Montezuma, Sunday

Sun 26th 1855 Personal demons given a bit of a kicking, if perhaps not slayed as I'd initially hoped.

To just fill in last night first, was some live music at Montezuma Latino by the refugio piedra colarada free open air sitting area. Not bad, if miffed (taking it too serious, I know) I could barely understand the Spanish. Felt a bit BNM but also remonstrating with myself that I am travelling on my own and it's not necessarily easy to meet people esp when they are in groups, often much younger and speaking a different language, and also that I often don't even *want* to make an effort.

There was also a pseudo dog fight among three seemingly friends dogs puttering round there. All fine, lots of sniffing and tail wagging and then they were kind of chewing at each other's jaws - tails still wagging. Mildly alarmed but no one else seemed bothered and while I guess some of them are probably as ignorant about dogs as me and just assuming it's OK, I assume some of the observers knew about dogs and felt it was fine, even when it seemed to escalate a little.

Anyway, I'd finished my 1.7l bottle of te arandano and was just hanging on for the last song when a guy sat down next to me and started chatting with me. We spoke for maybe 45 mins (bit of a guess), I probably "should" have suggested we go for a beer but I needed a piss and the conversation, while good, was also just slightly circling a political drain and I wasn't entirely sorry to break off. Nice enough chap though, lives in Eltham London, been in CR three months and spent most of it here, probably not native British based on his accent but not really sure where from.

Got back to hostel about 2300 and cleaned teeth and got into bed and stuff.

Breakfast OK tho bit short of space as usual and twice I sat down somewhere only to realise or be told someone already sitting there.

Went to pick laundry up, no problem though woman irrationally stroppily muttering to herself when I checked it was all there. (Because obviously better if I get back to hostel, find a problem then have to trog back and argue and she says I lost it myself etc etc.)

After that went over to local falls basically intending to try to go up the "hard" way just to prove to myself I could, or at least bottle it based on the evidence of my own senses not the fucking guide book. Vague feelings of "well I can't swim so I can't do half the activities here but I can fucking well scramble up a few fucking rocks as well as anyone else" .

I got slightly lost on the way to the lower waterfall despite having found it fine the other day, but refused to take it as an omen.

I had put a bottle of water (and the nuts I brought from UK, tho didn't eat them) in a backpack so I'd have both hands free and I think that was pretty much critical. Also obviously wearing trousers and long-sleeved top and my walking shoes.

I missed a sharp left turn early in the ascent (basically there's a hard bit as you go up from lower fall, then an intermediate bit, then a hard bit right at the end - this is shown on map at entrance) and was trying to climb up a gully and thinking "OK, maybe this is beyond me" when I saw some other people come up behind me and go up to the left and realised my mistake. I ended up mostly following them up, they also pointed out a bird to me (tho we weren't "together" most of the time) and was also heartened by their jolly demeanour and lack of grim rugged mountaineer ethos. It wasn't trivial and a few slightly iffy bits - mainly around the top hard bit - but nothing too mind-bending.

FWIW tho looking at map you might think the two sides of the river/waterfall are isolated by the river, but it's - bearing in mind this is dry season - all boulders with water meandering round and (almost exactly as in the approach to the lower falls) although you could fall in and maybe twist/sprain/break something, there's no major difficulty crossing the water.

So once you're at the top after the "hard" /dangerous bit and cross the falls there are some earth stairs with a Y fork. I took the right fork going up (semi-following that group, tho I'd paused and they had got away from me) and they go up along the river and across a couple of hanging bridges and come out at the entrance to the SunTrail canopy tour/walkway place. No one was there so I didn't have to pay.

I consulted map and luckily phone GPS tracker had recorded whole route and I could see I had done the trail I intended to do. I was able to walk back down into town no trouble, some quite nice views, feeling pretty pleased with myself for having done it and also for not being such a wuss I "had" to have a car to cover this distance. This was IIRC (photo timestamps would be definitive) only about 1030 and I'd only left hostel about 930.

The road back down took me back to the entrance to the falls, so I thought I'd go in and go up the intermediate-only stairs to the left. I did - you have to cross the river at the lower level (one of my nails is snagging on phone, they're overdue for a cut but will leave it till I have private room tomorrow, and hassle of dragging out a nail file in dorm feels irrationally excessive) but it's not (dry season, remember) hard.

These are private trails (SunTrails again) and this time there's a guy stationed halfway up to charge you - got a wristband, annoyingly 2k instead of 1k it says at entrance (did politely query it) but to be fair well worth it and I'd already had use of their trails earlier so happy-ish to pay. (This seat is super uncomfortable, shitty bamboo logs with one missing and other loosen, so base of seat is too short and moves.) That trail came into the other branch of the Y fork mentioned above. (There's also a Y fork lower where bloke is taking money, I accidentally took wrong one and he called me back, when I asked he said it lead out to road - I think the road I'd walked down earlier.)

I spent a few hours at the top - not totally deserted but much quieter than lower falls (it's Sunday and according to roommates in Samara Sunday is always busy at the falls) and formed some plans and mulled shit and more anon. I then decided - obviously I had already paid and could have gone down the Suntrails stairs, either to lower river again or down onto that hill where I'd walked down before, starting lower that time - I'd do the free "high+intermediate" trail in reverse, so I'd done the whole thing backwards.

I suspected this might be worse and it was. Not absolutely heart in mouth stuff, but the "upper" high difficulty section involves a bit of trusting the crappy looking ropes there will hold your weight and that you don't lose your fotting and end up dangling from the rope over steep-but-not-vertical metre or so climbs with poor footholds and not much "flat" ground at the base before you tumble over.

Incidentally I broadly tried for "three points of contact at all times" , didn't always use ropes if I felt I could hold on better to rocks on the less vertical bits, tried to take it steady to avoid tripping/slipping/twisting ankle. Notwithstanding the fact I think the "free" route top high difficulty (I assume it high for normies, not high in absolute terms - I assume an experienced climber would find it trivial) bit going down is a tiny bit iffy, I don't think it's terrible and while I could see how you *could* die, you could also die eg by slipping on a rock lower down or tripping and falling in front of a car etc. Guidebook obviously utterly lacks context and maybe the people who die are drunk/massively unfit/wearing flip-flops/whatever.

My personal gut feeling is that I bet the deaths occur in rainy season. I'd think not just twice but a round dozen or so times before attempting it in rainy season myself, honestly I have no trouble imagining losing footing and going over an edge (we're probably looking at "only" a few metres fall, but still plenty of rocks around to damage you) in wet muddy conditions. (At least that wet scramble in La Fortuna was in mostly steep-but-not-that-steep conditions and in a sort of narrow gully which restricted falling potential to some extent.)

I am thinking I will go back, probably day after tomorrow, take bathing stuff in bag and go in the water at the top (not "the edge of the falls", not sure you can even get quite there, but the pools up at the top) where there's plenty of shade and sufficiently quiet that risk of theft would be minimal (tho I'd leave valuables in hostel anyway). That " going up" (it's down from the trail towards the water, so it's upwards when you're leaving the top falls to go down) bit at the end gives me minor willies but very minor ones.

I had toyed with going into the pool at the lower falls today towards afternoon when UV not an issue due to chasm blocking light, but I decided against it on risk of theft grounds.

Plan for tomorrow - formed while mulling things over at top, feeling quite smug up there though must admit that top high difficulty climb after knocked a bit of that out of me - is to change hostel, leave backpack there as prob can't check in, and take daypack with minimal valuables and hike along those beaches to the waterfall (as I did yday) and go into the pool at its base. I am going to risk my two-tone blue "plastic" top (which incidentally I am wearing now and seems fine-ish after pro laundry, though not as light and comfortable as the two Raging Sport tops I amw earing most of the time) as a bathing top - it will probably not get ruined, but I'm willing to take the chance, I think.

I had been thinking I'd extend here another day to give myself a little buffer and to allow repeating one of the two upcoming days plans if I wished. However, when I got back to hostel after falls and looked the new hostel doesn't have my single private available for one more day, just a double at more money. It's not even about money or avoiding a dorm at this point - if I extend for one more day I don't want the hassle of changing room, let along hostel.

I have vague hopes they'll get a cancellation and I will keep checking and also ask them tomorrow on check in - worst they can do is say no - and we'll see. Not end of world if can't. I think from here it's definitely Jaco, I will ask about the boat tomorrow night once I prob know if can extend here or not.

If I have to stay in a dorm in Jaco that's fine, prob only be there 3 nights as not super expecting to like it (and Manuel Antonio is just down road). If I can get a private in Jaco for not much more than a dorm I will - after all, it might be I'll be forced into a dorm on cost grounds after Jaco.

After I checked booking.com and dropped off backpack at hostel I went to Las Palmeras and had casado de bistec (not on menu, had to ask) and they didn't give me a free water this time but still, not too bad. Came back to hostel, had shower and went out and got beer which had on beach. (Rude prob-local came over after I'd been sitting a few mins on a log, appeared to indicate via gesture he considered leaving an empty beer bottle littering the beach behind it as staking a claim on it and said "va" (which I'm not sure even makes sense, as imperative is "ve" or "vaya") but I said " lo siento" and got up before I even twigged his gist, as I suspected he might want to just hassle me generally.)

Will probably have another beer later once finished writing this. Not ideal but not terrible and I have made a bit of an effort today etc.

Not hating this hostel too much but it does feel a bit cramped and slightly manky, undeniably good value though. I don't feel it's very sociable but maybe there are no other solo travellers here and/or maybe I've been a bit of a curmudgeon. There's no free coffee or anything in evening and the common areas feel just a bit too cramped for "comfortable" hanging out on my own but hoping to meet someone. I think also there's quite a pre-existing group thing.

I said earlier personal demons giving a kicking, I thought I'd slayed some but the satisfaction I felt walking down hill 1030 kind of faded. Seeing all the groups of people hanging out with their friends at lower fall and also a bit at beach stirred BNM feelings, and seeing other people come down off the "hard" path after I did and (not that I had either, of course) not looking as if they'd done anything major and imagining no one else even worries about this shit for a second kind of pissed me off and made me feel a bit of a loser. (Prob irrational, eg overhearing that conversation last night - "you survived then" implies those girls who had done it had at least considered it a bit risky and/or painted themselves as risk takers for having done it.)

Wrt meeting people - and I know I'm chuntering on about this - I think I need to not be too demanding. It *may* be other solo travellers are constantly in a whirl of social interaction, but it may not. Easy to get sucked in by false impressions from guide book etc. Also I am older and I am not *that* inherently sociable. My relative strength is in small group (1-1, maybe 2-1ish) chats, not in walking up to a big group of strangers and just joining in (if nothing else I'd be worried they'd tell me to fuck off), and I need to accept that if there *are* no other solo travellers around it's naturally hard for me to chat to them.

1951 Been writing that near continuously though with the odd break. Fingers hurt a bit. Think I got most stuff down. Undeniably looking forward to having a private room for a couple of nights, it will seem like a nice luxury rather than an absolute requirement after this fairly long dorm-only stretch.

V approx half way through trip, tiny bit sad, tiny bit glad. I think on whole and notwithstanding depressing BNM feelings at time it's not going badly, and comparing it to my memories of the Guatemala blog and how upset I seemed to be getting at points in that I think it's also going pretty well.

If didn't already say I need to stop speaking Spanish (even just "hola" instead of "hi" ) in "tourist" situations, and esp in hostels. I suspect it just encourages people to think I don't speak English. The reality is I think few of the other travellers speak much Spanish (many can probably order a meal etc, but not "chat" , I suspect) and while it kind of feels like I'm "making an effort" by not using my native tongue, in practice it's probably counterproductive. The lingua franca in hostels here is English, not Spanish.

Not saying I won't speak Spanish to tourist *businesses* - no harm in that, may help (it's all practice and may make me appear more human to the cynical staff), I'm just saying I won't speak Spanish (unless it turns out to be necessary) to other *tourists*.

1957 Think I'll go get another beer and drink it on beach or in refugio piedras coloradas. Not really looking for chat but if anyone feels like it will try to be open.

Just to be absolutely clear, I've not been refusing to speak English to other tourists or anything like that. It's just that eg if I go into a dorm and there's someone there who I don't know (and thus don't know their nationality) I might say "hola" or "permiso" if I need to squeeze past or something. I doubt this has been a huge factor, but still, as said above, maybe it gives an impression I'm not an English speaker and I am going to try to stop doing it.

TBH not *gagging* for another beer but fuck it, I will have one. Maybe even if I don't meet anyone it will still be nicer to sit in communal areas of tomorrow night's hostel, whereas this bamboo bench outside is killing my arse.

Incidentally kitchen here stinks a bit - vaguely cheesy - and there's almost always someone using the one tap for washing up or something when (as now) I just want to fill up a water bottle. And the fridge is vaguely manky with open spare food/leftovers just waiting to spill everywhere. It's not gross, it's just a bit, as I say, manky.

2229 Bed. Will fill in details tomorrow.