Puerto Rico

  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tuesday, March 22, 2005

17th of March. On landing in Puerto Rico we waited in line for 1hr and 30 min to clear customs, a clear indication that we were entering a US territory. After a little prompting by the customs guy we were able to tell him "Yes we know exactly where we are staying," and with help from the Rough Guide were able to give him an address. After collecting our bags, that had long since been removed from the luggage belt we headed straight for the tourist information to sort out that bed for the night. They did all the work for us calling round places to find a good rate, itīs not going to be this easy from now on I suspect.

They managed to find a place in Old San Juan for $35 a night, cheaps as chips! We bused it over there and were greeted by a toothless guy who showed us to our room. It was a fare rate for a windowless cell with beds that may fall apart at any time. So we jumped at the chance to take it for 4 nights. Next day we explored Old San Juan which is beautiful, with cobbled streets lined with pastel coloured Spanish colonial buildings mostly renovated to pristine condition. When Puerto Rico joined the USA commonwealth it became their oldest city. We had dinner in the bistro of the 5* hotel in a converted convent, we couldn't afford the restaurant.

We hire a car next day and drove part of the scenic drive that runs east to west on the island. Ending the day at a village famous for it's hog roast BBQs that line the road. As it was Saturday all the locals were out dancing to the live salsa bands.

Day after we raced up to El Yunque, the rain forest park, and hiked up the trail to the 3000ft summit which looks out over the whole of Puerto Rico. Although some parts of the island are very American there are some great places off the beaten track and the people are really friendly.

We went to the beach on the bus today and watched the teenagers flirting and dancing to the local music merengue (a mixture of latin/hiphop).

Off to Ecuador, tomorrow.