A Meeting With Karma

This has a been a trip of extremes when it comes to luck - some good, some not so good. Right now it´s stalled, much like the weather system soaking the mountain top town I´m in.

I got lucky with an upgraded room - a full apartment with floor to ceiling windows on two sides overlooking the valley and Monteverde Reserve. There´s a balcony too, with views across the Nicoya Peninsula some 4o miles away. The sun comes up before the rains set in and fills my room with warm morning light. So lucky, so cheap, I´ve spent four night here. I´ve cooked my own meals, watched movies in Spanish, relaxed in a tub and even used the body scrub.

My last hotel wasn´t too bad either. I had a fantastic view of Mt Arenal, a live volcano smoking, rumbling and erupting in the distance. But I also had a theif. I got robbed by one of the family members who owns and runs the place. (Never stay at Gringo Pete´s Too in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.) Luckily it was only $20. Luckily it was my "decoy" wallet. Luckily it prevented him from looking further and finding my real stash of cash. (Don´t worry I´m not giving anything away, I´ve blown all my cash now and have nothing left to steal.)

It´s all about Karma, and I actually met Karma at that same hotel - in the form of a Canadian woman from Ontario. Understandably, she´s pretty spritiual- bestowed with a name like that you´re not given much choice. Karma´s been my traveling companion for the past few days. It´s how it works on the road, you meet people heading in the same direction at the same time and buddy up. A solo trip is everything but solo.

Karma´s karma wasn´t so hot either. She lost almost $100, stolen right out of her lock box. That´s how we know it was an inside job. Only the family had keys to her lock box and my room. They didn´t actually steal our wallets, they just went through them cleaning out our US cash, leaving the local bills and other valuables.

Karma was pissed. She called the police who emptied her bags and wasted her time. The owner arrived, cursed Americans (??) and called her a liar. He said she had the only key.

"It´s okay, " she told me after with a serious look, "Karma will get them."

I agreed but didn´t know which Karma she meant.