaragua and the rain that was there, and then contacted my friend in San Pedro Sula to say that I was arriving a day early, but I have no idea if she will check her emails in time and i don´t have her phone number to call her.
The end of a dismal day was when I ordered a taco from the hostel restaurant and what came out was a thin tobacco shaped thing with fries that was very dry and stodgy tasting, nowhere near the best food I have had in days and that is saying something.
Overall I am quite dissappointed in the hostel, as although it looks good from the gate entrance, once you get inside and try things out it starts to go downhill.
We ended up sharing a raggedy mini van along with four other guests from the hostel and although the rain had stopped for the moment, I didn´t trust it to hold off for long, so had grabbed my rainproof poncho and a pair of track suit bottoms, which was about the only thing left that I had with me that wasn´t soaked already.
The minibus ride took about fifteen to twenty minutes and along the way we were chatting and hoping that the clouds would be lesser up the volcano as down at ground level it was thicker than pea soup.
Halfway up the road the rain started up again, and it was pouring by the time we reached the vantage point.
Sadly when we got to the top the cloud was no less, and we could barely see the iluminated river 10 feet away let alone the tip of the volcano some several hundred meters away. It was a dissapointment for all, but especially for the girl I was chatting to from our dorm as she had come all this way just for this and was due to leave at 5am the following morning out again.
For laughs I got out my camera and took a few pictures of us all standing in the rain and then they started posing, which was fun for about three minutes, then we all just sighed and climbed back in the minibus.
I personally think that the hostel should have offered us half the money back, like what happened in Ecuador, as they had charged 10 dollars per person, and being locals they could have told us that there was no chance in hell of seing any lava, but they did and they just kept it all, so for me it ruled out any trips with them tomorrow.
When we got back to the hostel I confirmed that I was flying out to Honduras a day earlier than planned, skipping Nicaragua and the rain that was there, and then contacted my friend in San Pedro Sula to say that I was arriving a day early, but I have no idea if she will check her emails in time and i don´t have her phone number to call her.
The end of a dismal day was when I ordered a taco from the hostel restaurant and what came out was a thin tobacco shaped thing with fries that was very dry and stodgy tasting, nowhere near the best food I have had in days and that is saying something.
Overall I am quite dissappointed in the hostel, as although it looks good from the gate entrance, once you get inside and try things out it starts to go downhill.
A wet arrival to La Fortuna, Costa Rica
From my travelling friends I had heard of Costa Rica's largest active vocano, called Arenal, that was half way between here and the border with Nicaragua, and so I was determined that it being further north and west, there was a better chance of finding dry weather.
M' was going off to the beach to the south of San Jose, and her bus left even earlier than mine, so thankfully her getting up and getting ready was enough to rouse me and then I myself had to dash to clear out, check out and make my way to the bus terminal for a 6.15 departure.
The taxi driver spoke no English, but asked if he could pick up a second passenger who wanted to be dropped off halfway towards the bus terminal, and looking at the other passenger and the fact that he worked at the hostel opposite ours I figured that he would probably be a safe bet, and it turned out ok in the end as I did indeed manage to reach the terminal in time for the bus.
As the time was very early, the ticket booth was not yet open, so I just had to queue up along with everyone else and hope that there would be enough space on the bus for me. The fare for the taxi was 2000 colones and the bus fare was 2100 colones, and the four and a half hour journey should see me arrive before midday and have plenty of time to wander around the town before taking a tour up the volcano at 2pm.
The journey started promising with some Americans, which meant english conversation, and enough time to grab a coke and chocolate bar before we left ( as I had had to forgo a lovely pancake breakfast due to the early start needed ) and the sun even crept out from behind the clouds for a few moments and I could not but help thinking that this was going to be a very good day.
However, my hopes were soon dashed when the sun slipped away agin, the rain began and was soon falling harder than ever and then to make matters worse a car ahead slipped in the bad weather and went into one of the frequent mud slides that seemed to be on every corner and the wait for the police, the ambulance and the insurance agent delayed us over two hours and by this time we should already have arrived and I was busting for a pit stop.
In fact the delay was so long that the bus driver decided that he did not have neough time to take us all the way, so at the next large terminal he set us all down, changed his sign and sped off into the gloom, leaving us all on the platform unaware of what was going on, or how long we would have to wait for the next bus to La Fortuna. The only slight good thing to come out of all the delay was that the bus driver refunded half the bus fare, however that was nothing compared to the money lost by the Americans who would have to cancel a complete trip with little or no chance of a refund.
Whilst most of us made a dash for the rest rooms, a sneak theif used the confusion to pick the pocket of the American tourists that I was talking to, and she was frustrated and annoyed as although she had only lost a few dollars in actual money, it was also the fact that in the wallet was her credit cards, her student ID and a few other bits and bobs that were inconveniencing and at the same time worth virtually nothing at all to the person who stole them.
After a delay of over half an hour we managed to get on the next bus, although I ended up being right by the door and so every time that it stopped ( which it frequently did ) to let anyone off I had to get out and stand by the bus before remounting the steps just before it sped off again into the drissling rain.
When it finally reached La Fortuna the rain had easily matched our progress and instead of a nice clear sky all that could be seen of the volcano was its lowest crest amid the gloom and invisibility that the rain, fog and cloud offered it. Looking up at the sky I knew that I was not going to be able to see any lava flow today or tonight, and so I checked in for two nights with a feint hope of a sunnier tomorrow but also with a growing hatred of rain and an almost desperate urge to just jump on a plane and fly to anywhere further along my route that promised a dry sky and a chance to relax and lift the depression that was closing in all around me.
The hostel had some very good facilities, except that it didnt have a tv room, a book exchange and the computers were locked away so that you cannot use a usb memory stick or camera memory card, but it looked good from the outside, had a few hammocks and a kick arse pool that in the summer would be packed full for frolicking travellers from sun up to sundown.
I checked into my room, after a tiny bit of confusion, and then want for a walk and a massage to try and unwind and unstress as I had reached my limit of rain and problems and with allt he hassle back home inthe UK with my banks being stupid I was beginning to get just pissed off with being away and paying for a trip that was turning over very different to what I had imagined it.
The age old saying of "Be careful of what you wish for as you might just get it" was coming back to haunt me, as many a time I have wished to be able to travel around the world, but I never thought to add a clause about the weather conditions or lacking in any of the problems that can often accompany travelling for any serious length of time.
The massage did wonders for my battered spirit, and was helped in that it was the masseuse was a friendly young lass who decided instead of giving me a swedish massage that was was going to give me a hot stone massage, which was the first time that I had ever tried one and in the cool climate that I am in, due to the ever present rain, the hot stones was a welcome change and I could feel the healing powers of the hot rocks rejuvinate me, and all for the price of 2100 colonas.
After the massage I went for a walk around the super market to get a few bits to eat and was disguested at the prepacked bread and scones that were not sealed properly and had so many tiny insects crawling all over it that I can still see them when I close my eyes. Walking to the other end of the shop I picked up some factory vacuum packed crisps and fizzy pop and then headed on back to the hostel wearing my new yellow rainproof poncho, that was only good enough to my chest and upper arms and legs. My jacket was drenched and my trousers looked like I had interrupted the washing machine cycle and taken them out prematurely.
In my room I was joined but some week long travelling American boys, down for an awesome and radical time with white water rafting, volcano trekking and a few other semi extreme sports, and I hoped for them as much as myself that the weather would start to brighten up over the next few days.
Updating my blog to include today I did my best to keep my mood jovial, but I am seriouly thinking of skipping out on nicaragua altogher and flying early to San PEdro Sula in Honduras, which almost has to be warmer and drier ( as it could not be much wetter ) and at least there is more to do there and my friend there is looking forward to meeting me.
M' was going off to the beach to the south of San Jose, and her bus left even earlier than mine, so thankfully her getting up and getting ready was enough to rouse me and then I myself had to dash to clear out, check out and make my way to the bus terminal for a 6.15 departure.
The taxi driver spoke no English, but asked if he could pick up a second passenger who wanted to be dropped off halfway towards the bus terminal, and looking at the other passenger and the fact that he worked at the hostel opposite ours I figured that he would probably be a safe bet, and it turned out ok in the end as I did indeed manage to reach the terminal in time for the bus.
As the time was very early, the ticket booth was not yet open, so I just had to queue up along with everyone else and hope that there would be enough space on the bus for me. The fare for the taxi was 2000 colones and the bus fare was 2100 colones, and the four and a half hour journey should see me arrive before midday and have plenty of time to wander around the town before taking a tour up the volcano at 2pm.
The journey started promising with some Americans, which meant english conversation, and enough time to grab a coke and chocolate bar before we left ( as I had had to forgo a lovely pancake breakfast due to the early start needed ) and the sun even crept out from behind the clouds for a few moments and I could not but help thinking that this was going to be a very good day.
However, my hopes were soon dashed when the sun slipped away agin, the rain began and was soon falling harder than ever and then to make matters worse a car ahead slipped in the bad weather and went into one of the frequent mud slides that seemed to be on every corner and the wait for the police, the ambulance and the insurance agent delayed us over two hours and by this time we should already have arrived and I was busting for a pit stop.
In fact the delay was so long that the bus driver decided that he did not have neough time to take us all the way, so at the next large terminal he set us all down, changed his sign and sped off into the gloom, leaving us all on the platform unaware of what was going on, or how long we would have to wait for the next bus to La Fortuna. The only slight good thing to come out of all the delay was that the bus driver refunded half the bus fare, however that was nothing compared to the money lost by the Americans who would have to cancel a complete trip with little or no chance of a refund.
Whilst most of us made a dash for the rest rooms, a sneak theif used the confusion to pick the pocket of the American tourists that I was talking to, and she was frustrated and annoyed as although she had only lost a few dollars in actual money, it was also the fact that in the wallet was her credit cards, her student ID and a few other bits and bobs that were inconveniencing and at the same time worth virtually nothing at all to the person who stole them.
After a delay of over half an hour we managed to get on the next bus, although I ended up being right by the door and so every time that it stopped ( which it frequently did ) to let anyone off I had to get out and stand by the bus before remounting the steps just before it sped off again into the drissling rain.
When it finally reached La Fortuna the rain had easily matched our progress and instead of a nice clear sky all that could be seen of the volcano was its lowest crest amid the gloom and invisibility that the rain, fog and cloud offered it. Looking up at the sky I knew that I was not going to be able to see any lava flow today or tonight, and so I checked in for two nights with a feint hope of a sunnier tomorrow but also with a growing hatred of rain and an almost desperate urge to just jump on a plane and fly to anywhere further along my route that promised a dry sky and a chance to relax and lift the depression that was closing in all around me.
The hostel had some very good facilities, except that it didnt have a tv room, a book exchange and the computers were locked away so that you cannot use a usb memory stick or camera memory card, but it looked good from the outside, had a few hammocks and a kick arse pool that in the summer would be packed full for frolicking travellers from sun up to sundown.
I checked into my room, after a tiny bit of confusion, and then want for a walk and a massage to try and unwind and unstress as I had reached my limit of rain and problems and with allt he hassle back home inthe UK with my banks being stupid I was beginning to get just pissed off with being away and paying for a trip that was turning over very different to what I had imagined it.
The age old saying of "Be careful of what you wish for as you might just get it" was coming back to haunt me, as many a time I have wished to be able to travel around the world, but I never thought to add a clause about the weather conditions or lacking in any of the problems that can often accompany travelling for any serious length of time.
The massage did wonders for my battered spirit, and was helped in that it was the masseuse was a friendly young lass who decided instead of giving me a swedish massage that was was going to give me a hot stone massage, which was the first time that I had ever tried one and in the cool climate that I am in, due to the ever present rain, the hot stones was a welcome change and I could feel the healing powers of the hot rocks rejuvinate me, and all for the price of 2100 colonas.
After the massage I went for a walk around the super market to get a few bits to eat and was disguested at the prepacked bread and scones that were not sealed properly and had so many tiny insects crawling all over it that I can still see them when I close my eyes. Walking to the other end of the shop I picked up some factory vacuum packed crisps and fizzy pop and then headed on back to the hostel wearing my new yellow rainproof poncho, that was only good enough to my chest and upper arms and legs. My jacket was drenched and my trousers looked like I had interrupted the washing machine cycle and taken them out prematurely.
In my room I was joined but some week long travelling American boys, down for an awesome and radical time with white water rafting, volcano trekking and a few other semi extreme sports, and I hoped for them as much as myself that the weather would start to brighten up over the next few days.
Updating my blog to include today I did my best to keep my mood jovial, but I am seriouly thinking of skipping out on nicaragua altogher and flying early to San PEdro Sula in Honduras, which almost has to be warmer and drier ( as it could not be much wetter ) and at least there is more to do there and my friend there is looking forward to meeting me.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Another wet day in San Jose, Costa Rica
The weather is definetly following me, and it is doing a good job of keeping my enthusiasm in check, as I just realised that I have in fact been rained on in every country in South ans Central America and althought the rain wasnot as heavy as it was in Panama City or David City, it is still enough to drench all the socks and shoes that I have and ruin most of the photo opportunities that I see on my day to day travels.
M' and I decided to go for a walk, check out the other hostels in the neighbourhood and then go grab a breakfast in the city centre, before check out in our original hostel, that way we can see if there is a better choice for us or if staying here is the only option.
Despite the rain we managed to get to the other place without incident and found it to look nicer than the one we was in, however they were fully booked as of the morning, though as an afterthought the receptionist did say that if we called back after 11am then she would know for sure what the situation was, however after 11 would then be too late to check out of the other place without already having to pay for another night in the first one, so we went for the safe bet and just decided to stay where we were.
The next stop we had was breakfast, where I had a nice omelette and rice for about 2,500 colones before we headed off towards a bank to use an ATM and get some local currency for the rest of our stay in Costa Rica.
M's card wouldn't work in the first bank we tried and then as she was going to go hotel hunting for when her boyfriend arrives next week, we decided to split up and meet back in the hostel in a few hours. I made my way to the hostel, via a internet cafe in order to contact with K' to let her know that we were staying in the same hostel and could perhaps meet up later today, before I went back, picked up my camera and then started my way through the city centre again in order to take some photos, as I had forgot to bring my camera that morning.
Making my way back through the city I marvelled at the old colonial buildings side by side with modern sky scrapers and shanti style hovels that should be pulled down as soon a safe place for the existing residents can be found. I tried to ignore the rain and the gloom and did my best to take some photos and feel that I was still investigating and learning, but with the amount of days rain that I have suffered just recently my heart was not really in it.
After less than a couple of hours of the centre of town I had done a few circuits of the central avenue, taken a hundred or so photos, found out that they didn't have anywhere that I could get a wifi adapter and then started to make my way back to the hostel via a slightly different route to see more of the city.
On the way back I passed the National Museum, which looked like a huge yellow castle from the outside, but was showing signs of having its exterior renovated and the steps and parking bays were more mud and rubble than smooth lines and edges.
Back in the hostel I didn't manage to spot K', so I juste watched a couple of movies, and then went to pack my bags for the early morning ahead of me, hopefully taking me to drier skies.
Around 6pm M' returned to the hostel and together we went to try and grab a bite to eat in the near neighbourhood, however it was getting dark as M' was getting a little nervous about travelling out late at night in the dark I decided to change tack and instead we went back to the hostel to their in-house restaurant where I had a thai green curry soup, that was very nice but nothing like a thai green curry!
After getting something to eat I decided to hang around for yet another movie while M' went off to read her book. No land for old men, or whatever its name is, was a bizarre film from start to finish with a very unnerving bad guy and an ending that neither satisfied nor made perfect sense, so in the end I just laughed and walked away shaking my head slowly.
As I headed on back to my dorm I spotted K' so I grabbed a coke and sat chatting to her for an hour, along with her dorm buddies, who turned out to be a politically motivated American who was trying to get his Italian passport by tracing his roots to his Italian Grandfather and move over to Italy to be a Chef. The conversation was nice, but it was not very long before I had to make my polite goodnights and go back to my room.
M' and I decided to go for a walk, check out the other hostels in the neighbourhood and then go grab a breakfast in the city centre, before check out in our original hostel, that way we can see if there is a better choice for us or if staying here is the only option.
Despite the rain we managed to get to the other place without incident and found it to look nicer than the one we was in, however they were fully booked as of the morning, though as an afterthought the receptionist did say that if we called back after 11am then she would know for sure what the situation was, however after 11 would then be too late to check out of the other place without already having to pay for another night in the first one, so we went for the safe bet and just decided to stay where we were.
The next stop we had was breakfast, where I had a nice omelette and rice for about 2,500 colones before we headed off towards a bank to use an ATM and get some local currency for the rest of our stay in Costa Rica.
M's card wouldn't work in the first bank we tried and then as she was going to go hotel hunting for when her boyfriend arrives next week, we decided to split up and meet back in the hostel in a few hours. I made my way to the hostel, via a internet cafe in order to contact with K' to let her know that we were staying in the same hostel and could perhaps meet up later today, before I went back, picked up my camera and then started my way through the city centre again in order to take some photos, as I had forgot to bring my camera that morning.
Making my way back through the city I marvelled at the old colonial buildings side by side with modern sky scrapers and shanti style hovels that should be pulled down as soon a safe place for the existing residents can be found. I tried to ignore the rain and the gloom and did my best to take some photos and feel that I was still investigating and learning, but with the amount of days rain that I have suffered just recently my heart was not really in it.
After less than a couple of hours of the centre of town I had done a few circuits of the central avenue, taken a hundred or so photos, found out that they didn't have anywhere that I could get a wifi adapter and then started to make my way back to the hostel via a slightly different route to see more of the city.
On the way back I passed the National Museum, which looked like a huge yellow castle from the outside, but was showing signs of having its exterior renovated and the steps and parking bays were more mud and rubble than smooth lines and edges.
Back in the hostel I didn't manage to spot K', so I juste watched a couple of movies, and then went to pack my bags for the early morning ahead of me, hopefully taking me to drier skies.
Around 6pm M' returned to the hostel and together we went to try and grab a bite to eat in the near neighbourhood, however it was getting dark as M' was getting a little nervous about travelling out late at night in the dark I decided to change tack and instead we went back to the hostel to their in-house restaurant where I had a thai green curry soup, that was very nice but nothing like a thai green curry!
After getting something to eat I decided to hang around for yet another movie while M' went off to read her book. No land for old men, or whatever its name is, was a bizarre film from start to finish with a very unnerving bad guy and an ending that neither satisfied nor made perfect sense, so in the end I just laughed and walked away shaking my head slowly.
As I headed on back to my dorm I spotted K' so I grabbed a coke and sat chatting to her for an hour, along with her dorm buddies, who turned out to be a politically motivated American who was trying to get his Italian passport by tracing his roots to his Italian Grandfather and move over to Italy to be a Chef. The conversation was nice, but it was not very long before I had to make my polite goodnights and go back to my room.
Leaving Panama and arriving in Costa Rica
This morning I woke up early as I had a plan to leave Panama and the rain in the hope of finding some sun, and in the hostel reception met up with a couple of others who felt the same way and were also heading on up to San Jose in Costa Rica as well as me.
Because of the them had only just had their luggage stolen by a taxi driver the previous day, I was on hyper sensitivity all day and was jumping at shadows even in the middle of a patch of sunshine.
The owner of the hostel was not up at the crack of dawn, so it was not possible to get a map or a postcard form the hostel, and had I knew this in advance I would have asked last night or got up earlier and takena trip to the 24 hour super market just a few minutes up the road, rain or no rain.
We all shared a cab but I made sure that I took a photo of the licence plate so if anything did happen to our stuff then at least we could put in a proper police report and have as best a chance as possible to get it all back.
Arriving at the bus station was a bit weird as a guy in a uniform t-shirt took our bags and threw then in the bus underrack, took our money and then walked off without giving us our tickets for thr journey or our bags, which sort of confused and worried us a bit as this was not what we was expecting, and although we were asking as best we could in Spanish he kept just saying that we would get them at the border.
This wasn't good enough for us, so before we boarded we all headed on down to corner him and eventually got tickets for ourselves but still not for our bags. The two ladies got seats together and I got a seat next to a local lady who seemed nice and polite but who had the window seat and me the aisle seat.
I tried to move behind but an elderly woman came and turfed me out of her seat, so I had to go back to my original seat and as it turned out this was a very fortuitous move as the girl I was sitting next to spoke great English and was very happy and friendly, making polite conversation with me all the way to the border and out the other end.
The border crossing of Panama into Costa Rica was total calm chaos, in that we had no real idea what we had to do and they seemed to be in no real hurry to deal with us or anyone else.
We had to get our passports stamped and then take our bags to a checking area where they were meant to be inspected, but after my old pair of trainers fell out the top as soon as I released the string pull, the guard gave the bag one look, and then waved me on and then I got to reput my bag on the bus and then head on across the invisible border and do it all again on the other side.
The Costa Rican side required us to collect more stamps, recollect our bags and hand in our passports so that they could hand them back to us after another cursory glance in our rucksacks, and I am glad that I didn't have a proper suitcase and people who had suitcases that were easy to open were given a much harder time of it.
The border was more a mini town or a market than a partrolled border and it was hard to tell what we had to do, when we had to do it or in what order, but on the other hand at least there was loads of people around to ask directions for and even exchange dollars for colona's if you dont mind getting a poor exchange rate.
Back on the bus and we still had a seven hour ride to go, although now we had to set our watched back one hour, and my and my new Panamanian friend V' were chatting so much I thought that the rest of the passengers were going to get fed up with me and ask us to quieten down, but luckily they didn't.
The view from the bus was great and it was nice to stop off for a proper meal about halfway, but with the bumpy roads and tree lined curves there was almost no opportunties to take any photos.
By the time we got near to San Jose the bus had climbed high into the hills bringing a chilling wind and cloud fog into view, so much so that I not only had to put on my jumper and jacket but also the rolling green mountains were eventually hidden from my roving eye.
Arriving in San Jose I was sad to say goodbye to my new friend V' but we had exchanged details and I would certianly look for her on facebook when I got a free moment later on today.
One of the two backpacker ladies from the hostel in Panama was able to meet up with a friend and stay with them, so it was only me and one other who caught the red taxi from the bus stop to our hostel and here things got a little complacated.
Firstly I was still a tiny bit paranoid so as M' was getting in the taxi I tried to take a photo of the taxi registration number, but this must have been a huge personal problem for the taxi driver as the second he saw the flash he got all angry, demanded that we get out and find another taxi, which to say the least was very strange and did nothing to ease either of our fears for a nice time in Costa Rica.
Thus we waited a few minutes for another to arrive and this time just did our best to memorise the number before we got in, not wanting to upset another driver and this time it was ok and we arrived for only 1000 colona's.
Although I had a booking my friend M' did not, and so we had a bit of fuss in the reception, especially as I wanted to pay in dollars and M' wanted a 80 / 20 split as neither of us had been to the cashpoint yet to get some local currency.
Once we got our keys to our dorm we spend a good ten minutes walking around the maze like place trying to find a dorm number 13, only for me to use trial and error to find that our keys fitted a private room dorm number 14, that was being shared by another couple who were not there at the moment.
We had barely got comfortable and set off to use the computers when the receptionist came over and told me that there was a mistake and that we needed to change rooms, which did not put either of us in good moods I can tell you.
Finally settled in we then wanted to get a bite to eat, but being a holiday Monday all the restaurants were closed and so we just grabbed a bite in the hostel restaurant which served me the largest plate of spaghetti I have ever seen, watched the end of a movie and then headed on back to our dorm room where M' read her book and I updated my blog.
Because of the them had only just had their luggage stolen by a taxi driver the previous day, I was on hyper sensitivity all day and was jumping at shadows even in the middle of a patch of sunshine.
The owner of the hostel was not up at the crack of dawn, so it was not possible to get a map or a postcard form the hostel, and had I knew this in advance I would have asked last night or got up earlier and takena trip to the 24 hour super market just a few minutes up the road, rain or no rain.
We all shared a cab but I made sure that I took a photo of the licence plate so if anything did happen to our stuff then at least we could put in a proper police report and have as best a chance as possible to get it all back.
Arriving at the bus station was a bit weird as a guy in a uniform t-shirt took our bags and threw then in the bus underrack, took our money and then walked off without giving us our tickets for thr journey or our bags, which sort of confused and worried us a bit as this was not what we was expecting, and although we were asking as best we could in Spanish he kept just saying that we would get them at the border.
This wasn't good enough for us, so before we boarded we all headed on down to corner him and eventually got tickets for ourselves but still not for our bags. The two ladies got seats together and I got a seat next to a local lady who seemed nice and polite but who had the window seat and me the aisle seat.
I tried to move behind but an elderly woman came and turfed me out of her seat, so I had to go back to my original seat and as it turned out this was a very fortuitous move as the girl I was sitting next to spoke great English and was very happy and friendly, making polite conversation with me all the way to the border and out the other end.
The border crossing of Panama into Costa Rica was total calm chaos, in that we had no real idea what we had to do and they seemed to be in no real hurry to deal with us or anyone else.
We had to get our passports stamped and then take our bags to a checking area where they were meant to be inspected, but after my old pair of trainers fell out the top as soon as I released the string pull, the guard gave the bag one look, and then waved me on and then I got to reput my bag on the bus and then head on across the invisible border and do it all again on the other side.
The Costa Rican side required us to collect more stamps, recollect our bags and hand in our passports so that they could hand them back to us after another cursory glance in our rucksacks, and I am glad that I didn't have a proper suitcase and people who had suitcases that were easy to open were given a much harder time of it.
The border was more a mini town or a market than a partrolled border and it was hard to tell what we had to do, when we had to do it or in what order, but on the other hand at least there was loads of people around to ask directions for and even exchange dollars for colona's if you dont mind getting a poor exchange rate.
Back on the bus and we still had a seven hour ride to go, although now we had to set our watched back one hour, and my and my new Panamanian friend V' were chatting so much I thought that the rest of the passengers were going to get fed up with me and ask us to quieten down, but luckily they didn't.
The view from the bus was great and it was nice to stop off for a proper meal about halfway, but with the bumpy roads and tree lined curves there was almost no opportunties to take any photos.
By the time we got near to San Jose the bus had climbed high into the hills bringing a chilling wind and cloud fog into view, so much so that I not only had to put on my jumper and jacket but also the rolling green mountains were eventually hidden from my roving eye.
Arriving in San Jose I was sad to say goodbye to my new friend V' but we had exchanged details and I would certianly look for her on facebook when I got a free moment later on today.
One of the two backpacker ladies from the hostel in Panama was able to meet up with a friend and stay with them, so it was only me and one other who caught the red taxi from the bus stop to our hostel and here things got a little complacated.
Firstly I was still a tiny bit paranoid so as M' was getting in the taxi I tried to take a photo of the taxi registration number, but this must have been a huge personal problem for the taxi driver as the second he saw the flash he got all angry, demanded that we get out and find another taxi, which to say the least was very strange and did nothing to ease either of our fears for a nice time in Costa Rica.
Thus we waited a few minutes for another to arrive and this time just did our best to memorise the number before we got in, not wanting to upset another driver and this time it was ok and we arrived for only 1000 colona's.
Although I had a booking my friend M' did not, and so we had a bit of fuss in the reception, especially as I wanted to pay in dollars and M' wanted a 80 / 20 split as neither of us had been to the cashpoint yet to get some local currency.
Once we got our keys to our dorm we spend a good ten minutes walking around the maze like place trying to find a dorm number 13, only for me to use trial and error to find that our keys fitted a private room dorm number 14, that was being shared by another couple who were not there at the moment.
We had barely got comfortable and set off to use the computers when the receptionist came over and told me that there was a mistake and that we needed to change rooms, which did not put either of us in good moods I can tell you.
Finally settled in we then wanted to get a bite to eat, but being a holiday Monday all the restaurants were closed and so we just grabbed a bite in the hostel restaurant which served me the largest plate of spaghetti I have ever seen, watched the end of a movie and then headed on back to our dorm room where M' read her book and I updated my blog.
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