Panama: Our Last Glimpses

Day 8 - ** AUTOMATED POSTING ** Today, we're on our way back home. It is a leisurely trip that can start with a 10:30 check out from the hotel. That's about perfect after our breakfast buffet of Holiday Inn Express. (We can eat enough for lunch too.)

Rather than the easy way of an expensive cab, we've ensured we have $3.20 on our transit card. This will ensure we can both make it to the airport. It will require a subway ride out to see Albrook for the final time and a single bus to the airport. It's not just the money saved; it makes for a few more interesting memories.

Our flights were only around $US 310, so we have a rather long stop-over in Mexico City and then a night flight to return. We should not be back in YVR until about 5:00 AM. That will seem an odd time for us. I don't think we've ever rubbed shoulders with morning commuters on the way back from the airport.



Panama has been well worth the visit. Now we've less than a month before we begin our winter away!

Panama: Calzada del Amador

Day 7 - This was our last full day in Panama City. Where has the time gone? Jay looked at maps and said we should visit a few islands connected to the city by a causeway. This was built 1914 with materials from the debris from the Panama Canal excavation. It acts as a breakwater for the canal too. I guess it has only been a year or so since it has been beautified and modernized.





We returned to the Albrook station to catch a bus. Interestingly, we passed through military areas and got a chance to have many young personnel as fellow passengers. It was only a 20-minute, one-way trip We stayed quite a while and walked along part of the causeway. I think we saw what will become a cruise ship terminal. Construction was taking place and this may allow future cruise ship passengers with an opportunity to see Panama City up close. Perhaps it will provide a way for us to see the city again someday!

Panama: Our 25¢ Tours

Day 6 - It looked a bit gray when we got up and it was raining during breakfast. However, we walked out the door to some muted sun and it didn't rain at all later. We had not walked towards a huge looking Multi-Plaza Shopping Mall on our maps. Oh my. I forget how warm and humid the weather in the tropics can be.

Although there was no reason to visit another shopping mall, the air conditioning was welcome after a half hour of walking along the streets of Panama City. I snapped a picture of the Psycho Bunny shop not realizing they are a chain found everywhere. That shows how little time we generally spend in shopping centers, I guess. This city has some sections which are accessible primarily by car. However, when exiting the mall, we saw a bus station and decided to ride around to see a few areas.




We didn't know exactly which route we were getting on. The bus was wonderfully air-conditioned to so we just rode and looked around. Public transit is the true way to see neighbourhoods. At a quarter of a dollar, it was a steal. Luckily our route took us to Panamá Viejo and although we didn't exit our transportation, we clearly saw the ruins from the bus windows.

Once we got off the bus just to see a neighbourhood. We ducked into a supermarket. Although that sounds weird, we most always find supermarkets an interesting way to get the pulse of a new country or culture. Outside a gifted footballer, showed off his talents hoping for spare change from drivers waiting for the traffic lights to change. I don't know if he made any money today.



We had to change buses and found one that plies the España Boulevard. It is the built-up type of non-stop commercial and housing road into or out of many cities in North America too. It works as a road on which to buy fast food or find a new sink at a home improvement business.

We decided not to exit when we got to our area and continued onward back to Albrook, mainly for a late lunch. If you'd said our favourite location for lunch would be a mall's food court, I might not have believed you. Panama, surprises!

Panama: The Miraflores Locks

Day 5 - Earlier this summer, we had seriously considered booking a cruise from Vancouver to Florida. At the end of the Alaskan cruise season, Holland America always has a few ships to transition to a Caribbean winter schedule. They travel through the Panama Canal; however, after scrutinizing the itineraries, we found they do not make a port of call here. We figured we could, instead, squeeze in an entire week's stay in Panama in October. Hence, I'm typing this from Panama City right now.

We have already had the chance to see the amazing urban environment. The first set of locks for the canal are really close to the city itself, so today we went to the Miraflores Visitors' Center.



We got going about an hour earlier than has been the norm. Apparently, the ships generally enter or exit here early in the mornings or late afternoons. We didn't make it for the 6 o'clock cruise ship. Actually, we took the subway out to Albrook but couldn't find where the exact bus left. So, we paid $10 for a taxi to take us at around 9:30 AM.




After looking around on the decks, watching the intro movie in both Spanish and later in English, and looking through the museum, we found that a ship at 3 PM might be a little too late. I guess we'd already gotten our value for the $20 each for the tickets. It was enough to see the location and get a feeling for where Panama City lies in proximity to the beginning of the canal. Perhaps the next time, we can see all the locks as well as the lake, and both oceans from onboard a cruise ship.

We did wait just a few minutes for the Metro bus which brought us back to Albrook Mall for lunch. In the evening, we just walked around close to our section of Vía España.

Panama: Bahá'í Temple and Cinta Costera

Day 4 - We first entered a Bahá'í House of Faith in the 1990's. There are seven or eight major temples around the world and we entered the Lotus-shaped Temple in New Delhi, India. Today, we visited another. We'd read that the one commerated in 1972 in Panama was a pleasant place to view Panama City. Getting there was really easy as it is the exact last stop on Line 1 of the Metro system. We arrived at the hill about about 10:30 AM. There was a sign about a free shuttle service at that time, but we started walking, thinking it couldn't be too much of a hill. Fortunately, the shuttle did come and ask if we wanted a lift up the hill and we took it. What a restful place! After a time or two, we walked down the 1.5 or 2 kilometer road. We'd noticed a huge shopping center near one of the stations near the end of the line. That was where we ate lunch.

After our nap, we headed down to the coastal park and Balboa Avenue. The land reclamation area was completed in 2009, or so Wikipedia says. It is a perfect place to jog, bike, or simple stroll. We strolled as the evening turned to dusk. The huge apartments looking at the bay sure looked inviting. Panama actively tries to attract retirees. I don't think we have enough cash for one of the prime 60-storey towers. However, if we had big bucks ...

Panama: Back to Casco Antiguo

Day 3 - As we have a whole week in Panama City, we decided to retrace a few steps. The weather looked if-y and it played out by raining a bit, then the sun came out, repeat.

We again took the subway to Station 15 de Mayo and struck out for the Old Town. Yesterday, we'd only gotten to the edge of it. We stopped at the famous spots such as Plaza Simon Bolivar, Plaza de Francia and the Plaza Catedral.

I liked the late 15th Century, La Iglesia de la Merced, for all the icons and original wooden poles supporting the roof.




We walked backed to the subway by El Chorrillo and Santa Ana. If you're a seasoned traveller, you can easily ignore the advice about staying away from the area due to it being dangerous. We were fine and saw a bit of life not visible from the comfort of the shopping mega-malls.

Panama: Figuring Out Directions

Day 2 - I couldn't believe it was time to get up this morning. Jay said it was after 8 o'clock and hinted that I should get my ass out of bed. The request (demand) didn't seem time sensitive though as the Holiday Inn Express buffet breakfast runs from 6 to 10 AM. We got downstairs by quarter to nine and filled up.

My phone showed which way we should walk, on the road out front, to find the closest station on the subway. The 'Station Iglisia del Carmen' is a ten-minute walk. The system has just one line open at present but we noticed the above-ground elevated tracks near the airport as Line 2 will run out in that direction.





We wanted to head from the Financial District towards the water and the old town. So, we bought a single $2 card and added funds to it. The staff showed that it is perfectly acceptable to share a card and just pass back across the turnstiles for additional passengers to enter and exit.

The fare for local travel is 35 cents. We only went a few stops to 'Station 5 de Mayo'. Of course, by accident, we initially walked in the direction opposite to the water. We looked at the street life and all the outside markets. I stopped in one of the many phone stores to buy a USB cord, not for my phone as it uses USB-c but my camera. I brought a wonky cord to Panama and managed only a few photos before my battery died completely. Many of today's pics are from my phone.

The rather odd, highway bridge around old town was closed to traffic as there was some sort of charity race going on. We walked to one point to snap a few photos of the city skyline and then walked just to the edge of Old Town. We figured that deserved a complete day of its own for exploration.



There was just one stop more in the subway direction and so we went to see the enormous bus station near one really huge maga-mall. Jay just read that it's one of the largest in Latin America. We ate Chinese in the food court there. We do the things that locals do. As it was Saturday, it seems like everybody in town was in this mall.



It's only 5:30 and we had a short nap already. My MiBand says we've already walked 10.4 kilometers. My Keen sandals seem to be losing their arch support, and maybe before we go away for the winter, I'll need to get another pair.

I think I like Panama City, although a little work could be done on the sidewalks. I said the same thing about George Town, Penang, Malaysia once, and we ended up spending most of last winter there. Hum? A harbinger, he wonders.

Panama: First Glimpse

Day 1 - At midnight we were probably over Washington State but by 7:00 AM Central, we were in the airport in Mexico City. We did have to enter the country to make our connecting flight. There was quite a queue but the process was easy. Our initial flight was full but the flight to Panama City was less crowded. It left on time and got here at 1:30 PM, about fifteen minutes early.



We had planned on trying to take a municipal bus from the airport rather than spending the big bucks on an airport taxi. Our hotel wanted to charge $25 each. We had looked up some info online and found the way to go. Weirdly, the bus passes are not for sale at the airport, so people generally ask someone waiting to swipe them through and give cash to the helpful stranger. We were going to and did get way out to the road. From along the bus stop, a taxi guy promised to take us right to the Holiday Inn Express in the Financial District for $9 each. It sounded easier and we took him up on his offer. It was about 45 minutes as traffic was slow once we hit the city.

The hotel is great and much more than we'd get for our money at a similar hotel in the US. We were really tired and so after checking in, we unpacked and had a little nap.

The only sights we've taken in are around our hotel. We actually ate at a Subway down the street. It gets dark pretty early and is completely dark at 6:45 PM.

Flights AM 673 / 624

There's an entire tagged category on this blog entitled, flying. Often when we're crossing the Pacific, in part due to the International Date Line, we spend an entire day aboard an aircraft. This afternoon, I really didn't need to use the same category, for we don't head towards YVR until 8:00 tonight.



We had time for a relaxing day puttering around. Our first flight leaves for Mexico City at around 11:30. We then have to wait a couple of hours to get on our Panama flight. We don't get into Tocumen until Saturday afternoon. We've never flown through Mexico before but it makes a whole lot of sense. Flying through the US nowadays is a real chore and quite a hassle.

Keep On Movin' On

Next week at this time, we'll be in San Francisco for a four-night weekend. We were there for one day at the end of September. However, a prior visit would've been YEARS before that. We planned early enough so that we could get a hotel room over SF Pride. We're pretty thrifty and usually stay at bonafide fleabags. So this might be the most we've ever paid for a room, ever! We entirely deserve it though.

I was looking at the calendar and thinking about the months ahead. I think Jay and I need to plan at least one other week on a trip or cruise before winter. We know the exact date in November on which 'our' winter begins because we already have air tickets. We'll be in SE Asia again; however, at different locations than those of the last one.

Anyway, during the next five months, we should plan to go somewhere. A week in the fall might be a good time to check out someplace we've never been. I'm thinking about this city.