Puntarenas

So after my last post yesterday, I went to a small store and bought some candy, a soft drink, and a (glass) bottle of beer. After I asked for a bag, the store clerk got me a plastic cup instead - I thought after all that riding my already very rudimentary Spanish had become entirely nonsensical. "No," he said, "I understood, but you are not allowed to take the bottle with you. You have to drink it here." Then he explained the recycling laws of Costa Rica to me. (When I am back home, I will try this at a 7-11, should be fun!)
Great ride today and more on the long side - just a couple of km shy of a metric double century. I had heard from several independent sources that the roads in Costa Rica are very bad, especially for biking. While it is true that there were occasional cracks in the pavement and also some potholes, and the shoulder was rather narrow, I have seen much worse.

Puntarenas is an interesting old seaport that definitely looks like the kind of place that has seen better days. (Crime in town I had heard of is one reason why I was glad to make it before dark.)

Tomorrow I will (try to) slow down a bit and spend the night at one of the resort towns southeast from here.