how to save $500 traveling from panama city to san jose costa rica

9:50 pm - alex and i wait at albrook station for the panaline bus to san jose costa rica. it feels like we’ve wandered into a colony of leaf-cutter ants. everyone’s carrying something, even the nuns have backpacks. brown-skinned natives dart past. buses groan under the weight of so many people making the pilgrimage to the interior for semana santa.

holy week’s huge in central america. across the lobby several young nuns cluster under a sign that reads “favor no gritar” (please don’t scream). but for me the screams will come later, after i’ve spent 15 hours wedged in a too-small seat on panaline’s rolling refrigerator of doom. read more»