Costa Rica Guide
The Valle Central and the highlands
Sarchí
Touted as Costa Rica's centre for arts and crafts, especially furniture making, SARCHÍ, 30km northwest of Alajuela, is an overly commercialized village, firmly on the tourist trail but with little or no charm. The setting is pretty enough, between precipitous verdant hills, but don't come expecting to see picturesque scenes of craftsmen sitting in small historic shops, blowing glass, sculpting marble or carving wood. The fábricas de carretas (ox-cart factories) and the mueblerías (furniture factories) are rather large, soulless factory showrooms; in a few of them, however, you can watch carts and furniture being painted and assembled. At the very least, the ox-carts and leather rocking chairs are less expensive here than anywhere else in the country; most people come on half-day shopping trips from the capital or stop on their way to Zarcero and the Zona Norte.
The Sarchí ox-cart was first produced by enterprising local families for the immigrant settlers who arrived at the beginning of the twentieth century to run the coffee plantations. The original designs featured simple geometric shapes, though the ox-carts sold today are kaleidoscopically painted square carts built to be hauled by a single ox or team of two oxen. Moorish in origin, the designs can be traced back to immigrants from the Spanish provinces of Andalucía and Granada. Full-scale carts ($1000-plus) are rarely sold, but many smaller-scale coffee table-sized versions are made for tourists ($150–350). Faced with the question "But what, exactly, am I going to do with this at home?" the salespeople in Sarchí deftly whip off the top of the miniature cart to reveal a bar with room for several bottles, a serving tray and an ice section. They sell like hot cakes. Many of the mueblerías will freight-mail your ox-cart if you arrange it in advance.
The village itself is spread out and divided into two halves. Large fábricas line the main road from Sarchí Sur, in effect a conglomeration of mueblerías, to the residential area of Sarchí Norte, which climbs the hill. Besides the shops and factories, the only thing of interest is Sarchí Norte's pink-and-turquoise church, atop the hill. Inside, the tiles are delicate pastel shades of pink and green; in the little park fronting the church, stone benches are painted with the same colourful designs you see on the ox-carts.
If you intend to buy a large item, it's best not to come to Sarchí by public transport, as buses are always crowded and seats are tiny. However, if you have no choice, local buses from Alajuela run approximately every thirty minutes from 5am to 10pm. Buses back (via Grecia) can be hailed on the main road from Sarchí Norte to Sarchí Sur. From San José a daily express service (1hr–1hr 30min) runs from La Coca-Cola leaving at 12.15pm, 5.30pm and 6.10pm; the return schedule is 5.30am, 6am, 6.30am and 1.30pm. You can also take the bus to Naranjo from La Coca-Cola, every 25 minutes, and switch there for a local service to Sarchí.
Sarchí has just a few hotels, of which the best is the small Hotel Daniel Zamora ( 
454-4596, 
www.tiptopwebsite.com/danza ; Price: $31-50), on a side street opposite the soccer field, with clean rooms and hot water. If you want to stay well away from the consumer frenzy and cool off in a swimming pool to boot, the same owner runs the slightly more expensive Hotel Villa Sarchí ( 454-5000; Price: $31–75), one kilometre northwest of the gas station. For lunch or a snack, try Las Carretas, which refuels many a souvenir-shopper with its Tico standards. La Finca, to the right of the Mercado de Artesanía souvenir shop as you face north, serves filling corn soup and grilled steak. Also open for dinner is the recommended seafood restaurant Super Marisco, one block from the soccer field.
The Banco Nacional on the main road beyond the church changes dollars and traveller's cheques, as does a smaller branch in the Mercado de Artesanía. Call taxis on 454-4028 or hail one on the street.