India vs Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Original plan is to see the ruins in Central America. I've been to Central America before, but not the nothern part. Really want to go to India, but my budget says Central A. ummmm. How am I gonna make this possible by dec. 16? To force or not to force.
'11/12/09: umm what a night! I wish I didn't ____. But I can't complain.
You can't always get what you want. Sometimes you just have to be glad that you get to have a preview of what is it that you really want. This posting is so vague.....but I just have to write something about tonight and 48 days ago, or else I'll explode.
"There is no worse hell than to remember vividly a kiss that never occurred"
A beautiful video about the Mayan Ruins in Palenque
11/11/09: According to the Mayan calendar the end of the world is happening in the year 2012? HUWATT! Fact or fiction? Nobody knows. But to make sure I live life to the fullest I'm so gonna do more backpacking before 2012 haha :)
Original plan is to go to Peru and Brazil this december with my friend Estephany. But plans changed coz she got accepted in UCR wohoo! Super good news but the bad thing is she no longer have the tiempo to go backpacking with me :(. Brazil is a wonderful place, but unlike Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I don't think I'll risk traveling around Brazil solo.
Going back to the 2012 prophecy, next year, I'll devote one month (or maybe more if $$ is no problemo) of backpacking to the Mayan Ruins of Central America. I want to know more about the Mayans; their culture, architecture, and the mystery of why they suddenly abandon such great civilizations-from Mexico all the way to Honduras.
And of course, I'd like to take advantage of the cheap multicity flights (kayak.com) going to LAX> Mexico Guatemala>LAX :)
So I have to leave Montezuma ASAP (long story why..) I have to wake up early morning to catch the bus going to the Puntarenas ferry dock. The earliest bus is at 6:30 am. Too early for me :(. So I decided to just take the 8am bus. My effing watch was late coz I forgot to adjust the time to cr time which is an hour ahead from the US. So yeah, luckily I decided to go have breakfast and ask the hotel people about best places to go to.I saw the guy I was talking the other night and then he once again mentioned Playa del Coco. it's a nice place etc. etc. etc.Thanks for the hotel peepz who reminded me about the 8 am bus :) I got like 5 minutes to run..it was pouring rain but I made it to the bus :)
During the crazy bus ride I met Julio (really nice guy) I met him coz he asked me where the bus is heading. He's also not sure if it's gonna stop at the ferry thing lol he's from texas (i think!) but he works around Panama and Costa Rica. Now I got someone to chit chat! :) Here's a little useful info: for those planning on going to Playa del Coco from Montezuma the bus ride going to the dock is about $2.00 and the ferry ride, as of august 2009, is 1800 colones. From the actual Puntarenas dock you have to take the taxi in order to go to Liberia bus station which is weird coz the bus is not in the station. We found the bus across the street lol. You have to ask around to find the actual bus. I think the reason why the bus was outside coz it was ready to leave. The thing about Costa Rica is that they have strict bus times. If you missed it then too bad you have to wait for the next one. (unfortunately I don't remember how much I paid for the bus. I'm sure it's not more than $2.00 tho).
Moving on, Julio needs to get off at Canas which is about 30 minutes away from the Liberia station (the last station). So I said goodbye :(. I found myself the only English speaker in the bus. I feel a bit scared since I'm not really fluent in Spanish. For sure, it's gonna be hard to communicate. So I was just kind of going along the map and making sure the bus is going the right way.
Finally in Liberia, I had a bit of a hard time finding the bus for Playa del Coco. The people working at the ticket booth don't speak a word of English and they also have some sort of attitude :(. But whatever! with my broken Spanish I asked a couple of drivers in the station lol. I was so scared walking around the station coz it looks like I'm the only tourist! I'm the only one who looks different and with a huge backpack. Finally, I found the Playa del Coco bus..it has a huge sign that says PLAYA DEL COCO. I have no idea how come I didn't notice it. Another stupid angie moments lol
The road going to Playa del Coco is not that bad. The bus ride was very different from the ride in Montezuma. The bus is not very touristy, as I've said earlier I appear to be the only tourist in the bus. Which I like in a way since I'm really looking for remoteness but at the same time I really felt alone during the bus trip. For some reasons I had the worst feeling in the world. I will never find a way to describe what I felt at that time. I was asking myself why am I going to a place where nobody seems to go?? How come I'm the only tourist inside this bus? I was trying to find people that speaks English but ZERO!
I met a really cool Costa Rican boy tho. We were talking to each other tho my Spanish is broken and his English is broken haha. One of the best moments of my trip!
So i arrived at Playa del Coco. As expected there are more locals than tourist :). I saw a bunch of kids playing by the beach, and people just chilling around. I didn't have any idea where to stay and my guide book which is 3 years old didn't do any help. I just kept on walking until I saw this cute little place with super cute hammocks outside.The place is called Cabinas Mari Mar tel. # 670-1212. When I saw the hammock and the stairs and the wonderful balcony I knew this is the place to be :).
The thing I hate about Playas del Coco is that the exchange rate is usually 519 instead of the usual 590 colones= $1.00. BLAH!
So I negotiate, at first the lady asked for $20.00. But I kindly asked her if I can just pay $16.00 and she said okay lol. I didn't have enough colones so I told her I'll take it but I'll pay later. Decided to walk around trying to find a cheaper place, but I failed. The rest are expensive and touristy, others are weird and kind of gave me a bad feeling. Plus this is the only place that gave me such a comfortable feeling.
Decided to walk back to my hotel and look what stumbled upon me!!! The most amazing sunset I've ever seen so far. The color is amazing! I felt so calm walking by the beach and watching the sunset. Totally breathless. There's very few people around and I felt the remoteness that I was looking for. It's one of the best moments of my trip.Watch the video and listen to the waves. :)
Ha finally my own room! I really love the hostel scene but it's different to have your own room by the beach!!! My room has tv with cable, bathroom, ceiling fan, and 2 beds and I only paid $16.00.The only thing that I don't like about the room is the bathroom. It is clean but it looks a bit creepy. The style is old and the window is so huge and open. Feels like the bats are checking me out lol
yehey! 2 camas, una para mi y para mi mochilla? lol
That night I met this girl from Germany. She's also traveling alone, so we decided to have dinner together. *I feel so bad I totally forgot her name :( We went to this bar looking place, I ate rice and some sort of beef with lots of onions + banana on the side. The portion is huge :) My friend for the day ate salad lol Anyway, was so sad, coz we encountered a couple of old American guys with young Costa Rican gals..for obvious reasons. I was even approached by the restaurant owner. He was like "do you want to stay in Costa Rica and work for awhile? Like a gap year?" I was like no I go to school in the USA. And then he said, I'll pay for your school.. MY WIFE DON'T mind. OMG! what a perv. Those guys even offered us drinks. They totally ruined my paradise. I love Playas Del Coco I just hate the people taking advantage of the locals and their need for $$. :( All in all, if you like simplicity, the idea of possibly going to a place that is not too touristy, and of course if you love to witness such a ROMANTIC SUNSET then for sure you'll love Playas del Coco. :)
I really recommend Cabinas Mari Mar. Nice and clean and they have an awesome balcony with hammocks. Also AFFORDABLE :)
India vs Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Original plan is to see the ruins in Central America. I've been to Central America before, but not the nothern part. Really want to go to India, but my budget says Central A. ummmm. How am I gonna make this possible by dec. 16? To force or not to force.
:(
'11/12/09: umm what a night! I wish I didn't ____. But I can't complain.
You can't always get what you want. Sometimes you just have to be glad that you get to have a preview of what is it that you really want. This posting is so vague.....but I just have to write something about tonight and 48 days ago, or else I'll explode.
"There is no worse hell than to remember vividly a kiss that never occurred"
2010 :)
A beautiful video about the Mayan Ruins in Palenque
11/11/09: According to the Mayan calendar the end of the world is happening in the year 2012? HUWATT! Fact or fiction? Nobody knows. But to make sure I live life to the fullest I'm so gonna do more backpacking before 2012 haha :)
Original plan is to go to Peru and Brazil this december with my friend Estephany. But plans changed coz she got accepted in UCR wohoo! Super good news but the bad thing is she no longer have the tiempo to go backpacking with me :(. Brazil is a wonderful place, but unlike Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I don't think I'll risk traveling around Brazil solo.
Going back to the 2012 prophecy, next year, I'll devote one month (or maybe more if $$ is no problemo) of backpacking to the Mayan Ruins of Central America. I want to know more about the Mayans; their culture, architecture, and the mystery of why they suddenly abandon such great civilizations-from Mexico all the way to Honduras.
And of course, I'd like to take advantage of the cheap multicity flights (kayak.com) going to LAX> Mexico Guatemala>LAX :)
So I have to leave Montezuma ASAP (long story why..) I have to wake up early morning to catch the bus going to the Puntarenas ferry dock. The earliest bus is at 6:30 am. Too early for me :(. So I decided to just take the 8am bus. My effing watch was late coz I forgot to adjust the time to cr time which is an hour ahead from the US. So yeah, luckily I decided to go have breakfast and ask the hotel people about best places to go to.I saw the guy I was talking the other night and then he once again mentioned Playa del Coco. it's a nice place etc. etc. etc.Thanks for the hotel peepz who reminded me about the 8 am bus :) I got like 5 minutes to run..it was pouring rain but I made it to the bus :)
During the crazy bus ride I met Julio (really nice guy) I met him coz he asked me where the bus is heading. He's also not sure if it's gonna stop at the ferry thing lol he's from texas (i think!) but he works around Panama and Costa Rica. Now I got someone to chit chat! :) Here's a little useful info: for those planning on going to Playa del Coco from Montezuma the bus ride going to the dock is about $2.00 and the ferry ride, as of august 2009, is 1800 colones. From the actual Puntarenas dock you have to take the taxi in order to go to Liberia bus station which is weird coz the bus is not in the station. We found the bus across the street lol. You have to ask around to find the actual bus. I think the reason why the bus was outside coz it was ready to leave. The thing about Costa Rica is that they have strict bus times. If you missed it then too bad you have to wait for the next one. (unfortunately I don't remember how much I paid for the bus. I'm sure it's not more than $2.00 tho).
Moving on, Julio needs to get off at Canas which is about 30 minutes away from the Liberia station (the last station). So I said goodbye :(. I found myself the only English speaker in the bus. I feel a bit scared since I'm not really fluent in Spanish. For sure, it's gonna be hard to communicate. So I was just kind of going along the map and making sure the bus is going the right way.
Finally in Liberia, I had a bit of a hard time finding the bus for Playa del Coco. The people working at the ticket booth don't speak a word of English and they also have some sort of attitude :(. But whatever! with my broken Spanish I asked a couple of drivers in the station lol. I was so scared walking around the station coz it looks like I'm the only tourist! I'm the only one who looks different and with a huge backpack. Finally, I found the Playa del Coco bus..it has a huge sign that says PLAYA DEL COCO. I have no idea how come I didn't notice it. Another stupid angie moments lol
The road going to Playa del Coco is not that bad. The bus ride was very different from the ride in Montezuma. The bus is not very touristy, as I've said earlier I appear to be the only tourist in the bus. Which I like in a way since I'm really looking for remoteness but at the same time I really felt alone during the bus trip. For some reasons I had the worst feeling in the world. I will never find a way to describe what I felt at that time. I was asking myself why am I going to a place where nobody seems to go?? How come I'm the only tourist inside this bus? I was trying to find people that speaks English but ZERO!
I met a really cool Costa Rican boy tho. We were talking to each other tho my Spanish is broken and his English is broken haha. One of the best moments of my trip!
So i arrived at Playa del Coco. As expected there are more locals than tourist :). I saw a bunch of kids playing by the beach, and people just chilling around. I didn't have any idea where to stay and my guide book which is 3 years old didn't do any help. I just kept on walking until I saw this cute little place with super cute hammocks outside.The place is called Cabinas Mari Mar tel. # 670-1212. When I saw the hammock and the stairs and the wonderful balcony I knew this is the place to be :).
The thing I hate about Playas del Coco is that the exchange rate is usually 519 instead of the usual 590 colones= $1.00. BLAH!
So I negotiate, at first the lady asked for $20.00. But I kindly asked her if I can just pay $16.00 and she said okay lol. I didn't have enough colones so I told her I'll take it but I'll pay later. Decided to walk around trying to find a cheaper place, but I failed. The rest are expensive and touristy, others are weird and kind of gave me a bad feeling. Plus this is the only place that gave me such a comfortable feeling.
Decided to walk back to my hotel and look what stumbled upon me!!! The most amazing sunset I've ever seen so far. The color is amazing! I felt so calm walking by the beach and watching the sunset. Totally breathless. There's very few people around and I felt the remoteness that I was looking for. It's one of the best moments of my trip.Watch the video and listen to the waves. :)
Ha finally my own room! I really love the hostel scene but it's different to have your own room by the beach!!! My room has tv with cable, bathroom, ceiling fan, and 2 beds and I only paid $16.00.The only thing that I don't like about the room is the bathroom. It is clean but it looks a bit creepy. The style is old and the window is so huge and open. Feels like the bats are checking me out lol
yehey! 2 camas, una para mi y para mi mochilla? lol
That night I met this girl from Germany. She's also traveling alone, so we decided to have dinner together. *I feel so bad I totally forgot her name :( We went to this bar looking place, I ate rice and some sort of beef with lots of onions + banana on the side. The portion is huge :) My friend for the day ate salad lol Anyway, was so sad, coz we encountered a couple of old American guys with young Costa Rican gals..for obvious reasons. I was even approached by the restaurant owner. He was like "do you want to stay in Costa Rica and work for awhile? Like a gap year?" I was like no I go to school in the USA. And then he said, I'll pay for your school.. MY WIFE DON'T mind. OMG! what a perv. Those guys even offered us drinks. They totally ruined my paradise. I love Playas Del Coco I just hate the people taking advantage of the locals and their need for $$. :( All in all, if you like simplicity, the idea of possibly going to a place that is not too touristy, and of course if you love to witness such a ROMANTIC SUNSET then for sure you'll love Playas del Coco. :)
I really recommend Cabinas Mari Mar. Nice and clean and they have an awesome balcony with hammocks. Also AFFORDABLE :)
I figured it would be really amazing to write a list of 100 things I want to do in my life. Sort of a list that will make me more excited about the future. So here's my top 42 for now =)
1. Participate in a chicken wings eating contest
2. Travel abroad as much as I can.
3. Volunteer abroad or local.
4. Medical mission in the Philippines and beyond.
5. Work abroad.
6. Be a traveling nurse.
7. Attend a culinary school.
8. Go to a nude beach in Australia.
9. Make a documentary (patet 2011 =))
10.Go to Belize and learn more about the Mayans
11.Visit Machu Pichu
12.Go to Egypt
13.Do yoga near the Ganges River, India.
14.Improve my yoga skills
15.Speak Spanish fluently
16.Learn French
17.Learn Bisaya
18.Swim/ snorkel at the great barrier reef
19.Meet face to face with a whale shark
20.Take a picture with a sloth and a meerkat.
21.Photo essay about filipino street foods.
22.Couchsurfing around the globe.
23.Go to Africa and find Jessica =)
24.Walk the milford track in NZ
25. Wall climb
26.Join a marathon
27.Group and solo bungee jump at the first bungee site.
28. Zorbing in NZ
29. Watch Jaymes Reunion concert.
30. Learn how to belly dance
31. Try kick boxing.
32. Dance tinikling.
33. Fly a super big kite
34. Ride a hot air balloon with my sister =)
35. Sex on the beach lol
36. Take pictures all over the world
37. Create me own darkroom =)
38. Become a good nurse. A really good nurse.
39. Meet Mr. Agroculture in person =)
40. Eat some sort of worm.
41. Don't be afraid to date outside of my comfort zone.
42. Join a big time photo contest
..To be continued =)
