La Fortuna, bus travel and bad weather

Over the last two days, I was constantly reminded of how time can be ephermal one minute and excruciatingly long the next. Take for instance, the unpredictability of the weather in Monteverde-Santa Elena or the fickleness of the Arenal Volcano. In both of these places, the chances to see a bit of sunlight, in the case of MV-SE, or a glimpse of the top of the Arenal Volcano in the distance can be merely minutes if not seconds. Although it is supposed to be the start of the dry season, both of these areas have been experiencing pounding rain, driving wind, and ominous cloud cover almost the entire time I was in both areas. Unfortunately, the side effect of this is that traveling by bus in Costa Rica is a long, monotonous, and sometimes bone-crushing ordeal on pot-holed gravel roads.

But sometimes this inconvenience of slow or even delayed bus rides can have memorable moments. After a short morning hike in the Monteverde Rainforest Private Reserve, about a 25min ride from the town of Santa Elena where I was staying, I rushed back to make the 2pm ¨Jeep-Boat-Jeep¨ trek to La Fortuna. The ride turned out to be an eerily surreal experience of riding through a fog-covered countryside of Costa Rica filled with pot-holes and cows crossing the road. At one point, my driver had to stopped in the middle of the road because a road repair crew with picks and shovels were repairing the road ahead, all barely visible in the thick fog and pelting mist. There were a few times I was worried the van (not a Jeep as advertised) would get stuck in the mud... but somehow, the little van made it through.

So, I ended up spending half my day traveling to La Fortuna on Wednesday. Although I was hoping that the weather in La Fortuna would be better than Monteverde, it was not. It rained heavily Wednesday night. Although it was a bit drier early Thursday morning when I set out to hike to La Catarata La Fortuna, or the La Fortuna Waterfall, it started raining towards the end of my hike toward the top of the waterfall. Fortunately, after I arrived at the top and started the descent to the bottom of the waterfall, the rain passed and I got a good half hour of beautiful weather. After the hike, I rushed back to the hostel to meet up with the others on an evening Arenal Volcano and Hot Springs tour.

The Arenal Volcano hike was alright - we spotted a squirrel monkey, a white-faced monkey, leaf-cutter ants, a sloth, and a huge turkey-like bird in the forest. The hike was through a private trail that led near to the side of Arenal Volcano. Had we been lucky, we would have seen some active lava spewing out of the volcano but unfortunately, volcano top was shrouded in very thick clouds. We couldn´t see anything both on the hike and 3 hrs later, after our hot springs visit.

I ended up spending all day Friday making my way to Alajeula, near Heredia and San Jose. After a 3 hr bus ride to San Ramon, I got a bit confused and had trouble finding my way to Alajeula. At first, I had hoped to just travel straight to Sarchi, a town between San Ramon and Alajeula, known as the center of Costa Rican handicrafts and furniture making. Unfortunately, I somehow goofed up and couldn´t get the bus for Sarchi... so, I ultimately decided to go to Alajeula. Tomorrow, I´ll make a morning trip to Sarchi (only 30mins away from the Alajeula bus station... that is if I don´t screw it up again) and then return to Heredia in the late afternoon.

Monteverde, Santa Elena rainforests

After a long 5 hr bus ride from San Jose, I arrived in Monteverde-Santa Elena late last night. Luckily, I met 2 Canadians on the bus that recommended me to stay in the same hostel as them (they had been to Monteverde a week ago and are returning again). The hostel, Sleepers, is great - brand new, just opened 2 wks ago.. cheap ($5 a night with breakfast). Unfortunately, when we arrived last night, a huge wind and rain storm was passing through and knocked out the power for the entire evening... we signed in through candlelight.

This morning, the power was back on but the wind hadn't subsided. There continued to be steady rain throughout the day (I guess that's why they call it a rainforest! but the rainy season was supposed to have ended already). After breakfast and a short hike around town, I, along with a father and son from Redding, CA went on a zipline and canopy tour in Santa Elena National Park. The zipline was awesome! We zipped 19 lines over the rainforest, at times over 330 ft. above the forest floor. I will upload some videos after I return. It was an incredible experience. We also did a Tarzan swing during the tour. After the zipline, we hiked the trails across multiple suspension bridges that let us see the forest upclose and above the canopy of most trees. I uploaded bunch of pics to flickr but because of the constant rain and wind, a lot of my pics have water spots.

Tomorrow, I plan to go on a 6am forest hike with an expert guide for 4 hours and then take the bus to La Fortuna, the town near the Arenal Volcano.

Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia

Last night I went out with bunch of other students from one of the other language schools in Heredia, the Centro Idomas de Intercultura, to a local dance club where a live band was playing salsa, merengue, and cumbia tunes (the 3 major dances here). The people here just love to dance. There were so many impressive dancers, I was just blown away. I've been taking a few salsa and merengue classes here so this was a real cultural experience... A lot of the other students have been in Costa Rica much longer (some close to a year now, studying and working). I have been having problems embedding my youtube videos lately. The best way to see videos I shot of some impressive dancers is to click on my youtube site. After last night, I plan to continue salsa and meringue classes after I go back to states... I'm hooked!

www.youtube.com/user/shingwong

Pura Vida! (the Costa Rican cheer)

Punta Uva, Puerto Viejo, Cahuita National Park

It´s Sunday night and I just returned from an AWESOME weekend in the south Carribean coast of Costa Rica in the towns of Punta Uva, Puerto Viejo, and Cahuita.

Friday, November 24

Getting there was quite a task though... I left for the long distance bus station shortly after my class on Friday but almost missed my bus. Unfortunately, I found out on Friday that my Spanish is still really, really poor... and rushing to catching the last bus out of San Jose was not a good way to put my Spanish to test. Although I got on a local bus in Heredia (where I am currently staying for my Spanish classes and about 12km from San Jose) that was marked for San Jose, I ended up being dropped off in a part of San Jose that I did not recognized at all and had to ask for directions to the bus station... (I was initially told by my host family that it was next to a bus stop on the way into San Jose... obviously I either missed the stop or got on the wrong bus - apparently there are multiple bus lines that terminate in different parts of the city). Anyhow, I had to make a mad and anxious dash for the long distance station... asking for directions multiple times and walking for about 15 blocks before reaching the station, arriving luckily with a half hour to spare. The trip was to take 4.5 hours for 225km or so but only costed 3,875 colones or about USD $8, about the same for a 12km taxi trip from Heredia to San Jose.

After arriving in Puerto Viejo, I hailed a cab, one of only 3 at that time and headed for Punta Uva, about 7km down pothole-ridden roads. Prior to leaving Heredia, I had gotten in touch with my roommate´s mom and luckily, with her help and directions, I got to their bungalow style house without a hitch... after a 4.5 hour long bus ride, that was a huge relief. This was the first time that I have ever met my roommate´s parents, Kim and Dennis, and two of their daughters Cassie and Cheyenne. Cheyenne was really, really talkative, introducing me to the family cats and dogs. Cassie was a bit quieter but over the next day or so was really helpful. Kim and Dennis were both incredibly warm and welcoming... I also met Liam, a family friend originally from England, at the house. After the introductions and settling down, Liam, Cassie and I headed back out to Puerto Viejo, to the same bar (Sunset Bar) that I was dropped of at by the bus... there, we had a few drinks, met the bar owner, Yvonne from Canada, a few of Liam's friends, and 2 girls currently studying abroad in L.A. but originally from Australia and Denmark. We stayed out till about 2a.m. - hanging out, playing pool, and a bit of dancing (Yvonne was getting everyone to do the 2-step).

Saturday, November 25

Woke up pretty late Saturday, after an almost sleepless night of mosquitos biting me. Although Kim and Dennis gave me a mosquito net and I had sprayed myself with bug spray, it didn't help much at all. Liam came by and because he was going into town for the pick up and delivery of their monthly newsletter, Tropical Tales (www.tropicaltales.co.cr), I went into "town" with them in Puerto Viejo. Punta Uva is a tiny little town with a few families but the area's beach swimming beaches. Also that morning, I met Crystal, Kim and Dennis' oldest daughter in Costa Rica... my rommate, Destiny, being their oldest. I have to say, they are truly an incredible family... the parents are very progressive with 5 beautiful daughters, all different and the nicest people.

Liam, Crystal, and Cheyenne spent the day passing out their free newsletter, Tropical Tales, from Cahuita to Puerto Viejo and everywhere in between... they currently distribute about 4,000 issues to many of the establishments like restaurants and bars. Tropical Tales is widely known as the best local newsletter around with fun stories, announcements, and classifieds. As they were passing out their newsletter, I spent 3 hours horseback riding... at USD $12 per hour, it was much cheaper than anywhere in the states... the ride was great. We rode along the beach and into the forest, at times galloping... this was my first time gallopping at a pretty fast pace and it was quite an experience.

After the horseback riding, Liam, the girls, and I went back to the house to clean up and then headed back out to Puerto Viejo again for a night out. Liam and I had a great dinner at El Loco Naturalle, meeting Jim and his live band. The girls, Crystal and Cassie, had eaten at home. Afterwards, Liam and I bar hopped a bit while the girls were over at Sunset Bar and a few other places. We eventually met up at a huge dance club that seemed to have attracted every local and tourist in Puerto Viejo that evening. Liam and I left town around 1a.m. but the girls stayed behind. When we got back to the house, Kim and Dennis had a few of their French friends over for a Ukelee jam session (Dennis is a musical genius as Liam puts it)... Dennis and Liam ended up jamming till 4a.m. I called it a night around 2a.m.

Sunday, November 26

Liam and I went to Cahuita National Park and hiked the trails from about 11 to 3p.m. It was a beautiful hike... with sightings of monkeys, sloth, snakes, and various birds. A great combination of beautiful scenery, wild animals, and perfect weather.

INBio Parque... National Institute of Biodiversity Park

This morning, I headed out to the INBio Parque or National Institute of Biodiversity Park in St. Domingo (a 20 min bus ride out of Heredia). The park showcases much of Costa Rica's rich and diverse landscapes and environments, including wet and dry forests. At a cost of only about USD $4 for students (yes, still making use of my Berkeley ID card!), it was well worth the price of entrance and guided tour in English. Below are some pics... to see more, just go to my flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/shingwong.

Also, today, I confirmed that I will be going to Puerto Viejo for the weekend, leaving tomorrow afternoon from San Jose... it will be a long 4 hr. bus ride but based on everything that I hear about the place, it's one of the most amazing places in the country - great beaches, a tropical rain forest that runs out to the sand, and the town is next to the country's largest coral reefs. This will be my 1st big trip outside the city so I'm really looking forward to it... should come back with some pretty amazing pictures. I'll also be looking up my roommate's parents and family who are currently living there. Should be a blast! Stay tune...

Tico life - family, food, fun

As is probably true in other parts of Latin America, Costa Ricans (they call themselves Ticos and Ticas) have very close families... From what I can tell of my host family, the parents are quite involved with their 2 sons lives, so much so that the mom was helping the eldest (who's 20!) with his homework/studying the last two evenings for his geography and history exams. It is end of the school season right now. So far, I've been really impressed with how warm the family is with each other... it may partly be due to having the sons' German friend ('Micha') living with them now. He is quite a character - gregarious, talktative and has a decked-out Toyota 4x4 that cries out for attention. The family definitely laughs easily... always telling each other stories and making jokes. In the evenings, I've seen them just hanging out and watching whatever is on television - usually a TV movie. Also, it is typical in this country that kids will live with their parents well into their mid-20's even when they are going to university (as is the case with my host brother). Most only leave the house after they get married.

As for today, not a whole lot has happened - just more lessons. I do find that I am starting to pick up a bit more listening comprehension. I had a somewhat long and fairly excruciating "conversation" with my host mom this morning in Spanish (since she speaks no English) as she was preparing breakfast - I was quite pleased that I could understand and ask questions about the real estate market in the country, including finding out that beach front property in the Playa Tamarindo area, a heavily resorted area on the Pacific side, can have property values of USD $4,000/sq. meter or something like USD $800K for a 2000 sq. ft. parcel of LAND only... but building costs are about USD $40K for basic 3 bdrm. Still, that's incredibly expensive and is privied only to the wealthiest (in most cases, foreigners).

The only other thing of note today is that the lunch I had at a Caribbean restaurant. The school's owner took another student and me there today (we usually go with him for lunch). The restaurant is run by this 85 yr. old Carribean former chef at the San Jose Marriott and his family. I had the best Beans and Rice with Chicken ever! Just amazing... it was made with a characteristic Carribean combination of beans, rice, and coconut milk.

San Jose

Visited San Jose this morning... had only about 2 hrs at the capital since I had to get back by noon for my 2nd day of classes. Saw the Teatro Nacional - Costa Rica´s beautiful National Theater. The interior reminds me of the Paris Opera House - just as ornate but much smaller.

I also visited the Museo d´Oro or the Museum of Gold... this was a really good museum - it gave a detailed history of the indigenous people, history, and their arts with lots of examples of gold pieces. Unfortunately, I was allowed to bring a camera into the museum.

Below is a short video of the Teatro Nacional:

Remembering Ukraine

Last night, I was one of the panelists at my school's information sessions to recruit for new students. One of the first topics discussed was the International Business Development (IBD) program offered at the school. IBD is an incredible program where students in teams of 4 are sent to various locations in different countries (many in the 3rd-world) and provide free consulting for a 3-week period. During my year, some of the more interesting locales and projects included: one team developed a marketing plan for a cross-cultural Jazz Festival between the US and Cuba (the team got to go to Havana), another team traveled to Senegal to work on Hewlett Packard's World e-Inclusion program to help bridge the digital divide, and one team helped the Mexican orphanage Ipoderac develop a 5-year business plan for its agricultural activities that support the orphanage.

I was lucky to be a participant in the class where my team was sent to Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine (no team had a choice in the matter - it was luck of the draw and 'fit'). We helped the then number 2 wireless services provider, Kyivstar GSM, write their company business plan which was targeted for future fundraising activities. The experience was phenomenal and one of my most memorable as a student. Ukraine used to be the former Soviet Union's cradle of technology. Much of the Soviet's nuclear knowhow was developed there and it's the home to some of the best technical universities in the old U.S.S.R. With the fall of Communism just a little over ten years ago, we were there to witness a country being 'reborn'. Sure, there were stark reminders of old like the gray, drabby, plain buildings from the Communist-era and a train system that has some of the oldest train cars I've seen still in operation. Yet, I found 'living' there and going to work every day for 3 weeks to be exhilarating. I witnessed 'old Ukraine' like pensioners in the morning sweeping the streets at 7am and seeing beer being sold out of a towable 50-gallon drum or shopping inside a large airplane hangar-sized indoor supermarket. At the same time, the 'new Ukraine' was rising... like downtown where modern hotels and new business offices were interwined with old architecture and new, young, smart companies like Kyivstar were starting to sprout. I was incredibly impressed with the Kyvistar team - they were young, highly, highly educated, and incredibly smart. I recall working with the company's controller - she was probably in her mid to late 30's and was a former civil engineer. She presented to me a financial model of the company that was more detailed, better executed, and more sophisticated than most sell-side financial models that I saw when I was an equity analyst for Merrill Lynch. When I asked her how she picked up such incredible skills, she said she had no formal accounting/finance schooling but merely had the opportunity to shadow an IMF (International Monetary Fund) employee for a year prior to joining Kyivstar. Incredible. For more pictures of Ukraine, see here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/shingwong/sets/72157594254272701/

It's people like Kyvistar's controller and her Ukrainian colleagues who are incredibly intelligent, abled, and hungry that are contributing to the success of many developing countries. I also saw this repeated in China. I'm pretty sure it's similar in many other places around the world.

It's a small world after all...

Here are some interesting stats...

If the population of the Earth was reduced to that of a small town with 100 people, it would look something like this:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Americans (northern and southern)
8 Africans

52 women
48 men

70 non-caucasians
30 caucasians

89 heterosexuals
11 homosexuals

6 people would own 59% of the whole world wealth and all of them will be from the United States of America

80 would have bad living conditions

70 would be uneducated

50 underfed

1 would die

2 would be born

1 would have a computer

1 (only one) will have higher education

Happy Planet Index (HPI)... are you living in a happy place? :P

Recently I came across an article about how the island of Vanuatu in the south Pacific was identified as the 'happiest country on earth'. I first recall seeing the headline in Yahoo news and saw it repeated elsewhere. So, it was a nice surprise when I ran across the actual website of the organization that created the index, the New Economics Foundation at http://www.happyplanetindex.org/about.htm. Unlike other economics-based indices, this one tries to measure "the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens." Thus, "The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible." Note: picture to the left is a screenshot of the map on the HPI website.

And guess what? The US ranks number 150, just 2 spots above Rwanda and 3 spots above Sierra Leone!! Can you believe that? The US is ranked slightly above two places that has in recent years been on the news for having civil wars that generated humanitarian crisis!! That's incredibly shocking.

By the way, I noticed that 5 of the top 10 countries are in Central America - that's awesome. Other major country rankings are below. Costa Rica is ranked #3!! For the full list, visit: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/list.htm.

31: China (I would differ greatly on this ranking - it received a 1.5 for its EF or ecological footprint, a serious underestimation in my opinion given China' vast and incredibly fast growing environmental damage)
81: Germany
95: Japan
108: United Kingdom
129: France

Travel Tips: International (non-US) airports with FREE Wi-Fi access

Country	City	Code	Airport Name	Area
Antigua	Antigua	ANU	V.C. Bird International	departure lounge
Aruba	Aruba	AUA	Aruba International
Australia	Adelaide	ADL	Adelaide International
Australia	Brisbane	BNE	Brisbane International	Virgin Blue lounges
Australia	Melbourne	MEL	Melbourne International	Virgin Blue lounges
Australia	Sydney	SYD	Sydney International	Virgin Blue lounges
Austria	Vienna	VIE	Vienna International
Barbados	Bridgetown	BGI	Grantley Adams International
Botswana	Francistown	FRW	Maun International Airport
Brazil	Sao Paulo	CGH	Congonhas Airport
Canada	Edmonton	YEG	Edmonton International
Canada	Calgary	YYC	Calgary International	Banff Airporter office area
Canada	Dryden	YHD	Dryden Regional Airport
Canada	Fredericton	YFC	Fredericton Airport
Canada	Saint Johns	YYT	Saint John's International
Canada	Toronto	YYZ	Toronto International	Expedia Restaurant, Air Canada Terminal
China	Hong Kong	HKG	Hong Kong International	United Airlines lounge
Costa Rica	San Jose	SJO	Juan Santa Maria International
Hungary	Budapest	BUD	Budapest Ferihegy Int'l Airport	Terminals 2A and 2B
India	Madurai	IXM	Madurai Airport
India	Tiruchirapally	TRZ	Tiruchirapally Airport
India	Coimbatore	CJB	Coimbatore Airport
Ireland	Shannon	SNN	Shannon Airport	Upstairs main café
Israel	Tel Aviv	TLV	Ben Gurion International Airport	Terminal 3
Japan	Tokyo	NRT	Narita International Airport	Terminal 2, ANA lounges
Japan	Osaka	OSA	Kansai Airport
Kuwait	Kuwait	KWI	Kuwait International	Restaurants, shops, arrivals, departures
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	LUX	Luxembourg International
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	KUL	Kuala Lumpur International
Mexico	Puerto Vallarta	PVR	Puerto Vallarta Airport
New Zealand	Auckland	AKL	Auckland International	Arrival area
Poland	Warsaw	WAW	Warsaw International	International transit area
Portugal	Horta	HOR	Faial Island Airport	Bar area
Qatar	Doha	DOH	Doha International	Qatar Airways lounges
Russia	Moscow	SVO	Sheremetyevo	Departure, waiting hall,cafes, vip halls
Sri Lanka	Colombo	CMB	Columbo International	Sri Lankan Airways Business Lounge area
Taiwan	Taipei	TPE	Chiang Kai-Shek International	Terminal 2
Thailand	Bangkok	BKK	Bangkok International	Cathay Pacific Lounge area, Thai Airways lounges
Trinidad	Port of Spain	POS	Piarco International Airport
Turkey	Istanbul	IST	Ataturk Airport	Millenium Lounge access for several airline Club members
United Kingdom	Isle of Man	IOM	Ronaldsway Airport

If there are any inaccuracies listed above or you know of other international airports with FREE Wi-Fi access, please let me know! Thanks.