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Published: October 2nd 2005
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View from the deck of the Hostel
Nothing is better than sitting in the rocking chairs on this deck and looking at the 180 degree views of the carribean.... If you ever needed something to spark you from normality this has to be it....This picture is the view from out the corridor of our room and two steps out onto the balcony....all for $20 per night between 4 of us. Gold. A few beers out here on the balcony and it makes you wonder why people enjoy going on planned trips and organised tours...silly stuff. Anyway...
So we are in this place called Isla Colon which is in part of an area of Panama called Bocas del Toro which means mouth of the bull. Its a chilled out town with 3 streets full of carribean flavour...and smell. You can see the bottom of the ocean with ease and the resturant owners catch their own lobster for the nights trade. More on that later....
Lately has been full of travels....after leaving mexico behind, and having an amazing few nights with Dom and Dave, Meg and Nicole, Kate and Rom-dogs, it was time for teary goodbyes at the airport, which i think i went to about 7 times in 3 days to say goodbye to all the gold ragers from camp that i met over the year. It was left
Two Rough Heads
Me and the old mate gaz...reliving the good times of the past month to me and the hostel owner, Enrique who i had become quite good friends with seeings i stayed at his hostel last year for over a month...so we were catching up on time and sank many free and very cold beers all at his expense (love your work kike and your hostel is the best yet)....another late night/morning for my flight to Costa Rica.
After flying to Miami for the flight to Costa Rica, and meeting up with B-dog, some of you know her as Bridie from camp, we boarded a zoo like flight to Costa Rica... After a bumpy ride and sandy making herself comfortable across 4 seats including mine, we were ready for a landing in Costa Rica....it was a little rough and all my fears were coming together at once...but then subsided when i realised the fact that i would be taken care of by Air Crash Disasters, the tv show when i was the sole survivour of the horrific accident...but before all that could happen the captain re routed the plane to Panama city and told us all that we would be staying there for the night due to the bad weather in Costa Rica....Im
Panama City
The view from our 5 star free hotel suite....not bad. thinking...great a night in a crappy motel, thanks heaps american airlines....So an hour later we are in a 5 star hotel in the middle of Panama City...with free dinner and terry towling aussie bath robes... haha all my dreams together in one room....I love American Airlines.
The next morning we were off though at 9am to Costa Rica with everyone in the same clothes as the day before....let me tell you this
WHEN MUM SAYS TAKE A SPARE SET OF CLOTHES ON THE PLANE JUST IN CASE....listen to mum she was right....
All of a sudden a 2 hour Miami to Costa Rica flight had turned into a 18 hour sweat chamber, i felt like a human experiment ¨how long can these people survive on one pair of clothes surrounded by their own filth and BO¨...not me of course i smelt like roses, as many of you can back me up on...
So after a quick one night stop in San Jose the capital...thought it was best to go after numerous reports from travellers on hostel walls about theives and muggings etc. We hoped on a bus to a lovely place called Puerto Viejo, a
Foggy Times
The view from out the windscreen of the bus on the way to Puerto Viejo...doing about 60kmph ( you have to enlarge it ) lovely seaside town about 4 hours on the worst bus in the world from San Jose.... Climbing through the mountains with thick fog on a two lane street overtaking semi trailers on a vehicle that im sure was at one stage of its life a horse drawn carrige...is not my favourite pastime. The driver should have been operating thrill rides at Disneyland before he ever got given a licence.... Luckily for me however i has a crete of Pepto Bismol handy ( never travel without it) which calmed the tiger beneath....We arrived safely after all that, and got off the bus to be mauled by half human half animal beings trying to tell you to go to their hotel....luckily for me i had a place in mind, but they are sooo keen to get you to their place they told me that the place i was staying at was infested with thieves and parts of it had fallen over and that would probably where my room would be....also while i was standing there a guy told me about the events of the last week...lets see
1. Local busnessman burns down competitors bar because he is jealous of the good
Doing it Tough
Since leaving camp timmys life has gotten considerably easier.... trade he was getting...simple solution to a problem...i have the pictures of the still smouldering bar to prove if anyone wants
2. Man shot in bar in gunfight over who had the prettiest girlfriend...true story
3. Men letting off random gunshots in a bar across the road from where timmy was staying...just for something to do...
never a dull moment.....
Finally met up with Tim and Gaz...the other ragers from camp the only ones left battling the world...had a few cold cans and caught up on Timmys experiences in Guatemala, which i tryed to tell him not to go to..that included a night in a Gay Bar and paying outrageous amounts to grifters for non existant taxes....But now all is good and loving being back with the little man for the rest of the journey...
So now the crew is in a lovely place called Isla Colon which is about a 45 minute boat ride through the jungle of Panama from Bocas del Toro... Things here are nice and cheap $1 for a beer 50 cents for pizza and the currency is us dollars....or what these guys like to call balboas...aparrently rocky was a huge
The lads
Available for hens nights etc.... success here. The latest night out here involved a 15 person game of flip cup, then a night out at a bar called wreck deck, which has a balcony in a hexagonal shape over the water and you look into the ocean which you can see the bottom of easily because the water is so clear. So gaz and I thought it would be appropriate to be the first men to go swimming in it that night...which we did, with all our clothes on.
...So thats all for now hope everyone is doing good..i miss all you guys write to me soon with updates of your lives....Love Nick
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bridie aka b-dog/sandy
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all your dreams...
¨all my dreams together in one room¨. I think b-dog had something to do with one of those dreams.. you can post this.