Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Nicaragua to Costa Rica

So today I made my way from Nicaragua to Costa Rica! 12 + hours of travel! 5 buses, 1 taxi, and 1 ferry later..

I woke up around 4:15 am and jumped in the shower. I got dressed and got all my things together. Mike and I walked to the bus station together. We said our goodbyes and Mike got on his bus. Mike is going to Leon. My bus came less than 1 minute later and I got on the bus. The guy that collects the money recognized me (its a small town) and told me where to get off to take the next bus to get to the border. I guess I must have asked him about getting to the border the other day. I then waited by the side of the road for maybe 5-10 minutes before getting on a bus headed to the border.


When I got to the border I didn't realize we were there and had to be told to get off the bus. I changed some money and then walked to the border. The border wasn't open and so I had to wait. I then got swindled by letting someone fill out the form to cross the border because I though he worked with the border. But apparently people will help you fill out the form for a fee or a tip. I got through the Nicaraguan border pretty fast and had to pay a $2 departure fee. Then I walked to the Costa Rican border and went through without problems. I was a little bit concerned as I had heard that sometimes if you don't have a ticket showing when you are leaving they will make you purchase a ticket. I then got on a bus that was headed to Liberia. The bus ride was a couple of hours and then I was dropped off at the Liberia bus station. From there I waited an hour for the bus to Puntarenas. This bus also took a couple of hours. When I got to Puntarenas I had to take a cab to the ferry. Luckily there was another foreign guy traveling and we split the  fare. I was dropped off at the ferry dock and bought my ticket. The ferry wasn't ready to leave yet (we had an hour wait) and after 15 or so minutes we were allowed to board. After waiting 40 or so minutes the ferry left the dock. The beach was pretty and the ferry was wonderful because you had a breeze. I forgot to mention it is hot here as well and you are basically just sweating. We got to the other dock 1.5 hours later and from there I got to take another bus. This bus is suppose to go straight to Montezuma but we had to get off and change to a smaller bus. This bus also took a couple of hours. I finally got to Montezuma around 5:30 pm.  I then got to walk up a nice hill with my heavy backpack to the hostel. Now when I first got to Montezuma I was a little disappointed. It was small. I mean very small. The center of town is basically a couple of streets and you can walk around it in no time. Also there are a lot of foreigners. I know we are in Costa Rica but still. Also the beach I saw didn't look that great. Anyways I checked into my hotel. Did I mention that I also had to walk up a bunch of stairs? No? Well yes I did. First the hill then the stairs. After I had settled in I went and got myself something to eat. I called my mom... I'm still alive! Later I figured out my plans for tomorrow and went to bed.
 





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