Being on the Road... Costa Rica (13) Manuel Antonio (2)

Today was an exceptional day. 

Upon our receptionist's referral, we walked down the jungle road across the street from our hotel and reached one of the most beautiful secret beaches on earth. He told us that only locals knew about that place. We arrived to our no-name beach after a 45-minute walk inside the jungle; in which playful white-faced capuchins freely hang around. 

And then we ended up at a private beach... A dream-beach for just the two of us and the water was warm... In wilderness, I'd usually expect some sort of discomfort. But to my surprise, there was none: no bugs, no insects, no spiders, no cold waters, no crabs, nothing... Just the hugging arms of Costa Rica and the mind blowing, comfortable wilderness... 

One of the most romantic mornings, ever... 

Hike in the jungle

The best no-name beach of all times...  

Panoramic view 

White-faced capuchins are like the cats of Istanbul :)) 

In the second half of our day, after our papaya & banana lunch 

My absolutely favorite fruit! 

We head to Playa Biesanz... 

It was not that private, but sure was beautiful, too. :)) 

Our hike to Biesanz Beach 

We haven't yet been to the National Park yet but on our way to the beach; we spotted these two :))  

Playa Biesanz 

We had dinner at a place called, El Arado (Costa Rican food) my vegetarian plate was fresh but without much aroma. Definitely didn't worth the price (12USD) Go to Quepos to eat!! :)) 

Our sunset was mind-blowing... 

A note about restaurants in general in Manuel Antonio: Basic food, quiet expensive. 

Being on the Road... Costa Rica (12) Manuel Antonio & Quepos (1)

Today we took the 9am bus down to Manuel Antonio. It's only 3 hour drive from San Jose and there are direct buses that go here. Trip was pretty easy. 

We checked in to our eco-friendly sweet hotel, Plaza Yara that is located right in the jungle. (Pretty much everything in this area is in the jungle, anyway.) But I totally recommend this hotel, it's exceptional. 

Hotel Plaza Yara

We took our time to discover Quepos and Manuel Antonio today. We will go and get in the National Park tomorrow. Restaurant prices are a little too high, however if you do a little walk around and research you can find really good places for reasonable prices, too. 



We had a delicious pita falafel sandwich watching the breathtaking view at Emilios Café.

View from Emilio's Café

and some delicious quesadillas at El Gran Escape in Quepos listening to the symphony of chirping birds. 

Walk down to Quepos from our hotel was just amazing... 

Streets of Quepos

Quepos

Being on the Road... Costa Rica (11) San Jose

From L.A., we flew to San Jose, Costa Rica today. After a long queue at the airport, as soon as we stepped out, I took a deep breath in and I could almost smell the tropical fruits in the air. (Maybe it's just my romanticism in the big city, who knows?) Weather was just perfect and the sun was setting tearing up the sky. I can say that I immediately connected with the land. 

We took the bus to downtown San Jose and we were joyous to finally walk in the streets without feeling unsafe. (Both in L.A. & Vegas we felt quiet hesitant to be out on the streets after sunset. Yea, I know we must have rented a car, but we didn't...) 

When we come to a new city, first night we usually are throughly confused. And then the next day, we walk the streets, we find places to eat, we become accustomed to the prices, we find the places where locals go, then we are fine. Tourist traps are just not what we are looking for that's why we find it worth for the first nights' trouble. The same happened in San Jose. We loved it here but we needed to locate ourselves.  

So our first night, a little confused with the food prices (we thought they were a little too high and kind of inconsistent) we ate at a local place. T.v. was on and they were broadcasting a Turkish soap opera. I told our waitress in Spanish that the show on t.v. was Turkish and that I was from Turkey. With all her enthusiasm she answered me -to my surprise, I could understand almost all that she was saying- that she didn't like that one but the other one, "Mil y e una noches". And then she asked me why everyone was taking their shoes off when they come home, and for me to understand her better, she actually took her shoes off. Haha :D I love it when people are just so natural communicating with... 

When I go to a place, I first check the people to see how nice, how happy, how friendly they are. I believe that there is an ideal feel to people just like there is an ideal temperature to weather: 23 degrees Celcius. Ticos are 23 degrees celcius people: comfortable, live, real, full of life, loud, cheerful, happy and radiating love. 

From our bus driver to our waitress, from the people on the streets to the guy who exchanged our money at the airport, everybody was utterly friendly and loving. Ticos are openhearted people. Whether you know your Spanish or not, they will find a way to communicate with you!

Before we came here, we were warned that Costa Rica was not a rich culture. Yes, this country may not acquire the variety of cuisine that many other Latin American countries have, nor the greatest prices (quiet touristy and expensive, I have to admit) and yes, they may not have their music playing everywhere along with their special dances, nor you can come across with their historical buildings on the streets (too bad, they have jungles instead!) but I still feel the opposite. Tico culture is a rich culture of cheerfulness, simplicity, kindness, respect for nature and enjoying the moment: Pura Vida! And to me, that's just too rich... 

Yeap. My kinda paradise of tropical fruits! :)) 

Streets San Jose 

Mercado Calle Nacional de Artesania y Pintura 

:))

Street Market - Crafts and Painting

This is an alive butterfly, eating banana at the National Museum 

Costa Rica National Museum

Streets San Jose 

Being on the Road... (10) Happy Thanksgiving!

Discovering new lands is amazing but if you ask me what I love the most about my travels, I'd say reunions with friends. Well, they are actually more than friends now, they are family... They are the ones who remind me that my life is so rich and meaningful.

There is a bunch of them on the east coast, a bunch on the west, one in Boulder, Colorado, a bunch in Turkey, and a bunch more all over the world... Lucky me :)) No matter for how long I don't see them, every time I meet them we just pick up from where we left of.  They are home. 

I was lucky to see my friend Putu and her family with Ferron over Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures!.. :)) 

Being on the Road to LA from Vegas… (9)

Speaking of coming out of the comfort zone, today was one of the toughest days of our lives. 

We didn't rent a car because of the thanksgiving weekend the prices were way too high. So we said why not, just take the bus from Vegas to Los Angeles!

It was a bus full of Gremlins: A bunch of crying kids and really loud adults. For 6 full hours they cried, sneezed, coughed, yelled, laughed and talked. When you are in the process, you feel like it is never going to end… Just like when you are having difficult days, you can't see the light. Just like that. We were suffocated. 

At the end of the 6 hours, towards the dawn of the day, it only got worse… Our bus dropped us off on one of the scariest streets of downtown LA. I say scariest, shame on me! And that scary place is their home… Streets are filled with homeless people… One of the guys walked towards me screaming and I noticed that he was drunk afterwards. He did scare the hell out of me.  

Feeling fear, helplessness, compassion, love, hunger; between wanting to cry and puke at the same time, wreck tired with a headache and we still had to be alert to find our bus towards the airport hotel. We walked 5 minutes to take the first bus and then we lost our wifi connection. 

A big "shooooot!" We didn't know which bus we were going to take, we didn't know where we were going to be dropped off. No matter how professional you are at traveling, you can always come across with things that you don't expect. At that moment on, my mind went black and I stumbled over to another dimension: Surrender.

We walked towards a chain restaurant to find a wifi connection and we did. Yes, even though streets were still a little too scary, things were turning around. We found our destination, had a cup of coffee from that chain restaurant (that I would never ever use in my daily life) and waited for the bus. We finally reached the hotel but we had not eaten for hours. Since I couldn't find anything on Yelp, I asked the girl at the reception if there was any good places to eat around. She said, "yes, but since it's a holiday, everywhere is closed by now." I thought, ok, since we are here safe and sound, I can go to bed hungry tonight. No problem. 

But walking over to the hotel, I had seen a food mart nearby. And yes, it was open and yes we were grateful gobbling down our microwaved bean and cheese burritos; which I would never touch on my daily life. Whaaaat?!? Frozen stuff?? Nooooo waaaaay! A note to self: "Arzu, you don't know what hunger is. If you are hungry, you will have to eat it. So, be humble." 

Sometimes life brings you to the edge. I'd say just surrender. 

I know that there must be someone out there to look out for me when I had enough and didn't have the energy to try harder…  And when I do that, I haven't been let down; not even once. 

Being on the Road… (8) Las Vegas

Before I start writing about it, I do feel the need to explain why Vegas. Pretty much everything in Las Vegas (as my friend Ferron says) is "cheesy" and artificial. We usually focus on nature, culture, fresh food and the amount of hiking we can do on our travels. We don't like, nor support the consumption oriented approach in the world. And this city could be among the top 5 consumption oriented places on earth. 

This city triggers and reinforces all the taboos of humankind: Sex, alcohol and gambling. Luxurious hotels, high heels, breathtaking shows and big drunken fights on the streets… Racing cars, huge shopping malls and a big nothing… 

I find it actually way too legendary to create a huge fake nothing in the middle of nothing. That's why I will write about this place that actually is worth a visit once. 

My friend Karoly said it so well: "You may like it, because Vegas is sincerely fake!" 
Yes. That's probably it; its sincerity that draws us to this city. 

See: This place calls their burgers by pass burgers :)) How sincerely unhealthy!

Do we get this for vegetarians? 

Here are some of our favorite Las Vegas picks and pictures for you :))

* Venetian: Fake Venice. Even Venice doesn't have that clear water and those sexy gondoliers! 

* Paris Paris; it's fake Paris. 

* If you like adrenalin, take the rides on New York New York (as you can imagine, it's fake New York) If you need some adrenalin, the roller-coaster  at this hotel is the best. Stratosphere top of the world rides are a little too much for me… 

* Wynn wins the best ambience prize overall.  

Wynn

Wynn

Wynn

* Go see a show! Preferably Cirque de Soleil (Le Rêve seems the be the most popular nowadays) We won Show Stoppers for free, it was pretty amazing, too!)

 

* It's obviously very popular to go to a Buffet in Vegas! (Wynn buffet has a lot of vegetarian & vegan options) Did we go? No... I can't eat so much food all at once. So I didn't think it was worth my $48 :)) 

* Don't miss Fremont Street! :)  

Fremont Str.

Also, wherever I go, I seek for nice and fresh food. I did the same in Vegas. First few days were difficult for me to adjust to the food in Vegas: All greasy and really bad quality. But finally I sought and found the most amazing fresh and vegetarian food in good prices, even in Vegas! If you love your food, too, check out my "Worth the Prize" deals!! You should just get a little off of the Strip for most of them. :)) 

Cleo(patra) Restaurant (Strip) at SLS is one of the best restaurants of all time. Seriously. Meditarrenean delicacies & the ambiance are so good. Especially their lebaneh with feta and tossed almond mushrooms are to die for! Your palate will be satisfied… 

Satay Thai (Paradise Road) Really good Thai food. If you are just a little hungry, their happy hour is quiet reasonable. We have been there twice. We had Pad Thai, vegan egg rolls, tofu salad, salt and pepper tofu and fresh rolls. They were all delicious.  

Their fresh rolls are so good! :) 

Salt and pepper tofu

Urban Turban (Indian, Paradise Road) You must try their 12 dollar lunch buffet. So good! 

VegeNation (Downtown) is one of the healthiest and yummiest options you could find in Vegas. Their mushroom pizza is epic! If you like it a little sweet like me, you will also love the sweet potato ravioli. :)) 

Simply Pure by Chef Stacey Dougan (Downtown) Their lasagna and pesto angel hair zucchini pasta are so good! 

Anthony's New York Pizzeria (Downtown) makes amazing pizza with fresh ingredients.  If you are planning to order delivery this is one of the best! 

The Goodwich This place is heavenly! You must try their fresh falafel sandwich. It's warm and really filling. Yumz! 

Thai Pepper This is a local place & great for lunch! Especially their veggie soup is to die for. Fresh and good quality food for reasonable prices. Their yellow curry is so good! 

Yellow Curry Lunch Special 

Makers and Finders Coffee We went there for Christmas eve brunch. It was not cheap but food tasted pretty good. Especially their coffee is epic. We haven't tried but their lavender latte is pretty famous. 

(We haven't been there but I checked their menu; Bronze Café also seems to be pretty good.) 

P.S.: You can check out all the restaurants on Yelp before you go. :))