Tuesday November 3, 2009.
We had another early start and headed towards Panama City. It was Panama’s Independence day from Columbia and the towns were decorated with the country’s flag. We could see people preparing for parades.
We crossed over the Bridge of Americas and headed to town. We knew hotels in the city would be expensive, although prices in the country are over all cheap. Again, we lucked out . We must have made a sorry picture in the rain because the head clerk at a boutique hotel immediately offered Betty a cup of hot coffee and lowered the price from $88 to $64. It was the only hotel on the trip that we took without first inspecting the rooms. We were happily amazed when we saw our room with a kitchen, living space, and huge bedroom all brand new and tastefully decorated. The desk staff immediately started our laundry while we headed on a personal tour of the city.
Our driver Raul first took us to the Panama canal where we saw a ship passing through the Miraflores lock. The canal was an impressive piece of engineering even though it was finished in 1914. Something that a person must see in their life time. We were both very excited to be there.
Construction of the canal was an amazing feat of engineering. Dirt extracted from the canal’s construction was used to connect three islands off the coast of Panama City. These former islands were our next destination and are now fancy (read expensive) areas with yachts, hotels, restaurants etc. My budget did not allow us to stay there for long, even the duty free shop was expensive.
Our third stop was the old quarter of Panama city called Casco Viejo. The district had nice French architecture although the area is mostly run down with some buildings in ruins. It reminded me of Havana. We came across a parade of drummers, trumpet players, and female cymbal dancers. Their energy and choreography was amazing. I entered the parade to take some good shots. When I load the video, please take the time to view.
Our final stop was Old Panama (la Vieja Panamá). Construction of the town started around 1519 but the town was destroyed in 1617 by the pirate Henry Morgan. The only ruins that remain are the cathedral and nunnery. To rent the nunnery for a wedding was $5,000 so we decided this was not the place to elope. (It really is a bargain to celebrate an event in a 400 year old site.)
Today is Betty’s last day. I will miss her.
The bike’s rear tire has a puncture and is losing a lot of pressure. I doubt it is repairable and will likely need to buy a new tire. Other than this the bike’s performance is outstanding. The panniers leak so my clothes are getting wet. If I do not have them professionally laundered, they rot in this humidity.
