Woke up in the sex hotel! I am a little surprised that there wasn’t a mirror on the ceiling. All the furniture near the bed was padded. So weird. Anyway, I decided I would spend the morning looking for a post office and get the first batch of letters/cards into the mail. I waited until about 10 in the morning to set out – with the idea that if I found the post office and couldn’t get into my room until later (like 3 pm) I would then find a cafe and stay there until the room was free.

Walking with luggage is not my favorite thing. Even the backpack is a bit much. Which is why I like cargo pants. Lots of pockets for anything I might need or want to bring along. Except the damn hat. Which doesn’t fit in a pocket. So I have to wear it around my neck – which isn’t optimal. Anyway, I got my walking directions and started out. And immediately deviated from the route. Sigh. Next time I travel I will definitely have high functioning ear buds so that I can just listen to the directions and won’t have to get my phone out to see where the hell I am going. I finally came to a place where it was telling me to give up and walk a long way to find a way across a fairly busy four lane road. But I am a guy who thought about walking to the arc d’triomphe in Paris on the surface! So, I crossed eventually. And that shortened my route a good bit. Though I missed my next turn. Why? Because there was a gate at the road it wanted me to turn unto. I didn’t realize at the time that it was the University of Panama entrance!

I realized my mistake and entered the university. Still trying to find the damn post office. I asked one guy and he politely told me to go someplace else. I asked a second person and encountered my first rude person on this trip! Luckily the students nearby tried to help. I finally narrowed down where the place was but still couldn’t find it. Why? Because the sign was teeny, about the size of a regular sheet of paper! A nice woman from the admissions office took me to the place herself. Guess who had walked past it at least twice. Yup. Sigh.

There was a postal person working there. She said that stamps for international mail were $.35 (panama) each. I bought fifteen stamps – five of cargo ships for panama, and 10 that said panama 2019 on them. So, I mailed a bunch of letters/cards today. Please, if you get one, let me know. I am curious how long it will take for them to arrive in the US.

All of that was sincerely exhausting. The weather is hot and very humid. And I was wearing long pants. And dragging along a suitcase with my backpack on my back. I sat a lot. As I was finishing up mailing the stuff, I got a message from my airbnb saying I could enter my room at noon! Huzzuh and perfect timing!

In Airbnb I clicked on the directions option and was given a point to head to. About half an hour’s walk. No problem. I could feel the air conditioning in my mind…But…I got to the point that it said, I did not see anything that resembled a place to stay. I called them and was asked to send pictures of where I was – through whatsapp. Apparently a lot of people use whatsapp here (and in Colombia). I guess I ought to get more comfortable with it. Anyway, I sent the pictures and Yessica sent me a new pin in whatsapp. It took me a while to see the little “share to maps” icon. But that worked. And I got here. And Yessica met me outside. Phew! And finally!

First thing I did, strip entirely and turn up the air! And I drank both of the teeny bottles of water that they had in the room. After getting cool, I emptied out the backpack to see what exactly was in there. I knew I had some food, and some other stuff, but rechecking everything is never a bad idea. I got out my last roll from Colombia and the last of the salami and had that for lunch while watching a good speech and Q&A session with Elon.

And now, I think today is an acclimation day. And a booking day. (Oops, no booking…) My current plan is to book two tours – one for the Canal and one of some other sort. I’m also toying with the idea of going on a city tour if I can find one that centers on beer. And I am again toying with the idea of a massage while I am here. I am, after all, on vacation. Off to the supermarket (after getting, reluctantly, dressed) to buy some water and whatever else strikes my fancy. I will treat myself to a decent dinner tonight. And since I have a fridge, I can bring back leftovers! I like this place so much better than the sex hotel!!! And the neighborhood is good too.

Honestly, I was prepared to dislike Panama City and everything about it. After my ride into town and my “hotel” helped fuel that thought. But today has been quite a bit different. After chilling (literally) I headed out into the world to find some things – water and duct tape. Water was easy to find – there is a supermarket less than a block from here. The duct tape, not so much. I asked at the supermarket and they pointed me to a Novey. Which turned out to be like a home depot or Lowe’s hardware. The one he put into my phone was half an hour away. But I knew there was one closer because I had walked past it on my walkabout looking for the hotel.

Found the nearer one, and after asking a few salespeople, found where the tape was. But no duct tape like we have in The United States. Instead there was actual metal duct tape. Good enough for me. I think this bag wil be tossed after this trip in any case. I have taped it up. But, on my way back from the store, I saw a place called Frank’s. It looked posh. I went in to ask to look at the menu and had a pleasant chat with the manager – whose dad is from Queens. So his English was outstanding. He gave me good beer and some good thoughts on where to go and what to do. Like going to Old Town. He said it was a must. And that there is a ferry to Taboga, not tp be confused (oops) with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. I opted to have a pretty good ipa for happy hour there before heading back to the hotel. I also stopped at a tourist agency and they told me that their canal tours cost $150 for a five hour trip – most of which was there and back again. Good thing is it is early in the morning. The bad thing is – it is early in the morning.

Anyway, the bag is taped up and I think I will go to Old Town (Casco Viejo) now.

Night view in old town

Fun time in the old town tonight! I took an Uber to the old town per Angelo’s recommendation. It was pleasant to walk around there. Lots of souvenir shops. Yes, I bought some more postcards. I will try to get them written and mailed soon. I will ask in the office where I can mail them. Maybe I can just leave them with the office people. Lots of restaurants! And bars etc. A museum canal, which I did not visit. I don’t know who I am anymore. I stopped at a caricaturist and got my picture done. Only $10 which I thought was good. Nice man. His daughter is going to school in NYC to try and make it in musical theatre.

Next stop, pizza. I stopped a second time at a pizza place and decided I didn’t want their pizza after all. So I asked google where the best pizza in the area was and went there. I had walked past it just recently. As I was walking around there, I had nearly died on some concrete blocks holding down a sheet of something covering a hole. And as I was walking back toward the pizza place, I saw a guy staring at his phone who was about to trip over the same concrete blocks! I called out “Careful! Careful!” He must have heard me because he told me to fuck off, just before tripping on the concrete and almost face planting. After that he was nice to me, gave me a fist bump and said “shit happens, innit” which led me to believe he was from somewhere in England. And probably drunk.

At the restaurant, I asked to sit inside. I got a nice quiet table out of the way. Their menu was accessible through a QR code – something of which I am not a fan. I ordered their pepperoni pizza and a local Panama beer called, er, Panama. Good food. Decent lager. I ate about half the pizza which was a lot of food for me. It was that good! I have enough leftovers for at least a couple of meals, depending on whether or not that meal is lunch.

Ubered home and here I am. I still don’t know what I am doing during the next few days. I might go to Taboga Island. I would still like to do something about the canal. One place had a tour for $150 a person that left at 5 in the morning. Another had a tour that included the canal and something to do with monkeys for 95 dollars. But it happens tomorrow and I was not ready to commit to that when I saw it. We shall see. And there is an amusement park. But no circus. 😦

So far, so fun! I hope you all are keeping the home fires burning!