CN - Saturday
So as Ken indicated in the last post we are killing time until Monday - currently here in Panama City at the Princess Carolina Hostel and tomorrow we will move over to the Caribbean coast to the town Portobela. Hostels are interesting places to meet fellow travelers. We met Ken, who is on 10 years a nomad who moves between RV life in the states in summer months and Panama in the winter months. We also have met Andy, an ex Army Ranger originally from Texas who has been living on and off in London and Panama. The last two days have been fun with these two - hanging around, shooting the breeze and sharing travel stories. Today we got to spend some time with another interesting person - Milos, an 86 year old gentleman from the Czech Republic who has been traveling the world for nearly 20 years. As far as I can tell (he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Czech) he has visited over 100 countries in his travels. To me he is the bravest and most amazing of the bunch. He decided some time ago he was going to live the rest of his life his way - not rotting away somewhere letting life pass him by. He is physically limited due to his age but makes due pretty darn good on his own. I think he plans to live this life until he drops dead - living the dream up to that very last second.
Today the three of us took a taxi together to visit the Miraflores locks at the Panama Canal. Milos probably would have struggled a bit to do the trip on his own so I'm glad Ken and I were able to assist and bring him along with us. The taxi ride is only about 20 minutes from our downtown location. We arrived just in time to got to see one of the medium size ships go through the lock system and into the lake and toured the museum at the visitors center. The place was a zoo with tourists - which is normally not my scene, but I enjoyed seeing the locks again from a different perspective. Six years ago I took a locks tour during a business trip to Panama where we actually were on a ferry boat behind the ship going through the locks. This time I got to see the engineering behind the process from the shore so very different but just as interesting.
Today we will try to find some ginger and/or dramamine for the boat, cash up at an ATM (no shortage of banks in Panama City) and lounge around the pool - just killing time. In the morning we will ride to Portobela and hopefully find a hostel near Captain Jacks restaurant and bar - kind of a Panama institution on Caribbean coast.
Lastly, as Ken mentioned in the previous post I was able to secure a temporary emergency passport to get me through the rest of the trip. And yes, this is a huge weight off my shoulders. I did not want to have to sit and wait somewhere for 2-3 weeks to get a new passport produced in the states - which is the standard option you have at an embassy. The emergency passport is a judgement call and I am happy that the person making the decision in Panama ruled in my favor and turned it around for me in less than 24 hours. Good to go!!!
So as Ken indicated in the last post we are killing time until Monday - currently here in Panama City at the Princess Carolina Hostel and tomorrow we will move over to the Caribbean coast to the town Portobela. Hostels are interesting places to meet fellow travelers. We met Ken, who is on 10 years a nomad who moves between RV life in the states in summer months and Panama in the winter months. We also have met Andy, an ex Army Ranger originally from Texas who has been living on and off in London and Panama. The last two days have been fun with these two - hanging around, shooting the breeze and sharing travel stories. Today we got to spend some time with another interesting person - Milos, an 86 year old gentleman from the Czech Republic who has been traveling the world for nearly 20 years. As far as I can tell (he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Czech) he has visited over 100 countries in his travels. To me he is the bravest and most amazing of the bunch. He decided some time ago he was going to live the rest of his life his way - not rotting away somewhere letting life pass him by. He is physically limited due to his age but makes due pretty darn good on his own. I think he plans to live this life until he drops dead - living the dream up to that very last second.
Today the three of us took a taxi together to visit the Miraflores locks at the Panama Canal. Milos probably would have struggled a bit to do the trip on his own so I'm glad Ken and I were able to assist and bring him along with us. The taxi ride is only about 20 minutes from our downtown location. We arrived just in time to got to see one of the medium size ships go through the lock system and into the lake and toured the museum at the visitors center. The place was a zoo with tourists - which is normally not my scene, but I enjoyed seeing the locks again from a different perspective. Six years ago I took a locks tour during a business trip to Panama where we actually were on a ferry boat behind the ship going through the locks. This time I got to see the engineering behind the process from the shore so very different but just as interesting.
Today we will try to find some ginger and/or dramamine for the boat, cash up at an ATM (no shortage of banks in Panama City) and lounge around the pool - just killing time. In the morning we will ride to Portobela and hopefully find a hostel near Captain Jacks restaurant and bar - kind of a Panama institution on Caribbean coast.
Lastly, as Ken mentioned in the previous post I was able to secure a temporary emergency passport to get me through the rest of the trip. And yes, this is a huge weight off my shoulders. I did not want to have to sit and wait somewhere for 2-3 weeks to get a new passport produced in the states - which is the standard option you have at an embassy. The emergency passport is a judgement call and I am happy that the person making the decision in Panama ruled in my favor and turned it around for me in less than 24 hours. Good to go!!!
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| Chip and Milos. |
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| Ken and Milos |
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| Miraflores Locks. |
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| Ship approaching the locks. |
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| Ship entering the locks. |
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