| Sprawling
smack in the middle of the fertile Valle Central, San Jose has
a spectacular setting, ringed by the jagged silhouettes
of soaring mountains - some of them volcanoes - on
all sides. That's where the compliments end, however, and
you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has much good
to say about
the city's potholed streets and car-dealership architecture
- not to mention the choking diesel fumes, kamikaze drivers
and
chaotically unplanned expansion. In the gridlocked centre
things are wearingly hectic, with vendors of fruit, lottery
tickets
and cigarettes jostling on street corners, and thousands
of shoestores tumbling out onto the sidewalks.
In
general travellers talk about the city as they do about
bank line-ups and immigration offices: a pain, but unavoidable.
That said, if you've been travelling through the region,
you'll find that compared to, say, San Salvador or Managua,
San José is
not only a reassuringly safe place (though street crime is
rising) but also vibrant and cosmopolitan, with a sprinkling
of excellent museums , some elegant buildings and landscaped
parks, good cafés and the odd intriguing art gallery.
Which is all to the good: most people find themselves
spending some time here - the city is a major transportation
hub,
and many journeys across the country involve backtracking
through
the capital - learning to enjoy it, and even becoming
perversely fond of the place. Hostels in San Jose |
ROOMS COSTA RICA
