Volcano Time

Day: 137

After a restless night of tossing and turning (kind of an uncomfortable bed) I finally rolled out of bed around eight-thirty. Within minutes my roommate, Jeremy came in and asked “You want to go upstairs and get some breakfast?”

“Sure.” I replied, “Just give me a sec to brush my teeth.”

“Ok. I’ll be up there.”

I headed down the hall to take a piss and brushed my teeth, then went upstair to find Jeremy who was on the patio with Mike and a German named Johanas who I had meant last night. We all ordered and got to talking, I was still trying to figure out what to do today, Mike and Jeremy had to get on a airport shuttle in an hour and Johanas was heading to Turrialba for a supposed festival with bull fighting. The bull fighting sounded interesting, but my Lonely Planet didn’t really sell any other aspects of the town so I couldn’t make up my mind. I figured I’d come to me sometime, so I just enjoyed my breakfast and view, then went down to see the tour information guy at the front desk.

“Do you know anything about this festival in Turrialba this week?”

“Turrialba?” He asked. (I think I mispronounced it)

“Yeah, someone was telling me they have bull fighting and stuff this week.”

“My family is from there and I was there last weekend; I haven’t heard of anything, and the town is boring.”

“Oh. Thanks…” That about sealed it, I didn’t want to go there. I inquired about a bus to my second choice, Arenal, a active volcano.

“Eleven thirty, at the San Carlos bus station, it takes about four hours.”

Well I had a plan for the day, I said goodbye to everyone I had meant, told Johanas I wasn’t going to go with him, and got in a taxi to the bus station. The taxi drove me all the way across town for $1.20 and dropped me right outside the terminal at about 10:30, I was early but I didn’t have anything else to do in this unsafe town, so I just found a couple other backpackers waiting for the same bus and started talking to them. The ticket window didn’t open for another half hour but the Brit, Dan, and an Iowan couple were interesting enough to keep me occupied. We got tickets, complete with little tourist warning notes in English about not using the overhead storage in the bus because if you fall asleep, someone will steal your stuff. They had special “tourist luggage storage” in one of the compartments under the bus and the driver would only open it for you. Least they are looking out for us.

The distance the bus had to go was about 50 miles but the ride took us just over four hours through the mountains, complete with overcrowding and some old Costa Rican cowboy’s armpit in my ear while he had to stand for with his arm holding the luggage rack for about an hour. I slept through the smell.

The bus dropped us off next to the park in La Fortuna, the small town of 8,000 just next to the Volcano (which was covered with clouds today). I asked one of the locals which way to the Arenal hostel, and they told me it was about 400 meters up the road. I said goodbye to Dan and the Iowans (They had already booked there own places) and hiked up the street until I found the hostel. I checked in, took a shower and went to the front desk to see what kind of tours I could get for tomorrow. They had all kinds of options, Zip-lining, Canyoning, Rafting, ATV’s, Horseback riding, Hiking, Natural Hot Springs, and Jungle Jeep rides. I decided to go with a Volcano hike and a visit to the hot springs after. The guy at the desk asked me which one, because there are town different hot spring and the one that is more expensive is supposedly “opulent” according to Lonely Planet. The cheap one was $35 for transportation, park entry fees, hiking guide, and the hot springs entry fee. The “opulent” one cost $60 but comes with dinner and a supposed touch more class, I splurged at the desk mans suggestion, telling me it’s normally overbooked and the only reason I can go is because I am alone and they have one space left. I didn’t really believe him, but the pictures looked fancy.

I headed back the 400 meters into town to find dinner and a bottle of rum for the evening. When I got back the sun was setting behind the dark clouds and it looked like it might rain, but after saying hi to a few new people, I went out to the pool to listen to the crickets and frogs and drink my Cubra Libre’s. After an hour the rain came and chased me under the lobby’s shelter, with a few other long term travelers (A girl from Singapore on the end of her 3rd year, A British woman on the 3rd month of a year, and a Swiss guy who left in November) who I quickly befriended and spent the evening drinking and talking about the world and everything everyone has seen.