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Time and the hour, going thru the same thing again, in your actual Panama City, right by your actual Canal...and trying to take the mind back to where the little note book says I last blogged...scrambled notes from odd opportunities along the road, when passions were high, death just a shot away, all the senses attuned to the present, head full of ideas, heart full of fear, love, scent of roses..whatever...now trying to interpret not only the writing but the sense also...<br />So, out of Domenical and just drifting without any rush, south towards the end of Costa Rico...dense, green impenetrable jungle to the left, towering giants, draped in lianas and creepers, brilliant flowers, masses of insects, butterflies, birds and sure as sure, deep inside, the animals whose calls indicate many, very sharp teeth...on the right side the rugged coastline occasionally glimpsed thru the palms...some BIG developments going on here as well, extensive properties, the gated estates, the mega private properties...same old, same old...

Which Canal?

Bill Shum
2006-03-24 22:01:42

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was getting a bit of a strain as we were now totally locked down and nothing to eat or drink...oh you poor things I hear you say!..hahaha...and sort of a cross-cutural interface as I had Fela Kuti on the little ipod speakers pumping out African jazz in the depths of the Panamanian highlands...and thanks Layli for the CD...its getting a lot of use. And the little speakers are proving their worth.
Next morning a quick but precarious ride around the local volcano road, put the bike into the gutter and had to get a local farmer to help me pull it out...the only bummer about these bikes is that they're just soo hard to get out of 2 foot deep channel gutters on 45 degree angle slopes!..
however, that passed, we headed off south, I think, occasional rain but nothing serious, its always a dilema of what to wear, with just the body armour the rain stings, with the jacket and pants with liners, absolutely waterproof but sweaty as the proverbial camel drivers jocks in the sun, half way alternative is the jacket without liner, fine in the dry or light rain, but if the rain persists you gradually feel it seeping down into sleeves, guts, crutch and finally boots....if its warm it can be quite fine, but in the cold mountains.....not fun.
Riding thru the country is cool, roads here are great and the traffic moves along well, as usual we attract lots of attention, always positive, from motorists and people on the side of the road. Seem to be passing the cops at the right time at the right speed as no dramas.

So we just keep on cruising and end up getting close to Panama city...its been a long haul but not all that tiring so we go on...get onto a freeway that winds thru the hills, off to the side there are real 'leggo land' housing estates, millions of little identical block houses altho' brightly coloured!...some consolation?....the trafic is reasonably heavy but moving along, and suddenly we shoot out onto a huge bridge, like a bigger sydney harbour, way up above the water, a huge tanker is passing way, way below, many small boats and ships are moored around the little bay, huge cargo handling wharves and container terminals...and off to the right, the start of the actual canal!!...I wasn't expecting to feel so emotional but it really brought a lump to the throat....this is such a significant moment on this trip, we all felt it and pulled up on the beachfront road on the Panama City side and yee-haa-ed....The end of Central America, the start of South America......in front of us the high-rise city skyline of >Panama City and now some work to do trying to find a way to get our beasts somewhere across the Darien Gap!.......

I note the passage of time by my nails...every 4 weeks or so I realise they need trimming and I think, crikey another 4 weeks have passed. Haircuts are similar but cam vary! the cut and the growth rate

Now I gotta go and pay for lunch....I'm Pussy Boy this week!.....whaaat?.......We started a money share thing to make it easier for joint expenses...like food, board, gasoline etc and we all put in from time to time as necessary...it was a kitty, which of course led to 'pussy', we take turns in being responsible (?) and it gets passed from one to the next on Saturdays, so for that week, whoever has it, is Pussy Boy....and takes a lot of shit from the other 2!!

Oh, and one more thing...just like I didn't see any small dogs in Chihuahua, I haven't seen any Panama hats here in Panama!...is it the El Nino effect, butterflies in Brazil, is the world-as-we-know-it coming to an end?.....you can see its time for me to have a little lie-down....and don't think this is easy!...I had this almost finished when the bloody system went down and I lost it all!!- ....Love to you all.....B