22/12/09 - day 13.

up at 7. shared a taxi with 2 others, who were also going to the bus station, to catch the 8.30 bus to costa rica's capital, san jose. this was 8 hours of bus journey i was not looking forward to. it took 11 hours. got to the panama - costa rica border around half 9, got herded off the bus and had to get an exit stamp on the passport for panama and get the bags checked out. this menay everyone piling into a little room, laying all bags on the floor in single file and then standing back behind some tables. i thought this was odd. then they let in a tiny little spaniel who proceeded to sniff around all the bags and walk all over them. highly suffisticated screening techniques clearly.

once the dog had spent several minutes sniffing about, the bags were checked by a human. by this i mean, i opened the zip, he looked at the very top of the bag and that was it. then queued for an etrenity in the heat to get the exit stamp. wasnt fun. it didnt end there though unfortuantely. had to walk over the border and queue for ANOTHER eternity to get the costa rica entry stamp. the whole thing took 3 hours, a large degree of patience and my will to live.

7 hours and a lunch break later {had some well nice chicken rice and beef stewey looking thing} i got to san jose. the journey also involved getting up to some serious altitude in the clouds where i froze my nuts off. when i got to the bus station i was offered a taxi. i explained to the fella that i needed a cheap hostel, close to the bus station as i was up very early to catch another bus. he said no problem, i agreed a fee then we set off. he then started sayinh how this 'hotel' was only 30 bucks a night and was very close! i basically said no way, far too expensive and he took me to a hostel that was 11 bucks and only a few blocks from the bus station. cheeky monkey them taxi drivers!

checked into J C and friends hostel which was dark, dingy, empty and a lil bit creepy to be honest. had an icey cold shower and went pretty much straight to bed as i was knackered. i was woken up at 2am though by 2 yank lads in the room next door drunkenly and loudly discussing their night out, then again at 4am by someone coming into the dorm who thought it would be a good idea to put the light on. dick!