As we found out, sometimes it is best to stick with what the guidebook says and forget about what the locals say. As we were leaving our guesthouse on the lake, we asked if the border crossing to Perquin was now open. "oh yes, no problem." So, like the dumb tourists we can be, we went down towards Marcala to take the bus over to El Salvador. However, once we got to La Esperanza, we realized that this was going to be much more difficult than we thought. We asked the staff at the terminal we arrived at where the bus to Marcala and the 'Frontiera' was. Lots of head scratching, umm, well..., you want to go where? Not the response we were expecting. They were able to direct us to another terminal that might have ... read more

We decided to leave Nicaragua a day early, partially because of the ongoing conflict in Honduras (the thinking was that we might need to add a bit of a time cushion for the country) and also because we were facing a 4 hour wait to get to the place we wanted to go to in Nicaragua. So, spot change of plan, we got on the bus to the border instead. Other than paying a "municipal departure tax" on the Nicaraguan side, nothing was out of ordinary. In fact, everything was rather organized. For the first time this trip, both countries had their immigration officers right next to each other. After looking over our passports, Nicaraguan immigration simply slid them over the counter to Honduran. Ok, so maybe there was a little shenanigan on the Honduran side. ... read more

We were able to take a collectivo bus from the ferry dock to a junction about 5 kilometers from Granada. From there it was a short moto taxi ride from the junction to Granada. Our driver cracked me up. He didn't know where our hostel was, and didn't want to look at the map we were holding to find out. He insisted the central park was his destination. Whatever, the hostel was two blocks off the park. Hostel Oasis is a great place to stay in the city. It has a small dipping pool, hammocks, clean dorms and good decor. Its bathrooms need a helping hand. Nice location though. We found that the city had many minor attractions spread throughout its colonial downtown core. Nothing exceptional happened here. We explored the city the day we arrived, ... read more

The Lonely Planet guide describes spending a night in the city as a necessary evil. The city write up also mentions it as a cross between cosmopolitan and commercial. If in summery of the above comments were meant to convey that there is nothing to see, they were right on. The most interesting aspect of Costa Rica was the accident we had to wait for after crossing the border with Panama. Another bus had hit the back of a back-hoe and broken the window pane of the door. No other damage. Just the window pane. The back-hoe was not even scratched. Nonetheless, the dear driver refused to pull over to the side of the road, and instead left the bus facing traffic in the right lane and effectively blocked both lanes for a half hour while ... read more

I am writing to share my experience with a Panamanian Hostel in the city of Boquete. Namely, the unprofessional conduct of the owner of Hostal Palacios, 'Pancho.' We checked in with 4 people in our traveling group. 2 were staying a day longer before heading out. We had paid for 2 private rooms. Because Pancho charges a fee ($3 a bag) for bags left after checkout (12 noon) and our bus was not until 3, we left our two backpacks in our friends room because they were staying another day. Upon returning to the hostel after hiking around, we did not even close the door behind us before Pancho started a tirade, practically throwing a fit because we were "stealing" from him by not paying him to store our bags in our friends room. We have ... read more