Panama is country #63 for me and #62 for Josh. It's been a close battle for years now, though I think he'll be taking the lead soon.
Josh and I landed first in Panama City. Panama City is unlike any other city in Central America. It has a tall, modern skyline. There is clearly a lot of money flowing through the place. It is relatively clean, people are nice enough. No beaches here though. Just mudflats and lots of trash floating up.
Day 2 we visited the old town, the "Casco Viejo". It's pretty run down and unimpressive by Latin American "old town" standards. We hung out in a couple nice parks, and had a decent lunch.
There are some quiet alleyways, and there is much construction going on. Clearly the government and the tourism industry is investing some money in cleaning up the area. I'll bet it looks great in 20 years.
Many of the oldest buildings are empty shells awaiting restoration.
On Day 3 we caught a cab to the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal, just a 20 minute ride from the center of the city.
We got to see a Panamax ship, the largest container ship that can fit through the locks, go through. This ship was heading from New York to Shanghai. It had only about 2 feet of clearance on each side of the lock. It is pretty amazing that something built in 1914 is still functioning exactly as it was built and is so critical to world trade. The Panamanian government is currently building two new locks that will allow much bigger ships through.
