"My journey up the Pan-American Highway was with a company called Tica Bus. The bus, that was similar to those used by he US Greyhound Company, gave a comfortable relaxing ride. This first stretch up to San Jose, a distance of around 420 miles, took about 10 hours and cost £12. As for the journey itself, apart from a few short stops and a 3/4 hour break at the Costa Rican border, it was a pretty uneventful ride with little of real interest to look at. As I was still trying to catch up with the sleep I had lost during my night spent at the airport, I was glad of the opportunity to have a good rest, and the time passed quite quickly. 
 
Unfortunately, I only had one sight of the highway bridge, a great feat of engineering, over the Panama Canal. On reflection, not taking the train over to Colón and seeing more of the canal was one of the few disappointments I had on this trip. 
 
San Jose was founded in 1737, but as far as I could see little appeared to remain of these early days. The city stands at an altitude of 1150 metres, about 3,500', making it quite a pleasant place in which to walk. The population of around 287,000 seemed to be a surprisingly cosmopolitan mix, including quite a number of Chinese.
 
My bus reached San Jose by early evening giving me time to find a hotel before it got dark. After Panama City, San Jose seemed a clean and easy gong town, and though it had little of real interest, I found it nice to be back in a place where I felt safe again. As well as getting my Guatemalan visa, I had also arranged to have some money sent out to a bank here for my collection. On presenting myself at the bank in question and showing my passport, I was pleasantly surprised to be told that the money had arrived and all I had to do was sign 2 bits of paper, to be paid out. I have used this method in a number of parts of the world but had never found anywhere as efficient as this before, or since. Also while in San Jose, I called on the friend of a close friend back in the UK. As this friend was working at a bank during the day I was not able to see her until the evening. The lady, in her early 60's, spoke good English and was able to take me in her car to visit some other English speaking people she knew, and I had the chance to learn a little of the pleasant way of life, of at least some of the better off, in Costa Rica lived. On my last evening we went upto a restaurant high in the hills, there we could enjoy a meal while looking down on the city lights far below." - MH