www.CostaRicaTicas.com

That was an interesting article, though IMHO it was really basically what they call a "fluff piece".

Actually, I found the letters above it to be even more interesting discussing the hypocrisy of the current US administration when it gets down on various latin american countries when it comes to civil rights. There is a lot of BS being done by or for the US in our name in countries like Haiti, Venezuela, Guantanamo Cuba, El Salvador, etc. But thats really a whole 'nother topic.

What makes it sort of relevant to the discussion here is one aspect of it. One interesting statistic mentioned was that the US has the highest incarceration rate of ANY country in the world (most of them on drug offenses), which should give some of you something to think about when you complain about crime in CR. Of course, the typical response is that while there may be a lot of crime in the US too, one usually doesn't walk around in those high crime areas back at home. Where the Mercado comes back into this digression is that I can't understand why so many people around here shy away from say taking a quick shortcut through sparsely populated Morazon Park yet think nothing about taking a meandering stroll through the crowded Mercado, a place known to be rife with pickpockets. Maybe we're talking about two different sets of people (I know RBC for one is not averse to going into places others might shy from). Personally, I don't mind staying on my toes for a little while walking from point A to point B, but I could never get to relaxed hanging out in a place like the Mercado for any length of time. My hand would be on my money pocket the whole time.

I realize everyone will have their own take and preferences when it comes to certain places. I can definitely see Furryman's take on the Mercado - "worth a stop but it is what it is, a fairly grubby third world market". Maybe buy a bauble or two, but not much the average gringo visitor would really want to buy. I think it is fine for getting some local color as there is nothing quite like it back in the US (except perhaps for an indoor flea market), though I suspect the average tico these days is more apt to do most of their shopping at the local pulperia or at american style malls like San Pedro. Even if you've never seen a Central Market before, you'll probably get all the local color you care for after browsing around there for just a very short time. I can't see spending an afternoon, like Ding Dong suggests, just seems like such a waste to me when there are so many other things to see and do in CR.

CR is known for having a beautiful countryside not for having a beautiful capital city (lets face it, like many third world cities SJ is basically a deisel fumed, traffic bound, pit) and the countryside is what most people come here to see (except for a few degenerates like ourselves). The few things that are really worthwhile to see in SJ can be seen in just a day or two. The Mercado may be listed as a sight in most guidebooks, but not as a starred attraction, rather as an afterthought. One could also dig a little deeper on return visits to secondary attractions like the Mercado. But if you're visiting CR for the first time, I think your time would be much better spent, after seeing those few "starred attractions", getting out of SJ altogether and seeing the real sights that CR is famous for. Then, if you still have time to kill and want to see the Mercado, go for it.

I think there are two types of whorticulturalists in CR. One type comes as much for the eco-adventures as for the sex. This type is happy to fit as much sex as he can around his other activities. The other type comes for the sex first and foremost and the other stuff is more an afterthought. These guys go for as much sex as they can and try to fit whatever other interesting stuff they can in around it during those periods when they need to recover for the next round. They're not going to sign up for even many day trips because that would mean leaving SJ early, getting back late in the afternoon and missing out on a whole daytime's worth of opportunities to visit 1-2 MP's and perhaps a nooner with a BM girl or a novia. This means they have to find worthwhile things to do in SJ in the 1-4 hours between sessions. That list can run thin very quickly and places like the Mercado begin to look better and better.

Wow!!!!!!!!

Do you write for A.M. Costa Rica? What a reply!!!!!!

Prolijo, I have to agree the best of Costa Rica lies outside San jose.I often leave the city for day trips as well as overnight trips when I am there for more than a few days.Howerver many mongers never leave the city ,so I think it offers them an option to see the real local working mans culture.The thing I enjoy most or course besides the availability of women is feeling the culture and experiencing it.That is a big part of the overall travel experience for me.I stayed at Hotel Neuvo Johnson one trip which is right across the street from Mercado Central so I got to feel it every morning when I walked out the door.Hey, it is closer to Oasis which is where I go first anyway. You do have to watch your pockets almost anywhere in San Jose.I always wear cargo shorts preferably with vel-crow or zip pockets and only carry the money I need at the time.I try to never carry a credit card at night and only if I expect to need on in the day.rbc100

_________________
In Search of Fine Kittens,
Please... Bring back the Muff

Projilo,
Think we talking about two different things, I have never suggested that staying in San Jose was a way to see CR. I live here and certainly have taken the time to see the country.

There are many guys who come here and never leave San Jose. I think they should see the local sights and the Mercado Central is one that should be included.

By the way Mercado Borboun is basically a fruit and vegetable market and in no way compares to Mercado Central.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

DingDong,
We are talking about different things. Both you and RBC either live in CR or visit it very frequently. You have had the chance to see and do the many different things that CR has to offer. If by now you hadn't at least visited the Mercado once, I'd have been very surprised. What I am addressing is a question by a guy who has not yet been to CR, is probably going to be visiting for a limited time his first visit and will probably only have time to try out the things that should be at the top of most people's lists.
I agree with that statement right up to the first should. If they are visiting for just a couple of days, as is often the case with RBC, they will obviously not really even have the option of traveling overnight to other parts of the country. But if they don't sometimes at least get out of SJ during the day or remain in town all day long for more than a day or two, I feel they're really missing out (certainly at least for first time visitors to CR). Sure it provides them a different option to view some of the local culture, but aren't the many various day trips to the surrounding towns and villages even better options. One of the nice things about using SJ as your base of operations, besides the obvious attractions of its nightlife, is that there are many worthwhile day trips one can take to sample the range of beauty of the countryside and still be back in town for a quick massage before dinner. One can see volcanos and beautiful valleys, rainforests and cloud forests, waterfall parks and whitewater rivers, coffee farms and butterfly farms, quaint towns and artisan workshops, aerial trams and zip lines, just to name a few (and all of these come with the chance to breath some clean mountain air). When you consider all these options, can you really say that the Mercado warrants more than a passing visit if one can squeeze it in during ones first visit to CR? Maybe you can, but I just don't see it

I like the Mercado Central alot.

If you walk up the road that has all the pretty tiles and no cars from the NY Bar you will eventually get to the Mercado Central.

From there turn right (north?) and go about 4 or 5 blocks you will find four great places for 3500 colones. I think that works out to about $6.75. Enjoy!!!

It is fairly safe there during day light hours. I think they open about 10 ish in the AM. At least that is the earliest I have stumbled in there. Some real diamonds have been found amongst the coal.

Some would say it is good to go with a wing man, but ultimately you get seperated anyway so what the heck, no guts no glory. Run the gauntlet. How many times does $6.75 go into $100?

I think the Mercadp Central is a great landmark from a directional point of view. Who needs GPS when you got CRT?

They also have inexpensive fruit juices (which are great on the return trip to give you strength), lobster tails for pennies from both the pacific and atlantic, and the lowest priced most phat shrimp I have ever seen. Especially good if you have something to cook it with or some chica that will cook it for you at home.

Wait a minute, I have to get my calculator. LOL

Listen carefully to this, You will not need your calculator for this...

Unless you are alergic to cryptonite you will never find out how many times $6.75 goes into $100 5 blocks north of Mercado Central.

I have been to CR over 50 times and the answer yet escapes me...

If by some miracle of Easter you discover the answer place keep it to yourself. I am having too much fun trying to figure it out for myself.

Why do I feel like an SAT monitor on this reminding you all that calculators are not permitted. lol...

Triple FFF, See you know 6th Street in San Jose.I have never tried to figure that one out either.Don't ussually carry my calculator around in San Jose.It can sometimes be a Hell of a deal if you get lucky.Never had a problem there alone in the daytime alone.rbc100

Pura vida amigo.

Having crashed at the Hotel Johnson I can tell you that I have not even had a problem in the early hours of the morning gooned.

But you got to stay alert always. That is why I always line my John Deere cap with aluminum foil on the inside.

I live in constant terror living here in Hollywood Beach Florida with all these French Canadians cruising around just now mate.

North bound from Mercado Central in the $6.75 red zone of sjo at dark feels like a safe zone sanctuarity. And my mars is in conjunct with saturn so I got that going for me...thankfully after the full moon crosses the next 28 years are prosperous, happy, and fortunatly absent of sobriety.

I try to tell these canucs here that the maple leaf goes up front on the speedo and that tipping is a custom in these here parts. But they never listen feigning only speaking piss poor french like a drunk gringo trying to pick up a tica at the Key Largo while dancing the salsa to bachata music. OPA Mi que tuanis es la nota!

Thank God Easter is only a few days away and we can take down those stupid leaf flags. Snow birds fly away, fly away...

Speaking of fly away, AA has $137 flights to SJO this weekend. Of course you cant buy a beer and SJO is ghost town over Easter.

Thanks for the love AA. I would refuse to get off the plane or on the plain as the case might be.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)