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.