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Published: November 17th 2007
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The Purple House
Fantastic Backpackers in David We travelled from Panama City to David on the 7:30am bus. It was a slightly old single decker bus but quite comfy. The driver and his helper were friendly as were the other people on the bus. We definitely got more smiles here than in Venezuela. The scenery was fantastic, so lush and green with patches of forest interrupting the paddocks of cattle and the crops. We had two movies during the trip, 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry' and 'Evan Almighty'. Both were in English because they were made by filming a movie screen. It was really funny watching the heads bob in front of the movie and to hear the audience laugh. After a pleasant lunch break we arrived in David at 3:30 pm. During the last hour of the trip we had all the windows open because the aircon had stopped working. It was lovely as you could smell the grass and sweet flowers of the countryside.
We took a US$2 taxi to
The Purple House where we were greeted by Jananda. Andrea, who normally ran the place, was on holiday but Jananda was great, providing directions to the supermarket and restaurants amongst other things. He introduced us
to Fluffy the dog and made us feel very welcome. And yes, the whole place was purple. The walls, the furniture, the sheets, the cups and plates, the clothes hooks, the loo cover, the pictures, the stones in the garden .. everything. Even the plants were chosen for their purplish flowers or foliage. It was super cool. We got a private room, en suite, for US$20. Bit squished but very pleasant. The communal area had a TV and the kitchen was really clean. We had decided to have a rest day the next day so it was a very relaxing place to stay. We grabbed some stuff from the nearby supermarket and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of baked beans, cheese, yoghurts, grapes and coco-puffs. It was lovely to prepare our own food. The hostel provided the coffee.
We had a bunch of stuff to post. We went to the post office. No boxes so we were sent to the pharmacy around the corner and they went out back and found us a box. That was nice of them. Back at the post office they said we needed to wrap it in paper so I returned to the pharmacy to
get some paper. Then we were horrified to find we couldn't tape the parcel up, it needed glueing! No tape was allowed to be seen. Bizarre. The lady spent ages glueing while we debated running off with the parcel. I wrote the address on a form and the form was stapled to the box. The parcel did actually arrive but we would highly recommend finding a postage service like DHL if you are posting things from Panama.
Leaving our big bags at The Purple House we took a rattly old bus from the terminal to Boquete. It was 45 minutes through a beautiful landscape, green and pastoral with rivers and waterfalls. US$1.45 each for the ride. We arrived in Boquete while the sun was shining and followed a sign to a tourist info place. Immediately we realised it was a place for selling expensive tours. The old, leathery lady who called us in was a bit scary with big hair and lots of makeup. She tried to convince us that it was too muddy for the volcano trek and wanted us to take a guided tour for 3 hours at US$35 each. It was apparently not possible to do
Breakfast time
Out back of the Hostal Palacios these on your own. We smiled and left.
We had a couple of pamphlets for accommodation. Nomba had no private rooms available but Hostal Palacios had a room for US$13 a night. Out back it was a little messy but they had a little bird feeding area where we saw some pretty birds. The kitchen was disgusting. Called 'friendly' by the Lonely Planet, Pancho preferred to call himself helpful. In Spanglish he described the different walks we could do, using a dark pencil over a poor photocopy. At the end it was a huge scrawl on the paper. But he was very informative. He had a beautiful Cocker Spaniel.
We had made a reservation for a coffee tour at Cafe Ruiz but after making the mistake of asking someone we walked the wrong way. In total we walked about an hour. It was no bother, we would do the coffee plantation thing elsewhere in Central America. It started raining only when we returned to town. It was still the rainy season but it would only rain in the afternoons, leaving mornings predictably clear.
The next day we did two hours horse riding. Eduardo came and picked us
up but we went off with another guy. Unfortunately, it was all on roads but the scenery as we climbed the hills was beautiful. Lots of butterflies. I saw a precious little bird, no more than 3 cm tall with a yellow front and a black back. Bit of trotting and galloping. It was fun.
We went fairly directly to 'Mi Jardin es su Jardin' (My garden is your garden). Not wanting to get lost again we paid the US$1.50 for a taxi. It appeared to be an old persons home and a nurse told us we were free to wander around. And it was immaculate. Not a weed in sight. And so orderly with lots of ornaments. They had cows, a dutch windmill, a man fishing, a sun bather. And the fish! Big carp, some in a pool under a house, others in a number of ponds. There was a chapel also. It was the best garden we had seen on our trip, so very beautiful.
Boquete had some good restaurants. Breakfast was at Central Park next to the market. Great omelets and smiley staff. We ate a couple of times at Amigos next to the plaza.
A bridge near Boquete
We passed this way while horse riding Good burgers and chips and tasty soup. Grumpy waitress. The best we visited and the most expensive was a bistro on the main road just north of town. It had good American food. Great if you are in the mood for something a little different like a pastrami on rye or a chicken curry salad. Here we met a Dutch couple on a short trip who were looking for somewhere nice to stay on their last nights. We recommended the InterContinental Miramar in Panama City.
We spent one more night in The Purple House before heading off to Costa Rica.
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