Panama city
Day 1
Up
at 6am and head to the bus station on the corner for the 45 minute trip to David. The nice but always staring Swiss guy got up to say goodbye which was sweet. He is working on the new part of the panama canal.
It's a chicken bus, yet it has wifi......WTF??! Yep, got onto the old U.S school bus and the rig has wifi!!
We get to David and buy our tickets to panama city determined to get the awesome front seats on the double decker for the 7 hour trip. I got to them only to realise its allocated friggin seats :(
We stopped half way in Santiago and did a KFC run then back on the road again. We are about an hour out of town when the movie ends and the driver decides its a great idea to crank, and I mean crank, Spanish video clips from the 70's. Oh my Lordy, it was some cringable shit, I even saw some of the Panamanians squirm!
Arriving into panama city is quiet amazing. Over the bridge you see the ports and massive ships with the city skyline behind it, beautiful.
We got to the bus terminal and started to barter for a cab. We got old mate down from $10 to $8, he then let's some random passenger jump in so we tell him it's now $7.
The traffic here is insane and they don't mind beeping their horns.
After going down some dodgy back streets we arrive at lunas castle hostel and it's a great spot.
We checked out our dorm which has probably the best view of the city skyline for $13!
Alyce and I then went in search of an alcoholic beverage. We ended up walking around our end of town and I love it. Beautiful old buildings being restored, it's a little like Cuba architecturally.
There are police and army dudes everywhere. We even saw a police clown car, no shit, about 25 fully armed officers piled into a mini bus that would fit like 12...........stay safe panama!
We ended up at a little bar serving cheap cocktails at 2 for $6, we asked when happy hour ended and the waiter said "whenever you get tired of drinking"! Nice. So we had some of the best pina coladas I've tasted and pizza.
I also made my first purchase, an authentic panama hat for dad. Fun fact: panama hats are actually not made in panama but in Ecuador. True story. So I made sure it was from Ecuador and asked him to show me how to roll it to travel. I hope dad likes it.
We got back to the hostel and I hear someone leaning over the balcony say "how good is casa de olas"! More of our former guests! He had stuck our stickers all over the place for us too which is great, he said it was the best hostel he had been to on his travels by far.........awwww. I walked a few steps further and another former guest, Sally, is here too!
We had a good old laugh at the people we keep running into along the way and it always comes down to space cadet David/Scott with his wick-away clothing and general tripiness. Everyone has crossed paths with him at some stage.......hilarious!
I like this town already and haven't seen much so i'm excited to get out there tomorrow.
Day 2
I woke up to balls, yep balls.
The guy on the bunk behind me decided laying on his stomach reading a book with his legs spread with boxers and no undies was a good idea. It's etched onto my eyeballs forever!
Anyway, balls aside, I jumped on the sightseeing bus to check out the city. I took the canal route and saw it all. We arrived at the canal just as a ship was passing through and then saw the entire process as 2 large yachts came through. Pretty amazing stuff really, the water levels are able to be changed in a flash.
A huge thunderstorm rolled in as we got to the biggest shopping centre I've ever seen. It was actually too big so I jumped back on the bus after an hour.
I met an Aussie guy and English girl on their honeymoon. He was massively snap happy with his giant Nikon taking pictures of everything and I mean everything that we passed!
I got off where I started and walked to a little outdoor market where I bought a kuna mola which is what the local Indian women make around the San blas islands.
I then jumped a $2 cab to the artisan markets in the seedier part of town. Not that exciting really but I am now the proud owner of my dream wallet. Pink leather with a mola pattern, very nice indeed.
It's a great city, very picturesque but I'm really not sure what to do tomorrow, maybe a movie at the huge mall?
Alyse and I bailed from the dorm room after she spotted a fumigation tank next to one of the bunks. It belonged to a guy with dreadlocks so we just assumed it was a creature from his hair they were trying to search and destroy! We hit our fave piña colada joint then back to the hostel for happy hour in the beer garden with $1 whiskeys going down a treat!
Day 3
I got up early to say goodbye to alyse who's off to sth America. Was great meeting her, a really nice girl.
I got a cab to allbrook mall and watched the hobbit in 3D. Spanish sub titles so it was fine but I had to laugh at the translation of Bilbo Baggins as 'Bilbo Bolsins'!
I attempted to walk around the mall but the joint is friggin massive, but I lasted 3 hours. It was packed full of Xmas shoppers and marching bands so I grabbed a cab back into town.
Well for starters my cabbie was high on something, all fidgety and singing to the Spanish tunes at the top of his voice. We went a weird route and picked up some random passengers along the way (which is completely normal here, as is taxis beeping and overtaking ambulances and police cars with lights and sirens on). All of a sudden the motor cuts out and we roll to the side of a busy intersection in seedy ville. I got out and gave him $2 instead of $4 because he drove most of the way. I walked off and heard him start the car straight away so I walked back and asked the little shit for my money back. Got it and hailed another cab after smashing my sore toe on a curb.
Finally I got back after we picked up a few more random passengers.
I went upstairs to the bathroom and reluctantly took off the bandaid on my big toe and yep, the nail came off as well. Grossest thing ever! Adding to the ambiance while i was performing this delicate operation there was a symphony of farts as a theme song! I swear, at least 3 different tunes from three different toilets and everyone was laughing!
I met a new girl in my room who is a nurse and she had a look at it under the light of the hostel Xmas tree. She said it should be fine. I will live another day!
I am absolutely knackered to be honest so it's going to be an early one for me. I managed to hook up with 2 other girls going to the airport at the same time as me tomorrow, so we're sharing a cab
at 3pm.
Day 4 back to Nicaragua
Soooo hot in the dorm last night, so not much sleep. I went in search of the famous cafe coca cola and on my way out ran into Brooke and iain who were trying to get a room at Luna's but it's all booked. We went for a walk ANC found the cafe. I went in for a bite, sooooo cheap but pretty basic. Kinda cool to be sitting in a place with so much history though. It's been open since about 1875 and people like Che Guevara have chowed down here!
I then went in search of some hand woven masks and found 2 awesome bird masks in a little panama hat store. She was asking $60 but I walked away with them for $40.........nice! I've managed to get every craft work I wanted in each country so I'm happy. I've just got to lug all the shit home now.
I've checked out and now just hanging out until our taxi to the airport
at 3pm. Really looking forward to seeing everyone back in nica again and the guys have promised a whiskey and coke will await me upon arrival!
P.S it's supposed to be the end of the world today............clearly it didn't happen!
I'm a bit sad I didn't get to San blas but I just ran out of time, travelling by road from Nicaragua, through cost rica to panama in 2 weeks was a tough ask.
I'll be back though.
I'm waiting in the hostel for my taxi and this old asian guy, about 70+, picks up a communal guitar and starts cranking out the most amazing flamenco! Wow.
One thing I have realised on this trip is that there is no age limit on a backpacker. I thought I would be the oldest for sure but not even close. There's 17 year olds right through to 70+ year olds!
I'm at the airport and again have to find a porthole to another universe to have a cigarette. To top it off they took both my lighters going through security.
Big surprise is that duty free is not cheap at all here. I commented to the guy in the alcohol section and he confirmed that everything is cheaper in the city........WTF? I hope they have whiskey in Nicaragua!!
Business class again and this time seat 1A, very nice indeed.
It's doomsday and there are at least 12 fully kitted out nuns on my flight, fingers crossed!
Well I'm back in Nicaragua, the country where no one is accountable for anything and a glazed look lets you get away with not doing your job.
I put my bags through the scanner and the dickheads had left a gap between the conveyer belt and the table all the bags go onto. My duty free slipped through the giant crack and smashed my alcohol! How farkin hard is it to push a table closer after seeing bags falling off the edge?
I complained to about 5 people who really couldn't give a fark that they'd stuffed up and then the eyes glaze over in true nica style. Honestly, they wonder why their country runs like shit.
No one does their job properly, it's all half arsed.
Rant over, mums plane from oz doesn't get in for another 2 and a half hours :(
I've had all my lighters confiscated and my grogs smashed on the floor in customs!
Found dad and Umberto and waited for mums plane to get in from oz
at 11pm, we couldn't see her for a while and thought she might have been deported! No probs, she got through and was extremely glad to see us!
We dodged a million street dogs on the road on the way home and humans on bikes with no lights. Road work where instead of signs to tell you not to drive on one side of the road they have just put massive broken tree branches all over the road!
Welcome home :)
