17/07/04- 19/08/04 Alajuela

Very nice little town, but even nicer hostel with a lovely courtyard where we spent the last few evening getting very drunk and catching up. The place was full of pets which was really lovely except that I was sitting on a rocking chair for most of both evening and was very frightened that I was going to squash the rabbit.

We also took a trip out to see the second largest crater for a volcano anywhere in the world, I think, unfortunately the weather was not our friend so instead we saw thick fog just before the heavens opened and we were thoroughly drenched.



Lovely lake.

Anyway, Alajuela has no street signs at all though they are numbered in grids with Calles running East-West and Avenidas North-South. We asked a policeman where Calle 3, Avenida Central was and he had to ask the lottery salesman who then asked a man who was selling fried things out of a bucket who was then interupted by a man leaning against a car and still none of them got it right (standard answer in this town is that the places you seek are 200m up the road)- I hope there will never be cause for any emergency service in this town to be called out for anything at all ever.