It's finally the day we leave Costa Rica & Central America.
We've been dreading this transit, ever since we booked the flight back when we were in India.
It's nearly 45 hours in transit from the time our plane leaves Costa Rica to the moment it touches down in Bangkok. If you include the taxis to & from the airport & the time we will spend in airports, waiting before our flight & the time after arriving in Bangkok, it's well over 48 hours.
The first flight is from Costa Rica to Los Angeles, where we needed that stupid Esta visa to collect our bags, pass through immigration & customs, just to get on our 2nd flight. We only have just under 3 hours to do all this, recheck our bags in & get to our next boarding gate. To make this situation even more intimidating, we've tried multiple times to check in to our Hong Kong airlines flight, with no luck. From Los Angeles we fly to Hong Kong & then have a 6 hour lay over before our final flight to Bangkok, which is also with Hong Kong airlines, so hopefully they can check our bags right through to Bangkok.
We will loose an hour when we arrive in LA, then we gain 15 hours once we arrive in Hong Kong & then we loose 1 hour once we arrive in Bangkok. It's a recipe for jet lag. I suffered terribly after our South Africa to Mexico flights which was under 40 hours. I'm going to do everything to avoid it this time. No alcohol or caffeine for me, plenty of water & I'm going to attempt to sleep properly on the LA to Hong Kong flight.
Though we have been seriously not looking forward to this flight, it will be so good to be on the other side of the world, the side that our country & home is on.
We've got our amazing friends Nat & Dom that are meeting us in Thailand for 3 weeks, including my birthday, which is just brilliant timing. After this flight we will also be one step closer to home.
It's now been 226 days abroad & were starting to feel a bit 'gluggy' which is an awkward word at the best of times but one that adequately describes our motivation to both plan & explore.
We're both starting to talk more about normal routines & life back at home. Things that made us cringe 2 months ago. I think we're both becoming home sick.
Central America has been truly amazing for so many reasons. Another amazing region in amongst all the other amazing places we have been. However as with every other place the highs are accompanied with a few Lows.
We've met some truly amazing people, both locals & fellow tourists. Obviously, from previous posts, we enjoyed the company of the first group who travelled from Mexico to Guatemala as opposed to the second group that we were with from Guatemala to Costa Rica. This is an unavoidable possibility when doing a tour with a group of random people who you don't know. Not being compatible with people is a part of real every day life & not exclusive to overseas travel.
The gems from both of the groups know that they will always have a bed, a beer & a warm meal under our roof if they ever come to Australia & we sincerely hope they do!
The food has been incredible & we are both very inspired to cook the traditional meals from each country as well as perfect the few 'Mexican style' dishes we already know. All the 'Mexican style' food we previously ate was a very westernized version, it's great we can now make the more authentic versions.
I will have to get more comfortable with cilantro, also known as coriander aka the herb that kinda tastes like soap. It features heavily in Spanish cuisine.
The natural & diverse beauty in this region is hard to capture on digital media, no matter how good your equipment is. This part of the world, particularly Guatemala & Costa Rica have really captivated & intrigued us. We would definitely consider moving & living here.
Thankfully but also kinda regretfully we only saw 6 out of the 8 countries we initially planned to see. This gives us a great 'excuse' to come back, as if we really need an excuse!
The past 2 months have been slightly challenging for Tom & I. Unfortunately we have had a few arguments & disagreements whilst sober & drunk. This is a very new thing for us & a challenge in itself. Travelling can be very stressful & we've recently been feeling the stress & strain on certain aspects of our relationship. Unfortunately this will be something we will remember about central America & another reason we are happy to finish this chapter & move on to bigger & better things.
When we arrive, there is still a 20 minute wait before the check in desk opens & we can get our tickets & be free of our packs. While in the queue security approach us & ask us many questions about where we are from, where we are going, where we have been, our jobs & other security questions relating to our luggage. We are then given a sticker & a code on our passports. We've never flown on an American airline company or flown to America, so we only assume the extra security is normal for American flights.
At 3.35pm we walk down, detouring to take pictures with giant statue toucans & find seats at gate 15. Something mildly interesting happens while waiting for a boarding announcement the electricity blacks out which is followed by about 5 seconds of alarms before a generator kicks in.
This happens again about 10 minutes later & the full power doesn't come back on until 4pm.
During this an announcement is issued letting us know that the crew for this plane is stuck in a traffic jam & we will be late. With our already tight lay over time between this flight & our next one to Hong Kong, this is literally the last thing we want to hear.
We finally take off at 5.10pm & very quickly ascend. Which I'm assuming is to allow for our speedy journey. At 5.30pm, I look out the window, daydreaming, & see a huge bolt of lightning not too far from the plane. Despite knowing were totally fine, seeing it so close while in a plane is not the ideal sight for a peaceful plane ride or a peaceful daydream.
The next time I lift the window shade we are rewarded with a gorgeous setting sun to the front & were well above the clouds & any potential lightning bolts.
Within 30 minutes of being in the airport terminal we get yelled at by a man in an elevator, see a man lying under a blanket masturbating, see many people who look to be high, including one who tries to sit next to me. The cherry on the cake is a person (We're unsure if it was a man or woman) who had a hood on, was sitting on a chair with a blanket on, eating nuts & spitting the shells on the floor, whilst yelling "its not hard to use your manners, were not dogs, just people, ask us a simple question with some manners". I'm highly doubtful that most of the people we saw were legitimate passengers. There was minimal security & I think they were just people off the street hanging around.
We've been dreading this transit, ever since we booked the flight back when we were in India.
It's nearly 45 hours in transit from the time our plane leaves Costa Rica to the moment it touches down in Bangkok. If you include the taxis to & from the airport & the time we will spend in airports, waiting before our flight & the time after arriving in Bangkok, it's well over 48 hours.
The first flight is from Costa Rica to Los Angeles, where we needed that stupid Esta visa to collect our bags, pass through immigration & customs, just to get on our 2nd flight. We only have just under 3 hours to do all this, recheck our bags in & get to our next boarding gate. To make this situation even more intimidating, we've tried multiple times to check in to our Hong Kong airlines flight, with no luck. From Los Angeles we fly to Hong Kong & then have a 6 hour lay over before our final flight to Bangkok, which is also with Hong Kong airlines, so hopefully they can check our bags right through to Bangkok.
We will loose an hour when we arrive in LA, then we gain 15 hours once we arrive in Hong Kong & then we loose 1 hour once we arrive in Bangkok. It's a recipe for jet lag. I suffered terribly after our South Africa to Mexico flights which was under 40 hours. I'm going to do everything to avoid it this time. No alcohol or caffeine for me, plenty of water & I'm going to attempt to sleep properly on the LA to Hong Kong flight.
Though we have been seriously not looking forward to this flight, it will be so good to be on the other side of the world, the side that our country & home is on.
We've got our amazing friends Nat & Dom that are meeting us in Thailand for 3 weeks, including my birthday, which is just brilliant timing. After this flight we will also be one step closer to home.
It's now been 226 days abroad & were starting to feel a bit 'gluggy' which is an awkward word at the best of times but one that adequately describes our motivation to both plan & explore.
We're both starting to talk more about normal routines & life back at home. Things that made us cringe 2 months ago. I think we're both becoming home sick.
Central America has been truly amazing for so many reasons. Another amazing region in amongst all the other amazing places we have been. However as with every other place the highs are accompanied with a few Lows.
We've met some truly amazing people, both locals & fellow tourists. Obviously, from previous posts, we enjoyed the company of the first group who travelled from Mexico to Guatemala as opposed to the second group that we were with from Guatemala to Costa Rica. This is an unavoidable possibility when doing a tour with a group of random people who you don't know. Not being compatible with people is a part of real every day life & not exclusive to overseas travel.
The gems from both of the groups know that they will always have a bed, a beer & a warm meal under our roof if they ever come to Australia & we sincerely hope they do!
The food has been incredible & we are both very inspired to cook the traditional meals from each country as well as perfect the few 'Mexican style' dishes we already know. All the 'Mexican style' food we previously ate was a very westernized version, it's great we can now make the more authentic versions.
I will have to get more comfortable with cilantro, also known as coriander aka the herb that kinda tastes like soap. It features heavily in Spanish cuisine.
The natural & diverse beauty in this region is hard to capture on digital media, no matter how good your equipment is. This part of the world, particularly Guatemala & Costa Rica have really captivated & intrigued us. We would definitely consider moving & living here.
Thankfully but also kinda regretfully we only saw 6 out of the 8 countries we initially planned to see. This gives us a great 'excuse' to come back, as if we really need an excuse!
The past 2 months have been slightly challenging for Tom & I. Unfortunately we have had a few arguments & disagreements whilst sober & drunk. This is a very new thing for us & a challenge in itself. Travelling can be very stressful & we've recently been feeling the stress & strain on certain aspects of our relationship. Unfortunately this will be something we will remember about central America & another reason we are happy to finish this chapter & move on to bigger & better things.
By 12pm we had packed our bags, eaten a rather large lunch, scrubbed our hiking boots clean & checked out of the hostel. Tom organised an Uber & we were heading out of San Jose to the international airport, the same one we flew into 10 days ago. It's a 45 minute drive with no delays & not a sentence of conversation. The driver doesn't speak English & the mood from us is sombre.
When we arrive, there is still a 20 minute wait before the check in desk opens & we can get our tickets & be free of our packs. While in the queue security approach us & ask us many questions about where we are from, where we are going, where we have been, our jobs & other security questions relating to our luggage. We are then given a sticker & a code on our passports. We've never flown on an American airline company or flown to America, so we only assume the extra security is normal for American flights.
Following this, the check in, immigration & customs is very easy & we have quite a few hours free. We find a Starbucks to spend our spare colones at & bum some Wi-Fi. Thankfully after attempt number 16000 Tom finally manages to check in online for our next Hong Kong flight. What a relief!
At 3.35pm we walk down, detouring to take pictures with giant statue toucans & find seats at gate 15. Something mildly interesting happens while waiting for a boarding announcement the electricity blacks out which is followed by about 5 seconds of alarms before a generator kicks in.
This happens again about 10 minutes later & the full power doesn't come back on until 4pm.
During this an announcement is issued letting us know that the crew for this plane is stuck in a traffic jam & we will be late. With our already tight lay over time between this flight & our next one to Hong Kong, this is literally the last thing we want to hear.
The boarding starts just before 4pm & it's made slow by the extra random security checks that are being done at the boarding gate. Everybody in the line to board is approached by security who ask us questions about our bags again & then we are let through. Thankfully we both dodge the random security checks which involve metal detection wands, the removal of shoes & over garments & a search through carry on luggage.
Once on board the captain announces that 5 hours & 45 minutes is our predicted travel time, which is quicker than our itinerary states & means that the captain is going to make up for lost time. Phewwww!
The next announcement is that there will be a 15 minute delay for our take off, due to a fed-ex plane that needs to urgently land & has priority of the runway.
This journey is already plagued with mixed emotions & the delays don't make the anxiety lessen.
Unusually, Tom is the anxious one this time & is fretting about us missing the next flight & I am less concerned.
Once on board the captain announces that 5 hours & 45 minutes is our predicted travel time, which is quicker than our itinerary states & means that the captain is going to make up for lost time. Phewwww!
The next announcement is that there will be a 15 minute delay for our take off, due to a fed-ex plane that needs to urgently land & has priority of the runway.
This journey is already plagued with mixed emotions & the delays don't make the anxiety lessen.
Unusually, Tom is the anxious one this time & is fretting about us missing the next flight & I am less concerned.
We finally take off at 5.10pm & very quickly ascend. Which I'm assuming is to allow for our speedy journey. At 5.30pm, I look out the window, daydreaming, & see a huge bolt of lightning not too far from the plane. Despite knowing were totally fine, seeing it so close while in a plane is not the ideal sight for a peaceful plane ride or a peaceful daydream.
The flight goes smoothly & uneventfully, I snuck in a small nap in the end when my eyes were sore, Tom's still on zero z's.
The plane is on time & it's at this point in time we double check the itinerary & realise we don't have just under 3 hours till our next flight, we actually have 14! The stress is off & the boredom is on, before we even leave the plane. At least we now don't have to rush.
We exit the plane at 9.40pm, LA time & board a bus that takes us to the terminal. LA airport is huge. The LA sky is very smoggy & it's actually cold. Once in the terminal we go through a really long immigration process involving a digital scanner, multiple questions & lots of queeing.
Once through we collect our baggage as per LA policy & find ourselves on the land side of the airport with no options to check our bags back in for 10 hours. The part of the airport we are in is dirty, cold, has minimal seating, no food options & is full of weirdos!
Once through we collect our baggage as per LA policy & find ourselves on the land side of the airport with no options to check our bags back in for 10 hours. The part of the airport we are in is dirty, cold, has minimal seating, no food options & is full of weirdos!
Within 30 minutes of being in the airport terminal we get yelled at by a man in an elevator, see a man lying under a blanket masturbating, see many people who look to be high, including one who tries to sit next to me. The cherry on the cake is a person (We're unsure if it was a man or woman) who had a hood on, was sitting on a chair with a blanket on, eating nuts & spitting the shells on the floor, whilst yelling "its not hard to use your manners, were not dogs, just people, ask us a simple question with some manners". I'm highly doubtful that most of the people we saw were legitimate passengers. There was minimal security & I think they were just people off the street hanging around.
It didn't take us long to decide we did not want to wait 14 hours here. We rang & booked in at a nearby 2 star hotel for the painful price of $101 AUD for 9 hours of accommodation.
We got an Uber to the hotel, which was called the LAX luxe Suites, it was anything but Luxe, however, it was safe & our refuge from the scary people of the night.
We cracked a few jokes when we arrived & entered our hotel room about this being the sort of place people book to have affairs or commit murder.
Shortly after this it was showers & sleep!
- Alli
Shortly after this it was showers & sleep!
- Alli
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