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Cartago| Beginning last Sunday we saw people walking toward Cartago. There were several hundred on the road between Curridabat and San Jose. The migration had begun... People from all over Costa Rica were walking to Cartago to honor the Virgin of Los Angeles. People of all ages, people pushing baby carts, people in wheel chairs, families, large groups walking together (church groups?), teenagers walking with friends. I understand that people walk all the way from Porta Lemon, further even.
We had planed to join the walk on Wednesday, 2 August. The actual day of the event, but my teacher in Spanish class (who lives in Cartago) suggested we go Tuesday night. He said that all the "events" take place that night and I could easily understand that walking at night would be easier than an excursion in the heat of the day. We took his advice. After class we took the bus home and took a nap. At 6pm we were off.
We packed light (water, crackers, warm shirt) and headed down the hill. The street was full of the procession. Police were directing traffic and the masses were heading east, out of town. We joined them. I took some pictures, but it's really impossible to capture the true scope of the event with a camera. Expected in Cartago were 1.2 million people, or more. One of the routes to Cartago was totally blocked to traffic and was used by the procession. Along the way venders were selling water, food, shoes, relics. Others were giving water and food away. Others had set up massage stations and were giving away massages to the walkers. There was music, lights, smells, police, Red Cross. Everything a crowd this large could possibly want/need.
It took us 4 hours walking to get to Cartago (about what we expected). The city was packed with people (about what we expected). As we entered the city there was fireworks going off over the Basilica. We slowly made our way across town to the Basilica... Never in my life have I seen so many people packed together! Somehow the faithful were working their way into the Basilica, but it must have taken hours to make way the last 100 meters. The tradition is to complete the walk on your knees as you go up the isle in the church. We never got that close. It was late, we had done the walk, had experienced the day and had no idea how we were going to get home. Which I didn't expect to be any sort of a problem.
It was now midnight. I didn't know if the buses would still be running, but expected so. I've been to Cartago. I know where the busses leave. So we walked (well, maybe it WAS more of a hobble by then - I was really sore!) to the bus stop. There was quite a line of people getting on the bus. I asked it this was the stop for San Jose and was told, "no". It was just a couple of blocks down. Well, a couple of blocks down there were no busses, no people... So I found the first bus going anywhere and asked where the bus to San Jose would be. He said 400 meters the other side of the Basilica. The place we had just come from. It was about time to just get a taxi. We were tired and sore. Checked with a few taxis and found they were all charging 10,000 to get back to town. A bit much! We headed back toward the Basilica to see what we could see. Much sooner than I expected we found another line. This one about 200 meters long! I asked, and yes, this is the line for the San Jose bus. OK... These people know what they're doing. After waiting 10 or 15 minutes we were at our bus. I know there are at least two routs from Cartago to San Jose. We DON'T want the one that goes to town. So I asked the driver if this one goes by Plaza del Sol and was told that it did. Well it didn't, but I'm getting to know my way around enough that I figured it out and knew where we were at a point not to far from home. We got off and took a cab to the house.
It's morning, I'm playing hooky from school and am sore from my experiences of the week. It's all "Pura Vida", man! |
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