My old field trip bus
Is full of Costa Ricans
Crossing the border.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Because I was overly optimistic about my finishing time, a domino effect of bad luck tumbled into a day of small dilemmas.
First off we missed the 2 o’clock bus that would have taken us to San Jose in time to get to the Tracopa bus terminal by 4 p.m. We had tickets from that station to San Vito, and had planned on staying at a very nice B & B we’ve stayed at before. Then on Sunday, recoup a little bit by walking through the nearby Wilson Botanical Gardens before heading home.
Fine, there was a 2:40 bus. We kept our fingers crossed we might still make it. But Kimme decided to risk going to the bathroom right before departure. Her bladder was empty just like our two seats on the bus as it left without us.
Bus tickets in the trash can, we decided maybe a taxi might do the trick. I asked the first cabbie we ran into if he could get us there by 4 and he said no problem. That began the worst taxi experience we’ve ever had.
As we drove closer to the big city of San Jose the driver asked Kimme if she had Waze and if he could use her phone. She has Waze but it’s not active here. He used Google Maps instead.
Next he offered to take us to the Aleuja Tracopa bus terminal since it was closer, but I had already showed him our tickets, which were for the Saint Joseph Station in San Jose. Going to Aleuja Wouldn’t do us any good.
Soon after that he drove by a huge Tracopa bus depot and pulled over on the side of the freeway and told us to go back to the foot bridge walk over and we could get our bus there. We were dubious and it was close to 4. Kimme’s phone also indicated that the station was 3.7 miles away. We weren’t very keen on being dropped off on the side of the freeway either. Why not drive us right up to the station?
Why? Because it wasn’t the station. After speaking to a couple of workers at the bus depot security kiosk, he drove us a short distance up a road that parallels the freeway and pointed to some roadside bus stops and said we could get our bus there. To try and reassure us he pointed to a lady with a large package and said she was probably waiting for a Tracopa bus. At that point it was after 4. We had missed our bus anyway, and there really was no point in continuing with this driver. We paid and walked to the bus stop.
Once there, we asked the lady and she told us the station was a few miles away downtown San Jose. We took a taxi there. At the station two very nice people helped us get a transfer of our bus tickets for Sunday morning.
The overnight at the B & B was gone.
From there we took a taxi to a reasonably priced hotel that was suggested by our cabbie. I’d like to say our travails ended there, but there was more to come.
The hotel, the Inca Real, was in one of those old buildings that had a lot of old world charm but was sagging a bit from lack of up keep. It was also a few blocks outside the respectable part of town as we soon discovered when we walked by two brothels on our way to an ATM and some restaurants. After a trip to Subway and a delicious frozen yogurt treat, we went to an ATM to take out a small amount of colones.
Back at the hotel I contacted the B&B in San Vito to notify them we weren’t going to make it. They were kind enough to only charge me half of our reservation.
The next day, after a long but enjoyable bus ride through the mountains of Costa Rica, I discovered that in my fatigued condition I had left my ATM card in the machine in San Jose. Now we were at the border with no cash to get us home. Fortunately, Kimme had a card.
Once home and certain that I had lost my card, I called B of A to report it. I then made a large transfer to Banistmo, our bank in Volcan so we could use their ATM. On Monday I’d find out that the transfer went through but for some reason that account seems to be a little off. I’ll work on that puzzle later.
For now, we’re back after a great travel experience sans the taxi debacle.
Good to be home where it’s peaceful, cool and where we can stretch out, recover and take our adventure in at a nice leisurely pace.
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