Tranquilo Backpackers San Jose

i woke up at 5am got ready packed my stuff and popped a pill - smoked a bowl with johnny. then proceeded to goto the airport with him. dropped him off at 7ish and headed back to the hotel its the nicest one i will be in for a while.. so im pampering my self and heading to a hostel at 12 - check out time so im taking advantage of hot water and ac and all the little things i dont get for $6USD.. im walk over to hostel pangea and if they are booked i will head to tranquilo backpackers or the hos...

Heyo, I'm here and its just as it sounded. Just like any city in the world. There all the same it seems. Dirty and a lil smelly and all i wanna do is leave. ABC's Another Bloody Church another bloody cathedral. I'm in San Jose Costa Rica. me and my random open slate sitting at this hostel free internet and looking at all my opportunities. This place is really cool actually reggae is playing at teh moment there are hamocks everywhere and its 10 bucks a night Sold and free breakie in the mornin...

We finally made it into San Jose and, believe it or not, we didnīt get too lost! Big cities are a nightmare in Central America because of their lack of signage, inability of locals to give directions, and incorrect maps, but today luck was shinning on us. We checked into the hostel (we couldnīt let Bev go home without experiencing a true hostel, luckily sheīs a good sport!), parked the car and headed to a restaurant for a great lunch. We then went to the Jade Museum, San Joseīs most famous mu...

After spending a week more at Rocking Js in Puerto Viejo it was time to find a new place to chill. I found this new volunteer job in Puerto Jimenez so I decided to do it. We took a long bus ride back to San Jose and stayed Tranquilo Backpackers that night and just chilled. We walked around town a bit, but there were too many people trying to sell us things including their bodies. So, that was kinda weird. That night I found out that trotter would be heading back to the states in a couple days...

I know the way...I'm here already! It may not be the one Dusty was singing about but it's good enough for me. Before I start on the Costa Rica stuff I'll tell you about my last night in La Fortuna. Saskia and I went on a tour, which I really recommend. It was with Arenal Sports, just around the corner from Gringo Pete's. We could have gone with Gringo Pete's but we really don't like him, so much so that we payed an extra three bucks to the other company! He's such a gimp, typical American. Be...

Paid to Play Episode 1: The one where after screwing off for 5 1/2 years, the author finds actual year-round employment.


Well, now I am just like all of you reading this blog. I have a job. I have to get up every morning and do actual work, just like you. I must be responsible for stuff and in general, work hard to earn my wages just like you. I have to check e-mail, follow a budget, manage expense reports, and type things into Excel spreadsheets just like you. It is a full time c...

Annoying travel day. After the later start (8am bus, C15 each) we waited at the 'La Virgen' turnoff (there is a small shrine there) waiting for a combi. Instead we got a ride with some locals for 20C each. They didn't like my payment of coinage! Border crossing: We didn't get asked for the return ticket (YES) although we had faked up airline e tickets just in case. They did charge us US$3 to leave Nica. Hopped on a bus to Liberia, after a very 'thorough' bag search (NOT) rahter than the bus h...

The School of the World had become to feel like home now, and is a useful base for weekend excursions, but it was time to move on. In the morning Monica and I got the bus to San Jose, then after lunch, wandered around a bit of the city. I'm not a fan of cities generally, but San Jose is pretty grim by anyone's standard. Noisy, dirty, dangerous, with run-down buildings, and nothing much to see. However as it is Sunday, we did stumble across a church service taking place. Not that I realised th...

Back to San Jose today. There were two buses, one at 5am and one at 9am, and I chose the earlier one. Not because I was keen to spend more time in San Jose, but because on an eight or nine hour bus ride I would undoubtedly kill time catching up on sleep if I had to get up at 4:15am! As it happened, the eight hours passed pretty quickly and I arrived back in San Jose about 1:30pm. Having left a bag with winter clothes (for the New Zealand and Australia leg of my travels) and materials for my u...

Uneventfully spent a couple nights in San Jose to stock up on sunblock, insect repellent, and an alarm clock that actually makes a noise for the crack of dawn buses that seem to be common here. The hub and spoke bus system also makes it easier to go to a city and back out than to try to travel along the dusty, potholed, dirt roads along the coast. I also decided that there is more out there in other nearby countries to be making up as I go along, rather than just staying in Costa Rica. I foun...