Enga mellom fjella

To the lake and back.

me:

After a good gallo pinto (rice-and-beans) with egg at the bus terminal (I was worried I'd be there late; grabbed food and hurried), I looked out the window for 45 minutes taking pictures of Lake Arenal, the biggest lake (man-made bigger to serve as a reservoir) in Costa Rica.

Very lovely.

Nuevo Arenal isn't much of a town, but I took down some numbers in case I ever choose to stay a night. It's close enough to just stay in Tilarán (I do like it here).

Windy, sunny. Very windy...

Bought a slice of apfelstrudel at the German Bakery (its name) and a fruit milkshake (at Cosechas) of watermelon, banana and coconut milk (very good by-the-way). The strudel cost $4.40 (but I payed in colones); the fruitshake ¢1.600 (about $3.25).

Costs here are high! And worse in tourist areas. Prices remind me of Montana where poor folk make $8 to $10 / hour. Here Ticos make $2 to $3. Or to put it another way... would you pay $14 for a piece of strudel and $10 for a fruit milkshake?

Stayed less than two hours. Next visit needs to be longer.

Back "home" I ate a tamal de cerdo for ¢700. Very nice ...but it reminded me that prices have gone up in the last two years.

Set in the park before sunset and wrote two pieces of "prose" in a black notebook I used in November 2011 to write 41 "letters" in. Wonder if I can keep it up for January 2013?

Anyhoo... may leave tomorrow. Today was Day 54 of 85. 'Nuff said.

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