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Hello, its Thursday in Panama, and all is still....well the traffic is ....a traffic jam of sorts has stopped everything for the moment ...makes it easy to cross the street and fortunately we're not going anywhere...this is becoming one of our longest stops and mainly due to ongoing delays in getting the bikes on a boat/plane to Venezuela...but we are only a phone call away from knowing our density.
Let's keep it simple
Bill Shum2006-03-24 22:01:04
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Hello, its Thursday in Panama, and all is still....well the traffic is ....a traffic jam of sorts has stopped everything for the moment ...makes it easy to cross the street and fortunately we're not going anywhere...this is becoming one of our longest stops and mainly due to ongoing delays in getting the bikes on a boat/plane to Venezuela...but we are only a phone call away from knowing our density.
Yesterday we rode out to the Mirafiores locks and waited for a ship to go thru'...and we waited, and we waited, its not a fast process...they reckon they get so many squillion ships per year thru the locks but it wasn't happening yeterday, in fact, I think we have a new measurement for slowness, like watching concrete set or watching the grass grow, now it will be 'like watching ships pass thru the panama canal locks. 'and they charged us $8 for the pleasure of standing and watching for an hour!..I reckon it would be cheaper to sail thru than walk thru'.
But maybe a bit harsh, just bad timing on our part, and to consider its been operating for a hundred years or so, man, it must have been quite something back when it first opened up!....and the display inside was pretty speccy, including one part where you stand at the mock bridge of a ship and get fast tracked thru the locks in a stimulator, part of the captains' training day?
Then on to the most dangerous and most warned off part of Panama, the apporopriately named Colon city (sorry, I think I used that the other day)...the other end of the canal....and it lived up to its reputation..pretty scary....rough streets, rough looking people, 4 and 5 storey rundown buildings line the streets with run down, derelict types hanging off the balconies, waiting for something to happen, or waiting for someone to drop something, or waiting for three gringos on big BMWs to fall into their evil traps...there seemed to be some nice old buildings but I couldn't be sure....... However,
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