En el corazón de la capital

I just walked into this hotel by chance and after taking the room for the first night and making a tour around, I think it is a very good value for money. It’s in the heart of the city, and very close to eveything, especially the Mercado Central.

Hotel Nuevo Johnson (Map)
Cost of the room for one person: 7000 ₡ (Colón*) which is about 14 US$ per night.
Amenities: Private room with a double bed, TV, private bathroom, WiFi (not in all the hotel).

The only thing I forgot to ask is whether they have hot water 😀

In front of the hotel, a lot of people sell red peppers (chile [tchilé]), avocados, onions, tomatoes…

* The “Colón” is the Costa Rican currency. In the plural we say in Spanish 7000 colones [kolonés].

Taxi or Bus to the center of the capital

Like in all airports of the word, you have always a lot of taxi drivers “harassing” you to take a taxi before even you have time to breathe the air of the country you landed at. It was exactly the taxi driver who wanted to drive to the center of the city who gave me the indications to take the normal bus. He also asked if I wanted to smoke a cigarette 😀 Costa Ricans seem to be very nice people, relaxed and very courteous.

Cost of the taxi to San José: 25 US$.
Cost of the bus: around 1 US$.

Costa Rica immediately made me think about Tunisia (not the landscape, but the behavior of people). You have here a very good example. If you click on the photo, you will notice that my first bus driver just faked to fasten his belt 😀