One Day in Panama City

While waiting to board the yellow school bus (with ridiculously loud exhaust) in Boquete we met a backpacking couple our age from France and instantly hit it off. Our ride to David allowed for good uninterrupted conversation before we switched to our double decker night bus for our 6 hour journey to Panama City. Our assigned seats were near the back on the upper level which would normally not be a problem, but I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the drivers down here, no matter the size of the vehicle are fast and rammy. Soon after the trip began, I experienced that terrible, nauseating feeling in my stomach; motion sickness. I quickly downed 2 gravol with ginger and a banana before working hard to keep my rice and chicken supper down. The AC was on full blast just like we had been warned from other travellers, so I covered myself with the little clothing we brought, but still shivered while even Travis admitted that it was cool (which he thoroughly enjoyed). Under our thin jackets we managed to sleep a little when the baby behind us wasn't crying before arriving in the big city at 430 am. Exhausted, we took a taxi to Casco Viejo (the old city) where our hostel was located. When we arrived, we watched the sun come up and glisten pink on the numerous sky scrapers of the downtown core along the ocean. The old, restored buildings from the early 1900's (and earlier) where the Americans lived while they completed the Panama Canal were stunning. The red brick roads, terraces and narrow streets made us feel like we were in Europe. After wandering around Casco Viejo getting partial directions from locals and military, we finally found our hostel, nicely overlooking Plaza Herrera (a nice monument with a great green space). Since our room wouldn't be ready until the afternoon we decided to take a taxi to see the Famous Panama Canal. Feeling cheap and tired we didn't pay the $30 to enter with the crowd of people. Instead we watched the ships rise from outside and snaped a few pictures before being told we weren't allowed to be on the grounds without paying. We kindly agreed and headed for our hostel. We quickly did some research on the San Blas Islands, which was our true destination and realized that if we left the next morning at 530 we could meet up with our new friends from France. After a three hour afternoon nap, we had regained enough energy to walk around the old city for the evening. We watched with amazement as a group of young children took turns climbing onto the top of an SUV and jumping onto the hood of another car in order to set the alarm off. Once this feat had been achieved, the kids would all dance to the noise (music?) with some seriously impressive moves, terrible but funny.