Blogs from tranquilo backpackers, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Dear all! So, day 2 in Costa Rica, and I thought instead of a diary for my stay I'd give blogging a go, in order to make the amusement more widely available. It will be irregular and disordered and not comprehensive but hopefully enjoyable! After only 24 hours in Bath, I was off to Heathrow, for 15 hours of flights. The most interesting feature of doing so was the sheer sarcastic, depressed contemptuousness of the pilot and cabin crew of my flight from New York to San Jose. After the Continental flight into New York, such breaking of the rules of the forced-smile school of customer service seemed almost immoral. San Jose airport welcoms visitors with a banner 'welcome to the happiest country in the world' (a bit misleading because apparently it has the highest wellbeing ... read more

They say it takes about a week before you break out of your comfort zone and really get into your trip and they are right. I have to say I have not stayed at a funkier hostel then the Tranquilo backpackers hostel. This place is probably the best hostel I had ever stayed at. The vibe is just off the charts. I arrived from Caribe bus station and made my way here. The hostel use to be an old mansion but now they are all little dorm rooms. This place is like spring break meets bob marley meets jack johnson. It{s just so chill and the people here are so interesting. I met Keenen and Rob both from Winnipeg and we played Uno downstairs in one of the chill room and the two bottles of rum ... read more

After a light breakfast, a few quick emails, checking out of my hospedaje, 3 bus rides, one failed attempt at border crossing, one successful treck across the border, several lines, $7.50 in bus fares, a six dollar cab ride, and 12 hours I finally made it. I'll admit that this has been one of my most exhausting, warmest and coldest, but most of all longest day here so far. It was a great adventure though and I had many great encounters along the way. As I was leaving my hospedaje in the morning I returned the key to the woman who had checked me in. She rambles something off so quickly that I wasn't able to catch it all. Then she asked me if I had my passport. I though that she might needed to check ... read more

So I called Tranquilo Backpackers (which I see has been included in the location selector here even), and got myself a room reserved. Without any complaints, the hotel receptionist at this soulless place let me check out. I HAD to go and meet people. Here´s Tranquilo´s funky recep area: img=http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p112/julespenk/Jules%20Solo%20Extension/5%20-%20Costa%20Rica%20Again/IMG_1873.jpg After my complementary pancakes, I met one man who proffered insights into the seedier, and well-hidden, side to Costa Rica. He cut a striking figure with his large belly, complemented as it was by a handsome head of curly grey hair and enormous silver eyes; his facial features were big in general and his mid-eastern look and accent reminded me of Omar Sharif (not that I can remember how Omar sounded). He talked in an easy-going way that was almost melancholic, exp... read more

Hola Amigo's, commo estan??? I'm all good, well have had a hangover that lasted almost 40 hours but now that's passed am back on top form again! Well you'll be glad to know that i don't intend to write as much as i did last time, but then again, i never did last time so we'll see! We stayed in Granada for just 2 nights in the end and felt pretty much the same about it as we did Leon. That is, not that impressed. It was a really pretty town with loads of multicoloured houses and churches, but apart from walking down and around the streets we couldn't seem to find much else to do there. We visited it's tourismo area and that was absolutely deserted. It was on the lake of Lago de Nicaragua ... read more