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Published: April 15th 2022
Casco Viejo
Casco Viejo early morningAfter the bag incident, I woke up ready to explore Panama City. I was staying in Casco Viejo, the old part of Panama City.
Panama City which was built in early 1500s was burnt to a rubble in response to a pirate attack in the late 1600s. And the new Panama of that time that was built is Casco Viejo. So I was visiting a place roughly 350 years old and recognised as a world heritage site.
Casco Viejo streets are best explored early morning when people and traffic is light and you can get good pictures of the empty streets. It's an area with many street art, lots of restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. But most importantly, it has the old world charm. Casco Viejo also has many rooftop restaurants from which you can see the sunset (not fully into the sea) and also see the modern side of Panama City.
Having explored Casco Viejo, I went to visit Amador Causeway which connects the main Panama City to 4 small islands near the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. Interestingly, the entire causeway is constructed from rocks excavated from the Panama Canal. The causeway has a nice walk,
Casco Viejo
Lanes of Casco Viejo even biking and other options of transport are easily available. It is also one of the better places in the city to watch sunsets.
I also visited the Metropolitan Park in Panama City where I did a short hike (about 3KM). You get to a viewing point from which you can see the skyline of the city.
The most exciting part of Panama City was of course the Panama Canal. A modern engineering marvel, it's the artery of modern trade that supports nearly 14,000 ship crossings a year. About 80KM long where a ship's captain hands over control to the Panama Canal ship captain (a ship captain never does this otherwise), it takes about 10 hours to cross. Ships save roughly 15,000KM of travel using the canal that connects the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. And each ship needs 52 Million gallons of water (it is lifted and lowered 25 meters to make the passage), the entire water system works on gravity. Without boring you with technical details, it suffices to say that the Canal is crucial to trade and to environment (imagine all the ships covering that extra distance if the canal didn't exist). I was fortunate
Casco Viejo
Lanes of Casco Viejo not only to see a cargo ship cross but also a submarine.
While many people find big cities not worth visiting, to me Panama City was a good destination with a varied set of experiences.
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Ruben
non-member comment
Nice Report
Nice to see that you are enjoying your visit to Panama City, I agree that you can find and discover many experiences also in big cities. Thanks again for share, keep posting!