Thu 30th 1145 On bus waiting to leave Cartago. K1 battery seems to be running down more than usual. Woke up a bit in night, got up about 0930 but hung round (charging K1 and trying to deal with booking.com shit) til 1105ish.
Emails from San Jose and Orosi hostels with nitpickety shit - SJ one tells me to reply to confirm or my booking will be cancelled. Also BA emailing re flight and saying to arrive at airport 3h before flight "but not earlier" (fuck that). I just feel I'm drowning in arsey wanker emails imposing random little T&Cs when I thought things were sorted.
Also pissed off with booking.com - the message part of their site (even if I switch to desktop site) is *not* showing my recent bookings, so I can only (I hope) message by replying to e-mails, and I can't initiate a message. And when I try to raise a customer service request to booking.com it loops me round to... the broken per-booking message page. This "we'll take your money, but don't you dare try to communicate with us" shit really pisses me off. Naturally they don't do e-mail, because that works, so it's too easy for people to get in touch. I *could* probably phone, because that's super inconvenient (especially while abroad), but it isn't broken enough to jump through that hoop. And they win, because I am probably going to have to keep using them *despite* this shittiness.
There's a museum here in Cartago saw on OSM on way over and a sign earlier which I haven't been to, not end of world.
Oh, and Orosi hostel message has something confusing about Tapanti park half-reopening at Easter - I only fractionally planned to go there anyway, but this confusing and unhelpful message (like, it's closed *this* week but will open at Easter weekend?) just stirs up more of this lurking frustration and annoyance and I'm not at my sparkling best.
Given general (poss - I hope - entirely unrealistic) "unhelpful legalistic wankers" impression all the upcoming accom has created via its messaging, I am not looking forward to checking in and expect problems, tho in reality should be fine. I hope they don't ask me to pay for my still-cancellable fourth night today, I will argue if they do (I'll say - half true, tho prob won't change - that not sure if I want to spend that night in Orosi or San Jose).
No one (esp not actual woman who seems in charge) at accom when left but as of a few mins before checkout no "no show" allegations from booking.com. Given iirc they have turned up at various delays after check in, they *may* not be auto-generated (ie accom clicks on something to initiate them) so this may well be OK since I do trust the owner at Cartago accom to not initiate a no show claim, tho of course anyone can make a mistake.
Vaguely edgy re being back in dorm after about a week out but in reality shouldn't be a huge deal.
BA say I can check my hand baggage for free at this busy time. This opens up vague prospect of taking some duty free back, but a) what if I turn up at airport and they decide I *can't* check my bag for free, when I've already bought some? b) not too bothered, not as if I've been drinking a lot of some iconic local spirit while here c) backpack is not really "sealable" (it sort of clips shut) and I'd be a bit worried it would come open (or be damaged by rough handling - it's a lightweight construction and feels pretty robust when handled with modest care but not the most absolutely robust bag of course, as material is thin/special etc). So prob won't do this. Just *may* see about buying a miniature or two and trying to get those in my liquids bag.
2214 Bed. Will write up rest of day tomorrow.
Friday 31 March 2023
Thursday 30 March 2023
Cartago/San José, Wednesday
Wed 29th 1914 In room at hotel. Fairly successful day of touristing, I think.
Got up 0705 despite not really wanting to. Got the 0805 train from Estacion Cartago, bought ticket from window but I also saw some people buying on train so obviously no big deal. No one standing IIRC. I was not carrying a bag and having checked weather forecast and seeing SJ still warmish (UK summer type temps, I think) I was wearing the black RS top (ie thin), and in the early morning chill I was a *tiny* bit cold on walk over to station from accom and in the aircon (I think) on train. Nothing terrible.
Emerged from Estacion Atlantico in San Jose and... was instantly not engulfed in a swarming horde of poverty and/or drug addled locals out to mug me. I had somehow (vague impression from guidebook, the Canadian father - who has travelled quite extensively over the years - saying SJ was "organised chaos" , probably a lot of my own imagination too) expected something like Main Bazar Road in Delhi. Instead the area round the station had a handful of pedestrians around, all non-threatening, and the street was clean and there wasn't much traffic.
I started walking and just kept going as I felt vaguely on edge and didn't like to stop and take photos, but really it was all fine. I sort of did a vague zig-zag all the way west along Av 3 (oh yes, SJ has *street signs*, so I didn't have to advertise my tourist status by peering at phone and whinging about GPS not syncing) to maybe Calle 2ish, then a block south, then back east to C17ish, etc. I didn't do more than about three such sweeps over the whole day and it wasn't perfectly regular, but that was the basic pattern.
Nearer the centre it was busier but not utterly hectic and almost entirely un-threatening. I (think I) avoided the iffy areas around the centre (north of mercado central?) vaguely remembered from guide book, and except for one only very slightly in my face street vendor I didn't really feel at risk at all. The streets passably clean everywhere I went, traffic not a big deal, some niceish architecture and even the more mundane architecture had quite a nice "Latin American town/city" familiarity. Lots of small sodas with very good prices, various shops, just felt like quite a nice city actually.
Obviously I was not out after dark, I didn't go to the area round the bus terminals and I didn't have to deal with any predatory taxi drivers and/or being stuck in heavy traffic with the meter ticking. But still, and maybe my very negative expectations made it feel better than it was, I was pleasantly surprised and actually quite liked what I saw. Jumping ahead, I haven't booked yet but I am thinking I will book a hostel (looked tonight and quite a few) in the centre for the two nights between Orosi and the last night of trip in Alajuela. This will allow me to see more of the tourist stuff in SJ without faffing with trains (esp an issue from Alajuela), *and* (touch wood) given that I think it would be fine walking between train station and a hostel in central area at 9am-ish as I was today, by avoiding the need to take two trains in the same day I don't have the painful rush my Orosi-C-SJ-A route would involve to get the morning trains done before they stop running or to do the whole thing in afternoon and maybe arrive in Alajuela after dark.
So I didn't really know specifically where anything was but just took what came my way on this zig-zag route. I came to mercado central and went in (not too busy, this was maybe 930ish) and wandered round and had a gallo pinto with nicely salty fried egg and the world's tiniest slice of plantain and a tortilla with black coffee at Los Gemelos 2 for 1800 (left 200 tip voluntarily), and I felt rather pleased with myself for getting food in such a "local" kind of place etc.
Then carried on walking my zig-zag, I got an empanada de carne (CRC900, served pleasingly in single-use plastic bag) at a small hole-in-wall place (both this and LG2 had other customers, so I figured quality prob OK) and ate it as I walked. Not sure if that was before or after going to post office, which I found in my walk and went in with half memories of a museum from guide book. I used their toilet for free, then paid approx 1725 to go into the museum (which I wouldn't have found if I hadn't had some idea it was there) and was given a postcard instead of a ticket which I luckily realised (and the asked to check) was actually post-paid. Guide book said entry to museum free with purchase of stamps, which sounds similar but different.
So I went round the museum - quietly enjoyable, nice to see a teletype, and I did turn the "ring handle" on one of a pair of wall-mounted old school phones and see/hear the bells on the one across the room go - and then borrowed a pen from the museum entry desk and wrote card to parents and (had to ask) slipped it into a wall slot rather niftily labelled "Europe/South America" (in Spanish) to presumably be delivered, probably well after I get home. It may be a bit of a gimmick, but I have to admit this "free" post-paid postcard along with admission impressed me and felt surprisingly cool.
Continued wandering, found Museo Nacional de Costa Rica and paid 6000 (USD11, so that seems about fair) to get in, breaking a 20k. In theory there were butterflies in initial bit but I didn't see any. Main museum quite cool, some of the historic exhibits of the building's history in the cell area were interesting, really did enjoy the pre-colombian stone carvings (one very nice piece with long-beaked birds that I am going to say were toucans stuck out, along with an actual genuine labelled "so now I have definitely seen on" Duquis (sp) stone sphere, although I couldn't make out the feline glyphs the label said were there), history of CR exhibits sort of interesting but descriptive texts inevitably larded with the typical academic liberal propaganda perspective which was mildly annoying. Nearly all text was bilingual, which was nice (as while reading the Spanish is good practice, in these kind of volumes of text it's nice to be able to read the English as it's faster). Garden also quite nice and although not labelled as such so they *may* be imitations etc, I think there were some more lithic spheres there, some arranged in increasing size in a line with a really tiny one at one end. Some of the spheres were notably more spherical than others, FWIW, though even the less spherical ones still quite impressive given the tools they must have been made with.
A few hidden-ish rooms with exhibits about some animals and regions of CR and the old barrack commander's house also nice enough. I hope I didn't miss anything, probably didn't. Some niceish views over adjacent plaza too, I only realised as I left at street level that the big metallic nested-sphere-ish sculpture/thing-to-sit-inside in the plaza has a lithic sphere inside.
I was a bit worried about getting stuck in a "milking it" state of mind in the museum but was mostly sensible, had a last extra look over the stone carvings before leaving and I did sit at side of garden for a few mins during my visit.
Continued my zig-zag and found large but empty restaurant Ave 2 (on Avenida 2, I think) and had very decent casado de bistec there with juice (didn't get a choice, something orange with a tang I vaguely recognised but couldn't name) for 3300, would have left a tip but they asked me for 300 in change to go with 5k note I was using and they gave me a 2k note back so didn't - also couldn't see tip jar - but it's not *expected* I guess. Could see myself going back there, as indeed to LG2, tho sure lots of other good cheap places.
I then carried on walking a smidge further from station along Av 2 before making a couple of 90 degree turns and heading back to station. I got a bit more confident about pulling out camera for quick snaps towards second half of day, but tried not to overdo it and spend ages setting up shots.
Got back to station just comfortably (tho I wasn't sure if it left 1600 or 1605 - it was the latter - so was a tiny bit edgy) in time to buy ticket from disorganised woman at counter (separate windows for Cartago and Heredia tickets!), have it checked as I went onto the platform and get onto the train a few mins before it left. Service more frequent at this point and would have been one half an hour later but since I had done my day's touristing and wanted to go to supermarket for snacks in Cartago it was good to get this one.
Busier this time, no one standing IIRC as we left Atlantico but people got on at the subsequent stops (heavily university-oriented, incidentally) and altho not rammed there were people standing. I had a seat and didn't feel need to give it up.
Back in Cartago went to supermarket, got too many snacks and some beer and came back and got into accom maybe 1730. YT+snacks, then went and collected clothes from line and had possibly-misunderstood conversation with owner woman (in Spanish - she speaks English so maybe should have tried that, I don't know how good her English is when it comes to complex stuff tho) about the fact I have two reservations and sometimes I get these "no show" e-mails from booking.com to try to head off problems (and to give her chance to ask me for full price for tonight if it's going to muck her about having to tell booking.com I did show up - she didn't ask). As I say, I am not sure she got my point but sod it, at least I tried.
Have put tomorrow's hostel coords on phones, prob going to have shower now, then maybe more snacks+YT and will have beer a bit later. Not packed yet but it isn't a hugely time-consuming job of course and tho I prob will pack tonight I could do it tomorrow morning as don't really need to be off super early, Orosi is close etc etc.
Hoped to get cheap deodorant at supermarket as the small one got at Pali a while back is empty, but Megasuper only had expensive ones. I will do without for tomorrow and maybe (with backpack not ideal) pop into Pali tomorrow morning on way to bus for one of their cheap ones or there is apparently a Pali in Orosi so may try to get one there tomorrow.
2104 OK, had shower and did soap wash of today's top and underwear in sink (which has a rotating plug!) on general "destroyer tactics" grounds (keep supplies topped up as much as possible).
Have booked a dorm bed for two nights in San Jose. Paid slightly over the odds to be near the station but it's a few dollars a night and probably worth it. I have free cancellation for a couple of days too. Could have had a private room further out but given vague security concerns in SJ and fact I am on the last bit of trip and not gagging for privacy etc didn't seem a good idea. "Costa Rica Backpackers" hostel very cheap and pretty good location and the individual USB sockets and lockers and IIRC curtains on dorms did sound nice, but I sort of get the impression it's huge and I therefore kind of feel that hurts my chances of chatting with anyone (not that it's guaranteed anywhere, or an enormous deal, but still) and it's not *quite* as close to the station as the place I have booked. I could also have had free breakfast for same money as place I've booked in broadly decent location, but given my train-oriented strategy and limited time I am prioritising being near the station to really minimise risks of stuff happening to me while I'm in transit with my backpack. If I might be staying in San Jose for 3-4 nights there'd maybe be more value in other things, but as I only have 2 nights (unless I happen to cut Orosi short using my flexible fourth night cancellation option, but I suspect I won't want to) doing it this way seems best. Ultimately a few dollars and/or a few free breakfasts aren't going to make any long term difference to my memories of the trip etc, so it doesn't really matter. Meeting people might, but that's largely down to luck and as I say the main factor there is simply feeling Backpackers is so big it may make it harder/less likely I will socialise.
Have mostly packed, will finish/check round in morning. Think I'll have beer now.
2122 Sitting on terrace outside room mostly in dark with beer. Orion low in sky (sideways on), twinkling like mad, Betelgeuse very noticeably red. Slight chill in the air - wearing orange wool top FWIW - which is borderline pleasant but not entirely. I could dig fleece out but reluctant to bother. Might not have whole beer out here, we'll see. Vaguely melancholy "last night here and trip ending" type thoughts, but broadly speaking everything is fine. Incidentally no sign of any other guests here since Canadians left.
I still have one week left and of course some people might come to CR for just two weeks and do one of the stressful itineraries in the guide book and for them a week is a long time. And I do expect to see/do some moderately cool stuff over the next week. It's just that the luxury of "yeah, what the hell, stay an extra night here" type stuff has mostly gone. I am *not* super rushed in Orosi with four nights and prob 3.5 days, but I don't really have the luxury to stay longer if I like it, unless I give up my time in SJ, etc etc.
Obviously more time in SJ might be nice etc but it's not as if I actively regret how I've spent my time. I always knew I could choose to be more aggressive and charge round a bit more and avoid rest type days etc and push myself a bit harder, but the slightly more leisurely style I've adopted (still perhaps fairly "active" by standards of some people with open-ended trips) has its advantages (just not visible in terms of "where did you go?" type conversations) and I also don't know if I'd have the stamina to keep up an aggressively touristy pace for 11 weeks (as discussed in F33W etc) - even if I had, I suspect it would have been a bit miserable.
So I'm not complaining etc, just reflecting.
While in SJ this afternoon I did maybe wonder if I ought to make an effort to travel again later in 2023, eg before Christmas. I don't have unlimited travel budget and I do quite like autumn in the UK, but at the same time while (touch wood) I'm not expecting to die or be incapacitated any time soon, I am (just like everyone else!) not getting any younger and I did miss out on my "planned" travel in 2021 and 2022 (and had my 2020 trip cut short) so I should maybe dig into my savings and try to make up for lost time a bit. Fingers crossed CV restrictions such as Nicaragua's will fade away and not be replaced by anything equally crappy.
Incidentally not heard anything from the hostel that sent me the stroppy message accusing me of lying about being there the night of my "extension" booking. I dunno whether my "I was there, talk to X" long e-mail did any good (never got an apology if it did) or not.
Check out here is 12, I dunno how frequent Orosi buses are but prob fairly frequent. Check in at new place is 1400, so there's maybe a case for leaving here 1130-12 so I get there round about check in time. OTOH the earlier I get there maybe the better my chances of a lower bunk and it also might give me a bit of extra time to wander round town and see it before maybe doing tours/buses out to nearby places on other days, and if I stay here I'm just going to be sitting in kitchen prob solo drinking coffee or in room. Gut feeling is I'll maybe aim to leave here 1030-11ish, perhaps try to be up earlier for an unhurried pack of last bits and pieces/check round and maybe some free coffee if kitchen not busy with family etc.
If memory serves, pronunciation of this place is Car-TAG-oh - it was eg announced on the train by automated system. I think I have been managing to say this correctly after initial mistakes when round San Isidro but never sure.
(Not an issue as haven't been there, but in my head I think I keep mispronouncing Heredia. Right now I can't think what's right, but just FWIW. It *may* have an accent on to clarify things, but regardless I have a feeling I've been internally mispronouncing it. A bit like "Liberia" being a minor struggle to get the emphasis in the right place.)
Just wrt hostel choice wafflings, worth noting that in Quepos the "obvious" (and eg Rosemary spoke highly of it) hostel choice would have been Wide-mouthed Frog, which I didn't stay at primarily on "it has a pool" grounds (perhaps silly, but anyway), and by chance it worked out well for me as I really felt quite at home at the hostel I actually stayed at instead and met some cool people. This sort of thing is just random, probably even super-social people have some degree of randomness there. Maybe you can give yourself the best chance by trying to pick smart (eg maybe if you're super social, a big hostel means more people so more chance to connect , but then again it takes a certain amount of time to bump into everyone and maybe even an ss person might - if they felt the need to bother - prefer somewhere smaller, and I'm *assuming* smaller is better for me and inferring on weak evidence my booked hostel is smaller than the Backpackers, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe even with only two nights there a larger crowd means more casual contacts and more chances to hit it off with someone - or maybe it would mean place is full of large pre-formed cliques - ultimately it's very difficult to know and so not worth really worrying about too much, I think vaguely choosing whatever seems best as I have is OK but definitely shouldn't get bent out of shape about it. Punctuation went all to pot in that last sentence and brackets never got closed but meh, this is all rough and ready journalling-ish stuff written on a painfulish phone keyboard and not meant to be super polished.
2152 Just ducked head and saw moon is in sky just hidden normally by terrace roof. If I'm correcting for latitude right (rotation of moon is "odd" here compared to home), I think it's first quarter.
There's a palm tree in the garden and (it fooled me this morning too) when the wind blows the leaves rustle against each other and it sounds kind of like it's raining.
2159 Incidentally the sticky camera lens cover *might* have fixed itself at some point today. Of course, it might also un-fix itself in a day or two as a bit of grit shifts around. The crack on the back screen has grown increasingly large but the screen seems unaffected and in practice it isn't an issue (the long term scratches on the front lens are the real "going to kill it" problem), I do wonder - it's been on for years and I cannot remember, maybe a search of old amazon orders would answer the question - if it has a tempered glass screen protector (as opposed to soft-ish plastic film) on and it is the screen protector which is cracking.
I am hoping most photos taken with the camera are usable but I do take (not today) some with G5 to mix things up, and even if some photos are crappy due to lens scratches and/or not quite getting lens cover open enough even with manual fiddling (as I have been doing), the photos should still be good enough (if not ideal) as memory joggers to look back on etc.
On a random note, I "should" probably speak direct to staff when I want to stay an extra night instead of going via booking.com or whatever site I booked with. However, the general "it's slightly busy and they might not have a room/bed if you leave it too late" feeling with CR argues against this to some extent. And of course (and bearing in mind I have IIRC so far only cancelled one booking, and that was because I *couldn't* extend due to booking.com weirdness) booking.com second bookings to extend sometimes come with a free cancellation option which is kind of valuable (rarely exercised, but nice to have).
2301 Bed. Not super tired but a bit and it was an earlyish start.
Had packet of Taqueritos chile toreado earlier (when got in) - nice, but perhaps Takis Fuego are nicer. TF were quite a lot more expensive in Megasuper tonight though (1400ish vs 900ish, *maybe*), and maybe I only think TF are nicer because I had them a couple of nights ago after not having this style of crisps for weeks.
Got up 0705 despite not really wanting to. Got the 0805 train from Estacion Cartago, bought ticket from window but I also saw some people buying on train so obviously no big deal. No one standing IIRC. I was not carrying a bag and having checked weather forecast and seeing SJ still warmish (UK summer type temps, I think) I was wearing the black RS top (ie thin), and in the early morning chill I was a *tiny* bit cold on walk over to station from accom and in the aircon (I think) on train. Nothing terrible.
Emerged from Estacion Atlantico in San Jose and... was instantly not engulfed in a swarming horde of poverty and/or drug addled locals out to mug me. I had somehow (vague impression from guidebook, the Canadian father - who has travelled quite extensively over the years - saying SJ was "organised chaos" , probably a lot of my own imagination too) expected something like Main Bazar Road in Delhi. Instead the area round the station had a handful of pedestrians around, all non-threatening, and the street was clean and there wasn't much traffic.
I started walking and just kept going as I felt vaguely on edge and didn't like to stop and take photos, but really it was all fine. I sort of did a vague zig-zag all the way west along Av 3 (oh yes, SJ has *street signs*, so I didn't have to advertise my tourist status by peering at phone and whinging about GPS not syncing) to maybe Calle 2ish, then a block south, then back east to C17ish, etc. I didn't do more than about three such sweeps over the whole day and it wasn't perfectly regular, but that was the basic pattern.
Nearer the centre it was busier but not utterly hectic and almost entirely un-threatening. I (think I) avoided the iffy areas around the centre (north of mercado central?) vaguely remembered from guide book, and except for one only very slightly in my face street vendor I didn't really feel at risk at all. The streets passably clean everywhere I went, traffic not a big deal, some niceish architecture and even the more mundane architecture had quite a nice "Latin American town/city" familiarity. Lots of small sodas with very good prices, various shops, just felt like quite a nice city actually.
Obviously I was not out after dark, I didn't go to the area round the bus terminals and I didn't have to deal with any predatory taxi drivers and/or being stuck in heavy traffic with the meter ticking. But still, and maybe my very negative expectations made it feel better than it was, I was pleasantly surprised and actually quite liked what I saw. Jumping ahead, I haven't booked yet but I am thinking I will book a hostel (looked tonight and quite a few) in the centre for the two nights between Orosi and the last night of trip in Alajuela. This will allow me to see more of the tourist stuff in SJ without faffing with trains (esp an issue from Alajuela), *and* (touch wood) given that I think it would be fine walking between train station and a hostel in central area at 9am-ish as I was today, by avoiding the need to take two trains in the same day I don't have the painful rush my Orosi-C-SJ-A route would involve to get the morning trains done before they stop running or to do the whole thing in afternoon and maybe arrive in Alajuela after dark.
So I didn't really know specifically where anything was but just took what came my way on this zig-zag route. I came to mercado central and went in (not too busy, this was maybe 930ish) and wandered round and had a gallo pinto with nicely salty fried egg and the world's tiniest slice of plantain and a tortilla with black coffee at Los Gemelos 2 for 1800 (left 200 tip voluntarily), and I felt rather pleased with myself for getting food in such a "local" kind of place etc.
Then carried on walking my zig-zag, I got an empanada de carne (CRC900, served pleasingly in single-use plastic bag) at a small hole-in-wall place (both this and LG2 had other customers, so I figured quality prob OK) and ate it as I walked. Not sure if that was before or after going to post office, which I found in my walk and went in with half memories of a museum from guide book. I used their toilet for free, then paid approx 1725 to go into the museum (which I wouldn't have found if I hadn't had some idea it was there) and was given a postcard instead of a ticket which I luckily realised (and the asked to check) was actually post-paid. Guide book said entry to museum free with purchase of stamps, which sounds similar but different.
So I went round the museum - quietly enjoyable, nice to see a teletype, and I did turn the "ring handle" on one of a pair of wall-mounted old school phones and see/hear the bells on the one across the room go - and then borrowed a pen from the museum entry desk and wrote card to parents and (had to ask) slipped it into a wall slot rather niftily labelled "Europe/South America" (in Spanish) to presumably be delivered, probably well after I get home. It may be a bit of a gimmick, but I have to admit this "free" post-paid postcard along with admission impressed me and felt surprisingly cool.
Continued wandering, found Museo Nacional de Costa Rica and paid 6000 (USD11, so that seems about fair) to get in, breaking a 20k. In theory there were butterflies in initial bit but I didn't see any. Main museum quite cool, some of the historic exhibits of the building's history in the cell area were interesting, really did enjoy the pre-colombian stone carvings (one very nice piece with long-beaked birds that I am going to say were toucans stuck out, along with an actual genuine labelled "so now I have definitely seen on" Duquis (sp) stone sphere, although I couldn't make out the feline glyphs the label said were there), history of CR exhibits sort of interesting but descriptive texts inevitably larded with the typical academic liberal propaganda perspective which was mildly annoying. Nearly all text was bilingual, which was nice (as while reading the Spanish is good practice, in these kind of volumes of text it's nice to be able to read the English as it's faster). Garden also quite nice and although not labelled as such so they *may* be imitations etc, I think there were some more lithic spheres there, some arranged in increasing size in a line with a really tiny one at one end. Some of the spheres were notably more spherical than others, FWIW, though even the less spherical ones still quite impressive given the tools they must have been made with.
A few hidden-ish rooms with exhibits about some animals and regions of CR and the old barrack commander's house also nice enough. I hope I didn't miss anything, probably didn't. Some niceish views over adjacent plaza too, I only realised as I left at street level that the big metallic nested-sphere-ish sculpture/thing-to-sit-inside in the plaza has a lithic sphere inside.
I was a bit worried about getting stuck in a "milking it" state of mind in the museum but was mostly sensible, had a last extra look over the stone carvings before leaving and I did sit at side of garden for a few mins during my visit.
Continued my zig-zag and found large but empty restaurant Ave 2 (on Avenida 2, I think) and had very decent casado de bistec there with juice (didn't get a choice, something orange with a tang I vaguely recognised but couldn't name) for 3300, would have left a tip but they asked me for 300 in change to go with 5k note I was using and they gave me a 2k note back so didn't - also couldn't see tip jar - but it's not *expected* I guess. Could see myself going back there, as indeed to LG2, tho sure lots of other good cheap places.
I then carried on walking a smidge further from station along Av 2 before making a couple of 90 degree turns and heading back to station. I got a bit more confident about pulling out camera for quick snaps towards second half of day, but tried not to overdo it and spend ages setting up shots.
Got back to station just comfortably (tho I wasn't sure if it left 1600 or 1605 - it was the latter - so was a tiny bit edgy) in time to buy ticket from disorganised woman at counter (separate windows for Cartago and Heredia tickets!), have it checked as I went onto the platform and get onto the train a few mins before it left. Service more frequent at this point and would have been one half an hour later but since I had done my day's touristing and wanted to go to supermarket for snacks in Cartago it was good to get this one.
Busier this time, no one standing IIRC as we left Atlantico but people got on at the subsequent stops (heavily university-oriented, incidentally) and altho not rammed there were people standing. I had a seat and didn't feel need to give it up.
Back in Cartago went to supermarket, got too many snacks and some beer and came back and got into accom maybe 1730. YT+snacks, then went and collected clothes from line and had possibly-misunderstood conversation with owner woman (in Spanish - she speaks English so maybe should have tried that, I don't know how good her English is when it comes to complex stuff tho) about the fact I have two reservations and sometimes I get these "no show" e-mails from booking.com to try to head off problems (and to give her chance to ask me for full price for tonight if it's going to muck her about having to tell booking.com I did show up - she didn't ask). As I say, I am not sure she got my point but sod it, at least I tried.
Have put tomorrow's hostel coords on phones, prob going to have shower now, then maybe more snacks+YT and will have beer a bit later. Not packed yet but it isn't a hugely time-consuming job of course and tho I prob will pack tonight I could do it tomorrow morning as don't really need to be off super early, Orosi is close etc etc.
Hoped to get cheap deodorant at supermarket as the small one got at Pali a while back is empty, but Megasuper only had expensive ones. I will do without for tomorrow and maybe (with backpack not ideal) pop into Pali tomorrow morning on way to bus for one of their cheap ones or there is apparently a Pali in Orosi so may try to get one there tomorrow.
2104 OK, had shower and did soap wash of today's top and underwear in sink (which has a rotating plug!) on general "destroyer tactics" grounds (keep supplies topped up as much as possible).
Have booked a dorm bed for two nights in San Jose. Paid slightly over the odds to be near the station but it's a few dollars a night and probably worth it. I have free cancellation for a couple of days too. Could have had a private room further out but given vague security concerns in SJ and fact I am on the last bit of trip and not gagging for privacy etc didn't seem a good idea. "Costa Rica Backpackers" hostel very cheap and pretty good location and the individual USB sockets and lockers and IIRC curtains on dorms did sound nice, but I sort of get the impression it's huge and I therefore kind of feel that hurts my chances of chatting with anyone (not that it's guaranteed anywhere, or an enormous deal, but still) and it's not *quite* as close to the station as the place I have booked. I could also have had free breakfast for same money as place I've booked in broadly decent location, but given my train-oriented strategy and limited time I am prioritising being near the station to really minimise risks of stuff happening to me while I'm in transit with my backpack. If I might be staying in San Jose for 3-4 nights there'd maybe be more value in other things, but as I only have 2 nights (unless I happen to cut Orosi short using my flexible fourth night cancellation option, but I suspect I won't want to) doing it this way seems best. Ultimately a few dollars and/or a few free breakfasts aren't going to make any long term difference to my memories of the trip etc, so it doesn't really matter. Meeting people might, but that's largely down to luck and as I say the main factor there is simply feeling Backpackers is so big it may make it harder/less likely I will socialise.
Have mostly packed, will finish/check round in morning. Think I'll have beer now.
2122 Sitting on terrace outside room mostly in dark with beer. Orion low in sky (sideways on), twinkling like mad, Betelgeuse very noticeably red. Slight chill in the air - wearing orange wool top FWIW - which is borderline pleasant but not entirely. I could dig fleece out but reluctant to bother. Might not have whole beer out here, we'll see. Vaguely melancholy "last night here and trip ending" type thoughts, but broadly speaking everything is fine. Incidentally no sign of any other guests here since Canadians left.
I still have one week left and of course some people might come to CR for just two weeks and do one of the stressful itineraries in the guide book and for them a week is a long time. And I do expect to see/do some moderately cool stuff over the next week. It's just that the luxury of "yeah, what the hell, stay an extra night here" type stuff has mostly gone. I am *not* super rushed in Orosi with four nights and prob 3.5 days, but I don't really have the luxury to stay longer if I like it, unless I give up my time in SJ, etc etc.
Obviously more time in SJ might be nice etc but it's not as if I actively regret how I've spent my time. I always knew I could choose to be more aggressive and charge round a bit more and avoid rest type days etc and push myself a bit harder, but the slightly more leisurely style I've adopted (still perhaps fairly "active" by standards of some people with open-ended trips) has its advantages (just not visible in terms of "where did you go?" type conversations) and I also don't know if I'd have the stamina to keep up an aggressively touristy pace for 11 weeks (as discussed in F33W etc) - even if I had, I suspect it would have been a bit miserable.
So I'm not complaining etc, just reflecting.
While in SJ this afternoon I did maybe wonder if I ought to make an effort to travel again later in 2023, eg before Christmas. I don't have unlimited travel budget and I do quite like autumn in the UK, but at the same time while (touch wood) I'm not expecting to die or be incapacitated any time soon, I am (just like everyone else!) not getting any younger and I did miss out on my "planned" travel in 2021 and 2022 (and had my 2020 trip cut short) so I should maybe dig into my savings and try to make up for lost time a bit. Fingers crossed CV restrictions such as Nicaragua's will fade away and not be replaced by anything equally crappy.
Incidentally not heard anything from the hostel that sent me the stroppy message accusing me of lying about being there the night of my "extension" booking. I dunno whether my "I was there, talk to X" long e-mail did any good (never got an apology if it did) or not.
Check out here is 12, I dunno how frequent Orosi buses are but prob fairly frequent. Check in at new place is 1400, so there's maybe a case for leaving here 1130-12 so I get there round about check in time. OTOH the earlier I get there maybe the better my chances of a lower bunk and it also might give me a bit of extra time to wander round town and see it before maybe doing tours/buses out to nearby places on other days, and if I stay here I'm just going to be sitting in kitchen prob solo drinking coffee or in room. Gut feeling is I'll maybe aim to leave here 1030-11ish, perhaps try to be up earlier for an unhurried pack of last bits and pieces/check round and maybe some free coffee if kitchen not busy with family etc.
If memory serves, pronunciation of this place is Car-TAG-oh - it was eg announced on the train by automated system. I think I have been managing to say this correctly after initial mistakes when round San Isidro but never sure.
(Not an issue as haven't been there, but in my head I think I keep mispronouncing Heredia. Right now I can't think what's right, but just FWIW. It *may* have an accent on to clarify things, but regardless I have a feeling I've been internally mispronouncing it. A bit like "Liberia" being a minor struggle to get the emphasis in the right place.)
Just wrt hostel choice wafflings, worth noting that in Quepos the "obvious" (and eg Rosemary spoke highly of it) hostel choice would have been Wide-mouthed Frog, which I didn't stay at primarily on "it has a pool" grounds (perhaps silly, but anyway), and by chance it worked out well for me as I really felt quite at home at the hostel I actually stayed at instead and met some cool people. This sort of thing is just random, probably even super-social people have some degree of randomness there. Maybe you can give yourself the best chance by trying to pick smart (eg maybe if you're super social, a big hostel means more people so more chance to connect , but then again it takes a certain amount of time to bump into everyone and maybe even an ss person might - if they felt the need to bother - prefer somewhere smaller, and I'm *assuming* smaller is better for me and inferring on weak evidence my booked hostel is smaller than the Backpackers, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe even with only two nights there a larger crowd means more casual contacts and more chances to hit it off with someone - or maybe it would mean place is full of large pre-formed cliques - ultimately it's very difficult to know and so not worth really worrying about too much, I think vaguely choosing whatever seems best as I have is OK but definitely shouldn't get bent out of shape about it. Punctuation went all to pot in that last sentence and brackets never got closed but meh, this is all rough and ready journalling-ish stuff written on a painfulish phone keyboard and not meant to be super polished.
2152 Just ducked head and saw moon is in sky just hidden normally by terrace roof. If I'm correcting for latitude right (rotation of moon is "odd" here compared to home), I think it's first quarter.
There's a palm tree in the garden and (it fooled me this morning too) when the wind blows the leaves rustle against each other and it sounds kind of like it's raining.
2159 Incidentally the sticky camera lens cover *might* have fixed itself at some point today. Of course, it might also un-fix itself in a day or two as a bit of grit shifts around. The crack on the back screen has grown increasingly large but the screen seems unaffected and in practice it isn't an issue (the long term scratches on the front lens are the real "going to kill it" problem), I do wonder - it's been on for years and I cannot remember, maybe a search of old amazon orders would answer the question - if it has a tempered glass screen protector (as opposed to soft-ish plastic film) on and it is the screen protector which is cracking.
I am hoping most photos taken with the camera are usable but I do take (not today) some with G5 to mix things up, and even if some photos are crappy due to lens scratches and/or not quite getting lens cover open enough even with manual fiddling (as I have been doing), the photos should still be good enough (if not ideal) as memory joggers to look back on etc.
On a random note, I "should" probably speak direct to staff when I want to stay an extra night instead of going via booking.com or whatever site I booked with. However, the general "it's slightly busy and they might not have a room/bed if you leave it too late" feeling with CR argues against this to some extent. And of course (and bearing in mind I have IIRC so far only cancelled one booking, and that was because I *couldn't* extend due to booking.com weirdness) booking.com second bookings to extend sometimes come with a free cancellation option which is kind of valuable (rarely exercised, but nice to have).
2301 Bed. Not super tired but a bit and it was an earlyish start.
Had packet of Taqueritos chile toreado earlier (when got in) - nice, but perhaps Takis Fuego are nicer. TF were quite a lot more expensive in Megasuper tonight though (1400ish vs 900ish, *maybe*), and maybe I only think TF are nicer because I had them a couple of nights ago after not having this style of crisps for weeks.
Wednesday 29 March 2023
Cartago, Tuesday
Tue 28th 1932 In room. Everything is technically OK and I achieved my notional goals for today but I feel kind of vaguely shitty. Maybe it's end of trip malaise, maybe it's overdoing the sugary baked snacks the last few days, maybe it's fear of going to San Jose tomorrow.
Got up about 0930 (snoozed 10 mins on alarm) but with one thing and another - I tried a cash machine in hope of getting some dollars - it was probably getting on for 1030 by the time I was at the bus stop for Paraíso. Was a bus waiting (it's very frequent service), I asked driver to drop me near Jardin Botanico Lankester (named after an English guy, apparently) and he said yes and I paid (prob) 390 and got on. I was watching on OSM on phone so rang the bell to stop myself instead of hoping driver would remember.
As expected minor slog down (500m) to JBL from stop but no trouble. USD10+2% (weird) to get in, I asked in CRC and they said 5500 which was pretty fair (I had checked on web just before going in) so I paid in CRC.
Gardens actually quite nice. Initially a bit put off by going into the orchid "house" (whatever it's called) and feeling utterly overwhelmed - as a non-biologist without even a "hobby" interest in flower - by the sheer quantity of different orchid species (hundreds?) on display and feeling "I've got no real idea what I'm looking at, they are vaguely pretty but I am going to miss out on a 'wow' experience here because I'm just drowning in orchids". Anyway, I escaped from there and set off on the round trip walk of the grounds. That, although I again probably missed all sorts of gems, was pretty cool - I liked the Japanese garden, but the other areas of the walk were very enjoyable too and I did sit on a seat and vaguely get lost in thought at one point.
Undeniable that I was feeling some mixed pulls to "get out and get lunch/get home" vs "stay and enjoy it" vs "don't feel obliged to stay and end up milking it and ruining the experience" . In hindsight I could maybe have stayed half an hour or so longer but I was kind of ready to leave anyway. After doing the loop walk I went back into the Japanese garden for a bit and then nerved myself to zoom round the "orchid house" again just for completeness.
I had pretty much decided I would walk back, which maybe influenced my "got to get out to get home" as it was approx 6km to accom, but in reality I had plenty of time. Walk a bit urban but not bad and it's all "seeing the real CR" type stuff. I had hoped to find a nice local soda en route but it didn't happen.
I popped into a bakery and got a couple of slightly overpriced (600 each) "bun" type pastries (which I ate back at accom when got back - quite nice actually, especially the cheesy one) on the walk, which ended by basilica so popped in and saw a few people going up aisle on their knees and I went up to the altar and had a look but didn't see this image/statue and for all I know it's buried in some side niche or in the confessional type area which I didn't stray into. It's fine.
Tried another cash machine nearby after then went for lunch. Yday's soda was shut so went into nearby Rincon Italiano. Minor linguistic issues but got a casado de chuleta OK, although it was the most basic one I've had yet (it was cooked vegetables *or* salad, not both) albeit only 2500, plus 700 IIRC for a natural (cas). Disappointingly the rice wasn't properly cooked (it was kind of hard/"crunchy" in that undercooked way) but it was edible - now knowing after airbnb chat that I am not obliged to leave a tip I certainly didn't for this one. Still, it was OK and it was cheap.
OSM seems to be completely wrong about cash machines here but after that I walked through centre and after considering but not buying some overpriced biscuit things in one bakery I eventually found a BCR which had 7ish cash machines one of which (there was a sign, which I saw after trying about 4 of them) gave dollars, so I got another 160 out and came back to accom (bit of a walk of course) via panaderia de la catedral nearby where I got some rather smashed up biscuity things for 1k.
I had been trying to buy my baked snacks from bakery following good experience with the ones I got in PJ the day I got the bus, but TBH not super impressed (except for those buns) with the biscuity stuff at the bakeries here, would be better buying in supermarket where the price is clearly marked and you can pick and choose. To be fair the more "serious" looking baked goods (big sticky and/or chocolatey pastry things etc) might well be nicer and/or cheaper in bakery than supermarket, but for the more biscuity stuff I am not as I say impressed.
Fingers hurting so take a break.
1955 So got back to accom maybe 1600, perhaps "too early" but meh. Mildly thirsty (had taken bag with me with some water but not loads and didn't want to drink too much and end up busting for piss) and if there'd been a shop anywhere near accom I'd prob have splurged on a diet coke or something but I knew I just needed water really and there was no shop of course.
Back at accom indulged in eating all the bakery stuff - mildly unsatisfying - and watching YT.
I went to pay for extra night tomorrow and used that as a pretext to get some advice. Woman v helpful, gave me small discount (tho I will have to check tomorrow she's told booking.com I showed up, and I wonder if she may revoke my discount then, but who knows), I asked about laundry and she showed me how to use washing machine and gave me soap powder for free and I've washed nearly everything and it's hanging up now tho nearly dry already. I asked about train - forgot to say I popped into Cartago station on way back to accom and huge queue of people waiting to get on train and I also asked about tickets and a woman told me there was a ticket window but no one was there now - and the woman here at accom told me you can buy on train (as I think airbnb told me), there is no fine etc, I also asked and altho I am not sure she got the timescale right (important as no trains middle of day) she didn't seem to think Orosi-Cartago-SJ-Alajuela is an insane journey/way to get to Alajuela.
She asked if I'd gone to volcano and I said I'd prob just get tour (yay for auto delete) from Orosi and she seemed vaguely "unimpressed" which maybe contributes to my slight low feeling. But even she said, when I asked, there is one bus a day. *She* knows where it goes from. I find it only too easy to imagine that I buy my fucking reservation the night before and fail to find the bus stop where the one bus a day goes from. Then there's the worry about missing the one bus a day back. Anyway, sod it - if I'd been an ultra-efficient tourist I *could* have done this the first morning (but then I'd have missed out on chatting with those Canadians) and still had walk round and seen ruins/basilica in afternoon, but even so I have hardly been wasting my time here - it wouldn't have fitted super well, tho doable I guess, with JBL today - and tomorrow I am going to try San Jose by train, partly as a dry run with lower stakes (no bag, not even daypack) for subsequent visits and partly as I do want to see SJ to some extent.
Orosi accom replied rather tersely saying lower bunk depends on availability. No idea why this accom and Alajuela accom have to be so fucking arsey about this.
While I remember, airbnb hosts in SI told me you have to reserve months in advance to go up Chirripo. So that took that off the table as something to worry about trying to do. AFAICS it is comparable in altitude to Acatenango in Guatemala but something down to geography/laws/customs here means going up Chirripo seems to be treated as requiring near-Everest levels of planning (even though I believe it is "just" a walk, albeit a stiff, steep on, not a climb) whereas everywhere in Antigua is selling trips up Acatenango with a night near the top. No idea why, but still - fact is/was that Chirripo was not an option for me, for better or worse.
Fingers still hurting. Need to do modest research re SJ and check train times and prob an annoyingly early start tomorrow too.
2007 Turned off "physical keyboard gestures" on K1 and we'll see if that helps with the fucking auto delete. Seems an obvious workaround so no idea why I haven't tried it before, unless I did and it didn't help.
2017 Yay. The *last* morning train to San Jose leaves here at 0855. FFS. It's cheap as chips (CRC705) but still. This does make me think the Orosi-Alajuela route might only really be feasible in the afternoon (first train out of Cartago in afternoon is 1547, tho this may see me arrive in Alajuela after dark - incidentally accom owner woman said it is the same station in SJ for Cartago and Alajuela, so I wouldn't need to leave it to change trains) but let's not worry about that right now. (It would mean trying to hang on in Orosi til 1300ish, when I'm prob going to be kicked out of hostel 11 or 12ish, and still perhaps involve an hour or so hanging around in Cartago.)
OK, Alajuela also has a really limited train service - most trains only go as far as Heredia. This doesn't completely nobble the idea of the Orosi-Alajuela transfer by train or the idea of commuting into SJ from Alajuela to do a bit of sightseeing, but it is a bit crappy.
Given the apparent shittiness (taxi/walk out to west of town and then try to get a bus on Interamericana) of buses Cartago-SJ the train may well still be the best bet, but perhaps *if* (and it is very much an if) the bus from Cartago into SJ goes to the same terminal I'd get a bus onto Alajuela from (so no need to leave terminal/be at mercy of taxi drivers while I have my backpack with me) maybe a bus-based transfer would be easier overall.
I suppose it may also be worth considering the possibility of slightly less crappy trains to Heredia and getting a bus on from there (hopefully not such a bear pit as SJ) to Alajuela.
I am emptying camera memory card tonight not because it's full but because this will minimise losses if I am mugged in SJ tomorrow, assuming I even make it. Fingers crossed during the day it is not really going to be that bad, but it just makes me edgy.
Incidentally guide book on SJ mercado central happens to say cas is a "sweet sour pale fruit" , without saying it's guava. Fuck knows.
Right, I've skimmed central SJ section of guidebook. Some of the museums sound cool but I'm just going to play it by ear tomorrow, assuming I even make it there. Not putting too much pressure on myself. I potentially have another two or even three full days there if I really want, and I *might* (depending partly how I feel about it after seeing it for myself, and partly on location considerations) stay there a couple of nights (if there's a cheap hostel near the train station and it's not too sketchy, doing Orosi-Cartago-SJ one day on check in and SJ-Alajuela another day on check out may be more comfortable than trying to do the whole thing in one day).
And of course if I really wanted to, if I feel the place has some appeal for me, I could put in some more significant time there on a future trip.
2054 I'm not exactly tired but not not tired, I've set an alarm for 7am and will aim to get 815 train with the (last) at 855 as a backstop. Let's move towards bed. Not feeling quite as down as I was earlier but still not exactly chilled, I have vague irrational feelings that I'm not "doing it right" and that I'm not making the most of my time blah blah.
Out of perhaps an excess of paranoia I've taken all my dollars out of my usual hidden belt and am going to leave them locked up in room for tomorrow. I can't do this when transiting SJ in whatever form with all my belongings and touch wood not only will I not get mugged but if I did the mugger may well not "find" the hidden belt, but still, for tomorrow I'll gamble on leaving them here and having them stolen out of my room instead.
It isn't as if I haven't visited large Latin American cities before, FFS. Though all the Central American ones do seem to get a particularly bad press, albeit SJ is probably one of the better ones within CA. Just have to see how it goes etc etc etc.
I do think an element of time pressure is maybe contributing to my vague unease.
But FFS, bed.
Got up about 0930 (snoozed 10 mins on alarm) but with one thing and another - I tried a cash machine in hope of getting some dollars - it was probably getting on for 1030 by the time I was at the bus stop for Paraíso. Was a bus waiting (it's very frequent service), I asked driver to drop me near Jardin Botanico Lankester (named after an English guy, apparently) and he said yes and I paid (prob) 390 and got on. I was watching on OSM on phone so rang the bell to stop myself instead of hoping driver would remember.
As expected minor slog down (500m) to JBL from stop but no trouble. USD10+2% (weird) to get in, I asked in CRC and they said 5500 which was pretty fair (I had checked on web just before going in) so I paid in CRC.
Gardens actually quite nice. Initially a bit put off by going into the orchid "house" (whatever it's called) and feeling utterly overwhelmed - as a non-biologist without even a "hobby" interest in flower - by the sheer quantity of different orchid species (hundreds?) on display and feeling "I've got no real idea what I'm looking at, they are vaguely pretty but I am going to miss out on a 'wow' experience here because I'm just drowning in orchids". Anyway, I escaped from there and set off on the round trip walk of the grounds. That, although I again probably missed all sorts of gems, was pretty cool - I liked the Japanese garden, but the other areas of the walk were very enjoyable too and I did sit on a seat and vaguely get lost in thought at one point.
Undeniable that I was feeling some mixed pulls to "get out and get lunch/get home" vs "stay and enjoy it" vs "don't feel obliged to stay and end up milking it and ruining the experience" . In hindsight I could maybe have stayed half an hour or so longer but I was kind of ready to leave anyway. After doing the loop walk I went back into the Japanese garden for a bit and then nerved myself to zoom round the "orchid house" again just for completeness.
I had pretty much decided I would walk back, which maybe influenced my "got to get out to get home" as it was approx 6km to accom, but in reality I had plenty of time. Walk a bit urban but not bad and it's all "seeing the real CR" type stuff. I had hoped to find a nice local soda en route but it didn't happen.
I popped into a bakery and got a couple of slightly overpriced (600 each) "bun" type pastries (which I ate back at accom when got back - quite nice actually, especially the cheesy one) on the walk, which ended by basilica so popped in and saw a few people going up aisle on their knees and I went up to the altar and had a look but didn't see this image/statue and for all I know it's buried in some side niche or in the confessional type area which I didn't stray into. It's fine.
Tried another cash machine nearby after then went for lunch. Yday's soda was shut so went into nearby Rincon Italiano. Minor linguistic issues but got a casado de chuleta OK, although it was the most basic one I've had yet (it was cooked vegetables *or* salad, not both) albeit only 2500, plus 700 IIRC for a natural (cas). Disappointingly the rice wasn't properly cooked (it was kind of hard/"crunchy" in that undercooked way) but it was edible - now knowing after airbnb chat that I am not obliged to leave a tip I certainly didn't for this one. Still, it was OK and it was cheap.
OSM seems to be completely wrong about cash machines here but after that I walked through centre and after considering but not buying some overpriced biscuit things in one bakery I eventually found a BCR which had 7ish cash machines one of which (there was a sign, which I saw after trying about 4 of them) gave dollars, so I got another 160 out and came back to accom (bit of a walk of course) via panaderia de la catedral nearby where I got some rather smashed up biscuity things for 1k.
I had been trying to buy my baked snacks from bakery following good experience with the ones I got in PJ the day I got the bus, but TBH not super impressed (except for those buns) with the biscuity stuff at the bakeries here, would be better buying in supermarket where the price is clearly marked and you can pick and choose. To be fair the more "serious" looking baked goods (big sticky and/or chocolatey pastry things etc) might well be nicer and/or cheaper in bakery than supermarket, but for the more biscuity stuff I am not as I say impressed.
Fingers hurting so take a break.
1955 So got back to accom maybe 1600, perhaps "too early" but meh. Mildly thirsty (had taken bag with me with some water but not loads and didn't want to drink too much and end up busting for piss) and if there'd been a shop anywhere near accom I'd prob have splurged on a diet coke or something but I knew I just needed water really and there was no shop of course.
Back at accom indulged in eating all the bakery stuff - mildly unsatisfying - and watching YT.
I went to pay for extra night tomorrow and used that as a pretext to get some advice. Woman v helpful, gave me small discount (tho I will have to check tomorrow she's told booking.com I showed up, and I wonder if she may revoke my discount then, but who knows), I asked about laundry and she showed me how to use washing machine and gave me soap powder for free and I've washed nearly everything and it's hanging up now tho nearly dry already. I asked about train - forgot to say I popped into Cartago station on way back to accom and huge queue of people waiting to get on train and I also asked about tickets and a woman told me there was a ticket window but no one was there now - and the woman here at accom told me you can buy on train (as I think airbnb told me), there is no fine etc, I also asked and altho I am not sure she got the timescale right (important as no trains middle of day) she didn't seem to think Orosi-Cartago-SJ-Alajuela is an insane journey/way to get to Alajuela.
She asked if I'd gone to volcano and I said I'd prob just get tour (yay for auto delete) from Orosi and she seemed vaguely "unimpressed" which maybe contributes to my slight low feeling. But even she said, when I asked, there is one bus a day. *She* knows where it goes from. I find it only too easy to imagine that I buy my fucking reservation the night before and fail to find the bus stop where the one bus a day goes from. Then there's the worry about missing the one bus a day back. Anyway, sod it - if I'd been an ultra-efficient tourist I *could* have done this the first morning (but then I'd have missed out on chatting with those Canadians) and still had walk round and seen ruins/basilica in afternoon, but even so I have hardly been wasting my time here - it wouldn't have fitted super well, tho doable I guess, with JBL today - and tomorrow I am going to try San Jose by train, partly as a dry run with lower stakes (no bag, not even daypack) for subsequent visits and partly as I do want to see SJ to some extent.
Orosi accom replied rather tersely saying lower bunk depends on availability. No idea why this accom and Alajuela accom have to be so fucking arsey about this.
While I remember, airbnb hosts in SI told me you have to reserve months in advance to go up Chirripo. So that took that off the table as something to worry about trying to do. AFAICS it is comparable in altitude to Acatenango in Guatemala but something down to geography/laws/customs here means going up Chirripo seems to be treated as requiring near-Everest levels of planning (even though I believe it is "just" a walk, albeit a stiff, steep on, not a climb) whereas everywhere in Antigua is selling trips up Acatenango with a night near the top. No idea why, but still - fact is/was that Chirripo was not an option for me, for better or worse.
Fingers still hurting. Need to do modest research re SJ and check train times and prob an annoyingly early start tomorrow too.
2007 Turned off "physical keyboard gestures" on K1 and we'll see if that helps with the fucking auto delete. Seems an obvious workaround so no idea why I haven't tried it before, unless I did and it didn't help.
2017 Yay. The *last* morning train to San Jose leaves here at 0855. FFS. It's cheap as chips (CRC705) but still. This does make me think the Orosi-Alajuela route might only really be feasible in the afternoon (first train out of Cartago in afternoon is 1547, tho this may see me arrive in Alajuela after dark - incidentally accom owner woman said it is the same station in SJ for Cartago and Alajuela, so I wouldn't need to leave it to change trains) but let's not worry about that right now. (It would mean trying to hang on in Orosi til 1300ish, when I'm prob going to be kicked out of hostel 11 or 12ish, and still perhaps involve an hour or so hanging around in Cartago.)
OK, Alajuela also has a really limited train service - most trains only go as far as Heredia. This doesn't completely nobble the idea of the Orosi-Alajuela transfer by train or the idea of commuting into SJ from Alajuela to do a bit of sightseeing, but it is a bit crappy.
Given the apparent shittiness (taxi/walk out to west of town and then try to get a bus on Interamericana) of buses Cartago-SJ the train may well still be the best bet, but perhaps *if* (and it is very much an if) the bus from Cartago into SJ goes to the same terminal I'd get a bus onto Alajuela from (so no need to leave terminal/be at mercy of taxi drivers while I have my backpack with me) maybe a bus-based transfer would be easier overall.
I suppose it may also be worth considering the possibility of slightly less crappy trains to Heredia and getting a bus on from there (hopefully not such a bear pit as SJ) to Alajuela.
I am emptying camera memory card tonight not because it's full but because this will minimise losses if I am mugged in SJ tomorrow, assuming I even make it. Fingers crossed during the day it is not really going to be that bad, but it just makes me edgy.
Incidentally guide book on SJ mercado central happens to say cas is a "sweet sour pale fruit" , without saying it's guava. Fuck knows.
Right, I've skimmed central SJ section of guidebook. Some of the museums sound cool but I'm just going to play it by ear tomorrow, assuming I even make it there. Not putting too much pressure on myself. I potentially have another two or even three full days there if I really want, and I *might* (depending partly how I feel about it after seeing it for myself, and partly on location considerations) stay there a couple of nights (if there's a cheap hostel near the train station and it's not too sketchy, doing Orosi-Cartago-SJ one day on check in and SJ-Alajuela another day on check out may be more comfortable than trying to do the whole thing in one day).
And of course if I really wanted to, if I feel the place has some appeal for me, I could put in some more significant time there on a future trip.
2054 I'm not exactly tired but not not tired, I've set an alarm for 7am and will aim to get 815 train with the (last) at 855 as a backstop. Let's move towards bed. Not feeling quite as down as I was earlier but still not exactly chilled, I have vague irrational feelings that I'm not "doing it right" and that I'm not making the most of my time blah blah.
Out of perhaps an excess of paranoia I've taken all my dollars out of my usual hidden belt and am going to leave them locked up in room for tomorrow. I can't do this when transiting SJ in whatever form with all my belongings and touch wood not only will I not get mugged but if I did the mugger may well not "find" the hidden belt, but still, for tomorrow I'll gamble on leaving them here and having them stolen out of my room instead.
It isn't as if I haven't visited large Latin American cities before, FFS. Though all the Central American ones do seem to get a particularly bad press, albeit SJ is probably one of the better ones within CA. Just have to see how it goes etc etc etc.
I do think an element of time pressure is maybe contributing to my vague unease.
But FFS, bed.
Tuesday 28 March 2023
Cartago, Monday
Mon 27th 1811 Woke up maybe hour before alarm, felt *slightly* chilly but didn't bother getting up to get blanket out of cupboard. Got up more or less on alarm at 930ish IIRC. Felt a bit "WTF am I gonna do?" in bed but had a quick look at guide book on phone and Orosi sounded good and (given there may be tours to Irazu from there) worth using as a base rather than trying to go there from here as a day trip so I booked three nights there this morning with free cancellation and I may book a fourth night with free cancellation in a minute.
Incidentally somewhat unhelpful refusal of Alajuela last night hostel re my request for lower bunk but never mind.
I went out to kitchen/common area for coffee and ended up having quite decent chat with the Canadian father and son for a couple of hours (I was in no rush) and walked part way into town with them as they went off to get a taxi to somewhere they can hopefully get on a San Isidro bus.
I went into town, went round the basilica and the little bit about the statue that appeared and drank a bit of the blessed (?) water, which entertaingly has a scientific compostion analysis notice from the local authorities posted next to it. Then had decentish casado at nearby soda, although I asked beforehand and it was 3.5k and when I asked price at end told 4k which felt a bit iffy but didn't make a fuss.
Then walked over to ruins, quite busy and quite nice actually, sat in there for a bit including lengthy Signal call to parents. Wandered round a bit and went past another church/cathedral or two tho these seemed shut.
Oh, just after basilica I found the Los Angeles station and after ruins I went and checked out Cartago station. I also went into a couple of phone shops to ask something which was a bit of Spanish practice.
I also prob just before ruins walked down to where OSM showed Orosi buses going from and found that, so I'm set for going there without too much fuss.
Oh, I did see a bus this afternoon saying Volcan Irazu on front but the guide book insists there is only one a day in the morning, so fuck knows. Given the need to reserve for the damn park and the getting there early to be luckier with clouds and the fact guide book suggests there are organised tours from Orosi and the fact that while I would like to go it sounds enough of a lottery that like Poas I'm not going to get myself too worked up about going, I am probably *not* going to try getting this bus there myself from here (eg I don't want to get stranded when it turns out the last bus back is really early or something).
So while I need to do a bit of guide book and web poking tonight, I may try doing a day trip on public bus to Guayabo tomorrow - Canadians recommended this, I'm a bit fuzzy about what's there but if the buses are OK why not? I am then thinking I will take up my option of an extra night here (I don't like to abuse the free cancellation offers to excess) and the last day I will commute into San Jose by train. I don't need to visit San Jose on consecutive days of course so I can do a day the day after tomorrow and then say a day or two later (maybe from Alajuela - I feel Heredia may get bumped from draft itinerary on this trip). This way I can get a feel for the train and the safety etc of San Jose while I'm not lugging my backpack with me with all my belongings - if all goes well post-Orosi I could see myself wanting to do Orosi-Cartago-San Jose-Alajuela or maybe Heredia instead of Alajuela, the O-C being a bus trip (short, frequent) and the other two hops being by train. It may be you don't need to change trains to get to Alajuela and/or Heredia from Cartago but I haven't looked yet.
I got a 710ml can of Bohemia at Megasuper for 1080 before walking back to accom, it's in fridge now and I may have it in a bit. Picked Bohemia for variety (couldn't see the Bavaria Black recommended as dark beer by airbnb host) and because in the supermarket I could at least see it *was* cheaper than IO or Pilsen - it's OK and want to try it again but I don't think it is as good as IO or Pilsen and when prices aren't shown clearly I don't want to risk paying as much for Bohemia as I would for the others.
Given I am extending for another night here I will ask about doing laundry tomorrow night, not tonight.
When I got back to accom about 1630ish I snacked on leftover junk from yday's purchase and watched a bit of YT.
I think that's most of today documented but if I think of anything or anything else interesting happens tonight I can always write more of course.
1942 Feeling vaguely "low" - not exactly bad, just a bit kind of bored/flat, like I should be having more fun. It's fine.
I just booked an extra night in Orosi, I can cancel up to and including end of this month, so I will be at the place for the first booking before I need to decide. If I do go with this I have just two nights un-booked before the final night in Alajuela, current feeling is I will probably book those in the final night hostel and use at least one of them and perhaps both (I have "done" Alajuela already to some extent) to commute into San Jose for some sightseeing. If I prefer I could book those two nights in SJ itself - I would check accom situation before deciding, it may be there's a "fun" sounding hostel in centre of SJ which is worth a go.
I am 95% sure there is a SJ-Alajuela train but I haven't checked yet. 99% sure there is a Cartago-SJ train but again not checked, prob look into this tomorrow night.
Maybe dingyish light in room isn't helping mood.
I've counted my USD and I have 220 in USD20 bills. I think withdrawing another hundred wouldn't hurt if I can get them. I haven't checked carefully but I'm fairly sure I have CRC90k in local currency (modulo a few bills I will probably be reasonably happy to take home as souvenirs if no emergency occurs) which works out at about 9k/day - if I am paying for accom and tours in USD I may not get through all that, so as I come closer to end of time I may want to make more effort to pay in CRC even if exchange rate is a bit crap. We'll see how it goes, we might say a meal in a soda is about 4k and a beer a day from supermarket (I could drink "expensive" stuff like IO/Pilsen) is 1.5k that's 5.5k/day already - I kind of hope not to drink beer every day (but maybe some days I'd have more than one so it averages out at that over remaining time, as I run out of time the temptation to indulge every day grows) but there's also scope for treats like an empanada as a snack or maybe some ceviche or something.
I also need to remember that as long as there's a BCR or BN machine, I can withdraw small sums to top up and I'm not stuck in the usual quandry of trying to reduce fees by withdrawing big lump sums.
I think the worst case is I go home with about 40-50k of CRC, which isn't great (it could well be a year or two before I come back, and it could easily be longer of course) but isn't too bad, and I think I can probably manage to do better than that without artifically spending on crap just to "get rid" of money I'd otherwise be stuck with.
Google Maps shows there is a BNCR ATM (it's the only ATM) in Orosi, which is good if true as it means I don't have to worry too much about being caught short - everywhere I plan to be between now and end of trip should have a "free" and convenient ATM where I can just go and withdraw 10 or 20k if I need it.
2017 OK, maybe Guayabo isn't on the menu for tomorrow. Guidebook (and as this is basic stuff I am sure it's right) says it is east of Turrialba and has slightly inconveniently timed buses from there, so I'm reluctant to go over there by an extra hop from here to Turrialba.
Poking at guide book, I might go over to Turrialba tomorrow as a day trip and perhaps go to CATIE (a second bus, or a probably doable 4km walk at a push).
Incidentally I quietly enjoyed myself today and after the first half hour or so I got rid of my probably incorrect impression that Cartago is a bit dodgy-feeling - I'm sure bad stuff can happen etc etc but broadly speaking it felt fine today.
OK, further guide book skimming suggests a better day trip tomorrow (it's more local, so feels "better" to do from here as a base, plus of course is easier) would be Jardin Botanico Lankester, 4km away and I get dropped by Paraiso bound bus, of which there should be a profusion, plus at a stretch I can walk back that kind of distance. This feels like it would be a fairly natural "half-ish day" of touristing, ie I'll feel I've done something but it won't leave me feeling excessively knackered or like I'm overdoing it etc. I could see myself leaving at maybe 9-10am and getting back into Cartago 3pm-ish or something like that.
Incidentally I didn't actually *see* La Negrita in the basilica - perhaps as I am too wary of offending people and tend to hang round the back and edges of churches a lot of the time rather than getting close to the altar - so maybe if I am back early-ish tomorrow I might pop in again and have another look.
I wasn't too sure about having that beer earlier but I think I might now. Not a huge deal either way really.
(Wrt what to do tomorrow, if I did a day trip to Turrialba it would probably feel as if I've been there, even if I see very little, so I'd be more reluctant to go and maybe stay a few nights there on a future trip. So it's kind of a good idea, in the absence of any "wow, must do" things there, to stay away completely. I think there's enough interesting stuff nearby it would be a good place to use as a base for a few days.)
Incidentally not considering staying at same place in Alajuela as when I arrived in Jan not because it's "bad" but because a) I am no longer freshly arrived and edgy about dorms and want to avoid the extra stress when I've got a lot of other adapting to do - on the contrary, given it's end of trip it would be nice to have at least a chance of meeting people and chatting b) the free airport transfer at the place I have booked c) the self-check-in aspects of that place where I stayed in Jan are not a huge deal but still a bit of a stress when checking out to head to the airport, eg I (albeit it's middle of day so *prob* could be let back in) accidentally lock myself out with my bag still inside.
There's apparently some planetary alignment thing today but it's way too cloudy here to see anything, just FTR.
2111 Been sitting out on terrace/patio outside room (it's quite a nice little property) with headphones watching YT and drinking beer - come back in as lights gone out (they seemed to be on auto and I had to periodically wave a leg to get them back on, but that stopped working) and a smidge cold out there (tho if I dug fleece out would have been super comfy, and borderline nice cold as it was).
FWIW I do wonder if my regular sweet junk consumption lately has been growing into a minor "habit" and contributes to vague feeling of deprivation when I have only a bit (leftover junk purchased other day). Maybe that's bollocks. Not a huge deal but there is an aspect of this "hard to show restraint as trip draws to an end" business, and in particular because the time in this place may well be my last non-dorm (I could go to that private room place in Alajuela for two nights but I kind of want to be in a hostel as much as I can for possible meeting people stuff, and I either have felt private room cost more than I wanted to pay or didn't exist in hostels) and for me it feels better to be indulging in eating an entire pack of Takis Fuego or a bag of vaguely baked biscuity snack things in the privacy of my own room, so rightly or wrongly it kind of feels now as if I should go nuts while I have the privacy, even though I'd probably be otherwise getting more enjoyment by showing restraint for a day or two and then having a bit of a pig out on this kind of stuff. (I semi-justify it to myself as "OK" because I am at least eating a local-y kind of junky sugary/processed carb snack, rather than just any old crap that I could eat back at home.) Not a huge deal but just noting this kind of thing.
Beer not super enjoyable - I do find the Bohemia a little flat-tasting anyway, unless I just imagine this - but kind of quietly nice I suppose.
Just had quick check on official website and JBL is USD10+2% (?!) IVA for foreigners, not brill (do hate this extra charge for foreigners) but not terrible and the key thing is it *is* presumably open (says every day 830-1630) and it also says no reservation needed. So tho need to check buses etc I will prob do that tomorrow.
Feeling less "low" than I did, not super energised but not bad, quietly enjoying a quiet night in.
Website (if you click on C19 page) *seems* to say masks are mandatory, but I suspect this is just a hangover from a previous legal mandate. It isn't a medical facility or anything. I will chance it, if masks are mandated I just won't go in.
Utterly unimportant but FWIW I was given a towel when I checked in here.
Incidentally I don't think there are any other guests here tonight - not heard anyone, kitcheny common area seems empty (even of family), etc.
2213 Feeling surprisingly tired, beer may be part of this but prob not a huge part. Can see Paraiso bus stop on OSM so prob mostly cool for tomorrow, let's clean teeth and go to bed and set an alarm for say 9am and see how it goes.
2226 OK, about to get into bed. Have vague feeling I wanted to make another misc observation but can always write it later. JBL does look quite close (I just checked it is on OSM) but I suppose it's still a fair hike to do it both ways and taking the bus is a bit of Spanish practice etc and unlikely to be super pricey.
Incidentally somewhat unhelpful refusal of Alajuela last night hostel re my request for lower bunk but never mind.
I went out to kitchen/common area for coffee and ended up having quite decent chat with the Canadian father and son for a couple of hours (I was in no rush) and walked part way into town with them as they went off to get a taxi to somewhere they can hopefully get on a San Isidro bus.
I went into town, went round the basilica and the little bit about the statue that appeared and drank a bit of the blessed (?) water, which entertaingly has a scientific compostion analysis notice from the local authorities posted next to it. Then had decentish casado at nearby soda, although I asked beforehand and it was 3.5k and when I asked price at end told 4k which felt a bit iffy but didn't make a fuss.
Then walked over to ruins, quite busy and quite nice actually, sat in there for a bit including lengthy Signal call to parents. Wandered round a bit and went past another church/cathedral or two tho these seemed shut.
Oh, just after basilica I found the Los Angeles station and after ruins I went and checked out Cartago station. I also went into a couple of phone shops to ask something which was a bit of Spanish practice.
I also prob just before ruins walked down to where OSM showed Orosi buses going from and found that, so I'm set for going there without too much fuss.
Oh, I did see a bus this afternoon saying Volcan Irazu on front but the guide book insists there is only one a day in the morning, so fuck knows. Given the need to reserve for the damn park and the getting there early to be luckier with clouds and the fact guide book suggests there are organised tours from Orosi and the fact that while I would like to go it sounds enough of a lottery that like Poas I'm not going to get myself too worked up about going, I am probably *not* going to try getting this bus there myself from here (eg I don't want to get stranded when it turns out the last bus back is really early or something).
So while I need to do a bit of guide book and web poking tonight, I may try doing a day trip on public bus to Guayabo tomorrow - Canadians recommended this, I'm a bit fuzzy about what's there but if the buses are OK why not? I am then thinking I will take up my option of an extra night here (I don't like to abuse the free cancellation offers to excess) and the last day I will commute into San Jose by train. I don't need to visit San Jose on consecutive days of course so I can do a day the day after tomorrow and then say a day or two later (maybe from Alajuela - I feel Heredia may get bumped from draft itinerary on this trip). This way I can get a feel for the train and the safety etc of San Jose while I'm not lugging my backpack with me with all my belongings - if all goes well post-Orosi I could see myself wanting to do Orosi-Cartago-San Jose-Alajuela or maybe Heredia instead of Alajuela, the O-C being a bus trip (short, frequent) and the other two hops being by train. It may be you don't need to change trains to get to Alajuela and/or Heredia from Cartago but I haven't looked yet.
I got a 710ml can of Bohemia at Megasuper for 1080 before walking back to accom, it's in fridge now and I may have it in a bit. Picked Bohemia for variety (couldn't see the Bavaria Black recommended as dark beer by airbnb host) and because in the supermarket I could at least see it *was* cheaper than IO or Pilsen - it's OK and want to try it again but I don't think it is as good as IO or Pilsen and when prices aren't shown clearly I don't want to risk paying as much for Bohemia as I would for the others.
Given I am extending for another night here I will ask about doing laundry tomorrow night, not tonight.
When I got back to accom about 1630ish I snacked on leftover junk from yday's purchase and watched a bit of YT.
I think that's most of today documented but if I think of anything or anything else interesting happens tonight I can always write more of course.
1942 Feeling vaguely "low" - not exactly bad, just a bit kind of bored/flat, like I should be having more fun. It's fine.
I just booked an extra night in Orosi, I can cancel up to and including end of this month, so I will be at the place for the first booking before I need to decide. If I do go with this I have just two nights un-booked before the final night in Alajuela, current feeling is I will probably book those in the final night hostel and use at least one of them and perhaps both (I have "done" Alajuela already to some extent) to commute into San Jose for some sightseeing. If I prefer I could book those two nights in SJ itself - I would check accom situation before deciding, it may be there's a "fun" sounding hostel in centre of SJ which is worth a go.
I am 95% sure there is a SJ-Alajuela train but I haven't checked yet. 99% sure there is a Cartago-SJ train but again not checked, prob look into this tomorrow night.
Maybe dingyish light in room isn't helping mood.
I've counted my USD and I have 220 in USD20 bills. I think withdrawing another hundred wouldn't hurt if I can get them. I haven't checked carefully but I'm fairly sure I have CRC90k in local currency (modulo a few bills I will probably be reasonably happy to take home as souvenirs if no emergency occurs) which works out at about 9k/day - if I am paying for accom and tours in USD I may not get through all that, so as I come closer to end of time I may want to make more effort to pay in CRC even if exchange rate is a bit crap. We'll see how it goes, we might say a meal in a soda is about 4k and a beer a day from supermarket (I could drink "expensive" stuff like IO/Pilsen) is 1.5k that's 5.5k/day already - I kind of hope not to drink beer every day (but maybe some days I'd have more than one so it averages out at that over remaining time, as I run out of time the temptation to indulge every day grows) but there's also scope for treats like an empanada as a snack or maybe some ceviche or something.
I also need to remember that as long as there's a BCR or BN machine, I can withdraw small sums to top up and I'm not stuck in the usual quandry of trying to reduce fees by withdrawing big lump sums.
I think the worst case is I go home with about 40-50k of CRC, which isn't great (it could well be a year or two before I come back, and it could easily be longer of course) but isn't too bad, and I think I can probably manage to do better than that without artifically spending on crap just to "get rid" of money I'd otherwise be stuck with.
Google Maps shows there is a BNCR ATM (it's the only ATM) in Orosi, which is good if true as it means I don't have to worry too much about being caught short - everywhere I plan to be between now and end of trip should have a "free" and convenient ATM where I can just go and withdraw 10 or 20k if I need it.
2017 OK, maybe Guayabo isn't on the menu for tomorrow. Guidebook (and as this is basic stuff I am sure it's right) says it is east of Turrialba and has slightly inconveniently timed buses from there, so I'm reluctant to go over there by an extra hop from here to Turrialba.
Poking at guide book, I might go over to Turrialba tomorrow as a day trip and perhaps go to CATIE (a second bus, or a probably doable 4km walk at a push).
Incidentally I quietly enjoyed myself today and after the first half hour or so I got rid of my probably incorrect impression that Cartago is a bit dodgy-feeling - I'm sure bad stuff can happen etc etc but broadly speaking it felt fine today.
OK, further guide book skimming suggests a better day trip tomorrow (it's more local, so feels "better" to do from here as a base, plus of course is easier) would be Jardin Botanico Lankester, 4km away and I get dropped by Paraiso bound bus, of which there should be a profusion, plus at a stretch I can walk back that kind of distance. This feels like it would be a fairly natural "half-ish day" of touristing, ie I'll feel I've done something but it won't leave me feeling excessively knackered or like I'm overdoing it etc. I could see myself leaving at maybe 9-10am and getting back into Cartago 3pm-ish or something like that.
Incidentally I didn't actually *see* La Negrita in the basilica - perhaps as I am too wary of offending people and tend to hang round the back and edges of churches a lot of the time rather than getting close to the altar - so maybe if I am back early-ish tomorrow I might pop in again and have another look.
I wasn't too sure about having that beer earlier but I think I might now. Not a huge deal either way really.
(Wrt what to do tomorrow, if I did a day trip to Turrialba it would probably feel as if I've been there, even if I see very little, so I'd be more reluctant to go and maybe stay a few nights there on a future trip. So it's kind of a good idea, in the absence of any "wow, must do" things there, to stay away completely. I think there's enough interesting stuff nearby it would be a good place to use as a base for a few days.)
Incidentally not considering staying at same place in Alajuela as when I arrived in Jan not because it's "bad" but because a) I am no longer freshly arrived and edgy about dorms and want to avoid the extra stress when I've got a lot of other adapting to do - on the contrary, given it's end of trip it would be nice to have at least a chance of meeting people and chatting b) the free airport transfer at the place I have booked c) the self-check-in aspects of that place where I stayed in Jan are not a huge deal but still a bit of a stress when checking out to head to the airport, eg I (albeit it's middle of day so *prob* could be let back in) accidentally lock myself out with my bag still inside.
There's apparently some planetary alignment thing today but it's way too cloudy here to see anything, just FTR.
2111 Been sitting out on terrace/patio outside room (it's quite a nice little property) with headphones watching YT and drinking beer - come back in as lights gone out (they seemed to be on auto and I had to periodically wave a leg to get them back on, but that stopped working) and a smidge cold out there (tho if I dug fleece out would have been super comfy, and borderline nice cold as it was).
FWIW I do wonder if my regular sweet junk consumption lately has been growing into a minor "habit" and contributes to vague feeling of deprivation when I have only a bit (leftover junk purchased other day). Maybe that's bollocks. Not a huge deal but there is an aspect of this "hard to show restraint as trip draws to an end" business, and in particular because the time in this place may well be my last non-dorm (I could go to that private room place in Alajuela for two nights but I kind of want to be in a hostel as much as I can for possible meeting people stuff, and I either have felt private room cost more than I wanted to pay or didn't exist in hostels) and for me it feels better to be indulging in eating an entire pack of Takis Fuego or a bag of vaguely baked biscuity snack things in the privacy of my own room, so rightly or wrongly it kind of feels now as if I should go nuts while I have the privacy, even though I'd probably be otherwise getting more enjoyment by showing restraint for a day or two and then having a bit of a pig out on this kind of stuff. (I semi-justify it to myself as "OK" because I am at least eating a local-y kind of junky sugary/processed carb snack, rather than just any old crap that I could eat back at home.) Not a huge deal but just noting this kind of thing.
Beer not super enjoyable - I do find the Bohemia a little flat-tasting anyway, unless I just imagine this - but kind of quietly nice I suppose.
Just had quick check on official website and JBL is USD10+2% (?!) IVA for foreigners, not brill (do hate this extra charge for foreigners) but not terrible and the key thing is it *is* presumably open (says every day 830-1630) and it also says no reservation needed. So tho need to check buses etc I will prob do that tomorrow.
Feeling less "low" than I did, not super energised but not bad, quietly enjoying a quiet night in.
Website (if you click on C19 page) *seems* to say masks are mandatory, but I suspect this is just a hangover from a previous legal mandate. It isn't a medical facility or anything. I will chance it, if masks are mandated I just won't go in.
Utterly unimportant but FWIW I was given a towel when I checked in here.
Incidentally I don't think there are any other guests here tonight - not heard anyone, kitcheny common area seems empty (even of family), etc.
2213 Feeling surprisingly tired, beer may be part of this but prob not a huge part. Can see Paraiso bus stop on OSM so prob mostly cool for tomorrow, let's clean teeth and go to bed and set an alarm for say 9am and see how it goes.
2226 OK, about to get into bed. Have vague feeling I wanted to make another misc observation but can always write it later. JBL does look quite close (I just checked it is on OSM) but I suppose it's still a fair hike to do it both ways and taking the bus is a bit of Spanish practice etc and unlikely to be super pricey.
Monday 27 March 2023
San Isidro-Cartago
Sun 26th 0941 At Musoc terminal, airbnb host brought me over here in his car - they advised me to come here instead of Tracopa or Transportes Blanco. Got ticket for 1030 bus for CRC4345, hosts were blowing a bit hot and cold about whether there'd be space (it's Sunday and lots of students travelling back IIUC vs "semana santa" so maybe they're not) but I seem to be OK and I think I should have a seat.
Rationally or otherwise, genuinely sorry to be leaving the hosts and their pets. Did manage to stroke all four pets this morning at least. This sadness does feel a bit silly, but really it is probably (as I always say) better than being glad to leave or having neutral "meh" feelings about it. Not inconceivable I would stay with them again on another trip, and if approaching fresh (eg newly-ish arrived and heading vaguely over to Limon) I might also ask about this cabin they told me about my first night.
Have to change bus in El Tejar (a suburb of Cartago - a city I cannot feel confident about remembering where the stress goes when pronouncing) but this seems inevitable based on quick poke online and I think it should be fine - get bus there to centre and then not too much of a walk to accom (hostel or whatever it actually is).
Incidentally while what I wrote above it true, it's also probably good that I didn't stay an extra night - I can't help feeling I might have worn out my welcome one way or another, or made a floater or something like that.
If didn't already say "everyone" here seems to refer to "Perez Zeledon" instead of "San Isidro" . Hosts explained that PZ is the "region" (canton, perhaps) and SI is the capital, and although in most regions the canton and main city (eg Puntarenas region/city) share a namen here they don't. That's fine, except it seems to me PZ is used when *the city* of SI is what is really meant, eg signs here about buses San Jose-Perez Zeledon. Sure, the bus goes to capital of PZ region, but isn't it more usual to name the city the bus goes to, ie San Isidro?
Maybe I have missed something, or maybe this is genuinely quirky (not bad).
FTR gave worn-yesterday two tone blue RS top a quick water-only rinse in sink yday and am wearing it today - it is probably given material and colour the most comfortable top I have if it's warm, and while it's not necessarily super warm here I am still in "assume it's warm" mode. I hope I don't have to grovel in depths of bag to dig out fleece as we cross cerro de la muerte (hhos - the bus is probably not heated and it is apparently very high).
Definite lurking mix of "trip's not over yet, make the most of it" vs "I kind of wish I was just home rather than having to grind out the rest of the trip and (the main " grindy" bit) all the little lurking individually trivial "adjustments" /pending tasks/desires when I get home, things like getting back from airport to flat, making sure I "repack" enough to visit parents without having something left in London, read meters, adjust back into semi-normal routines etc - all this stuff is fine and as I'll prob visit parents for a bit under two weeks there will naturally be a kind of gradual "return to normality". At same time while I do want to see them, it's a shame (Easter+cheap flights mandate the current situation) I have just the one night back in London and it would perhaps in some ways have been nicer to have 2-3 days in London to settle in a bit before the minor upheavel (sp!) of travelling to parents. But just waffling and trying to capture thoughts, not complaining as such.
I feel slightly itchy, probably a heat kind of thing.
Incidentally during walk yday in reserve I put my hand on a tree to steady myself (I wasn't quite falling, but sort of) while going downhill and a sharpish but luckily short and isolated spine pricked my right index (?) finger. Doesn't hurt much and not too worried about it but noting, could have been nasty if there'd been one of those " poison frog dart spine" trees with its massive clumps of long (not poisonous) sharp spikes.
We stopped on way over this morning so I could return ("devolver" - guy told me, in passing) the two bottles to local supermarket and got my 1k back, which was nice.
1000 Looking at map I could probably walk from El Tejar to accom, but barring problems I will get a (presumably local) bus to las ruinas or maybe just "Cartago" (unclear if i can ask this) and walk from somewhere more central.
I don't think I got my ticket cheaper for getting off in El Tejar instead of going on to SJ, but I think that's normal.
1018 On bus. My bag actually fits in the overhead rack with only the mildest bit of squishing! It is hot on here but I guess once we're moving it will be fine.
1022 Gah. For the first time, the seat number on the ticket is actually used, so I just had to move. Bag is still where it was, it's kind of fine as I can *see* it from here whereas I couldn't see it when I was in seat under it.
1204 15 mins rest stop, pretty must as hosts advised. Got off for not really needed toilet stop. Hanging around outside bus to stretch legs and also catch driver to ask him to drop me in ET when he returns.
1912 OK. Everything is actually fine. I was being a bit of a whiny bitch this afternoon and although I feel better there's a lurking sense of dissatisfaction.
I did ask the driver to drop me in ET and he seemed to understand. I was watching Google Maps (of course the ET I had located may not have been right one) and he didn't. Mild panic setting in. I rang the "request stop" button (labelled with a symbol of a tree, for reasons which escape me) and the scrolling LED at front showed it but it took ages (traffic?) before we pulled up somewhere. Thanks to GM/GPS I could at least see I was on edge of Cartago. Asked driver if it was ET and he said that was "detras" and I just checked now and that does mean "behind" . Thanks mate, real helpful!
I wasn't too worked up about this, it was broad daylight and it felt fairly safe and although I could maybe have got a bus if I'd faffed, I just decided to walk. Didn't try to take "clever" route, I used Manhattan metric style route walking along main road into centre of Cartago (this bit mostly flat) to roughly where train station is (no trains middle of day AFAICT), which is the bit I could have done by bus in theory, then turned north and slogged frankly quite a long bloody way uphill to the hostel (I will call it that though not sure what it really is).
[There are a couple of maybe Canadian guys here who are doing nothing wrong but the walls seem paper thin and I am constantly hearing their inane conversation.]
Checked in fine, a couple of guys sitting outside who I spoke to thinking they might be family, paid bill mostly in USD but the odd non-multiple of 20 in CRC.
Room is quite nice, no fan which is mild shame, door onto ground floor terrace but that's a mixed blessing as people (eg the guys there when I arrived) sit out there so it feels super un-private and I need to keep curtains shut.
Went back out starting to feel vaguely whiny and walked down into town centre (ie where I'd already been, but without bag) and thought I'd have quick look round and eat in a soda or maybe mercado municipal and then come back. A not-v-helpful printed folder in room showing nearby tourist stuff had inculcated a vague feeling of "fuck, there's all this semi-cool stuff which I 'should' see but I have no fucking idea how to get there and I only have two full days and everything's probably booking up solid and I also need to move on and sort that out" etc etc.
Long story short, I saw (but didn't go in, as feeling knackered and didn't want to be stuck walking back in dark, tho it wasn't that late) the ruins, I struggled to find a soda, at least on open one (there was a kind of one I didn't like look of as no proper menu prices and a fried chicken place but was trying not to eat something like that and by time I realised there were no other options - mercado shut btw - I had gone past them), although quite a lot of people about vaguely round MM and train station there was a slightly scuzzy slightly agressive young guys hanging round shouting (at me? no fucking idea) at the odd passer-by etc and it wasn't nice. Maybe all a Sunday thing.
I wasn't starving - had breakfast at airbnb anyway - but maybe low blood sugar kicking in a bit as I was being whiny and I also said "fuck it" and just walked back up the bloody hill to the hostel, tried one restaurant on way - had to go in and ask to see menu in order to realises prices not acceptable. Thought I'd get snacks but had already semi-realised no mini super markets (several bars tho) at all near hostel. (Loads of big chains like McD and KFC and Taco Bell in centre BTW, but didn't want that.) In the end I trogged another km to a mini supermaket identified (albeit with wrong name) on OSM and bought some Imperial Ultra (just cos airbnb host recommended it last night) and some Takis Fuego (first for ages) and some snacky biscuit junk and came back to hostel and put beer in fridge and ate junk and watched YT and started to feel a little better.
I have had a shower/shave and will probably go get beer and have it (alone or willing but far from desperate to chat) on terrace out front of room in a bit.
I really do need to get plans roughed out and eg book a hostel in Alajuela for last night and see about maybe extending here a night - location is a bit sucky but not terrible, not much cheap stuff available and today was just bad with the bag and transit hassles etc - and so forth. I am half thinking I may "do" San Jose museums etc but (prob mentioned this before) maybe commuting in for the day from Cartago or Heredia or Alajuela on the train, now I know it exists. Maybe if there is cheap accom in SJ centre-ish and not here or Heredia or Alajuela I won't, but I need to sort of think about this.
I am feeling a bit tired and I may not stay up super late. While it *was* good at the airbnb, I did also perhaps feel a bit "socially on" all the time and maybe that's tiring. Plan for tomorrow is to get up "not insanely late" (eg 10am would be fine, I think), trog into town and (not nec in this order) have food, wander rounds a bit, visit the ruins, see if I can find a train timetable (prob one online, but worth checking) and where the entrance to the station actually is - I hope all the scuzzy fuckers won't be around tomorrow, but who knows? - and maybe see if I can spot any tour companies.
I will ask staff/owner/whatever here about how to get to Irazu (volcano) by public bus tomorrow night if I can't find a tour agency or don't like what they're offering. I would then plan to go to Irazu Tuesday (my last full day here at present) and maybe if I sleep well etc I might ask staff/look on booking.com tomorrow evening if I can book an extra night, and then maybe with that extra day I can manage an excursion out to one of the other semi-cool sounding places in that folder in my room.
I haven't looked at guide book re Cartago yet, maybe later tonight or tomorrow.
So I sort of "need" to be doing at least a look over accom options here/Heredia/Alajuela/SJ even if I don't book tonight, but I may or may not force myself to do it.
I think I'll get properly dressed and maybe go get my beer, although the Canadians are out there and saying things like "I don't think you're supposed to eat the seeds" so I'm slightly worried I will get drawn into a conversation or something when I'm not really feeling exactly at my best.
To be clear(ish), I think this is a sort of family-run small hostel/hotel, there isn't the "classic" backpacker hostel and there are family members around and the "common area" is I think sort of family area too. There might be a small dorm but I am not sure.
It is shared bathroom here (and there may only be one) but it is quite nice and the water (not that I'm *that* bothered, but it is kind of nice) is actually almost too hot in the shower. I don't know exactly where/what, but as I was checking in owner type woman did say something about washing my clothes "there" or something, so I may ask about that and do it tomorrow night. No point doing it tonight as I don't have enough dirty stuff yet. If I do extend a night it might make sense to postpone the wash another night too, as the "getting stuff dry" deadline moves out by a day then.
1937 It feels really late, but it isn't. This seems to be a constant theme here. As I think I keep saying, it's probably not so much the day length as the fact that daylight runs from 6am-ish to 6pm-ish (v approx) which is perfectly "symmetrical" but means the daylight ends "early" by my standards - even getting up relatively early as I am most of the time here, I am not usually up at 6am.
1955 OK, left glowing feedback for airbnb and have also booked an extra night here with free cancellation until end (midnight) of tomorrow - maybe I could have negotiated a better price by going direct but this way at least I have it semi-locked-in.
2006 OK, have booked dorm bed at hostel with free airport shuttle in Alajuela for the one night before flight. This is USD14 inc tax and I could have had a private room actually pretty near airport with breakfast included for USD15 inc tax so I feel a bit foolish, but I have free cancellation (both offered it) so can change mind later but at least have something.
It may be nice to be in a "potentially" social environment the last night instead of a private room in (I think) someone's home. Walking to the airport is prob awkward with busy motorway type roads even if the private room was almost walking distance (hell, ignoring no facilities for pedestrians, central Alajuela *is* walking distance of airport really). Given checkout is 11am and my flight is 1825 I am not entirely sure the free shuttle is really "worth it" as does it mean I am going to be at the airport at 1130ish killing time all day? Maybe they'll let me hang around a bit longer past checkin as long as I vacate my bunk. Then again, I didn't check checkout at private room and the reality is I am unlikely to risk things like trying to leave my bag while I go out for a last wander round and a lunch in a soda in Alajuela before going to the airport. Maybe I would risk this, I dunno. Basically it's likely to be an unsatisfactory situation anyway so no point getting too worked up trying to polish it up etc. Also as I say I have free cancellation until (not incl) 4th April so I can change my mind (and I may want to stay in Alajuela more than one night, esp if I do decide to try visiting SJ while staying in Alajuela - this accom is cheap enough etc) but at least I have this semi-sorted.
2256 Went out to get beer, ended up talking with the Canadians - father and son, very into archaelogy (I think father may have an actual career connection with this). Nice guys actually.
I put my beer into freezer and drinking it in room now.
Had some slightly confusing advice from them and hostel owner about getting to Irazu but you may need to book, so gut feeling is will maybe discuss this more with owner tomorrow and perhaps book it tomorrow. She also mentioned my new booking, I did say I might cancel but prob wouldn't (perhaps imprudent, but I think fine). There is apparently a bus to Irazu just round corner but TBH dubious about this and not entirely clear how it all fits together.
Perhaps a bit silly to be having this beer but I am semi-enjoying it (just oddly aware of needing to go to bathroom to clean teeth after and feeling it's a bit late).
2317 Cleaned teeth. I mentioned "cas" to the Canadians and with their superior searching skills they found it's guava ("common" Spanish name guayaba), so that's good to know.
Was quite nice to have a chat (bit edgy as we're supposed to be quiet after 10 and woman owner - this is billed as a "homestay" on booking.com conf email btw - has to go to work at 6 but the father seemed insistent we could keep talking quietly but I'm not sure how quiet we were). Frankly deeply dubious about my ability to visit anything from here but trying not to worry, tomorrow I will get up moderately late if I want and go look at ruins and worry about buses and bookings for volcanoes tomorrow evening. And if the extra night here turns out not to be "needed" for local tourism (tho it prob will be if only for abortive attempts at bussing it out to somewhere or other) I can use it for an experimental train "commute" into SJ (which Canadians say is Indian-style chaos) for a day's touristing there, although based on looking at accom earlier I suspect Alajuela is a better base given the existence of (depending on what I fancy) a cheapish private room or a cheapish dorm with some prospect of socialising. Heredia is (a bit randomly) the other place I might put in time in before I go but I have no idea what accom is like there - if it is cheap it may be a good base for commuting to SJ from too.
Anyway, let's go to bed. Free coffee in kitchen anyway apparently, so there's that in the morning. Yawning.
Rationally or otherwise, genuinely sorry to be leaving the hosts and their pets. Did manage to stroke all four pets this morning at least. This sadness does feel a bit silly, but really it is probably (as I always say) better than being glad to leave or having neutral "meh" feelings about it. Not inconceivable I would stay with them again on another trip, and if approaching fresh (eg newly-ish arrived and heading vaguely over to Limon) I might also ask about this cabin they told me about my first night.
Have to change bus in El Tejar (a suburb of Cartago - a city I cannot feel confident about remembering where the stress goes when pronouncing) but this seems inevitable based on quick poke online and I think it should be fine - get bus there to centre and then not too much of a walk to accom (hostel or whatever it actually is).
Incidentally while what I wrote above it true, it's also probably good that I didn't stay an extra night - I can't help feeling I might have worn out my welcome one way or another, or made a floater or something like that.
If didn't already say "everyone" here seems to refer to "Perez Zeledon" instead of "San Isidro" . Hosts explained that PZ is the "region" (canton, perhaps) and SI is the capital, and although in most regions the canton and main city (eg Puntarenas region/city) share a namen here they don't. That's fine, except it seems to me PZ is used when *the city* of SI is what is really meant, eg signs here about buses San Jose-Perez Zeledon. Sure, the bus goes to capital of PZ region, but isn't it more usual to name the city the bus goes to, ie San Isidro?
Maybe I have missed something, or maybe this is genuinely quirky (not bad).
FTR gave worn-yesterday two tone blue RS top a quick water-only rinse in sink yday and am wearing it today - it is probably given material and colour the most comfortable top I have if it's warm, and while it's not necessarily super warm here I am still in "assume it's warm" mode. I hope I don't have to grovel in depths of bag to dig out fleece as we cross cerro de la muerte (hhos - the bus is probably not heated and it is apparently very high).
Definite lurking mix of "trip's not over yet, make the most of it" vs "I kind of wish I was just home rather than having to grind out the rest of the trip and (the main " grindy" bit) all the little lurking individually trivial "adjustments" /pending tasks/desires when I get home, things like getting back from airport to flat, making sure I "repack" enough to visit parents without having something left in London, read meters, adjust back into semi-normal routines etc - all this stuff is fine and as I'll prob visit parents for a bit under two weeks there will naturally be a kind of gradual "return to normality". At same time while I do want to see them, it's a shame (Easter+cheap flights mandate the current situation) I have just the one night back in London and it would perhaps in some ways have been nicer to have 2-3 days in London to settle in a bit before the minor upheavel (sp!) of travelling to parents. But just waffling and trying to capture thoughts, not complaining as such.
I feel slightly itchy, probably a heat kind of thing.
Incidentally during walk yday in reserve I put my hand on a tree to steady myself (I wasn't quite falling, but sort of) while going downhill and a sharpish but luckily short and isolated spine pricked my right index (?) finger. Doesn't hurt much and not too worried about it but noting, could have been nasty if there'd been one of those " poison frog dart spine" trees with its massive clumps of long (not poisonous) sharp spikes.
We stopped on way over this morning so I could return ("devolver" - guy told me, in passing) the two bottles to local supermarket and got my 1k back, which was nice.
1000 Looking at map I could probably walk from El Tejar to accom, but barring problems I will get a (presumably local) bus to las ruinas or maybe just "Cartago" (unclear if i can ask this) and walk from somewhere more central.
I don't think I got my ticket cheaper for getting off in El Tejar instead of going on to SJ, but I think that's normal.
1018 On bus. My bag actually fits in the overhead rack with only the mildest bit of squishing! It is hot on here but I guess once we're moving it will be fine.
1022 Gah. For the first time, the seat number on the ticket is actually used, so I just had to move. Bag is still where it was, it's kind of fine as I can *see* it from here whereas I couldn't see it when I was in seat under it.
1204 15 mins rest stop, pretty must as hosts advised. Got off for not really needed toilet stop. Hanging around outside bus to stretch legs and also catch driver to ask him to drop me in ET when he returns.
1912 OK. Everything is actually fine. I was being a bit of a whiny bitch this afternoon and although I feel better there's a lurking sense of dissatisfaction.
I did ask the driver to drop me in ET and he seemed to understand. I was watching Google Maps (of course the ET I had located may not have been right one) and he didn't. Mild panic setting in. I rang the "request stop" button (labelled with a symbol of a tree, for reasons which escape me) and the scrolling LED at front showed it but it took ages (traffic?) before we pulled up somewhere. Thanks to GM/GPS I could at least see I was on edge of Cartago. Asked driver if it was ET and he said that was "detras" and I just checked now and that does mean "behind" . Thanks mate, real helpful!
I wasn't too worked up about this, it was broad daylight and it felt fairly safe and although I could maybe have got a bus if I'd faffed, I just decided to walk. Didn't try to take "clever" route, I used Manhattan metric style route walking along main road into centre of Cartago (this bit mostly flat) to roughly where train station is (no trains middle of day AFAICT), which is the bit I could have done by bus in theory, then turned north and slogged frankly quite a long bloody way uphill to the hostel (I will call it that though not sure what it really is).
[There are a couple of maybe Canadian guys here who are doing nothing wrong but the walls seem paper thin and I am constantly hearing their inane conversation.]
Checked in fine, a couple of guys sitting outside who I spoke to thinking they might be family, paid bill mostly in USD but the odd non-multiple of 20 in CRC.
Room is quite nice, no fan which is mild shame, door onto ground floor terrace but that's a mixed blessing as people (eg the guys there when I arrived) sit out there so it feels super un-private and I need to keep curtains shut.
Went back out starting to feel vaguely whiny and walked down into town centre (ie where I'd already been, but without bag) and thought I'd have quick look round and eat in a soda or maybe mercado municipal and then come back. A not-v-helpful printed folder in room showing nearby tourist stuff had inculcated a vague feeling of "fuck, there's all this semi-cool stuff which I 'should' see but I have no fucking idea how to get there and I only have two full days and everything's probably booking up solid and I also need to move on and sort that out" etc etc.
Long story short, I saw (but didn't go in, as feeling knackered and didn't want to be stuck walking back in dark, tho it wasn't that late) the ruins, I struggled to find a soda, at least on open one (there was a kind of one I didn't like look of as no proper menu prices and a fried chicken place but was trying not to eat something like that and by time I realised there were no other options - mercado shut btw - I had gone past them), although quite a lot of people about vaguely round MM and train station there was a slightly scuzzy slightly agressive young guys hanging round shouting (at me? no fucking idea) at the odd passer-by etc and it wasn't nice. Maybe all a Sunday thing.
I wasn't starving - had breakfast at airbnb anyway - but maybe low blood sugar kicking in a bit as I was being whiny and I also said "fuck it" and just walked back up the bloody hill to the hostel, tried one restaurant on way - had to go in and ask to see menu in order to realises prices not acceptable. Thought I'd get snacks but had already semi-realised no mini super markets (several bars tho) at all near hostel. (Loads of big chains like McD and KFC and Taco Bell in centre BTW, but didn't want that.) In the end I trogged another km to a mini supermaket identified (albeit with wrong name) on OSM and bought some Imperial Ultra (just cos airbnb host recommended it last night) and some Takis Fuego (first for ages) and some snacky biscuit junk and came back to hostel and put beer in fridge and ate junk and watched YT and started to feel a little better.
I have had a shower/shave and will probably go get beer and have it (alone or willing but far from desperate to chat) on terrace out front of room in a bit.
I really do need to get plans roughed out and eg book a hostel in Alajuela for last night and see about maybe extending here a night - location is a bit sucky but not terrible, not much cheap stuff available and today was just bad with the bag and transit hassles etc - and so forth. I am half thinking I may "do" San Jose museums etc but (prob mentioned this before) maybe commuting in for the day from Cartago or Heredia or Alajuela on the train, now I know it exists. Maybe if there is cheap accom in SJ centre-ish and not here or Heredia or Alajuela I won't, but I need to sort of think about this.
I am feeling a bit tired and I may not stay up super late. While it *was* good at the airbnb, I did also perhaps feel a bit "socially on" all the time and maybe that's tiring. Plan for tomorrow is to get up "not insanely late" (eg 10am would be fine, I think), trog into town and (not nec in this order) have food, wander rounds a bit, visit the ruins, see if I can find a train timetable (prob one online, but worth checking) and where the entrance to the station actually is - I hope all the scuzzy fuckers won't be around tomorrow, but who knows? - and maybe see if I can spot any tour companies.
I will ask staff/owner/whatever here about how to get to Irazu (volcano) by public bus tomorrow night if I can't find a tour agency or don't like what they're offering. I would then plan to go to Irazu Tuesday (my last full day here at present) and maybe if I sleep well etc I might ask staff/look on booking.com tomorrow evening if I can book an extra night, and then maybe with that extra day I can manage an excursion out to one of the other semi-cool sounding places in that folder in my room.
I haven't looked at guide book re Cartago yet, maybe later tonight or tomorrow.
So I sort of "need" to be doing at least a look over accom options here/Heredia/Alajuela/SJ even if I don't book tonight, but I may or may not force myself to do it.
I think I'll get properly dressed and maybe go get my beer, although the Canadians are out there and saying things like "I don't think you're supposed to eat the seeds" so I'm slightly worried I will get drawn into a conversation or something when I'm not really feeling exactly at my best.
To be clear(ish), I think this is a sort of family-run small hostel/hotel, there isn't the "classic" backpacker hostel and there are family members around and the "common area" is I think sort of family area too. There might be a small dorm but I am not sure.
It is shared bathroom here (and there may only be one) but it is quite nice and the water (not that I'm *that* bothered, but it is kind of nice) is actually almost too hot in the shower. I don't know exactly where/what, but as I was checking in owner type woman did say something about washing my clothes "there" or something, so I may ask about that and do it tomorrow night. No point doing it tonight as I don't have enough dirty stuff yet. If I do extend a night it might make sense to postpone the wash another night too, as the "getting stuff dry" deadline moves out by a day then.
1937 It feels really late, but it isn't. This seems to be a constant theme here. As I think I keep saying, it's probably not so much the day length as the fact that daylight runs from 6am-ish to 6pm-ish (v approx) which is perfectly "symmetrical" but means the daylight ends "early" by my standards - even getting up relatively early as I am most of the time here, I am not usually up at 6am.
1955 OK, left glowing feedback for airbnb and have also booked an extra night here with free cancellation until end (midnight) of tomorrow - maybe I could have negotiated a better price by going direct but this way at least I have it semi-locked-in.
2006 OK, have booked dorm bed at hostel with free airport shuttle in Alajuela for the one night before flight. This is USD14 inc tax and I could have had a private room actually pretty near airport with breakfast included for USD15 inc tax so I feel a bit foolish, but I have free cancellation (both offered it) so can change mind later but at least have something.
It may be nice to be in a "potentially" social environment the last night instead of a private room in (I think) someone's home. Walking to the airport is prob awkward with busy motorway type roads even if the private room was almost walking distance (hell, ignoring no facilities for pedestrians, central Alajuela *is* walking distance of airport really). Given checkout is 11am and my flight is 1825 I am not entirely sure the free shuttle is really "worth it" as does it mean I am going to be at the airport at 1130ish killing time all day? Maybe they'll let me hang around a bit longer past checkin as long as I vacate my bunk. Then again, I didn't check checkout at private room and the reality is I am unlikely to risk things like trying to leave my bag while I go out for a last wander round and a lunch in a soda in Alajuela before going to the airport. Maybe I would risk this, I dunno. Basically it's likely to be an unsatisfactory situation anyway so no point getting too worked up trying to polish it up etc. Also as I say I have free cancellation until (not incl) 4th April so I can change my mind (and I may want to stay in Alajuela more than one night, esp if I do decide to try visiting SJ while staying in Alajuela - this accom is cheap enough etc) but at least I have this semi-sorted.
2256 Went out to get beer, ended up talking with the Canadians - father and son, very into archaelogy (I think father may have an actual career connection with this). Nice guys actually.
I put my beer into freezer and drinking it in room now.
Had some slightly confusing advice from them and hostel owner about getting to Irazu but you may need to book, so gut feeling is will maybe discuss this more with owner tomorrow and perhaps book it tomorrow. She also mentioned my new booking, I did say I might cancel but prob wouldn't (perhaps imprudent, but I think fine). There is apparently a bus to Irazu just round corner but TBH dubious about this and not entirely clear how it all fits together.
Perhaps a bit silly to be having this beer but I am semi-enjoying it (just oddly aware of needing to go to bathroom to clean teeth after and feeling it's a bit late).
2317 Cleaned teeth. I mentioned "cas" to the Canadians and with their superior searching skills they found it's guava ("common" Spanish name guayaba), so that's good to know.
Was quite nice to have a chat (bit edgy as we're supposed to be quiet after 10 and woman owner - this is billed as a "homestay" on booking.com conf email btw - has to go to work at 6 but the father seemed insistent we could keep talking quietly but I'm not sure how quiet we were). Frankly deeply dubious about my ability to visit anything from here but trying not to worry, tomorrow I will get up moderately late if I want and go look at ruins and worry about buses and bookings for volcanoes tomorrow evening. And if the extra night here turns out not to be "needed" for local tourism (tho it prob will be if only for abortive attempts at bussing it out to somewhere or other) I can use it for an experimental train "commute" into SJ (which Canadians say is Indian-style chaos) for a day's touristing there, although based on looking at accom earlier I suspect Alajuela is a better base given the existence of (depending on what I fancy) a cheapish private room or a cheapish dorm with some prospect of socialising. Heredia is (a bit randomly) the other place I might put in time in before I go but I have no idea what accom is like there - if it is cheap it may be a good base for commuting to SJ from too.
Anyway, let's go to bed. Free coffee in kitchen anyway apparently, so there's that in the morning. Yawning.
Sunday 26 March 2023
San Isidro, Saturday
Sat 25th 1851 In room. All OK, TBH bit unsure when/if I should go out to "see" hosts as I lack the natural excuse of laundry last night.
Slept OKish, alarms perhaps too early again. Chat with hosts this morning, they made me breakfast and told me about the walking at Quebradas Biological Centre (known by a shorter name which escapes me now) and it being about 5-6km walk away they gave me a lift up there about midday.
3k to enter, I perhaps zoomed round a bit (they shut at 4, plus wanted to be sure to be able to walk back before dark) but did do 90% of the trails. Quite cool if perhaps beyond me to appreciate the finer points, but a decentish bit of walking and exercise and some very cool views from Pico de Zoncho (sp? I do have photos).
Walked back OK, bit nervy re dogs but all fine on whole, it was mostly downhill but IIRC it was 5.8km according to OSM (not I may not RC) and I did it in an hour. I went into the supermarket near airbnb and got some unhealthy snacks as didn't have chance to eat a "proper" lunch due to being out and while they may well offer me food tonight and it wouldn't kill me if I hadn't I'm always looking for an excuse.
German Shepherd called Jack of family relatives (?) at lower bit of private road up to airbnb did come hurtling across towards me (but not barking) and I heard its owner call and I wasn't too edgy and (I'd been told to say its name) I said "Jack, no" and kept walking and it was fine. The two smaller dogs, one of which IIUC is actually a bit more likely to bite, weren't there today, whereas at least one (I was just walking and avoiding eye contact, remember) was yesterday - I had been told Jack was fine, tho I always take this advice with a pinch of salt. Still, kudos to me for being relatively calm about this.
Brief chat with hosts when came in, said (truthfully) I was going to lie down before having a shower, which I did (lie down to watch bit of YT). And I guzzled my unhealthy snacks in secret.
Copying photos off camera to cards, not uploading to Google Photos as I am out of space - I really should have backed everything up months ago and wiped GP clean just for use on trips like this, but I certainly didn't wipe and while I *may* have done a dump of all stuff on there I can't be sure while I'm away from my PC so reluctant to maybe delete copies of photos which may due to some glitch or other be the only extant copies. It's fine, barring serious bad luck my multiple SD card copies of photos should help me get everything home safely.
2004 Hosts messaged me on WA a while back (1845ish) to say they're at/with/waiting for (I am a bit unclear, and their message may have bad grammar being written on fly) his mother and will be back later. This is fine and also gives me a natural way to talk to them when they do return. The two dogs have been barking at the door a bit which initially made me wonder if someone was outside but I think they just want some fuss and they stop doing it if I go stroke them. Been playing a bit (it is just playing, but it makes me nervous I'll get a scratch and I know cat scratches can be nasty) with the ginger cat too (I think it's only about a year old). The black-ish Persian is nowhere to be seen.
Sun 0130 Surprisingly late night, hosts turned up and I did wonder if I was in the way and they felt a bit compelled to talk to me at first but I am fairly sure it wasn't ultimately like that. We shared (me and wife; husband complained of bad stomach) litre bottle of Pilsen Doble Malta (which is nice but isn't a dark beer - I need to check out Bavaria Dark and (not dark, but apparently nice) Imperial Ultra) and also the two of us got through most of a bottle of Cacique Reserva Frutal (10%) I think. I'd be lying if I said I understood every word said to me but at the same time given I think hosts were speaking relatively uninhibitedly and fast I did get the gist and I am semi-proud of myself.
We discussed buses tomorrow, they are being super nice (I am *not* going to offer them more more as I am certain it would be an insult) and prob going to take me into SI and help me get bus and even bring me back here if I have to wait due to buses being sold out. I prob have to change in El Tejal (sp) in suburbs of Cartago (which I cannot remember the right pronunciation of) but it should all be fine. Bus journey is approx 2h so not an epic journey.
Need to be up 0830ish, haven't packed yet but it isn't a huge job and not doing now.
Slept OKish, alarms perhaps too early again. Chat with hosts this morning, they made me breakfast and told me about the walking at Quebradas Biological Centre (known by a shorter name which escapes me now) and it being about 5-6km walk away they gave me a lift up there about midday.
3k to enter, I perhaps zoomed round a bit (they shut at 4, plus wanted to be sure to be able to walk back before dark) but did do 90% of the trails. Quite cool if perhaps beyond me to appreciate the finer points, but a decentish bit of walking and exercise and some very cool views from Pico de Zoncho (sp? I do have photos).
Walked back OK, bit nervy re dogs but all fine on whole, it was mostly downhill but IIRC it was 5.8km according to OSM (not I may not RC) and I did it in an hour. I went into the supermarket near airbnb and got some unhealthy snacks as didn't have chance to eat a "proper" lunch due to being out and while they may well offer me food tonight and it wouldn't kill me if I hadn't I'm always looking for an excuse.
German Shepherd called Jack of family relatives (?) at lower bit of private road up to airbnb did come hurtling across towards me (but not barking) and I heard its owner call and I wasn't too edgy and (I'd been told to say its name) I said "Jack, no" and kept walking and it was fine. The two smaller dogs, one of which IIUC is actually a bit more likely to bite, weren't there today, whereas at least one (I was just walking and avoiding eye contact, remember) was yesterday - I had been told Jack was fine, tho I always take this advice with a pinch of salt. Still, kudos to me for being relatively calm about this.
Brief chat with hosts when came in, said (truthfully) I was going to lie down before having a shower, which I did (lie down to watch bit of YT). And I guzzled my unhealthy snacks in secret.
Copying photos off camera to cards, not uploading to Google Photos as I am out of space - I really should have backed everything up months ago and wiped GP clean just for use on trips like this, but I certainly didn't wipe and while I *may* have done a dump of all stuff on there I can't be sure while I'm away from my PC so reluctant to maybe delete copies of photos which may due to some glitch or other be the only extant copies. It's fine, barring serious bad luck my multiple SD card copies of photos should help me get everything home safely.
2004 Hosts messaged me on WA a while back (1845ish) to say they're at/with/waiting for (I am a bit unclear, and their message may have bad grammar being written on fly) his mother and will be back later. This is fine and also gives me a natural way to talk to them when they do return. The two dogs have been barking at the door a bit which initially made me wonder if someone was outside but I think they just want some fuss and they stop doing it if I go stroke them. Been playing a bit (it is just playing, but it makes me nervous I'll get a scratch and I know cat scratches can be nasty) with the ginger cat too (I think it's only about a year old). The black-ish Persian is nowhere to be seen.
Sun 0130 Surprisingly late night, hosts turned up and I did wonder if I was in the way and they felt a bit compelled to talk to me at first but I am fairly sure it wasn't ultimately like that. We shared (me and wife; husband complained of bad stomach) litre bottle of Pilsen Doble Malta (which is nice but isn't a dark beer - I need to check out Bavaria Dark and (not dark, but apparently nice) Imperial Ultra) and also the two of us got through most of a bottle of Cacique Reserva Frutal (10%) I think. I'd be lying if I said I understood every word said to me but at the same time given I think hosts were speaking relatively uninhibitedly and fast I did get the gist and I am semi-proud of myself.
We discussed buses tomorrow, they are being super nice (I am *not* going to offer them more more as I am certain it would be an insult) and prob going to take me into SI and help me get bus and even bring me back here if I have to wait due to buses being sold out. I prob have to change in El Tejal (sp) in suburbs of Cartago (which I cannot remember the right pronunciation of) but it should all be fine. Bus journey is approx 2h so not an epic journey.
Need to be up 0830ish, haven't packed yet but it isn't a huge job and not doing now.
Saturday 25 March 2023
San Isidro, Friday
Fri 24th 2247 Slept OKish, set alarm too early really so was snoozing unhelpfully on it and thus neither up nor getting good sleep.
Got up 10ish, host made me breakfast, we talked and he told me how to get into town and showed me some nearby stuff (I may go walking somewhere tomorrow). I walked into town, went into cathedral (very nice actually - not as striking as Barranquilla's modern cathedral, but genuine "not saying it to be socially acceptable" nice "clean" modern sort of building), had ceviche (twice, with a gap) at Pescaderia del Pacifico (recommended by hosts) which was really nice and I wish I'd been eating it more (but I was worried about sauces) and will try to have during rest of time, walked round park in centre a bit, did a bit of aimless walking, bought 2.5l of pepsi black for 980 (!) at supermarket and drank it in street/sitting in bus station by mercado central (where pescaderia is, also lots of other sodas) - no one molested me at all - had second ceviche, bought some biscuity things at bakery to share tonight (tho only I actually ate any - I felt a bit lardy, but they had been calling to me, as biscuits do :-) ) and walked back - could have got bus but had plenty of time and if anything didn't want to get back too early - and got couple of bottles of beer (returnable, possibly just as is for the 500 each deposit without buying new beers since I paid cash, Asian woman running place seemed very proactive in eg coming over to explain about returnables as soon as I opened the fridge to take them out ) and came back, dogs at lower house on this property mildly hassled me but nothing too bad.
Came in, said hi, hid in room a bit and had shower, then watched a bit of of some Scandinavian drama on netflix about corpses coming back to life and drug runners hiding cocaine in bodies to ship over border in Spanish with hosts, then we had tortilla espanola and shared one of the beers I'd bought (host made me a michelada - spicy variety, not lime variety) and chatted.
Bit stream of consciousness as wanted to bash this out but want to move towards bed.
I hastily booked a double room in the cheapest place on booking.com during gap in this morning's chat, about USD23/night and a bit on edge of Cartago but not terrible - for whatever reason (hosts suggest maybe semana santa) there were *no* dorms or "traditional" hostels (I get the impression my room is a bit pseudo airbnb but maybe in a house where the owner operates multiple rental rooms, a kind of halfway to hostel place) available at least when I sorted by price. I had a quick look on airbnb and some rooms for vaguely similar (perhaps less, tho different currencies and airbnb's hidden fees make this far from clear) amounts so figured booking.com would be less faff.
During chat tonight I think hosts have convinced me San Jose is worth a visit, just take usual big city precautions and if I must go round at night use Uber or Didi (?) - I didn't ask about official taxis. There is also a cheap and semi-frequent train service between San Jose and Cartago and Alajuela and also places like Heredia, which sounds both cool and convenient.
I was vaguely tempted to maybe stay here another night but I'm not *that* desperate to do so and I also don't want to wear out my welcome - it is both nice and a little constraining to feel I am "living with" these people rather than just renting a room in their house for three days.
I think that's most of it. Oh, host (there are two, a couple, but I'm not bothering to distinguish) let me use top loading washing machine and (rather nifty, actually) centrifugal no heat dryer than hang clothes up overnight for final drying - tho they felt pretty dry to me anyway - to wash my clothes, so that's nice - I wore the blue wool top tonight so I could get all three light plastic tops properly washed, and to be fair given it is a smidge cooler here and it's night the blue wool top was not really uncomfortable.
Prob watch bit of YT etc before bed but we'll see.
2332 Bed.
Got up 10ish, host made me breakfast, we talked and he told me how to get into town and showed me some nearby stuff (I may go walking somewhere tomorrow). I walked into town, went into cathedral (very nice actually - not as striking as Barranquilla's modern cathedral, but genuine "not saying it to be socially acceptable" nice "clean" modern sort of building), had ceviche (twice, with a gap) at Pescaderia del Pacifico (recommended by hosts) which was really nice and I wish I'd been eating it more (but I was worried about sauces) and will try to have during rest of time, walked round park in centre a bit, did a bit of aimless walking, bought 2.5l of pepsi black for 980 (!) at supermarket and drank it in street/sitting in bus station by mercado central (where pescaderia is, also lots of other sodas) - no one molested me at all - had second ceviche, bought some biscuity things at bakery to share tonight (tho only I actually ate any - I felt a bit lardy, but they had been calling to me, as biscuits do :-) ) and walked back - could have got bus but had plenty of time and if anything didn't want to get back too early - and got couple of bottles of beer (returnable, possibly just as is for the 500 each deposit without buying new beers since I paid cash, Asian woman running place seemed very proactive in eg coming over to explain about returnables as soon as I opened the fridge to take them out ) and came back, dogs at lower house on this property mildly hassled me but nothing too bad.
Came in, said hi, hid in room a bit and had shower, then watched a bit of of some Scandinavian drama on netflix about corpses coming back to life and drug runners hiding cocaine in bodies to ship over border in Spanish with hosts, then we had tortilla espanola and shared one of the beers I'd bought (host made me a michelada - spicy variety, not lime variety) and chatted.
Bit stream of consciousness as wanted to bash this out but want to move towards bed.
I hastily booked a double room in the cheapest place on booking.com during gap in this morning's chat, about USD23/night and a bit on edge of Cartago but not terrible - for whatever reason (hosts suggest maybe semana santa) there were *no* dorms or "traditional" hostels (I get the impression my room is a bit pseudo airbnb but maybe in a house where the owner operates multiple rental rooms, a kind of halfway to hostel place) available at least when I sorted by price. I had a quick look on airbnb and some rooms for vaguely similar (perhaps less, tho different currencies and airbnb's hidden fees make this far from clear) amounts so figured booking.com would be less faff.
During chat tonight I think hosts have convinced me San Jose is worth a visit, just take usual big city precautions and if I must go round at night use Uber or Didi (?) - I didn't ask about official taxis. There is also a cheap and semi-frequent train service between San Jose and Cartago and Alajuela and also places like Heredia, which sounds both cool and convenient.
I was vaguely tempted to maybe stay here another night but I'm not *that* desperate to do so and I also don't want to wear out my welcome - it is both nice and a little constraining to feel I am "living with" these people rather than just renting a room in their house for three days.
I think that's most of it. Oh, host (there are two, a couple, but I'm not bothering to distinguish) let me use top loading washing machine and (rather nifty, actually) centrifugal no heat dryer than hang clothes up overnight for final drying - tho they felt pretty dry to me anyway - to wash my clothes, so that's nice - I wore the blue wool top tonight so I could get all three light plastic tops properly washed, and to be fair given it is a smidge cooler here and it's night the blue wool top was not really uncomfortable.
Prob watch bit of YT etc before bed but we'll see.
2332 Bed.
Friday 24 March 2023
Dos Brazos-San Isidro
Thu 23rd 0631 Outside lower hostel "office" waiting for 7am bus. Just hiked down, shoes/socks wet as expected after river but hopefully dry.
Bit of a fuckfest this morning. When packing suddenly (and luckily) realised had "lost" daypack, which had sunblock/insect repellent/water bottle/shell jacket in. Panic - short of time. Could scarcely believe it had been stolen but wasn't there. Semi-unthinkingly ran out to check round common areas and spotted/remembered it by kitchen food storage where had dumped it when cooking yday afternoon. So sorted but damn lucky I remembered.
Got up 5amish as needed piss, also semi-watched sunrise from upstairs of common area hadn't been into before. Quite cloudy, OKish. Fiddling desperately with phones. Naturally hostel wifi had no net access just cos it really mattered and up against time pressure.
Even with VPN disabled Claro won't let me go on the top-up website with no data allowance left. I did eventually manage to try to top up via text, got given a number to call and was offered the option to top up... one of a number of amounts, none of which matched what I wanted to top up, and no option to use my phone keypad to choose my own amount. I picked lowest 1k amount in desperation, entered my ccard details and... they told me (all this in automated Spanish BTW) they couldn't verify my bank and to try another card.
Absolute utter fuckers on multiple levels.
I am a bit stressed out (because it's fucking "airbnb+no mobile internet", the magic stress recipe) but also hacked off because I suspect this 9am bus won't exist. The one upside to that it with the extra four hours I should (albeit painfully, as not sure how) be able to top up the fucking SIM somehow and also leech some wifi (eg Los Dragones, probably) to WA the airbnb and tell them what's going on. With ordinary accom you just turn up any time after xpm that day and all good, but with airbnb the thing is virtually unfindable and you're pissing the hosts off as well (esp if as in this case they are apparently going to meet me at bus station).
FFS.
Trying to stay chilled, writing this has got me a bit worked up. TBH *if* the 9am bus exists I will at least be on the bus I told them, tho stressed at no net access to communicate with them, and if it doesn't it's annoying on multiple levels but it does probably give me time to sort out fucking mobile internet.
I believe Claro website would have let me top up the exact amount and might also have been more likely to work with my card (eg if there's wanky mandatory security check as part of payment, that can happen in browser but not via phone call) but as I say no hostel internet access even tho it *has* mostly worked and Claro won't let me visit the top up site with no credit, because they're fuckers.
0801 At bus terminal. *Inside* (where I couldn't get on Sunday) it shows no 9am bus, so I'm prob hanging round town til 1pm. The ticket office is supposed to open at 8 so with luck I can speak to someone soon. Los Dragones wasn't open when I came past but it is early.
Dos Brazos-PJ no problem tho the bus has broken down so a taxi colectivo 4x4 pickup did it instead - but paid same 4k and altho I sat in back saying virtually nothing (but it never felt appropriate to "interrupt" ) I earwigged on some moderately interesting Spanish/English conversation - semi-ex-pat German who has lived there intermittently for years chatting with driver, and later a prob retired prob ex-pat American who seems to farm bees, also (equally uncommunicative) local woman with baby at one point.
I asked to go to B&M and I also asked driver as getting out if he knew where I could top up and he said B&M caja 2, so with only minor faff I have topped up - had to do 5k as 4.5k not an option, they said I couldn't do 2k+2k+500 (*prob* a Claro restriction not theirs) but not end of world - woman misread my phone number from screen (I didn't try reading it out, perhaps should have) but I caught the mistake. I then did the USSD code menu thing to use that credit for the 15 day paquete and I think it has worked; I do have mobile internet but that may be some weird bonus thing, however after a bit I did get a message saying paquete applied and my credit was showing as 500 so I think all OK.
Not WAed airbnb yet, it's early and I will wait until I've spoken to someone at ticket office or until after 9 if they simply don't bother opening the advertised hours (it's just a home-laminated printout so you might hope it's accurate but who knows).
Does feel reassuring to have mobile data again tho.
0817 Right, paid 5915 for ticket on bus at 1pm, arrives about 630pm, 9am bus doesn't exist, need to be here at terminal 10 mins before, have messaged airbnb and they are fine to meet me at terminal there (I said what bus I am on) so although lots of waiting around and delays things prob mostly OK.
Airbnb guys has sent me photos of him and his car so fingers crossed this will all be sweet.
Hanging around here few mins in case more airbnb WA but will go see if Dragones is open then.
0847 Sitting in street in shade opposite Dragones. Took shoes and socks off one at a time and wrang (?) quite a lot of dirty water out of each sock - feels a bit more comfortable and should I guess speed drying process.
Unless I bring myself to ask about charging power bank in (say) Dragones I have to be a smidge careful with phones killing time til 1pm. I think there's a drop more power in the power bank (but it's not full as I had to use it in bed to charge both phones up) but don't really want to rely on that. I need *both* phones to work really as to do WA I need the K1 for WA and G5 as mobile hotspot as it has my SIM. Could swap SIM in an emergency tho real faff (need pin to open K1) or I could install the app to allow me to use WA web on the G5, but rather not do that esp as I don't think it is installed so would burn battery installing it.
Worth noting also that although this is a damn long bus ride (for next to no distance, really), I generally don't read on phone during bus trip anyway, preferring to stare out of window, get lost in thought and/or concentrate on sweating buckets. So it's not *too* bad as I mainly need to divert myself for the next 4 hours. I am *not* eg going to go sit on beach, it's a fair walk, I don't want to work uo a sweat and I'd rather stay off the street and esp round there while carrying all my possessions.
I am running down hidden cash now and got a heavily folded 20k out while waiting for ticket office to open, but the guy took it no fuss - I guess it's local and it's plastic, whereas a folded dollar bill is neither.
0904 At Rincon Sabroso - should have come here before really - getting pinto con huevos (fried, but could have had scrambled) and black coffee. 2.8k for pinto, assuming coffee OK and may hang on here for a bit etc etc. Fingers crossed this is edible but been meaning to try pinto anyway.
Nice semi-outdoor shaded eating area out front. If eg coffee is not insanely priced, this could be a good spot to loiter. Gut feeling is I may get biggish bottle of water at supermarket and some sweet baked things from bakery (meant to try it, but on Sunday when I decided to indulge it was shut) and take them with me for the bus.
0918 Very nice, rice is the sort I had at IIRC Montezuma hostel, fried eggs a bit crisp round edge but really very decent. I also spot a near-ish socket. I may ask (want to check price of coffee - if it's 600/cup I can guzzle subject to toilet concerns, if it's 1800/cup I may be more reserved and/or drink something else) if I can use it, but could see myself hanging on here til 12ish.
Kind of feeling like I might have a mild splurge wrt food/drink today, given this hanging round. Do need to be careful re bog but almost certainly one here and I expect there are going to be very frequent stops on ths bus given its speed. Especially this early I don't need to worry too much about the bus.
0938 Score. Just asked and it's 700 for a coffee or a jugo natural and I can charge my phone (actually powerbank - less pain if nicked/damaged/forgotten - it was down to 1/4 lights BTW), so having jugo de tamarindo and will probably have a coffee after etc. Minor party. Need to remember 700 isn't nothing - it's about a pound - but I'm feeling happy to spend a few pounds on a bit of comfort (I'm partly paying for somewhere to sit, being temporarily homeless) this morning.
0949 "El Rey" playing faintly from inside, nice traditional-ish version.
0958 Guzzled juice, as is my wont. Not going to rush but will get another coffee soon-ish. I will prob have a casado about 1130, it's a bit early but I don't want to be too rushed getting to the bus terminal (and buying water/snacks on the way). It isn't strictly necessary for me to eat so much but it will avoid any need to worry about getting food in SI - the one comment on the place suggests the hosts cooked for him, I have no idea if that's a paid extra, but given my pickiness and scope for giving offence I don't really want to be indulging in that if I can help it.
Fingers crossed I didn't leave anything in DB hostel but I obviously have *most* stuff so it's probably OK.
1003 Have asked waitress for black coffee as she came back from taking order of newly arrived people. Have also slipped shoes off under table in hope this will help my socks (on my feet) and shoes dry off quicker.
Given I'm surfeited with power and data (wifi here), I have installed the WA web app on G5 and given it a quick test. It's no more of a privacy loss than using WA app on K1 via G5 acting as mobile hotspot. I suspect (and in a way this is good, as it will reduce battery use) the WA web app on G5 won't notify me of new messages, but I can at least check explicitly if I want/need to without having to fire up the hotspot.
(I assume the real WA app wouldn't work on LineageOS, but I haven't tried anyway as I don't want it hoovering up my contacts on the G5 and generally spying on my activity constantly.)
1111 Just ordered casado de bistec, think I have managed to get salad undressed. Smidge early but still approx three hours since last ate (no, duh, two!) and at "worst" I will feel full, can't see myself being unable to finish.
3.5k, in theory including a jugo natural.
Feeling smidge jittery but of course I have loads of time and buying water/baked snacks is far from critical if I am rushed. Bit dubious about salad - was offered "ensalada rusa" when I said no dressing, subsequently looked that up and seems ridiculous to suggest, but I did say "ensalada verde" so fingers crossed. Hardly end of world if salad inedible and contaminates a bit of other stuff, given this is second meal etc.
I think plan for tonight is just to chill in room and go to bed early. Not going to bust a gut touristing it up in SI, will try to walk into town and have look round and if loads of obvious tours nearby may take one up. Will have a go at investigating onward travel tomorrow, just poss tonight/tomorrow afternoon depending how I feel.
1134 Casado v good, *didn't* get a drink with it which I think I should have done, but for all I know they will offset this when I settle up. Just ordered one explicitly. I plan to give fairly generous tip given I've camped here (albeit buying stuff at a not insanely slow pace) and they let me charge my power bank, but I may semi-adjust the tip to reflect this "missed" drink if it turns out like that.
I am thinking I might not buy a bottle of water. I have a little bit with me in my bag, and if I get desperate I can probably buy some at a stop on the bus - I also can't see why I'd be desperate given how much I've been drinking this morning. (TBH, in part this stems from feeling I could just have carried down my litre disposable bottle full from hostel this morning instead of leaving it behind in recycling if I'd *really* wanted to have "a lot" of water with me, so buying another one right now kind of grates, but I think it is also a bit silly anyway.)
I "expect" bill to be 7.7k if they're "fair" and give me one of the tamarind juices as part of the casado as menu says, or 8.4k otherwise. I am assuming there's no automatic 10% or 13% or both on this. On a fair bill, 20% would be about 1.5, so if I make it 9k that's not quite 20% on a fair bill. Maybe make it 9.5k then, that's a hair over 20%. Bear in mind AFAIK I am not obliged/expected to tip 10% generally, though I quite often (I'm a bit inconsistent) do, so even 10% would probably be kind of decent. I could just make it 10k but that feels a smidge OTT. Then again, that's about three pounds tip so not ruinous in absolute terms as a one-off and I have camped out here for a while and their prices are decent and the outside seating area is pleasant and while the staff perhaps not super smiley they've been nice enough to me (eg letting me use socket for charger) so maybe 10k it is.
I will ask the price of course, as curious to see what it is.
Temptation to rush off but I am going to stick on til 12, start "packing up" (get charger/powerbank back into bag, put shoes on) then pay and use bog, then head over to terminal via bakery and I'll probably still be there by 1215 with half an hour to kill.
I haven't done much "cafe sitting" on this trip, it's always felt too expensive (which it kind of is) to do as a rule, but I also haven't felt huge temptation.
1204 7.8k, which seems odd but not quibbling over 100. Made it 10k for reasons discussed, but also including feeling happy with this price as being what I expected modulo that odd 100.
1221 At terminal. Smidge later than thought but spent while in bog just to be safe and also bit of a queue at Panaderia Monar where I got two smallish bags of biscuity things at 900 each, which I paid for with change so these are mentally kind of "free" . :-)
Must say that altho it will (trying not to count my chickens) be nice to have a private room tonigh, the dorm at last hostel didn't really feel that un-private, what with being semi open-air, having no one in bed above me and having the rather dense mosquito net to enclose the bed.
1251 I think I am the only tourist waiting so far. Quite a lot of people here, hope bus isn't too rammed.
1652 Seems to be a rest stop but I didn't hear announcement, if there was one. Famous last words, but decided not to get off for a piss as didn't/don't need one and also wasn't exactly sure how long was left by time I noticed. Lots of bags left on bus and engine is still running so I assume we're not changing bus.
Haven't touched baked stuff, not hungry and it will maybe be nice to snack in my room with a YT video or something. Trouble (but also sort of good) with airbnb is that I'm never sure to what extent I "should" hang around outside my room to chat with hosts.
1657 We just pulled out. So prob 1.5ish hours to go. It is nice (notwithstanding possible hiccups) to know I am being picked up.
2255 Just guzzled all the two packs of baked sweet things in room on bed. Bit lardy.
Everything's fine, bus seemed to stop a few blocks short of terminal (everyone seemed to get out) but had map up so not too big a deal. Had WA chat with guy picking me up and he was waiting. He and his wife both seem really nice and I spent ages chatting with them when I got here. I only got off to have a shower and go to bed maybe 2200ish. Watching a bit of YT, will pop out to clean teeth (I have my own bathroom but access via hallway) in a bit and then maybe semi go to bed. They have two cats (one ginger tabby - perhaps the first I've seen in CR - and a fluffy black one of a breed I've forgotten, Chino??) and two little fluffy-ish ginger dogs (no idea what breed) that seem quite friendly.
I am slightly worried they are going to be a little *too* friendly, but OTOH this is great Spanish practice and it is nice to talk to people after a slightly (though not bad) "solo" time in DB and arguably PJ before that.
2345 Eyes kept wanting to close as watched YT so let's go to bed and read myself to sleep.
Bit of a fuckfest this morning. When packing suddenly (and luckily) realised had "lost" daypack, which had sunblock/insect repellent/water bottle/shell jacket in. Panic - short of time. Could scarcely believe it had been stolen but wasn't there. Semi-unthinkingly ran out to check round common areas and spotted/remembered it by kitchen food storage where had dumped it when cooking yday afternoon. So sorted but damn lucky I remembered.
Got up 5amish as needed piss, also semi-watched sunrise from upstairs of common area hadn't been into before. Quite cloudy, OKish. Fiddling desperately with phones. Naturally hostel wifi had no net access just cos it really mattered and up against time pressure.
Even with VPN disabled Claro won't let me go on the top-up website with no data allowance left. I did eventually manage to try to top up via text, got given a number to call and was offered the option to top up... one of a number of amounts, none of which matched what I wanted to top up, and no option to use my phone keypad to choose my own amount. I picked lowest 1k amount in desperation, entered my ccard details and... they told me (all this in automated Spanish BTW) they couldn't verify my bank and to try another card.
Absolute utter fuckers on multiple levels.
I am a bit stressed out (because it's fucking "airbnb+no mobile internet", the magic stress recipe) but also hacked off because I suspect this 9am bus won't exist. The one upside to that it with the extra four hours I should (albeit painfully, as not sure how) be able to top up the fucking SIM somehow and also leech some wifi (eg Los Dragones, probably) to WA the airbnb and tell them what's going on. With ordinary accom you just turn up any time after xpm that day and all good, but with airbnb the thing is virtually unfindable and you're pissing the hosts off as well (esp if as in this case they are apparently going to meet me at bus station).
FFS.
Trying to stay chilled, writing this has got me a bit worked up. TBH *if* the 9am bus exists I will at least be on the bus I told them, tho stressed at no net access to communicate with them, and if it doesn't it's annoying on multiple levels but it does probably give me time to sort out fucking mobile internet.
I believe Claro website would have let me top up the exact amount and might also have been more likely to work with my card (eg if there's wanky mandatory security check as part of payment, that can happen in browser but not via phone call) but as I say no hostel internet access even tho it *has* mostly worked and Claro won't let me visit the top up site with no credit, because they're fuckers.
0801 At bus terminal. *Inside* (where I couldn't get on Sunday) it shows no 9am bus, so I'm prob hanging round town til 1pm. The ticket office is supposed to open at 8 so with luck I can speak to someone soon. Los Dragones wasn't open when I came past but it is early.
Dos Brazos-PJ no problem tho the bus has broken down so a taxi colectivo 4x4 pickup did it instead - but paid same 4k and altho I sat in back saying virtually nothing (but it never felt appropriate to "interrupt" ) I earwigged on some moderately interesting Spanish/English conversation - semi-ex-pat German who has lived there intermittently for years chatting with driver, and later a prob retired prob ex-pat American who seems to farm bees, also (equally uncommunicative) local woman with baby at one point.
I asked to go to B&M and I also asked driver as getting out if he knew where I could top up and he said B&M caja 2, so with only minor faff I have topped up - had to do 5k as 4.5k not an option, they said I couldn't do 2k+2k+500 (*prob* a Claro restriction not theirs) but not end of world - woman misread my phone number from screen (I didn't try reading it out, perhaps should have) but I caught the mistake. I then did the USSD code menu thing to use that credit for the 15 day paquete and I think it has worked; I do have mobile internet but that may be some weird bonus thing, however after a bit I did get a message saying paquete applied and my credit was showing as 500 so I think all OK.
Not WAed airbnb yet, it's early and I will wait until I've spoken to someone at ticket office or until after 9 if they simply don't bother opening the advertised hours (it's just a home-laminated printout so you might hope it's accurate but who knows).
Does feel reassuring to have mobile data again tho.
0817 Right, paid 5915 for ticket on bus at 1pm, arrives about 630pm, 9am bus doesn't exist, need to be here at terminal 10 mins before, have messaged airbnb and they are fine to meet me at terminal there (I said what bus I am on) so although lots of waiting around and delays things prob mostly OK.
Airbnb guys has sent me photos of him and his car so fingers crossed this will all be sweet.
Hanging around here few mins in case more airbnb WA but will go see if Dragones is open then.
0847 Sitting in street in shade opposite Dragones. Took shoes and socks off one at a time and wrang (?) quite a lot of dirty water out of each sock - feels a bit more comfortable and should I guess speed drying process.
Unless I bring myself to ask about charging power bank in (say) Dragones I have to be a smidge careful with phones killing time til 1pm. I think there's a drop more power in the power bank (but it's not full as I had to use it in bed to charge both phones up) but don't really want to rely on that. I need *both* phones to work really as to do WA I need the K1 for WA and G5 as mobile hotspot as it has my SIM. Could swap SIM in an emergency tho real faff (need pin to open K1) or I could install the app to allow me to use WA web on the G5, but rather not do that esp as I don't think it is installed so would burn battery installing it.
Worth noting also that although this is a damn long bus ride (for next to no distance, really), I generally don't read on phone during bus trip anyway, preferring to stare out of window, get lost in thought and/or concentrate on sweating buckets. So it's not *too* bad as I mainly need to divert myself for the next 4 hours. I am *not* eg going to go sit on beach, it's a fair walk, I don't want to work uo a sweat and I'd rather stay off the street and esp round there while carrying all my possessions.
I am running down hidden cash now and got a heavily folded 20k out while waiting for ticket office to open, but the guy took it no fuss - I guess it's local and it's plastic, whereas a folded dollar bill is neither.
0904 At Rincon Sabroso - should have come here before really - getting pinto con huevos (fried, but could have had scrambled) and black coffee. 2.8k for pinto, assuming coffee OK and may hang on here for a bit etc etc. Fingers crossed this is edible but been meaning to try pinto anyway.
Nice semi-outdoor shaded eating area out front. If eg coffee is not insanely priced, this could be a good spot to loiter. Gut feeling is I may get biggish bottle of water at supermarket and some sweet baked things from bakery (meant to try it, but on Sunday when I decided to indulge it was shut) and take them with me for the bus.
0918 Very nice, rice is the sort I had at IIRC Montezuma hostel, fried eggs a bit crisp round edge but really very decent. I also spot a near-ish socket. I may ask (want to check price of coffee - if it's 600/cup I can guzzle subject to toilet concerns, if it's 1800/cup I may be more reserved and/or drink something else) if I can use it, but could see myself hanging on here til 12ish.
Kind of feeling like I might have a mild splurge wrt food/drink today, given this hanging round. Do need to be careful re bog but almost certainly one here and I expect there are going to be very frequent stops on ths bus given its speed. Especially this early I don't need to worry too much about the bus.
0938 Score. Just asked and it's 700 for a coffee or a jugo natural and I can charge my phone (actually powerbank - less pain if nicked/damaged/forgotten - it was down to 1/4 lights BTW), so having jugo de tamarindo and will probably have a coffee after etc. Minor party. Need to remember 700 isn't nothing - it's about a pound - but I'm feeling happy to spend a few pounds on a bit of comfort (I'm partly paying for somewhere to sit, being temporarily homeless) this morning.
0949 "El Rey" playing faintly from inside, nice traditional-ish version.
0958 Guzzled juice, as is my wont. Not going to rush but will get another coffee soon-ish. I will prob have a casado about 1130, it's a bit early but I don't want to be too rushed getting to the bus terminal (and buying water/snacks on the way). It isn't strictly necessary for me to eat so much but it will avoid any need to worry about getting food in SI - the one comment on the place suggests the hosts cooked for him, I have no idea if that's a paid extra, but given my pickiness and scope for giving offence I don't really want to be indulging in that if I can help it.
Fingers crossed I didn't leave anything in DB hostel but I obviously have *most* stuff so it's probably OK.
1003 Have asked waitress for black coffee as she came back from taking order of newly arrived people. Have also slipped shoes off under table in hope this will help my socks (on my feet) and shoes dry off quicker.
Given I'm surfeited with power and data (wifi here), I have installed the WA web app on G5 and given it a quick test. It's no more of a privacy loss than using WA app on K1 via G5 acting as mobile hotspot. I suspect (and in a way this is good, as it will reduce battery use) the WA web app on G5 won't notify me of new messages, but I can at least check explicitly if I want/need to without having to fire up the hotspot.
(I assume the real WA app wouldn't work on LineageOS, but I haven't tried anyway as I don't want it hoovering up my contacts on the G5 and generally spying on my activity constantly.)
1111 Just ordered casado de bistec, think I have managed to get salad undressed. Smidge early but still approx three hours since last ate (no, duh, two!) and at "worst" I will feel full, can't see myself being unable to finish.
3.5k, in theory including a jugo natural.
Feeling smidge jittery but of course I have loads of time and buying water/baked snacks is far from critical if I am rushed. Bit dubious about salad - was offered "ensalada rusa" when I said no dressing, subsequently looked that up and seems ridiculous to suggest, but I did say "ensalada verde" so fingers crossed. Hardly end of world if salad inedible and contaminates a bit of other stuff, given this is second meal etc.
I think plan for tonight is just to chill in room and go to bed early. Not going to bust a gut touristing it up in SI, will try to walk into town and have look round and if loads of obvious tours nearby may take one up. Will have a go at investigating onward travel tomorrow, just poss tonight/tomorrow afternoon depending how I feel.
1134 Casado v good, *didn't* get a drink with it which I think I should have done, but for all I know they will offset this when I settle up. Just ordered one explicitly. I plan to give fairly generous tip given I've camped here (albeit buying stuff at a not insanely slow pace) and they let me charge my power bank, but I may semi-adjust the tip to reflect this "missed" drink if it turns out like that.
I am thinking I might not buy a bottle of water. I have a little bit with me in my bag, and if I get desperate I can probably buy some at a stop on the bus - I also can't see why I'd be desperate given how much I've been drinking this morning. (TBH, in part this stems from feeling I could just have carried down my litre disposable bottle full from hostel this morning instead of leaving it behind in recycling if I'd *really* wanted to have "a lot" of water with me, so buying another one right now kind of grates, but I think it is also a bit silly anyway.)
I "expect" bill to be 7.7k if they're "fair" and give me one of the tamarind juices as part of the casado as menu says, or 8.4k otherwise. I am assuming there's no automatic 10% or 13% or both on this. On a fair bill, 20% would be about 1.5, so if I make it 9k that's not quite 20% on a fair bill. Maybe make it 9.5k then, that's a hair over 20%. Bear in mind AFAIK I am not obliged/expected to tip 10% generally, though I quite often (I'm a bit inconsistent) do, so even 10% would probably be kind of decent. I could just make it 10k but that feels a smidge OTT. Then again, that's about three pounds tip so not ruinous in absolute terms as a one-off and I have camped out here for a while and their prices are decent and the outside seating area is pleasant and while the staff perhaps not super smiley they've been nice enough to me (eg letting me use socket for charger) so maybe 10k it is.
I will ask the price of course, as curious to see what it is.
Temptation to rush off but I am going to stick on til 12, start "packing up" (get charger/powerbank back into bag, put shoes on) then pay and use bog, then head over to terminal via bakery and I'll probably still be there by 1215 with half an hour to kill.
I haven't done much "cafe sitting" on this trip, it's always felt too expensive (which it kind of is) to do as a rule, but I also haven't felt huge temptation.
1204 7.8k, which seems odd but not quibbling over 100. Made it 10k for reasons discussed, but also including feeling happy with this price as being what I expected modulo that odd 100.
1221 At terminal. Smidge later than thought but spent while in bog just to be safe and also bit of a queue at Panaderia Monar where I got two smallish bags of biscuity things at 900 each, which I paid for with change so these are mentally kind of "free" . :-)
Must say that altho it will (trying not to count my chickens) be nice to have a private room tonigh, the dorm at last hostel didn't really feel that un-private, what with being semi open-air, having no one in bed above me and having the rather dense mosquito net to enclose the bed.
1251 I think I am the only tourist waiting so far. Quite a lot of people here, hope bus isn't too rammed.
1652 Seems to be a rest stop but I didn't hear announcement, if there was one. Famous last words, but decided not to get off for a piss as didn't/don't need one and also wasn't exactly sure how long was left by time I noticed. Lots of bags left on bus and engine is still running so I assume we're not changing bus.
Haven't touched baked stuff, not hungry and it will maybe be nice to snack in my room with a YT video or something. Trouble (but also sort of good) with airbnb is that I'm never sure to what extent I "should" hang around outside my room to chat with hosts.
1657 We just pulled out. So prob 1.5ish hours to go. It is nice (notwithstanding possible hiccups) to know I am being picked up.
2255 Just guzzled all the two packs of baked sweet things in room on bed. Bit lardy.
Everything's fine, bus seemed to stop a few blocks short of terminal (everyone seemed to get out) but had map up so not too big a deal. Had WA chat with guy picking me up and he was waiting. He and his wife both seem really nice and I spent ages chatting with them when I got here. I only got off to have a shower and go to bed maybe 2200ish. Watching a bit of YT, will pop out to clean teeth (I have my own bathroom but access via hallway) in a bit and then maybe semi go to bed. They have two cats (one ginger tabby - perhaps the first I've seen in CR - and a fluffy black one of a breed I've forgotten, Chino??) and two little fluffy-ish ginger dogs (no idea what breed) that seem quite friendly.
I am slightly worried they are going to be a little *too* friendly, but OTOH this is great Spanish practice and it is nice to talk to people after a slightly (though not bad) "solo" time in DB and arguably PJ before that.
2345 Eyes kept wanting to close as watched YT so let's go to bed and read myself to sleep.
Dos Brazos, Wednesday
Wed 22nd 0717 Just had decent-ish chat with Sandra FWIW.
Didn't get up and go up to GTG at dawn, bite me. :-) Did get up about 0600 tho. It's fine, I don't want to push myself too hard and good to sort of lie in bed and vaguely appreciate the pseudo-outdoorsy nature of it.
Not feeling too edgy about SI accom. We'll see but I think it will be fine and there's I think a 60ish% chance I will be able to get Claro data going in order to have comms during the travel day. This is always the fuckery with airbnb but I had little choice in this situation.
FWIW Sandra is going to Carribbean side from here, but she is overnighting in PJ tonight, then a bus to San Jose tomorrow and overnighting there before going on to Tortuguero. I asked and she said she did look for better routes. So this is kind of reassuring as it does help to confirm my impression there is a kind of tourist desert between here and the rest of the country with just a few metaphorical caravan routes across it.
Not for first time but reminded by this conversation - I am half tempted to switch/try doing both my Duolingo activity from Brazilian Portuguese to French. Not a huge amount of the time but sometimes (eg Quepos off-grid place) it would have been nice to be able to make a stab at chatting with non-English speaking French speakers, and I suspect if nothing else my lurking memories of school French might come back a bit with prodding of this kind. It would probably be useful conversationally just to improve my vocabulary so I can understand more of what's said - while earwigging on fringes of Quepos conversation I could understand a fair amount of what was said except for unknown vocab issues - even if my ability to speak is extremely constrained. OTOH I only have limited time and BP is perhaps more useful for future travel. Then again, *maybe* Duolingo isn't helping here, whereas with the background of school French maybe it would help with French.
0944 Back having more coffee after doing Cacique trail to lower and upper waterfalls.
Was going to say I've now done all the trails except a couple of "up-river" hikes which I'm not doing today as hoping shoes will dry (tho there is the river to cross on way out) and maybe not stink. However, I just noticed the folder here in the common area has notes on all the trails and eg you can apparently go down Rio Tigre chest deep in water and it may well be I managed to miss the final bit of the Bonanza waterfall trail as there's mention (and Russell said about swimming) of an area to swim if you go an extra 200m and it would have been nice to see that.
However, I am not haring off trying to squash all this in today. It just adds decent reasons to come back another time etc etc. I still think I've made reasonable use of my time here, shame I "socialised" quite as much as I'd like but that's partly my fault, partly bad luck and partly unfair on myself as I haven't done too badly really.
Going to have coffee, take my time, then got up to GTG lookout and hang out there for an hour or so and then perhaps come back and put in some time in a hammock or something after cooking a 2-3pm-ish "dinner". Clothese weren't dry this morning but hopefully after day of sun they will be, main thing is to remember to pack them but should be fine, I will pack around sunset I think.
Incidentally did think yesterday " it's (approx) the equinox".
I think there's definitely an ongoing element (which I *suspect* is triggered more by closeness to end of trip, rather than having been away x weeks - so if this were a six month trip, I suspect these feelings wouldn't have kicked in so much) that while it's a shame the trip is ending, I also feel it would be good to be back home and enjoy some of the newly-appreciated luxuries that involves and do some of the projects I've thought I want to work on but can't because I'm on holiday (hard constraint is no laptop, but of course spending time touristing etc is the other issue here).
1211 On GTG lookout, like Piccadilly Circus. :-) Walked up here long way via Valle Frijol and Fila Quemada. bit hot and sweaty and less breeze and peace than I'd hoped. Reading on phone, it's fine. Will prob head down 1330 in absence of any solid reason otherwise and then I'll be "around" from 1400ish to hopefully keep an eye on kitchen and cook dinner (which I'm sure will make me even more uncomfortably sweaty as I eat it) in a lull in kitchen use.
(FTR four Germans in pairs up here with me. Not a huge deal but they are talking to each other so not super peaceful. They're not doing anything wrong, of course, just noting.)
1230 Ah, they've all gone. Probably going to mostly keep reading *anyway*.
1300 Few more people passed through here. I am not exactly hungry but my mind is also running on the prospect of food. No point going down early though as I suspect kitchen will be in heavyish use until at least 2 and I really do prefer to have it as much to myself as possible while cooking.
Incidentally the folder down in common area with trail etc info says bus to San Isidro is at 1pm. However, I suspect my information is more up to date, and I suppose at least if the 9am bus is just a fiction I won't have *missed* the only bus of the day, I'll just be stuck hanging around for four hours having rushed down from here to PJ unnecessarily early. Tho in reality I think after 7am bus from here next is midday which would be cutting it fine for 1pm bus out so in practice while sucky I wouldn't have done anything different either.
There has been mention in passing of a 9am bus to SJ which used to be useful and was canned around time of pandemic, which makes me wonder if I am seeing outdated info, but just have to hope.
There is a damn wasp hanging round which seems rather infatuated with me.
If I *can't* top up Claro SIM over net I should at least have plenty of time to go and leach some wifi somewhere and notify airbnb of new arrival time.
1309 Started to rain. Should I go down early or wait up here? I am *lightly* sheltered, and altho do have shell jacket getting *lightly* soaked may not be huge discomfort.
I might given it 5 mins and then head down.
1323 Walking back. Just checked photo on phone from terminal in PJ and the 9am bus is nominally to San Jose. It *may* exist but so much indirect evidence (people taking 5am bus to SJ when 9am would work) suggests it doesn't, or *just maybe* no one thinks it exists so no one uses it. You might hope a printed sign at the actual bus company's own terminal is authoritative, but I'm not holding my breath. As I say, at least if it doesn't exist I would *still* have to get the 7am bus from DB to PJ anyway and I would *still* have to kill time in PJ til 1pm anyway.
(There was no one *at* the terminal to ask when I took the photo. It was Sunday which may have contributed.)
1634 In hammock. Been raining a bit (stopped earlier) but pissing it down now. Vaguely edgy about needing to pay, early start tomorrow, Claro top up issues, possibly non-existent bus and airbnb. Nothing utterly devastatingly terrible but combined enough to give me the jitters.
1721 Had shower, rinsed today's top in hand soap and clean water in bathroom sink (no plug), not awful washing sink. Back in (different) hammock. Remembered needed to shower before dark. Not putting clean trousers on as prob only get dirty on walk out tomorrow. Will go have coffee and try to find someone to pay as it gets dark.
Be a bit sad to leave but hassles of tomorrow overlaying that feeling.
Prob pack in morning.
1817 Just paid 24k, it was USD42 and I had prev worked out 22.7k was market rate (and just checked and it still is) so this is a fairly hefty 5.7% premium and I borderline regret not paying in USD, *but* I don't want to get stuck with excess CRC as we come towards end of trip and on the whole I feel reasonably well disposed to this place and it is fairly cheap to start with so never mind. At least having paid means one thing is off my mind.
Tomorrow prob turn out to be fine-ish. I am probably going to try to top up phone after midnight (which given early bed here may mean 5am-ish when get up) but moderately optimistic and if I *am* forced to kill 4h in PJ a) I can eat - I may have a pinto for breakfast *and* a casado for lunch at Los Dragones, and maybe see if they'll tolerate me pseudo-hanging out there b) I may be able to find - now I'm semi-desperate - some shop (eg supermarket) which will let me do a Claro top up for cash if the credit card method fails.
I suspect it's going to feel like a long day, 1pm bus prob means getting into SI 6pm (after dark too) and then it's probably 7pm by time I get into airbnb at earliest, *maybe* 6:30 if they end up meeting me at bus. But it's hardly the end of the world or an ultra-gruelling day even if it is a bit sucky. And there's always (much as I hate to deploy it) the banker's solution of just walking into a random cheap-looking hotel and paying for a room there if I really come unstuck.
With a tiny bit of luck this might be the last "crappy" travel day. Assuming I make it to SI OK, I am assuming there will be lots of buses from there to Cartago at sane hours, and I have a vague plan to slowly do a partial circuit around SJ via the "nearby towns in order to get round to Alajuela without transiting SJ proper and to give me something to do. Obviously if I love eg Cartago I will not rush off just in order to do this partial circuit.
Electric light is so poor that the fact someone has lit (and maybe paid for, unless this is " on the house") an actual candle makes a big difference. It's sort of cool of course but also a bit ridiculous - I've stayed in other off-grid places and they don't have these firefly type lights.
Do feel a little BNM but not really, there seem to be some vaguely pre-existing groups, plus I am mentally half checked out, I don't exactly wish I was in any conversation I can understand, it feels vaguely companionable sitting here etc.
I may - subject to vagaries of travel - allow myself to snack a little tomorrow. I had a big lunch as usual (loads of rice) when cooking for self, and I am *not* hungry, but even when I could still taste the food after eating I felt some vague temptation to snack on something. I did resist cracking open the packet of mixed nuts I'm still lugging round though.
I should probably have shaved tonight but I forgot - carrying various bits and pieces back and forth when going to bathroom is always a faff. I was going to crack open a new razor too. It's fine, I don't look like Robinson Crusoe or anything and I can shave properly at the airbnb.
I am yawning and although it's on 1852 I may moved towards bed at say 1930. I don't plan to hike anywhere except down into town tomorrow morning but it wouldn't hurt to be up early and pack and try to top up phone credit without too much pressure, and if time permits maybe even have a coffee. (TBH despite feeling absolutely fine and eating bulky foot, I haven't had much of a shit today. Probably nothing wrong but I hope I don't get a nasty surprise once I'm out of reach of handy toilets.)
Group of idiots behind me slagging off "capitalism, even sustainable green capitalism" while, of course, being the sort of privileged fuckwits who can afford to visit CR on holiday precisely because they have the money and freedom to do so, and/or "volunteer" here on "worthy" projects. I am not sure that's a logically coherent sentence but I'm trying to avoid going off on a political rant. Yeah: "If you could make one rule everyone had to follow?" answer is "no money. Cooperative exchange but no money." Utterly economically illiterate. I suspect that's not even terribly controversial among people of different political stripes with even the slightest grap of practical reality. But I'm not writing any more, and the knowledge there are economically illiterate fuckwits running around at large spewing buzzwords like "sustainability" is scarcely news or surprising, is it? :-) And CR tourists and *especially* those somewhere like this place are probably disproportionately likely to be such types. But I'm not doing a very good job of shutting up, so let me try again and resist reporting any further crap.
Ah, the temptation to rant. But I have already given the flavour and suffice it to say it's kind of stereotypically twatty. There's a massive lack of meta-awareness and manipulability as well; obviously if something is shown on TV it is sincerely meant, and definitely can't just be an attempt to stir up controversy. Maybe I'm just being overly cynical myself.
1914 Ah, they have switched to German - maybe the sophisticated political and economic thoughts they want to express can't be done properly in English ;-) - so I can go towards bed (need to clean teeth first) without feeling I'm running away. :-)
(Disclaimer: Not particularly German-bashing here. We have no shortage of these fuckwits in the UK either, sadly; indeed I think the education system is geared up to turn them out en masse. TBH it wouldn't surprise me if the same is true in Germany and France too.)
1935 In bed. Last hostel being stroppy about my no show. FFS. German-ish group now discussing AI (in English again?), it is wanky pub philosophy but hey, I'm guilty of that too.
2004 Fuck it, just spent probably too long writing an "I was there, I chatted to X about Y at time Z" evidential reply when I should probably have just ignored them - the tone of their message was strop-tastic, it basically just said (paraphrasing; theirs is actually shorter) "you know you didn't stay here, why did you tell booking.com you did?" I am not sure this direct message from them is part of the complaint resolution mechanism and they may be acting out of turn anyway. I feel hamstrung because the net here is so slow navigating the site is a pain, otherwise I might just have got onto customer services about it. As it is if this shuts the fuckers up fine, and if not I will get onto CS. I had to reply via e-mail due to crappy net connection so it may or may not get there.
I tried to take a firm, polite but not terribly deferential tone - stating facts and not being outright rude but omitting misc pleasantries like "I hope this clears things up" . Meh. Fuck 'em. If - and I doubt it will come to this - they/booking.com attempt to charge my credit card over this, I will dispute it.
Anyway, will send this now.
Didn't get up and go up to GTG at dawn, bite me. :-) Did get up about 0600 tho. It's fine, I don't want to push myself too hard and good to sort of lie in bed and vaguely appreciate the pseudo-outdoorsy nature of it.
Not feeling too edgy about SI accom. We'll see but I think it will be fine and there's I think a 60ish% chance I will be able to get Claro data going in order to have comms during the travel day. This is always the fuckery with airbnb but I had little choice in this situation.
FWIW Sandra is going to Carribbean side from here, but she is overnighting in PJ tonight, then a bus to San Jose tomorrow and overnighting there before going on to Tortuguero. I asked and she said she did look for better routes. So this is kind of reassuring as it does help to confirm my impression there is a kind of tourist desert between here and the rest of the country with just a few metaphorical caravan routes across it.
Not for first time but reminded by this conversation - I am half tempted to switch/try doing both my Duolingo activity from Brazilian Portuguese to French. Not a huge amount of the time but sometimes (eg Quepos off-grid place) it would have been nice to be able to make a stab at chatting with non-English speaking French speakers, and I suspect if nothing else my lurking memories of school French might come back a bit with prodding of this kind. It would probably be useful conversationally just to improve my vocabulary so I can understand more of what's said - while earwigging on fringes of Quepos conversation I could understand a fair amount of what was said except for unknown vocab issues - even if my ability to speak is extremely constrained. OTOH I only have limited time and BP is perhaps more useful for future travel. Then again, *maybe* Duolingo isn't helping here, whereas with the background of school French maybe it would help with French.
0944 Back having more coffee after doing Cacique trail to lower and upper waterfalls.
Was going to say I've now done all the trails except a couple of "up-river" hikes which I'm not doing today as hoping shoes will dry (tho there is the river to cross on way out) and maybe not stink. However, I just noticed the folder here in the common area has notes on all the trails and eg you can apparently go down Rio Tigre chest deep in water and it may well be I managed to miss the final bit of the Bonanza waterfall trail as there's mention (and Russell said about swimming) of an area to swim if you go an extra 200m and it would have been nice to see that.
However, I am not haring off trying to squash all this in today. It just adds decent reasons to come back another time etc etc. I still think I've made reasonable use of my time here, shame I "socialised" quite as much as I'd like but that's partly my fault, partly bad luck and partly unfair on myself as I haven't done too badly really.
Going to have coffee, take my time, then got up to GTG lookout and hang out there for an hour or so and then perhaps come back and put in some time in a hammock or something after cooking a 2-3pm-ish "dinner". Clothese weren't dry this morning but hopefully after day of sun they will be, main thing is to remember to pack them but should be fine, I will pack around sunset I think.
Incidentally did think yesterday " it's (approx) the equinox".
I think there's definitely an ongoing element (which I *suspect* is triggered more by closeness to end of trip, rather than having been away x weeks - so if this were a six month trip, I suspect these feelings wouldn't have kicked in so much) that while it's a shame the trip is ending, I also feel it would be good to be back home and enjoy some of the newly-appreciated luxuries that involves and do some of the projects I've thought I want to work on but can't because I'm on holiday (hard constraint is no laptop, but of course spending time touristing etc is the other issue here).
1211 On GTG lookout, like Piccadilly Circus. :-) Walked up here long way via Valle Frijol and Fila Quemada. bit hot and sweaty and less breeze and peace than I'd hoped. Reading on phone, it's fine. Will prob head down 1330 in absence of any solid reason otherwise and then I'll be "around" from 1400ish to hopefully keep an eye on kitchen and cook dinner (which I'm sure will make me even more uncomfortably sweaty as I eat it) in a lull in kitchen use.
(FTR four Germans in pairs up here with me. Not a huge deal but they are talking to each other so not super peaceful. They're not doing anything wrong, of course, just noting.)
1230 Ah, they've all gone. Probably going to mostly keep reading *anyway*.
1300 Few more people passed through here. I am not exactly hungry but my mind is also running on the prospect of food. No point going down early though as I suspect kitchen will be in heavyish use until at least 2 and I really do prefer to have it as much to myself as possible while cooking.
Incidentally the folder down in common area with trail etc info says bus to San Isidro is at 1pm. However, I suspect my information is more up to date, and I suppose at least if the 9am bus is just a fiction I won't have *missed* the only bus of the day, I'll just be stuck hanging around for four hours having rushed down from here to PJ unnecessarily early. Tho in reality I think after 7am bus from here next is midday which would be cutting it fine for 1pm bus out so in practice while sucky I wouldn't have done anything different either.
There has been mention in passing of a 9am bus to SJ which used to be useful and was canned around time of pandemic, which makes me wonder if I am seeing outdated info, but just have to hope.
There is a damn wasp hanging round which seems rather infatuated with me.
If I *can't* top up Claro SIM over net I should at least have plenty of time to go and leach some wifi somewhere and notify airbnb of new arrival time.
1309 Started to rain. Should I go down early or wait up here? I am *lightly* sheltered, and altho do have shell jacket getting *lightly* soaked may not be huge discomfort.
I might given it 5 mins and then head down.
1323 Walking back. Just checked photo on phone from terminal in PJ and the 9am bus is nominally to San Jose. It *may* exist but so much indirect evidence (people taking 5am bus to SJ when 9am would work) suggests it doesn't, or *just maybe* no one thinks it exists so no one uses it. You might hope a printed sign at the actual bus company's own terminal is authoritative, but I'm not holding my breath. As I say, at least if it doesn't exist I would *still* have to get the 7am bus from DB to PJ anyway and I would *still* have to kill time in PJ til 1pm anyway.
(There was no one *at* the terminal to ask when I took the photo. It was Sunday which may have contributed.)
1634 In hammock. Been raining a bit (stopped earlier) but pissing it down now. Vaguely edgy about needing to pay, early start tomorrow, Claro top up issues, possibly non-existent bus and airbnb. Nothing utterly devastatingly terrible but combined enough to give me the jitters.
1721 Had shower, rinsed today's top in hand soap and clean water in bathroom sink (no plug), not awful washing sink. Back in (different) hammock. Remembered needed to shower before dark. Not putting clean trousers on as prob only get dirty on walk out tomorrow. Will go have coffee and try to find someone to pay as it gets dark.
Be a bit sad to leave but hassles of tomorrow overlaying that feeling.
Prob pack in morning.
1817 Just paid 24k, it was USD42 and I had prev worked out 22.7k was market rate (and just checked and it still is) so this is a fairly hefty 5.7% premium and I borderline regret not paying in USD, *but* I don't want to get stuck with excess CRC as we come towards end of trip and on the whole I feel reasonably well disposed to this place and it is fairly cheap to start with so never mind. At least having paid means one thing is off my mind.
Tomorrow prob turn out to be fine-ish. I am probably going to try to top up phone after midnight (which given early bed here may mean 5am-ish when get up) but moderately optimistic and if I *am* forced to kill 4h in PJ a) I can eat - I may have a pinto for breakfast *and* a casado for lunch at Los Dragones, and maybe see if they'll tolerate me pseudo-hanging out there b) I may be able to find - now I'm semi-desperate - some shop (eg supermarket) which will let me do a Claro top up for cash if the credit card method fails.
I suspect it's going to feel like a long day, 1pm bus prob means getting into SI 6pm (after dark too) and then it's probably 7pm by time I get into airbnb at earliest, *maybe* 6:30 if they end up meeting me at bus. But it's hardly the end of the world or an ultra-gruelling day even if it is a bit sucky. And there's always (much as I hate to deploy it) the banker's solution of just walking into a random cheap-looking hotel and paying for a room there if I really come unstuck.
With a tiny bit of luck this might be the last "crappy" travel day. Assuming I make it to SI OK, I am assuming there will be lots of buses from there to Cartago at sane hours, and I have a vague plan to slowly do a partial circuit around SJ via the "nearby towns in order to get round to Alajuela without transiting SJ proper and to give me something to do. Obviously if I love eg Cartago I will not rush off just in order to do this partial circuit.
Electric light is so poor that the fact someone has lit (and maybe paid for, unless this is " on the house") an actual candle makes a big difference. It's sort of cool of course but also a bit ridiculous - I've stayed in other off-grid places and they don't have these firefly type lights.
Do feel a little BNM but not really, there seem to be some vaguely pre-existing groups, plus I am mentally half checked out, I don't exactly wish I was in any conversation I can understand, it feels vaguely companionable sitting here etc.
I may - subject to vagaries of travel - allow myself to snack a little tomorrow. I had a big lunch as usual (loads of rice) when cooking for self, and I am *not* hungry, but even when I could still taste the food after eating I felt some vague temptation to snack on something. I did resist cracking open the packet of mixed nuts I'm still lugging round though.
I should probably have shaved tonight but I forgot - carrying various bits and pieces back and forth when going to bathroom is always a faff. I was going to crack open a new razor too. It's fine, I don't look like Robinson Crusoe or anything and I can shave properly at the airbnb.
I am yawning and although it's on 1852 I may moved towards bed at say 1930. I don't plan to hike anywhere except down into town tomorrow morning but it wouldn't hurt to be up early and pack and try to top up phone credit without too much pressure, and if time permits maybe even have a coffee. (TBH despite feeling absolutely fine and eating bulky foot, I haven't had much of a shit today. Probably nothing wrong but I hope I don't get a nasty surprise once I'm out of reach of handy toilets.)
Group of idiots behind me slagging off "capitalism, even sustainable green capitalism" while, of course, being the sort of privileged fuckwits who can afford to visit CR on holiday precisely because they have the money and freedom to do so, and/or "volunteer" here on "worthy" projects. I am not sure that's a logically coherent sentence but I'm trying to avoid going off on a political rant. Yeah: "If you could make one rule everyone had to follow?" answer is "no money. Cooperative exchange but no money." Utterly economically illiterate. I suspect that's not even terribly controversial among people of different political stripes with even the slightest grap of practical reality. But I'm not writing any more, and the knowledge there are economically illiterate fuckwits running around at large spewing buzzwords like "sustainability" is scarcely news or surprising, is it? :-) And CR tourists and *especially* those somewhere like this place are probably disproportionately likely to be such types. But I'm not doing a very good job of shutting up, so let me try again and resist reporting any further crap.
Ah, the temptation to rant. But I have already given the flavour and suffice it to say it's kind of stereotypically twatty. There's a massive lack of meta-awareness and manipulability as well; obviously if something is shown on TV it is sincerely meant, and definitely can't just be an attempt to stir up controversy. Maybe I'm just being overly cynical myself.
1914 Ah, they have switched to German - maybe the sophisticated political and economic thoughts they want to express can't be done properly in English ;-) - so I can go towards bed (need to clean teeth first) without feeling I'm running away. :-)
(Disclaimer: Not particularly German-bashing here. We have no shortage of these fuckwits in the UK either, sadly; indeed I think the education system is geared up to turn them out en masse. TBH it wouldn't surprise me if the same is true in Germany and France too.)
1935 In bed. Last hostel being stroppy about my no show. FFS. German-ish group now discussing AI (in English again?), it is wanky pub philosophy but hey, I'm guilty of that too.
2004 Fuck it, just spent probably too long writing an "I was there, I chatted to X about Y at time Z" evidential reply when I should probably have just ignored them - the tone of their message was strop-tastic, it basically just said (paraphrasing; theirs is actually shorter) "you know you didn't stay here, why did you tell booking.com you did?" I am not sure this direct message from them is part of the complaint resolution mechanism and they may be acting out of turn anyway. I feel hamstrung because the net here is so slow navigating the site is a pain, otherwise I might just have got onto customer services about it. As it is if this shuts the fuckers up fine, and if not I will get onto CS. I had to reply via e-mail due to crappy net connection so it may or may not get there.
I tried to take a firm, polite but not terribly deferential tone - stating facts and not being outright rude but omitting misc pleasantries like "I hope this clears things up" . Meh. Fuck 'em. If - and I doubt it will come to this - they/booking.com attempt to charge my credit card over this, I will dispute it.
Anyway, will send this now.
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