Getting into Costa Rica wasn´t easy since my travel companion got refused at the border for not meeting the Yellow Fever requirements. Pre-trip I´d gotten my vaccination, so I was able to pass, but my friend didn´t have one, and since we had spent time in Yellow Fever zones, the Costa Rican border officials wouldn´t give my friend an entry stamp.
So, we headed back to the Panamanian side to annul his Panamanian exit stamp and waited for nearly an hour to get paperwork done. They even finger printed my friend! We were told by the Costa Rican official that we could enter Costa Rica the next day, however the Panamanian said that it would be another 2 days before my friend could cross the border. It was confusing since they´d already given my friend an exit stamp...
We tried to cross the next day, but were told that one more day of waiting was necessary. In all, we spent two nights in no-mans land, staying at the border between the two countries. Luckily, this border had hotels, restaurants, shopping, and wi-fi. Some border crossings are in the middle of n o w h e r e with n o t h i n g else around.
After finally getting my friend´s exit/entry requirements sorted out, we took a moment to gaze at the stamps in his passport. Simple joys. And then we caught a bus to the capital of our next country.
Pool at our hostel:
Downtown San José looks a bit dated, but it´s bustling with people and things to do.
refreshing rain
How about some food with that grease?
I found this sign in a restaurant where the sink was out by the tables:
colourful moula
I didn´t do much in the city. Nothing really stood out for me - I just wandered around the city. I also only spent a night here before heading to my next destination, Tortuguero. This is also when my friend and I split up. Neither of us really planned it this way, but it became more and more obvious that we had different schedules to work with and we wanted to see different places in each country.
Bye for now, my friend.
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