Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! (Okay, Planes, Taxis, Busses, and Feet)

Yesterday was a MAJOR travel day. We arrived in Panama early in the morning, went through immigration and customs, stood outside, breathed in the air, and then went back into the airport. We only had a few hours for the layover – not enough to see the city, but enough to get a quick look around.

While waiting at our gate for our plane, Ken and I both fell fast asleep sprawled out on the airport floor. Only sleeping 1.5 hours in the night prior (red eye flight) will do that to you. We didn’t manage to get seats next to each other, but that’s okay. We were close enough that we could still communicate telepathically – by which I really mean making faces at each other. 

Our flight from Panama to Costa Rica was an easy one. From there, we took a bus to the outskirts of San Jose. The busses couldn’t enter the heart of the city, because there is a city wide festival/fiesta going on that people come from all over Costa Rica to enjoy. We wandered around the street festival, had some delicious street food and coffee, and eventually caught a taxi to the Musoc (a bus brand) station. From there we bought tickets to San Pablo on a bus that departed in two hours. With two hours to spare, we wandered around a bit more and stumbled into a bar. When we entered the bar, it was like a movie where the record scratches and everyone looks at the newcomers. Everyone turned and looked at us, the giant white man (gringo suave, as I’ve taken to calling him), and his blonde side kick. The bar was packed with 40-somethings, and the music was loud. I noticed later that a microphone was being passed around, and it was some sort of karaoke event. One the shock of seeing us set in, some people gestured us to join them, others gestured for us to go upstairs, others just kept staring, and others didn’t pay us any attention. Not wanting to wield our backpacks in the crowded bar, we headed upstairs where we ordered food we had no idea what it was and Imperial, the beer of Costa Rica. Both yummy.

Then we walked back to the bus station, and about a half hour later, we were off on our next leg of the journey!

The funny thing about this leg, though, is we had no idea how long it was. We knew we were supposed to be on this bus, and we knew we were supposed to ride it to the end, but we had no idea if it would be 20 minutes, 1 hour, or 6 hours. It ended up being somewhere in between (3 hours??), and by the time we arrived out our destination, it was dark and wet from rain. Our bus driver called his uncle, who is a taxi driver, to help us continue on our way to Llano Bonito. His uncle showed up in his jeep taxi, and we loaded our stuff in and were off! Super windy roads through super tiny towns. We hoped we were headed in the right direction, but if were being honest, we had no idea.

But we were! And eventually, he dropped us off in the heart of Llano Bonito! Success!! Except – we still didn’t know where we were staying. We started asking if people knew Eligio and Pachi, and walking in the direction they mentioned. And walking, and asking more directions, and walking, and asking more directions. And finally, we knocked on a door we thought was the right one – nope! But we were only two houses off, and their son would show us the way.

So Zach kindly walked us to the correct house, and we were welcomed with open arms! The fed us and gave us our room, and I their kids (where were about 12 when I was here 5 years ago) are huge! And my Spanish worsened, as did their English – so that’s been fun. But overall, we couldn’t be happier. They couldn’t be lovelier. And we are thrilled to be here.

I can’t wait to write more about Llano Bonito. Waking up here, the coffee, etc. But we’re going on a hike soon, and I want to make sure we’re ready.

But before I go, Ken’s thoughts!

Ken’s  Thoughts: Getting here felt like an adventure! It was fun not having all the details figured out and having a lot of room for spontaneity. I’m surprised how helpful people were. And how people didn’t seem to mind pantomime. And the meat on the stick from the street vendor was really good. I think that’s all my thought on the trip here. Oh, except also that it’s utterly beautiful here – it’s gorgeous!