Dec 6th - San Jose - Bambito, Panama
As usual I had changed far too much money into local currency so, even though fuel is cheaper in Panama than Costa Rica, I used up all my Costa Rican currency filling my tanks up completely. I now had sufficient fuel to get to the finish in Panama and hopefully not too much for the shipping the car back to California as fuel tanks should be nearly empty when shipping a car by container.
We left the hotel at 6.30 am and headed out of San Jose in much lighter traffic than the evening before. The weather had definitely changed for the worse and as we rose up through the mountains south of San Jose the clouds covered the mountains so that we were driving in rain and fog! The journey was unbelievably slow as we were held up by slow moving trucks and vans struggling to climb the mountain passes.
We rose to just over 10,000 feet on the Col de la Muerte (Death Pass!!) and then started our descent through a magnificent valley bathed in sunshine. Our journey was delayed by several road works but eventually we reached the town of San Isidro.
From there the traffic decreased and we were able to make up time driving on the Interamericana. We made the decision to continue on the main road, as opposed to following the pot holed road book route of the tour. The traffic all but disappeared and we drove on empty roads following the line of the Rio Grande de Terraba to Palma Norte. It was the most magnificent road with towering mountains on either side of the river, wonderfully lush vegetation and flowers everywhere. England will be quite difficult to return to! Fortunately we managed to avoid two vividly green iguanas that ran across the road in front of us.
After 100 kms we rejoined the road book route near to the border. We both had the same thoughts as we went through the border controls - this was the last one!! It was quick initially but slow on the Panamanian side clearing the car for entry into Panama.
Once through the border we went 'off piste' for quickenss and drover via the small town of La Concepcion to the hotel Bambito resort in very alpine looking hills, near Volcan Baru.
We left the hotel at 6.30 am and headed out of San Jose in much lighter traffic than the evening before. The weather had definitely changed for the worse and as we rose up through the mountains south of San Jose the clouds covered the mountains so that we were driving in rain and fog! The journey was unbelievably slow as we were held up by slow moving trucks and vans struggling to climb the mountain passes.
We rose to just over 10,000 feet on the Col de la Muerte (Death Pass!!) and then started our descent through a magnificent valley bathed in sunshine. Our journey was delayed by several road works but eventually we reached the town of San Isidro.
From there the traffic decreased and we were able to make up time driving on the Interamericana. We made the decision to continue on the main road, as opposed to following the pot holed road book route of the tour. The traffic all but disappeared and we drove on empty roads following the line of the Rio Grande de Terraba to Palma Norte. It was the most magnificent road with towering mountains on either side of the river, wonderfully lush vegetation and flowers everywhere. England will be quite difficult to return to! Fortunately we managed to avoid two vividly green iguanas that ran across the road in front of us.
After 100 kms we rejoined the road book route near to the border. We both had the same thoughts as we went through the border controls - this was the last one!! It was quick initially but slow on the Panamanian side clearing the car for entry into Panama.
Once through the border we went 'off piste' for quickenss and drover via the small town of La Concepcion to the hotel Bambito resort in very alpine looking hills, near Volcan Baru.
posted by Tim at 8:10 PM
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