Two Beers and a Pretzel

I woke up at 5 AM in Managua to the reassuring sound of gunfire.  My best guess is that a semi-automatic, shotgun, and a 45 were all involved.  Upon leaving the hostel, I asked the doorman if it was safe, and he told me it was OK because the guns were 3 or 4 blocks away.  Needless to say, I ran for the one block to the bus station.  Thankfully, without incident.

The bus left at 6 am.  About an hour later we make a stop somewhere in Nicaragua to pickup more passenger and Vicky got on.  It was nice to have someone to talk to because the trip did not end until 5 pm.  About 2 hours were whittled away at the border.  45 minutes at the Nicaragua exit point, and an hour and a half to get into Costa Rica.

Once you´re in, it´s very easy to see that you just came from the 2nd poorest Central American country into one of the richest.  San Jose might as well be Cincinnati with palm trees (albeit a bit larger).

I´ve seen one Chevy truck in 2 weeks – near the place I ate last night.  That´s it for american vehicles.  Everything down here is Toyota and Nissan.  In fact, the indiginous village back in Copan has a few buildings that were donated by the Japanese.  I´m not sure if it was government or charities, but a definate presence that no other country appeared to have.

I´m staying at the Hostel Toruma in San Jose.  For $35, its ás nice as your average Courtyard by Marriot.  The building is an old mansion that used to belong to the Costa Rican president.  These guys are part of a Hostel network, so they have some of the nicest places all over Costa Rica.  They have one in Arenal – right near the volcano.  They say you can sit in the hot springs and mud baths after dark and watch the volcano erupt while drinking a mixer…  That sounds like a plan to me!

I have pics from the border crossing, but I can´t get the wifi here to give my laptop a valid IP address.  I´m on PC´s without USB ports, so no pics today.