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.