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When I first saw the title "Get Out of the Gulch!..." I figured, "Oh great, just what we need, yet another thread about a truism that people either understand or they don't". I expected to be bored by it but clicked on it anyway.
Then is began by asking "...do you reach a point where you say: Why bother? and I thought "Absolutely, I know I do or at least sometimes"....
After all, getting up day after day, hitting one MP or another after a late breakfast when the girls are still "fresh", grabbing some lunch, then making the rounds of the MP's AGAIN in the afternoon, hitting the happy hour so I can chat with a bunch of guys who spent their day doing essentially the same thing, grabbing some dinner and then hitting the DR so I can chat with a bunch of uneducated hookers whose conversation essentially amounts to the same old "Where you stay, how long you here, cien por favor". Yes, that sometimes does get a little old.
Imagine my surprise when I read the rest of Paco's post. You see, anyone can describe any action (or series of actions) in any manner they want to either make it sound like the most exciting thing in the world or the most boring. I've always encouraged mongers to get out and explore BEYOND the Gulch. I've always felt that it is a crying shame if guys come to a country renowned for its natural beauty and spend all or most or their time in the grimy urban quarter we know as the Gulch. But I've never thought I was laying a guilt trip on anybody. I communicate my beliefs on the subject, hoping to expand the boundaries of those guys, but realize they either get it or they don't. I always leave it at that and if that qualifies as a guilt trip, then that is their issue not mine. After all, I have to wonder if those guys REALLY AND TRULY believe in their heart of hearts that there is nothing else in CR as worthwhile as the working girls of the Gulch, then why should they feel guilty at all. Personally, I think they're missing out but if the Gulch routine is what satisfies them so much and that works for them, then they can do what they want. For my part, I'll always want to explore new areas (and return to those places that truly astound me)
The rest of Paco's post truly turns all that on its head. Who is one laying a guilt trip on whom here? I'll readily admit that CR is a small country with only so much to see before you start repeating. The Central Valley is smaller still. After all, one can drive across the entire country in less than 12 hours if one doesn't make any stops. OTOH, one can WALK across the Gulch in less than 12 MINUTES. I'm sorry, to say that there is not enough to keep one's interest for very long in an entire country while at the same time saying there is enough in few city blocks to keep one occupied for a lifetime makes absolutely no sense to me.
At least Paco allows that newbies should check some of the rest of what CR has to offer in between whoring sessions. But then he as a seasoned veteran and has "seen and done it all" and is perfectly content to limit himself to the Gulch and its immediate environs. Good for him.
IMHE, talking to many monger veterans, I find many who CLAIM to have explored CR and have "seen enough of it". However, their idea of seeing it all and mine are two entirely different things. Their idea of seeing CR is anywhere they can reach as a day trip out of SJ, or anywhere they can go overnight as long as chicas are available.
I'd readily agree that there are only so many times one can go up Poas or Irazu unless one is leading some sort of group. There are other activities, such as w/w rafting, that have excellent repeat value. I'm not into deep sea fishing personally, but a lot of guys are and if you ask them I'm sure few woould tell you that going out to fish is something that they grow tired of (What does that bumper sticker say? "A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work?). And, anyway, when it comes to simply enjoying wonderful scenery, why does it have to be limited to going there once, snapping a picture and leaving a few minutes after that. Doesn't that have repeat value too?
Getting back to these self-claimed CR explorers, their explorations outside the Gulch are RARELY as extreme as they would have others believe. I challenge anyone to come forward who has been to all of these places:
1) Dominical or some other lesser travelled beach besides MA, Jaco or the northern Guanacaste beaches
2) Puerto Viejo on the southern caribbean,
3) Rincon (or better yet Santa Rosa) in the NW,
4) the Osa Peninsula and Drake Bay,
5) Tortuguero (or Barra del Colorado),
6) Montezuma or Mal Pais and I must as well throw in
7) the Cano Negro wildlife refuge on the northern border with Nicaragua.
I won't even bother including the frosty heights of Mt. Chirripo or Isla Cocos way out in the Pacific. I seriously doubt very many of us (if anyone at all) has been to ALL of these places (despite a dozen or more trips to CR), or that more than a few has even been to more than half of these places. Have you, Paco? That would probably have meant having to forego pu*sy for one or more nights of your stay.
Even if you limit yourself to day trips, I once provided a list of over 50 activities one can do out of SJ (and outside the Gulch), everything from Turu Bari to Guayabo. How many of you have done all those things?
I can readily understand how after MANY MANY trips to CR one would grow tired or bored of the sights around the country IF they TRULY had explored all those sights. However, just from my own personally warped view and many but not so many trips to the Gulch as others, I can just as readily understand how THAT could grow old TOO. It hasn't quite gotten that far for me yet (although it is starting to), as I keep coming back. But I know of many guys, most no longer among us, who it has happened to and have moved on in various ways. Some were expats like MexPat, who lived there grew bored and disillusioned and moved back to the US. Others have moved on to other countries like TMan. Many are still there but only rarely frequent the Gulch anymore. Each of these case histories should give pause to those guys who blow into CR for a week or two at a time a few times a year and dream that the monger lifestyle by itself would sustain them if they ever moved to CR permanently. And there are also many other monger-tourists who still monger regularly but who grew bored or disillusioned with CR scene and have moved on to other countries.
So, in answer to Paco's misintended question - WHY BOTHER?, I reply why bother with ANY of it. With a dozen or more trips to ANY place the scene can grow old, whether it be the traditional sightseeing OR the local mongering scene. If that ever turns out to be the case, my solution would NOT be to turn myself inward and limit myself even more to an even smaller geographic area. MY solution would be a) to mix in MORE non-mongering activities to EXTEND the enjoyable lifespan of that location and b) when that no longer worked, to move on to newer and fresher countries altogether. After all, who ever said SJ was the be-all and end-all of mongering or that CR was the be-all and end-all of regular tourism. the world is a big place and can anybody just say NEXT.
But naturally as with most things this is a case of IMHO, YMMV, different strokes for different folks, etc etc. If the rest of you are content to spend out your days limiting yourselves to the "safe" familiarity of the Gulch, then I'm glad that works for you. It wouldn't for me.
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