THIS was my view of Panama City from Luna's Castle! What a great hostel! The staff were very friendly, the hostel had tons of room for your bags, free pancakes and bananas, cucumber water (purified), a large kitchen, and a happy hour between 9-10 with $0.50 beers. The hostel was perfect for making new friends or finding somewhere to relax and read. The area was called Casco Viejo as I mentioned before which is an older part of the city that has been revamped to preserving some really historic and beautiful buildings! There is a huge police presence in the area, so it is extremely safe, even at night.
The happy hour was perfect for socializing at night with the new friends that you met during the day and most of the people at the hostel are headed to Colombia or Bocas, so basically all of the friends that I met heading south have crossed paths again with me here in Colombia (which I'll write about soon, been getting behind).
I had a few different options for checking out the San Blas Islands and continuing to Colombia, but in the end a few friends of mine (Katja and Joan) from Bocas were heading out to the islands for a quick two day stay before returning to PC. I decided to join them and stayed for a night in PC on the way out and one of the way back! The city is absolutely crazy. Huge buildings EVERYWHERE, more sprawled than in NYC but it's bazaar when you turn one direction and see people in third world slums, and then turn your head and see the epitome of first world western structure. It really makes you wonder...Why is there so much money here? Why isn't it better distributed? Who really makes all the money from this canal? I don't have any of the answers, but it felt so American when I was in the city, like home even, very strange...
The happy hour was perfect for socializing at night with the new friends that you met during the day and most of the people at the hostel are headed to Colombia or Bocas, so basically all of the friends that I met heading south have crossed paths again with me here in Colombia (which I'll write about soon, been getting behind).
I had a few different options for checking out the San Blas Islands and continuing to Colombia, but in the end a few friends of mine (Katja and Joan) from Bocas were heading out to the islands for a quick two day stay before returning to PC. I decided to join them and stayed for a night in PC on the way out and one of the way back! The city is absolutely crazy. Huge buildings EVERYWHERE, more sprawled than in NYC but it's bazaar when you turn one direction and see people in third world slums, and then turn your head and see the epitome of first world western structure. It really makes you wonder...Why is there so much money here? Why isn't it better distributed? Who really makes all the money from this canal? I don't have any of the answers, but it felt so American when I was in the city, like home even, very strange...
Speaking of the canal, Joan and I went to see it (Katja had already been). It really was amazing to see. The use of gravity to raise and lower the boats to save money. The toll costs (400,000$ per boat sometimes). The construction and history of the French attempt, and eventually the American success in building the canal. The importance of world trade and it's influence. The passing of the torch to the Panamenian government to control and regulate the operations at the canal (no mention of who receives the toll money). There was tons of construction on gigantic skyscrapers in the city. There is some serious money from the banks and major electronics companies that use the canal. I really think that the global economy is already in place.
Lots to think about, but my next post will be about the amazing San Blas Islands and local Kuna, the indigenous people on these islands.