San Ramon-Monteverde

Mon 30th 0927 Just had a rest stop near (according to OSM) Cebadilla. Earwigged on group of three youngish travellers during break but nothing terribly interesting.

Everything fine. Woke up with very vague "oh fuck, got to do this bus thing" feelings about 0430ish and semi-deliberately semi-drowsed instead of going properly back to sleep until got up at 6. Tried to use toilet (didn't really need to; fine so far, touch wood), cleaned teeth, put sunblock on for later. etc.

Host took keys back off me and had called me a ("non-official" though it did have a radio) taxi, which charged me 1500 based on distance (when we arrived, presumably based on odometer and cross-referenced with a laminated paper chart) and I made it 2000. Spoke to the crisp/drink selling chap at the side of road bus stop and he told me bus at about 0745; this was at 0645ish so I had an hourish to wait but not too bad. Bought some plantain crisps off him (1000) partly by way of saying thanks but they were actually very nice and salty. He kept announcing all the various buses etc, nice enough chap I thought.

Bus did turn up about 0755, driver took my e-ticket number, no fuss. It's a nice enough bus but not quite the slick coach I half expected.

Stupidly (I had half thought about it and didn't) forgot to put fleece at top of bag when packing last night and had to dredge it out on accom floor downstairs as it was relatively cold. Bit of a breeze at the bus stop too. Got fleece on knee now as pretty warm now sun is up properly etc. It was light but dawn grey sort of thing when I left room. Lot of early morning joggers about.

1756 OK, don't really want to write this. It's exaggerated and unfair but I fucking hate it here.

Got to hostel (let's call it that) no problems. Guy told me it was 58k, I queried it (expecting - from memory as I write, had checked on phone when got off bus - to pay about 40k) and he said "it's the taxes" (in Spanish), so like an idiot I paid. I was well before checkin time but he said room would be ready in 10 mins and I waited and took the opportunity to check booking.com. And yes, it was plus tax, but 13% tax. So I queried this and he agreed to check it when he'd finished. I could even see the USD amount (82.40) on the computer, whacked it into Google and it came to about 46k. A bit later he came back and converted it himself and made it 50k - which seems an extortionate exchange rate (and what the fuck is it with a sovereign country with its own currency where booking.com seems to treat USD prices as the fundamental currency of the contracts I'm entering into?) but I didn't argue about that and said "but I paid 58k" and he said if I gave him back the 2k change he'd give me 10k "ahorita" . So I gave him the 2k and went into room and milled about and I started to suspect I'd *never* get my 10k and I was being played. So I remembered I had one of my own and managed to swap it with him for a 20k, so I paid 50k not 58k as originally charged even though I suspect fair price was actually about 46-47k.

I *didn't* make a scene (it's not quite my style, and I remembered the advice about not doing this to get things resolved in some guide book or other) but it still felt awkward and I'm pretty sure he never apologised, and the fact he still got it wrong after I queried it initially also feels a bit suspect. So I'm afraid I can't put this down to an accident, I no longer trust this place and that is a minor bind as if (complex issue) I want/need to extend past my original four nights here I am going to have to go somewhere else. (Side note, jumping the narrative queue: I may, energy permitting, see if I can get a free cancellation booking somewhere else here later tonight as a fallback.)

I also decided I didn't want to book any tours through this hostel now, because why give the fuckers the kickback? This in practice is no hardship, since you can't throw a stone here without hitting a sign for zipline or quadbike or horseriding tours and saying you can book there.

I should have had a drink of water and I also meant to message "last night's" accom to say thanks for helping me get bus, because although I did say thanks etc I was rather distracted getting into the taxi and didn't say goodbye then and it felt a bit accidentally rude afterwards. But I didn't as I just wanted to GTFO, so I went into town still carrying my fleece (which I didn't need, and should have left behind, but didn't think) and feeling a bit thirsty and mildly hacked off. But not, AFAICR, utterly crushed or anything. Maybe this fuckery to start with set a bad tone or maybe it's been playing on my mind more than I thought, but one way or another I've plumbed certain depths this afternoon and I don't think that alone was enough. It was probably a bit before 12 (1145ish) when I left hostel to go into town.

Gonna break off here and have a rest and also message last night's hostel on booking.com.

Oh, my new "non single use" water bottle leaked (albeit only slightly) in my bag on the bus. Oh, and there were quite nice views over Gulf of Nicoya (feels odd you can see it from here, but think that's what it was) on way in to Monteverde. Bit warm but not terrible on bus, it was probably only about half full (I had a double seat), I was feeling a bit drowsy at times and also lapsed into a bit of that "it's cosy and isolated here on the bus/plane, I don't really want to arrive and have to deal with shit" feeling.

Not doing very well having a break, am I? I should say that although I wonder if not having eaten played into some of the psychodrama coming up, frankly I doubt it - I had eaten yesterday and it wasn't even particularly late when I ate today. Ditto lack of sleep - yes I was maybe a tiny bit short (but can't really remember when I got to sleep) but it's not as if I'd had just two or three hours of badly broken sleep or anything.

1818 Sounds like a bloody gale outside, but I have no idea if it is that bad, remembering how the wind's bark was way worse than its bite back at the Grecia hostel.

1841 Had quick poke on booking.com, a few places with free cancellation but mostly dorms (one place - no free cancellation - seems to charge an astoundingly low 5k/night for a dorm bed inc taxes) and the more appealing of those was only free cancellation *before* 1 Feb, which hardly feels worth it. Maybe I'm wrong but I just can't see vaguely affordable dorm beds selling out for Fri onwards in the next day or two.

Usual "meh" about a dorm, *but* if it's for a couple of nights I don't have any concerns about clean clothes (I do have a private bathroom here, can't remember if I expected that, probably did - the private room has a double+single overhead bunk and a single+single bunk in, so it's almost a dorm) and it would almost be good to just do it and then it's done, it really isn't a huge deal in practice IM-limited-but-non-zero-E.

Bit chilly in room, I should put fleece on but worried I'll forget it tomorrow.

FFS, not in mood but let me bash on with my tale.

So walking into town and around it's absolute tourist trap central. There are no sodas, I even trogged up into the bit to the north with the football field which felt a smidge less touristy. The prices in the restaurants are vaguely insane and to add insult to injury most of them say "10% service not included" despite guide book saying it usually *is* included in CR (though my faith in the guide book's accuracy is diminishing) and the more sleazy of them are even quoting ex-VAT (another 13%) prices. I *don't* like paying over the odds but I particularly resent all this sleazy kind of shit. English menus nearly everywhere, incidentally - I should count myself lucky they're not showing prices in dollars.

This doesn't help my mood. In the "north" bit of town I spot a staircase up a bank and go up in case there's a nice view (there isn't, particularly) and notice all the steps have wanky vaguely "struggle for rights" slogans on them too. There's a lot of this sort of thing here - maybe I exaggerate, but there's a certain level of "diversity" and "equality" (inclusion seems not to be included) artwork both on streets and in the pricey-as-fuck businesses I've shoved my head in, which makes me hate them even more.

Anyway, I finally realised (although I don't think it was a huge contributor to low mood) I had to eat and found vaguely-sensibly-priced Pollo Asado Raulitos (if I remember the name right) where I paid 3500 for half decent pollo asado and chips but by the time I'd added a 600ml bottle of water to the order it came to about 4700. They did at least break a 20k for me, but I guess here in Santa Elena/Monteverde/whatever the hell the place is called 20k is just chump change.

Oh, before the walk round to see about eating I popped into an "official" (yeah, right) tourist office place - there's about a billion of 'em - and asked about the shuttle to the anti-plastic forest tomorrow. That was OKish although apparently you do have to pre-book the return time, although you may be able to phone half an hour earlier from reception and change it, not that clear. I am still not clear if I'm likely to turn up with 6+ hours of time booked there between my buses and the anti-plastic guys say "sorry, you can only do the short trail because the others are full and we don't like your face, plastic-lover!"

So after eating I went back to the tourist office place and booked an 8:30 pickup outside hostel tomorrow morning. Apparently I pay the driver (USD3 each way) and nominate my return time then - realistic return options are 1pm and 4pm, so I'll probably have to go for 4pm. Oh, and because why the fuck should the operators take any risks?, if I'm the only person on the shuttle I have to pay double.

Still, I was feeling shit and I figured I did well to get this booked so I can potentially tick off one of the things I wanted to do here so I can get the hell out. Whether I'll go twice as I vaguely planned I do not know.

I should in chronological order insert a rant about zipline etc tours here but let me come back to that.

I then went to the Ranorio (frog pond) which sounded quite good in guide book, and again  I thought I was doing well getting this done (well, first visit anyway) today. This is USD18 - no, USD20 according to receipt - to get into and frankly it's not worth it. Guide book implied they like you to take a tour the first time, but I didn't get offered one (nor did a French-speaking couple with linguistic difficulties as I was leaving) although a couple of girls in front of me as I was going round did seem to have one. After an OK room of pinned butterflies/insects you go on a walk round a series of glass cases and in about 90% of them I couldn't spot the fucking frogs. They give you a torch to shine in to illuminate the dark areas.

To be scrupulously fair I was feeling shit and could hardly concentrate. I kept trying to have a word with myself but the concentration just wasn't there. I may also be genuinely not good at this - as I was near leaving a couple came in together (going round backwards for some reason) and he seemed shit but she spotted the frogs in the last three displays in about as many minutes. More on the psychodramatic shit later, maybe.

I'd also read in guide book - AND THERE'S A FUCKING GREAT SIGN OUTSIDE SAYING "INSECTORIO" - that there's an insect exhibition with reptiles included in ticket price, including a tarantula, which I was a bit nervy but keen to see, but despite me asking twice at the end the guy on the desk absolutely denied knowing it exists.

I get to go back for a second night visit (6pm-8pm I think) for the price of this ticket, but luckily I asked on the way out if it could be in a few days and he said it has to be tomorrow. Luckily this does kind of work (even if I feel knackered) even if I come back from anti-plastic forest on 4pm shuttle (it's half an hour, and would give me time to eat, doubtless at same place I did today).

So ranario a big disappointment, I felt short-changed on the tour (which I might not have wanted, except you can't see anything without it in practice) and the insect/reptile collection. As a small final kick in the teeth I noticed a sign on way out saying you get a free postcard if you pay cash, but the little rack was empty so I didn't ask.

Came out, it felt too early to come back here so I did a little loop round another outlying portion of town, checked out a couple of coffee shops (cheapest Americano I could see was 1300, and that place had an "equality" poster on the wall as well) and then came back here.

Oh, flipping back, during my "hunt for food" walk before ranario, I did pop into Amigos Bar but wasn't impressed - it's got a huge dance floor area (empty at the time, of course), the food prices were insane, a few people were eating and one guy sitting at the bar (and I have no fucking idea what a drink might cost) and there's a (Spanish) "no sexual harassment permitted here, law nnnn" sign on the wall just to add that magic touch. (The enormous "smoke free environment, law mmmm" signs go without saying, of course.) I was *vaguely* tempted to pop in and risk ordering a beer post-ranario (it's a small enough and touristy enough place I wasn't super concerned about risk of eg dogs on way back after dark), but frankly it feels like a shit chance of meeting anyone for a chat and given the mood I've been in drinking alcohol felt like a bad move anyway.

So as I say, I came back here and I lay down on bed in room to read for a bit and then started writing this. There was no one else but MoS who checked me in here when I checked in, there did seem to be a few people on the terrace/balcony (I haven't been on it so don't know what it's like) when I got back but on top of all today's psychodrama I just couldn't see myself going out there, even ignoring the fact I don't feel comfortable here after being fucked around with the money on checkin. They also seemed to be speaking Spanish with native kind of accents as well, which was (at least in my frame of mind at the time) offputting.

Right, I think the main missing thing from above is the zipline etc shit. Ads for this/horseback riding/quadbike tours are all over the place. Oh, there's also a night wildlife walk (which I think J+V's friend Jack might have told me about doing) which semi-advertises the fact you see tarantulas.

All of this stuff is almost perfectly calculated to fuck with my head. It's the sort of thing I could *maybe* do but aren't quite sure if I'm capable of. (Although FTR I have essentially zero desire to go horseback riding, something about it - it's quite hard to pin down - just feels deeply wanky and there's no compensating "but it does sound fun too so I shouldn't be such an uptight bitch about it" aspect.) I *sort of* fancy doing them but not that much. I *do* want to take advantage of being here. I don't like being a miserable sulky fucker but one thing and another's just really brought it out in me today. They all feel vaguely "embarassing" things to do, in a strange and probably personally idiosyncratic way that while actually I don't really think there's anything wrong with wanting to do an "adventure activity" like this, I can imagine feeling ashamed to tell anyone I've done it afterwards, in a way I wouldn't feel ashamed to say I went on a 2-3 day walk like eg the one in Santa Marta.

Bear in mind that here I've decided, sensibly enough I think, I don't have to decide this today. A lot of these activities are 2-3h sort of things - add an hour or two for the included transport, say. I personally suspect there's no massive shortage of spaces on them, and it's not inconceivable I could (say) go book one first thing Wednesday morning for Wednesday morning or afternoon. If there is *massive* shortage of spaces then I have the perfect excuse for writing them off, these are not deathbed level regrets. If there's a minor shortage and you have to book a day or two in advance, I probably have time and could stay another day or two.

But as I say, there's this vague irrational feeling of embarassment about doing these things, added to which is the element of doubt about my capabilities. What if I sign up for the zipline thing (some of which go really fucking adrenaline heavy on the ads, but - of course - none say "suitable for timid first-timers" , because that would put most people off) and I bravely give it a go and I absolutely fucking hate it but I've already crossed the first zipline and there's no way back? The money is borderline not a concern here - these things are probably USD50ish based on leaflets in hostel reception and if I decide to have a go I am willing to write that kind of price off as experience.

And I fucking hate being - I'm tempted to say "such a coward" , but that's not quite right. The problem is really that I seem to lack a fairly basic level of self-confidence because "most" people (or am I a victim of advertising creating a false impression here?) presumaby don't think twice that they might not be capable of such things, and *that's* what I fucking hate, that I do have this constant fucking self-doubt etc etc.

And these kind of emotions stirred up by all this shit added to a somewhat irrational but still real feeling that I'm a total loser to be here on my own when the place is full of groups of other tourists has really been dragging me down. I didn't really mind being on my own up until now, as it wasn't being rubbed in my face somehow. And yet, because I'm an inconsistent arse, I also find myself thinking that I have nothing in common with all the people here (beyond the bare fact of being a tourist - but I'm a pissed-off tourist and they presumably love it here) and that I have absolutely nothing I'd want to talk to them about.

So fuckety fuck fuck. Not having the best time so far, even if it's probably mostly my own psychological quirks at play. Incidentally while it's certainly *busy* here it is not absolutely heaving - you're not fighting your way through crowds to get down the street or anything like that.

There's no Grupo Mutual ATM here, just two other banks - but that fits, Grupo Mutual don't have such an exhorbitant withdrawal fee as other banks, and we couldn't have anything non-exploitative here in SE, could we?

I keep trying to tell myself that whatever exactly kicked all this off I'll maybe feel better in the morning. Also that all this wankiness in town is somewhat irrelevant, as I'm *really* here to see the cloud forest (eg tomorrow's walk, maybe ziplining and/or night walk) and while that's still "part of" this unpleasant-feeling tourist shit, it's still a bit different.

Gut feeling is that I may take a punt on ziplining but taking care to avoid the more adrenaline-oriented ones. (Also the hanging bridge walks do look kind of cool and more up my street; I honestly don't know if these are part and parcel of the same tours or you have to do them separately.) I mean, I've been tandem paragliding a couple of times and liked it, although I don't like the excessive dipping and swooping the pilots do sometimes to "show off" a bit and the associated stomach feelings. I don't exactly like heights but then I kind of do in the right circumstances (paragliding again). On a stupid but not sure if I'll ever get a straight answer, am I "supposed" /"able" to take daypack with me (e.g. for fleece or shell jacket if it rains/gets cold) on these zipline tours or is that going to fuck with the harness and/or leave me constantly worrying it'll fall open/off and be lost? But then, what if I *don't* take a jacket etc with me and it pisses it down for four hours?

As guide book suggests, a lot of these tours overlap. Even putting the irrational embarassment factor aside, while eg a quadbike tour does sound vaguely fun, it's not something I particularly desperately fancy, whereas the ziplining does kind of appeal, has a slight "challenging myself" factor *and* is one of those iconic CR tourist activities it feels a shame to miss out on "over nothing" when it does kind of appeal. It's just this "could I (my stomach) handle it?" doubt. I mean, if I *knew* I'd utterly flip out doing it, I would feel a bit pathetic but that would be that, I wouldn't put myself through it.

This kind of "am I just a total wuss?" challenge from all these ads etc today hasn't helped either, though I may be repeating myself there.

I dunno about the night walk. It does kind of feel like something that might be within my capabilities, but it might also be unpleasantly far outside my comfort zone. TBH this is one reason I wanted to see the tarantula at the insect part of the ranario, to help judge this.

I don't feel quite so bad now as I did - probably a combination of time passing, spending a bit of quiet time reading, and maybe the cathartic effect of writing this crap out. But I'd be lying if I said I felt great.

I am yawning a bit, I may make a move towards bed soon-ish. The hostel breakfast is 7-8 and I do want to try to get that (part of the reason for not choosing the 6:30 bus tomorrow morning, although also of course because it's damn early and I already did a damn early start today - I am still waking up relatively early by my standards, but not *that* early) in to get as much value as I can out of the fuckers (to be scrupulously fair, if they *hadn't* tried to rip me off on checkin, I'd be saying this place is amazing value - it also
has cheap availability for an extra two days on booking.com with free cancellation, but I'm not doing that) and because it's obviously so fucking expensive to eat here I want to get any free/already-paid-for food I can.

2000 To give CR its due (and at this point bear in mind I'm only slagging off MV/SE, not the whole country), I have not been asked for ID at any hostel. I did have to show my credit card sized passport copy when buying my SIM, but otherwise no ID requests. Of course I'm *not* anonymous as I'm going via booking.com or similar, but it is still quite nice if in practice not really a big difference.

I find myself wondering if I should - for my own sake - try to convince myself the checkin fuckery was an honest mistake. But that isn't necessarily possible, nor is this exactly "the big problem" right now, even if it may have played its role in greasing the mental skids.

2019 In bed. Had a not v warm shower (not really blaming the accom for that - San Ramon accom's suicide shower also decidedly cool, even with low flow, despite being pricey).

Fingers crossed I feel better tomorrow. Just rambling further, as if this isn't long enough already, I do wonder if there's an element of snobbery on my part about "touristy" activities like eg ziplining. But I don't really think that's it. I don't set myself up as a "traveller" - after all, I am not socialising, which is *the* fundamental part of being a "traveller" , I think - as opposed to a tourist anyway. And going round the botanical garden in Sarchi was "touristy" and that didn't bother me.

2040 I sometimes wonder if I should stop writing this public blog (it's still public even if no one reads it) as it's maybe inhibiting. By way of a pseudo-experiment, let me make the following admissions, which I actually don't think are remotely surprising or shocking or unusual, but which make me uncomfortable (and probably make me uncomfortable in my own head, even aside from the public blog aspect):

- I would actually like to meet people and have little conversations with them, just as a kind of human contact and anti-loneliness thing. (And to maybe fight various internal tendencies to believe every other tourist/traveller is some combination of smugarse confident twat and SJW. This aspect probably is a bit unusual/personal to me, although probably not "shocking" to a hypothetical reader, more just "weird".)

- I would like to do "fun but somehow silly"  things like ziplining, and I'd like to do them without feeling embarrassed about it. (eg not feeling ashamed of doing them/wanting to do them, not wondering if the staff operating them think I'm - and probably the rest of the group too, not just me - a wanker for being there in the first place)

San Ramon, Sunday

Sun 29th 1875 Pretty slack day. Woke up 9ish but deliberately didn't rush to get up, probably left accom about 11-1130. I basically just did a relatively systematic walk along all the N-S roads around the centre of town, for exercise and to vaguely see the place and because there was nothing much else to do.

Had pretty decent lunch (casado con bistek) for 4000 at Soda El Chapparal, with pleasingly large carrot+lime (? limon they call it) juice early in walk. I had thought I might get an empanada an hour or two later but I wasn't super hungry so resisted temptation. I went to a supermarket when I'd finished my systematic-ish walk and got a 1.8l (smallest size going) semi-skimmed (no full fat AFAICs) milk which I've brought back and am drinking intermittently as a pseudo-snack. Torn about getting some Takis Fuego but resisted; it's not like I'm going home tomorrow.

As I was nearly back at accom I heard some drumming and there were a load (100ish?) teenage-ish kids doing some drums of various types plus glockenspiel (? - those metallic upright xylophone things) performance on the flat area with murals round ("indian" faces with hands, sideways on - I took photos of this empty other day, but didn't take photos of the practice). I only saw them doing that one piece and then they all sort of "huddled up" in the middle and it wasn't clear there would be more (I suspect it was a practice, not a formal event) so I went home and took my milk with me, but quite cool to see that by chance.

Been slacking off with YT etc back in room. I do seem to have a bit of a cough and feel a smidge cold but not as cold as yesterday and touch wood the cough will just gradually get better rather than getting worse.

Not packed yet but it's not that big a deal of course. Will try to go to bed earlyish given early start tomorrow; slightly edgy about it but it will probably be fine and absolute worst case is I get stranded here and lose the accom in SE, and that isn't very likely and isn't going to stop me visited SE, it will just be a mildly expensive nuisance.

AFAICT supermarkets here do not charge for plastic bags, which is nice. Toyed with getting some fruit as well but I think it's better to do that when I have a few days in some accommodation so I don't have to eat it all at once, or just buy a tiny amount.

1931 Been putting SE accom location in phones and reading guidebook. Almost feels daunting going somewhere so tourist-oriented, but just need to remember I don't have to rush. In my head I suspect it's going to be horribly chilly but it probably won't. As long as I'm mostly doing stuff I don't have to rush, I am booked in until Friday morning but if there seems to be stuff to do (and slots free etc) I am happy to extend, either at existing accom if it's OK and still cheap or elsewhere - I'd rather not (it's still fairly early in trip) but I'm sure I can get at least a dorm bed at a tolerable price even relatively last minute.

I am a bit "err" about zipline tours (guidebook doesn't mention prices AFAICS and if they're insanely expensive I probably won't anyway), as I have no idea if my stomach is up for this sort of thing. A lot of them seem to include stuff like abseiling too, which doesn't automatically seem terrifying but even assuming it isn't, feels a little - hard to descibe - "activity for its own sake" . Meh, no need to worry about this until I'm there. (Perhaps the feeling I'm groping for is really this very awkward feeling of being strapped up by either bored or over-enthusiastic guide types and feeling really socially and physically uncomfortable.)

There's something about taxi+boat combo to get to La Fortuna which sounds vaguely interesting but also a faff. My initial thought is I'd get a bus to Tillaran and maybe stay there a bit, and maybe you can take a boat ride there (I get idea it's on Lake Arenal but not sure).

I do wonder a bit if Santa Elena is going to have a kind of San Pedro de Atacama vibe - super touristy but in a slightly odd way, and also feeling really rather small at the same time.

Bit disconcerted to read you have to book shuttle bus to/from the anti-plastic forest in advance and it then comes to pick you up at your accom. This is fine, except *if* you have to book to come back on a specific bus, what happens if you book for "all day" then get to the reserve and they only let you do the short walk, etc. I might hope the return journey is flexible (at least subject to spare seats) but just have to wait and see, I guess.

I really do wonder exactly how "busy" the whole area is going to feel. Is it going to be touristy but low key or is it going to be super intensely in-your-face heaving all the time?

2224 Mostly packed, had shower, going to bed. Not exactly tired but not not tired. Vaguely apprehensive about tomorrow but touch wood it will all be fine and as I say absolute worst case isn't all that bad. As for what it's like in SE, no need to get worked up about it - even if it's eg a faff to visit the anti-plastic forest, it's hardly rocket science. And I have plenty of time so if things don't go perfectly smoothly it isn't a big deal. It may be I'm about to go from off the beaten track to "tourist central" for a couple of weeks (Monteverde/Lake Arenal) but that's fine, it has its ups and downs, and if I want to I'm sure I can get off the beaten track again afterwards. No need to get worked up about meeting people either - just don't hide away excessively and it then either happens or it doesn't, so to speak.

San Ramón, Saturday

Sat 28th 1822 At accom, have been here since maybe 4-ish. Pretty quiet day, slightly dull TBH but not exactly bad.

Slept OKish, finally got up about 9:30-10 IIRC, had quick look at guide book re San Ramon and only one museum mentioned on the main square so I went out and went over there - free, quite small but decent enough way to spend an hour or so. Had an empanada de carne (my first empanada in Costa Rica) for 1200 on takeaway place next to museum, quite nice (guzzled it a bit) and oddly pleased to have it handed to me in a single-use plastic bag.

I wandered round town far more than was actually "necessary" just to fill time. I went into a small "vaguely plastic junk" type shop to see about a water bottle, MoS accosted me almost immediately and after some minor difficulty I explained what I wanted and she took me over to the right area but did leave me to it. Moderate variety, almost all at 2500, which feels insanely expensive but it is a physical shop I guess. I thought I'd try somewhere else, found another shop and again MoS accosted me and after a brief language problem I was shown a smaller selection at about 2250; I did ask if they had anything cheaper but they didn't.

So I went back to the first shop - I had tried to remember some nearby landmarks to locate it as streets unlabelled and hadn't liked to use phone as felt a bit cheaty/tourist-status-advertising (not that I feel particularly under threat here, incidentally), so minor miracle I did find it. Dithered a bit but picked a small very slightly childish green one with a flamingo on. They had larger more adult ones for the same price (2500) but I went with this as it was the lightest and also a slightly flexible plastic which may help it fit in my bag as I lug the damn thing round with me for the next two months. There were other versions of this flexible one but they were really childish/girly with unicorns on so I compromised on the green. The flamingo design is OK, hardly anyone will see it (except it does have a "hook" on and I may at some point resort to carrying it on the outside of my bag to save interior space) and it's also a fairly cheap-looking "sticker" so I suspect it will naturally (and slightly unfortunately) "erode" anyway.

Nice work envirotwats. You've forced me to waste money and resources buying a bit of made-in-China tat which will have *no* compensating eco-advantage, because I was and am and will continue to reuse my "single use" plastic water bottles except in your hallowed turf. They're lighter and if I *do* forget one somewhere (eg like leaving that reused diet coke bottle in the soda) I don't feel I've lost something of value, and indeed the thing lost probably consumed fewer resources as it was thinner and lighter.

I did a bit more wandering (carrying my bottle around), found Soda La Porteña and had a slightly crappy casado de pescado (it was obvious when I left they were on the point of shutting anyway, so the fish had probably been sat there all day) although I found out what chimichurri is (some sort of chopped tomato and veg thing, apparently no sauce/dressing, quite nice) and it was served pseudo-buffet style so I was able to get non-sauce stuff and it was good to eat a "proper" meal unlike yesterday.

Then came back to accom via a supermarket, I got a 2.5l bottle of diet Fresca grapefruit pop which is currently chilling in fridge and broke a 20k note. I was tempted by the beer and by the crisp/chocolate type snacks but manfully resisted - a beer is nice but it's got a bit "routine" lately and a gap before having another will make it more fun, ditto snacks to a lesser extent.

This is the first town I've been in that really seems to have "bars" that aren't upstairs and hidden away - quite a few of them around with open areas onto the street. Quite tempting (it's warm, not painfully so, quite nice really - and on some streets depending which direction is open quite a strong but refreshing cool breeze) but I resisted, given have had quite a few lately as I just said and also this accom is not really suited to coming back late at night and while a beer during the warmth of the day might have been nice I wasn't gagging and returning even slightly tipsy felt unappealing.

It's a smidge cool in the accom tonight, as it was last night - I've kept all my clothes on, whereas I'd take some off in the accom in Grecia as it was a bit warm. This isn't a great fit with the "luxury" of the cold pop but hey, it's still nice.

I do have this vague "I should be having more fun" feeling but it's not that strong and it's fine. I don't have any huge rush, it's vaguely cool to visit places like SR and potter round (though TBH tomorrow may hang heavy on my hands as I'm rather pottered out) and I should "do stuff" in SE/MV.

Oh, I did stumbled on a bus to Zarcero during my wanderings and I was briefly tempted to just get on, but I decided not to. It was about 2pm at this point, I think it's an hour each way on the bus and there isn't a bus every five minutes either. If I'd felt more comfortable getting back into this accom mildly late after dark I might have gone for it, but as I say it was a bit late and I don't really want to get caught out after dark "unplanned". I *could* try to go tomorrow, but given I have the early start with the bus on Monday I am not sure that appeals - the chances of me getting " stuck" in Zarcero somehow are small but not utterly negligible. The weird stuff in the town square mentioned in RG sounds vaguely cool but I'm not desperate to go (think said before main appeal was poss a vague cloud forest feeling there, before I realised MV/SE may be busy but isn't insanely expensive) and it's at least possible I will be in Quesada in a week or so's time and could visit from there.

It does occur to me that if I had the energy/stamina, was willing to give up some of peaceful "yeah, this is quietly cool actually, I'm relaxing" stuff which comes from the vague wandering so far, what I've really "done" from a pure tourism point of view is maybe a day's worth of Alajuela sightseeing (eg the museum with the views over the square), a day's worth of the botanical garden and that's probably about it. It would probably have been possible to "do" Alajuela the day after I landed, get a bus to Grecia/Sarchi the next morning and "do" the botanical garden that afternoon. I really don't want to travel that way and over a long trip it's probably not physically sustainable (FF3W seems to agree with me there), I'm just making the observation.

FWIW forgot to say yesterday that all the stuff with the host here (asking her about bus etc) was in Spanish and while not perfect I managed quite well.

Yawning. Not necessarily a bad thing, given early start Mon if I were to go to bed early-ish tonight that wouldn't hurt. Probably stay up watching YT and drinking Fresca for at least a few more hours though.

1909 Possible live music from a nearby venue audible. Bit of a shame I'm not there if so, but sort of nice to hear. Just remembered the museum did have a single panel of information about coffee being shipped to London at some point in IIRC 1800s and yes, it did indeed leave from Pacific coast of CR, down to Valparaíso in Chile, round the bottom of South America and then to London. It didn't say *why* though.

I don't feel exactly lonely but I do have this vague nagging "I should be having more fun and meeting more people" thought. TBH quite apart from any personal difficulties (age, personality, etc) I might have here, I think opportunities have been limited - there just weren't scads of other tourists around to meet in the Alajuela or Grecia accom and obviously not here either. Nor were there obvious signs of "traveller's hangouts" or whatever - I think probably a sign and minor drawback of being slightly off the beaten path (or on the beaten path, but traversing it far more slowly than average - it's easy to imagine most people going straight from Alajuela to Monteverde, for example - I don't exactly regret my route as there have been quiet little moments of enjoyment, but in hindsight I can also seem some benefits to that). It's not as if I've locked myself alway in my room and avoided the hordes of other tourists.

I suspect/sort-of-hope MV/SE will be different. My personal problems meeting people may well be an issue, but the opportunities to have at least a brief chat with people probably will exist, and I may be able to go out at night a bit etc.

2042 Getting into bed. My nose is running (sort of) and I keep coughing a bit, I hope I'm not getting a cold, but I suspect this is just a small reaction to it actually being cold. If I wasn't a lazy git I'd have just dug my fleece out of my bag and put it on earlier.

I did a bit of laundry earlier incidentally.

2158 Probably feeling quite a lot better, not certain.

Grecia-San Ramon

Fri 27th 1652 In new accom in San Ramon. Had a minor downer earlier but things probably OK.

Did the usual wake up at 5am, go back to sleep, wake up an hour later, etc thing. Time just not passing (not in a bad way, just the opposite of mornings back home!). Got up about 10ish and puttered around and packed etc and left accom about 1150.

Got lucky with both buses, was one about to go in Grecia and then although I had to wait before I could get on and it left one turned up in Naranjo pretty much straight away too. All very cheap as well. of course.

Got to San Ramon about 1415-1430ish and by the time I'd walked (no street signs, despite OSM showing Alajuela-style odd/even system) to accom it was maybe 1445. My phone just said "call ended" when I tried to ring the number (FWIW it was on preferred network type "LTE" and I've just now changed it to "Global" , no idea if that will help or not). I sent a text but it maybe never got there either although not sure. By sheer chance woman (possibly owner's mother, not sure) came to see me anyway. Checked my name and how many nights before she let me in. Also stressed repeatedly how important it was that I close both locks (a bit complex and fiddly) on the main gate whenever I go in or out - TBH this is the main thing giving me a bit of a downer.

Anyway, I came in - they also have a dog (chihauaha? but that kind of size) which seems quite friendly and a fluffy cat - and she showed me to my room, which is really a mini apartment (shared kitchen downstairs though - immaculate and won't be touching it). She asked when I was leaving on Monday and I explained the confusion and asked advice and in the end she rang the bus company for me. Apparently (as I suspect) I need to get a taxi (she said about 1500) to El Mol (?) and there's a bloke there selling fruit and stuff who I should ask about the bus to Monteverde and she is going to meet me downstairs at 630 on Monday to take keys and put me in a taxi, which is nice of her. (I could *probably* do it myself now, but nice if I can avoid problems.)

The bus only leaves San Jose at 630 and the idea is I'll be at El Mol at 7 which is definitely early enough - probably *way* too early but can't be helped and I don't want to miss it (esp as I have pre-booked accom in MV/SE).

Anyway, I headed out into town after all this feeling a bit down (albeit pleased to have the bus semi-sorted) about the lock business. I couldn't find a soda but I went and had a wing and breast at Pollolandia which was 2500 with 2 small tortillas and some small not-that-nice fries. Chicken was good though and it was better value than I thought, as the wing (ala) was more than just the sort of thumb-sized chunk of meat and bone I think of when I hear the word chicken wing. I then went to a supermarket and got some tortilla chips, diet pop and beer - this is weak, and I had been intending to be a bit healthy after drinking (albeit not heavily) all four nights in Grecia, but since I *do* have a fridge and I can't really go out at night here I couldn't resist.

The mini apartment is very nice if a bit sterile. I should at least be able to do a bit of laundry in reasonable privacy. They have multiple apartments here, woman told me she has a lot of students - they must be fairly well-heeled students!

I definitely felt better after eating, while it's not healthy I'm glad I tried Pollolandia and "discovered" what they mean by ala, I did enjoy the chicken. To give myself credit I did also recognise that part of my low mood might be not having eaten.

2255 Had some beers and the tortilla snacks (oddly and with no context labelled with some anti-animal abuse stuff - hate this kind of preachy shit, and if you think that means I am pro-animal abuse you just don't get it), watched some YT, quietly enjoyable night - TBH didn't *need* the beers (had quite a lot lately of course) but feels kind of good to have taken advantage of fridge and got it out of my system.

Was breezy earlier (quite nice - windows all open when I checked in) and from my bed in Grecia it sounded like the world was ending outside but of course it was sunny and warm out, but a bit chillier tonight and I shut all windows. Host woman also came over and brought me an extra blanket, which was nice, although I'm not using it at the moment. Anyway, bed I think.

Oh, I did do all the outstanding laundry earlier. Sink very small but does have a plug in it, which is nice.

Grecia/Tacares, Thursday

1809 In garden with beer. Had half planned not to tonight but meh.

I realised this morning I slightly fucked up with onward stuff. Both accoms I booked got back to me, the one in San Ramon just asking me to call some number when I get there - fingers crossed my Claro SIM will work. V slightly edgy about tomorrow (and incidentally it does feel a shame to be leaving here, bit sad, but that's probably better than thinking "good riddance" - but it is time, as today's minimal tourism will show) but sure it will be fine.

Other accom told me about buses from San Jose to Monteverde even though I said I was coming from San Ramon and I initially thought "FFS, does no one read?" and then I started looking into it (about 9-10am when I had planned to go out, albeit for nothing highly important). I had somehow got it into my head there were various frequent buses from San Ramon to Monteverde/Santa Elena but I seem to have made that up out of whole cloth. It's just the two San Jose-MV buses which go via San Ramon. They also (presumably the "possible roadworks" are not an issue) go via Grecia, ie where I am right now. I had kind of ruled this out on reading about it in hostel blog because I didn't fancy getting bus at side of road at arse o'clock am (of course the two daily buses run stupidly early and stupidly late), but I have a fairly strong suspicion I am going to have to do exactly that in San Ramon.

I am not sure because the company which runs the bus has a minimal timetable which shows departure time from San Jose and arrival time in Monteverde. You can buy a ticket from any of about ten places including Grecia and San Ramon but they won't show you the time the bus is there, or tell you where to get it. I bought a ticket online regardless because it's peak season wank wank wank and I'm worried it will sell out. I have e-mailed the buggers asking for this info but that was this morning and no reply yet.

Worst case I think (and I will ask owner of place in SR in case he knows, he may well) I will have to get the "Grecia" side-of-the-road time from hostel blog and add say half an hour to that and be at side of road in San Ramon then, and I assume any taxi driver will know where I need to be. I picked the morning bus as it should be daylight at this time and I didn't fancy arriving in MV after dark. I just hope there isn't a minimum check out time on the SR accom.

Apart from the major fuckery of not telling you when or where to catch the bus, the bus company's website also charges CRC500 "service fee" for booking online and saving them the effort of maintaining ticket offices, and when you click on a seat on the "choose your seat" plan (the bus seemed virtually empty FWIW, but I am booking earlyish), it offers you the choice of regular or senior citizen and if you instead click the "they put it right there" close button to (I assumed) return to the seat map, it greys out the entire site and you can't do anything except refresh the page and start the whole booking process from scratch. This is with Chrome on Android, hardly a niche browser.

Anyway, I did book and I am assuming the brief e-mail (no QR code) on my screen will be enough for the staff on the bus.

I then went out for a bit, I got the bus to Tacares and back. It's a pleasant enough but very small town (practically a village) and there's hardly anything to see but I wandered round a bit. I did experimentally get a modest way down the highway to Carrilles (?) but a dog barked and although I didn't see the dog and it would *probably* be fine on the highway (there's a very low level of intermittent local foot traffic all along it, I think, locals walking a few hundred metres down from wherever they live to visit a neighbour, that kind of thing) I wasn't chancing it.

Buses usually empty but the return bus to Grecia was rammed so had to stand for a bit, not a big deal. I was really looking forward to filet de pescado again at La Delicia de mi Tierra and I did and it was good and I felt quite chilled and satisfied. I had also been vaguely meditative staring at random scenery in Tacares and especially while waiting for the bus (I just missed one, but I almost wasn't even trying) and did get a fairly relaxed "hey, I'm on holiday, I don't have to 'do' stuff constantly" kind of vibe going.

Went into church in Tacares and again here in Grecia for a look-see, didn't take any interior photos. Incidenally it sounded like a gale blowing when I was in bed this morning and I mentally envisioned foul weather, but of course it was sunny and warm, just a bit windier (not unpleasantly so) than usual. Did have a brief wander round Grecia, popped back to hostel for debit card and got a wodge of cash out ready for eg paying accom tomorrow and went to a supermarket (Maxipali) and got a bag of (think I've had then before) Taki Fuego rolled tortilla spicy snacks and a big bottle of arandano (cranberry?) zero tea drink which is in shared fridge now and also a 500ml can of (brewed in Spain!) Cezek (sp) beer/lager for about 780, which I (imperfectly) chilled sneakily in shared fridge and had about an hour ago - they had 350ml cans of this for about 500 but this was better value and I fancied trying it and something about a sneaky beer in my room at a third of the price down here appealed. This is all very unhealthy but there you go.

Spent ages on tech support call with mum, then watched a bit of YT (some with beer) and had shower/shave and came down here. I also checked the cloud forest place as was going to e-mail to reserve but on calmer reading you don't need to do that for the self-guided tours. I might be up for a guided tour but a self-guided also sounds good (guides know more, but it's hard to relax and get the feel for the place when you are being guided round).

I'm a bit edgy about the bus to Monteverde but putting that to one side, the fact I seem to have half decent accom and a price no worse than i'm paying here suggests that if there's stuff to do there (and the frog place sounds interesting, as well as any random paid hiking possibilities) I'm happy to extend and spend (say) 7-10 days there. So given my edginess about getting there, if I can avoid having to book a guided tour at the anti-plastic cloud forest, I can *probably* just go for a self-guided my first day there, and if I want I can go back another day for a guided tour during an extended MV/SE stay.

I do wonder if the SE accom is going to try to shove other people in my quad room but I don't think they should. I do also wonder if they might resent me occupying this room solo, but then again they put it on booking.com so...

As I say, I kind of fucked up. I could just have gone from here direct to Monteverde, perhaps extending here a few days. OTOH I have about worn this place out without a car/hiking partner, and assuming I manage to get the bus to MV at SR then really I've only fucked up to the extent of paying about 7-8 quid a night over the price of here/MV for accom in SR for 3 nights, which wastes a little time and money but nothing insane, and it *may* be that I like SR and it's probably worth seeing. At this rate I won't be going to Zarcero, as I have two full days in SR and the second I won't want to be heading out as I have the early bus fuckery the next day, and I should give SR itself a chance on the first day  I am there. It may be I can get to Zarcero from somewhere else I end up, but if not it would have been nice to go but apart from the vague quirky town square described in RG the main appeal I think was maybe a vague cloud-foresty nature itself and I should see that kind of thing in SE/MV for less anyway.

I am (stupidly) thinking it's going to be a bit cold and miserable in SE/MV. It may be a bit chilly but I'm sure it has its own charm and it's not as if I'm not used to it being a bit cold.

Think that's about everything. I wish I didn't have to travel tomorrow and especially on Monday. It's so much more relaxing to be in one place and not be thinking about changing accommodation. In part this is doubled because of my fuckup causing my short (because expensive per night) visit to SR when I could have not gone, but it's fine. Once I get to SE and assuming accom prices are as I booked for this time it's inexpensive enough simply to stay there that I may very well as I said above hang on there for a week or so. Maybe get a bit of strenuous exercisey stuff in the form of various walks/tours.

1850 Second (garden) beer. I'm aware that in (say) five years' time I won't care if I spent an extra five quid here and there. And I'm not "not doing anything I really want to" on cost grounds. (I think the only pseudo-cost veto so far has been Zoo Ave, and I wasn't desperate and at the time I also didn't know how to get there.) *But* five or ten quid a day adds up over a 77ish (IIRC) day trip like this and it makes all the difference as to when/if I feel I can travel again. My point is that if there's something I really want to do I try not to let money be a factor, but small day-to-day things (like eating in sodas instead of "proper" restaurants) that save a few quid a day consistently while probably giving me a more memorable experience and (perhaps) helping me lose weight can add up over the length of the trip and don't actually significantly hurt, either "in the moment" or looking back at the memories.

FWIW I did enjoy those Taki Fuego things rather more than the lemon+pepper tortilla chips yesterday - the former felt vaguely exotic and hit the spot, the latter were nice enough but just disappeared down my throat and left me wanting more.

I do need to be careful not to let money spoil the "mood" of the trip, but I don't think it is. I wish accommodation (and indeed food; a soda isn't expensive, but nor is it "wow, this is cheap" ) were cheaper, but I'm more or less accepting that there (admittedly it's early days, and this figure could go up or down with more experience) is a baseline 16-17 quid a night for a private room (with shared bathroom) and a baseline 4-5 quid for a meal in a soda (on top of probably north of 10 quid a day for the amortised flights) to be paid. I can afford that, I don't precisely have a budget, but it's fine. (I also have a surplus budget after not travelling since early 2020, but I'm not anxious to burn through that excess if I can help it.)

While I do sort of look forward to getting home, I'm also glad it's a while off and (although the decision was based on flight prices) wish I had closer to 90 days or longer for the trip, but 77 isn't bad and for the first trip in three years I also was a bit worried about homesickness etc.

TBH budget permitting right now it feels like it would be nice to go abroad a second time later this year, but there's also an element of not wanting to miss the decent summer weather and in fact I quite like autumn in its way too (plus stress about getting stranded abroad over Christmas if things flare up). Maybe just keep an eye on cheap-ish flight opportunities and try to be proactive enough to decide "fuck it, let's have another trip" on semi-spur of moment.

1906 Quick web search is a bit vague but I think Alajuela/Grecia and nearby towns are about 1000m asl, San Ramon probably similar, Santa Elena town is probably 1300m and the cloud forest is probably 1600m.

Just sent another message to bus company asking where and when to get the bus, this time using the form on their website instead of replying to the ticket e-mail.

I don't know if it's the extra food (snacks) or leaving tomorrow nerves, but maybe having that 500ml can of beer before I come down has really slowed down (in a nice way) my drinking tonight.

I do think MV/SE is going to be a lot more touristy. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Notwithstanding a vague loneliness induced simply from seeing other people talking, I am not feeling generally lonely yet. However, up to now there have just not been that many other tourists around - a handful, but not lots. Whereas in MV/SE I expect there to be a lot, and that means in principle I can have a chat with people etc. Not bad, good in its way, but different. The F33W advice about "heading to the traveller's hangout" while still problematic for me probably applies in MV/SE, whereas I rather doubt the existence of anywhere meeting that description in Grecia, even in Alajuela, and certainly not in Tacares. (It's not much of a notch on my belt, but I suspect I'm in a relatively small group of non-Costa Ricans to have visited Tacares.)

"And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon tree" song on, lyrics (not that line specifically) vaguely cool and I should look it up another time.

1959 Third beer. Feel slightly pissed, not a big deal. I could of course save money by not having beers in bars, either not having them or having them from supermarkets. But within reason it feels smart to "be out and about" .

2016 Couple of Dutch (?) girls chatting with guy from Belfast at next table. Makes me feel a bit edgy somehow. Also slightly pissed so will go up and vaguely pack/kill time on YT with some of that arandano tea zero (calorie) soon-ish.

2024 Back in room with my bottle of tea. Feel vaguely short-changed (Belfast guy saying "I don't know what I want to do with my life" and saying stuff about how he lived in The Hague for a while, and one of the Dutch girls seems to have been travelling for approximately a year), but at the same time a) I have to do the best I can with what I have (left) b) I do have certain advantages I don't want to write about here.

2239 Been watching YT and drinking arandando tea. Bed. Quietly optimistic about tomorrow, it's two local bus rides and a modest (hopefully) walk in San Ramon. Plan is to leave here not much before 12 so as to not get to accom before checkin opens at 3; this still leaves me a fair safety margin before darkness hits, and push comes to shove a) I can get a taxi in San Ramon b) I can get a room at short notice and pay through the nose wherever I (unexpectedly) get stuck.

Grecia/Naranjo, Wednesday

Wed 25th 1911 In garden with beer. Restaurant is open today so may account for it being slightly busier.

Bit of an iffy day. Not terrible. Will rant below.

Woke up about 5am busting for a piss. No big deal except didn't realise until I finally got up properly about 9am that I'd left my room key in the outside of the door on returning from piss so anyone could have come in.

Saw both hostel cats in last 5 mins FWIW, both let me stroke them. One looks vaguely pregnant and is white-ish with large splodgy colours, the other is the Ocelot-ish one (black rings on dark brown fur, a bit leopard-ish).

Anyway, I did go over to Naranjo *but* I finally this morning for some reason scanned the QR code I had had pointed out to me when I checked in with the hostel's travel tips blog. This is a nice effort and superficially had all sorts of good stuff. However:
- Poas still sounds like a mare if you don't have a car. You have to prepay for a specific time slot (I guess this is the registration thing mentioned in Alajuela) and if you don't get there on time because of buses, fuck you.
- Some nearby hikes given, including one accessible by bus, but it starts off with explicit instructions to ignore a "private property" sign with wooden guns drawn on it. Makes me edgy, even putting aside the "dare I go off hiking on own" stuff (eg dogs).
- Other stuff needed a car and/or you were advised not to go along because of robberies.
- Details on how to get to (former) Zoo Ave given but as previously noted, fuck them and their USD30 entrance fee.
- There's a bus (except maybe there isn't due to road works) direct from here to Monteverde but it involves pre-booking a ticket and boarding one of two (7am, 3pm IIRC) buses at the side of the highway and frankly it sounds a stressful headache given I'm not that pushed for time so I didn't try to ask staff about the possible road works to see if this is an option.

Most of this is not the hostel's "fault" and this is a commendable bit of local advice. It's just a shame being solo+cowardly+carless makes most if it irrelevant.

Anyway, I also discovered from their blog there is a main bus terminal here in Grecia distinct from the one I knew for the Alajuela-Naranjo route. So I wandered over there and had a quick look before going to Naranjo - apart from San Jose (which is always an option, I guess - how do I get to place X? Go to San Jose and get a bus from there to place X - but feels a bit nuclear) it's all local destinations. Obviously at some level these local destinations and their own buses out will probably allow reaching most of the country, but right now given my level of knowledge and the fact I don't have infinite time to blip around local towns until I reach escape velocity means it feels like the only exits from this local bubble of Costa Rica are Alajuela/San Jose and San Ramon.

I went over to Naranjo and found the main bus terminal (my Alajuela-Naranjo bus had its own one not far away) and looked at what was on offer. There are no ticket offices so no one to really ask. Anyway, lots of local-ish buses and (the only one with no printed timetable) a bus to San Ramon. Saw no sign of a San Carlos/Quesada bus.

I did some poking on phone on web from bus stop and hung around a bit (after an initial wander round time, brief visit inside cathedral, admiring scenery etc) and Naranjo seems small but pleasant enough. Nothing obvious to do touristically.

So anyway on returning to bus stop and hanging around a bit a San Ramon bus (same company as I had found on web) turned up and after he disappeared and came back I asked the driver and he said 650 to San Ramon. It was 655 Grecia-Naranjo FWIW. And yes, the coins do seem to go that precise.

I didn't ask about frequency but the web site implies there's a bus every 30-60 mins.

In short, while I don't like having to change, it's probably no huge deal (having done this preliminary recce) or tremendously "threatening" to do a trip with my bag Grecia-Naranjo-San Ramon in one day. There's a hint on the sign at bus terminal in Naranjo the bus only goes to San Ramon Calle Viera, which might be a km or two outside town, but it probably doesn't (if it terminates in SR, why wouldn't it terminate in town) and if it does it sucks but I can walk or get a taxi.

Had another wander round, had a casado con bistek in Soda del Rinconcito right by bus terminal (sadly marred by a big portion of spaghetti in tomato (probably) sauce, which contaminated other stuff and which caused me to knock a goodly portion of rice off the over-small plate as I tried to rescue the steak - rest of food was decent though) and got bus back from the other terminal. Left my reused diet coke bottle full of water on table at SdR by accident, bit annoying but hardly end of world.

Popped into the cathedral here in Grecia on my return (didn't take any photos, maybe another day - felt a bit off, and it's not like there won't be photos on web, and I do have photos of outside) and then went and bought (bit lardy) some tortilla chips from supermarket partly because I fancied some and partly because I wanted to break a 20k. Guzzled those back in room. I actually kind of lucked out as it started to piss down about 10-15 mins after I got back. Not sure exactly how long it lasted.

I then got vaguely stressed out and worked up about having to sort out onward plans.

Incidentally plan for tomorrow is probably to do another local bus daytrip. I might just go back slightly towards Alajuela (Tacares??) on the Alajuela-Naranjo route. This is just a "what the hell" things as I'm here with nothing else obvious to do. l noticed on way down here tonight there's an attractive "stuff to do" display in the hostel reception but I think it's all the kind of stuff on their blog which one way or another doesn't feel doable.

So trying to get this into some sort of logical order rather than how my thoughts wandered, it looks as if short of doubling back to Alajuela I "have" to go to San Ramon to escape this local region. That already takes two shortish bus hops with a change in one day.

San Ramon has only slightly shitty accomodation (it's pricey, and even when I tried for dates a week or two in advance I only got one cheap-ish dorm come up) online - I tried airbnb, expedia, hostelworld and booking.com. Long story short I've booked in at some airbnb-ish "host" style thing via booking.com for three nights at what works out about 25 quid a night. Not super happy about this, but even if I *knew* (I probably am, but not certain) I was heading up towards Monteverde, while there is potentially cheaper accommodation there it's still a little short notice and the direct route is basically San Ramon-Santa Elena (which is the "gateway" to Monteverde AFAICS) which takes maybe 3-4h and I have no idea if you need to book in advance. Doing Grecia-Santa Elena in one day with two bus changes, one in an unknown largish town where I might discover I should have booked ahead, feels like pushing it a bit, just to save a little bit of time and money, so I reluctantly booked that 25 quid accom for three nights.

I did see in poking around in guide book - which is how I found out about Santa Elena, and I am probably going there rather than trying to go round via Quesada-La Fortuna-Monteverde - that there's actually a smaller volunteer operated cloud forest reserve 9km outside SE, ie cheapish taxi and there's a local bus, and you can turn up and do various walks within the reserve (so presumably no dogs) and the shortest is maybe an hour and the longest is maybe 4.5h, which is totally doable I think. This all sounds great.

RG says nothing about this but on clicking on the link my ire is roused by "no single use plastics allowed in" rule. What box-ticking, does no one any good eco shit! So instead of continuing to reuse the same "single use" plastic bottle for water, I have to buy a "reusable" plastic bottle just to tick this stupid box. And I can't put my phone or camera in a "disposable" plastic bag, presumably. What a load of wank. I could see "no plastics to be thrown out in the reserve" as reasonable, but this feels fucking stupid. (Hey, if my phone breaks because it gets wet, having another manufactured will have *way less* eco impact than me using a disposable plastic bag to protect it, right? Not to mention I would have reused that plastic bag anyway.)

Apart from putting my back up, this isn't necessarily a killer. It half makes me not want to go. Wording vaguely suggests *all* reserves in CR have this rule but fuck knows. But I will probably buy a cheap shitty "for kids to take to school" type water bottle in one of the many shops selling plastic tat and when I inevitably lose it a week or two later it won't be too much of a wrench.

So that's kind of OK. I looked at accom in SE and it looks like there are options. Private rooms not super cheap but not terrible, certainly no worse than SR. That said, even if I can get a satisfactory experience from the wanky rules reserve (in theory that would easily sate my cloud forest desires, although I see stuff about you being "assigned" to a route depending on how busy they are, so it could easily turn out to be super unsatisfactory), perhaps visiting 2-3 days in a row, I am not sure that will pan out. And several of the more backpackery type accoms in SE which are dorm only do seem to have their own guide services/affiliated aguides, and I am wondering if it might be worth the minor stress to go stay in one of those. They *are* cheaper too. I need to mull this over, perhaps do some reading tonight/tomorrow now I've made the decision over SR accom, and book ASAP so I'm not getting too fucked over by booking last minute.

I've got a bad taste in my mouth but I get this kind of works. Book for SE tonight or tomorrow, hopefully don't get caught short (and if it helps, it won't be the weekend) by booking late as a result. Most likely spanner in the works is that there are no seats on buses SR - on Monday (which is when I'd be going - Fri-Sun nights incl would be in SR), and that doesn't feel (touch wood) too likely.

(Incidentally, absolute cheapest beer - Bavaria 4% - in supermarket was 500 for 350ml can. But Imperial is 900-1100ish IIRC. I will try that Bavaria at some point.)

1951 BJ Piano Man starting. Just got second beer - could have called the barman guy by name but chickened out, felt wanky (which is stupid).

Anyway, not that I've been going crazy with my 3x350ml beers a night here, but by the sounds of it a quiet-ish week-ish (given the airbnb-ish style I doubt I'm gonna feel comfortable going out on the lash in SR even though it's the weekend, but never say never) in SR+SE with 3/4/5 days of wholesome exercise and no privacy and just maybe meeting people (this is another good reason to go dorm in SE - given the hiking-ish activity of the place, it's vaguely possible there will be other people going out to the People's Anti Plastic Cloud Forest etc for sharing rides and/or security benefits), and then after that *probably* either an exit to relatively affordable La Fortuna before heading up towards Lake Arenal - I do like a big lake, especially if I can have a beer on its shore :-) - or striking out west for the beach.

I don't know if there are any other "big ticket" items - it *would* be good to get a multi-day hike in if I can, and to see some volcanoes - in the NW once you get past Arenal. But if not that's fine, putter over via some cheaper towns towards the beach, then head vaguely back down south. I need to sketch a rough itinerary out perhaps, but I think it can wait a day or two until I get SE sorted.

Ocecat is sleeping on seat near me, which is nice.

I am kind of thinking I'm not too fussed about the Carribbean coast unless something massively attractive comes up. Gut feeling is to head NW, maybe Nicoya peninsula (if only cos getting a ferry back across to Puntarenas sounds slightly cool, while it is probably very routine), then try to head south where it may be a little more off the beaten track hikey (although maybe car-demanding and/or needing bags of confidence or self-supplied hiking partners to strike out) and loop back up via Cartago and end up in San Jose.

This assumes I don't fancy Nicaragua. I haven't decided yet. I saw something in guide book about CR charging fees to enter/exit by land which feels vaguely annoying but not necessarily a killer. I also feel a bit edgy about coronavirus rules - even if (not looked) Nicaragua doesn't require tests/vac certificates I'm relucantant/unable to produce, what really nags at the back of my mind is being in Nicaragua when a sudden bout of rule changes breaks out and finding myself unable to re-enter CR to get my flight home. I don't have to decide yet, as I say.

I can't check into the accom in SR until 3pm. This is a bit of a pisser as although there's lots of scope for random delays with two buses, it's probably only a 3ish hour journey and I had been thinking (in order to allow time for random fuckups) I might as well leave Grecia about 10. But maybe I'll hang on until 11 or even 12 (checkout time). Dunno.

While there's a vague sense of satisfaction sometimes, having to sort these transport and accommodation logistics out is a pain in the neck. Yesterday I didn't do that much but enough and felt chilled. Today I feel I'm being squeezed by high demand, crappy options and "must do" places like Monteverde (or the nearby PAPCF variant). While a tiny bit dull, there's a quiet satisfaction (up to a certain point) in puttering around these little towns here which don't feel insanely expensive or overly touristy.

Of course this argues for staying in each place longer, but there has to be enough "stuff to experience, if not do" . I think I've just about exhausted (given none of the self-organised hiking type stuff works for me here) the casual bumming around potential here. Even tomorrow's day trip feels a bit "unnecessary" - I could have just booked in here for three nights in hindsight, *but* then the "got to sort out the next move" stress would have kicked in earlier and tainted the first couple of days.

I did incidentally sit on the side of the pavement (it was the top of a hill, so this worked) admiring the view in one place in Naranjo. Felt quite relaxed for a few minutes, but the odd person came past and although I don't think I was remotely in any danger I felt I couldn't hang around there for ages. Still, sort of cool. I do kind of like the "this is not earth-shatteringly amazing but it is quite cool and I have no pressing call on my time to go do something else" feeling.

2041 Third beer. I just had to pop back up to room for a credit card as I decided I'd book something in SE and all of a sudden booking.com wanted a card for the reservation, even though I have free cancellation up to 28th. (This isn't ideal as a guard again no bus seats available, but does let me mull things over and change my mind tomorrow.)

I booked a room to myself in centre-ish of Santa Elena at what works out at about £16/night - double bed + 2 bunks (!) with shared bathroom. I was looking at the dorms etc (and I note booking.com was happy to try to sell me a place which had *only* a female-only room available, meh) and the one which really seemed to maybe run its own tours (which might of course be overpriced or not happening now or whatever) was charging roughly as much for a dorm bed as I'm paying for this room. There were cheaper dorms (maybe half what I'm paying) at decent-seeming hostels but I'm not desperate to stay in a dorm right now, and if I'm not in that hostel which does its own trips the advantages are reduced. Moreover a) I can now maybe e-mail PAPCFR and see about getting a reservation in advance b) this is sufficiently acceptably priced (if memory serves it's about what I'm paying here in Grecia - this is not *cheap* but it's not insanely expensive) that I don't think I'll feel the need to "do SE ASAP and get out" , although there's always a bit of background time pressure, but anyway my point is that I can probably organise tours with all sorts of agencies in such a touristy place - including wandering over to expensive dorm hostel on the offchance and asking, they probably don't only sell to their own guests - and if I *can't* and/or I somehow need to vaguely hope I can meet hiking partners or whatever, I can always book into a dorm to extend my stay in SE by a few more nights.

It feels good to have this mostly kinda-sorted. I could still be shafted by bus seat availability but touch wood gut feeling is this shouldn't be too big a deal - and I can look at it either Fri afternoon post-check-in or Sat morning. I will probably not email PAPCFR until tomorrow evening though.

Given SR accom is so expensive for what I expect to be a pleasant enough but not amazing town I don't really mind having pre-committed to not spending more than three nights there. Plus it's probably easy enough (if not essential) to call in at SR on the southbound leg of my vague loop via Nicoya peninsula - it's not that far from Puntarenas.

PAPCFR does show a close up of a tarantula on one of its rolling website banners. Honestly didn't think they'd be big on such moist environments, but what do I know?

I also seem to have the option to cancel the SE accommodation even after Friday and "only" lose $18, not the full cost of the booking. I don't intend to do that, but worth bearing in mind as it's better than nothing if there is a major fuckup with the bus tickets or something.

I sneakily washed a couple of tops earlier tonight. I have a private bathroom at the place in SR so in theory can give everything a good wash and head to SE with a full complement of clean stuff, but given it's airbnb-ish I wonder if it'll feel quite that private. I guess it should be OK really.

Probably because restaurant is open there's a new MoS tonight. He took me off guard by looming up at me out of what looked like a group of friends chatting at a central table instead of staff and also (possibly just my imagination) said "buongiorno". It's really not a big deal but I do constantly seem to run into situations where I fail an " initial Spanish test" out of stress/shock and then someone speaks to me in English thereafter. This is kind of why it's nice when people *don't* speak English. (Also I suppose it does give me a vague hidden ability to actually understand Spanish to some extent which people don't suspect in these situations. I wish my Spanish were better than it is, but it is way better than it superficially appears when I fuck up a sudden initial burst of colloquial stuff.)

2127 Fourth beer. Perhaps pushing it but hardly a big deal. It's perhaps the spend rather than the alcohol I should worry about, but I spent four nights off in Alajuela and it wouldn't surprise me if it's similar in SR and SE - there may be the odd beer, but I doubt there'll be the relatively "nice" option of a few beers in the garden I've had here.

Repeating myself, but even though Friday will still be a bit of a stress and I need to sort bus SR-SE out, it does feel vaguely reassuring to have things mostly sorted.

Feels a bit awkward here with AFAICT no other guests/diners here and just me and the hostel/restaurant staff chatting away at another table. Meh.

I will get a wodge of cash out tomorrow - there's a Grupo Mutual ATM on the main square near the hostel - ready to pay on check in on Friday, and perhaps also (depending how much I have etc) towards paying in SE.

Don't exactly feel drunk but a vague tired/bluriness behind the eyes. Oh, for whatever reason, I kept wanting to fall asleep on bus back from Naranjo today - I had slept OK if not great, I hadn't forced myself to get up early, I had walked a bit but not miles, no obvious reason for that but there it was.

2200 Finished that beer. TBH if the new barman hadn't suggested I run a tab (never offered before, not that I mind) on the third beer I'd probably only have had three. But it's fine. Feel a bit (and oddly) drunk, not out of control etc, just know I've had a drink. Will go up to room, maybe a bit of music/YT and then bed. I am thinking given my inclination to wake up early plus the way it gets light apparently about 5am and gets dark about 6pm I should be getting up earlier than i am, it would only be a small extra effort. OTOH that's maybe useful in say SE, but here where I'm just doing pointless little daytrips and even those have to be dragged out to fill the time, it's maybe not such a big deal.

Plan for tomorrow is still some local place, maybe Tacares just on a whim, but I'll probably be flicking through RG with a vague sense of despair tomorrow morning. Anyway, let's head back to room.

Do feel a bit sad sitting here on own but fuck it, it's not like it's within my control, nor are there apparently tons of other guests I could in principle have met etc - it's me vs staff/their presumably local friends, so to speak.

2221 Just going to bed I think. I feel OK on the whole - already a lot more sober, rationally or not. It does feel vaguely loser-ish that I'm not just meeting up with people left right and centre in that stereotypical way but while vaguely annoying, TBH it's difficult to see how anyone could (not saying they *wouldn't*, but still) have done better - I've stayed in two separate places and neither seems chock full of people to meet (not saying there's no one, but not loads) not matter how extroverted I might be, nor does either place seem to have outside-accom liveliness on a great scale.

Grecia/Sarchi, Tuesday

Tue 24th 1836 In hostel garden with a beer. On the whole not a bad day, after a mildly rocky start.

Didn't sleep super well, not terribly badly but not well either. Woke up briefly a few times during the night, not sure but I think occasionally a really noisy truck or motorbike would go past and the noise somehow got interpreted by my brain as a harsh blast of wind and I would wake up. That isn't actually right but it's the best I can do to recollect how it felt during the night.

Woke up and fell back to sleep multiple times about 6-8amish. Finally got up I think about 9, partly cos I mildly needed a piss.

Incidentally hostel has a movie night tonight at 8pm - they messaged me via booking.com about it, not seen anything here. I am unlikely to go, unless it happens (as seems unlikely) to be on a projector here in the garden. I'm not desperate to meet anyone, it doesn't seem a great way to meet anyone and I'm really not interested in watching 99% of films made in the last few years.

So I was trying to figure out what to do today about 9am and feeling I'd kind of fucked up or at least wasn't doing very well at this whole tourism business. I had heard mention of a zoo nearby and I dug it out on the web and in RG but it's apparently nearer Alajuela (not an absolute killer, but feels a bit silly backtracking) and the guide book and their website were super vague about how to get there (you have to get off in the middle of nowhere on a bus out of Alajuela, and AFAICT it's not the bus between here and Alajuela). The final kick in the teeth was that it's CRC9800 for CR nationals but USD30 for foreigners. Not an absolute killer, but put it all together and consider that I would be going more to do something than because I really really wanted to go and it's all a bit "fuck that" . Also, although I risk piling up a load of "ought to do" stuff, this could also be done from Alajuela at the end of the trip.

I did skim over the Valle Central section of the guidebook and I do feel a bit more interested in San Jose now. But I still think it's smart to leave it to the end of the trip, when I'm more clued up in various ways as I've already waffled about.

So I wasn't sure what to do and the prospect of wandering round Grecia itself seemed unappealing - I kind of already did that yesterday. Luckily I sort of noticed Jardin Botanico Else Kietzner (sp) on OpmAnd app and I decided I'd get the bus to Sarchi and walk up there and maybe do something else in Sarchi. It's famous for ox carts but RG is a bit down on it all as v commercialised and touristy so I had not intention of staying there, but it finally feels like I've got the idea (simple as it it is, it's surprisingly hard for me!) of the "base" , as it was pretty easy (and confidence building) to just pop over there as a day trip from here.

I was feeling a bit grim and a bad tourist and just going through the motions when I left hostel, but I got to the bus terminal just round the corner and it was obvious where to get the bus (had to wait a bit) and it all went well (not that there was much to go wrong, really). 400 each way which is no big deal, and the sense of relative freedom and safety from not having my bag with me was quite liberating.

I got up to JBEK without any real difficulty, the occasional spot check on OsmAnd but nothing too hard. (Incidentally, before leaving Alajuela I checked and Grecia has the same street naming convention as Alajuela, but I haven't seen an actual street sigh here. Luckily you can see the towers on the cathedral from most places round the centre so it's easy enough not to get lost. I'm doing fairly well at not pulling phone out to navigate most of the time, it feels less like advertising my tourist status and also a bit more like it keeps me "connected". Also incidentally, there's a cockroach wander about under my table.)

The one spot of drama was that on the walk up to JBEK there were a couple of street dogs (or maybe pets allowed to wander?) and although they seemed inoccuous and various people - not that many - were around and must have walked past them, I crossed the road to give them a wide berth. A few more metres up I then walked in front of a gated garden where the resident dog decided to come over and bark at me through the gate, and the street dogs - maybe just one of them? - then came over to investigate. I probably slightly overreacted but didn't utterly flip out, doubled back and walked away and nothing happened. Unsure how to get past, I half hoped someone would come along I could tag along with but they didn't. In the end I tried again and the street dogs just ignored me this time. I guess they were more interested in the other dog barking than me specifically.

FWIW saw a handful of these " make me edgy but apparently just minding their own business" street dogs in this "back" bit of Sarchi. I did try looking for a rock before making the second attempt on the way up to JBEK just in case but couldn't find one.

On arriving at JBEK there was a sign but the big gates were locked. As I was dithering a security guard spoke to me and I was in the right place, he let me through and I followed a yellow line round a fair way into a pseudo agricultural-industrial complex to the entrance to JBEK. They charged me 3500 to get in when I was sure their website said 3k, but maybe I misread. Not *cheap* but not terrible and I think it was well worth it.

At first I wasn't sure how big it was and wandered round a bit vaguely, but when I found a sign with a map I realised it was fairly large. So I got a fair amount of walking in and in a few places I sat down and got lost in thought and it was all quite tranquil (intermittent bursts of The Jam's "The Place I Love" came into my head during this ;-) ). I should have taken a bottle of water with me but I hadn't and it was fine. There was one place with a swing seat by the small lake, and as I was sitting there I saw a black-ish lizard creep out onto a log going into the water. When it wasn't moving it was well-camouflaged, I'd never have noticed it if I hadn't seen it moved. There were also some red dragonflies zooming round there, though I didn't get to see one close up. I don't know much about plants but it was overall very pleasant, some nice views and occasionally a cool breeze from the higher parts.

I also just before I left stared at the small vertical fountain in the middle of the (tiny, waist high) maze for long enough that when I looked away, whatever I was look seemed to have a fluid upwards movement, as if my eyes had got accustomed to such a movement in that part of my visual field. Had read about this effect if you stare out of a train window so stuff is moving (say) left to right then look straight down the carriage after and it's all supposed to look like it's rushing towards you, but never got that to work.

I will maybe read up a bit more now but I did form a hazy plan during this morning's guide book read that going to Zarcero, which may actually be in a cloud forest region itself (at IIRC 1700m, cf approx again IIRC 1000m here) and if not has one nearby and is vaguely moving me NW as well. I have no idea how to get there or if there's accommodation there, but my current thoughts are that I might do a little research on buses tonight and head out on an exploratory day trip there tomorrow. If I make it I will know if it's worth maybe trying to stay there for a few days, and once I know the buses to get there it will be less stressful to do it with my bag. If I get there and there's nothing at all there, I can avoid the mistake of actually moving my "base" to there.

I'm potentially open to extending my stay here for a few days, depending on availability here and elsewhere and how tomorrow goes.

I was going to eat in Sarchi but I could only find one soda when I was looking and didn't quite like the look of it, and it was probably smart - there was no big problem getting a bus back, but I had to wait a bit and it does get dark about 6ish (I had hours in hand, though) and so it was probably better to get back to Grecia then eat, as I did. I went to Las Delicias de mi Tierra and had a pretty decent (breaded) fish fillet with french fries, undressed-by-request salad and a couple of small tortillas for 3k, plus 600 for a juice - I asked for cas but what turned up was a lurid green, which the last cas I had wasn't, but it tasted fine whatever it was. Also picked up some more bananas (still have a few of first batch left) at the little shop with them at 50 each.

Put some saltidin spray on this morning and again before coming down here. Bit oily (I'd forgotten) but not too bad. Bottle says exposed skin only so that's just my head (not doing hands) so it may last me longer than I thought with look.

I also did a sneaky wash of three sets of underwear/socks before coming down. I am also playing little games like wearing same complete set of clothes tonight as last night (since I figure a few hours sitting in garden constitutes little dirtying of them) and wearing the same top to go out during the day two days in a row.

Jardin Else Kientzler, BTW - I had the website still open. It was pretty quiet there BTW, saw a few other visitors and a few staff but mostly felt like I had place to myself. Also the fact it is a closed off and "curated" place meant I wasn't worried about dogs or muggers, as I inevitably would if I just went off walking somewhere.

Right now there is 1 room left at this hostel to extend another two nights at roughly the price I paid before. I don't think I am going to take it, I'll see what happens tomorrow.

booking.com has two super expensive lodges at Zarcero, otherwise nothing. It's possible if I go in person for a daytrip I'll see some cheap stuff which isn't on web, but not super optimistic.

French (?) version of "Englishman in New York" playing.

There are - for the same dates, starting Thursday (ie way sooner than I'd be there) loads of cheap-ish options in Monteverde on booking.com. It feels as though despite Zarcero being obscure, it is either "rich people obscure" or "so obscure there's little tourist infrastructure". It might not hurt to do it as a day trip anyway.

RG says it's an hour by bus to Zarcero from either San Ramon or San Carlos. It might be a better plan to think of SR or SC as a next base and try Zarcero from there. SC perhaps has slightly more frequent service but not super clear.

I wonder if I'm getting confused but SR looks much nearer and would be on a route to Monteverde. SC appears to be on Lake Arenal and I would probably want to go there but it's a much worse short term destination given where I am now. No, I think San Carlos in question here is "Quesada" , which is nearer, but is also not as convenient as San Ramon.

Right, feeling a bit lost (and scared of over-demand/quotas/high prices at Monteverde) but looking at guide book, I'm thinking bus La Fortuna-Monteverde might be my way in. That would fit well with going to Quesada. San Ramon is not out of the question, because it's only a whisker further on, and I suspect there's a bus San Ramon-Quesada. I could probably get to San Ramon from here by changing in Naranjo, I already know the buses from here go there (it's a bit further than Sarchi), so assuming there's accommodation etc, the plan is perhaps to go tomorrow on a day trip to Naranjo and maybe see if there are buses from there to San Ramon.

If I can get to San Ramon, my next few bases would probably be SR, Quesada, La Fortuna and Monteverde. With maybe some intermediate towns if that feels appropriate, desirable or useful.

Arguably I'd be as well to miss out San Ramon and perhaps visit it if I end up doing a loop up into the NW, back down Nicoya Peninsula and getting a ferry or something into Puntarenas and then heading south-ish from there. I guess it would be worth seeing there are buses from Naranjo to Quesada too. Quick web search suggests there are but it's not v clear, Naranjo doesn't rate an entry in RG.

I need to be careful not to start zooming along between expensive and unpleasant obvious tourist destinations. I think Naranjo is definitely worth a day trip tomorrow. I suspect the low stress option is to make San Ramon my next base, as it probably has a straightforward bus connection to Quesada, whereas both SR and "SC/Q" need a change (I guess) in Naranjo from here, and SR would probably be lower stress as it's much closer.

booking.com interestingly has *no* dorms offered in SR or Quesada. Both have decent-ish accommodation in the roughly £23/25 night range for this Friday (next day I am not booked anywhere), which is more than I'd like to be spending but borderline acceptable. I haven't checked other sites, just using booking.com as a guideline.

I can't help feeling I maybe need to not *rush* but not go too slowly through this region if it's a little pricey. But this is also short notice which may not help - those prices are based on 3 nights, if I booked 4 the per-night rate might drop. And also Monteverde accommodation actually seemed maybe a bit cheaper, so there may be all sorts of quirks in the pricing here.

I think I'll go to Naranjo tomorrow and see how it looks from there.

I'm not always big on beaches but it would probably be good to make it to some spot on the Pacific coast for a few nights. I still haven't thought much about whether I should pop over into Nicaragua either.

Yes, I think I need to go to Naranjo and see what I can see. Gut feeling is I will try to stomach some high prices if I have to around Monteverde, I may find some pleasant surprises, then I can head NW towards Nicaragua/the Pacific coast, and around there there may well be more scope for puttering around slightly off the beaten track towns rather than being funneled into a single tourist hotspot like Monteverde.

2228 About to go to bed. Movie night was in the garden, there were a handful of other guests (talking in Dutch?) with the Dutch (guess) woman who checked me in, but they had disappeared and it was just me and the two staff (DW and "barman" , who introduced himself to me as Marco) watching the film. Smidge awkward as I don't know if I should have gone "up front" to sit with them but I didn't.

Anyway, we watched "Aftersun" which was actually quite good. I kept thinking something vaguely horrible might happen but it was just a sort of "slice of life" thing, a bit like something else I watched or read recently which escapes me right now, slightly poignant but not "bad" .

I saw on the credits "adult sophie's partner" or something and I didn't see him. There was a tiny bit of garden shadow on screen, I think I realised it was adult sophie right at the end of the screen, maybe her partner was in there very quickly and I missed him (?). I hope this last scene didn't utterly change the meaning of the film, I will have to assume it was just a poignant-ish slice of life and we just saw an adult sophie reflecting in general, not reflecting because of some particular life circumstances I failed to see in that last scene.

Poignant, in an odd way made me feel jealous ("I've done it all, you can too, but I want you to talk to me about it" - I *haven't* done it all and I am clearly not going to now), but of course I can hardly complain as my parents didn't split up blah blah.

Anyway, not bad, and although probably not such an iconic/well known film, it will join the handful of others like Babel and Pan's Labyrinth which have a specific personal geographic connection for me.

Had three beers in total, couldn't get and didn't desperately want another during film (mildly in need of piss but not desperately so towards end), perhaps due to slow consumption of third or just randomness I don't feel particularly drunk. Plans feel a little vague, a little pricier than I'd maybe like but totally doable (and there will be some averaging out) and I'm still a bit edgy despite apparent quietness here (I did see the prob-4-bed dorm near me had some bags in earlier, but still, it's clearly not heaving) about getting booked into other places, but the plan for tomorrow is to go over to Naranjo, walk round, check the buses out and then tomorrow night I will try to firm things up.

FWIW I think one reason I wanted to come to Grecia is that this hostel came up when I was looking for "initial stays" and I decided Alajuela worked better but this did look cool, so it seemed a reasonable next hop to come here. I don't regret this, it's already been interesting and I do like the idea of mostly making short journeys and taking my time.

I keep thinking about opening a bottle of cherry and/or sparkling pear wine with my dad when I get home, but I also quite like the fact I have a long time left before then. I also tonight have been tipping back and forth between "if I go too slowly I won't get even remotely close to taking advantage of the relatively short time I have here" vs "it's fine, I have plenty of time, even at roughly four nights everywhere I go, I have time to see 20ish places and this is only number two, the SR-SC/Q-LF-M route is only another four places, it's fine, chill, it's not a race, there is no one thing which is a must-do, I can come back, etc" .

Do feel slightly (not unpleasantly) drunk but nothing major. Considering things felt a bit rocky first thing this morning they feel decidedly brighter now.

Incidentally I do kind of wish I felt I had "so much" time that I could extend here by a day or two simply to take the pressure off wrt making a decision tomorrow and maybe it's too late to extend here and too late to book something in CR or SC-Q. But it's fine. It probably won't be and I also don't want to drag out stays in places unnecessarily. Anyway, bed, I think.

Alajuela-Grecia

Mon 23rd 1253 Well that all went rather well. Woke up probably 7-8ish and half drowsed (kept going to sleep but it seemed like no time had passed when I woke up each time)/stayed in bed til 9ish. Vague "oh no, got to move today" feelings but nothing major.

Left accom about 1055, was probably at bus stop by 1110 at latest, bus waiting (two in fact) and a small queue so hung around not feeling too uncomfortable until driver turned up about v approx 1130. There was a dead rat in the gutter, it didn't bother me except that obviously it was going to get squashed at some point, but I didn't have to watch that.

Bus only cost 910! Pleasantly surprised. Maybe I misheard the other driver and he said 1100 not 2100, or maybe different companies have wildly dfferent charges. I think we got in about 1245 (v approx), hostel v nearby. Bus was not empty but far from heaving, I had a double seat (3+2 arrangement) to myself as did most other solo travellers. Quite nice views from window as you might expect.

I was able to check in early here so am writing this in room, which is small but pretty nice and has a huge CRT TV and a ceiling fan, which feels quite cool (no pun intended). Quite a nice courtyard, there's an associated restaurant open from Wed (little pricey - there's a menu in my room) and apparently there's a free coffee maker just on landing near my room, which I hoped for but didn't see on listing. Saw bar in corner of courtyard, didn't ask if it opens during week. I think the courtyard may be used (not blocking guests at hostel out) for restaurant too.

I didn't see (m)any other guests as I was shown round though the place seems quite large. No idea if they're not as busy as booking.com seems to make out or if everyone is out.

Vague plan is one I finish writing this up to head out and do some walking round town for exercise/getting bearings/sightseeing and have some dinner late afternoon-ish. Then come back here, perhaps see about some free coffee, shower and then go sit down in the courtyard this evening and get a beer if I can. :-) It would be nice to get into a conversation with someone but I'm not counting on it and I'm not desperate at this stage.

Oh, although I haven't asked, there is a blackboard at reception showing a tour to Volcan Poas at $25.

And incidentally the Fecosa terminal in Alajuela is mentioned in guide book so I expected it to be in use, but from some vague "we arranged the funding" type commercial poster I saw in a window somewhere in Alajuela, maybe it's new and/or being renovated and hasn't (re)opened yet. Just speculating.

Before I head out, tried to use torch on K1 to check under bed before leaving Alajuela accom and it's not working, nor is the camera! I haven't tried a reboot to see if it will fix this or not. I used the camera only a few days ago and it worked fine. Not the end of the world if this has permanently broken, although it does make me worry about the possibility more stuff is going to break...

1834 Down in garden, fairly quiet, just the three of us and I think one is the woman who let me in. Not sure if bar is open or not, no rush (he said with his tongue hanging out :-) ).

Decided earlier that I am going to give the tape water a try here. It is supposedly safe almost everywhere (except very rural areas), some websites mutter about "avoid if you have a sensitive stomach" but on a trip this long and *not* (touch wood) thinking I do have a sensitive stomach (I get sick *when I drink water I'm not supposed to*) I think it's worth a shot. The savings of time, hassle and money aren't to be sneezed at. I don't *want* to get sick but if I do at least I am here four nights so have time to recover without having to be on a bus or something.

Wandered round town this afternoon, quite a nice little place - very nice views from the edges of the centre over the surrounding hills/mountains. Snapped a few photos. Had a bit of a linguistic/nerve failure in one soda (but hey, I tried), nearly went in another but I felt a bit uncomfortable after staring in from street at menu and the guy I was (incidentally) staring over the head of inside seemed to eyeball me a bit, ended up at Soda del Hospi (right by hospital entrance) and after some semi-fluent and semi-fluffed negotations had a very decent casado de (con?) bistek with a spearmint (yerbabuena) juice (novelty that - very nice though) for 3k. I handed over 4k as 2x2k as I thought they said 3.something even though I expected 3k and got 1k note back. I didn't leave a tip, gut feeling is I didn't need to and I also didn't want to tip 1k.

I also later - TBH was getting a bit fed up of walking, although it's all exercise and actually out to north I got into this more suburban-yet-industrial bit up by Maxipali supermarket where it felt a little bit like walking into the country just a touch - got a few bananas (semi-fluffed language) for 50 each (!) at a little shop. I figured (probably did on previous trips too) buying some fruit to snack on and bolster my diet (healthily/cheaply) is a good idea - didn't do this in Alajuela as didn't think straight away and didn't want to buy just one banana or end up bringing some with me.

I honestly don't know if there's anything to do here. It may well be a half-decent base for some bus trips out to nearby places though. I will see how it looks, I don't have to rush as such.

They have cats here. Saw one when I checked in (white and coloured splodges) and there was a vaguely ocelot-like one just now in the garden.

Just got a beer, 1400 for 350ml bottle Imperial, not amazing but not terrible. Also had weird (but amicable) pseudo-bilingual exchange with probably French woman who asked me if I minded if she smoked. (We're in the garden. Nice of her to ask, but I don't see any real need, if the owners allow it.)

Incidentally CR has UK-style huge no smoking signs with reference to some anti-tobacco law on. They don't have the annoyingly smugarse legally mandated sentences the UK does, but to make up for it the signs are generally fucking humongous.

Writing this on phone in garden is slightly against my "rules" (trying to be present, etc) but it's fine. This is just an alternative to hanging out alone in my room, I am going to read a book on phone when I finish writing this, which I think is now.

It does feel fairly empty here. Maybe booking.com was telling truth wrt "only 1/2 rooms *of my type* available, but I find it hard to believe the dorms are rammed. This isn't exactly bad (except it doesn't bode well for meeting people to chat to, but not a big deal, especially this early in trip) but it also doesn't fit well with the " it's peak season and it's *so* busy" narrative. To be scrupulously fair, Grecia - while I rather like it in its own right so far - isn't even really listed as a place in its own right in RG (no lists of accom or bars or map) so maybe this is a bit off the tourist track. Which is cool, if maybe boring - although if it is a decent base for some side trips that works nicely for me.

Incidentally there are mosquitoes (I think; maybe just flies) here in garden. Not been wearing repellent until now, I am not going in to put any on but I hope I don't regret that. (Disease, rather than bites as a nuisance. I don't like bites of course but I don't expect to get hundreds sitting here.)

Oh, I did have some of the free coffee earlier - made it with a weird free-standing drip net thing, a bit like a drip machine but one where the water goes through the net in about 30 seconds. Tasted OK anyway.

1908 It did occur to me this afternoon that in principle I could just shove a few bits and pieces into my day pack and set off walking out of town in some random direction and see how far I get, turning back when I need to to get back comfortably before dark. Of course the big problem with that is the risk (fear?) of dogs once I get into the middle of nowhere. The other issue is that the roads may be busy-ish but without footpaths, there are a few spots like that just in town based on my walk today.

booking.com still shows "only 1/2 left" for even 4 bed dorms here. Maybe they are busy, maybe they don't put that many places on booking.com at once in order to always show this. Still, in its way this suggestion the whole country isn't booked solid is reassuring.

They do have a lot of international beers here but I figured the local beer (Imperial) is probably cheapest and more worth trying. I can drink a Hoegaarden or some (probably US) craft IPA back home.

Quick poke on web is a bit vague re malaria (although other stuff like dengue/zika is really more concerning, if I think less likely) but probably not a massive risk here. Touch wood. Will put repellent on tomorrow night though.

1923 Incidentally I haven't forgotten about the language exchange idea. Gut feeling is this place won't have one but I may check later/tomorrow.

Also incidentally, sign at desk says laundry service here is USD6. I may or may not take advantage, though given the size of the place plus its relative emptiness I may feel less furtive doing some probably-technically-illicit laundry in one of the shared bathrooms.

It's actually quite nice sitting here in the garden with a bit of music on and a handful of people around. And a beer of course! Though have finished first and not rushing for second until MoS goes over to bar again - he's sitting at a table most of the time. (Possibly he and the probably Dutch woman who checked me in are co-owners, I have no idea though.)

I do wonder if I'm a bit more relaxed than I used to be, but I don't feel too much of a loser sitting here on my own. It's pretty much the two staff (not together), the French woman and whoever she's with and me. It's not as if it feels like it's a party and I'm hanging around on my own in the kitchen. As I say, it's just quite nice sitting here etc.

I brought a bottle of chilled tap water down with me and am drinking that too, BTW. The one thing I've seen so far which feels oddly as though this hostel is busy is the amount of stuff in the shared fridge upstairs near my room!

I did feel surprisingly hot and sweaty walking round this afternoon at points, and also when got back to room. I don't know if this is just random or it indicates something about climate here. Very comfortable temperature out here in garden now anyway, and I did feel a lot better after shower.

2006 Just got another beer.

Incidentally I don't set myself up as a connosieur or anything, but this Imperial original is a perfectly decent lager.

2018 Ocelot style cat just let me stroke it. :-)

2035 Just noticed a drinks menu on table (for the restaurant, nominally). Local beers are indeed cheapest at 1400, Corona is 2000, Carlsberg (5% - Carlsberg Export?) 1800, Stella 2000, Leffe 2200 (oscura o rubia), Delerium (Tremens, I think) 3600 and Duvel 3000. But a decent-ish international selection, undeniably. Hoegarden at 2200 feels surprisingly unexpectedly cheap.

I incidentally have no idea what a beer costs in a supermarket yet. The one I went into several times in Alajuela didn't seem to sell beer. I will look at some point, partly just as a baseline and partly because not ruling out buying a few to drink in my accom privately at some point (probably not here though).

Incidentally (I should stop writing that, it's obvious) wrt business or otherwise I do not FCDO site says flights to CR (admittedly it doesn't say *visitors*, but my flight was nearly full) have "nearly" returned to pre-pandemic levels. So in theory I wouldn't expect things to be quiet because of pandemic aftermath type stuff.

Oh, there are signs round central park here with cv stuff like you can only enter if you have disinfected and wear a mask. Also the buses (not sure if the one I actually got, but most I saw at stop) from Alajuela to here all had "mask" graphics on near the door. The signs round the park are clearly outdated (no one is following them, no one is enforcing them and this isn't AFAIK just slackness, VCR site suggests outside medical contexts there is no legal requirement to do any of this stuff). Do people actually enjoy having these incorrect outdated reminders hanging around or is it (probably) just laziness/incompetence?

I need to check guidebook both re possible daytrips and where I might be heading, but looking at maps I half think Monteverde (?) and its cloud forests are the likely short term goal. It will be interesting to see if it really is busy somewhere as apparently touristy and notionally overcrowded as that.

2044 Finished beer. Pretty restrained for a 350ml bottle, could have finished faster. Not gagging for more and if I might spend next three nights sitting here with a beer no point going nuts tonight, but I might get one more in a bit. Not ruling out four TBH (it's only a bit over two pints, well maybe three, mental arithmetic not my strong point, but not loads) but depend if it feels like there's no one else here.

I do wonder if it will be busier here from Wed when restaurant is open, or if it'll still be (pleasantly, in a way) dead.

It is nice to be here in this "private" space having a beer or two and not worrying about a) getting home b) randos hassling me - not that I've been out here at all so b) may or may not happen, but still, the thought is there.

Do feel very slightly "tipsy" , not quite right word. Not a bad feeling. But I do feel I've had a beer in a way I wouldn't normally expect after two bottles.

"One man's sentimental is another man's cheesy" in lyrics on song just playing. :-)

2106 Just got third beer.

Wikitravel has a page on Grecia although it was last edited four years ago... It says there is a "world of snakes" a couple of km away, ie possibly even walking distance.

Reserva Forestal Bosque del Niño is apparently 14km north of Grecia and has its own website. However, that seems to say that from Grecia you get a bus to "Calle Rodriguez" (a place not a street?) and walk 4km. Hmm. But maybe worth investigating. Quick look on Google Maps suggests Calle Rodriguez is maybe a very long road stretching out of Grecia.

Seems to be getting a little busier here, though in a vaguely odd way.

2126 "Living next door to Alice" on and I couldn"t help wondering if it going to be the Chubby Brown (?) version, but it's not. There are several groups of people around the garden now and I almost kind of wonder where they came from and where they were until now - this doesn't feel like the kind of town they'd really have been out in until half an hour or so ago.

Feeling definitely a bit tipsy, it's not bad but also a smidge weird.

Google Maps and tripadvisor both have World of Snakes as permanently closed, so will probably forget that.

Worth remembering almost anything could be a little mini adventure. Push comes to shove I could get on a local bus to random small town X nearby, have lunch there and get a bus back. Big ticket items are cool and all and I do want to do some but this sort of thing could be quietly amusing/instructive. Unlike setting off on a walk into the unknown, this is probably a bit safer because there's bound to be a bus back and if not in a pinch there's probably scope for a cab back and/or staying overnight.

I do feel vaguely lonely with these conversations going on round me, which is a bit odd as I didn't feel terribly lonely below. Meh.

Still not quite sure what I will do tomorrow. If I just spend the day puttering around town that's not the end of the world.

Trying to think, I have three more full days here without extending. I will need to make onward plans before then but to be fair I probably don't need much effort to find a bus stop for an onward trip, eg the Grecia stop in Alajuela was actually on OSM as I noticed on getting phone sorted to make sure I knew when to get off after I'd got on the bus, or I could ask. So while I might "do something" in terms of going further afield tomorrow, if I don't, the next day (Wed?) is free for that with a bit of forethought Tue and leaving Thu to sort out onward travel if necessary.

I don't want to completely waste time but as per wafflings before I even set out I also don't need to pressure myself. If I'm not just sitting around in my room all day, that's pretty much enough right now. Get a bit of atmosphere and experience and confidence under my belt and maybe let serendipity work its magic.

2145 Nearly finished this beer. What with the vague lonely feeling and the slight tipsiness I will head up to room, guzzle a banana or two and probably move towards bed. I should probably study the guide book a bit as well, it may offer inspiration of one kind or another (eg for all that Grecia is a bit ignored, it may identify possible nearby side trips). I really don't like reading the guide book, which is probably a bit of a weak point. If I could force myself to do that, especially before I left home, I'm sure my memory would be good enough it would form a kind of framework of vague possibilities.