In which the streets are paved with molasses
We got up on Tuesday in Juntas and had a soak in the hot tub. (The shower wasn’t heated, but the hot spring was very nice!) After that we went looking for a place to get some cash. Turns out the Banco Nacional doesn’t like my card, but a different bank accepted it just fine. We got out about $90.
We were walking back to the hostel when Gregg noticed a variety shop and stopped to have a look. He wanted to get some T-shirts and some snacky-snacks. The shop had tons of clothes, for very inexpensive prices. Gregg ended up buying 10 pairs of girls’ panties for $.40 each. These he plans to use at Burning Man this year as part of a “reverse panty raid.” At first we thought for sure the woman would be sketched out by our interest in girls’ panties, but she seemed to get over that rather quickly when it became clear that Gregg was serious. She assumed that he was buying them for his daughter. It was curious that he didn’t seem to care what size they were, though, and he told me later that she commented on this point. In response, he said, “she’ll grow.”
All pantied up, we went to the next store and bought some snacks for the road. We got a bunch of stuff and the nice man behind the counter added in some caramel mixed with coconut for free. That proved to be the best of the lot, IMHO.
We went back to the hotel, settled our tab and got on the road for the peninsula. I was driving again. We crossed the Taiwanese “Bridge of Friendship” and we were on the Nicoya Peninsula. It was much dryer than the landscape we had left, and we immediately saw several iguanas run across the road. I managed not to hit them, and continued on my way. We drove for several hours on some paved roads and some non-roads. We stopped at a little town to get lunch. Gregg had some eggs cooked with vegetables and several tortillas. I had a hotpocket-like thing and what Gregg had. (I was hungry.) Gregg talked with the people who ran the soda a bit. Their little 4-year-old was particularly talkative. We took off once we had finished and spent another couple hours driving. We got gas and stamps in Cóbano and then took the dirt road down to Montezuma.
We loved Montezuma! It was paradise, though a bit touristy. All the banks and auto shops and everything was up the hill, which left the hotels, restaurants, shops and the beach. We found a place for $20/night (the most expensive so far) and dropped our stuff off. The room was right on the beach. Right away, we took off for a waterfall that Lonely Planet said was a little ways out of town. I was in board shorts and sandals, which was probably a stupid move since we had to basically walk up a creek to get to the falls. But we both made it with no injuries and with plenty of sunlight to spare. This pool was the perfect temperature, unlike the other one which was quite cold. This was refreshing and we both took a short swim in the pool and under the falls.
On the way back from the falls the sun was setting, so we I got some awesome pictures. There were waves and rocks and a boat several hundred meters off shore, bobbing in the waves.
We got back to the hotel and discovered that there was something which appeared to be leaking from our car. We were frightened for a bit, until we realized that it was really dripping down from the inside of the wheel wells on all four tires. We looked back and noticed that several locals were spreading something on the road. Gregg asked and confirmed that it was molasses. We asked our hotellier what that was about, and he said it was a local product (meaning it was cheap and available) and they used it to keep the dust down on the roads.
After this, Gregg and I went to have dinner at a place called Colors. The food was the best we’d eaten so far: I had a chicken curry with raisins and almonds and Gregg had a vegetable melange in a congac sauce. This was a particularly satisfying meal for Gregg, after days of huevos and papas fritas. We went back to the hotel and then I went to go blog. When I got back, Gregg and I went just outside our door for some fruit drinks and I noticed a guy playing guitar. I hadn’t played in days, so I was really excited about the possibility to play a bit. Fortunately, when I got back from food I got in line and was able to play a bit. The girl whose guitar it was showed up and I taught her the main riff from “Blackbird.” The hotel owner came by just after 10 and asked us to quiet down for the night, so I stopped playing. Two very cute Italian/Swiss guys showed up so we talked with them for a bit. Then we were asked to stop talking again, and they needed to get up early to go fishing, so we parted company and went to bed.