My World With Dance: Panama City

Getting to Panama City was my least favourite part of the entire experience. After saying goodbye to the girls I hopped on a boat, then an overnight bus, followed by a taxi. The entire thing took over 13 hours and I checked in to my hotel exhausted at 6 am. At this point I couldn't be more thankful for my 5 star accommodations at the Riu Hotel. This place was far out of my backpacker budget but it was complementary with the Riu points I acquired from my travel agent days. It couldn't have come at a better time as I immediately cuddled into my king size bed with 4 very soft pillows and the room all to myself. Even though my backpack was out of its element I felt right at home in my luxury surroundings.

Upon awaking from my slumber I got right down to business, after all I only had 1 day to see this city and I was eager to get started. The most practical thing to do was to get myself on the hop on hop off world famous bus so I can hit all the major spots. My first stop was the hike up Ancon hill that gave you 360 views of the city. I power walked all the way to the top in record time as this was a piece of cake compared to the tougher hikes I experienced in Costa Rica. The views were great but the highlight for me was seeing a toucan so close I could touch the bird.

The next stop was the canal. Luckily, there were 2 huge ships coming through when I arrived. One of them even reached the maximum width of 106 feet only giving it 1 foot of wiggle room on each side. I watched in awe as the boat raised and lowered with the water to allow a safe passage to the other side. The neat part was watching the same boat go through the Bridge of Americas as we drove to Flamingo Island on the bus.

To finish the tour I jumped out at the old city, which was full of stunning colourful colonial buildings. Squares gathered locals and kids ran around passing soccer balls. Church bells rang in the background and street food overpowered the smell of the city. As the sun went down, I walked along the boardwalk soaking in every last bit of it.

What I particularly enjoyed about Panama was how clean the city centre was. The impression I got from my short stay here is that the city genuinely cares about its up keeping and practices recycling, which I haven't seen much of in this part of the world. So far Panama has also been the most budget friendly place and the locals were really friendly. Maybe I can squeeze in another visit when I have to work my way back North on my way home. After all I still have another Riu night calling my name that even offers eggs benedict during its complimentary breakfast!