The Adventure starts....

( A quick note. I will no longer be discussing any type of food on this blog because a certain reader who will not be disclosed *cough cough, my mother, cough* has found it quite hilarious how much food is mentioned on this trip, and therefore to save what is left of my shatter self-confidence, I will refrain from mentioning any other meals. Honestly, try eating rice and beans for 5 weeks and then see if you can help but get excited over buffet breakfast. Sheesh. )

Anway.. I digress.. Holly and I waited in the lobby of Si Como No for quite a while. There was a massive tropical rain-storm going on outside, and it was nice to sit in the open lobby and be cooled off and listen to the rain. However, I was a bit concerned that our Interbus had yet to show up. I got one of the guys at the desk to call Interbus, and they assured us that he was on his way, at the correct scheduled time. Too bad he was an hour late already... oh well. Jeff and Ashleigh came by the lobby on the way back from the beach, and invited us into their room for Cubans and Beer. Incase our bus didn't show up. Got to admit, parts of us were hoping it wouldn't. Anyway, exactly an hour and 20 minutes after it was supposed to get there the bus driver showed up, blasting reggaeton from the bus. He threw our stuff on board, and said that it would be a nice, short, 5 hour journey. We were sort of expecting the 4 hour journey we had been promised, but no big deal. 5 hours is nothing.

An hour and a half later we were about 30 kms away from our hotel, and stuck in standstill traffic. Standstill to the point that I was able to get out of the bus, run to a restaurant to use the washroom, then run back to the bus for it not have moved. Or move for the next 20 mintues. Sweet.

About and hour or so later we pulled over for dinner. A nice toothless security guard helped us out of the bus and excitedly took Holly and I over to the large bridge we just crossed. Half way across the bridge we were told to look down, and saw about 15 of the largest crocodiles I have ever seen! Although, now that I think about it, I'm not sure that I have ever seen crocodiles before. Anyway, they were about 10 metres long, at least the big ones. The security guard told us that if we wanted to, we could buy some chicken and throw it to the crocs. We declined. We walked back to the restaurant and.... nothing. Never mind. Then we got back onto the bus. This is where the real adventure starts...

About 3 hours later I was in hell. We were driving on the worst conditioned roads I have ever seen, and I literally felt like my insides were re-arranging we were bouncing around so much. I tried to lay down on a seat, but I was literally thrown off into the aisle. My entire body was in so much pain, and we were getting more and more into the middle of nowhere. No lights, no other cars, no street signs, no gaurd-railings to stop us from falling off of the massive hills..it felt very safe. And I was in serious pain for the ride, not to mention tired as hell. After about 6 and a half hours (4 hours my ass) we arrived in La Fortuna. The town looked pretty touristy as we drove through it, so my spirits were lifted a little bit. Then we passed through La Fortuna to drive to El Castillo, where we were staying.

40 minutes later I wanted to cry. Holly was literally scared to talk to me because I was in a brutal mood. I could not believe that we WERE STILL DRIVING. The roads got worse and worse, and apparently in Spanish El Castillo means "Some ridiculous excuse for a village in the middle of freaking nowhere, Costa Rica. Enjoy your stay." FINALLY we were dropped off at the Hummingbird Inn. The bus driver drove away so fast that I swear I turned around for 2 seconds and he was gone. We walked up the path and there was a sign with an arrow that said, "Bed & Breakfast, 150 meters." I looked at Holly, "150 meters. You've got to be joking me." She assured me that 150 meters is nothing. They didn't mention that it was 150 UP-FREAKIN-HILL!!! Literally, we had to CLIMB, yes, CLIMB, with our bags up the most ridiculous trail I've ever seen, 150 meters, which I swear is an understatment, to get to our fabulous location, at 10:30 at night, after a 7 plus hour bus ride from hell. I was thrilled.

We arrive at the bed and breakfast to be greeted by a dog, and nobody else. There is nobody to be found, and I was very impressed with the reception. Honestly... We eventually found our room, with the key left in the door, and a note that said my name. We walked into our room, and luckily for the safety of everyone near me, the room was really nice. Holly was quick to suggest, "Why don't we get a good night's sleep and assess the situation in the morning." I think this roughly translates to, "You are in the worst mood I've ever seen and I'm frightened to be sharing a room with you, you should go to bed immediately." It was an excellent idea, and I went to bed and dreamt all night of the beautiful resort we had left behind us.

That is all I can talk about for today. I need to go have a drink now.

Chao!!!

Natalie xoxoxoxoo