¡Pura Vida!: Backpacking Adventure

This past weekend was so surreal. Another friend from AFS who is from Arizona and I backpacked for a few days around Costa Rica. Never have I walked so much in my life. It was one of the coolest things in my life and I have definitely learned a lot from it. The biggest is probably asking for directions multiple times in Spanish and listening to them to get around the different towns we stopped at. But I also did learn how to be more independent and find my way around in a foreign country. What an insane experience.
Here is a map of where we went in Costa Rica. MapFling
Quesada- San Jose- Jaco- San Jose- Alajuela- Grecia- Alajuela- San Jose- Cartago- San Jose- Quesada

April 11th. Emma and I started on Friday. I left from Ciudad Quesada to go to San Jose, and Emma left from Buenas Aires, Costa Rica to go to San Jose so we could ride the bus together to Jaco. My bus ride to San Jose is 2.5 hours and when I was starting to feel a little motion sick from curving on the mountains so much, this girl behind me just made it 110% harder because she threw up. Right behind me. Ew. In San Jose I was so clueless. Like there are more than one bus terminals and Emma and I did not know when we left so we had to ask around to find a different terminal to meet up at that went straight to Jaco. In San Jose, it is nice and cool, and everyone wears pants, so not to stick out too much, we wore jeans as well. The bus ride to Jaco just got hotter and hotter and very slow because there was road work in the mountains. Jaco is a beach on the Pacific and was so hot when we got there. From the bus terminal in Jaco, we had to walk half an hour in the heat to get to our hostel which was right next to the beach. Jaco is also very touristy so we finally did not stick out because 70% of the other people there were also from the States. The hostel we were at was super nice and the roof top view over looked the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. It was late afternoon when we did arrive in Jaco so the sun was setting. Emma and I shared a moment. The sunset was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. It was also my first time in the Pacific Ocean. We ate dinner at this place called the Taco Bar and you sit on swings while you eat. Afterwards we walked around some more checking out the different stores and sites of Jaco. We took a late night swim in the pool at the hostel and chilled on the rooftop listening to the waves and letting it sink in that we made it here. And now, this year, I have been in the coldest temp I have experienced and the hottest. The coldest in Wisconsin in February with the Arctic Blast and it being -50°F with wind chill and this past weekend in Costa Rica with it being +105°F on top of it being super humid.

April 12th. An early morning to beat the heat to go hiking. It was still hot though. Like 30°C by 8am. We walked along the beach because we were trying to get to the woods on one side of the beach just to find out that we were trapped in the beach and had to walk back to reach a main road. But we found a maids entrance to one of the hotels there and when we went through, the gate keeper was so confused on how we got in. When we made it to the woods, you hike along this gravel road up a ridge that goes out into the ocean. So it is a nice uphill walk for about half an hour before you got to the first look out point. This one looks over the ocean and Jaco and was cool but the second one we went to was way cooler. We got to the second one by chance because it was just curiosity that had us walk up farther on the ridge and find an old trail that led to such a cool look out point. It was white and graffitied and had grand stair cases and empty rooms and was all abandoned. After the hike which was so hot, we got back by 10 and changed to swim suits to hit the beach. The water was so perfect, it wasn´t too warm or cold, just refreshing. But super salty, when the waves would crash against us and splash into our eyes it burned so badly. And I forgot that the water tasted really salty because it had been so long since I was in an ocean and I got a nice gulp full when a wave came and it was so disgusting. Plus how hot it was on the beach, it made you real thirsty. But the water at the hostel was the worst water I have ever had. It made me want to cry for how thirsty I was and how disgusting the water was. It was salty and warm and even when we put it in the freezer to cool it down, it just tasted even worse. Throughout the day Emma and I just swam in the ocean, or the pool, or walked the town, or walked the beach. It was a long day and a lot of walking. Eating out for lunch and dinner really adds up for how touristy this place is. But for dinner we went to a Soda (it is just like a little costa rican fast food place with super good food and plates you make for what food you want on it) and we were like shocked for how cheap it was after everything else had been so expensive. At the hostel we watched Perks of Being a Wallflower over the pool and slept like logs for the night after a long day.

April 13th. We took our time in the morning and had to walk through the ever so hot town of Jaco to get back to the bus terminal so we could head to San Jose again. But when we got to the terminal and bought our tickets, Emma forgot a purse at the hostel so we had to walk all the way back again in the heat without water because the water is nasty and they charged like $4 for a water bottle and won´t fill up your water bottle if you don´t buy something. It was so exhausting walking all the way back in the heat again so to get to the terminal again we just took a taxi. San Jose was nice and cooler but we had to do some more walking. Yay. To get to another bus terminal that would bring us to another town called Alajuela where our next hostel was. We walked around Alajuela and it was honestly like a ghost town. There were zero cars, zero people, and zero stores open to buy some food. Apparently they do siestas there. (siestas are like a mid day nap where everyone goes home and everything closes for a few hours). We walked and walked some more and passed our hostel because we didn´t notice it. This hostel was super cute and had a beautiful rooftop view of Alajuela and the mountians surrounding it. But we didn´t stay too long because we were chasing the sun to get to these waterfalls in another town nearby. The bus didn´t take us all the way to the waterfall so we had to hop in a cab and take it there. The waterfall was so cool. We walked some through these woods and you could hear running water, but not see it. And then it was there. And no one else was at the waterfall either. Just a little bit more down the river so we had it to ourselves. It was also my first time swimming in a waterfall. The water was nice and cool and refreshing. We made it back to Alajuela and had dinner on the roof over looking the night lights of Alajuela.

April 14th. This was probably the longest day of my life. We left Alajuela and headed to San Jose. There is only 1 terminal in all of San Jose that goes to Cartago and we had to ask for directions a lot. Everytime they were different so we really got to know central San Jose after walking everywhere. Cartago was warm. We really wanted it to be cooler after the heat of Jaco. In Cartago, we walked some more with our wonderfully heavy backpacks on. We visited the Central park, the city ruins (they were closed due to construction so we saw from the outside), a national garden for orchids, a famous Basílica, (which was very gorgeous), and back to the bus terminal to head to San Jose again. In San Jose we walked around the central again asking for directions to get to a bus stop that headed to a neighborhood on the outside of San Jose to visit a friend. When we got on the bus, which was difficult enough to find, we had no clue on when to get off so we rode the bus route twice, got off the bus and onto a different one because when we did find out, the bus driver told us to get on the other bus to get to where we wanted to go, and then on the other bus, we got off at a church with tower and a red top. So we did. And it was the wrong church. Who knew this neighborhood had 2 churches with a tower and red top. It was a difficult time. Our friend (Jade) from New Zealand, came by taxi to pick us up because we were basically lost. We went to her house to drop off our backpacks and then headed to a huge mall. It is nicer and bigger than the mall I go to in Wisconsin. Like in the mall, you completely forget you are in another country because it is so similar to the USA. All the same stores and all in English and air conditioned. We got back to Jade´s house and just chilled and told our stories and the night was actually a cold night, like the first time I have been cold since I got here.

April 15th. We got up for an early morning because Jade and I were going to go to another town on the East coast of Costa Rica to visit some friends but on the bus on the way to San Jose again, we found out that one got really sick so she couldn´t have us so in San Jose, we all went our separate ways back home again. I hope to see them again and I´ll try to. It was an amazing trip. On the way back to Quesada, I was sitting next to this man and his baby-child I´m not sure which it was. And I was so exhausted I couldn´t control when I fell asleep or not. But right when we were on the outside of Quesada, (I was sitting on the inside next to the window and the man was on the aisle seat) his baby like projectile vomited all over the man and the seat in front of them. It was so gross and I couldn´t move because I was on the inside so I just had to suffer. Finally when I got home again, it was right in time for lunch and it was so nice to have home cooking again and I just slept for a few hours because it was such an exhausting weekend. And I made it throught the whole trip without ever getting hurt. That is like a record for me. Not a scratch, bruise, sprain, or brain injury.And made it home safe and sound. The post is a little lengthy but so was the weekend.