Juan More Time
So we managed to pull it off, even in record time. In just under an hour we crossed the Costa Rican border at Penas Blancas into Nicaragua and back.
The U.S. Embassy might have issued their travel warnings and pulled their personnel out, but at the border it was busimess as usual without violence or riots so it was all good.
I had started to get a bit nervous as I drove north from Liberia on the Pan American Hwy Rutas 1 and there was almost no traffic. It was eerie having the road to ourselves for a very long stretch. But once we neared Penas Blancas and I saw the hundreds of idling big trucks waiting to cross and the Tica and Nica buses waiting I knew it was just another business as usual day.
What made this crossing different for us than the other times we'd come up to the border is that we weren't riding in on Tica Bus, or on on the local bus that dumps you out on the border. We drove, but we weren't taking our car across the border. To do that meant we would have had to drive five hours to San Jose and apply for permission to take the car across the border, pick up the paperwork, fill out paperwork for Nicaragua, pay the entry/exit fees for bringing a car and do it a good week or more in advance. See why we didn't? They make is difficult.
That was the other worry, where to park the car on the Costa Rica side. We did what friends said, asked a group of guys working the border as 'guides' where the protected parking was. We parked and one of them introducted himself to us as Juan. Juan, like Jim or Bob in the States, common name.
Juan wanted to help us get through the border, offering to expidite the experience for a few bucks. We took him up on that, and ended up being brought to the very front of some long, long lines at each way station along the border crossing. Juan was Juanderful! With the mile and a quarter walk through the borders, getting the visa stamps, paying the entrance and exit fees we were back at our car inside of an hour. I'd budgeted three hours for the round trip through the borders.
The only drag is that when we got back to the car Juan was asking for double the amount of money we'd agreed upon. Jim and Juan engaged in what I call the 'Gringo Shuffle' - that awkward dance over moolah when you know that someone is trying to shake you down. They settled right at the middle of Juan's first request and second, which was well worth it to be able to bypass the long lines in the agencies.
A little shopping and we made it home in time to take an late afternoon nap!
The U.S. Embassy might have issued their travel warnings and pulled their personnel out, but at the border it was busimess as usual without violence or riots so it was all good.
I had started to get a bit nervous as I drove north from Liberia on the Pan American Hwy Rutas 1 and there was almost no traffic. It was eerie having the road to ourselves for a very long stretch. But once we neared Penas Blancas and I saw the hundreds of idling big trucks waiting to cross and the Tica and Nica buses waiting I knew it was just another business as usual day.
What made this crossing different for us than the other times we'd come up to the border is that we weren't riding in on Tica Bus, or on on the local bus that dumps you out on the border. We drove, but we weren't taking our car across the border. To do that meant we would have had to drive five hours to San Jose and apply for permission to take the car across the border, pick up the paperwork, fill out paperwork for Nicaragua, pay the entry/exit fees for bringing a car and do it a good week or more in advance. See why we didn't? They make is difficult.
That was the other worry, where to park the car on the Costa Rica side. We did what friends said, asked a group of guys working the border as 'guides' where the protected parking was. We parked and one of them introducted himself to us as Juan. Juan, like Jim or Bob in the States, common name.
Juan wanted to help us get through the border, offering to expidite the experience for a few bucks. We took him up on that, and ended up being brought to the very front of some long, long lines at each way station along the border crossing. Juan was Juanderful! With the mile and a quarter walk through the borders, getting the visa stamps, paying the entrance and exit fees we were back at our car inside of an hour. I'd budgeted three hours for the round trip through the borders.
The only drag is that when we got back to the car Juan was asking for double the amount of money we'd agreed upon. Jim and Juan engaged in what I call the 'Gringo Shuffle' - that awkward dance over moolah when you know that someone is trying to shake you down. They settled right at the middle of Juan's first request and second, which was well worth it to be able to bypass the long lines in the agencies.
A little shopping and we made it home in time to take an late afternoon nap!
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