Boarder Crossing and fancy buses

Yes, I know I have been a horrible blogger, but now I will try to update, starting with crossing the boarder from Nicaragua into Costa Rica, which was in December, just before Christmas.

So, after spending 3 days in Managua, Nicaragua we ventured to the immigration office early in the morning, only to find the line to it about 50 people deep...we stood in line for about 5 minutes, then decided that rather than waste our time, and MAYBE get an extension, we would just go buy a bus ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica, and get out of there.  This happened fairly easily, except we had to buy a round trip ticket, because you cannot enter Costa Rica without proof of leaving if you are not a resident.  Since we did not know when we would be returning, we bought an open ticket, no big deal.

Our last night in Managua we stayed at "Hostel Casa Blaca"....with a name like that, you know it's gonna be nice..it cost us $12, and the bathroom ceiling was held up with a spare door frame..REAL fancy...but, it was clean, safe, and a half a block from the bus terminal...and it had the fastest internet I have had in Central America.

We boarded the bus bright and early for Costa Rica, and everything was going well, until the boarder crossing.  With the bus line we were using, you give your passports to a helper on the bus, and he does the entire process for you, which is much faster than everyone on the bus doing it individually. While waiting for the bus guy to get our passports stamped, he came over to where we were waiting and asked for me.  He told Erin and I that I needed to pay a fine for overstaying my visa, which I figured I would have to do, and the fine was only $15, and we gave it to the friendly passport helper our money.  He began walking away, then came back, and said that we should probably give the customs officer a "regalito"...a little gift, which he said people "normally" give a little food or money...so, we gave the customs guy a "little gift" of $15 so that I would be able to cross back into Nicaragua to return to Honduras.

After that is said and done, we make our way through Costa Rica to San Jose...but then suddenly the bus driver keeps stopping a lot, the air conditioner starts going on and off, and finally he pulls over, and this happened:

waiting, oh so patiently, but then our rescuer pulls up behind!

yes. the bus broke down..and we sat, and waited...for over 2 hours...but then a semi pulled up, and was quite helpful, because then this happened:

and they contemplated, and decided the best place for a small chain...

and the perfect place for the chain was found

and we were rescued!!..or so we thought

and we all boarded the HOT bus, and the friendly semi driver towed us...about 20 yards to a gas station, where we de-boarded the bus...and waited.

Finally, quite some time later, a second bus came to our rescue, and we finally made our way to San Jose.

Although I didn't get a picture of it, my favorite part of the broken down bus was the warning sign that he put behind the bus..in the states it would be an orange cone, or the orange triangles..in Costa Rica, it is a bottle crate with two large palm leaves stuck in it, crossed, set about 2 feet from the back of the bus..I think OSHA would approve...safety first!