Costa Rica: Magic of the Million Hole road

February 21, 2008

Photo:Flickr/

It was certainly one of those moments of glory, when you have to pinch yourself to realize that what you just saw was not a dream. It was not.

While exploring and driving around the east coast of this small and charming Central American country, we passed a couple of small school children walking along the road waving at cars. They were hitch-hiking. Hitch-hiking! Young kids, most likely first or second graders, carrying these huge backpacks wider than their small torsos; little girls with Pippi Longstocking-like pony tails sticking out in every possible direction, wearing short checkered skirts revealing their bare knees; and most of all - their face shining with that innocent childish smile.

What seemed like a typical afternoon routine to the locals, I, on the other hand, felt like I had just discovered the world’s eighth and ultimate wonder. Aerosmith Steven Tyler’s high pitch voice was screeching something about having a hole in the sole from the stereo, and my mind was pacing. It was awash with some of the latest headlines we come across almost every day: “Man charged with child sex abuse.” “Child porn found in home of convicted pedophile.” “Trial begins for karate teacher accused of sexual abuse.”

Talk, or rather, sing about having holes in the soles.

I was only shaking my head in disbelief. How was this possible? Aren’t their parents afraid that one of the complete strangers will throw their little ones in the car, and a few weeks later they will be reading about them in the headline news? I was stunned by the incredible amount of boldness and confidence (or whatever it may be) these parents have. I was stunned… but in a good way.

Earlier the same day, I was in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, where sex tourism is blooming as if it was spring all year round. Young girls sell their bodies to lustful tourists; the money they make is often the only means that lifts them out of poverty. Even without a tourist guide I was able to figure out that San Jose and the west coast in general are more… well, westernized; the east coast, however, is still plagued with much poverty and economic underdevelopment.

But then it occurred to me - this is where the entire magic of the little hitchhikers may be hidden away. The east coast roads are bumpy and dusty, reminding you of an old colander your grandma used in the last millennium. It doesn’t matter you’re driving the latest car model because it feels more like a tractor ride that shakes even the tiniest bone in your body. You’re driving a Million Hole road, like it or not. No wonder that you see people riding their horses here and there – in a very slow pace, of course.

The locals are simply amazing. They live their ‘Pura Vida’ life – peaceful yet very modest. They listen to reggae and let the sun tan their smiling faces. They go to work and school. And they do not frown upon the westerners who have discovered this part of the world - to some extent. The gringos opened new restaurants and shops, but at the same time, they didn’t turn this little Caribbean paradise into another Disneyland . It seems that somehow they did not even dare to touch the untouched – the nature, the culture, and most of all - the little hitchhikers. It seems that the holes in the roads do hide that magic after all. It seems that they help keep the untouched world the way it is - untouched. Most of all - it seems that they keep the holes in the soles away.