Day 1: Jan 2, 79 degrees
We arrive safely in San Jose and we're advised that the orange taxis at the airport may not be the most cost effective. We also see red taxis and white vans. Go to the Main Street in front of the airport and you will find something much more economical. Instead, we decide to have some ice cream just outside of the airport to celebrate our arrival. Here, we begin to take it all in. The hustle and bustle is in full bloom. Eight different transportation channels by the time Kasia stops counting.
Now, ready to head to our destination 6 miles outside of San Jose, we are approached by a middle-aged man who seems to be trying to help us. He looks "official" as he is wearing a badge carrying a clipboard and has travel paperwork showing us our total for the trip. We agreed and he proceeds to grab our bags and we wait. Within 5 min, a 1985 Toyota pulls up that looks like it might be on its last leg. We're off! Along the way, we noticed that all the residences have very high walls, fences and even barbed wire in front of them. Very few personal vehicles are parked on the road. They are locked within the security walls of the residence.
Concepcion de San Isirdro, Heredia: This is the name of our first destination and is far up in the mountains. The address is difficult to find and our driver asks several people how to get there. All the winding roads look similar and we have few landmarks to direct us. We find out quickly that locals will give you wrong directions. They are friendly and want to help, so they would rather give you wrong directions than not help at all. After driving through the mountains for about 30 minutes, we finally arrive.
Dinner: it has been a long day of travel and we are ready to eat. The owners of our apartment have a 13-year-old daughter who likes to help with welcoming guests. She speaks English very well. She quickly recommends a place to eat within walking distance. Keep in mind, this is in the mountains and there isn't much around. The girl says,"Just walk down the hill, take the first right and then a left at the dead end." She also recommends getting back before dark. Hmmm....crime? No, because of the wild dogs.
The directions sounded so simple. After a couple of wrong turns, we arrive at Los Potreros and this restaurant has breathtaking views of San Jose Valley bordered by mountains. Here, we meet Magdelena. She is a 40-something local who we learn bartends at Potreros, and today she is enjoying a day off. This is when we notice just how much she is enjoying it with 7 empty bottles of cerveza in front of her. Nonetheless, she was very kind, she gave us food recommendations, and she was awfully curious as to why we would want to visit this location. It was evident that she herself dreamed of other locations. As we ate, wild dogs walked into the restaurant and there was no desire by anyone to remove them.
The walk home was the most interesting. Trying to recall our initial mistakes (in order to not repeat them) didn't quite work out. What normally is a 15-minute walk, turned into 2 hrs; somehow more than half of which was uphill. A very, very steep uphill. Being so high in the mountains, it is not uncommon to have misting from the rolling clouds above. Now, we are lost, wet from mist, tired and beginning to laugh to stop us from crying. It is beginning to darken. Wild dogs ring in our memory. Good thing we find the right path at dusk!
posted by Mandy and Kasia
