Our first look at Puntarenas...

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Our stop over in Puntarenas was due to the fact that we didn’t want to stay another night in Monteverde, we decided to take a late bus to Puntarenas, stay the night and get an early jump on the busses down to the beaches. This was an astronomical mistake. First, the bus to Puntarenas was sketchy, the seats were so dingy that we didn’t want to sit down. However, we obviously did. The ride, was nice, albeit scary as hell. To look out the window was to look a few hundred feet down the side of a cliff. This is a good time to mention all the landslides we had already witnessed on the roads and hiking trails. So knowing at anytime this road could decide to give way made me less than comforted on the ride. Finally though, we come out of the cloudy mountains and we see ocean, which was a welcome change of scenery. By the time we descend into the streets its getting dark.

Driving through the streets of Puntarenas we saw our first Costa Rican prostitutes and tire fires. We began getting very nervous about our “adventure” in Puntarenas. The problem was we didn’t know where we were staying, we were counting on being dropped off at a bus terminal and then have all the ‘hotel pushers’ give us an idea where to stay. However those hopes were dashed when the driver told us to get out in…our stop? Two garbage bags and a taco stand (that was closing). Doing as we were told we gather our bags and stand on the sidewalk dumb founded…only standing there two minutes and ‘gentleman’ approached us. He looked like he hadn’t brushed his hair in weeks, had about 3 teeth, and his shirt appeared to have rolled in dog shit. He asked us if we were looking for a place to stay, (at least he asked us in English) neither of us knew what to say—neither of us wanted to stay in his cardboard box for the evening. He eventually pulled out a business card for a “hotel” around the corner, with little to lose, we followed him and sure enough. The Hotel Familiar Macarena…good enough for us. Upon further inspection the sheets were dirty and there was one bathroom…for everyone, I almost peed my pants at one point. But we had done it…we thought our Puntarenas excitement would end there, however we still had the morning…

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Comments

[Anne]

Tire Fires?
Sweet...and prostitutes, sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Pretty jealous Even if you are staying in shittel 'hotels' reeking of cologne.