Tag 86 - Border Crossing

The border crossing from Nicaragua to Costa Rica was already confusing. But today, in the reverse direction, I almost despaired. Nothing is signposted or explained. You have to ask about every step and are often sent in the wrong direction. I don't know if I can reconstruct what I had to go through today 😂:

First, you pay $1 at a counter with a bored, smartphone-affine person. No idea what for. I think the border town just wants to earn a little extra money. If you don't have the receipt for it, you will be sent back. If you have paid dutifully, no one wants to see it. Then, at another little house, you have to pay the $8 exit tax. But first, you have to find it. I was sent from one side to the other. The little house looks like a kiosk. It didn't occur to me at first that this is the customs office. I even thought for a moment that someone was trying to rip me off. Then into the now grown queue to exit. Eight counters, but only two were open. Then you walk a few hundred meters to the border with Nicaragua. In between, your passport is checked twice, once in a small wooden hut, once on the road. Now comes the Nicaraguan border building. Nothing is signposted. I could have just walked past the building to the right and gotten on the next bus, no one would have noticed. But I didn't dare, maybe there would be problems when I want to go home in April. So keep asking. Okay, pay another $12, entry tax. And voila, after barely 1 1/2 hours, you're back in Nicaragua.

When I told Silvana about it in the evening over a glass (no, no alcohol, I quit drinking), I realized that I must have skipped their border station when entering Costa Rica. That's possible because the bus terminal is at the same level and nothing is fenced off. I got directly on the bus. Go to jail. Do not pass "Go." Later at home, I checked right away: I really am missing a stamp in my passport. And now I also remember that the public bus in Costa Rica was stopped by the military shortly after the border to check everyone's IDs. And I didn't even have an entry stamp. Ts ts, I guess I need a refresher course.

Hardly any wind from the east, 32 degrees and sunny.