Costa Rica, costa costa

21 Jan. hadnt realised I had used so much money so had to go to a bank. This delayed me setting off. I was not able to get a direct bus to Costa Rica, so was taking a lot of local buses. I got a bus to Rivas after an hour, then a taxi to the border really rapidly, which made up time. I was through the border crossing by 10.30 am. I was doing well. However, that´s when it all went wrong. I was in a puddle of people for about 30 minutes before I realised they all had a ticket for the next bus to San Jose (Capital of Costa Rica). It was so not obvious. I then found the ticket office after a few false starts. The queue was not even moving and the buses filled up with the leftovers from earlier. It was a nightmare.

I eventually took a bus to a city to a town in between in the vain hope that there might be another bus to San Jose from there. However when I got there the next bus was cancelled and I would have to wait a few hours. It would not have been so bad if I was not meeting another friend in San Jose at 3pm. I really thought I would be through the border by then. God I was so wrong. I didnt have any number to ring David to let him know I would be late. I had forgotten to take the number of the hostel from Matt the night before.

Anyway I got to San Jose eventually. Another dodgy city with an even dodgier bus station. I was nervous but I was dropped off at a private terminal and got a lady taxi driver to the hostel.
As if the day hadn´t been bad enough, the hostel knew nothing of David AND their internet was down. However, then it came up and I was able to see that David had booked into a hostel down the road and had tried the hostel we had agreed on but it was booked according to the website.

The owners of the hostel were surprised at this and realised there was a problem so it helped them to know this, so they could fix it and 2 of them kindly walked me to the other hostel. David was there and had been worried as I was supposed to have been there hours ago. I felt bad. But we chatted for hours, as to what to do and finally settled on going to the beach and to get the 6am bus. Oh that was going to hurt, as we then realised the time it was 1.30am. We retired to the dormitory.

22Jan

At 5 we were off and got the bus to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. God were so glad we did. We arrived at 10am to glorious sunshine and walked along the coastal path, looking for accomadation. Even though it had not been the plan, we ended up at the party hostel. Johnnys. Well it was cool. They have tents instead of rooms. Not very cheap but it sufficed. We went to get some food, as we were ravenous. Had a nice sandwich amd fresh juice.

We then went off exploring the beach. It was pretty. We walked for miles. We even found some fresh coconuts and David cracked them open with his knife. The beach was miles long. Each corner seemed to provide some lovely vistas or beautiful trees, plants etc. Just beautiful long stretches of beach, as far as the eye could see. A good antedote to all my bus travelling.

That night we went around town and had a local coctail in one of the bars. It is a very laid back place. A carribiean vibe permeates. Although it was not the cheapest place it was lovely.

23Jan
We rented some snorkelling gear and headed to one of calmer areas. We stopped off at the supermarkets and bought some goodies for a picnic. We hunted for some more fresh green coconuts and after we had demolished the contents, we used the coconuts to mix a salsa of onions, tomatoes and coriander. Oh my god it was soooo good. One of the best picnics I have had. We tried snorkelling but the sea was too rough for much. Still we got to see a few things.

That night we cooked some fresh fish we had bought and some more fresh salsa. Had a really nice dinner. Sleep was hard to come by though, as there was a lot of noise and then torrential rain started. Pretty cool though.

24Jan

On Sunday walking along the beach, I saw this lady talking fotos so being curious, I looked to see of what. About 10 or so rather large birds were standing on the beach with their wings outstretched, drying them in the warm morning sun. It was an amazing sight.

We, had another lovely breakfast of Bagels, cream cheese, and juice. And of course a coffee to feed Davids addiction. Then it was off on the bus back to San Jose, Goodbyes to David who had to go back to his massage course in Heridia and I went back to the hostel. A bit of an anti-climax after a nice weekend at the beach. Also it was probably the last time I would meet someone from Xela again. I was now not planning to meet anyone for the rest of my trip which kind of left a gap after being so long with people I had come to know. In kinda felt a bit empty.

25Jan
Monday day I hunted San Jose, for boots. Finally found a pair after lunch which gave me a few hours to explore the tourist sites. I saw the main plazas and walked around the center of the city. It has a few nice parts but not a city I could spend a lot of time in. I had really wanted to see the Jade musuem but it was closed. Got a taxi back to the hostel.

26Jan

Tuesday early I was off on the flight via Panama again... to Santa Marta, Colombia.