PANAMA REPORT TRAVEL.

  

Punctual as never before my United Company Airplane leaves from Newark Liberty International at 08.05 towards the International Airport of Tocumen (Panama), (price of the multi-route ticket including taxes from Malpensa to Panama City and from Mexico City to Malpensa with Newark airport: Euro 669.75).

 

The plane is full.

 

I therefore arrive at 13.30, with impossible heat, at the Tocumen International Airport (Panama), located about 35 km north-east of the center of Panama City. There are 7 hours of time zone, compared to Italy.

 

To enter Panama you do not need a visa and Customs at the Airport is usually cleared without problems, as happened to me. The mandatory requirement to be in possession of the return flight ticket necessary to enter the country is almost never requested by customs personnel.

 

The currency of Panama is the US Dollar.

 

The cheapest way to get to Panama City from the aforementioned airport is to exit the terminal, go right and then walk towards the state road for about 300 meters. Then cross it until you reach a shelter where buses run to the Panama City Albrook Bus Terminal every 15 minutes. The cost of the ride, which lasts about 1 hour, costs $ 0.25, but in theory to get on you must have a rechargeable card that I did not have. I still managed to puncture it by giving $ 0.25 to a passenger who used his card for me. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

Once inside the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, I bought the rechargeable card at a cost of $ 2 that can be recharged as much as you want and is needed to use the Urban Buses ($ 0.25), the Metro, for pay the terminal toilets and the $ 0.25 terminal fee required to take the National and International Buses (in a nutshell to access the terminal gates);

 

To reach from the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, Casco Viejo, that is the historic center, you can either take a taxi at a cost of $ 3 on Sundays and $ 2.5 during the week or you have to exit the Terminal and take an urban bus x the Bus Station in Plaza 5 de Mayo and from there take another which, however, leaves you in the infamous north-west area of ​​Casco Viejo, about 100 meters away. west of Parque Santa Ana. (Let the driver tell you when to get off). The cost of the bus for each leg is 0.25 $ payable only with the rechargeable card.

 

The historic center of Panama City called Casco Viejo has been beautifully redeveloped in recent years and appears safe at least during the day and in the evening and south of Via C11 Este, where the terrible decay begins. Below this bar it is therefore beautiful to walk around and there are a myriad of Restaurants, Clubs, Hotels and Hostels that are sold out almost every day in the high season.

 

Not having found accommodation for the night in Casco Viejo, for the aforementioned reasons, I had to fall back on Hostal Amador, located not far from the historic center which offers dormitory beds at the price of $ 16.5 for one night. It includes free internet, kitchen, space for recreation, ect. Very nice and clean. To reach it I had to take a Sunday taxi for $ 3.

 

The next morning I go back to the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, with the same taxi as the previous evening for $ 2.5.

 

To reach Portobelo, located on the Caribbean Sea, whose fortifications have been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, you have to take one of the numerous buses (former American school buses) departing for Colòn, from the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City and get off in Sabanita (3.15 $ - 1 hour scarce). Turn the corner on the right and wait for another of the frequent buses with the indication "Portobelo" on the windshield, coming from Colòn which reaches Portobelo in less than 1 hour for the price of 1.5 $. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

Portobelo, it turns very well on foot.

 

From Portobelo I reach the City of Colòn, which has dangerous neighborhoods even during the day, with a bus at the price of 2 $. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers. The journey takes an abundant hour.

 

Then from the Terminal de Transporte Centenario in Colòn, located in a disreputable area of ​​Colòn, numerous buses leave for the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City for the price of $ 2.90. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers. The trip takes about 2 hours.

 

To see the Panama Canal you need to go to the Miraflores Visitor Center, located 12km northwest of downtown Panama City. To achieve it there are 2 solutions:

 

1. Take one of the many buses with the word "Miraflores" on the windshield outside the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, which takes you in about 20 minutes in front of the visitor center. The cost of the bus is $ 0.25 payable only with the rechargeable card.

2. Inside the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City, take one of the numerous buses bound for Paraiso or Gamboa. These buses, which run along the main road along the canal, drop passengers after less than 20 minutes at the sign with the words "Miraflores Locks", from which the visitor center is a 15-minute walk away. The ticket price is $ 0.35. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure.

 

The visitor center of Miraflores is open every day from 9.00 to 15.00 and the cost of the ticket for foreigners is 15 $. It offers panoramic terraces with incredible views of the Panama Canal, its Locks and the huge Ships and Merchant ships that pass through it every day (about 1 per hour). There is also a small traveling theater where videos are continuously shown in Spanish and English explaining the history of the canal and its functioning.

 

To reach San Josè, the capital of Costa Rica, the most convenient solution is to take the direct bus of the Tica Bus Company departing every day from the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City at 11.55 pm. The trip costs $ 40.10 and takes approximately 16 hours. (Keep in mind that Costa Rica is one hour behind Panama). The same service is also provided by the Expreso Bus Company, but with departure at 11.00 pm every day. Tickets must be purchased at the Company Desk located inside the aforementioned Terminal.

 

At the Paso Canoas border on the Panama side you pay $ 1 before you are stamped out of the country. Then your luggage is checked in a room. Then you have to walk 300 meters to reach the Customs of Costa Rica.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2016/04/traversata-del-centro-america-da-panama.htm