Birthday Bus Ride back to Costa Rica

We travelled back to Costa Rica on Oct 24, Scotts birthday. Here is the tale.



We started at 6:30 am in the town of Boquete in western Panama; 45 min ride on an old school bus to David, Panama. Then switch over to a coach for one hour ride to the frontier. This is a chaotic jumble of administrative buildings, venders, sodas (small roadside cafeterias), stray dogs, huge idling transport trucks, buses, bicycles, cars, pedestrians and on-lookers.



We first got out of our coach, unloaded all our luggage, and stood in a circular (!) room to have our bags "checked for contraband". After 20 minutes, the driver barked something unintelligible and waved his hand to put our bags back on the bus. He must have talked to someone. Bags back on the bus, then he took off (!) and we were in a long line (75 people) to a glass window to Migracion to exit panama. The officials actions were mechanical: look at us, swipe passport in Interpol computer, stamp, next.



Then utter confusion. No bus, no signs, just throngs of milling people. We wandered to the end of the complex and looked into no mans land toward Costa Rica. We asked where the CR migracion was and a sitting guy pointed toward CR and said "dos cientos metros" - 200 m to go. Shouldering our day packs, off we walked, dodging huge lumbering trucks, buses, potholes, dogs, etc. About midway to somewhere we saw a recognizable small police building with a uniformed man, carrying an assault rifle. That must be the actual border and likely the last inch of Panama (where open weapons are common). On we wandered and asked a boy vender - "cien metros", pointing toward Costa Rica - 100 m to go; half way there.



100 m later we turn a corner of a nondescript concrete block building to see a rank of more glass windows, two saying "Entrada" - the entrance to Costa Rica. We wait in line again; another look, swipe, stamp, but this time a friendly "buen viaje" - actual friendly immigraion officers! Then we spy our big red coach - at least we will get our packs back.



We wait until another bus is clear, then we again unload our packs and move into a wire-fenced compound with concrete tables. Wait in line with all other passengers and their packs with no activity for 20 minutes. This may be a power thing, since the very same bystanders suddenly become officials and walk forward to beckon lines to the tables. The casually dressed women ask you to open packs and take a nominal 2 millisecond look, then zip up. For us, we just laid our packs on the table, and she waived us on. We put packs back on the bus. Bus driver checks that all are present (he has a manifest to check for missing persons), then off we go. Total time at the frontier: 1 hr 55 minutes.



On the partly full bus, we lumber through spectacular scenery of southern Pacific Costa Rica with gushing rivers and sweeping forested hillsides, snooze, stop for washroom and snack break. On and on and on - arriving in San Jose at 5:00 pm, just as night is falling. This is not the best scenario - as dangerous areas in San Jose magnify in the absence of light. We laboriously offload pack by pack, driver checking each tag against our claim ticket. We take a red taxi to the bus station for Grecia, in the heart of Barrio Los Angeles. We're not sure where this is, but it seems to be in the district of the infamous Coca Cola - a former bottling plant area, now the center of many bus stations and lots of criminals, called the Red Zone.



Fortunately, our taxi pulls up out of the heart of darkness right in front of the bus for Grecia as it is pulling out. We jump out, catch the bus driver's eye, and we jump on. It is a nice full sized coach with padded seats. It is full with a crying toddler right behind us - but we were happy to be on our last leg.



We arrived in Grecia in a steady rain, all bags accounted for and happy as clams. Umbrellas out, we walked 5 min to our B &B, our Calgarian innkeeper greeting us safe and sound. Later that night, freshly scrubbed, we walked to a very nice restaurant and had a bottle of Chilean wine and (surprisingly) a very good steak. A wonderful birthday meal to cap off all 350 miles of our trip...