Boquete, Panama

Still alive!

Panama City after that first night got better. It is a city with some definite cool points. The city buses for one, and Via Argentina, the street with all the university pubs. And I got to see a movie in English for the first time in a month and a half! That is always a big deal for me when I go travelling.

I accomplished my two main goals of the Panama part of my trip as well. I got a Panama hat, and saw the Panama canal. Check and check. Unfortunately the ass in the bunk above me in our dorm room decided to drop his bag right on top of my brand new hat and crushed it. So it is a little deformed, but still cool. And Panama canal was also very cool. I think this is the one part of the trip where Terry got bored by something WAY before I did.

In all Panama City was alright for me. Terry liked it a lot more (he was excited to be in ANY city again), so if you want more glowing reviews you can go to his blog.

Now we are in Boquete, a small mountain by the Costa Rica/Panama border. The population is either 3,000 or 15,500, depending on who you listen to. My guide book says 15,500, Terrys says 3,000. I think that the main town is 3,000, but if you count all the people in the expansive countryside, then it is more like 15,000. It is a good compromise at least.

We just got back from a hike back up into the mountains. It was a stunning piece of nature. I have some good pictures. One hundred and twenty of them, in fact. For a three and a half hour hike. Perhaps I went overboard. On our way back down it started to POUR rain. We eventually made it to the bus shelter, and hid there for a while. Eventually a local came by and told us (I think, my Spanish sucks) that this is the first time he remembers it raining since November. So good timing us, on the hike....

After waiting for a bus for half an hour we were getting very cold, and a local came by and hailed us in to his truck. So Terry and I had our first ever hitch hiking experience! In small places like this in Central America hitching is almost the defacto way of travel, but we never actually worked up the nerve to do it ourselves. Since I leave in a few days, I am glad to say I got that experience in there.

Tomorrow is white water rafting!

PS - And on our way to the hike we ran into two Dutch girls and a Aussie we had originally met in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I love the small-worldness of backpackers.