After Caye Caulker we travelled back down the coast of Belize stopping off in Hopkins to visit my family again, then Placencia again for a night and then bused it down to Punta Gorda. It was here we started our 3 day trip down to Costa Rica to meet Elise and Greg- who we assumed were a week ahead of us and already in Costa Rica. So we got the boat from Belize to Guatemala, then a 9 hour bus to Honduras where we spent a night in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Unfortunately the bus broke down 3 times on the way but we made it there in the end. The next day we took a 10 hour bus to Nicaragua and spent an awful night in Managua, the capital city.
We´d travelled through Managua 3 years ago and we were not looking forward to returning, however the night was even worse than we´d imagined. We called up and booked a night in a nice hostel the day before as we knew we´d be arriving late at night. As soon as we got out of the bus we were set upon by a gang of taxi drivers, telling us how dangerous Managua is, so we had better get in the cab immediately. We did so then told the taxi driver the name of the hostel where we had booked. He then drove us to an unmarked building, a good distance away from where the Lonely Planet said this hostel was situated. The LP has been wrong in the past about exactly where things are so we didn't question this too much. Outside the building were a group of six or so people, just sitting and chatting in the street. Chris got out of the taxi and said that he had a booking there. They said sorry, the room had been given away because we hadn't turned up by 6. We were furious, because we had said that we were getting in at midnight and to make sure they kept a room spare for us. We shouted this at them, but they just got angry and shouted back at us in rapid incomprehensible Spanish. We then had to get back into the taxi and ask to be taken to another hotel in our guide book. Once again the taxi driver drove us to an unmarked building and knocked on the door, only for us to be told there was no space. This pattern repeated itself a number of times, before the driver recommended a hostel which wasn't in the guide book. We were so fed up by this point, that we agreed and he took us there. They had a room so we agreed immediately..so happy at last to have found a bed for the night! Our happiness soon disolved when we saw the room. It was so horrible! There wasn´t a ceiling, the beds were disgusting and damp and the small shower and toilet combo was only seperated from the rest of the room by a small curtain. I was so upset, but we had no choice! We shared the room with a lovely German girl who was also in our predicament! We were laughing about our misfourtune by the end of the night..we just had to otherwise I would have cried! Simo would have actually had heart failure.
I woke the next day in disgust at where we were staying and immediately packed to leave, I noticed a rash on my leg where bed bugs had attacked...urrghh!! The only good thing about this hostel (looking at it in the light of the day I really don´t think it was a hostel, just some old woman's back room that she never used) was that it was a 5 minute walk to the Tica Bus station where we were to catch our bus to San Jose. So we walked to the bus station happy to be away from that room, and we noticed the hostel we had a booking for the night before! And it was not the building the taxi driver had taken us to! I was furious!!! Turns out this is a regular taxi scam where the driver takes you to is mates houses instead of the places you ask from the LP so his mates get some money from you!! Ahhhhh!!!! I hated Managua!!!
Luckily we had a 9 hour bus journey to forget about it all! Mmmmn. Anyway, we arrived in San Jose at about 10pm and got a taxi to our hostel where we were meeting Elise and Greg! We walked in and had a screaming welcome from them..AMAZING!! It was so good to see them again!! It turned out they had only just arrived the day before and unfortunately had not made it to Costa Rica for Elise´s birthday...they´d spent it on a bus getting to Nicaragua after spending 5 days in Guatemala! Haha!! They´d met a lovely couple the day before on their bus who were also staying at the hostel, Laura and Gonzalo. We quickly got some beers in and told them all about our awful night before..then they had some news to tell us! Laura and Gonzalo were getting married the next day!! How exciting!! I wanted to know all the details! Laura is from Canada and Gonzalo is from Mexico. Sadly Gonzalo was deported from Canada and due to certain legal issues, that I don't really understand, the only place in the whole world they could get married was Costa Rica! So they´d travelled together all the way from Mexico (Laura from Canada) to get married the next day! And they invited us all along! They were so excited about it..and so were we!!
So the next morning we all got up and got dressed in our finest ..(and I think we all scrubbed up pretty well considering as we are travelling!) Laura looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress and Gonzalo looked so handsome, they were both so happy the day was finally here! It was amazing to be part of this day with them. We all jumped in a taxi to the registry office and took a few photo´s outside. We then all took our seats and met the registrar and interpreter. The service was lovely, all in Spanish and then into English for our benefit as Laura is pretty much fluent in Spanish. It all got quite emotional as they were saying the vows and I think even the boys had a little tear in their eyes...although they will deny it. Champagne was brought in after and Greg as the best man said a little speech!!
It was such a great day!! We then found a lovely bar to sit and sip some more champagne and celebrated! Elise and I ran off and found a little bakery to buy a little wedding cake for them! They so wanted their families to be there, but as it wasn´t possible we wanted to make their wedding day as perfect as could be! We had a great lunch of ceviche, then made a trip to the supermarket to buy lots of lovely cheese, pate and yummy bread..and of course tequila! You can´t really have a Mexican getting married without tequila!! We spent the evening at the hostel drinking and celebrating...we even found them a song for their first dance!
We had so much fun all together and felt we´d know Laura and Gonzalo forever, certainly not just 24 hours! They are such a great couple and I´m so happy they were finally able to marry one another -they´re absolutely made for each other! We spent a good deal of our time with them persuading them to move to England in a few years as it´s one of the places they could live together.. so we can see them all the time! Fingers crossed! All in all it was such a special day for a very special couple.
We´d travelled through Managua 3 years ago and we were not looking forward to returning, however the night was even worse than we´d imagined. We called up and booked a night in a nice hostel the day before as we knew we´d be arriving late at night. As soon as we got out of the bus we were set upon by a gang of taxi drivers, telling us how dangerous Managua is, so we had better get in the cab immediately. We did so then told the taxi driver the name of the hostel where we had booked. He then drove us to an unmarked building, a good distance away from where the Lonely Planet said this hostel was situated. The LP has been wrong in the past about exactly where things are so we didn't question this too much. Outside the building were a group of six or so people, just sitting and chatting in the street. Chris got out of the taxi and said that he had a booking there. They said sorry, the room had been given away because we hadn't turned up by 6. We were furious, because we had said that we were getting in at midnight and to make sure they kept a room spare for us. We shouted this at them, but they just got angry and shouted back at us in rapid incomprehensible Spanish. We then had to get back into the taxi and ask to be taken to another hotel in our guide book. Once again the taxi driver drove us to an unmarked building and knocked on the door, only for us to be told there was no space. This pattern repeated itself a number of times, before the driver recommended a hostel which wasn't in the guide book. We were so fed up by this point, that we agreed and he took us there. They had a room so we agreed immediately..so happy at last to have found a bed for the night! Our happiness soon disolved when we saw the room. It was so horrible! There wasn´t a ceiling, the beds were disgusting and damp and the small shower and toilet combo was only seperated from the rest of the room by a small curtain. I was so upset, but we had no choice! We shared the room with a lovely German girl who was also in our predicament! We were laughing about our misfourtune by the end of the night..we just had to otherwise I would have cried! Simo would have actually had heart failure.
I woke the next day in disgust at where we were staying and immediately packed to leave, I noticed a rash on my leg where bed bugs had attacked...urrghh!! The only good thing about this hostel (looking at it in the light of the day I really don´t think it was a hostel, just some old woman's back room that she never used) was that it was a 5 minute walk to the Tica Bus station where we were to catch our bus to San Jose. So we walked to the bus station happy to be away from that room, and we noticed the hostel we had a booking for the night before! And it was not the building the taxi driver had taken us to! I was furious!!! Turns out this is a regular taxi scam where the driver takes you to is mates houses instead of the places you ask from the LP so his mates get some money from you!! Ahhhhh!!!! I hated Managua!!!
Luckily we had a 9 hour bus journey to forget about it all! Mmmmn. Anyway, we arrived in San Jose at about 10pm and got a taxi to our hostel where we were meeting Elise and Greg! We walked in and had a screaming welcome from them..AMAZING!! It was so good to see them again!! It turned out they had only just arrived the day before and unfortunately had not made it to Costa Rica for Elise´s birthday...they´d spent it on a bus getting to Nicaragua after spending 5 days in Guatemala! Haha!! They´d met a lovely couple the day before on their bus who were also staying at the hostel, Laura and Gonzalo. We quickly got some beers in and told them all about our awful night before..then they had some news to tell us! Laura and Gonzalo were getting married the next day!! How exciting!! I wanted to know all the details! Laura is from Canada and Gonzalo is from Mexico. Sadly Gonzalo was deported from Canada and due to certain legal issues, that I don't really understand, the only place in the whole world they could get married was Costa Rica! So they´d travelled together all the way from Mexico (Laura from Canada) to get married the next day! And they invited us all along! They were so excited about it..and so were we!!
So the next morning we all got up and got dressed in our finest ..(and I think we all scrubbed up pretty well considering as we are travelling!) Laura looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress and Gonzalo looked so handsome, they were both so happy the day was finally here! It was amazing to be part of this day with them. We all jumped in a taxi to the registry office and took a few photo´s outside. We then all took our seats and met the registrar and interpreter. The service was lovely, all in Spanish and then into English for our benefit as Laura is pretty much fluent in Spanish. It all got quite emotional as they were saying the vows and I think even the boys had a little tear in their eyes...although they will deny it. Champagne was brought in after and Greg as the best man said a little speech!!
It was such a great day!! We then found a lovely bar to sit and sip some more champagne and celebrated! Elise and I ran off and found a little bakery to buy a little wedding cake for them! They so wanted their families to be there, but as it wasn´t possible we wanted to make their wedding day as perfect as could be! We had a great lunch of ceviche, then made a trip to the supermarket to buy lots of lovely cheese, pate and yummy bread..and of course tequila! You can´t really have a Mexican getting married without tequila!! We spent the evening at the hostel drinking and celebrating...we even found them a song for their first dance!
.JPG)
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