| Heat-stunned PUNTARENAS , 110km west of San José, has the look of
raffish abandonment that haunts so many tropical port cities. What isn't
rusting has long ago been bleached out to a generic pastel, and the
town's cracked, potholed streets, shaded by mop-headed mango trees, are
lined with old wooden buildings painted in faded tutti-frutti colours.
Tourists come mainly to catch a lancha or ferry across to southern
Nicoya - there's little to see or do in the town itself. |
