June 20, 2016
Rubbing shoulders with cars and trucks on the busy Pan-American highway for most of the day left us a little frazzled.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Bagaces, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Destination: El Roble, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
103 km trip, 6:36 time, 48.6 km/h maximum speed, 15.4 km/h average speed
Route Description:
This day is on a single lane in either direction road that has very little shoulder. Traffic is heavy with buses, cars and semi trucks. While the scenery is nice it is difficult to enjoy with the traffic. You also have to contend with non stop undulating hills totalling climbing 1200 meters. While the climbs aren’t ever more than 200 meters, it adds up. There are stores for food and restaurants along the way and as you arrive in Puntarenas. There are big grocery stores and tons of hotels.
Accommodations:
Puntarenas is a resort town so it’s expensive. We stayed in the neighbouring community of El Roble and still paid loads. We got a private room with private bath and AC for 20,000 colones ($40USD) and it included wifi. Another hotel quoted us more.
What happened…
Andrew writes: For those of you keeping track at home, we’re moving at warp-speed across vast distances right now. This is our second 100+km day in three days! The reason is two-fold. First, we want to get the heck out of Costa Rica because it is so much more expensive that we thought it would be. Second, we want to get the heck out of Central America so that we can get to our house-sit in Ecuador in August. Fortunately the terrain cooperates as it is mostly flat, and if we leave early enough the wind doesn’t pose much of a problem.
So after stopping for second-breakfast at a “soda” this morning, which was chicken and rice for I think $2.50 (tasted so good too!), things got interesting. The beautiful auto pista turned into single-lane in either direction and it was BUSY! Loads of cars, and trucks, and dump trucks, and pickup trucks, and cement trucks, all driving in close proximity to us as there was nowhere else to go. It was a very nerve-wracking ride today as a result.
When we got to El Roble we actually cycled a little bit past the town as hotels tend to be cheaper on the outskirts….except not in Costa Rica. We finally figured out what the problem has been with all of the ATMs telling us that we are overdrawn. A few months ago, the Bank of Costa Rica (BCR) instituted a withdrawal limit of $100USD on foreign debit/credit cards. We pay about $5 + 3% in bank fees on every withdrawal so now we have to find a different bank/machine. Thus dinner tonight was a wonderful affair complete with beers and whatnot since we found a restaurant across the street from the hotel where we could pay with credit card. Once again, the budget goes out the window!