Goodbye to Central America.

Must admit that it was really disappointing this morning to get the taxi from the Hotel Trocamundo to the airport. In the distance from the hotel there was the sight of the Costa Rican rain forest and the hotel reception was well stocked with information on tours around the area including rain forest tours that looked like they'd have a flavour of excitement. The way the rain forest is portrayed here is very different to that in the rest of central america, it's hyped and presented in the manner of the set of I'm a celebrity get me out of here with hanging decking linked by steel cables hung up high near the top of the canopy of the rain forest.

I managed to pass through the crowds this morning and get breakfast in the McDonald's where the major road works are taking place. I don't know if they've found some dinosaur bones under the streets and they're taking them up to find more of the lost world. Costa Rica trys to promote itself as such a dinosaur kingdom.

Departure tax is $26.00US which stung me for virtually all of the cash that I'd put aside for nibbles in the airport while waiting for that glorious moment when I can board that plane taking me back to Europe. Madrid should be nice for a few days, I've managed to get the Lonely Planet for Spain in the airport which will come in useful considering that I don't have a clue where to go or where to stay when I get to Espana tomorrow lunch time. I saw Nadal win the Wimbledon Championship as I was getting my first coffee in the airport lounge. It was really quite moving and I'm sure the victory for Espana, the second of the summer bearing in mind Euro 2008 - I'm sure the point is being well made in the media, so it may not be a bad time to be there.

I don't know if I'll be revisiting Plymouth days and dropping in Lawrence Body in Andalucia. Malaga is going to be too far out of the way. I want to get to know a little more about Madrid and try to plan a few well spent days, rather than what I've done so much of the time in Central America which is have a well planned day, not done what I've planned and then spent a huge amount of time in cafes and bars with nothing on the agenda other than drinking as much coffee as is humanly possible and smoking as many cheap cigarettes as my throat will take.

One thing which did surprise me about Alajuela, the town where I have spent the last two nights, was that there were a lot of attractive women about which I don't know if it's linked to the American presence and the influence that this may have on how women present themselves or if it's because there is a genuinely more attractive population in Alajuela, I can't say. It may in effect be little more than a satellite town for San Jose and attract the middle classes who may no longer want to live within the big city. There does seem to be a more 'Costa Rican look' than I think I found in any of the other countries I went to. In most other countries people looked to have one of a number of influences - including Mayan, African-Black or hispanic. Here there seems to be a more homogeneous look rather than the several groups of 'looks' that there are else where in central america. This tends only to stand for the women - the men here appear to have looks which are more heterogeneous, the look as if they're from multiple ethnic genetic groups. [I saw a woman outside the airport who looked very much like Lizzy Parks who describes herself as a Devon lass, she's of partly Central American origin, like Girls Aloud and thousands of other Brits in show business. I wonder if she's explored this....One thing I'm glad I didn't explore was the low end of the bars in Alajuela, excuse me if I seem too conservative but I wasn't sure if one I wandered into last night was a whore house. There were only men in there appart from three women who all had virtually nothing on. I did think it might have been a strip club but if they were strippers the dancing would have kept them a bit fitter. I decided to leave pretty much after entering. I found a place with cheeky barmaids (with clothes) and cheap beer, easily pleased me.

Only one hour now to go to the boarding...I just don't want to go. I would rather have stayed here for a wee while longer and just had to end. It's a great place to be lazy...