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There was no rush in the morning so the five of us set off at around 11:15 for the hill (Cerro Ancon). It wasn't a tough walk at all, in fact it turned out there was a paved road all the way up to the top, so we could have taken a cab - but that's the boring way. Martin bought some fruit salads on the way up and be began our 1hr stroll.
We saw some interesting looking plants and trees on the way to the summit and even managed to see a large rodent-like creature sneaking around in the woods (it was like a small capybara), as well as having some great (if not slightly random) conversation.
Once at the summit we had panoramic views across the city. The contrasts were incredible. On one side of the hill was the old town, known as Casco Viejo. This was constructed in the late 17th century after nearly all of the old Panama City was felled by pirates. The other half of the city looked like an American downtown area, with towering office blocks and apartments. Surrounding all of this were the waters of Panama Bay (Bahia de Panama). We sat and talked more whilst taking in the views and eating the fruit salad (which at $1.25 was an umbelievable bargain). We watched as a news segment was filmed nearby.
After we worked our way back down (having taken some stupid photos), we stopped for some lunch at a local comedor. Unfortunately I soon realised that it was difficult to eat well and cheap here (like in Guate or Nica), with this food costing just over $5 and being really disappointing.
That evening, it was party time at the hostel. I met Matt, an interesting British guy who was travelling in a similar direction to me. He had bought a car in Guate and driven all the way to Panama. We all sat and took advantage of the happy hour where beers were $0.50 and (very strong) mixed drinks were $1. We had a fantastic night that included a trip downtown (only to realise it was stupidly expensive and not that fun).
The next day was all about recovering. Matt, Dillan and I headed to a nearby Plaza where we ate some good food and people watched for a while. We then headed back to the hostel and ended up watching a film in their basement cinema theatre. Having sworn we wouldn't party again, we got lured by the happy hour a second time and ended up having another big night.
Sunday afternoon was interesting. Myself, Nuno a couple of German girls we had met (Sarah and Christina) and a Swedish girl (Anna) went to the canal. It's one of those things that you can't miss when in Panama. Buying a bus ticket to get to the canal was a complicated process. First you have to buy and add credit to a card,for which you need to show original/copy photo ID, then you have to swipe into the relevant platform, and then pay the bus driver for the bus fare.
Once at the canal we watched a terrible 3D film about its construction and then headed up the 4 floors of the museum. This was an interesting account of the history of the canal, including financing, construction, labour, politics etc, though there was a random floor which was basically a mini aquarium, which none of us could explain.
Finally, we headed up to the 4th floor viewpoint where we saw a large boat coming in through the three stages of the Miraflores section of the canal. It was interesting to see such a huge vessel manoeuvered through such a small space with seemingly consumate ease. In all honesty, the canal isn't spectacular by any means. But, it's such a significant thing in terms of global trade that it would have been a shame not to see it.
On Monday myself, Vanessa and Nuno took a walking tour of Casco Viejo. We saw some fantastic architecture including churches, houses, restaurants, the National Theatre and the Presidential Palace. Something must have been going on in the Presidential Palace as there was a huge police presence on the end of every street. We strolled alonfg the coastline, taking in views of Downtown and stopping at various street side souvenir shops. All in all, it was a good day. In the afternoon we watched Blow, which was quite appropriate given my impending trip to Colombia. That evening we had a few quiet drinks - the mood was quite sombre as quite a few of the group´(including Martin and Nuno) were headed separate ways on Tuesday morning. The following day, Vanessa, an English girl we had met called Laura and myself headed to a small set of islets near the city. We had aimed to get to an Island called Taboga but unfortunately we were too late for the boat, despite waking up at around 7am. We took a cab to the Islet (connected by a bridge) but having gotten there we realised there was very little to do. We strolled around aimlessly before finding a spot on the shore where we could admire some fish swimming in the shallow water. We stood around chatting for a while before deciding to stroll back to Casco Viejo. Laura had brought her Lonely Planet so for the first time on my travels I took some advice from a guide book and we headed to a restaurant called Rene´s for lunch, which the guidebook told us served 3 courses for a mere $10. It wasn´t wrong. The lunch was amazing and we had possibly the nicest waiter in the world serving us. First we got a salad (so nice to have fresh vegetables!), then a course of Thai style rice with fish filllet, and finally a piece of cheesecake. It really hit the spot! That was it for Panama City. I had a flight at 6am in the morning to Colombia but decided to save myself $13 and sleep at the airport. What an error. I got there at midnight and I´m pretty sure it was the coldest place on Earth. The central americans love to over-do their AC on the buses and it seems the airports are no exception. I didn´t get a wink of sleep which didn´t bare well for the next stage of my journey - exiting Panama.......- comments