El Valle a Costa Rica
We had one day left in Panama after our canal excursion. We just had to catch an overnight bus to Costa Rica at 11pm. So we decided to have an afternoon in El Valle, a little town in the middle of an old, massive volcano crater.
We got a minibus to El Valle, through lots of gorgeous scenery. When we arrived, we found the market in full swing, torrential downpour in progress, and quite a few tourists completely unprepared for such weather. We spent a wee while in the market, and luckily Chris finally found a hat! Unlike the stereotypical Panama hats that the world knows, local Panama hats have cool stripes or spots worked into the fibre of the hat. We kept seeing locals wearing such hats, and Chris was determined to get himself one. He couldn't find a stripey one that fit his massive heed and quiff, but in the end he found a spotty one he preferred anyway. Job's a goodun!
We found a pizzeria that our guidebook raved about and which is only open on weekends, tick. Along the way, we delighted in walking through all the big puddles that other tourists were avoiding like the plague. We then got a bus to a hotel and tramped along a muddy trail to see some square trees which are local to the area. We some square trees, tick. They're not perfectly square, but they're square enough to notice. Pretty cool. Then on our way back, we found an alternate bit to the river we walked through on our way to the trees.
We walked back to the town, exchanging buenas with lots of locals on the way, to find a huge queue for buses to Panama City. We joined it and waited a while. It was getting late, and we were a bit worried about getting a bus back in time for our overnight bus leaving. Luckily a big coach showed up, and everyone in the queue not only got on but had a seat. Of course, in getting onto the bus, it was complete chaos when the queue disintegrated. Welcome to Central America!
We got back into Panama City and were able to get off the bus near our B&B, where we'd left our bags for the day. We got to the massive bus terminal (last taxi there only cost $2, woo-hoo!) and found the mall closed. That was our dinner plan scuppered, but no matter. The grocery store was still open, so we got some stuff and headed over to check in for our bus. An hour or so later, we were on the bus and on our way to San Jose, Costa Rica.
We were expecting this border crossing to be quick and easy. At about 5:30am, we were woken up for it. We got through the Panama side quickly and then walked over to enter the Costa Rica side. We then had to wait two hours for the damn migration office to open, and then it took an hour to get through that queue and then have our stuff searched. Now, three hours is definitely better than the eight hours it took us to get into Costa Rica from Nicaragua, but still. Get it together!
We drove through lots of rain and cloud forest and finally reached San Jose, where we'd booked a hostel just around the corner from the Tica Bus station. On the Lonely Planet map, that is, which is wrong per norm. Turns out that they moved to a new station earlier this year, so we arrived on the other side of the city from where we thought we'd arrive. Being stubborn, we refused all the taxis vying for our custom at the station. We walked around in the pouring rain trying to get our bearings and finally realised we were better off getting a taxi after all. Cue many, many attempts to hail a taxi and much frustration when they all drove right by. When we don't want a taxi, millions of them drive by and ask us if we want a lift. When we need one...
We finally got a taxi and eventually found the hostel we'd booked. We had some dinner and some Internet time and then crashed exhausted. Next up we've got a bus to Nicaragua, then to El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. It's weird to be making our way back up and so quickly!
We got a minibus to El Valle, through lots of gorgeous scenery. When we arrived, we found the market in full swing, torrential downpour in progress, and quite a few tourists completely unprepared for such weather. We spent a wee while in the market, and luckily Chris finally found a hat! Unlike the stereotypical Panama hats that the world knows, local Panama hats have cool stripes or spots worked into the fibre of the hat. We kept seeing locals wearing such hats, and Chris was determined to get himself one. He couldn't find a stripey one that fit his massive heed and quiff, but in the end he found a spotty one he preferred anyway. Job's a goodun!
We found a pizzeria that our guidebook raved about and which is only open on weekends, tick. Along the way, we delighted in walking through all the big puddles that other tourists were avoiding like the plague. We then got a bus to a hotel and tramped along a muddy trail to see some square trees which are local to the area. We some square trees, tick. They're not perfectly square, but they're square enough to notice. Pretty cool. Then on our way back, we found an alternate bit to the river we walked through on our way to the trees.
We walked back to the town, exchanging buenas with lots of locals on the way, to find a huge queue for buses to Panama City. We joined it and waited a while. It was getting late, and we were a bit worried about getting a bus back in time for our overnight bus leaving. Luckily a big coach showed up, and everyone in the queue not only got on but had a seat. Of course, in getting onto the bus, it was complete chaos when the queue disintegrated. Welcome to Central America!
We got back into Panama City and were able to get off the bus near our B&B, where we'd left our bags for the day. We got to the massive bus terminal (last taxi there only cost $2, woo-hoo!) and found the mall closed. That was our dinner plan scuppered, but no matter. The grocery store was still open, so we got some stuff and headed over to check in for our bus. An hour or so later, we were on the bus and on our way to San Jose, Costa Rica.
We were expecting this border crossing to be quick and easy. At about 5:30am, we were woken up for it. We got through the Panama side quickly and then walked over to enter the Costa Rica side. We then had to wait two hours for the damn migration office to open, and then it took an hour to get through that queue and then have our stuff searched. Now, three hours is definitely better than the eight hours it took us to get into Costa Rica from Nicaragua, but still. Get it together!
We drove through lots of rain and cloud forest and finally reached San Jose, where we'd booked a hostel just around the corner from the Tica Bus station. On the Lonely Planet map, that is, which is wrong per norm. Turns out that they moved to a new station earlier this year, so we arrived on the other side of the city from where we thought we'd arrive. Being stubborn, we refused all the taxis vying for our custom at the station. We walked around in the pouring rain trying to get our bearings and finally realised we were better off getting a taxi after all. Cue many, many attempts to hail a taxi and much frustration when they all drove right by. When we don't want a taxi, millions of them drive by and ask us if we want a lift. When we need one...
We finally got a taxi and eventually found the hostel we'd booked. We had some dinner and some Internet time and then crashed exhausted. Next up we've got a bus to Nicaragua, then to El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. It's weird to be making our way back up and so quickly!
posted by Trace at
6:57 am
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