A long day filled with bus rides

We have obviously not managed to get used to the new time zone(s), because I woke up around 6.45 today (Saturday 27.8.) and Markus right after. We had to find our way to some bus station in the morning in order to get to Brasilito and then close to Potrero where our first real stop is. We had booked an Airbnb room for the night in San José and stayed at a guy’s (Alvaro) place in Alajuela.

Our room at Alvaro's Airbnb room and the view

He thought our bus to Brasilito would leave from Alajuela centrum from the Central Bus Station. We took an Uber to the bus station and discovered that a bus to Brasilito would only leave from San José. That is what you want to hear in the morning before breakfast - that you have to move to another area to find your bus.
The ticket seller told in Spanish that there would be a bus stop to San José centrum on a street nearby. We walked around and around but did not see a bus stop anywhere. I then went to a gas station to ask for directions (and to buy some water). The guy behind the desk did not speak any English, which is strange since we were told that most of the people in Costa Rica speak English. :p Well, he said that there is a bus station right around the corner. We went to the spot with Markus but did not see any bus stop. I asked a person on the street “Autobus San José?” and he said that it was right where we stood. How on earth were we supposed to know that the bus stop was there when there was no sign at all? :p Well, finally' we got into a bus going to San José.

Once we arrived to San José, the next goal was to find the bus leaving to Brasilito. Easier said than done! There were different types of bus stations everywhere and we were lost. At some point I really felt that we were on the Amazing Race, trying to find something in a totally unfamiliar place. Markus and I walked around with all our luggage, between all the locals who were staring at us and shouting things in Spanish. Damn, it feels so stupid when you don’t understand what people are saying… My 1,5 courses of Spanish some 8 years ago are obviously not enough. We had been wondering around since 7.30 in the morning and finally (around 9.45) we found a new bus station. The cashier did not speak English, but a lovely woman came and asked what we were looking for. The bus drivers told her in Spanish where we should go. The woman tried to tell us but then said she would show us the way. She even told us that it can be difficult to describe a way because people don’t use street numbers/names in Costa Rica when they describe how to find something. The woman lead us to TraLapa (corner of Calle 20 and Avenida 5) and made sure that there would be a bus leaving to Brasilito. Bus tickets cost 12 000 colones in total.

Luckily we were there on time (thanks to the woman!) and we even had time to eat breakfast in a small local restaurant! The owner didn’t speak English, but helped me with the menu when I said I was vegetarian. When I didn’t understand some word, he showed me it physically :D The breakfast was delicious and cost 4 000 colones for both of us.

Edda's breakfast

We were hoping for a nice, comfortable bus, since the ride was around 6 hours. But no. It was a really old bus with somewhat okay chairs and air conditioning equaled opening a window. The ride was long indeed, with one 10 min toilet/snack stop. Finally we got to Brasilito and we really just wanted to get to our hotel. Brasilito seemed like a small place but we found a guy at a café who was willing to give us a ride to our hotel, Hotel Sugar Beach. Pfiuf, finally we found the way!

The curtain represents the condition of the bus