Meeting D & M in Alajuela, then off to Puerto Viejo-Plata Cocles

El Fortin established in 1867.
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After almost a week in Tortuguero Village I headed off back to the city of Alajuela to meet up with my good friends Damian and Mandala at the Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaria Airport. I have to admit it was a nice change to get back on the road. Looking back I probably spent three days too long in Tortuguero village, as one could get a good feel of the area in probably a couple days.

So I decided to stay a night in Heredia about 20 minutes from Alajuela helping me connect with my friends on time at the airport. It is well worth the time to figure out Costa RIca's public bus system. I spent about $12 on transportation getting to Heredia from Tortuguero and my bus fare from Cariari to Heredia was $2-switching buses in Guapiles to Heredia.

Sexy bus advertisement in downtown Heredia
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In Heredia I stayed at Hotel Heredia just a little NW of Parque Central. If you can get over the prison like feeling this cheap Hotel puts off-spiral barbed wire fence and broken glass bottles embedded at the top of the brick wall-it's a nice quite place to stay for a night otherwise. My room was $15 and the location was great in that a cheap internet Cafe and two good Sodas were only a few blocks away. Also I spent time at the open market in the center of town and had an excellent lunch at a soda stand. The tortillas were made right in front of me and was for sure one of the best tortillas I've ever tasted in my life.