Back at the hostel

After eating we went back to the hostel to reorganize our bags and hit the sack early. Here are some photos from inside our room.

Above the bed was this sketchy little loft/bunk area that Mark made me hang out on. I don't think there are building codes in CR.

Gross! The bathroom was so bad that I didn't take a shower and I chose to touch as little as possible with bare skin.

San Jose Soda

Upon recommendation we chose a nearby soda to eat the first night in CR. It was a short walk but when we arrived, instead of looking like something authentic, something Costa Rican, we found what looked like an American diner. We were tired and hungry and decided to give it a shot despite the decor. I got the special thinking that if they were so proud of it to make it their special then it must be at least edible. Mark on the other hand went the route of American cuisine at the American inspired Costa Rican diner. He ordered a hamburger. After a few bites Mark started to get suspicious of the grey meat.

Can you see his mind working? He has finally figured out that maybe this hamburger is hiding something. What's funny is that we ran into people later on in our trip that had eaten at the same restaurant on the same night. One of them had ordered the hamburger also and she said that it had a literal slice of ham on top of the patty. She also couldn't eat all of her dinner.

San Jose, Costa Rica: Day 1

So, like I said, we arrived in CR at about 12pm local time so we had time to find our way out of the airport and to our hostel. We chose a hostol for the first night for a couple of reasons:

1) Its really, really cheap
2) It was just going to be one night and we would be up and out by 6:30am the next morning

This being said, I don't think that I would do it this way again. I used to not mind staying in hostels and bunking with a bunch of strangers but now I get cranky when people are playing fuse ball until 1am right outside my room when I have to get up at the crack of dawn. Also, if it is your honeymoon, like it was ours, you may not want to stay somewhere so... lets say rustic.

Once we had landed we quickly found our way to a cab and then to our hostel. I really wanted to get some bearings, drop our bags and then get to the central market to see the heart of the city. I had read that San Jose was not the best place to vacation if you want fun and sun. In fact it was dreary and coated in concrete with steel bars on everything. There was something kind of sad and beautiful if you looked hard but I knew ahead of time not to expect much.

Guadys Backpackers Hostel

We headed out to the Marcado Central to see what the city in action which we do not regret at all. Of course we looked like Americans and had no idea where we were going or how to speak the language. I know a few key phrases which I suggest anyone to read up on if you plan to travel through the country. There are alot of people who speak decent English so this was not really a problem. For me it is embarrassing to be in a country and not even attempt to speak the language so I wanted to make sure I at least knew "please" and "thank you". Also, people are alot more likely to help if you try to speak or can relate in some way.

In the market we were immediatly approached by guys selling all sorts of hot commodities. We obviously looked like out of towners and they took the opportunity to try to fufill our every prostitute and drug fantasy. I suppose we do look like the type of people who snorts cocaine while gang banging a group of prostitutes. This did not make us feel uncomfortable at all and a simple "no thanks" or shake of the head sends them on their way. It is important when you travel to CR to be aware of your surroundings and bags at all time so you do not become an easy target for theifs. Overall we felt very safe and met an ex-pat who pointed us away from the sketchier areas and helped us find a cab. I know I had read on the web about the crime on travelers here and so I, like always, was aware and planned accordingly. We had absolutely no issues though and consider ourselves happy to have met many wonderful people, both from CR and abroad. Go in with an open heart and mind and try new things!!

From the market (which I forgot to photograph because I was too excited and I didn't want to whip out my camera in such a large crowd) we took a cab back to the hostel and hung out with a couple guests for a couple hours before making plans to find dinner.

Departure: Asheville, NC to San Jose, Costa Rica

Our local airport in Asheville is very tiny. When I say tiny, I mean that we usually only have one gate open at any given time. Translated, this means EXPENSIVE!

This is a photo I took just prior to boarding the plane for departure from Asheville. Maybe the tickets from this airport wouldn't be so expensive if they didn't have leather recliner/ massage chairs at the gate:) Anyways, can't you see the excitement written all over his face (yeah right) it is about 5am in this photo and possibly the earliest we have been out together. After two weeks of me flashing the camera in his direction every minute he stopped being so tolerant of my clicking craziness.

This was hubs first trip abroad so I knew I wanted to plan an extra special trip, not only because it was our honeymoon but because I had decided that if he had a really good time that it would encourage him to want to travel more! It worked.

Departure Details

Asheville has a really small airport which means that flights are usually really expensive when departing or arriving from here. Because of this people usually end up driving to the next closest airport which is either in Greenville, SC or Charlotte, NC. We got lucky (sort of) with our flight to CR as it was only about $100 difference in the local and out of town airports. We were willing to spend the extra money because just the time that it takes to get to Charlotte (almost 2 hours) with gas and asking someone to drive us it seemed like a smarter choice to just spend the extra cash and stay local. Also, when you take into account that most international flights leave very early in the morning or late in the afternoon, you have to start adding in overnight hotel stays in the city you are flying out of. For myself, I prefer to get to my destination mid-day so that I have time to explore the city a little before crashing for the night. If a flight leaves at 6am and you need to be there by 4am to check-in, then take into consideration having to ask a friend to drive you the two hours to get there and leave at 2am. This is not very realist and probably a good way to piss off a friend. I had even priced getting a ride into an out of town airport the night before and getting a hotel room by the airport so we could take off first thing but anyway I looked at it it just made sense to leave from Asheville.

It is smart to check the airfare rates starting about 6 months ahead of your trip and taking note of the price fluctuation for a couple months. I waited too long to buy our tickets and I know that I paid more then I would have if I just bought our tickets when I first started looking, about 6 to 4 months prior to leaving rather than waiting until a couple months before departure and buying them. They say 4 months before your trip usually has the best rates unless it is a holiday so keep this in mind. For us it was really hard to just set the dates in stone, it's a lot of pressure to know you are spending alot of money and there are alot of things that can happen in a two months. For those of you who would let this get to them, they sell travelers insurance for this very thing, so put your mind at ease and pay the extra couple hundred to know that no matter what you will get your money back if something goes horribly wrong.

Our tickets ended up costing about $1400 for two coach seats and we had one layover both coming and going. I think I ended up finding them on Cheapflights.com, which is a great sight because they search lots of sights for the cheapest ticket. Our flight left early but we got into San Jose at around 12pm CR time which was perfect for checking into our hostel and visiting the city before it got dark. Our plan was to just spend the first night in San Jose so we wanted to see what the city was like for the little time we were there. Costa Rica doesn't have daylight savings time so the sun sets (6pm) and rises (6am) at about the same time everyday which was wonderful. I thought I was going to be disappointed with it getting dark so early everynight but instead we ended up waking up earlier and doing so much that we were exhausted and in bed by 10pm every night.

Honeymoon Destination...Costa Rica

After months of searching the Internet and reading a total of 5 travel books describing the "best" things to do in Costa Rica and on your honeymoon, I finally had set our itinerary and the count down was on. My hubs and I got married at the end of April 2008 and we waited until mid August 2008 before we left on our honeymoon to Costa Rica. My husband had never been out of the country before and I had never been to Central America so Costa Rica was a good fit (it also didn't hurt that in general it doesn't cost very much to vacation there). We both like adventure and have open minds so I knew I wanted to plan the trip myself so that we could venture off the beaten path. I started with travel books and then moved on to the Internet to figure out hotels and day adventure options. We stayed in CR for 14 nights during what they consider to be the rainy season. We purposefully went during the off season to save money with all of the discounted rates offered. In the end, I would do it this way over again. There was rain everyday, don't get me wrong, but in the end it's really nice to have a couple hours in the middle of the day to relax.

This was hubs first trip abroad so I knew I wanted to plan an extra special trip, not only because it was our honeymoon but because I had decided that if he had a really good time that it would encourage him to want to travel more! It worked.



Well, here we go....

Destination Details

Alot of research went into our trip and would highly advice anyone taking a trip to take advantage of sights like Trip Advisor and ......to read other travelers reviews of restaurants, attractions, and hotels. Whenever I would read about a hotel or adventure then I would read up on that business on the review sights. Of course some of the people who have posted on these sights are out of their minds and completely unrealistic with their expectations. When traveling in a second or third world country there will obviously be petty theft and limited air conditioned spaces, plan accordingly. I knew that because this was our honeymoon that we were going to splurge in some areas and be more conservative in others. Overall we wanted to spend about $5,000 on the entire two week vacation with airfare. Well, we went a little over and came in at about $5,300 but it was well worth every penny and my hubs would agree.