After leaving the wet and soggy lands of Monteverde, we headed by shuttle bus down the mountain eventually emerging from the clouds and back to civilisation.

After a good 3 or 4 hours we arrived in the captial San Jose. Now we have seen a fair amount of Central American capital cities but this one is rather grim. I´am sure it has its nice parts but it was to us very dull, drab, chaotic and a bit edgy. Anyway our time in San Jose consisted of a long drive though the traffic, getting dropped off outside the Holiday Inn and then waiting for our friend to pick us up.

About 9 years ago Emily worked with a Costa Rican called Sergio in England, they remained friends over the internet and now finally they are to meet again. So about midday Sergio appeared and we jumped in his car to Cartago, his home town.

Cartago, a medium sized city about 35km from San Jose and before long we arrived at Sergios lovely, very flashy house.

This was great after 2.5 months on the road, we were fed straight away, did all our washing and drying, had a great bedroom and all the modern convenices you do miss when backpacking around.

The first evening, Sergio and his sister Danielle took us to a great hilltop restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious Costa Rican dish called Chifrijo (a bowl of rice, beans, amazingly tasty pork, tortillas and salsa) The next day we all headed off into Cartago to see the Cathedral called Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles which was impressive. On August 2nd every year many thousands of people make a pilgrimage to here of 22km, quite a long way but the most impressive thing is that they do this on their knees the whole way... Two women were making a journey down the long aisle on their knees when we were there.

So after looking around we heading home for dinner (still recovering from a massive breakfast) then Sergio decided that we need more food so off we drive to a famous Costa Rican tortilla place, where he ordered us lots of tasty tortillas (chorreados a sweet tortilla made with sour cream and corn and a cheesy tortilla). Very very full by now our next stop was to the supermarket where him and his family brought loads of meat for a bbq!

So four massive tasty meals in one day, all within about 2 hours of each and all extremely filling. Emily and Dave are now overweight but Sergio was so keen for us to try all the local foods that we couldnt say no. And it was really nice to eat and see stuff that you probably wouldnt as a tourist.

So after a long night of bbq, drinking and partying, we got up the next day and drove up the Volcan Iruzu, a 3000m active volcano. Was impressive but the pesky rain and clouds made visablity a problem. From there we went to visit Sergios Aunt and Uncle. Two very warm and welcoming people who loved speaking Spanish to Emily (Emily was in her element) they fed us great traditional cakes (one made with sweet corn!) and showed us around their amazing modern house. Then back for another massive dinner and then out to a bar in San Jose which was very lively and fun, a local band plays there and again it was great to see some real local stuff that is off the tourist trail.

After all this, we crashed out exhausted, the next day Sergio very kindly drove us all the way to San Jose in the rush hour traffic and dropped us off for the bus to Panama.

A couple of great days with great friends but Dave and Emily now both have big stomachs and are very tired! But it was definalty worth it and we could not of asked for a nicer host, thanks Sergio!