San Jose Costa Rica
26 – 29 July
It took two buses to get from La
Fortuna to San Jose. I slept most of the way so don't remember too
much of it-I know it was hot-no aircon on the bus. In San Jose we
were dropped off at the side of the main road. We sent Lynn and the
packs to Gaudys hostel in a cab and we walked across the busy highway
and up a side street. We had a room at the front of the hostel with
bunk beds-plenty of room. There was a communal kitchen with free
coffee and a toaster-great thats breakfast sorted!-and a large lounge
area with a big screen TV. Only downside was the smoke from the
smokers-no such thing as smoke free places here! It was our last full
day as a group so we set off on a walking tour of the city. First we
stopped and had lunch-Lynn then went back to the hostel as she had a
headache and the rest of us set off with Veronica in the lead. San
Jose-pop 1.5 million in the metropolitan area- is a mixture of old
and new. There are still some beautiful old colonial buildings, such
as the Teatro Nacional built in 1897, and plenty of green parks with
trees and shrubs but there are also plenty of ugly office blocks and
concrete buildings. The city centre is hectic and grubby with lots of
traffic and people everywhere. It was raining throughout our walk but
we saw most of the main sites before calling it quits.
It was our last group dinner that
night-we got cabs-$US 3- and went to a nice restaurant in the
city-with lots of tin mugs hanging from the ceiling (not sure why)!.
We had a local specialty meal-a bit of everything-and the cheapest
option on the expensive menu. We oldies called it a night and went
back while the young and keen went out and partied-karaoke until
about 3am. Ed and the Dutch family left for the airport at 5am so
the party was over!
July 27 Margarets Walking Tour
Margaret-shopper extraordinare and
super organised - had a list of things to do and see in San Jose
and so we invited ourselves along-beats thinking for ourselves! We
walked into the city to check out the markets-about four of them-and
must have seen the entire range of souvenirs for sale! The Central
Market was really interesting-a mixture of cheap eating places ,
food, herbal medicines, clothes, tin mugs (what is it with tin mugs
in Costa Rica?)shoes, etc. It is fully enclosed with dozens of shops
and narrow little alleyways between them. Lynn and I were determined
to post some stuff home so we checked out the Post Office-a beautiful
old building-very well preserved. It wasn't obvious where to post
parcels from so after a bit of fruitless wandering about and
searching for something likely we asked at the counter in broken
Spanglish. We were sent to the information desk where a lovely young
lady soon gave up on my bumbling attempts to communicate and rang an
English speaker somewhere-she handed me the phone and as I was trying
to chat to her another woman from the stamp section approached
us-speaking English! She told us which counter to go to-her counter
for parcels under 2kg or off to another department on the left for
anything heavier. She even offered us two boxes to use for packing.
We told her we'd be back manana-mucho gratias! Very helpful staff! We
passed an inner city hospital and saw lots of nurses presumably on
a break or changing shifts-wearing immaculate white tunics and pants
and shoes and a little white hat on the back of their heads or in
various coloured scrubs-pink, blue, lemon. There were plenty of
doctors about too-mainly male-stethoscopes hanging from their necks.
We walked all day covering much the same trail as the previous
day-minus the rain. We even repeated the coffee and cake experience
in a very nice cafe -part of the old Theatre where the staff
remembered Margarita! It was fend for ourselves for tea and we
actually enjoyed cooking-made a nice change from eating out.
July 28 Our Walking Tour
Another day to explore the city but
first port of call- the Post Office. We collected our stored boxes
and packed them ready to go-time for a weigh! Lynn went to the
counter on the right (the light counter) -mine to the left (slightly
heavier!). I had a very nice young man looking after me-very trendy
and bright and breezy but very little English He could read my name
though and kept repeating it in a very Spanish accent. He was in a
large side room along with another young man who was opening mail.
They seemed to enjoy their job-chatting and laughing and racing
around on their office chairs on wheels-no stress here! He gave me
the price and after checking the contents he let me go and seal it
up-this involved lots of packing tape and bits of cardboard to
improvise a sturdy lid. Back again to fill out a customs form, pay
the money (US103) and that was it-all done-such a relief! Just hope
its gets to Oz safe and sound and soon. Now we were free to wander.
We went in search of a photo shop to make some prints for Margaret to
take home but no luck. We did end up in a dodgy part of the city by
the bus station where we wandered through a very local market full of
butcher shops, fruit and vege, dried beans and corn and anything a
Tico (a person from Costa Rica) could possibly need. We had lunch in
a local soda-plato del dia
and a pina juice-$US3. We found an umbrella shop-dedicated purely to
umbrellas-all sizes, styles and colours-even made to order if
required. We checked out the Cathedral-very elegant and subdued
colour sheme inside.La Merced was another church with beautiful
satined glass windows and painted columns inside the church-quite
lovely. After another full day it was time to head back to Gaudys
where we shared a final meal with Margarita who was leaving at some
unGodly hour in the morning. Time to say goodbye-she has been
a great travel companion and provided us with lots of laughs and
good company. She always seemed to be the first on every bus-sitting
in the front seat with the window open. We had met up with her in
Mexico City and had been in awe of her light case of wheels. I am
pleased to say her case got heavier and the expansion zip was put to
use as the trip went on and the case filled up -shoes, bags, shoes, a
bottle of Mescal, shoes....! Good luck with the luggage limit!
July 29
There was a hairdressing college around
the corner so Lynn and I went in search of a much needed haircut and
colour. The haircut and blow dry was free-we just had to pay for the
colour. Luckily for us there was a very friendly, outgoing local
woman -Erika-there waiting for her weekly wash and hair
straightening. She was able to tell the manager what we wanted-it
took lots of translation on both sides but we got the message across.
I wanted a full colour and highlights so I had to wait until the big
manager got back from an errand-I think she was in charge of the
colours. Lynn had her hair washed and cut by the time they started on
me. We had the two managers looking after us-maybe because we were
foreigners-they probably don't get many tourists looking for free
haircuts! The students in their pink uniforms were lovely and most
were working on blow waves and hair straightening on a steady stream
of local clientèle. I was thinking of some foils but they still do
highlights the old fashioned way-with a streaking cap and crochet
hook! There were only two caps-one better than the other-so after I
had a plastic bag tied onto my head, the cap Lynn had on was taken
off her head and put onto mine-obviously the better cap! We also
shared a towel-in fact there was only one towel in use in the whole
salon-there was one on the line but one seemed to be enough! My hair
was finally done enough and it was time for the rinse-cold water! A
bit of a shock to the system-especially when I sat up and the water
trickled out from under the cap and down my front and back! But alls
well thats ends well and I had my hair cut with the hairdresser
frequently referring to a picture I was told to choose earlier. The
colour was nice-a bit redder than normal but with 4 months to go it
would be long gone by the time I get home!
San Jose- or Chepe to the locals- is
the capital of Costa Rica and home to one third of all Chicos. It was
founded in 1737 but very little remains of the colonial era.
Capitalism has boomed leaving many locals poor and disenfranchised
and s a result there is a growing crime rate.
