After a few days in Puerto Viejo a person can pretty much experience all the town has to offer. I left early in the morning to return my beach cruiser bike that I rented 3 miles out of town and made the long journey back on foot. I was lucky enough to see a sloth hanging around in a tree next to the road, but unlucky enough not to have a camera with me..
I packed up my tiny pack and hit the bus stop headed for the border of Costa rica and Panama at the city of Sixola. It was a pleasant enough bus ride at first, but the constant stopping got a little out of hand. After we managed to drop all 40 passengers off at their respective houses I was dropped off a Sixola.
The border crossing was pretty simple here, just show your passport get a stamp and head across the dodgey bridge that accomidated foot traffic and giant semi trucks. It is a little scary being passed by a 50,000 pound truck on a rickety old bridge with inches to spare.
The other side of the border had no formal bus stops just a couple school busses heading down the road. I tried to ask the buss attendant if this cruiser was heading for Bocas del Toro and he just gave me a strange look grabed the dollar out of my hand and pushed me in the door. Again we dropped all passengers off at their houses and ended up at a small bus station in a little bigger town.
I took another bus to the city of Almante where I heard rumors of water taxi service to the Isla de Colon which was home to the great city of Bocas Del Toro. As we entered the city I started frantically looking for boats, or water, or something that was condusive to maritime travel and came up short.. I took a deep breath, slung on the pack and headed off in the wrong direction into the heart of the gringoless town. The townies all watched me walk up and down the streets as if I was a circus bear riding a unicycle until finally a very nice person took me on a walk to the harbor.
$4 for a ride out to the island, the boats leave every 30 minutes. It was nice to travel by boat for a while. I saw a few dolphins, some delapitaed ferries and some extremely unsafe speeds for the skiff with 14 passengers on board.
Once in town I found the Mondo TaiTu, a somewhat legendary hostel with great people all around. I ended up hanging out with Raul the Romainian and drinking Cuba Libres to celebrate Raul Castro´s new regime. We also had some long winded discussions of the effect of the Borat movie on his peacefull country.
4 Comments
April 10, 2008 at 5:46 pm
So the buses, they automatically drop the white guy off last or what? And are you backpacking your way around or what? I got that you sold the car and yak, but what about the fishing poles and speargun, etc? You Christopher McCandless son of a gun! How do you do it? This blog is great…way to illustrate your Centro travels or trials!?! Intriguing journey…my hat is off to you.
April 11, 2008 at 2:45 am
Odd about your connection story once you crossed the border into Panama.
Usually there are drivers with minivans waiting for people who cross the border — that’s always been my experience the 3 times I’ve done it. And they don’t take you to Almirante. They take you to Finca 60 for $5 where there’s a somewhat longer boat trip (but spectacularly pretty, much nicer than from Almirante) to Isla Colon. Maybe they don’t always run as the traffic of tourists slows.
Mondo Taitu is quite the experience…especially during happy hour with 50 cent beers!
April 11, 2008 at 6:14 am
I guess that is the sewer there behind the houses on the water… maybe not. Glad to see you made it into Panama. Did not know if you were going or not. May as well get down to the Canal and check out the locks. Talking about skiffs…I almost took a skiff ride today but gave into boat work. Almost done.
April 11, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I admire your “carry-on” lifestyle, your ability to mix in with the locs and go with the flow!