It might have been the two cups of good Costa Rican coffee I'd had with my breakfast. It might have also been the poor state of the roads in and around the town of Cartago. According to my guidebook they're the worst in the country. It was probably a combination of the two things. For whatever reason, my back teeth were literally swimming about an hour after leaving my hotel for a tour of Irazu Volcano.

Fortunately I wasn't the only one with this predicament. There were several other people on the mini bus, and our ever tactful driver suggested we might want to make a brief stop to "stretch our legs." The place he chose was the Bar/Restaurante Linda Vista restaurant on the main road to Irazu from Cartago.

Once nature's rather urgent call had been answered. I had a chance to order a coffee and look about. Linda Vista means great view, and no argument here on that. The view from the dining room, or the outside porch is spectacular. The landscape of the valley below with its tiny farms and villages is beautiful. Beyond them are more cloud topped mountains, the mirror image of the one we're standing on.

Linda Vista bills itself as the highest restaurant in Central America. That's a claim I can believe as the next stop is the peak at Irazu, where on a clear day you can see both the Pacific and Caribbean. When you're on the porch of the restaurant or even in the dining room don't look down if you're afraid of heights. The whole place is built on stilts on the hillside, and you can see the ground way below between the gaps in the floorboards.

Inside the view is almost as spectacular. Linda Vista boasts a collection in excess of 30,00o business cards pinned all over the bar and walls. They've been donated by past customers, and yes mine is now among the collection. The owner naturally has his own cards printed up and you do get one in return.

In addition to the cards, the dining room also has literally thousands of bills. Pesos, Marks, Dollars and everything in between are on display in plastic sleeves hanging from the ceiling. Again they've been left behind by satisfied customers. I recognised bills from all over the world hanging there, many personalised with comments and good wishes. They are proof positive of the popularity of Costa Rica as a tourist destination.

Some people not having any of there own native currency have even left personal cheques. The amounts filled in suggest how much they value the view I guess. Now I understand what is meant by a million dollar view. I only hope the owner never decides to cash any, or someone's going to get a nasty surprise from his local bank .

We only had a brief stop, so I never had a chance to try the food, although I was advised it is both good, and reasonably priced. I can personally vouch for the coffee though. It arrived hot and steaming in old pewter pot, with another pot of steaming milk. Up until then I was enjoying the coffee at my hotel. After this it paled in comparison.

Judging by the way the owner greeted our driver, I'd sat that the Linda Vista appears to be a regular pit stop for GrayLine Fantasy Tours on their excursions to Irazu. I'm sure that this applies for many of the other tour operators as well. For those exploring on their own in a rent a car, it's easy to find on the left hand side of the road before you hit the entrance to the National Park. However you decide to go, just remember to take your business card, and maybe even your cheque book.

Bar/Restaurante Linda Vista Carretera al Volcan Irazu- 3,100 m de Altura Cartago, Costa Rica
Tel: 710-8317, 224-2400 Fax: 224-4274

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