As we stared out of the window of our bus approaching Panama City we were greeted with a welcoming sight. The high rise, modern looking buildings were a nice contrast to the city we had previously visited, or passed through, on our Central American journey. Having loved our previous stop in Panama and having heard great reviews of the capital, from locals, other travellers and also from various TV programmes before heading to this part of the world.

We were eager to get off the bus and get a feel for our next destination as well as for the fact that this bunch of Panamanians on our bus were proving themselves to be some of the most disgusting locals we have ever witnessed. We apologise for the next few lines or so of this post but we don’t want our blog to be sugar coated and make it sound like all forms of travelling are enjoyable. We want to make people aware of the good, the bad, the amazing and the boring things that we experience. However, we think that the story we are about to tell falls into its own category – the name is yet to be decided as we still don’t have words for it. We saw some sights on that bus that we hope to never experience again. No less than three people were sick all over themselves, the floor and the bags (which may or may not have been their own) surrounding them. Understandably this in itself is disturbing as any normal human would use the bathroom provided, or at least a bag, also provided, to commit this act. The fact however was that these individuals did not. They also then proceeded to not react in the slightest, but instead, chose to sit in the various substances they had just projected from their bodies. We couldn’t take it anymore and removed ourselves from the immediate vicinity as best we could and headed to the front of the bus.

Finally, en route to our hotel in a local taxi we marvelled at the impressing looking city as the sky turned dark and the evening was upon us. Starving, as we usually are when arriving in a new place, we caught another taxi upon recommendation from an Australian couple we had bumped into in the lobby, we made our way to Avenue Argentina. Situated here is a small local park with stalls spread around and numerous restaurants lining the nearby streets. We stumbled across what seemed to be a small car park like area full of burger vans serving various types of international food. Burgers, steaks, smoothies, sandwiches, burritos and anything else you can think of. We settled for a stir fry company and tucked into our first plate of noodles for a while – much to our delight being huge stir fry fans when back in the UK. By the time we had eaten and taken a stroll to walk off the food it was late and as we had a busy day ahead tomorrow we hit the hay.

Morning came too quickly and we packed our bags ready to head to Colombia. Not before visiting Panama City’s number one tourist attractions though. We had heard, and read, that the Panama Canal locks, where you can view boats passing through from extremely close quarters is best to view between certain times, one of those being between 3 and 6pm. For that reason we decided to save this till last and headed to the Old Town area of the city – Casco Viejo.

The first thing that struck us was not the beautiful views of the main city from here, nor the picturesque nature of the colourful colonial streets but the heat. It was without doubt the hottest temperatures we had experienced so far. It was so hot that simply walking around this very small area was like torture. Dipping in and out of the shade as much as we could we were soon soaked in sweat. We spent a significant amount of time in a local pharmacy pretending to browse the store simply for the air conditioning before stocking up on water and heading out again. As mentioned beforehand, the views of Panama City CBD (Central Business District) from here are the best available. Split by a small bay and complete with modern high rise office and apartment buildings, you could easily be looking at any city in the western world. We were surprised to see how modern and advanced it was here compared to the rest of Central America.

We took a walk around the edge of the Old Town and snapped as many pictures as we dared while trying not to turn red under the suns unbearable rays. After passing through the old town square we settled for the most air conditioned café we could find for lunch. After cooling off as much as possible and psyching ourselves up for the heat we headed to the locks of the famous Panama Canal – Miraflores.

Miraflores is located a few miles outside the main city and a short taxi ride or bus journey will get you there shortly. After paying the entrance fee we proceeded up the ramp and inside. By this time it was around 2.15pm and we were informed that we had just enough time to pass through the museum and make it out in time for the passing of the first vessel. As not to miss this we quickly took in the museum which is interesting for the first part as it details the history of the Canal and its formation, struggles and triumphs that make it what it is today. On the other levels however it becomes less about the Canal itself and more about the surrounding area and other areas of Panama so we admittedly rushed this part to get to the main attraction.

As we exited the museum we were greeted by the sight of hundreds of people, all crowding round the railings of the observation deck. Everyone pushing, scrambling and squeezing past each other and into the smallest spaces they could find to try and get the picture we were all here for. Just over the top of the crowd we could make out a large cargo ship approaching the locks. We could see that it was transporting numerous smaller ships on its deck. It approached slowly and instead of trying to gain a space facing it we opted to wait on the other, empty side of the deck to witness it passing out of the locks – this proved to be a great decision in the end.

We had learnt that every boat that passes through these locks gives up command to a specially trained individual that guides them through the the process. It is the one place in the world that this is the case and it takes numerous years of training and surprisingly difficult and intense education to become one of these captains. It is also seen as a job of privilege and comes with great pride to the people of Panama. As well as the specialist captain to help navigate the ships through the locks, there is also two small, but extremely powerful tugs that attach to each side. These take the look of two small trains and roll along tracks next to the canal to aide in smoothing the process. After witnessing the next ship pass from a lower observation deck we could fully appreciate the size of these enormous cargo vessels squeezing through with barely inches of space of either side.

Our short time in Panama City was packed full of sights, taxis, sun and not much sleep. That is why it pained us that after a final meal in Central America we headed to the airport to spend the night there. We were due to fly at 5.30 – meaning that a night in a hotel would of resulted in a pre 2am get up – we just could not face this for numerous reasons. One, the pain of getting up so early for a flight is hard enough when you are at home and heading off on holiday but seen as we were already away we figured it would be even worse. Second, Panama city is not cheap and we could not justify to ourselves spending so much money on a room for a measly three hours of sleep.

Instead, we holed up in the corner of the only café open in the airport (which didn’t even have juice to quench our thirsts) and tried to kill as much time as possible before using our bags as pillows and sleeping on the floor. We’re sure many travellers do it but we wont be rushing to do it again anytime soon.

Our time in Central America was over – we had made some great friends, been to some amazing places but more importantly made memories that will last us a lifetime in this outstanding part of the world.

Find out how we fair in South America in our next posts. First stop – Colombia!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂