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Hello All!

I finally took the plunge and will be taking a trip to SJ CR later this month. My friend bailed on me, so Im traveling alone. I have a room at the presidente. Is it safe to walk around between the Presidente and HDR at night? I could be wrong, but it only looks like a block away on a map. Any further than that, and a cab would be a no-brainer, but I'd feel stupid taking a cab 1 block. Otherwise, are there any immediate night time spots close by that are safe to get to on foot from the Presidente?

Any help would be appreciated!

'Lil Evil

Check your PM's...



Cujo

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"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

this has been covered a lot. General consensus take a cab at night even for 1 block.

a very old post had a few guys get jump on that exact walk ...a few times...

Take a cab at night. My friends that live there tell me that K*ds lurk in the nooks and crannies along the way. They will jump out behind you and hit you in the head - maybe kill you for your watch! I was walking down that way from the Morazan during the day with my wingman and some K*D with a stick came running at us yelling "attacker". I had one eye on him and the other on a shovel in a wheelbarrow on the sidewalk in front of me. Before he got too close he started laughing and went the other way. I still walk around the gultch in the day but just as in any big city, anything can happen day or night so don't take unnecessary risk. Heck, even Tico cab driver friend on mine got robbed and beaten in San Jose when he let his guard down a few months ago.

I'll be down in late August without my wingman. Maybe I'll run into you at SL.

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It's a jungle out there. A pusseycat like you will get eaten alive!!!

Thanks guys. Sounds like cabbing is the way to go. Too bad--I like a drunken stumble at night every now and then. I going to feel like a real douche asking the cabbie to swing me around the corner, but I guess they won't care as long as I pay some inflated rate.



Unfortunately, I'm only going to be there for the last week in July. Anyone else going to be around?

After midnight the infalted rate is 1k colones. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16357

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

That's only $2 right? Sounds like a bargain compared to dealing with aggressive people and possible violence. After all........I'm a lover, not a fighter.

Isn't that the type of behavior that goes on in Miami, Tampa, Dallas, and Houston, pretty much anywhere and everywhere and at any time of the day or night?

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

I usually stay at the Hotel Doral and walk from the HDR to there up until 11 pm or so. After that you will probably want to take a cab, especially if you have had alot to drink. I agree with the others that say you should take the same precautions in San Jose that you would take in any metropolitan city here in the US.

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Wingman? I don't need no stinkin' wingman

The phrase "at night" to me means after dark which can be 6pm, or even earlier. I would advise to taxi after it gets dark.

Telling somebody to take a taxi "After 11pm, especially if you are falling down drunk" is possibly putting the person in harm's way.

I'm sure your advice works well for you but I see no reason to take a taxi everywhere because the clock struck 6:01 pm. I feel comfortable walking ave. central up to about 11 pm. Some guys feel comfortable up to 10 pm. As long as the locals are still out you shouldn't have a problem in the common areas like ave. central. If your route takes you through the Dominican areas or there is nothing of interest to see between where you are at and where you are going then things would be different.

On your second point, if you are going to quote me then at least be accurate. What I said was to take a cab after 11 pm especially if you have had alot to drink meaning that your situational awareness is impaired to some degree. If you allow yourself to get falling down drunk as you put it then you deserve what happens to you for being stupid.

I'm presuming our friend Lil_evil has the appropriate self controls in place.

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Wingman? I don't need no stinkin' wingman

The standard advice given here to everybody (Newbie, Old Sweat, anybody in between) is taxi after dark. Not trying to stir up a fuss but a first-timer's visit to CR? Not sure I'd count on those social controls being in place--the atmosphere is too intoxicating compared what most are used to elsewhere. A false sense of security has brought down more than one good man. Besides they are so available and so cheap, it's a ready defense against ladrones.
I do believe in quoting accurately--but Brother Orange indulged in only a minor extrapolation of your remarks, not wholesale misquoting or twisting beyond recognition. Add in the atmospheric intoxication mentioned above, and I reckon he has a solid case.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I am with Dan as when I still see all the locals at the bus stops waiting ....I feel safe ...if its around 9pm I will walk in the middle of the street .....but once the clock hits 10 the only walking I will do is Morazan to D.R. or D.R. to Key Largo. I will walk from the D.R. to New York Bar but I look what is in front of me and never stop walking (fast) until I get inside NYB but that's is as far as I will go.

Yes, 6:00 is way too early to be taking taxis, but if you're a total newbie and have zero clue about you are and where to go, and maybe drunk as well, then taking a taxi might be a good idea.

Once you know the way, walking from the Ave. Central area to HDR/SL/Amistad/Dunn Inn is fine up to 8:00 or so (later for some people), I've done it numerous times without incident. The key is to be sober and walk fast with a purpose. Also avoid taking the street that runs past the New York Bar and has bus stops on one side.