Cocles

And so now I find myself in Costa Rica, having taken the most lax border crossing in the world. The border has local people riding bicycles up and down and families taking their children across. The only people who go into the immigration offices are the tourists.

But anyway, finding myself in Costa Rica is pretty good because I've always wanted to come here.

First stop on the map is Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean coast. The town has a Jamaican/ Caribbean vibe to it and is on the beach but also in the jungle. In a way it reminds me a lot of Thailand.

Tom and I arrived at around 3pm and had a total mind fuck seeing as we had gained another hour (now 7 hours behind the U.K.). We are staying at the Selina's here which I like a lot less than the one we stayed at in Bocas. We chilled for a bit and I got into a political debate with this American guy by the poor for about an hour or so. Them Tom and I walked into town and had a big faff over trying to get money out of the cash machine. We went to the supermarket and nearly had a heart attack when we spent $14 on literally not much food at all. CR is expensive!

I ended going to bed quite early because gaining the hour had really played with my body clock (so help me for when I come back to England). On a separate side note to all my loyal, avid readers - I've finally booked my flight back to London on 13th September from Varadero in Cuba. 🙌🏼

The next day we got up early for yoga which I really enjoyed. We then rented bikes with no brakes - to make them stop you had to cycle backwards which was not that fun to get used to. We cycled to Punta Uva which is one of the nicest beaches in the area. We sunbathed until it became overcast and then slept until it started to rain and then we had to cycle back to the hostel. It then continued to rain pretty much all afternoon and I had to walk 1km in the rain with my big backpack to my new hostel which I prefer a lot more. The rainy season here is pretty full on and stops everything!

In my new hostel I spent the next day just chilling until around midday when it was time to speak to Josh. We've barely spoken since he left Colombia just due to being busy and having no wifi in the San Blas.

In the afternoon I went on a run to Playa Cocles. I haven't put on a pair of running shoes in an embarrassingly long time (since March) but have thought it's time to have a bit of a detox and get back on the fitness wagon. I ran 8.45km and it was okay until it was time to turn back and then it was a bit of a struggle. I stopped along the way to get water and OJ and also to take some photos of the beaches - cus they were so pretty and the sun was shining.

When I finished I went and lay on the beach for a bit and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon sun. I then went to the supermarket and got some food for dinner. I made a healthy dinner of quinoa and brown rice with parsley, pepper, onion, sweet corn and chickpeas which was really delicious. I had a pretty quiet evening because I've got to get up at around 6am tomorrow to get the bus to San José and then onto Manuel Antonio.Read more