Nica what! (part 2)

We have now made it to LA alive. 2 days of heavy travelling on buses and planes has taken its toll on us. Having left San Juan del Sur has really made us realise what a freaking awesome time we had there. Yes, it may have been taken over by Westerners to a large extent, but it was still totally worth it!
The town being very close to the Costa Rican border clearly affected the prices compared to rest of Nicaragua, but it also made life pretty comfortable there. The selection of food was mind-blowing, ranging from pizzerias to burger joints and sandwich bars, and the fact that most people spoke English was rather refreshing, as sad as it sounds. But after eating nothing but chicken and rice and stuttering shitty our Spanish for weeks we really appreciated this place.

San Juan del Sur from the hilltop

 Coconut curry in a pineapple. Hell yeah. 

Attempted to cure our hangover with the famous Nacho Libre burgers, when in the end this protein overdose probably made it worse..

The first 2 nights there were a pretty interesting experience as we decided to stay at a popular party hostel called Naked Tiger. Located up the hill a bit further away from town and run by a bunch of Americans, this young people's hotspot never slept. The first night we unofficially attended the infamous Dirty Pub Crawl so sleeping was really not a problem. Unsurprisingly the next day was spent with a banging headache and overall shit feeling so we decided to have an easy night and catch some rest. Now that did not happen. The party bingers decided to never end their rave so the next morning the decision to leave the place was pretty easy after getting 0 hours of sleep. And thank God we did! We moved next door to Casa de Olas, where our friend Luke from Bocas had just got a job at. We ended up staying at this ''hostel'' (more like a kickass guesthouse where you became a part of the family) for 6 nights and if we could have, we totally would have stayed there for even longer.

Most days we spent by the pool overlooking the ocean from the top of the hill, hanging out with the pet monkey Buzz, chilling with some awesome people who we will surely reunite with at some point in our lives, and eating delicious food. Tony went surfing a few times while I worked on my tan. We also did what most people end up doing once they actually want something to do, climbing up the Jesus, which is pretty much a mini version of the big one in Rio de Janeiro.

 Bros at Jesus

 First time ever zip-lining. Great fun! (although you should really learn how to brake)

 MONKEY TIME! the peak of my every day was spending time with Buzzie.

Casual sunset from Casa de Olas. This place really is the bomb!

On our last night we all ended up having a craaazaay party at the hostel bar as most of us were leaving the next day. I mean, at what hostel can you do a line of dozen shots with the 60-year-old Aussie owner (who is more like 20), jump in the pool with her and dance your ass off until you pass out? So simply due to the most chilled out and insanely fun atmosphere, if you go to San Juan and do not stay at this place, you are missing out big time!

The best posse at the best hostel ever 

Next day's journey back to Costa Rica though, was far from fun...Words cannot express what a hassle it is to cross a national border in Central America! No signs, no one speaking a word of English, about 10 different lines and tourist fees (tourist tax when exiting a country??) and all kinds of paper work while your carrying 30 kilos of weight over your shoulders in 30 degrees heat may give you a hint how much patience you need to deal with it. This with a hangover? Again, no words..Should've really taken some pictures of the craziness.

Anyway, after 12h of sitting on non-AC buses, waiting, sweating, and starving we finally made it San Jose! Speaking of hassle, San Jose airport the next day is whole other story..Let's just say where happy to be enjoying some American lifestyle luxury where things run fairly smoothly and you don't have to constantly worry about getting ripped off everywhere you go. Now a few days in LA (currently in Venice Beach, where it is sadly raining) before jumping on a plane to Chinaland.  

Totally recommended link: http://www.casa-de-olas.com/Less recommended link (unless looking to get fucked up every single day and night): http://nakedtigerhostel.com/