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I had scheduled three days in Puerto Jimenez to recuperate from the jungle and get caught up on the internet. Well, the internet was crap, and I found no help on my camera other than 'go to San Jose'. Also, though I paid 'only' $18 for a bunk in a dorm, these people were pretty uppity: wanted $15 to 20 to do my laundry; so far I've paid $3 to 6 everywhere else. So I left after two days, and went to San Jose, which is an all day trip, stayed there two nights, walking my tail off trying to cure my camera woes.
Getting no help in San Jose, I took another all day ride (on Fri) to a hostel just outside of David. I spent Saturday making two trips into David, covered all the main shopping areas, and decided on a camera at the first shopping area; not quite what I wanted, but I think it will do; a trip to Panama City might not yield anything better.
School is out for two months starting at Christmas: they call this time of year their summer, even though it's the coolest time of year, probably because the most miserable time of year is when it's raining (versus snowing), which is from May thru Sept, roughly. This past weekend was their big pre-school shopping days. All in all, it wasn't that bad.
I spent Sun just chilling and uploading all the pics from Bolita. Tried out my new camera, took pics of Waterfall Hostel. The place has seen a lot of upgrades since the new owner took over, a year ago. There is still a lot to be done, but the place has real potential. It's not far enough up the valley to escape the heat, and there are a lot of ants crawling around (though I didn't get bit). My next destinations are beaches in Costa Rica. After sweltering in David and at the hostel, I needed to cool off before going to the beaches.
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| Puerto Jimenez, Puntarenas |
So I headed to Volcan, in the next valley, which I had meant to visit when I was last in the area. It's about three hours total travel time from Waterfall. I'd booked a room for $18. After an eight block walk from the bus stop, I get to the 'hostal' and the guy says the internet is wrong: the price for the room is $34. So we went back and forth for a litlle bit; when I told him I would write complaints all over the internet, he told me I could have the room for $18. He had a real attitude, and I got the feeling he does this all the time. So I told him I had lost total faith in him and wouldn't stay there if HE paid ME.
I walked around town asking people if there were any inexpensive rooms. I went to one place that wanted $36 and another one $40. It was 4pm, so I decided I could go back up the other valley and stay at Hostal Nomba, where I'd stayed before in Boquete.
So here I sit, in nice cool air, getting all caught up on the internet.
Got one thing accomplished. Working on two others. Don't know when I'll be moving on from here.