Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Day 144 - A man a plan a canal - Panama

Panama City

We jumped in a taxi to the old city, and on the way in we spotted Trina from our boat trip walking along the road. We stopped and picked her up, then once we reached the old centre we found a nice place for a coffee before visiting the Canal museum.

We'd read good things about the museum but for us it was a little long and dry, though still interesting. We then wandered the streets of the old city in the rain (we should probably invest in some umbrellas if we're to visit Central America in the wet season). The old town had some great old buildings, many of them still being restored, so it will look even better in a few years.

After lunch we caught an Uber to the Miraflores Locks to see the ships going through the canal. We hadn't used Uber at all before this trip, but in places like Panama City where you never know whether you're paying the "gringo tax" it gives you one less thing to be worried about, even if it is a little more expensive than the "real" rate (which you hardly ever get anyway).

At the Locks we watched from the viewing platform as they were filled and emptied so ships could move to between different water levels on their way through the canal. The reason for the different levels is that the canal makes use of mountain lakes, which are higher than sea level.


We caught the local bus back to the central bus station, then a taxi from there to our hotel - we should have used Uber there as well, since the taxi driver made an obvious attempt to overcharge us, we ended up giving him less than he asked, but we're sure it was still way too much!


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