Saturday, December 2, 2017

Day 1 & 2 - Dec 2-3, 2017 Panama

Eric and I decided to take a father & son adventure to Panama as he's done school before Dec. At YVR Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge. Waiting for the first leg of our trip to Panama City. Eric is enjoying himself very much. He said he has no problem staying here whole day!

Our flights to PTY went through SFO & HOU, including a red-eye flight. It was a bit tough but we managed to sneak in few hours of "sleep" on the last flight. The use of all the United Clubs along the way made the journey easier too. I got upgraded to first class on the YVR-SFO flight as well which is a bonus. I gave my seat to Eric since he didn't travel much.

Airport taxi area is still a zoo. Despite my refusal, the "official" airport staff directing traffic still managed to muscle in to touch my luggage and lead us to the taxi car and promptly demanded his tips!

Our hostel is ok. Bright and ok clean. No soap or shampoo which I expected already. Considering it's only $25/night for our room, we can overlook lots of sins, especially with its prime location inside Casco Viejo (the UNESCO designated old town).

After settling in, we walked around a bit to enjoy the evening sun. The lighting was perfect for taking beautiful pictures of the old buildings. We even walked out into the neighborhoods surrounding Casco Viejo. Side streets were not recommended so we stayed on the main commercial drags. I was disappointed that the street food scene was pretty slim picking.

We ate at one of the locals' favorites: Cafe Coka Cola. Rice with/fish or chicken. Then we enjoyed the festive light decoration at their park.  As we're dead tired so we went back to hostel for an early turn in.





2 comments:

  1. The city looks very modern and metropolitan. I can't believe that you can still find such good deals on accommodations, even at hostel prices, it is definitely a bargain. The drinks look so yummy (not sure about the food on the pics).

    So glad you made it safely there. It has been a very long journey, adding the uncertainty of an earthquake in Ecuador this morning! Have a good rest and look forward to your up coming blogs!

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  2. Yes. It's definitely a bargain for the hostel. Private room w/own bathroom too! Our dinner was quite yummy. Even I like the deep fried fish!

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