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Published: January 18th 2009
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This was the last full day of our holiday and we only had a few things planned before we had to get packed and ready for a long trip home. We had breakfast at a cafe next to The Terrace that was similar to Denny’s but unfortunately didn’t have the hash browns that I had been craving since the first week of our holiday. We had a few coffees, 3 huge pancakes and a BLT for less than US$10.
We hailed a taxi to Panama Veijo - the location of the first Panama City built from 1519 and now home to a museum dedicated to the area as well as ruins of many of the first churches and houses prior to the levelling of the city by a group of pirates led by Henry Morgan (of rum fame) in 1671. We arrived at the museum 15 minutes prior to its opening at 000 and were both already suffering from the heat despite the early hour. The museum was well presented with displays of old pottery, weaponry and other items found during the excavation of the town, as well as a scale model map of what experts believe the city may
have looked like. It was also air conditioned so we spent a good deal of time there before walking the kilometre or so to the ruins of the cathedral over the next two hours. We also spent some time browsing through the Mercado Nacional de Artisanias - a market with crafts from throughout Panama’s regions, and buying a wooden plate with some of Panama’s sights on it for US$35.
The Panamanians had done an excellent job of restoring the Cathedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, allowing ascents to the top of one of the ruins via a well hidden staircase inside it. We climbed to the top to admire the view of the old and new cities and also noticed the dark storm clouds coming in at a great rate of knots. As with the previous day, the immense heat and humidity had formed some ugly rain clouds and we had all of five minutes warning before they opened with a vengeance. We took shelter back at the market and a policeman helped us flag down a taxi back to our hostel. The driver was a top bloke who did an extra lap of the block in traffic
to drop us at Niko’s for another Niko’s steak combo.
In the absence of anything else to do in the conditions I caught a few hours shut eye before Jo woke me up at 1430. We found a cab to take us to Cerro Ancon - the highest point in Panama City - and were only quoted US$2 for the journey (the first time we had been charged local prices I suspect). Our driver stopped a few times to ask some locals how to get up the mountain but on each occasion he was given different information. Many cab drivers would have given up but our bloke was determined to get up to the summit if it was possible. Unfortunately after 45 minutes of trying we arrived at the locked gate and had to turn around. Our driver was very apologetic despite there being nothing he could do and he dropped us back by our hostel for only US$5! We tipped handsomely.
With the clock ticking and nothing more to do we returned to The Terrace for more beers and some reflection on the trip - the best and worst moments and the like. Jo had been ready
Panama Veijo
Scale model of what historians believe the area may have looked like. to go home a week or so earlier I suspected but I felt ready to keep discovering Panama. We had our last dinner at Sorrento’s, this time over ordering with a pasta dish, minestrone soup and the largest pizza I have ever seen. We took half the pizza back to our hostel where it was devoured by two English girls. Luis had arranged a cab for 0830 the following morning to take us to the airport so we were in bed early in anticipation of a long trip home.
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