Panama City - Reminds me of Singapore!
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2011
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110
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Trip End
Jan 15, 2012
Panama City, Panama
Sunday, July 17, 2011
I had to get up early, well 7:30am, to catch my flight to Panama City. A taxi from the hostal took just 10-15 minutes to the airport. But at the check in counter a bad surprised waited for me. In order to enter Panama you have to have a ticket out in your hand - so I had to buy a return ticket which I sure won't use. As it was the lowest fare the ticket was not refundable. Money down the drain. Once I got that sorted I went straight through to immigration. My flight was via Bogota - that take a few hours more, but it was cheaper that way. Once in Bogota a staff from CopaAir took us from the gate all the way to the international terminal and did some registration with our passports - noone understood what and why. We had another 2 hours till the departure. The duty free zone in Bogota is not great but it offers opportunities to spend your last Colombian Pesos. The flight to Panama City was smooth and we landed on time, around 5pm. Panama and Colombia have the same time zone. I got picked up by my hostal for 25 USD which is slighly cheaper than the taxis at the airport charge. The ride from the airport to my hostal took about 20 minutes and driving into the our area called Coco del Mar, reminded me strongly of Singapore. A lot of modern condominiums, high-rise building all around and in between a few old ones. In the hostel I met Bret from Australia. We walked to the nearby supermarket which is open 24 hours and got some food. I was craving for Asian food and the best I could do now was Cup Noodles. I really enjoyed the first cup! We were hardly finished with our food when some hostel people asked whether we want to join their BBQ - too late. Anyway, was tired and off to bed by 11pm.
Day 182:
My highest priority in Panama City was to get a visa for the US. As Austrian citizen I normally don't need a visa but since I am travelling with an emergency passport US embassay wants some money....and that requires for me to go to the bank, pay the visa in order to get an interview date with the embassy. It took the whole morning to get that sorted but by 12pm I had an interiew date for next Monday, 7am - one week later! I emailed the US embassy immediately to request for an earlier date but they replied that this is early enough to be in the US at my planned date, 4th August. OK, so I will spend this week around Panama and make sure I'm back on Monday. I walked back to the hostal which has a nice garden with a hammock. It was very hot and humid again. I tried to read in the hammock but fell asleep after a few pages. Met Mai from England in my room later on and Brett again and we just hang around for the rest of the evening.
Day 183:
Now it's time to get to know Panama City! I took a bus from my hostal to the FIsh Market. The buses here remind me very much of the jeepneys in Manila - like a colourful metal box! Since I was at the Fish Market I had a quick tour - it didn't smell too bad. I walked 3 streets up to Ave. Central which is partially a pedestrian zone and leads to Casco Viejo - the old part of Panama City. The area is quite colonial. Unlike the old center of Cartagena not all buildings are well maintained. Many are in the process of being restorated or torn down. Though black clouds came up, it literally drizzled for two seconds, then suddenly the sun was out. Just down the road was the Plaza Catedral with the cathedral. The middle part of the cathedral looks quite military-style, not surprising considering that the cathedral was built by some military engineers! I walked around to the tip of the center which was at the seaside. Some schoolkids in folklore clothes and with music instruments were around for a while. I also saw a lot of indigenous women from the Kuna tribe but they don't allow you to take pictures of them unless you pay them a dollar, which I never do. They all have a lot of necklaces around their legs. I passed the National Theatre and walked over to Plaza Bolivar where the former San Fransisco convent was now converted into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A street vendor told me that I can go inside and ask for a free tour of some of the rooms. I did as he said and indeed got a guide for free who showed me the main square, called freedom square and some historic rooms associated with the separation of Panama from Colombia. Among other places we visited the sala de capitulation which is kept in its original state. After the tour I felt like a nice ice cream and there is a gourmet ice cream shop in Casco Viejo which supposedly has great icecream. Though not cheap - 2 scoops for 3.8 USD I tried the mango, which was phantastic and the coco which was not so phantastic. But its all natural without any natural flavours. After that I was off to find the church San Jose with its golden altar. Quite impressive. I still wanted to head up to Cerro for a nice view however rain clouds came up and another street vendor whom I asked for directions recommended not to go there now as in an hours this area might become dangerous. So I took his advise and returned back to the hostal. Just when I was on the bus it started to pour! Luckily the rain was over when I got off at the hostal. I had dinner with Mai and her friend at a Chinese restaurant to still my graving for Asian food. The food was quite disappointing, no flavour, no chilly, so blend! On the way back home I stopped at the supermarket to get some snacks for the next 3 days, as by 5:30am tomorrow I'll be off to San Blas islands!
