San Jose

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Hola! from San Jose in Costa Rica.

I am here in the first part of my central and south american adventure. I left Stuart in New York and flew to LA where I spent a day in Hollywood. My hostel was right on hollywood boulevard where the hall is fame is found, stars with famous poeple's names scattered on the pavement. It was crazy busy there all day long with people performing and people dressed up as different characters. The shopping is great there so I would recommend it just for that!

My flight was over night and what I didn´t realise when I got on my plane that it would be landing first in Guatemala! I panicked and thought I had got on the wrong plane but thought surely I wouldn´t have been let on! I asked a girl across from me that I knew spoke English and she reassured me I was on the correct plane. It was strange turnover as the people that were getting off the plane got off but the rest of us stayed on! When I have been on planes like that before I have always had to get off the plane. Crazy.

I arrived in Costa Rica and was surrounded by taxi drivers. One of them spoke English and I asked him where the bus stop was as I had been intstructed by my hostel to get a bus into town then a taxi to the hostel. As I had no idea what I was doing and I was really tired, I just thought I would get the taxi. I paid much more than I should have but never mind, I got there safely.

The hostel I stayed in, Nomadas, is a friendly family-run hostel. I was the only one in the hostel at the beginning which I didn't really like so I spent my first day researching where to go and sleeping! I was so tired from all of the travelling! I met two young guys when I finally got out of bed that evening and talked to them about their travelling so far. It was great to meet them as they had been everywhere I was about to go to which meant I got some good tips on places to go and hostels to stay at.

The next day, I walked in to town and there wasn´t anything that special there which was a shame. I hope the rest of Costa Rica is nicer. I found a church that looked quite run down. The roads fascinated me as they seemed to have big gaps at the side. I walked back to the hostel and stopped at an arts festival along the way. There were bands playing, comedy acts and lots of stalls selling all sorts. I needed a new purse and got one for a bargain! I didn't feel too well for the rest of the day so I just relaxed. Need to start getting my body into travelling mode or I'm not going to see much at this rate!

Today I got up early to get my bus to Monte Verde. I had no idea where to buy my ticket from so just lined up where I could see the line. The guy behind the desk couldn't speak english and just said no and pointed away. This indicated to me there were no seats left so I caught a taxi back to my hostel and decided to go back later to see if I could get a ticket. When I went back, I was told to go to a different counter then another and another. I had no idea where I was going as people just seemed to point! I finally found a police officer that brought me to the correct desk. I got a ticket! Looks like I probably could have got one this morning too if I actually new where I was going. Oh well, I'll get there eventually.



Update soon in Monte Verde xxx

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