I more or less fast-tracked through Costa Rica because a) it’s significantly more expensive than its neighbouring countries b) I feel like I can do Costa Rica at another time in my life pretty easily.
I travelled from San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica and stayed there for a day and a half. Now most people I talked to said there really isn’t much going on in San Jose – and truthfully I can’t prove them right or wrong because I didn’t even leave my hostel.
I loved San Juan del Sur but my body didn’t, and by the time I left I was fighting the ending of a chest cold and a bout of “I-definitely-ate-something-bad-and-my-gut-is-pissed.” Thanks to a generous fellow traveller I had some Gastro Stop, so I didn’t have to worry about crapping my pants during the 8 hour travel day.
We finally arrived at our hostel, Pangea, and the following amazing things happened:
1. HOT WATER IN THE SHOWER! Hallelujah! After almost a month without a hot shower, this felt like a dream. It was amazing and I’m not ashamed to admit I took my time in that shower and soaked in all its glorious warmth.
2. NO MOSQUITOES! Like most large metropolitan areas mosquitoes really aren’t a problem here and going 36 hours without having to apply strong DEET repellent was welcome break for my skin.
3. IT WAS CHILLY! Compared to the crazy heat of everywhere else I’d been (the kind of heat that wakes you up mid-sleep, forces you fight against heat rash and accept a constant layer of sweat), the cool weather in San Jose was amazing. I actually got to wear some nice pyjamas and cuddle up to my sheet at night. #Comfort
Sometimes your body tells you what it needs. I knew I just wanted to veg out at a great hostel for a bit, and that my body needed 30 solid hours of no travel, excursions, or socializing to heal. So I ate all my meals at the hostel restaurant, caught up on blogging, had an amazing Skype session that didn’t have a 10 second delay, and more hot showers of course.
So yes, this is a boring post but if you don’t hit pause once in a while travelling you’ll set yourself up for a crash. San Jose gets a bad rap but for me it was just right.