June 15-18 - Panama City, Panama

Casco Viejo

I took a morning bus to Panama City from Bocas del Toro and arrived around 6 in the evening. I ended up catching a cab with three other people all hoping to get a bed at a the same hostel. When we arrived there, there was only room for one so the two other girls, Paula and Izabelle, and I made our way to the nearest hostel from there. It was simple but clean and we all shared a room. I also ran into someone I had met in Bocas.
I woke up early the next morning to explore the old part of the city called Casco Viejo. All of the buildings were old colonial style and most were under repair since they were falling apart. It actually reminded me a lot of Havana.

Skyline of Panama City

After wandering around the old part of the city for several hours I walked downtown. The downtown was very modern and a lot of people said it looked like the Miami skyline. It was an interesting contrast between the old and new parts of the city which were side by side, only separated by about a kilometer long walkway/freeway. From Casco Viejo I decided to walk down the path next to the ocean to get to downtown. I then met the three from my hostel room at a pub in the downtown to watch the soccer match. After that we headed up to the Hard Rock hotel to their pool which overlooked the city.

Isabelle, Paula and Ian at the Hard Rock

Pool at the Hard Rock

Our last day there Paula, Izabelle and myself decided to try the city touring bus. Unfortunately it poured all day, so we had no interest in actually getting off the bus to see any of the sites. Instead we decided to head to the biggest mall for lunch at the food court and then back to the hostel. When we arrived back, we managed to book some spots on a boat called "Wild Card" that was making its way from Portebelo, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia the next day. We packed our things and woke up early the next morning to head to Portebelo.