Liberia (Costa Rica) to Granada (Nicaragua)
We were told to be at the bus station in Liberia by 9am for the bus that was due to get there from San Jose at 9:30, we walked down and fortunately were early, as the bus arrived at 9:15 - that was a first, an early bus!
We are used to the Tica buses now as they are a pretty comfortable way to travel, and it wasn't long before we approached the border with Nicaragua. Just before the border we saw lots of tents on the side of the road, many of them made out of garbage bags, we were later told they are Cubans trying the get to the US but they get stuck at this border. The exit from Costa Rica and the entry to Nicaragua was fairly painless, we took the advice from someone in the queue and paid our exit tax from Costa Rica before we went to immigration, but there was a young American guy doing his first ever overland border crossing who decided not to take the advice, needless to say he had problems, not the least of which was the ATM eating his card when he tried to get money, so the bus was kept waiting for while.
We arrived in Granada around 2pm so a pretty easy trip compared to some we have made. We went up to the main square for a late lunch of bocas (tapas) before walking down to the lake and the malecon along the waterfront. This area was full of families enjoying their Sunday afternoon, though the place was looking a little rundown, and the long pier was closed for some reason. Overall the town is very colourful and colonial with lots of bright horse drawn carriages, which are also used by the locals for transport.
Granada has a a great street that was closed to traffic and lined with bars and restaurants, with many more people sitting outside enjoying Sunday afternoon food and drinks - definitely a Spanish feel to this area.
We met Trina from our San Blas boat trip for dinner, she had taken a volunteering position at a local hostel for four weeks. Free (shared) accommodation in exchange for 20 hours work a week - we thought the hostel was doing pretty well out of that, but it is a good way to save money.
We were told to be at the bus station in Liberia by 9am for the bus that was due to get there from San Jose at 9:30, we walked down and fortunately were early, as the bus arrived at 9:15 - that was a first, an early bus!
We are used to the Tica buses now as they are a pretty comfortable way to travel, and it wasn't long before we approached the border with Nicaragua. Just before the border we saw lots of tents on the side of the road, many of them made out of garbage bags, we were later told they are Cubans trying the get to the US but they get stuck at this border. The exit from Costa Rica and the entry to Nicaragua was fairly painless, we took the advice from someone in the queue and paid our exit tax from Costa Rica before we went to immigration, but there was a young American guy doing his first ever overland border crossing who decided not to take the advice, needless to say he had problems, not the least of which was the ATM eating his card when he tried to get money, so the bus was kept waiting for while.
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| We'd never get these souvenirs through Customs |
We met Trina from our San Blas boat trip for dinner, she had taken a volunteering position at a local hostel for four weeks. Free (shared) accommodation in exchange for 20 hours work a week - we thought the hostel was doing pretty well out of that, but it is a good way to save money.
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