Do you know the way to San Jose?

Tuesday 14th August

A 2:55am alarm this morning so that I could shower and be ready for 3:45am. Ouch. By 4am we were waiting on the side of the road a little way from the hotel, in order to meet the bus that would take us to Costa Rica's capital, San Jose. As soon as we were comfortably on the bus I fell asleep (thank goodness for my inflatable pillow) - even with episodes of Once Upon a Time to watch on my netbook. I only managed about 20 minutes of one.

With one stop along the way, we arrived at San Jose bus terminal and got straight into taxis, arriving at our hotel mid-morning. It's very pretty - an old wooden building with lots of original features, like the wooden railings around the first floor balcony leading off to the different rooms, and the tiled floor in the lobby.

Natasha, Rose and I headed out in the direction of the city centre and found that what the guide books say is true: San Jose isn't particularly appealing and there doesn't seem to be much to do here. Lots of high street-type shops - different to the ones at home, but the experience is the same - and fast food chains, with the odd restaurant dotted in between. We walked along Avenida Centrale and ended up splitting for lunch so the girls could go to KFC and I could eat at Vishnu, a sort of vegetarian fast food chain. A huge soy patty burger with cheese and salad and chips and a blackberry smoothie - that ought to see me through another few rounds of vegetables for tea.

We met back up and I announced my plan to see a film and then possibly visit the Contemporary Art museum. We walked to where one of the cinemas was on the map but found it looking almost abandoned, with nearly two hours to go until its only showing of the day. Instead we got a taxi to a nearby shopping mall called San Pedro, which scuppered the chances of going to the art museum but proved to be a good decision because the cinema was much nicer, like the ones at home.

For just under two pounds we saw Total Recall (the remake, with Colin Farrell). The girls weren't impressed but I didn't mind it, and I had a lovely ice cream. Afterwards, though, I started feeling ill. My stomach had been stirring since the night before and it was at its worst just after the film - really painful. I guess I've done well to make it to my fourth trip before getting ill!

I bought a sparkly flowery ring to cheer myself up and we took a taxi back to the hotel. My stomach was still very sore, but I still managed to shower and go to tea. Our briefing meeting had been cancelled since none of the six new arrivals had checked into the hotel yet, so we met at 7 in the hotel restaurant instead. Just before going down, Ray and Barbara arrived. They're an English couple from Devon (I'm not the only Brit anymore!) and both seem lovely.

The hotel didn't offer anything vegetarian, so they kind of cobbled two salads together minus the meat - and charged me nearly a tenner for the pleasure, what a rip off. It wasn't that nice either. Never mind. During the meal Laura, from Texas, arrived. She seems really nice as well. I'm glad our group is growing.

I went to bed to watch things on my netbook, and slept on and off, but unfortunately stomach pains kept me up through the night. Oh dear. Hopefully better soon.

Samara Beach

Monday 13th August
What felt like an easy start to the morning, with breakfast at 8 at the hotel. French toast with maple syrup might be my new favourite breakfast. At about half past nine we left with Augusto (minus Jeremy who had gone out on his own) to walk into town.

The walk was about 4km according to Augusto, and was entirely along the beach. It was beautiful. Blue waters, coconut/palm trees, bright blue sky. People surfing and sunbathing. The sand wasn't perfect, as there was quite a lot of lumpy coral washed up on the shore, but it didn't spoil it for me.

After our long walk we arrived in town. After randomly looking at a few jewellery stands with us, Augusto left to run some errands and we wandered through the town. It was really tiny, consisting of nothing more than some souvineer shops, a few restaurants and a couple of hotels. After looking in some of the shops (I must be saving lots of money as there's nothing I want to buy) we had a drink at one place (Canada Dry Ginger Ale is becoming my drink of choice) and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Hongo y queso empanadas - that's mushroom and cheese to you. Yum.


A quick stop off at the supermarket and we were ready for the long walk back to the hotel, again via the beach. It felt like it took a really long time, and by the time we arrived back at the hotel it was 3:30pm. By 4pm Rose and I were back on the beach in our bikinis, trying to make the most of the remaining sun. The sun sets really early here - before 6pm - but it was still really warm. Unfortunately I realised later that I had been bitten alive by sand flies - I'm covered in dozens and dozens of itchy red lumps. Lovely.



After a shower and some packing we ate at the hotel again, and I had salad for the second night in a row. Then it was to bed to watch Once Upon a Time - Natasha has showed me how to download it - and an early night.

Ometepe to Playa del Samara

Sunday 12th August
Today has been another succession of journeys in one form or the other.
I enjoyed another pancake with maple syrup at the hotel before getting into our minivan at 8:15am for the drive to the ferry. We enjoyed the ferry ride a lot more this time around, as this time the video playing was of cheesy ballads from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Eternal Flame, the Bryan Adams song from Robin Hood, Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart, even Back for Good by Take That (yay). It was a nice way to pass the time.
Next it was into another mini van to drive to the border and cross into the fifth and final country of my trip. It took hardly any time for us to get through, but the paperwork for the mini van seemed to take a long time and there was quite a bit of waiting around.
More sleeping, and then we arrived at a sort of outllet place with a supermarket and a few shops in order to get some lunch at about half past two. I was about to be in a bad mood as it became clear I wasn't going to find anything good - I NEEDED food! - but decided to walk in search of the Subway I'd seen signposted from the road before we'd turned off. I found it really quickly and felt much better with one of their huge sandwiches and some iced tea to take back with me onto the bus.
More travelling, and this time because the road was so bumpy and twisty I was feeling pretty ill by the time we arrived at our hotel at 4:30pm. All I wanted to do was lie on my bed until it was time for tea. Today doesn't exactly make for interesting reading...
We ate tea in the hotel, since we're 4km from the main part of the town. I just had a salad, still full from lunch. The hotel seems really nice, and apparently we're really close to the beach, so I'm looking forward to making the most of it tomorrow. I had yet another early night; I'm getting more sleep on this trip than I've had all year!