I lose in Playa Brasilito

After Emily left on the 16th, I took a bus to the Nicoya Peninsula, the northern pacific part of Costa Rica. The LP Book said that the cheapest accomodation in the area was at Playa Brasilito, off the beaten path, not touristy like Tamarindo, a good place to start the Pacific adventure. The actual adventure begins as soon as you get on the bus. The busses in Costa Rica are a) always late, b) too small for tall guys like me, c) sporatic and run rough, d) never go quite where you expect them to, and unless you know where you´re going and where to stop, don´t stop for you. Riding the bus is its own adventure.

I got to Brasilito around 4pm, but the driver didn´t stop and I didn´t realize it until it was too late. I thought ¨I know the road ends in 5km in Playa Flamingo, how bad could this be... maybe I´ll stay there.¨ So I rode to Flamingo. It turns out that Flamingo is a resort village, the cheapest room starting at $250 a night. That seemed a bit out of my budget, so I started to walk back to Brasilito.

The bus driver saw me walking, must have felt bad for me, and offered me a ride back to Brasilito becuase that´s where he was headed. He dropped me in the middle of town (*read=a few shops, a few places to stay, and a soccer field) just as it started to rain. It was only 4:30 and it gets dark at 5:10, so I figured I´d go to the hostel and check in. The LP said this place would be $5, not too bad. When I arrived, the Swiss owner, told me the cheapest room was $20. I hadn´t spent more than $8 anywhere in Costa Rica, so I told him he was crazy and went off pleased that I was going to show him and find a cheaper place to stay. It was pouring rain and getting dark, but I triumphantly walked out into the melle.

I tried the next place down the road, which looked decent, only to find that it was closed for the season. No one could possibly want to be in Costa Rica in November, right? The next place down on the beach looked nicer, but worth an ask. They told me $30 and I asked if I could sleep on the beach in front of the Hotel for $10. They weren´t impressed.

It was getting wetter and darker as I trudged off to find other places to stay. There was a sign pointing me down a dark, puddlefilled alley, but I was getting desperate. I showed up and asked about getting a room, only to find that they were full. They must have been housing all the people that couldn´t go to the other place that was closed. Buggered. I asked a construction worker on the street about getting a place to sleep and he litterally told me to knock on the door of the 4th house down the ally and ask about the bed. This seemed a bit crazy, but hey, if this guy wanted me to sleep at his house, I was all for it. I walked up, knocked on the door and told them, ´I´m looking for a bed, can you help me?´ They said they could help me, but the bed was occupied, and thus were no help. It was totally dark and I was starting to get discouraged.

I tried one last place that was totally dingey, found it was $20, and told the woman that I was okay. I went back to the Swiss, head down in shame, and gave him $20. I lose.