Gorging and Goodbyes in Pcity
Panama City was a surprise for me. In fact, all of Panama was a surprise for me. I'm not sure, but it may end up being my bolivia of central america, meaning I had zero expectations of it and it ended up being one of my favored countries. Initially I was unexcited because I had heard of it being covered with american tourists, as well as upon landing I realized the landscape looked exactly like Colombia.
Our boat group whittled down as we arrived in Panama City, the three of us girls, ben p, stretch, and janna checked into the same hostel, but all with plans to separate at least a day or two later. I was pleasantly surprised as I stepped out of the taxi and took in the surroundings. It just LOOKED like what panama should look like. It looked exactly what i imagined highrise apartments to look there. Sort of old and stylish with palm trees dotting the street and everybody wearing light, airy clothing. The entire place oozed of coolness, and I kept discovering more and more things I liked about it. It had a great energy, and I found myself saying (for only the third time on my trip) that I could see myself living there.
Since Annie and Stretch were leaving the next day, we all hightailed it for the panama canal immediately after checking in. It was sort of far to get to, but once in we caught the last boat going through and found the whole canal "experience" pretty fascinating. It was slow at best, but the man on the loudspeaker was spouting stats and facts, while Stretch answered any excess questions we had about the canal. I also enjoyed waving at the crewman who were taking photos of the tourists and nearly walked out of there with a cheezy panama canal pen where the boat floats up and down as you tilt it.
Afterwards we managed to cram 6 people into one single taxi on the way to Casco Viejo, the old town of Panama City. Since i was the shortest (which occurs more often than I would like, no longer the tall one when surrounded by white people) I was elected to be the one perched on top of everybody else, which meant I was very awkwardly and acrobatically folded on top of sarah and annie for about 20 minutes. We did this again on the way back, this time gently folded half onto Stretch's lap and half on the gear shift. Casco Viejo was even more surprisingly a loooovely area. Beautiful old colonial buildings with heaps of trendy shops and fine restaurants. We walked around taking photos in the fading sunlight, and then ate cheap, crappy chinese food from a local joint.
We bade our goodbyes early the next morning. It was a tragic parting for me, seeing as Annie is the only other person I've travelled with for a long time besides sarah (i don't even want to think about when i have to say goodbye to sarah). All in we calculated we had spent 1 month together backpacking, which translates to approximately 3 to 4 months in real time. I felt genuinely sad to see her go, and wanted nothing more than for her to continue on with us. I teared up a bit, and before I knew it she was in the elevator with her pack and the door was shutting closed while I clutched dramatically to Sarah. I really hate saying goodbye to people I really like. Sometimes I feel like it gets easier to do it over and over, but sometimes I feel like the more I travel, the more tragic it gets each time.
So to cheer myself up (and becuase I just wanted to) I made plans to leave the next day and then spent the rest of the afternoon spoiling myself. I went to a fancy restaurant with Janna and paid 20 dollars for a THIRTEEN COURSE meal. THIRTEEN!! It was incredible and will probably never repeated again unless someday I become amazingly rich or marry into some crazy money! I could easily go over each dish with you all right now, but I will refrain. Just keep in mind that it was probably one of the most amazing meals i've ever had.
p.s. i also splurged on gourmet ice cream.
Our boat group whittled down as we arrived in Panama City, the three of us girls, ben p, stretch, and janna checked into the same hostel, but all with plans to separate at least a day or two later. I was pleasantly surprised as I stepped out of the taxi and took in the surroundings. It just LOOKED like what panama should look like. It looked exactly what i imagined highrise apartments to look there. Sort of old and stylish with palm trees dotting the street and everybody wearing light, airy clothing. The entire place oozed of coolness, and I kept discovering more and more things I liked about it. It had a great energy, and I found myself saying (for only the third time on my trip) that I could see myself living there.
Since Annie and Stretch were leaving the next day, we all hightailed it for the panama canal immediately after checking in. It was sort of far to get to, but once in we caught the last boat going through and found the whole canal "experience" pretty fascinating. It was slow at best, but the man on the loudspeaker was spouting stats and facts, while Stretch answered any excess questions we had about the canal. I also enjoyed waving at the crewman who were taking photos of the tourists and nearly walked out of there with a cheezy panama canal pen where the boat floats up and down as you tilt it.
Afterwards we managed to cram 6 people into one single taxi on the way to Casco Viejo, the old town of Panama City. Since i was the shortest (which occurs more often than I would like, no longer the tall one when surrounded by white people) I was elected to be the one perched on top of everybody else, which meant I was very awkwardly and acrobatically folded on top of sarah and annie for about 20 minutes. We did this again on the way back, this time gently folded half onto Stretch's lap and half on the gear shift. Casco Viejo was even more surprisingly a loooovely area. Beautiful old colonial buildings with heaps of trendy shops and fine restaurants. We walked around taking photos in the fading sunlight, and then ate cheap, crappy chinese food from a local joint.
We bade our goodbyes early the next morning. It was a tragic parting for me, seeing as Annie is the only other person I've travelled with for a long time besides sarah (i don't even want to think about when i have to say goodbye to sarah). All in we calculated we had spent 1 month together backpacking, which translates to approximately 3 to 4 months in real time. I felt genuinely sad to see her go, and wanted nothing more than for her to continue on with us. I teared up a bit, and before I knew it she was in the elevator with her pack and the door was shutting closed while I clutched dramatically to Sarah. I really hate saying goodbye to people I really like. Sometimes I feel like it gets easier to do it over and over, but sometimes I feel like the more I travel, the more tragic it gets each time.
So to cheer myself up (and becuase I just wanted to) I made plans to leave the next day and then spent the rest of the afternoon spoiling myself. I went to a fancy restaurant with Janna and paid 20 dollars for a THIRTEEN COURSE meal. THIRTEEN!! It was incredible and will probably never repeated again unless someday I become amazingly rich or marry into some crazy money! I could easily go over each dish with you all right now, but I will refrain. Just keep in mind that it was probably one of the most amazing meals i've ever had.
p.s. i also splurged on gourmet ice cream.
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