Zee Grand Finale

So folks, now that I've been home a couple of weeks, I've decided to finally finish of the fantastic tale of the BIATCH. The trip that definetly will become the beacon of light and nostalgia when they lock me up in a moldy old classroom and hand me back the life of labour , hard work and strive.
Let's just pick up where I last left y'all.
After La Fortuna, the GAP trip was nearing it's end and we made our way to the capital of Costa Rica, San José.
The transportation was the good ol' switch bus, switch bus until we arrived safely in San José. As the last place we would sleep, GAP arranged a rather nice hotel with nice soft big beds and all the coffee a man can drink. Now that was the life. Cable TV and coffee. Coffee and TV. But just for a little while. We had our farewell dinner, gave a tip to Pedro which was compulsary by GAP regulations. 20 USD per week and person. We travelled with Gap for about 4 weeks. You do the maths. But the solution to our economic problem solved itself really. We passed a brown envelope around and every one put in as much as they wanted. Slipped him a nice 20 USD bill. Fair or not fair, we are student/bums so paying that kind of a tip would mean starvation for the rest of the trip. That wasn't going to happen... I hate being forced to pay tip. Even at restaurants they simply put the service charge in the bill, even when the service is crappy. Hate that stuff
Yes, we had our farewell dinner, and of course went out to party on the last day with the group. If anyone hasn't heard this before, I need to inform you that San José is rumoured to be a very dangerous city, with drug crazed transvestites roaming the parks at night.
The club we were headed to was on the other side of the central park, so we decided to play it a little safe. We went around. I must remark that we didn't see anyone on the streets. No people, no thugs and definetly no drug crazed transvestites.
The club was great, Latin music, lot's of perty girls. Definetly a good night to be out partying.
The next day, the group said Hasta la vista and we all went our separte ways.
most people flew home, me Micke and Filippa went on to Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.
We took the bus and arrived at Rocking J's, where you could rent a comfy hammock for 5USD/night, or a tent for 6USD.
Rented a tent and this is the place, ladies and gentlemen where we spent our last days of the trip.
In Puerto Viejo, we enjoyed beaches suitable for postcards, with warm water, great people and awesome atmosphere. Well. speaking about atmosphere, it wasn't very healthy. People smoked weed everywhere and always. Rain or sun, day or night, people at Rocking J's were toking up. Insane. No one cared about cops and people spent their days laying on the beach, and the nights at local bars. Despite the heavily contaminated air (the smell of sweet Mary Jane everwhere), it was a great place to relax and waste our days. We were going from beach, to dinner, to bar to bed for almost 7 days. I couldn't even imagine there even existed a place like this in the world. No place I ever have been to was so relaxed and so independent of time. Not that I carried a watch anyway but it was great not to care what time it was. Nothing mattered here. If you were hungry, you ate, if you were thirsty, you drank. If you were tired you slept. Cool place indeed.
But time flew us by and we had to return to San José to catch our flight. Cheap bastards as we were /are we arrived in San José on the 23rd, ate at Burger King then headed directly to the airport where we spent the night and day until our flight 17:00.
Great and cheap experience. We entertained ourselved by watching some dudes wrap their luggage in plastic (what's up with that?) and by rating them according to performance.
We were informed that our connecting flight from Madrid to CPH was cancelled, so Iberia payed for a hotelnight in the heart of Madrid. Wicked town I must say. We ate dinner, had a real continental breakfast (I have NEVER EVER eaten so much. it was pure gluttony. I ate so much I felt ill and then I ate some more, it was soo good) and flew back to Sweden. Of course we filed a formal complaint about the flight being cancelled and according to european law we are entiteled to compensation, but that'll probably take ages.
But yes, we came back to the cold cold motherland and so ended the BIATCH. Worth every penny and every second. I saw alot of things and learned even more about the world and different cultures. I also found some of the answers I was looking for in what to do with my life. I can summerise it as follows: Rich is the way to be. Not because of the money but because the possibilities and freedom that comes with financial independece. How I will reach that level is a completly different matter but I'll definetly give it a shot.
Now it's time to embrace the new life. No more bumming around. Time to do what I am supposed to do.
But I'll always remember this trip, with a heart warming nostalgia and dream back to the days of laying on tropical beaches, soaking the sun and enjoying the feeling of only existing in the moment...