Right after we ate and rested, we began to head south towards San Jose. Our destination was 146 kms away but it was already almost 4 pm and here the sun goes down at 6 pm. It would take us more than 2 hours with the winding roads and slow, very slow, heavy traffic. Then, right ahead of us, I see another R1200GSA, I caught up, we pulled over and made our introductions. This guy “Helmar Gerhardt www.motorpsycho.org ” was riding from CA to Argentina....It was nice to chat for a while...he was heading to San Jose as well and we decided to ride together.
A few minutes later, we meet another traveler on a R1150GS, his name was “Igor“, a Slovac who has been riding for 3 YEARS through 6 continents....nice guy...every time we stopped, he lit up a cigarette and was so laid back!!!
We needed to move on...I get in the front, (I have done that route twice already) and really pushed hard. It began to rain very heavy, visibility was nearly zero and despite the fact that we were soaked, I did not want to stop. Night came we were still an hour away from San Jose in VERY HEAVY traffic on poor roads. The trucks crept at 10 kms holding a long line of many cars in their rears. The three of us split lanes, passed curves...you know, everything you are not suppose to do but we had no option. If we had done done this, we would have spent several hours behind a truck.
I did not see shit because of a polychromatic screen that I had purchased for my visor. I had to ride with the visor up and was unable to see anything as the heavy rains hurt my eyes and made me squint.
Because when I picked up Betty I already knew the area near the San Jose airpot so I hoped to find a cheap hotel. Igor went directly to San Jose and Helmar came with us.
We founded a room for $25 at night...cheap for Costa Rica...the room was traditional (mahogany panels, balcony, tiled floor) but it was nice. But to us travelers it seemed liked the Hilton as we were soaked and tired. A few Imperial beer and a good night sleep. Anywhere was good for us!
