We arrived in Panama City after one of our simpler journeys straight down from north to south. On the outskirts of the city we drove over one of the bridges that span over the canal waters. We had decided to stay in an area of the city called Casca Viejo. Casca Viejo was the original centre of the city but through different ownership of Panama and the many years that passed the main city was developed to the east. Recently UNESCO declared Casca Viejo a world heritage site, protecting many of the original buildings and their crumbling remains. Unfortunately during the interim period between UNESCO giving it this status and the modern city developing around it Casca Viejo's derelict buildings became a haven for squatters and crime. Thankfully since world heritage status was granted there has been a huge effort to restore many of the buildings and tackle the crime problem. This has resulted in a division in the area between the very safe and pleasant and the 'no-go' areas. Thankfully Luna's Castle Hostel was in the pleasant area. The staff were very helpful in letting us know which areas were safe for us to walk around. As we arrived at night we headed out for a bite to eat but decided to leave our exploration to the following morning. On the way to the restaurant we were lucky enough to see a ceremony taking place in a cathedral with the doors wide open, spilling its light all over the square outside. It was, without doubt, the most spectacular sermon I had ever seen in progress. After standing to watch for a couple of minutes we moved on to a restaurant. The restaurant that night was having a promotion on Corona. The deal was if I ordered a Corona then a 'Corona Girl' would come by and ask me a trivia question and if I answer correctly I could win a prize. About 10 minutes later a 'Corona Girl' came by and I managed to win a prize - by default. I couldn't answer a question in Spanish and she couldn't ask a question in English, due to this language barrier they decided to open up the prize bag and hand Sue and I one each. Unfortunately I wasn't anything we could wear so we had to leave our Corona freezer glasses behind in Panama City.

The next morning we were up early to explore Casca Viejo by daylight. We wandered around the old town clearly able to see the developments which had taken place and the building which were relics from the areas past. We also walked to a view point of the city where we could see the very well developed skyline of Panama City. We could also walk round a little further to see some boats lining up to use the canal and get a clear view of the Bridge of the Americas. After a morning exploring Casca Viejo we decided to walk to the national park in the hills above Panama City. We hiked for around 4km where we saw views again of the city and the canal. Unfortunately the trees were a little too high to get a view of the Miraflores Locks. Within the final 500m of our walk I stumble upon the sight I fear most. I caught a glimpse of a snake in my peripheral vision. I think my roar/yelp scared it and I watched as it quickly disappeared from vision. Needless to say the final 500m was at a faster pace than any of the previous 3500m. Happily out of the park we caught a cab to the city centre to get lunch and explore some more. We walked a good distance down through the city and along the shore line. With a little distance left we again hopped a cab to take us back to our hostel. We repeated the process from the night before and wandered the streets to find somewhere to eat. We again passed the magnificent cathedral, this time with our cameras. We had our dinner and decided after a long day it'd be good to get an early night. This was to be our last night in Panama City although we had one more full day to explore before catching a night bus out of the city. This final day was dedicated to the canal. We got up early and got a cab to the train station where we were going to ride a train that runs the length of the canal, coast to coast, from Panama City to Colón. The train itself was magnificent inside and allowed us to completely escape the fact that we were living on a budget day to day as the train had the mark of luxury - at a price though!!! The train ride was beautiful as we snaked from canal views to inside the protected forest areas that run alongside. The hour ride was over far too soon and we had to immediately catch a bus back to Panama city as spending any great deal of time in Colón was strongly advised against. In the afternoon we decided to take it easy and get some rest before we had to catch a night bus. The hostel had a cinema screen where you could request any movie. We sat down with a few other travellers and watched 'The Big Lebowski' before checking our emails/Facebook and then heading for the bus station. There isn't much to day about the bus journey that took us to Bocas Del Toro other than the fact they pumped the air conditioning so strong that Sue and I were both freezing before we arrived. I will let you know about our time in the Bocas area soon. Hope all is well.

John