Another day, another country, another border crossing! From Costa Rica to Panama, via Sixaola involves a short bus journey, a stamp from the Costa Rican immigration and then a 100m wooden bridge crossing, with stunning views. It is supposed to be a relaxing one and up to a point it was uneventful. The twist came when we were to get our entry stamp into Panama; the officers there told us we had to have a flight or bus out of Panama before we could enter. We couldn't believe it, we whipped out the laptop and showed them our booking for our flight to London, but apparently this wasn't good enough. They took us into their office. And with an animated Spanglish conversation we told them we couldn't buy a ticket back to Costa Rica, that we wouldn't be using. (Fortunately I didn't know the word for scamming b*****s). So I remembered what my mum had told me, and we said "por favor", and we got our stamps. But before we left they asked us to buy them lunch, so we gave them $5 and scarpered.

Our first stop in Panama was Bocas del Toro, a series of little islands off the east coast. We normally bypass the touts that meet all tourists off buses and boats but this time we gave a little local ago and ignored the Lonely Planet. We got a bargain of a room and went out that night to explore. We found a cracking Indian, which we had been craving for a few weeks, Om Restaurant. The beers here were the cheapest we've had in months ($1). We met a few other travelers and took advantage of these great prices, which let's face it, are there to be taken advantage of.

There's nothing to clear a hangover like a full day boat trip! So that's what we did, $15 for a trip to see some dolphins do some snorkeling and wonder around the Zapatilla islands, beautiful tropical islands.

As the weather became a bit overcast the next day, we packed up and hit the sea/road. A few people had told us about a cool hostel in the nearby mountains, so we headed there. Lost and Found it's called, and the local buses knew it so dropped us off at the foot of the trail. We had read about the 20min trek to the place so we took our time and enjoyed the stunning scenary. They've got little encouraging signs and seats at half way, which we used! The place is a bit of a retreat and we quickly realized that a lot of people don't leave. They find little projects to do, get free accommodation and forget about their normal life!

We spent 2 nights and took part in there Treasure Hunt, simply because the prize was a bottle of Rum! It involved finding clues and hiking and then solving a puzzle at the end. It was possibly the most we've used our brains in quite a while!

We also visited a local "loco" farmer, who grows organic coffee and brews his own fruit wine. He was a bit of a character and we were happy to support his work.

Next stop Panama city.