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Published: February 6th 2011
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We woke at 5, Nicole and I that is and we started to pack. It was super early but I knew it would be best to be organised and early than to be unorganised and late, haha go figure.
By 6.30 we were downstairs calling a taxi, the taxi that never came. Talk about it. In my last blog I spoke about Hermosa as being super cool, chill, fun, pretty the list goes on. The one thing I didn't mention about Hermosa is how difficult it is to get somewhere. It's just like living at the farm and longing to go to a party in town and not being able to get there. Hermosa. Its only 10km from Jaco but the residences are another 3-5km down a dirt road. I didn't have a bike and so the whole week I was either attempting to hitch a ride or I was walking in the hot hot heat. Anyway back to my story. As you now know, Hermosa is quite a ways from Jaco, there is a dirt road involved and its 6.30 in the morning. Our bus left for San Jose at 7. Apparently there aren't many cabs operating at 6.30am on
a Sunday. So you could say we were in a bit of a bother. 6.35 ticked over and there was no cab, so we called again. "It's on its way" All good and well but its a good 5 minutes drive into towna nd 6.45 has just rolled around. 6.50 rolls around, no cab. At 6.55 the cab pulls up. By the time we get our bags in and explain our destination the clock reads 6.58. We're done, we've missed it. We've woken up super early for no reason. "Can we make it?" Yeah I think we can says the taxi driver. Glancing at eachother somewhat doubtfully I look at Nicole "it's worth a try". And we were off. Mum if you were in the car you would have almost flipped. He wasn't driving unsafely as such but he was gaining some speed (you see i can talk about this now because I survived!) He kept glancing at the clock, it was a race against time and there was a lot of praying that today of all days the bus would be running on Tico time! 7.07 we arrive at the bus station and the bus is still there. Just
our luck! We thanked our uber cool taxi driver man and jumped onto the bus.
By 10.30 we had arrived in San Jose, made our way to the next bus station, purchased tickets, releived ourselves and eaten. Too easy!
The bus to Puerto Viejo wasn't as fun. There was something about the bus. It was uncomfortable to say the least and hot and sticky. However it was direct, hardly stopped and within 4.5 hours we had arrived in the beautiful Puert Viejo.
First impressions: Different from what I had expected, pretty but different. I guess I had expected the postcard perfect smooth ice blue water, the white sandy beaches. Hello! Hannah! Ever heard of photoshop?! Of course the beaches don't actually look like that. It was still pretty but there were waves, lots of people, rubbish, dogs, buses, cars and I guess I was momentarily a little bit dissapointed. Never mind though I soon snapped out of it and once I had settled in to my tent at the hostel and had a chance to explore I realised this place is pretty cool.
Rocking J's was the lucky hostel to host me. First Impressions: Wow. Not wow as in this
is the coolest hostel I've ever seen. But wow as in this place is huge, wow we actually sleep in tents, wow its only $6, wow how many people can stay here. Wow.
This hostel should be called the hostel of mosaics. There are tiles everywhere, even in the kitchen, which totally grosses me out because it is unbelievably filthy. After a couple of beers I can cook in there but only just. G-ROSSE! Anyway the health issues aside. The hostel is pretty cool. There are only 15 dorms, each with 4 beds. This place embraces the 'at one with nature' aspect of life as there are 80-100 hammocks, yes for sleeping in, about 50 tents, single and double and space for up to 30 personal tents. There's a big spanse of cushy grass, hammocks for day time napping, groovy paintings everywhere and generally a good vibe about the place. There is also a really good resturaunt, tip top! It also helps that the hostel is directly in front of the beach, I'm talking a 10meter walk and you're there. As we speak I'm listening to the waves crash up against the rocks, watching the leaves of the palm trees
sway in the breeze and thinking why am I writing like this.
The only problem is the beach so perfectly positioned ten meters in front of the hostel isn't really swimmable. There are far too many rocks. However its perfect when it's calm enough for swimming in the natural pools. The water here is sooooo clear that you can basically snorkel above water, amazing!
I've rented a bike for the past two days, just to make things easier. It's about a ten minute walk into town otherwise. Bikes are ace, so conveinient!
Nic and I went exploring up a mountain in search for some stables. As much as it brought back wonderful memories from mountain biking up and down Shadow Lake, having nothing but foot breaks coming down a rocky, slippery hill wasn't the best idea.
We then found a really cute little swimming spot about 10minutes in the other direction from town where we had a quick dip.
I met up with a group of Aussies and we went on a little or long (little sounds better) adventure to Manzanillo beach, one of the prettiest beaches in the area. It was a good hours ride and along the way
we stopped at anothet gorgeous cove beach Punta Uva. We were the sweetest bike gang ever! Bikes in every colour of the rainbow, four guys and two girls, riding our way along the bumpy roads to paradise! What a wonderful way to spend my afternoon. Riding like the wind through picture perfect surroundings; dense jungle, small villages and the sound of the ocean in the background. To top it off we enjoyed a very delicious ice cream on the beach.
Wednesday was another lazy day consisting of riding aimlessly around town, window or vendor shopping, gazing out into the ocean, watching the surfers attempt to ride the gnarliest beach break I've seen, swaying myself to sleep in the hammock and fighting against the rip tides in the ocean.
Not to shabby! Oh I also did a lot of eating on this particular day. Smithy was visiting so there was copious amounts of chocolate, food and water, music, thinking and complaining.
Thursday morning rolled around before I knew it and I was off on another adventure. Destination Panama.
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ashley Hoque
non-member comment
where was this taken?
Hey there, Ill be visiting puerto viejo in May and I am wondering which beach this picture was taken at..I am really into photography and think I could have some fun with this awesome shot..really appreciate your answer! Thanks, -ashley