Would you still go?

[deaner]

as a well seasoned traveller for both business and pleasure I would have no issues taking my family there. Found more "danger' in Thailand than I ever came close to in Mexico. However, I must say their booze is watered down as it takes twice as much for me to get a buzz than at home

Where in Thailand did you feel unsafe? Just curious. The wife and I spent a month there on our honeymoon. Guessing it was down south somewhere?

 

[niner]

We ended up in Costa Rica. Went to see the active volcano in Nicaragua yesterday and a tour through the cities. Was an incredible day and have felt safe everyday.

 

[freeflorider]

We ended up in Costa Rica. Went to see the active volcano in Nicaragua yesterday and a tour through the cities. Was an incredible day and have felt safe everyday.

If your still in Nicaragua today and like the volcano then I highly recommend going into León, it’s a few hour drive north of Managua where I’m thinking you went. Look up Bigfoot hostels in León. They do a tour to an active volcano where you get to volcano surf, even fun for the little ones but can involve some risk. It’s awesome fun.
how do you find the general area in Nicaragua, I found it very poor and dirty compared to Costa Rica. We traveled up and down the pacific side and onto ometepe island for a few days. Great travels but found my Spanish got a workout.

 

[niner]

Back in Costa Rica today. Did the day trip yesterday. Left at 5 am got back at 7 pm. Went to Masaya volcano yesterday was very cool. Seen lava for a split second as the steam was rolling. Only allowed 10-15 minutes at the mouth of the volcano. Went downtown to the markets and seen some history. Went to the lake and checked out the islands and the monkey island. Very touristity I know, not quite as adventurous as you but still neat to see different country. The drive through the country is definitely third world. Unbelievable what some people call a home.

 

[freeflorider]

I’m glad your having a great trip and not worried about being shot at lol. I really like to travel in these parts as it a step back in time. Also it humbles the sole knowing how much we have and how funny it seems when we get mad at the fact we can’t get or new truck in the colour we want lol! People just are trying to survive here.
where are you at in Costa ? South of Jaco there’s an area called quepos, the park there is Manuel Antonio and cost a few bucks to walk through but is a great place to walk, lots to see and great beaches. Again lots of tourists but a must do.
if your driving your own car I also enjoyed the drive inland over the mountians from golfito on the number 2. You don’t need to go that far if your in quepos, you can get a connector road to the hills. I just enjoy the drive past endless farms and mountain ness back country. From there into san josa gets a little frustrating to find your way through though.
la fortuna has a volcano and hot spring which again is a tourist spot but still a fun drive...yah I know these are long days if your coming from a central spot your staying.

 

[eclipse1966]

I used to own a coconut processing plant in Thailand about 2 hrs south of Bangkok and had so many issues with safety and Wild West type situations. They took oil filled balloons and targeted our staff (locals) then started pointing guns. It was a constant night mare so I sold the operation as I did not enjoy going there and looking over my shoulder every time. This is not the touristy area so way different attitude compared to where tourists go. I did like going to the floating market there though.

Where in Thailand did you feel unsafe? Just curious. The wife and I spent a month there on our honeymoon. Guessing it was down south somewhere?

 

[niner]

We’ve been staying at the Riu Guanacaste. Been awesome, great food , lots of sun and everyone is super friendly. Probably 60% Canadians here.

 

[ttpowersports]

personally I would not risk it, a holiday if your always watching your back or feel insecure- especially if you have your family with you... especially females.. I would weigh out if your gonna relax,,, I would maybe pass imo but that's my two bits

 

[freeflorider]

We’ve been staying at the Riu Guanacaste. Been awesome, great food , lots of sun and everyone is super friendly. Probably 60% Canadians here.

Oh cool your just outside of Liberia. There is a nice little town just south of you called tamarindo, it’s also loaded with North Americans. My favorite spot is again south of you, have a look at samara. it’s where I’m hoping to return to as we had hopes of being there right now but ended up south in panama this time. Will be making our way back to Costa in a few days, hope you enjoy your trip and get a chance to day trip to these areas... I would recommend for you to go into samara and go over one bay to (playa Carrillo) its so awesome and is huge, no people on it so it’s pritty much all yours.
if you like lime in your beer try the local beer. Rock limon...so good!

 

[freeflorider]

I used to own a coconut processing plant in Thailand about 2 hrs south of Bangkok and had so many issues with safety and Wild West type situations. They took oil filled balloons and targeted our staff (locals) then started pointing guns. It was a constant night mare so I sold the operation as I did not enjoy going there and looking over my shoulder every time. This is not the touristy area so way different attitude compared to where tourists go. I did like going to the floating market there though.

I think being in the tourist areas give you a false sense of the real area. We travel off the Beaten path and find that feeling of being a little to white sometimes.
Most people are just people regardless but knowing I have more money in tattoos then most make in 1-2 years makes me a target for hate. Fine line between enjoying the rustic surroundings and being a target.
never had a problem but you never know, getting better at this so I guess time will tell. Sorry to hear you needed to sell, was there a good profit in what you were doing there?
There’s opportunity down here but the corruption is way to high for me to invest yet, need to look into things a little deeper. Costa Rica is becoming a great country to invest in with new leaders and infrastructure where panama and Nicaragua being still under the control of some shifty leaders.

 

[eclipse1966]

you have tattoos and I am a 6'2" guy and stand out so get lots of attn LOL. I am a we'll seasoned traveller in 3 world countries for my work so I know what you mean. Used to go to Peru/Ecuador/Columbia 2-3 times per year and sure can tell some stories LOL. Anyway, the business was "ok" but a major cash flow burner as you have to fund these projects from start to finish as no one gives credit. As a matter of fact we had to make so many advance payments and would not see our payment for 90 to 120 days. I was crapping my pants back in the 2008 crunch as we had 1.4 million out in advance payments. Growers are nice but it only takes one to bring the whole thing down. So, now I focus primarily on exporting Canadian goods. On a side note, I have never been burnt financially from 3rd world businesses but 3 times from US buyers....... go figure.

I think being in the tourist areas give you a false sense of the real area. We travel off the Beaten path and find that feeling of being a little to white sometimes.
Most people are just people regardless but knowing I have more money in tattoos then most make in 1-2 years makes me a target for hate. Fine line between enjoying the rustic surroundings and being a target.
never had a problem but you never know, getting better at this so I guess time will tell. Sorry to hear you needed to sell, was there a good profit in what you were doing there?
There’s opportunity down here but the corruption is way to high for me to invest yet, need to look into things a little deeper. Costa Rica is becoming a great country to invest in with new leaders and infrastructure where panama and Nicaragua being still under the control of some shifty leaders.

 

[freeflorider]

Goes to show you how greedy we are, local farmers and business men down here still have a respect and honour there handshake. Tough times in 08 all over, I remember things not being so roseie back home too. There was a big land development down here in bocas Del toro...just abandoned. Locals say a developer came in and dredged the inland part of the ocean just a km north of siegon bay.
must of cost a mint plus could you amagine getting permission to dredge the land to make a ocean waterway. Can see it on goggle earth, zoom in. It’s quite the deal as you can see docking sites for each property, I took a kayak and paddled the waterways through it. I guess when 08 hit only two houses were constructed, no one knows what happened beyond that, just been sitting with out any activity.
love to hear the stories you have, been looking at Columbia south now but that’s even a bigger commitment.
lots of unstable and corrupt country’s down here as you know...
I’m 6’3 to so we would stand out and be called los dos gigantes blancos Rico’s chicos! Ha ha. I heard that a few times...

 

[eclipse1966]

yes there are plenty of examples of such developments around the globe that started and never finished and left abandon. Look at the overhead highway in Bangkok for example, started many many years ago and last time I was there about 6 years ago was still sitting there with only concrete pillars standing. Columbia is dangerous IMO. Spent a small fortunate on bribes just to get thru check points. I was detained for 8 hrs once about 50 km from the Ecuadorian border. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish so to this day I have no idea why I was detained and my American colleague wasn't but something about my passport and the only sophisticated tool they had was a blue light and they kept scanning my passport. Eventually $400 bucks fixed the problem hahahahaha.

Goes to show you how greedy we are, local farmers and business men down here still have a respect and honour there handshake. Tough times in 08 all over, I remember things not being so roseie back home too. There was a big land development down here in bocas Del toro...just abandoned. Locals say a developer came in and dredged the inland part of the ocean just a km north of siegon bay.
must of cost a mint plus could you amagine getting permission to dredge the land to make a ocean waterway. Can see it on goggle earth, zoom in. It’s quite the deal as you can see docking sites for each property, I took a kayak and paddled the waterways through it. I guess when 08 hit only two houses were constructed, no one knows what happened beyond that, just been sitting with out any activity.
love to hear the stories you have, been looking at Columbia south now but that’s even a bigger commitment.
lots of unstable and corrupt country’s down here as you know...

 

[freeflorider]

yes there are plenty of examples of such developments around the globe that started and never finished and left abandon. Look at the overhead highway in Bangkok for example, started many many years ago and last time I was there about 6 years ago was still sitting there with only concrete pillars standing. Columbia is dangerous IMO. Spent a small fortunate on bribes just to get thru check points. I was detained for 8 hrs once about 50 km from the Ecuadorian border. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish so to this day I have no idea why I was detained and my American colleague wasn't but something about my passport and the only sophisticated tool they had was a blue light and they kept scanning my passport. Eventually $400 bucks fixed the problem hahahahaha.

The systems of tracking people down here are bad, Nicaragua expects you to come get your driver licence to pay a fine at an office (I Carrie a fake colour copy that’s laminated...they don’t know). Costa is not much better but I was suprised to see the Panamanian crossing at Sixaola had facial recognition and finger print scanning. Walked across and never even gave my bag a second look but I’m scared now with a picture of me in the system.
Regardless of speech isn’t it funny how money just seems to fix all problems foreign or domestic.
I think they test you being a gringo knowing you have $$$, the fact your even there right. I always keep a tight lip and just keep repeating I don’t know I don’t know, usally they get pissed off and let you go or at best going from a $100 fine to $10 one is really sweet!
keeping your mouth shut in any country is a good thing when detained.

 

[eclipse1966]

LOL. I kept my mouth shut for about 6 hrs then eventually I wanted out so when the money started flashing things started moving faster LOL. But yes, its a whole different world down there and nice to get home.

The systems of tracking people down here are bad, Nicaragua expects you to come get your driver licence to pay a fine at an office (I Carrie a fake colour copy that’s laminated...they don’t know). Costa is not much better but I was suprised to see the Panamanian crossing at Sixaola had facial recognition and finger print scanning. Walked across and never even gave my bag a second look but I’m scared now with a picture of me in the system.
Regardless of speech isn’t it funny how money just seems to fix all problems foreign or domestic.
I think they test you being a gringo knowing you have $$$, the fact your even there right. I always keep a tight lip and just keep repeating I don’t know I don’t know, usally they get pissed off and let you go or at best going from a $100 fine to $10 one is really sweet!
keeping your mouth shut in any country is a good thing when detained.

 

[freeflorider]

LOL. I kept my mouth shut for about 6 hrs then eventually I wanted out so when the money started flashing things started moving faster LOL. But yes, its a whole different world down there and nice to get home.

Crappy day here with light rain.(movie day lol) Always nice to go back home but Calgary looks like crappy weather and the Kootaneys not looking much better, it’s still 26 here so it’s a toss up. Rainy seasons are coming down here so I guess it’s time to move on ha ha.

 

[eclipse1966]

well AB is still dealing with winter. Here in the Okanagan we are not exactly breaking temp records but much better than snow! We had +18 earlier this week.

Crappy day here with light rain.(movie day lol) Always nice to go back home but Calgary looks like crappy weather and the Kootaneys not looking much better, it’s still 26 here so it’s a toss up. Rainy seasons are coming down here so I guess it’s time to move on ha ha.

 

[freeflorider]

Eclipse1966, it’s been one year to the date since this post. Where are you this year and did you like Costa Rica? I’m in Bali right now, started in Ubud and moving north east, heading to the island today. Very friendly place but as a tourist they love your money,again one needs to get off the beaten path. 2 Bottle water and cokes. 2 large course local plates of food. $4.40! Cheep cheep. But not near the tourist spots, be ready to pay.