Man, I have to learn Arabic.
Secondly, let me introduce to you all, three classmates from high school:
Syed Fazle Hussain (sfh1@dsc.qmw.ac.uk),
Kamrul Islam (kamrul.islam@talkcast.com) and
Mominul Islam (joynal@abdin98.freserve.co.uk) (the last two aren't related)
Now where am I? I write this from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The last
time I wrote to you was from Christchurch, New Zealand, the day before leaving
for Fiji.
Spent 4 days in Fiji. (What coup?) Mustafa and I then met up with a friend from
London, Faizal, and travelled for a week each in California and Mexico. Faizal
then went North to New York, we headed South to Belize and Guatemala.
Mustafa and I split in Guatemala but kept bumping in to each other, sometimes
by chance, sometimes not. El-Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua preceded Costa
Rica. Inshallah I'll be going to the Panama in the morning. Mustafa left today
but we'll be meeting up for Jum'm in David, Inshallah.
Ok, that's what I've been up to in the past month and a weeek. Now, your turn.
Reply soon.
But before, here's the first full day of Costa Rica...
TUESDAY 24 OCTOBER
Took the 7am bus to Fortuna. It went along the man-made Lago de Arenal. Good
views. Should've taken photos. Distance wasn't great but neither was the road.
Arrived at 10am.
Had planned to stay a night but the weather wasn't good. It wasn't for seeing
lava flows from the crater of the continously active Volcan Arenal - the top
half was shrouded in cloud all day. Going to see the lava flows entailed taking
a tour for 19USD. And you don't get your money back if you don't see jack.
Shoestringers as we are, we decided not to risk it. "Take risks but not with
money"
Despite the lava dissapointment, it was still a great day. Rented a couple of
horses and rode to a waterfall. The hour long trip was great but not for the
rear. Very sore. Next time, I'll ask for extra cushioning.
The 70m high waterfall is probably the highest that I've been to. Nope, the
one's in Milford Sound were much higher and maybe even Niagra was higher too.
But it was arguably the best. Certainly the best I've swam in. The water was
very full-on, clean and refreshing. And not too cold either. Swimming there was
great fun. Apparently some, who had strayed a little too much, have died there
but I don't know how they managed to get near enough to where the water crashes
down. I tried but wasn't strong enough. Great photos. Faizal, guard the 70
well.
Another hour of suffering for my poor rear and we were back in Fortuna. Ate
rice, beans, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, lettuce, tomatos, cucumbers (and
possibly eggs) for lunch. Gave the brocoli and cauliflower to Mustafa. Eating
brocoli/cauliflower is much harder than eating lamb/beef, you know!
Prayed Zuhr and Asr behind a church before boarding the 4pm to San Ramon. On
the bus there was one from Belfast who was carryng a kitchen sink, or two. San
Ramon, 6:45pm. Kitchen_Sink, who stunk badly, was going round the world in
three months. 7:30pm, direct bus to San Jose. Sat near Kitchen_Sink who didn't
stink anymore - the culprit, a wet fleece jacket, was put away.
9pm, San Jose. The chosen hostel was little more than a km away. Mustafa and I
wanted to walk of course but it would've been difficult for Kitchen_Sink
carrying the kitchen sink. So we shared a taxi to the Grand Imperial Hotel.
Don't be fooled by the name, it was a cheapie. There was a cheaper one nearby
but whilst we were getting ready to leave for it, heard three guys speaking
Somali. Got acquainted with them and stayed at Imperial.
There are four of them in total, and they are all sitting on the table next to
mine as I write this. They have Kenyan passports and arrived here by way of
Turkey and Ecuador, trying to go to the States. Fancy meeting Somalis with
Kenyan passports in Costa Rica.
E-mailed for 10 minutes and then went to look for a place to eat. One of the
Somalis took us to a Syrian owned place. It didn't look all that. Toured the
city looking for a better place that was open, had vegetarian food and was
cheap. Not all three categories could be met, mainly because San Jose goes to
sleep at 10pm. Returned to the Syrian place by way of a bakery. Had rice, beans
and eggs again. And again. Tip toed to bed. (Kitchen_Sink was to leave at
4:30am.)
To be continued...(but when?)
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