|
 If you're in a pinch and need to renew your visa by doing a Taco Bell run, try going right across the border to Nicaragua. If you're a hardcore budget traveler and very lucky, you could do it for under $100 per person. If you need a few comforts and end up paying for things you don't plan on (like ice cream or chicha) you could keep it under $120 pretty easily. Besides that, a friend and I spent a very enjoyable extended weekend (4 days including travel) in Nicaragua and loved it, even though we refused to dish out any extra cash for sightseeing.
Again, if you travel on a shoestring you can live on about $20 a day in Nicaragua. We went to San Juan del Sur (a tranquilo slightly-touristy border town) using public transportation (Deldu buses to Peñas Blancas [Western border crossing] cost 4350 colones and leave from the San Carlos bus terminal near Barrio Mexico), slept in a hostel (Hotel Joxi with A/C, private bathroom, and cable TV [$10/person for the room]), and ate a full "plato del día" (try gallo pinto Nicaraguan style, it's delicious but don't tell Ticos because there's a bit of a feud going on about it) with fresh fruit juice for $3 at the central market. It was pretty sweet... we went during low tourist season and it was scorching hot, but a great experience.  The border crossing is a bit crazy and difficult to figure out. There are very few signs explaining what to do. Try following others to see what they do, and you have to ask lots of questions (ask other travelers, not the people trying to get you to pay to fill out a form for you. Or, ask form-fillers for money exchange information, and money exchangers about filling out forms). You can sometimes skip to the front of the line and ask for forms (on the Nicaraguan side) so you can fill them out in line (but don't pay someone to do it for you). Bring U.S. dollars and colones in small bills. There is an ATM where you can withdraw cordobas (Nicaraguan currency [1USD=18COR at the time of writing this article) on the Nicaraguan side. You have to get your passport stamped on the Costa Rica side, and then walk across, and get it processed on the Nicaragua side. The border tax is $7. Politely decline all offers for a taxi until you are ready to take one - in fact, decline all offers until you actually talk to the taxi driver sitting in his car. A taxi to Sab Juan del Sur will cost about $25 total. Busing is also possible, and loads cheaper, but you'll have to figure out how it works.
There's an amazing Pizza place owned by an Italian over by the Catholic church, and make sure to get some cheap meals at the central market - nearly all other pricing is at touristy rates. If you're amusing the Jack-ass group from the "animal house"-style frat in their summer homes on the side of the hill might invite you to bowl at their indoor bowling alley, swim in their pool, or partake from the room-sized alcohol freezer; but more likely they will keep you awake at all odd hours of the night and early morning shooting off bottle-rockets. Getting back is pretty much the same... but be sure to leave as early as you can to get a bus ticket from Peñas-Blancas to San José. The exit tax costs $2 (bring small bills!) and don't pay the voluntary $1 tax (they won't tell you it's voluntary and you don't need it). Don't forget that you're supposed to have an exit ticket to get into Costa Rica, but we weren't asked about it. Again, refer to the Lonely Planet guidebook for some of the best information (here on Google books is the page on border crossing). |
