We were on the move again, from the highlands of Boquete to the Caribbean island archipelego of Bocas del Toro. We decided to take local buses even though there was a faster albeit more expensive shuttle available, we were in no rush and didn't mind seeing the view from a locals point of view (so to speak) rather than a tourists. Our ride out of Boquete, on the old yellow American school bus, came to a stuttering halt almost immediately due to a cycle race on the road between the town and David. We waited a while and watched a few cyclists reach the turning point at the top of the gruelling ride up into the mountain. Once they were pointing back down hill they seemed to find new energy and went off like bullets - the bus never caught up with them even though the headstart wasn't so long.

When we reached the bus station in David, we were in for a big surprise - it was absolutely packed. The other 3 times we have passed through it has been relatively calm, maybe people were heading back home since it was Sunday. We pushed our way through the crowds of people on the concourse for perhaps 100m to get to the bus stop for Changuinola (via Almirante, where we were going) only to find out that the queue was part of the crowd we came through. So we had to walk back and mentally count how many people were ahead of us and how many buses would be needed. Coaster buses only took maybe 30 people max so it was going to take about 5 buses before we got on our way. As we pondered whether to just stay overnight in David and catch a bus in the morning, a shout came from across the terminal that their bus was going to Almirante. We didn't need to be asked twice, we threw our bags on the roof and jumped on board.

We drove for about three and half hours up through an amazing and beautiful mountain range which divides Panama into it's Atlantic and Pacific sides. The rain stayed away as we passed over the ridge and the sun even came out for a bit as we skirted up the coast towards the port town of Almirante. In the bus terminal, waiting taxis were eager to take us to the Bocas water taxis for a couple of dollars but we decided to take the opportunity to stretch our legs and walk the 15 minutes to the harbour. It also gave us the chance to see a bit of the town which is not actually worth seeing. It seemed a bit grubby and run down but you could hear distant drumming and the colourful houses on stilts gave it Caribbean vibe.

Taxi25, one of many water taxi companies, took us on the 30 minute trip across to Bocas del Toro town. A local guy told he had seen us at the bus station in David and he reserved us seats at the back of the small boat as it was less bumpy ride that way. Straight across the street from the dock in Bocas town was Posada Isla Chica, accomodation which had been recomended to us. It only had one bedroom apartment available but after a long day travelling it was fine rather than searching round the town for somewhere to stay.

A quick walk round town later led us to a place over the water, called Raw, that served Japanese food. Given that we were on an island, we figured it ought to have fresh fish so in we went. We had some sushi and ceviche which was surprisingly good despite the weird sounding 'house speciality' of tempura battered sushi.