3 January 2018 – My alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning. I
wanted to get an early start at the border. The hotel was still asleep and I
didn’t know if the front door was locked. I walked out in the hall to check and
the doors were locked with the night watchman sitting in front of the doors.
Good, I can start loading my motorcycle! I removed the cover off my motorcycle
and rolled it out where I could load it and squeeze out between the parked
cars.
I was off by 6:30 a.m. heading for the border. I had 15
miles / 24 Kilometers to get to the border, about a 30-minute drive. I was
about a mile from the Nicaraguan border and despite the fact that I’m there
early, the semi-trucks are already backed up 5/8 of a Mile / 1 Kilometer. I can
already see the tour buses setting in the parking lots with hundreds of people
milling around. I thought to myself that it could be a long day.
I stopped short of Customs and Immigration and removed my
paper work from my top box. While I was doing that my helper showed up. We
agreed on a price and he set about managing my paperwork. I paid 50 cents for
someone one to watch my motorcycle. My helper and I headed toward Customs and
Immigration. He asked for 500 Nicaraguan Lempira ($21 US). I asked him what he
needed that for and he said, “to speed up
the paperwork.” I went and stood in line at Immigration and got my passport
stamped. There was some kind of fee for that. He got at a $2 USD gratuity for
that because he didn’t have the correct change for a $20 USD bill I gave him,
or said he didn’t. When I was finished there, all the paper work was completed
on my motorcycle. No checks on the VIN Numbers. Just drive through two check
points: one person gets a small piece of paper and the other checks that my
paper was stamped correctly. All within less than 45 minutes.
At this time I was introduced to my next helper who would
get me through Customs and immigrations on the Costa Rican Border. We agreed on
a price but before I left I changed my Nicaraguan Lempira currency in to Costa
Rican Colon currency. I think I got taken for a ride there, but I road through
both check points successfully. When I reached Costa Rica I gave my helper all
the copies he would need for his job. I went through Immigration and he set
about pushing my paperwork through the Customs Bureaucracy. The women who
helped me spoke English, which was helpful. She had a problem swiping my
passport through her scanner. I told her they swiped my passport in Nicaragua
Immigration and it worked ok. She asked where I was staying and I gave her the
hotel address. By the time I finished, I had to sign some forms and get some
forms filled out and signed. Then it was off to purchase Insurance. That cost
me $32 USD. With all the forms signed and money paid I had to go through two
more check points. Someone checked my passport and another checked my insurance
and passport. I was done in about 1-1/2 hours and free to go. Hurrah!!!!
I punched in the coordinates for the Hotel in Liberia, Costa
Rica, which I was planning to stay at. I arrived right on its doorstep. Blanche
did a fine job of navigating. Right across the street was McDonald’s. I parked
in their lot and walked 100 Yards / 100 Meters to the bank and purchased more
Costa Rica Colon. I goofed up on the decimal and thought I had more money than
I had. Anyway, I went back to McDonald’s and ordered lunch. After I finished
eating it I Skyped Mary. We talked some but the Wi-Fi signal was weak and she
kept fading in and out. So we hung up with hopes of better Wi-Fi tonight. I got
on my bike and went back to the bank and withdrew $100 in Cost Rican Colon. Now off to the hotel.
So, I took Blanche
past the hotel where she could bring me in another direction. Then she found
the hotel, but took me to the back side of it. I was thinking the hotel was out
of business. It has happened to me before. I asked, a husband and wife walking
along side the road if the hotel went out of business. They said, no, follow
this road and bear left and you will come to this road. Sure enough, there was
a road right alongside the Autopista which to took me to the Airport hotel.
I arrived at the gate and I had a bad feeling about the
place. The guard asked if I had a reservation. He finally let me through with a
pass. I drove up to reception and asked if they had a room. The receptionist
spoke very good English, thank God for that. I asked if he had a room for the night.
He asked if I had a reservation. I said I didn’t, and he told me they were
booked up, no rooms available. Everything this guy was saying sounded very
phony to me, like he was lying to me. He told me to go online find a hotel and
book it. I told him I couldn’t because my cell phone was broken. I said that I
looked for this hotel for over an hour, and can’t I please stay? He said they
were booked up. He told me I could use his computers to find a hotel to stay at.
I thought for sure I would be sleeping outside tonight. I told him I would
check my motorcycle for hotels. I had Blanche check for hotels. Guess what
popped up? The Marriott Courtyard. I told Blanche take me there.
After a bunch of staggering around I eventually got back on
the Autopista. It’s not as easy as you think. I had to get on going west, then
get off and go through several roundabouts and get back on going east. I drove
2 Miles / 3-1/2 Kilometers of stop and go traffic. I eventually got to the
Marriott exit and made my way to the hotel. I parked my bike and security comes
over and tells me to move my motorcycle. It’s only for car parking. I asked if
I could park for 10 minutes while I check on a room for the night. He was ok
with that. I went inside and checked on a room. The have a room and I booked it
for the night. Whew, what luck. I have a place with the internet and a place
with secure parking. When I was done with registration, I went outside and
thanked the security guard for letting me park until I got registered and then
moved my motorcycle to the hotel parking lot behind the building.
I enlisted the help of a porter to move my bags from my
motorcycle to my room. He was a friendly chap who could speak really good
English. I was still having this problem with my cell phone. Man, what am I
going to do about that? Even though I
got my first smartphone just a few months before I left for my trip and
navigated around the world without one in 2009, I’ve gotten so used to using it
on this trip that I can’t live without it anymore.
I got myself all settled in my room, got out my computer and
hooked up with the Courtyard’s Wi-Fi. It has a good strong signal. I sent Mary
an e-mail hoping she can help me unlock my cell phone. She replied back quite
quickly. We both worked together trying to unlock the phone. We didn’t have any
success. We both went to bed stumped by the problem. The phone worked well in
McDonalds in Liberia, Costa Rica. In between Liberia and Alajuela, Costa Rica
the phone locked up for an unknown reason. Before I went to bed, I asked about
washing clothes and Marriott provided a complementary washer and a dryer but
you have to purchase the soap. First thing tomorrow is wash clothes. I know my
shirt hasn’t been washed in three weeks.
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