Day 97 : San Jose

Taking a 4 hour bus journey from La Fortuna via the town of San Ramon, I reached San Jose in the early afternoon, leaving me enough time to explore the city of San Jose after checking into Hostel Urbano Yoses. 

Located on a quaint street of Yoses district, the owners had converted the house into a very modern hostel, with a beautiful courtyard and a great view.  Strongly recommend anyone travelling into San Jose to stay here.

Hostel Urbano Yoses is located about a 20 mins walk into downtown.  Upon reaching the city centre, I bumped into Liam and Sue and we explored the town together.

Many had said it isn't worth staying in San Jose for more than a day.  For that reason I was expecting the city to look rather crappy and run down.  But I was pleasantly surprised.

Finca Mystica

Finca Mystica is located between Merida and San Ramon. 

It is called Finca, as it is a farm located on 25 acres of forest.  From time to time, you could hear the cries of the howler monkeys on the property, and see fireflies glowing in the night.

They also grow many different herbs, plants and fruit trees on the property, many of which are used to prepare the delicious meals served in their kitchen.  .

Dinner menu is changed daily, and served at 7pm, allowing the opportunity for all guests on property to get together and interact. 

Hostel Recommendation : Tunco Lodge

Originally intending to stay only 2 nights at Tunco Lodge, the hostel became my home for 4 nights. 

I wasn't sure if it was tiredness that had built up or just the very chill nature of the hostel and the beach, but I had the best 4 consecutive nights sleep I ever had on my trip.

Definitely recommend anyone visiting El Tunco to stay in Tunco Lodge and opt for an aircon room. 

Comfortable firm mattresses and pillow, perfect size pool, food at in-house restaurant is also surprisingly good and reasonably priced. 

The wifi is also super fast, probably one of the fastest I had on my trip.

It is located 2 minutes away from the beach.

Price wise, I paid USD10/night for a bed in an aircon dorm, which slept 5.

Tunco Lodge

email : tuncolodge@gmail.com

Phone : +503 2389 6318 or +503 7857 5733.

Address : Km. 42, Playa El Tunco, Tamanique, La Libertad, El Salvador, C.A.

Day 65 – 67 : Flores

I am glad that on the final day of my stay in Flores, the rain had subsided and the sun came out, giving me a chance to properly explore the island. 

It must had been less than regular rainfall that Flores gets, as the water level around Flores seemed higher than usual, and in some spots overflowed into the streets.

Flores is a very beautiful small round island, connected to Santa Elena (the mainland) by a bridge, with only a few streets, running in a circular manner. 

Yuma’s House, Caye Caulker

There are a number of hostels available on Caye Caulker, with many which had rather unfavourable reviews online.  Some even indicated had mouse droppings in the rooms, or had seen rats, to others complaining about bed bugs in various hostels. 

While searching for options to stay, I came across Yuma's House, which seemed to have only good and no bad reviews. It also mentioned that they are quickly fully booked, so I made it a point to send an email to the hostel to reserve a bed while I am there. 

The property is located just next to the San Pedro Belize Express water taxi terminal and had a very welcoming entrance with its brightly litted property, colourful painted walls and blue seats and swings and hammocks in the open area.

Day 59 – 60 : 3 Strangers on a Road Trip to Calakmul

I had read good reviews about Calakmul, located in the middle of a jungle with all temples climbable and with little visitors. There's a good reason for the little crowd, since getting there wasn't easy without own transportation and tours were very expensive.

Adamant on visiting the site, I decided to rent a car for 2 days and was prepared to go on my own, staying a night each in Zoh Laguna and Bacalar. 

It would had cost me close to S$200 for the car and gas if I had done it alone. By luck, I managed to get 2 more people whom I hardly knew to join, just the day before I was due to travel to Chetumal to pick up the car. 

First was Pau from Spain, a chance encounter as he happened to share a table with me at a local taco place. We had a random conversation regarding each others travel plans, and when he heard of my plans to Calakmul, he expressed interest on joining the road trip, and immediately bought the bus ticket from Tulum to Chetumal for the next day. Pau didn't speak much English, so I am proud of myself for explaining in Spanish!

The second person was Alex, a Venezuelan guy, whom works as a volunteer at the Weary Traveller Hostel where I was staying. He heard about my plans when I first arrived into the hostel, but was only keen to join and split cost only if there were more than 2 people.

Day 29 : Hostal Beny and Roberto, Santa Clara

I am super impressed by Hostal Beny and Roberto, located in Santa Clara.  This has to be the best Casa de Particular I had on this trip. 

From the speed of response to my emails in confirming my stay (just 2 days prior to arriving), to arranging of a taxi to pick me up from the bus station, to having a professional crew to take care of every guests needs (including a house chef!) to very clean and comfortable rooms (comfortable mattress, pillows, brand new and quiet aircons) and even a colour printed map in each room!

They even have a price card in the room to indicate costs of the drinks in the mini-bar, costs of different breakfast options, snack or dinner menus!  And also pricing for different tour options if you choose to do the tours with them.

They are conveniently located, as it is a short 5 mins walk to Parque Leoncio Vidal, the main centre.

Definitely a must to contact them if you are ever coming through Santa Clara.

Day 21 : Journey to Cienfuegos

The last bus for the day from Giron to Cienfuegos had left for the day.  The only option left was to take a taxi to Cienfuegos. 

Rodolfo had made arrangements with a local for the transport for CUC35.00.  When my ride arrived, I could sense some uncertainty with some members of the group on whether I would make it to my destination or if the car would break down enroute! 

1st Day in Fes

The 1st day in Fes has been rather interesting and a little intimidating. 

Arriving in Fes just before night fall, I made my way to the hostel first via an airport bus, before switching to a taxi.  Unfortunately, the taxi driver seemed to have stopped me at a different location from where I needed to be dropped off, and I found myself lost in the narrow streets of the Medina.  It doesn’t make it easier when there doesn’t seem to be any street names in English.

Hostel–less in Lima

Having covered all I needed to see in Ica, I decided to leave a day earlier and head into Lima.  So after a 5 hour bus ride, I caught a taxi and headed to San Borja to a hostel address for “Happy Up Here Hostel” (without a booking), which I had taken off one of the famous hostel booking website, in the hope that there would be a bed available.  And if not, availability of other hostels in the area.

When I arrived in the area, I was surprised to find that it was a residential area, and the address brought me to the doorstep of a house!  There was no hostel name on the front, and so I decided to try my luck and ring the bell.

Hostel Recommendations : Sucre – Wasi Masi

Wasi Masi is located just a couple of blocks from the centre, and yet not too noisy. 

Clean rooms with comfortable beds, circling the main courtyard, with fairly decent warm showers.

Other than the above, there are a few other things I liked about Wasi Masi :

1. Breakfast : On top of the standard bread and butter offerings available in most of the other hostels, they also provide small touches.  For example, tea / coffee are served to you personally in fancy porcelain wares, and small sweet items to end the breakfast.  On one of the days we had a banana milkshake, and another a fruit salad.

2. TV room : This is a common sitting area where one can watch TV with a variety of programmes including English cable television.  If you are not interested with the programmes on TV, there is also a wide selection of DVDs for choosing and viewing.

3. Book collection :  Like their DVD collection, Wasi Masi also boast a huge collection of books, including Lonely Planet and other travel guides to various destinations.  It is kept under lock and key though, which also means there is still good quality in the books they have under their possession.

4. BBQ : On the last night we were there, they had a BBQ made available at a really reasonable price.  The food was good and it is a good way for the people in the hostel to mingle and know each other.

Prices at the hostel were really reasonable too!

Hostel Recommendation : El Calafate – Hostel Los Manos

This hostel was booked through the travel agent whom arranged my bus ticket from Ushuaia to El Calafate.  I had previously checked on prices of hostels in El Calafate online, and this was probably one of the cheapest hostel, and for the price I paid I think I got a really good deal.

They offered free pick up from the bus station, and they are just located 7 blocks away from the town centre. 

It is a rather cosy and nice hostel and the staff try to speak to you and make you feel comfortable. They are also able to assist you with arranging tours and buses to various places from the reception.

Hostel Recommendation : Salta – Backpackers Hostel Suites & Bars

This hostel is by far the best I have stayed so far.  It looked really new and what I liked about it compared to other hostels is that it is

• Clean & Well Maintained
• Mattresses and beds are new
• Free breakfast (usually a standard for most hostels in South America)
• Free dinner each night (not fantastic, but it is decent and fills the stomach)
• Well located and convenient
• Not too crowded
• My bed gets made each day