Day 4: Irazu Volcano/Cartago

After we all had plenty to drink at a Mexican restaurant last night, we started today by driving up a winding mountain road two miles above sea level to see the Irazu Volcano! Needless to say, by the time we got there, we were all about to pass out. And then the clouds rolled in, blocking the gorgeous view that you can see on the background of this blog. Pretty disappointing start to the day. However, I got some great pictures of the mountainside on the drive up, which I will be posting here and on Facebook.

We drove back down the mountain to the city of Cartago, the former capital of Costa Rica. San Jose became the capital in the 1800s because coffee, the country's main export at the time, grows better there. The first place we visited was the central market. It was a very smelly experience, including fish that desperately needed to be cooked, and cheese that sent us scrambling for the exits. It was a very foreign place to all of us. But I guess it's something everyone needs to see. And smell. We also got to check out the refurbished train station, which is reopening tomorrow. It will provide a new route into San Jose, and the goal is to reduce vehicle traffic. There was plenty of it between the two cities, so it seems like a good plan.

Next we headed to a coffee plantation, where we had lunch and some extremely fresh coffee. On the way, we were delayed twice, by a landslide that blocked the road, and by a bridge that the bus could not fit on. Eventually, after half the bus including myself had fallen asleep, we made it. We heard a brief rundown on how it is harvested. It was raining, so we did not get to experience the full tour. But we got to drive through the plantation and see all the coffee trees, which I have plenty of pictures of.

Our final tour was of a beautiful old church back in Cartago. It was awkward because there was some sort of prayer service going on as we walked around and snapped pictures, but the tour guide insisted that it was ok. The people in there did not seem to mind.

Now we're back at the hotel, and I am having a chill night. I ended up getting some food on my own and catching up on the NBA playoffs. I also got to Skype with my family, which was nice. Tomorrow we visit the Costa Rican Congress and a bubblegum factory. Only a few more days until we hit the beach!