Panama City

So I won't lie, I didn't have a great time in Panama City. It literally rained the entire time I was there. Everything I owned was damp and I was of course welcomed to my hostel with yet another cold shower (haven't had a hot one in several weeks at this stage). Oh and it's expensive and if there's one thing I don't like, it's visiting expensive countries. 

Nevertheless, it's unlikely I will return so obviously I had to get my tourist on. After waiting unsuccessfully for the rain to stop I headed out in the rain for a walk along the waterfront. Panama City looks quite developed from afar but I can tell you the regular streets look just the same as any other in poor Latin American countries. 

I did like their permanent table tennis table though. We need these in Australia for sure. 

I headed to the fish market for some food as that is apparently the thing to do. Got myself some ceviche which I couldn't even eat half of! 

Then I headed to the old town to take a look around and visit the Panama Canal Museum. I stopped to have a coffee (since they grow coffee in Panama). It cost me the same (maybe more) as a coffee in Australia and the cafe was also selling sandwiches for $10USD. Yikes! Get me outta here. 

Anyway, here's the rainy old town. 

Although one good thing about Panama City was that I saw a lot of cats. Must be thriving off the waste from the seafood market! Experienced the same phenomenon on the islands in Croatia. Cats everywhere! I have a photo of Nathanael with something like 16 cats and him. But here's my favourite cat of the day. And there's cat biscuits outside this building so obviously someone likes cats.

Next I went to the museum. It was of course closed. Tourism is not just for the weekend people! It looked nice though.

By this stage my feet were wet and I'd had enough so I gave up with the intention of visiting the canal the next day before my night bus to Costa Rica. I went to the supermarket to purchase some food for dinner and saw these Coke bottles in English for some reason (interesting I know!).

Plus this nail file which I cannot explain. 

I woke up to rain again but it finally stopped so off I went. It was a nightmare catching the metro and bus over there since you need to buy a card for each. I pleaded with them saying I was only there for one day. At the metro a cop asked a stranger to swipe me in which was great until I realised I needed to swipe out at the other end so i ended up jumping the turnstile like a deliquent.

At the bus terminal I went through the same thing but after I stood there for a while someone eventually let me on the bus. It was an old school bus like most of the buses in Central America... this was the interior. Ghetto chic.

So I finally get over there and have a bit of a walk to the actual canal. This is one of the locks where you can see the boats passing. It basically has a viewing platform with chairs and a commentator giving information on the canal and the ship passing through at the time. Apparently the US, China and Colombia are the biggest users of the canal. Oh and it takes 8-10 hours to get through the whole canal, unless you're a human then it takes 10 days (refer my Instagram post). 

After watching a movie and looking through the boring museum I headed back past the crocodiles to the bus stop. 

The bus I caught was decked out with neon lights, offensively loud Latin music and these curtains. Perfect end to the day. Then I just had to waste 5 hours in the mall and the bus station waiting for my midnight bus to Costa Rica. The joys of being a backpacker!