Discuss travel to Costa Rica and other Central American countries here.October is rainy season, so ominous storms with plentiful lightning are a regular occurrence throughout the region.
Went to the market for a nice plate of local food. Pasta tuna salad was super delicious, and the quantity of shredded meat in the sauce was generous as well. The mama waiting tables was kind and gracious. Cost ¢2700 or $6, plus another ¢1000 for rich vanilla ice cream. Menu prices were recently raised, and the TV was playing a news story about new price hikes on eggs, onions and other staple foods which continue to exert upward pricing pressure on restaurants. The family sitting next to me had to count their cash to make sure they didn't overspend on their order; that was sad to see.Just to investigate I visited Hotel el Encuentro (the Hookup Hotel), an awful shitty place above a bar near the market. Rooms in that dump cost ¢15000 or $33. Angry men had beat up the entry smashing the plexiglass door panels and punching holes in the wall. ¢1400 or $3 for a 330 mL bottle of national beer were also overpriced as fuck. (Beer prices are advertised on posters in many Central American bars.)
Somebody left their shitbull tied to a railing on a very short rope. Evidently it jumped down off the platform and then got stuck with the rope choking it, yelping horribly until it managed to climb back up. Nobody around gave a shit. Tomorrow I plan to go to a smaller town tucked away up in the hills via local bus. There is a cheap hostel in the town center, which has a compact grid layout like most Spanish planned towns. Sadly, so many cute small towns in the highland region have very limited lodging options...though that could be a Google Maps problem, not showing the shitty local properties. (Hotel El Encuentro for instance doesn't show on the map.)
SJO airport has one of the prettiest backdrops of any airport I've been to...a vista of forested peaks rising in the far distance.Funny enough I saw tons of white granola girls in the airport, but here only 2 km away I haven't seen a one. Guess they all hurry down to the beach to hang out with grinning brown beach boys and smoke weed with them. Yep, that's a thing here. A fair portion of the local chicks are cuter and dress much better than the tourist girls, but I speak Spanish so slowly, they probably think I'm retarded.
disclaimer for newfags: this is not a general or discussion thread or anything like that, this is just one faggot flooding the thread with shitty phone photos and miles of boring blogpost
>>2914774People dont go to central America to live like poorfags except you and other poorfags like africans and Venezuelans
>>2914783How the locals live is definitely very different from the privileged tourist lifestyle. Walking through the fringes of town following narrow pathways across deep rushing ravines with tiny fortified shacks crowded up against the potholed pavement. Even the poorest people live in steel caged houses for their own protection. So different from Asian slums where doors are wide open, porches are piled with stored items and there are no burglar protections at all. Lots of Colombian migrants in this town. The only blacks I've seen were a mom and her teenage son staying in this crappy hostel and a group of Colombian brothers owning a barbershop next door. Haircuts in Panama City were $7, I expect they are $12+ here in C.R.
Roads are usually in good shape, but stolen grates leave dangerous gaping holes in the gutters. Sidewalks vary constantly, sometimes disappearing. Drivers can be impatient and uncaring of pedestrians, but most are considerate and stop to let you cross in front of them. Red lights must all have cameras because nobody violates them. Overall yeah it does feel very Third World, even with rubbish piles dumped here and there. Behind the skate park some pendejos even dumped a huge pile of rubbish in the drainage channel leading down to the river, which was filthy brown and reeking after recent flash flooding in the hills. Fried rice at a random Chinese fast food place costs $8.50 for a full plate. I paid over $12 for this sushi roll; it was delicious and good-quality. Restaurants are held to high standards here, unlike Asia where everyone skimps and cuts corners to minimize costs. Service is very friendly at all the places I've visited - to everybody, not just to me. Not like the underpaid, couldn't care less wageslaves that churn out cheap food in countries like Malaysia and India.
Cute little passageway through the jungly growth around the river gorge was the closest to nature I could find around here. My next destino Grecia is off the main highway and should be more tranquil, but the surroundings still look fully developed, with only the smallest scraps of nature remaining. Now it's clear why tourists don't stick around here; reckon I will be taking a longer bus ride sometime soon. Supposedly the Pacific coast towns charge even higher prices for food, but the northern plain is so desolate, with no cheap hostels even in cities like Limon on the costa caribe.
The Alajuela city bus station was very clean, spacious and organized. Much better than many American bus stations I visited on my prior trip...instead of felons and ornery black fatasses, there were bucoo attractive young women. Passengers formed an orderly queue prior to boarding. Fares were printed on a poster by the driver's seat, so I didn't get scammed. ¢910 or $2 for the 19 km ride to Grecia...the road was narrow, winding and congested, so it took almost an hour. Up here in the highlands, buses cruise with the windows open; girls let their hair fly around freely in the warm tropical breeze.
This comfy non A/C hostel right on the central plaza of Grecia costs $12 per night in colones. A little noisy, but that's what earplugs are for. The owner evidently runs the hostel from his house; he let me check in at noon and I paid for two nights in colones cash (which everybody prefers, just like they prefer speaking Spanish). My Spanish fluency - much of it acquired by a paid duolingo subscription 6 years ago - has come back much better than expected, though occasional errors still occur. Grecia is a lovely little hill town. After a clear breezy morning, clouds are billowing up once again.
One other think worth noting: WiFi is very fast here even at these bargain-priced hostels, though some areas of the property have poor reception. My pictures upload within a second or two. In Asia they always took so freaking long to upload.
>>2914954>Haircuts in Panama City were $7, I expect they are $12+ here in C.R.>Fried rice at a random Chinese fast food place costs $8.50 for a full plate. I paid over $12 for this sushi roll;>This comfy non A/C hostel right on the central plaza of Grecia costs $12 per night in colones. A little noisy, butThese price are more than Japan. Especially the food
>>2915016And you get the good old electric shower too. Yes food is kinda ridiculous here due to high taxes, high wages and low customer volume; restaurants in Asia are so much more efficient, but they lack the personal touch that you get here, where they make you feel special instead of treating you like customer #324 of the week. Today I had the blandest lunch plate of rice, beans, salad and a little breaded fish fillet. No gravy or flavor, but it was still $8. This hostel has a kitchen, and several supermarkets are nearby, so I might supplement one meal a day with some home cooking. It's really not feasible to eat out twice a day on a budget, let alone three times. One thing I love about C.R., everything is in easy walking distance from the town center. And if you want to go farther, you can take city buses. They're not dirt cheap, but fares are still less than $1 for short routes.
Grecia is full of hotties. This fashionable girl waiting out the rain with her mom is typical of the styles here. Some girls are devout Catholic virgins who dress very modestly, but the tattooed skanks are most eye-catching.
Nice hidden jungle area had this exotic flowering plant. There are no hiking trails around towns, but most unmarried girls are surprisingly fit. They only ruin their body for their husband kekek. Road bicycling is prevalent despite the narrow congested roads and exhaust fumes. In Colombia I also remember seeing many bicyclists. The culture and geography of the two countries is similar in many ways, but Costa Rica is less urbanized and more easygoing. The women are sexy but not outright whores...all the same, prostitution and soliciting women for paid sex are both legal here.>Is there somebody you forgot to ask?Her boyfriend may not appreciate your generous offer of the cuck chair for no extra fee.
Sad to see the rivers hemmed in by development, floods and erosion carving them deeper every year as ever more water runs off impermeable surfaces. Yes, Costa Rica has very good trash pickup service, on par with the US...but their highland rivers are neglected and degraded. Property owners only care about enforcing their boundaries and doing as they please within them; they don't see rivers as a natural habitat worth protecting with a buffer zone.
Damaged or missing storm grates are a serious hazard for unwary motorbike riders here. Even pedestrians could run a real risk of injury walking down the sidewalk in a poorly lit unfamiliar area. Sidewalk quality varies widely, but at least sidewalks are present for most stretches of road near town.
>>2915088La creatura
Would anyone care if I mini-blogged my next Appalachia trip here? Probably not eh.
>>2915131Eh its the same as this one who cares you just walking around seething in poverty
>>2915149I have a car. It's more me seething about how crowded stuff gets, how confusing it can be to find trails, and how annoying rules/regulations get for certain parks and roads. I don't go to browntown though.
>>2915131Appalachia is not part of CentroAmerica, anon. Did you fail georgraphy class?Took my first bus daytrip today under lowering clouds to visit the beautiful Catarata el Paraíso. By mistake I took the Carbonal bus instead of the San Miguel one; Carbonal leaves on the half hour while San Miguel leaves on the hour. So O had to ride back to the junction and then walk 5 km up a steep village road to get to the falls trailhead. Fare was ¢550 or $1.20, payable with cash or card. The road was very bumpy and we stopped everywhere. This hilly region at the base of Poas Volcano is very populated, with roads running up parallel ridges separated by deep ravines.
Beautiful green vistas under heavy gray skies. Once I climbed high enough the city of San Jose was visible sprawled out in the distance. Most households had cars, so there were quite a few vehicles passing me by.
Houses were mostly small and simple. Trash is collected regularly from bins all along the street, so litter is as scarce as in the US. I found the people to be friendly and placid, not outgoing or exuberant. They speak kindly to each other and to me as well. It's worth noting. None of my conversations here are in English. Here in the highlands I don't get the feeling of a stark divide between myself and the locals like in so many other countries. After all, I am an Amerimutt of European descent just like they are, and I speak Spanish at a passable level. Of course this experience is unlikely to apply in other parts of the country where tourists are much more plentiful and locals are much more dark-skinned...the coastal resort towns, for instance. Tbh I'm not even sure I want to visit more than one or two such places. Grecia has really charmed me, much like San Agustín in Colombia's Huila department.
Dogs roam freely in the villages; some of the little yappers come up barking at me, but I snap my bandana at them and they desist. Others like this collie want to walk beside you and wait for the bus with you. They are obedient as a general rule, nothing like the feral pariah dogs of many Asian countries who only respect violence. While most households have a car, the man often uses it for work and errands, while the wife and kids ride the public bus if they need to get to town. On the way back half a dozen pretty young moms with small children boarded from the roadside. Feminine gentleness predominates in the rural areas; it's a woman's world, we men only live in it.
What a delicious meal! The municipal market stalls really serve some top-quality food...this special included carrot juice, a cheese crepe, fresh salad, fried plantain, rice, beans, and a greasy flavorful pork chop with onions. Cost ¢3500 or $7.70. After an outing, it really hit the spot. Not all food is good here. Yesterday I went to a standalone soda (diner) and the fried fish meal I got for the same price was flavorless and disappointing, with no bebida natural either. Service is kind, and they love it when you complement their cooking. Robotic indifference is not the service norm here like it has become in so much of the rest of the world. Customers chat and joke with the staff like they're friends. And nobody hustles for handouts either; good riddance to tipping culture. Increasingly I've begun to appreciate the quality of food here, the diligent cleaning of the premises, and the pleasant atmosphere instead of griping that lunch is $8 instead of $3.
While sitting in the park right across from my hostel (picrel) a middle-aged guy came around with a tub of fresh home-baked goods. A slice of delectably moist carrot cake with almonds and some homemade icing cost ¢2000. $4.40 USD was not cheap, but the quality was impeccable, and I respected the hustle of carrying that big bin all over the city. Likely he was a migrant. There are lots of Venezuelan and Colombian migrants here in Costa Rica. Some of them beg and steal - I saw an old man grab a small food item in passing from a shop in Alajuela - while others strive for legitimate success.
Live music comes to my hostel. Pregame with a cacique (1 liter) bottle on the terrace, then go down, feel bad for the low turnout and buy two $4 beers from the hostel bar. The chick is not cute, but ehh, handsome? She looked better wearing the booty shorts earlier today cleaning the hostel. I went to Sarchí on a bus today, took an aimless walk, threw a rotten branch at some aggressive guard dogs at a dead end gate, then ducked into a soda for lunch just before the skies opened with a torrential downpour. The owner's attractive 14 yo daughter was wearing an athletic shirt and tight stretchy underpants, no actual pants. We exchanged looks a few times while I waited for the interminable downpour to end. She wasn't hostile or aversive, but she was not interested. Everywhere you go here there is an attractive single girl, it seems. It's pretty nice after weeks in USAland hardly seeing a single female worth looking at. Daily budget will trend above $30 even with cheap hostels. I hate being constrained by budget to a few destinations instead of being free to stay wherever I like. But so be it. Costa Rica is a very high quality travel destino. Arguably it's worth the price.
>>2915496>The owner's attractive 14 yo daughter was wearing an athletic shirt and tight stretchy underpants, no actual pants
>>2915501I have hair but it lies flat instead of sticking up in lush curls like the zoomermutt broccoli heads. Too bad.My hostel blanket reeks of somebody else's BO. Thankfully I travel with a miniblanket for my upper body so I don't have to have the stink right in my face. It still smells tho, and the traffic noise is loud outside my window. Might as well move on in a couple days...
As someone has probably said traveling around the country is a nightmare of windy roads, irregular transit, and fucked up solutions. But on the plus side the country is a good version of green hell. Too bad the food is some of the worst on the planet.
>>2914958Is all the food 90% cheap carbs, or can I find places selling steaks and roast chicken and other mostly meat meals?>>2914776So in other words perfectly on-topic for /trv/.>>2914772As much as I hate to see animals in distress, shitbulls should all be killed.
>>2915663Cheap lunches have a bigger portion of meat than what you get in Asia - the quality is much better as well. You don't get hacked up bits of bone and gristle passing as chicken; you get a nice piece of meat even with the $5.50 pollo a la plancha special. Additionally, veggies are always part of a set meal, and fruit based beverages are often included as well to balance things out. The coffee-growing region of Costa Rica has a ton of landowners with big piles of easy money from their harvests, so there are plenty of eateries serving steaks, roasted/fried chicken, crispy pork and other meat-heavy entrees. If you want a proper hunk of animal to chew on, 200 grams or so, you should expect to pay $12-20 per plate.
On today's bus & pedestrian trip to Poas I stumbled upon this tremendous converging falls located under a highway bridge. Due to the high suicide barrier, you could easily pass over the bridge by car and have no idea that there is a twin waterfall down below plunging into a misty rainforest abyss.
Like most Costa Rican towns, Poas doesn't look too pretty. It's practical, compact and walkable. Lots of patching in the infrastructure here; rural roads have lots of bumps from all the different patches. If you come from newly built suburban USA it might look rundown by comparison. But the hilly nature of the region makes everything squeezed together, with no room for grassy landscaped verges, and erosion is constantly washing away the crumbly volcanic soil. The climate seems perfect, but the terrain is a challenge - not quite on the level of Nepal's Himalayas, but still nothing like the vast flatlands and spacious valleys of the USA.
This trail along a ruined aqueduct spooked me out. It was the kind of place you venture down and mysteriously go missing. The river looks small, but is deceptively deep and fast. Eroded muddy slopes offer no way to stop a slide. When I came out of the forest, the cafe owner across the street was watching anxiously. Hiking in the bottom of a rainforest gorge is super cool; hopefully there will be more such opportunities. At the same time I'm in no hurry to check off a big list of destinations. This hostel has almost no guests, so it feels almost like I am renting an entire guesthouse for the price of one bunk. Traffic noise is very bad tonight with some outlaw dirtbikers riding in circles around town revving constantly. I've used earplugs every night here do far; it's the price of staying right in the middle of town.
Walking in the tall wet grass of the coffee plantations was more relaxing; many of them are unfenced and unposted. Should I be paying the owner for a tour? Perhaps. One plantation I snuck in the back way instead of going through the tour entrance. If nobody notices me, then there's no harm done. People aren't Karens here. The hostel staff even told me I can bring outside beer into the bar for the live music show. That never is permitted in more uptight countries.
Up top you can see the slippery wet rocks on the brink where I could get a view of both waterfalls...the other cataract is out of sight under the highway bridge from this POV. The cafe ladies were nonchalant about me walking back to the edge. No handholds or safeguards have been constructed. Only a gigantic four-trunked tree clinging to the dropoff has kept the soil from eroding away to the point of collapse.
Most businesses seem honest in Costa Rica, but the fruit vendors at the market like to overcharge. Two small guavas for $3; another vendor quoted a kilo of granadilla for $9. It'd be stupid to pass up on fruit while you're here, though.
>>2914764Expensive, crime ridden shit hole full of disgusting goblinas mediocre food and thieving shopkeepers
>>2914764I am curious about Costa Rica, what is the easiest way to get from San Jose to Arenal volcano park? Also, how dangerous is it?
What is the most beautiful and amazing thing to see in Costa Rica? What would be the top two you guys recommend?Also, is it the type of country you should return to your hotel when the sun sets?
Spooky fog rolled in over the city graveyard, leaving the entire landscape a uniform white.One week in Costa Rica is complete! This is the first week in half a decade of travel where I have stayed exclusively in hostels. Minimal social opportunities have presented themselves due to low occupancy. I share the dorm here with a grumpy old boomer rotter who cooks gross food in the kitchen and sits hunched over his phone all day. Current exchange rate is 1 USD : 455 CRC, much worse than it has been over the past few years. If you want to be frugal here, you have to go out of your way to do so, finding the cheapest options for everything. It's not like poor Asian countries where you don't have to try, most of what is on offer is budget tier. Here a jar of Prego pasta sauce in the supermarket is frickin $7+ USD. After seeing that I decided to eat local food and forget about cooking. >Total spending: $226 – $32 per dayThis is a baseline figure which is bound to increase.>Hostels: $89 - $12.72 per nightI've grown fond of this big comfy guesthouse in Grecia - it's basically the only lodging in town. However, hostels are very unevenly distributed here in Costa Rica, just like any other country. If you want to spend a night somewhere that is not touristy, you will have to shell out for a private room in most cases. That will easily triple this figure, if not more.>Food: $102 or $14.59 per dayI eat several fruits, one square meal a day, and either snacks I brought on the plane or a quick bite. While I feel well-fed on $15/day, beefier guys could easily double that figure if they want to eat something gourmet. There are tons of high-end social dining restaurants here, but only a few cocinas economicas serving Latinoslop from a buffet setup. Most local places cook to order and charge accordingly. Working poors can't afford to dine out here, so there is no market share catering to them. Plus, taxes are high and foodservice regs are strict.
>>2915884There's godzillions of beautiful amazing things to see here. The country looks small on the map but it is in fact very extensive. Trying to pick a direction to go is a real challenge.>Drinks & entertainment: $18Bar beers are equivalent to a liter bottle at the shop; both cost just under $4. If you want cheap booze, forget C.R. and go to Panama. If I had to book my flight again I would've split the trip 50/50 between the two countries. Ticos are more polite and business-minded, Panameños are more colorful and casually friendly.>Transport: $11 for nine bus rides covering 114 km and visiting five different places (plus Alajuela)Per km cost is high for short trips, but that's still only $1.20 for a bus going up into the mountain villages, with dependably hourly service. That's objectively affordable while also being a low-stress, low-effort escape from town. Be aware that buses to different destinations depart from different places. >Laundry: $6My hostel offered wash & dry service.>>2915825Why would you be trying to game on walled señoras? Are you trying to get knifed by an enraged husband? Dumbass. Go for the single girls who give you inviting looks. Lots of bored girls looking for trouble in the smaller towns...Night falls around 5:45 pm here, so yes everyone is out after dark. Don't trust people who approach you - most of them are migrants running some sort of scam. Most Costa Ricans keep to themselves, so anyone who bothers you especially in a secluded place should put you on orange alert ready to defend yourself. In the smaller towns they don't seem too worried about robbery, though valuables are definitely not left unsecured in public. In the city people are warier, police are always playing cat and mouse with the troublemakers. Pay with card everywhere if you're chickenshit about carrying cash. Big gringos shouldn't have to fear anything unless they are in a gang controlled ghetto, and even then you just keep moving aggressively.
>>2915831There is a bus from San Jose to that area, La Fortuna or Arenal. It's slow as a tortoise and stops every 2 km. Rent a car if you're a wagie in a hurry to dooo everything. There would also be VIP nonstop tourist buses available from private companies. I see them on the road pretty often.I tried to hike up the dirt road that goes up to Volcan Poas, but it was a wet muddy mess of gullies. Volcanic mud is firm and sticky, but still I had to chicken out. At least I got to dally in this forest and spot a toucan. A little unexpected sunshine after a gentle noon shower brightened everything up.
There was also a dirtbike trail, but it was ruined as well. Up to 5 meters of soil washed away by past torrents...hardly the pristine forest landscape I was hoping for. Goddamn all these 4x4 drivers. To be fair it was a water supply pipeline route, so evidently they need vehicular access...
The road only got awful like that after the last finca entrance. In the village most roads are well-paved albeit narrow. This is where the bus ended after 15 km of torturous climbing along a ridge of volcanic sediment. A retired gringo living nearby with his wife was speaking English to his pet goat while I waited for the bus to arrive.
Less than $5 for this filling plate of food at the popular local place...the serving girl was cute and friendly. Beef chunks were tough but good. Tomorrow I board the bus to either Zarcero village or all the way to Cd. Quesada. La Fortuna is super touristy, but that's where the cheap hostels are, so I think I will go there for a bit.
>>2915663>Is all the food 90% cheap carbs, or can I find places selling steaks and roast chicken and other mostly meat meals?If you want something other than carb based poverty slop you'll end up paying higher than western prices for the novelty experience
>>2916021It's not a novelty; people all across LatAm love eating big hunks of prime meat. But I can't review such places because I don't want to drop $20 on a 10 oz ribeye meal. This is the base price I've seen. In tourist beach areas yes you will pay more. But how much are ribeye dinners in the Anglosphere these days? $30 or more.
>>2916010Broke trespassing walkies crying about vehicle owners using the road they built to supply the goblinas that the walkoid fetishizes with water to wash their stinkholes
First hotel room of the trip in the small mountain town of Zarcero. It's so tiny, barely 100 ft2 including the bathroom. An unpleasant odor of rotting food permeates the room; the dampness of rainy season brings out a lot of weird musty smells here. Single room cost ¢15000 or $33, double room ¢20000 or $44. Hotels are scarce in this area; this is the only lodging option in Zarcero. Resigned to paying such rates, I did not try to bargain the price lower.The bus to Zarcero cost more than expected; a lady in front of me also going to Zarcero balked at paying the driver ¢2100 ($4.60) for the 22 km ride and held up the boarding line for a minute. And here I was thinking ten cents a km was an expensive bus fare! Costa Rica is so different from other countries in a couple ways.>other countries: foreigners flock to the big cities and barely visit the countryside>Costa Rica: everyone avoids the cities and hurries off to middle of nowhere resort towns>other countries: cheap rooms off the beaten path, tourist traps are pricey>Costa Rica: tourist towns have cheap hostels & sharehouses, lodging options scarce and pricey elsewhere
Busy, congested Naranjo has a beautiful forested mini-volcano nature preserve with a road to the summit lookout a few km from town, but there was not a single hotel or guesthouse around town. I would've had to bus to Naranjo from the hostel in Grecia and then take another local bus to where the summit road starts. Today would've been perfect weather for that excursion, with the rainclouds absent for once, but I decided to move on to Zarcero instead. The quarry here makes such a fucking racket, it echoes off all the surrounding hills.
Zarcero does have a showpiece of a plaza with some elaborately sculpted shrubbery. The climate at 1750 meters elevation is delightfully cool. The town is located along a busy highway clogged with truck traffic, but thankfully the hotel is on a back street.
The only friend I've made so far in Costa Rica has been this heavily pregnant mama cat which lives at the hostel in Grecia.
>>2916341Misery and humiliation day after day. Oh well at least you don't have a home and family
>>2916362Dumbass, I just spent a month with family helping out with yardwork and home projects. American suburbia is very tiresome and soul sucking. >but muh proximity to shartmart, home depot, hospital, only ten minutes driveThat's literally all they care about. Amazon packages arrive multiple times a week, because when you have a huge house and tons of money for only 1 or 2 people, you are a big corporation's dream come true. Buy, buy, buy! For exercise they walk half a mile to the communal mailbox instead of driving. Then it's back inside the house. Miles and miles of generic houseslop and traffic everywhere you go, so why even explore? Even though I was staying for free, the whole middle class lifestyle really rubbed me the wrong way and I was so happy to return to the travel life.
A grueling walk up to a farming village came with some awesome views of Zarcero, which itself is at a very high elevation. The lower terrain beyond was covered in clouds, but up here the sun was shining brilliantly. What a lovely cool day.
Arriving at Palmira, over 2000 meters above sea level. Clouds formed over the high hills and a few thunderclaps sent me inside a local bar for a rich tasty dinner of chifrijo - cost ¢4000 or $9. This one was drowned in gravy, so good! Chunks of salty dry pork with tomato, beans and rice...the portion of pork was very generous. Corn chips on the side, not so much. I had to pay ¢500 extra for ten more chips. The owner presented a menu which stated that all taxes are included in the price, then tried to charge me 10% tax at the kiosk. When I balked, he presented another menu with masking tape covering up the "taxes included" statement and "taxes not included" written on the masking tape. I told him that the menu he showed me said that taxes were included, and he unhappily doled out the change.
This hotel does have a pleasant terrace overlooking the town. So far every place I have stayed here in C.R. has had such an elevated outdoor seating area with a view. Tomorrow I go down the mountain to San Carlos de Quesada, the biggest city in the north-central part of the country. At 650 meters elevation it will be warmer and muggier without A/C...but afternoon cloudiness and cooling rain means that buildings don't soak up heat this time of year like they do in dry season.
>>2916430You seem miserable wherever you go. Just running away from responsibility and putting forth effort and working and as a result living in poverty tier conditions. Then you mock people with homes and jobs and families. You don't have a family, your resent those people you stayed with but they aren't your family, you are part of theirs, a broken branch. Everything is always " I can't live like them or a wagecuck" so I'll be a bum. Like those are your only choices.
>>2916441It's not misery, it's defiance. Fuck your First World privilege, and fuck the system which protects it and doles it out. Choose the difficult path of mental resistance and free thought instead of going with the herd. >responsibilityto WHAT? That's Judeo-Christian brainwashing used by old white women and their wifeguy boomer husbands to put single men – be they white or brown – in their "place" at the bottom of the social order. Obey, submit, pay our Social Security, pay our Medicare, pay for our infrastructure, pay for our insurance policies, pay for our rental mortgages, pay for the police who protect us and our piles of wealth. After you are done getting raped at every turn, you must expend all your remaining energies to snatch at any crumbs of opportunity we see fit to throw your way. If you are servile enough and never ever take more than two weeks off, maybe you can attain our level someday – teehee just kidding.
>>2916467>free thoughtParagraphs of rage and not one original thought. It's regurgitated nihilism you read on some doomer blog. Why are you so angry is it knowing you will be wage cucking again soon?
>>2916476It's been my lived experience in America, dumbfuck. Same with every single post I make here, based on my life experience. Evidently you have no life experience to speak of, else why would the concept of speaking from experience be so alien to you?
>>2916546This isn't your life experience. None of this happened to you someone put all this shit in your head. Lmao ur screeching about imaginary problems living in a roach motel because you jestergooned on incel doomerism>Fuck your First World privilege, and fuck the system which protects it and doles it out. Choose the difficult path of mental resistance and free thought instead of going with the herd.>responsibilityto WHAT? That's Judeo-Christian brainwashing used by old white women and their wifeguy boomer husbands to put single men – be they white or brown – in their "place" at the bottom of the social order. Obey, submit, pay our Social Security, pay our Medicare, pay for our infrastructure, pay for our insurance policies, pay for our rental mortgages, pay for the police who protect us and our piles of wealth. After you are done getting raped at every turn, you must expend all your remaining energies to snatch at any crumbs of opportunity we see fit to throw your way. If you are servile enough and never ever take more than two weeks off, maybe you can attain our level someday –
Zarcero was enveloped in fog this morning. The bakeries here have such rich & delectable pastries, nothing like the dry stale crap you find in poorer countries. Order an item and they will warm it up for you. When you want a quick tasty bite, they are the best option. A good empañada de carne will run you about ¢900 or $2. Bizcochos are also amazingly moist and cheesy. Cheese dough, cheese filling, and cheese on top, all baked to cheesy perfection.
Ciudad Quesada has somewhat cheaper lodging than the other towns; most foreigners skip it over on their way to La Fortuna, but if a place is hospitable and along the route, why not stop and stay. This local hospedaje has a balcony looking out on a green ravine with a rushing river at the bottom. Lovely to be staying in a sizable city and still have a peaceful nature view. Rooms are rustic and simple, starting at ¢12000 ($26). Here you must be buzzed in at the entrance 24/7; evidently it is not too safe here. Venezuelan migrants were begging on the street outside, a common sight in every town here. The friendly joven behind the desk showed me all the rooms and let me check in two hours early.Money does go fast here; the bills are high value and so thin that even $400 worth of colones feels like an empty wallet. I intend to continue paying everything with cash. Vacancies are very high, so I have no worries about being unable to find lodging. With plentiful buses, helpful people, walkable town centers and high quality food everywhere you go, Costa Rica is one of the least stressful countries I have visited.
>>2916559>You're imagining things. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. You are so ensconced in your privilege bubble that you cannot even begin to comprehend what the world looks like from outside it. You think free choice is "what shall I order from Amazon today?" An entire global system of exploitation and extraction exists just to cater to your whims, but you are mentally incapable of seeing past the surface layer.
>>2916620>An entire global system of exploitation and extraction exists just to cater to your whims,Yes. You poors exist to serve your betters and in exchange we throw you scraps. Glad you know your place in the universe
San Carlos de Quesada is a little rough around the edges. Strewn litter and rubbish dumps are plentiful in the poorer areas, and filthy water runs into the town rivers. I was about to dip my feet in one such river under a footbridge when a local guy (who looked like a druggie and was carrying some weird paraphernalia) told me the water is dirty and should be avoided. The weather has been very dynamic, with a breeze blowing clouds off the vast lowland plain up the volcanic slopes. Alternately sunny and overcast, warm and cool, rainy and dry. Various characters spoke garbled Spanish to me, including a crazy strung-out guy who tried to throw a water bottle in the trash can using only his feet. People gave him leery looks when he kicked it in their direction with a frenzied exclamation. Must've been on some paco. This place feels more like a normal Latin America shithole. No eye-catching slender pale girls either; faces are coarser, skin is browner and bodies are fatter.
A rough trail led from this pretty bridge along a forested gorge to a homeless encampment. The premises looked abandoned, but there was so much fucking trash everywhere in the forest. Dismantled appliances and all kinds of junk.
>>2916633you're the one shucking and jiving for a pat on the back and some watermelon rinds from massa. that's why you feel personally attacked whenever someone questions the system
Vacant lots and roadsides strewn with rubbish...still not as bad as India's rubbish tsunamis filling entire creekbeds. At least nobody dumps trash directly into the river here.
"Cabinas" are basically love motels...rooms with attached garages which can be rented hourly. They are very common here, but definitely not desirable places for a tourist to stay. This one looks like a freaking storage facility.
Evidently the girls here aren't rich or pretty enough for the flashiest styles, unlike the white-passing coffee planters' daughters; neither are they disciplined enough to exercise and watch their eating, so they are all kind of fat and short. Ah well. Costa Rica is no different from other countries, in that top tier girls are mainly found in top tier places. Next stop is La Fortuna the backpacker hotspot at the base of a picturesque volcano.
Stepped out of my room this morning to the sight of male and female iguanas relaxing in a riverside tree. But the enjoyment of the trip was marred by an unexpected ATM scam.Back on October 9th I got charged $216 by a Banco Popular ATM which never dispensed any cash. So much for Costa Rica being a worry-free country. I tried three times to make a withdrawal, thinking maybe the amount was wrong, maybe I should've picked Visa Debit instead of US Debit...but each time an error message popped up and my card was released.Banco Popular says "not my problem, contact your bank". Thankfully Schwab does go to bat for its clients. I recently got refunded by Schwab for the hotel booking I made in Mississippi, where the hotel was shuttered and the booking platform refused to refund me. It did take 60 days to process the refund, however.Let this be a reminder: diligently check your transaction history after every ATM usage!
La Fortuna has lots of tourists, but still feels sleepy and rural with its spectacular volcano backdrop. My hostel bunk cost $12 here - payment in dollars was slightly cheaper than payment in colones. There are several European zoomers at this hostel. Humidity is high at this low altitude, but cloud cover is thick, so temps are not too hot. Room A/C is only turned on at night. Fucking scams, every time you stop paying attention they find a way to steal from you. This wasn't some sketchy no-name street ATM either, it was in the lobby of one of Costa Rica's biggest banks. Contacted support and they literally said "tee hee we're not going to refund you until your bank contacts us to dispute the charge". One other time I got charged by a malfunctioning ATM in Laos, but the charge was immediately reversed after the machine failed to dispense the funds. That is what any honest bank would've done. Costa Rica does have a reputation for scamming tourists, unfortunately.
You hear "sloth park" and think you will be venturing deep into the primeval forest in search of elusive sloths. But instead you're paying $45 a head to enter a little scrap of remnant forest on the edge of town where a family of sloths is basically imprisoned (and probably fed too). Highways, fields and a supermarket with a high razor-wire fence surround the miniscule preserve. All of the nature here around La Fortuna seems to be behind a paywall, $20 or more admission fee plus guide fees, transport fees, etc. Even the river running past the town is bounded by a tall fence, blocking all public access. The town itself is super gentrified while also being a little shoddy, full of overpriced tourist trap businesses. Even the fruit store charges over twice the price I paid in other towns. One hostel run by an Indian guy (from India) is the cheapest place in town and possibly the country, charging only $6 for a bunk. Indian restaurants nearby charge steep prices for their cuisine and then tack 23% surcharges onto the bill just for the hell of it. This town is full of sky-high prices, but hostels are somehow cheap.I literally have this whole room to myself, evidently $12/night is too expensive for Europoors because they are all crowded into the $9 room.
>>2916973And thats why I decided to not go to that shithole
You need to pay $20 and walk past armed security to see a waterfall in Costa Rica. It's so extractive. I tried to walk past the parking lots outside the entrance and got stopped by another gun-toting guard. The whole road up to the waterfall is lined with gimmicky tourist resorts promising rainforest magic even as relentless development continues to push back nature. So many projects under construction. I enjoyed finding hidden trails in random Indian villages more.
A traditional lunch at an ordinary restaurant a little ways from the waterfall park front costs $12. It looks like enough food for the whole day, just about.
Río La Fortuna does in fact have some unfenced banks with public trails used by water lovers. One such trail came out in the back of a camping & cabins resort. A weird white girl was also poking along the riverbank; I said hi but she didn't respond or react. Looking for a place to skinny dip I reached the trail's end and then she came up to putter around nearby. I headed into the resort grounds to get away from her and didn't see her again.
Lots of people were jumping into this deep pool at the base of a small waterfall. This trio of local girls (one pudgy, one skinny white and tattooed, the third a teenager evidently related to the pudgy one) were acting strange when I arrived, talking rapidly to several different people. It started pouring rain and they came over to take cover under a gateway. Then the pudgy one began telling some story to the gateman while the young girl pulled her hat down low and looked very embarrassed. When the police showed up, I realized that sone crime had been committed - evidently a molestation. After getting a photo of the suspect, the female officer gave the girls a ride while the two male officers set out looking for the suspect, who had fled up the trail.
Clouds rapidly burn off from Arenal Volcano as the sun comes out after a rainstorm. Temps stay in the 80s here most of the day, dipping to the mid 70s at night.There is a laundry cartel here in La Fortuna which fixes prices at $5 per kilo. At least it is done quickly.
Hip gentrified restaurants and food courts make up the majority of La Fortuna's nightlife. Everything is open air. I saw quite a few sugar daddies with their good time lasses and bimbos. Most of the Gen Z hostelfags cook in the kitchen because they can't afford to dine out...but even the grocery prices shock them. I was quoted $3 USD for a single medium-sized green apple at the local fruit shop. Not a kilo, one apple. On the plus side I had a good chat with a petite tattooed French girl who was interested in talking about the world. She casually invited me to go out with her and her friends, but I demurred. Evidently they can still afford to drink even if they can't afford to eat. A 300 gram ribeye steak was ¢15,600 at a restaurant on the main street. After added-on charges you're paying upwards of $40 for a 10 oz ribeye. That's the reality of prices in this Reddit-tier tourist destination. (Literally. Every single Redditor on r/CostaRicaTravel including myself has gone to La Fortuna.)
Leaving La Fortuna. On the bus were a trio of Israelis (I didn't ask their country but they were cheap AF and had Jewish names so it was obvious). The two girls had big Khazar milkers flopping around or pushed up tight by a stretchy top. They had started in Guatemala and travelled overland to Costa Rica, which was pretty damn cool. Once we reached the small hill town of Tilaran, I decided to stay while they continued on to Liberia, Costa Rica's second city with a major international airport.Hotel prices here are not too bad. ¢10,000 or $22 a night for a small fan room with shared bathroom. Nice and clean and quiet, temp is 81° so no A/C needed. A/C room with attached bath would've been ¢16000 or $35. At the nice modern properties in town catering to vacationers, rates seemed to top out at a very modest ¢20000 per night. This is definitely cheaper than the room rates I will encounter on the Pacific coast, which is famously expensive as fuck. Food, eh. Every time I try something new I get both overcharged and disappointed. The cheaper Western or Asian style menu items are usually trash, with the obvious exception of the casado, the traditional Costa Rican lunch plate. Otherwise you have to pay upwards of $10 if you want something worth eating...even fried rice is super pricey here.
Fuck I keep forgetting to add the stupid dot to my vertical pics.The volcano (hidden in the background) stayed hidden most of the time I was in La Fortuna, with rain falling unpredictably throughout the day. One French hostel girl and I had a nice little chat; she seemed interested in my company and even invited me to come along for a night out. But I was smelly and needed a shower, so we parted ways and I checked out the next morning. Here in Tilaran there are quite a few local cuties, but lots of foreigners pass through here, so people don't seem interested or friendly. A small non A/C room with private bath and chair on the balcony out front was ¢14000 or $31. There was a very clear continuum of prices and amenities; this room would probably be the cheapest option that most anons would consider suitable. Foreign backpackers don't even visit Costa Rican towns like these which do not have a selection of cheap hostels. One guy accompanied by two girls is a common sight here for some reason. Much rarer is two or three guys accompanied by only one girl, something you see fairly often among young people in the pussy desert that is the US.
Tilarán has been a pleasant stay, albeit a little boring. Far from any sizable towns, there's not much going on here. Saturday night the bar downstairs was packed wall to wall, guys shouting and singing in unison. The next day I walked up to the overlook past numerous beer cans and broken bottles. The city looked really pretty nestled amongst the green volcanic foothills. This is the dry side of the volcanic range, so it sees a lot of wind and fewer downpours.
Beyond the rolling hills lies the lowland plain of the Pacific coastal interior. Many buses go to Cañas on the principal highway, but there is one which goes to Monteverde, a high-altitude resort town located next to a vast area of preserved cloud forest. Tomorrow I will go there and enjoy the coolness of the highlands. Not that it's hot here; temps barely reach 85° F during sunny spells, and then cool off significantly with the arrival of rainclouds. The volcanoes in the distance were all obscured by cloudpuffs.
I also snuck onto a finca for a walk in the woods, which are not quite as damp and mossy here as on the other side of the volcanoes. A gap next to the gate allowed pedestrian entry; there was an abandoned homestead in the woods all collapsed and dismantled, with two creeks tumbling down ravines nearby. So far I have not been attacked by any of the numerous ants which inhabit these jungles. Even when the big leafcutter ants get stepped on, they just flop out strangely like "ah, the freedom of death at last" while all the other ants carry on not giving a shit.
This old tired butterfly sat still for a very close-up photo. There are gazillions of different butterflies here. The biodiversity is truly remarkable, even though so much of the land has been cleared for development and agriculture. As this was a Sunday, the local buses did not run, so a daytrip to a nearby town was not possible. Food choices lately have been disappointing as well as expensive; you might as well resign yourself to eating a casado lunch every day, because most of the alternatives are overpriced fastfood slop with astroturfed five-star reviews, mediocre taste and poor nutrition. The traditional cuisine is the tastiest, healthiest and best value...though as usual, there are so many veggies in the market which are never served on restaurant plates. Too much prep work, it seems. My lazy ass didn't cook shit during all that time staying at hostels with nice kitchens. Shameful.
This is my ¢9000 ($19.78 currently, $14.63 five years ago) hotel room on the central plaza of Cañas. No rooms here have A/C. Thankfully this room has a window; most of the other rooms were squalid windowless bugboxes. I don't mind the traffic noise too much. There is a nice shared balcony overlooking the park. The plump sassy girl behind the desk was like "what's a white boi like you doing in a place like this?" She didn't take down my name, number, anything. It's a humid 88° F in the room; doesn't feel too bad. Of course the 72° F temps up in Monteverde would've been preferable...Originally I was planning to go to Monteverde, a popular tourist destination located in a high altitude cloud forest, but bus service from Tilarán had been discontinued - even though the TV in the bus station still showed a 1 PM departure on the bus schedule. With Cañas being the only nearby destination accessible by bus, I decided to give it a try. It's definitely poorer and browner than other parts of the country I've been to. A lowland plains town with the music and hooting laughter and other lively sounds of lowland peoples. Being right on the main highway, it should be easy to go to the beach from here; Puntareñas being the closest spot, while the gringo favorite of Jaco is significantly farther away on a more remote stretch of coast. I could also go to the resort towns on the far side of the Nicoya Peninsula, but they are infamously expensive.
Restaurant prices are also lower here in Cañas, even for an establishment offering an American-style indoor dining room with A/C. For reference, ¢4550 is equal to $10.
>>2917757Enjoying the mold?
>>2917775Even the cheap rooms here are as clean as Thailand, although much more dilapidated (because muttmericans are always breaking and ruining everything). Costa Rica is definitely not a dirty country. Most restaurants have rigorous cleanliness protocols too.Last week's expenses totaled $318 or $45 per day. Breakdown:>46% on lodging: $21 per day for 5 hotel nights 2 hostel nightsPretty happy with this lodging figure, although non A/C sleeping at low elevation is awfully sweaty>38% on food: $17 per dayFor all the disappointing and inadequate sustenance I've endured lately, this figure is really too high. And I'm not even a big eater: one proper meal a day has been the norm. You need a much bigger budget than this to be a foodie here.>7% on transport: $0.12 per km to cover 200 km visiting five citiesSome bus routes were as high as 20¢ per km, but the last few rides were more reasonable, with costs on par with short rides on a US Greyhound bus>Beer: $15.30Evenings in small town Costa Rica get boring for an incel who already blew out his food budget for the day. People aren't very outgoing here. Beer is kinda pricey, but not quite Malaysia tier thanks to returnable liter bottles.>Laundry: $10That's $5 per kilo.
Cañas is kind of a shithole, though it doesn't seem dangerous. Beggars live and sleep outside the ATM in the central plaza. The whole city lost water this morning, can't wash hands or fill my bottle. And when I went to buy lunch, everyone was charging inflated prices. One ordinary restaurant highly reviewed by foreigners wanted $12 for a basic lunch plate. Nobody was eating there, so who knows if the food is even fresh. It was located on an ugly back street with mostly shuttered shops; no justification at all for charging tourist central prices. Service is not very good here, everyone acts annoyed that they have to do their jobs. Oh well, only five nights and one overnight wait for a flight left in Costa Rica. I think I liked Poland better; the rooms, beer and (grocery) food I got in Poland were much better value than they are here.
Puntarenas looks like a dump and smells like seaweed, but that's why I like it. It's not full of rich gringos like so many other Pacific coast towns. Yet it still has a bike path running along the coast. The beach is two blocks from my hotel, and it has nice views of the mountainous Nicoya Peninsula across the gulf. The city itself is located on a long low peninsula jutting out into the water.
The ride down Highway 1 from Cañas was half the price I expected it to be, but with a ginormous road widening project underway, there was a lot of traffic. One reason few tourists ride public buses here is the limited space for luggage on board. Overhead racks are so tiny that nobody ever uses them for their bags. Drivers only open the luggage bays for passengers on the long-haul routes to and from major cities. Most people put their bags on the seat next to them. Only if the buses is crowded must you carry your pack in your lap and keep your duffel behind your feet.
$26 for this budget fan room with a courtyard window and inside bathroom. Zero beach surcharge at all, so I'm glad I picked Puntarenas over all the other fancy schmancy coastal spots. The bus stopped right outside the entrance, can't beat that for convenience. The property has a comfy seating area in the courtyard which is infested with extremely incompetent mosquitoes. Thankfully my window has an intact screen. A/C room would've been only $5 more, but I'd rather spend $5 on beer. Not one of the hotels or hostels on this trip was boooked. Only luxury travelers who want everything predictable and prearranged should book accomodation, tours, transport, etc in Costa Rica.
>>2917975>Planning ahead makes you richFascinating insight into the mind of the intentionally poorfag. And he is correct
>>2917975No beach surcharge because the 'people' who stay there don't go to the beach unless they unexpectedly have to take a shit are they even listed on booking?
>>2917984Planning required: zeroJacó is pretty nice, I expected to diss it for too much gentrification but the cheap old restaurants still exist. Booming ocean breakers and a gorgeous sunset on a beach full of dog people...is this California?
Creeks flow out of the mysterious rainforest hills which rise up all around the town. My map shows some trails, but I didn't get around to hiking today. It is definitely drier down here than in the highlands or on the Caribbean side of the mountains.
There is a lot of development going on here, with new high-rises under construction...with a big appliance store right on the main drag, it's evident the town is trying to attract residents, not just surferbums.Drugs and whores? Jacó is infamous for aggressive street hustlers, but I only got approached by one demanding beggar. Evidently the police have decided that boomers won't bring their money to a place full of street scum. There are if anything fewer pretty girls here than in a random town in the coffee-growing region. I did see one 9/10 model-tier girl with her mom on the bus today, but most women are fat, short, brown and uninterested because they are already somebody's slampig.
$15 to stay in this non A/C dorm. Cheaper than most hotel rooms, okay, and we do have a courtyard with hammocks and swimming pool. I guess it's a good thing when they provide only the most basic bed, it keeps the fucking rotters out. The gender imbalance at this hostel is awful for some reason. Shirtless surferbros in the kitchen, but where are all the travel foids? Maybe they are scared off by Jaco's rough reputation, because I don't see any white girls here.
An angry Japanese mestizo threw me off the porch of his restaurant, which is shared with the hostel. I was sitting on a stool drinking my usual liter of beer and he said I can't drink there. Not that there was much of anything going on in the street. The most boring group of normies at the bar across. Oh, and a few mulatto girls sitting on the street corner in folding chairs. One of them is slender and pretty. Boom boom time? Bet she wants $100. She didn't solicit me because I look super broke.
The street leading to the beach here looks kinda ghetto, even though there is a luxury high-rise right along it. Hypernormie Euros in the hostel were talking about getting tattoos - how cool, how original! - Hours later I get back and they are still engrossed in conversation about, guess what, tattoos. Half the adults in this country are tatted, it seems. A symptom of way too much fucking money laying around...
>>2918038You ever wake up in a dump like that and regret your life choices?
>>2918040No planning you say?
>>2918101spics and jews seething
>>2918099Why would you regret being able to travel longer because you saved money? Beds here are so much comfier than in poor Asian countries BTW. Even in 84° warmth with a loud ass fan blowing on me I wake up feeling pretty well-rested. Ready to move on because there's always going to be a new place to experience. My only regret is getting scammed by the Banco Popular ATM. It's common knowledge that foreigners should only make withdrawals at two banks here: Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica.
>>2918176>Why would you regret being able to travel longer because you saved money?You enjoying the roaches, the sweating in an uncomfortable bed in a room full of stinky snoring drunk guys? Lmao>bbbbut I saved money
this autistic diary is my favorite thread I've ever seen on this board. Wish more people did this. OP you seem like a miserable, judgmental loser but you've kept me entertained.
>>2918209His previous one was even better he was sleeping in ditches and crackhouses while claiming that people with houses and families were losers
>>2918191What part of "the dorm was mostly empty" do you fail to comprehend? It's low season here; everything is empty. >>2918210You have the sour grapes mentality, constantly trying to convince yourself that going outside is heckin awful so you can justify giving up on life and staying indoors in your safe space (which is dirtier and smells worse than any place I've stayed - but of course you don't smell your own sour-food stink because you never go outside).
>>2918210shit, is it archived somewhere? sounds fascinating.
>>2918216I'm not sure. It's also funny that it's the same guy who is in every thread pretending to be indian, talking about Appalachia and Singapore. You can tell by his writing style. Some weird mental illness
Quepos was a last minute decision. So glad I came here. Not only are prices surprisingly low, but the town and its surroundings are fucking gorgeous.Bus fare: ¢1550 for 67 km, and it was a luxury coach with A/C. Versus ¢2800 to go 33 km from Grecia to Zarcero.Hotel: only ¢10,000 for a basic room, spotlessly clean and well-maintained, right in the middle of town and two blocks from the waterfront. I can sit on the nice terrace outside and drink my beer.Beer: ¢1500 at the local super and it's ice cold. Just last night they charged me ¢1900 for a semi warm bottle in Jaco.Food: Okay, I did fall for the hustle of a market lady who charged ¢1000 more for lunch than her stall neighbors. She deliberately targeted every white person passing by kek. The lunch was meh, economy tier. So food might not be Quepo's strong point.Views & nature: This is where Quepo blows away places like La Fortuna. Here you can ride public buses (or even walk/bike) to numerous trails along the rugged jungle coastline. Many trails are free and informal, while a few require a park entry fee. Today I hiked down a very steep trail to a secluded cove where a waterfall tumbled into the sea, less than 2 km from town. Redditors call the area "Manuel Antonio" after the eponymous national park. Most foreigners stay in the luxury tourist developments strung out along the roads beyond the town. But I like it here. The beach is across the river, which provides access to a snug little fishing harbor.
Spooky abandoned bungalow on a forested bluff high over the crashing waves. Narrow lanes curving through the forest made the whole area feel hidden and mysterious as I hunted out the trail to the cove. Parked motorbikes gave it away; three teenage boys were spending the day at the bottom, climbing the waterfall, swimming in the sea, and just having fun. School? Never heard of it!
Unbelievable air clarity over the sea here at sunset. Clouds on the furthest point of the horizon reveal not a trace of pollution haze. Temps are extremely mild, with a 79° to 84° range. You can't get any of this in tropical Asia, which is currently choking on haze or suffering under feels like 110° extreme heat...or both. And to be honest, all the famous beach towns of Thailand are probably more expensive than Quepos at this point.
When you have OsmAnd, you can find all these hidden gems yourself.So far I have not felt any need for cell service here.
The rocky cove where the waterfall is located.
>>2918228holy shit, I was wondering why this board was obsessed with Appalachia lately.
Lazy rainy morning at the hotel gives way to a pleasant sunny afternoon. With three days until my return to the USA and my hotel refusing laundry access to guests, I had to go to a local laundry place to get my clothes done. Holy shit do they price-gouge. 2 pants and 6 shirts/socks/boxers cost ¢8000 or $17.50 to wash dry and fold – and she says it might not be done till tomorrow, so I can't even change my clothes tonight. Like come on, at that price it should be ready in four hours.
>>2914764I was in El Salvador for two weeks last year. I absolutely loved it. Like Costa Rica they use the dollar, very friendly people. Good quality food. Affordable pricing other than the lodging. That’s gotten quite expensive over the last couple of years. About 30% of my interactions people did speak English and they were happy to do so and practice with you. My Spanish is pretty basic. I didn’t notice the women were quite chubby.Too much pupusa. One interesting thing is that they didn’t really eat any meat for breakfast. That was primarily for lunchtime and dinner time. But I loved it there. Plus not too many foreigners yet.
>>2914774Santa Marta Colombia (Smr) is like that. Just steps from a clean beach. You can be at the beach and then checked in for your flight 20 minutes later. Plus it was recently remodeled a couple years ago.
>>2918368Did you get laid in Santa Marta? I remember walking through a hillside slum near Gaira on a Saturday night and seeing soooo many girls hanging around, they all stared at whitey as I walked by because everyone is so dark-skinned there. The guys also stared with the same boldly opportunistic look. It was poorly lit with narrow streets and huge gatherings of people drinking & dancing on every block. Definitely felt sketchy.Manuel Antonio is different. No urban grit at all; it's a meme tropical paradise for middle-class white suburbanites at the end of a road lined with gentrified "rainforest aesthetic" tourist businesses. Geographically speaking it's one of the best tourist beaches I've ever visited desu. Dense shady forest directly behind the beach, cool clear streams coursing across the sand acting as nature's foot wash stations. Yes there were a few hustlers. A lot of them come from Colombia and Venezuela, bringing their tout culture. Massage? Chair? Hey sir you need anything, weed coke, good prices. First time a drug pusher has ever called me sir.Due to low season, a lot of businesses were running promotional pricing. Happy hour cocktails 2 for $10 - cheaper than Thailand. Everyone says "Pura Vida" as a greeting and a farewell. But meme paradises with locals putting on acts for the tourists are not for me. The solo female tourists were 27-37 year old bossbabes, reasonably fit but hardly attractive in a swimsuit. >inb4 pdf fileYes. Fashionable slender 16 year olds strolling around town with their BFF are 10x more attractive than some GLP-1 dosing Canadian roastie in a bikini. Some of the female tourists find local boyfriends, but from what I've seen, the women have to do the pursuing; the local men don't chase. After all, Costa Rica has very strict sexual harassment laws.
>>2918362What did you like most, the general happy atmosphere of people finally living liberated from fear of constant violence?Funny the placement of San Salvador, San Pedro Sula and Guatemala City on this chart. All considered pretty shitty quality of life, but San Salvador is bucoo expensive especially compared to Guatemala. >pupusasYeah I mean you could live on empañadas here in C.R. for $10/day. IDK if that is a good measure of food affordability, as pupusas like empanadas are quick bites rather than full lunch/dinner plates. They're not meant to be your primary sustenance.
Mafia monkey. Unlike Asiatic macaques, they have prehensile tails. They hate being photographed because they think you are aiming a slingshot at them when you point your phone.Today I caught the first short change attempt here, at a busy eatery in the market. If you watch their hands when they give you your change, going to select the right bill and then "hmm what if I short him, will he notice". $6.50 for fried rice with a few scraps of vegetable and chicken plus a spoonful of salad is what counts as a good deal here. Do I regret not going back to Asia for the fourth time? Not really. Indonesia is absolutely awful rn with their wildfires...a wholesale environmental genocide underway across their entire archipelago. Extreme heat making life unendurable without A/C. Traffic so heavy you can barely even walk around town, much less relax in the plaza - because there isn't one. Yeah, this American life seems better at the moment.
Time to pack up and go to rainy, grouchy San Jose. The cooler climate is refreshing, but high temps down at the coast were barely 85°. That's part of the appeal of visiting during rainy season, when cooler air descends from the mountains. It rained a lot less on the south Pacific coast than it did in the highlands or northern plain. Clouds perpetually hung over the interior mountains, but the coast was sunny more often than not.Tomorrow after checking out of my hostel I will have 17 hours to kill in San Jose before my 3:58 AM departure. The horrible timing is necessary in order to catch the 8 AM flight from Panama City back to Raleigh. Low demand on this international route has forced COPA to offer round-trip fares at heavy discounts relative to other carriers.
The bus ride up to San Jose crossed over several majestic gorges before entering the modern corporate sprawl of the affluent outskirts. My hostel is located in a safe middle-class neighborhood and is populated by utterly boring dorkers who never say a word.
Walking downtown I took a road through a modernized corridor full of American goyslop franchises. There were a few homeless, but the streets were mostly empty of people. Downtown has a lot of crumbling old buildings. I stopped by a neighborhood bar full of exuberant people. Even the bartenders were drinking and getting rowdy in the spirit of a Costa Rica Saturday night. A beer was $3 and shrimp ceviche was $7.50, both lower prices than in the tourist areas. No extra charges on the menu price either.But outside it only got bleaker as I looped around on a different set of streets. The infamous Coca Cola bus terminal is homeless druggie central, with trash strewn everywhere and drug dealers shouting across the street at me. No street poop, interestingly. My throry is that the missing sidewalk grates every few blocks are used as toilets. Panama City was also rough, but the streets had plenty of vendors doing legit business even at 10 pm. Here in Costa Rica sidewalk vending is illegal, so with all the shops shuttered the streets felt really ghetto. Only the bars were full of alcohol-fueled happiness. I didn't see any single women in the neighborhood bars, mainly couples. The nightclubs seemed mostly dead at 9 pm...zoomies don't come out til much later.Panama City was of course warmer and more humid than San Jose, but it had a lovely oceanfront promenade. Its business district also looked more impressive. And everything was cheaper for a budget traveler than San Jose.
The price chart shows a steady increase in spending as this trip went on. Averages will be computed at day's end tomorrow.
This is the current breakdown. With only ¢7550 ($16) to spend tomorrow, I will have to skimp.
It's cold in the USA. Winter is already here, browning the leaves on the trees. No cute girls in belly tops to be seen here. Next stop, Peru.Total spend in-country: $822 or $41 per dayLodging: $335 for 11 nights hostel & 8 nights hotel - $17.64 per dayFood: $339 - $17 per day with no cooking734 km covered on 23 bus rides to 16 different places: $59.50Beer: $55Laundry: $33.50Cell service: UnnecessaryTours: Unnecessary
>>2914764Did you fugg any chicks? And I've seen you're posts once 2024, what's your total budget# since then? You've been traveling that entire time?
>>2919361No, I worked in 2024 (2 months) and 2025 (3 months). Net result has been negative, but only this year has there not been a rebound.
>>2919903Do you have a link to your total budget for your entire trip, I remember you posted it before, like a pie chart
>>2919942One year travel adds up to roughly $10,000
