I woke up about two and dragged myself out of the hostel about three.
I got a cab in the street and he had never heard of 'Nunciatura' either. I even showed it him written on my phone so my Spanish is off the hook. For USD5 he took me to where he though Edificio Bahia Balboa was. This was in the centre and hence USD5 was a rip off but I couldn't know what in advance. We pulled up by some building and he showed me signs on it for the tour. So I got out and paid him. He seemed to be on the verge of upping his price, but he didn't try it.
He asked why I didn't just call and I said my phone didn't work here. He said I could use a public phone, I said I would if I had to but my Spanish wasn't that good. I don't know if this just hadn't occurred to me but I know I have had little success when I've called bars and things in Mexico before from public phones in Spanish.
The signs gave two phone numbers. On closer examination the base of the building seemed to be occupied by businesses with shop fronts and there seemed no obvious entrance to the building proper.
Long story shorter, I walked off fuming to try and get a cab to take me to the right place, as I decided maybe those were just ads. Ultimately I reckon that was the right building and I just couldn't see a way in. I noted down the phone numbers and found a public phone with the earpiece volume set far too low and plenty of traffic noise.
Naturally there was no indication how much calls cost, but I tried four times and used up all my quarters. Once the woman who answered the phone couldn't hear me (I assume it was the right company, she didn't bother to say the name when she answered). Another time I said "can you hear me?" and she said she could hear me perfectly, then it cut off. (This was in Spanish, I never got far enough to ask if they spoke English.)
I thought I'd try to get a cab to a call centre where I could call in peace and pay with notes. Not a single empty cab.
So I walked, half giving up. During this time I even tried to call from my mobile, but while web searching to get the country code my credit expired and I have up. As I walked, it somehow seemed that space had wrapped around on itself and no matter which way I turned I couldn't escape a tiny part of the city. A shit part where every road is heaving (though not quite as bad as Ciudad del Este) and there are no, count 'em, zero pedestrian crossings.
At some point I bought an ice cream and then tried to call from another payphone. Despite lashings of traffic noise, this had a decent earpiece volume. But this time (it was about 16:30) the number claimed to be out of service, even though it had worked half an hour or an hour earlier.
I eventually found myself at some small shopping centre. By this time I honestly think I'd been trying to get a cab for half an hour or more, maybe much more. There was even a 'queue' of people by the side of the road trying to get cabs too, so it wasn't just me being useless.
This was a very built up sort of area, clean in that concretety Canary Wharf sort of way. I at least felt safe.
A lot of the time I was stood between some diagonally parked cars and the road. On two separate occasions the ARROGANT RUDE FUCKER in the car I was stood in front of blew his horn because I was blocking him from pulling out. Repeatedly, because I didn't notice, because the drivers here use their horns all the fucking time and so I was kind of not paying attention. My bad. Because it would be such a TERRIBLE inconvenience for you to have to wind your window down and shout "sorry mate, could you move please?" at me.
I kind of gave up at this point. I had visions of never getting out of there. There was a 24h supermarket and a cash machine so I figured at least I'd be OK until I had to sleep. I bought a half gallon (?) of grapefruit juice and drank half of it outside the supermarket. I am still lugging the remains around with me.
After another abortive cab-hailing session by the parked cars, I figured I'd try walking back towards Av Balboa on the offchance. And by a miracle a cab was pulling out of somewhere and I grabbed it.
He even knew where I wanted to go (as an arbitrary target, since my guide book is so fucking useless at advising on nightlife, I had picked the address of some museum, on the grounds there must be some other stuff nearby) and only charged me USD2. It turned out he was going to pick other people up on the way, but sod it, I don't care. The first competent and honest cab driver I've found here. (I told him the address, not the name of the museum, to avoid any "but it will be shut now" hassle, even if he knew where it was.)
I wasn't sure he had dropped me off at the right place due to lack of street signs, but I later managed to confirm he had.
This area was a bit more run down but not too badly so, much more 'normal' and although the traffic was a bit heavy it didn't have that "I am stranded in the middle of a motorway junction" feeling the first place had.
I had a brief wander and it seemed a bit dull but there were a couple of small restaurants and (empty/closed) bars. So I went and got something to eat and then wandered around a bit more. It was dark by this time.
I found a couple of unwelcoming looking bars and kept wandering. Eventually I found myself running up against quiet, dingy and slightly dilapidated streets so I figured I would cut my losses and just come back here. The vague plan had been to explore a bit on foot during daylight to find new places, but since I wasted all that time due to getting up late and getting stuck in that concrete jungle trying to locate the awkward canal tour fuckwits (who still hadn't replied to my message to their web site as of this morning) that didn't happen.
I got a cab with no major dificulty. I seemed to recall this place was at the junction of Av. 5B Sur and Calle 48. I asked the guy how much it would be to go there, he said 1.50 and I got in. He then kept asking me questions about where it was and saying 'llavita' or 'he vista' or something I didn't understand. WHY DID YOU FUCKING LET ME GET IN AND *GIVE ME A FUCKING PRICE* IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHERE IT WAS? In the end as he seemed to be getting a bit arsey I said I'd give him USD2 to drop me somewhere there were people. In the end I found myself paying him that much to drop me at some random garage on some random but fortunately busy road. So that was money well spent.
I then proceeded to hail about 5 or maybe even 10 cabs (I am not joking, it was at least 5), not one of which acknowledged the existence of Av 5B Sur. I could swear I was pronouncing it right as I think I copied the cab driver's pronunciation when he fucked me over last night. "Avenida Cinco Be Sur".
I then went through the rigmarole of topping my phone up and trying to find an address for The Londoner or Habibi's. The first website I found helpfully gave a phone number and no address. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I always like to phone a bar and reserve a table before I turn up, and they can give me the address then.
Anyway, I found another site and it turned out I wanted the corner of Calle 48 and Av. Uruguay. (So I have been to Av. Urugay already, in some sense.) Of course cabs had turned thin on the ground again now, but armed with this new information when I got one in a few minutes the driver knew where I wanted, told me USD1.50 and took me here. Second honest and competent cab driver! I gave him USD2 as my pockets are so rammed getting change would have been a nuisance, plus I may want to conserve it for future phone call attempts, but at least that was my choice and I'm not to 30p.
I had a brief wander to see if there was anywhere else vaguely promising nearby before I did come back to Habibi's, but there wasn't. I assume Av. Uruguay is very long and the bars/clubs are dotted along it in little clusters. There are a few other places here, they just looked sucky.
But I did find a street sign saying 'Av 5a Sur', with the 'a' in superscript. (I wonder if that is the 'real' name for Av. Uruguay, but it's far from clear.) So it does fucking existence. I suspect the '5a' may be like '5th' in English but I am not sure. I don't think that would account for the drivers not understanding me. Plus I could swear the cab driver said 'cinco' when he stopped here for no reason on our trip last night. I took a picture of the sign for no really good reason, maybe I will ask a native speaker about it when I get back to the UK.
It feels pretty shit being back here but there you go. I am clearly not doing the canal tour tomorrow. I will try my hardest to find a less FUCKING ELUSIVE company to do a tour with, but failing that I may try to get my parents to call them on Monday or try myself again and do the tour next Saturday.
I suppose I did see a bit of the city in some ways today, but really I am not loving it here. It is a bit of a shame I am almost certainly going to be 'forced' to spend as much time in this city as I am, as per my plans last night combined with the probable need to do the canal tour a week tomorrow now.
Two young American women gabbing away (apparently bilingually) at the next table. They are irrationally annoying me. Maybe I'm just jealous because they seem to be having a good time.
Oh, when I initially searched for this place as "Habib" on my phone, my blog came up as number one hit (I had a few other words in there). Totally useless but a bit weird all the same.
I noticed while staring at traffic watching for taxis that the cars here don't have number plates on the front, just the back. Some have a blank space and some have the car make and model instead.
I always say this but I really don't plan to be out that late. I suppose at least not doing the tour tomorrow maybe gives me a chance to do the remaining bits of Casco Viejo. Though I also need to decide where I'm going on Sunday and sort that out.
I think I have some mosquito bites on my arms. I have a couple of itchy lumps. Sigh. I just hope I was correctly advised there is no malaria risk in Panama City. I am suddenly worried I will need medication for any other part of the country, and I don't have any. Oh well. Just have to see and maybe I can buy some tomorrow over the counter, though the stuff ain't cheap so I don't want to if it's not necessary.
I really do feel I've made a bit of a hash of things today and ending up back here just seems to rub it in. But I guess it's all experience and as I say I have kind of seen stuff. It is a shame about the canal tour but I guess I was probably going to be back here next Saturday anyway.
Oh, those websites did list other bars when I was finding the address of this one but I'd had enough problems for one day without messing around getting to some unknown bar and finding it was totally foul and then trying to get here afterwards.
If I didn't already make it clear, it's hot and muggy here. It was weird sitting near the door in the airconditioned restaurant (actually feeling slightly cold) and having a gust of hot humid air hit me when the door opened. So completely the opposite of what I'm used to in the UK...
The hostel room has a ceiling fan and it's bearable but especially if I might be having a slightly sucky time (though I suspect if you only knew where to go it would be OK) and hence maybe spending more time 'at home', I definitely want somewhere with air conditioning when I come back here later next week. As I've already said, an 'apartment' would be perfect. I will have to look on expedia and see if they've fixed that glitch yet, failing that I will have to hunt around elsewhere. Though I suppose sorting out Sunday and onwards is a higher priority.
I didn't have a shower today as I was pushed for time as I figured the office would shut at 5 and I didn't even leave til 3. (I was puttering around in my room, obviously I could have found time, but I didn't really want to leave so it was an effort even to do that.) And I doubt I'll get a chance tonight. Sigh.
I am wondering if I'm a bit "travelled out". It isn't particularly bothering me but I seem to be more solitary than the earlier parts of the trip and some things seem a bit more of a chore. On the other hand I am basically enjoying myself, even on days like today it is sort of OK I guess, and maybe it's just that the places I've been lately haven't been offering me what I want (whatever that is).
In some sense the Panama Canal is the last 'big ticket' item on the trip. I have vague plans for Mexico and I may end up finding something last minute which is a 'must do', but once I get the canal soundly ticked off I won't have anything which is so essential I have to go through shit like today trying to arrange it and then keep at it when that fails. Everything else should be more like those damn Encarnacion ruins where I can just say "fuck it, this isn't worth this crap" without feeling I've shot myself in the foot.
Obviously I do want to see the canal and ideally sail down (part of) it - I mean, I put Panama on the itinerary back in December solely because of it - but at the same time I am deeply hacked off at just how difficult something which IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN is turning out to be to arrange.
Oh, Habibi's is in my guide book in the list of four or five bars they deign to include. The Londoner and Starlight aren't. They are "joys of discovery" places. Because discovering that spider was certainly a joy. :-)
Maybe I should try to find a lively and ideally airconditioned hostel when I come back. I don't know.
I am suddenly feeling sort of fed up, not really depressed. I was shaking my head and saying "oh, man" to myself kind of involuntarily. It's all cool but still. I half just want to go back to the hostel, but I won't be able to sleep this early.
It's probably not completely true, but I do sort of get the idea, despite what the guide book says, that this is one of those places where you have to know where you want to go, drive or get a cab there, be there and go home. It really doesn't seem cut out for wandering around, it's either too concrete jungle and shopping centres (the first area I got stuck in round Av Balboa) or slightly dull with slightly dodgy looking areas hemming you in (the area near that museum).
Oh, I left my hostel-supplied towel in the shared bathroom yesterday morning. I tried to pop in at 3pm today to see if it was in there still but the room was in use. I have my own towel but I'd rather use theirs. I hope they are not going to accuse me of nicking it or losing it if I can't recover it before I leave. I didn't take it out of the hostel so as far as I'm concerned it's their problem.
23:55. Been feeling rather down and have far from bounced back, although the intro to a rather foul dancy track they just played reminded me of Spaced and raised a smile. And maybe the sweet brown liquor is starting to have an effect. I am on my fourth, I think I may have this, perhaps one more then fight my way home. I know I said that last night but I think I probably will tonight. I am not looking forward to it but I need to do a lot of planning tomorrow.
It occurs to me I am probably in part being run ragged by the cab drivers here due to lack of confidence. I was fine elsewhere. I think in part it's that I just don't feel that safe here - probably a legacy of the odd hint in the guide book, even though it says most places are fine, and that first morning. If I wasn't so worried about ending up in the middle of nowhere I would be less inclined to effectively say to cab drivers "oh, so you're an incompetent and/or lying fuckwit, let me pay you more than we agreed for not doing your job and I'll somehow struggle on anyway".
And maybe I am having to take more cabs here anyway due to being in Casco Viejo and being advised against the northern tip of the peninsula on foot and hence compelled to cab it in and out. I mean, I didn't take a single cab in Colonia del Sacramento as I could walk to the bus/ferry terminal, and I only took them in Montevideo on arrival and departure. But I did take a few in Buenos Aires and had no trouble, and ditto in Santiago and La Paz, and doubtless other places.
I am irrationally getting a bad feeling about the whole country. Apart from the sudden worry about malaria medication, I have this vague idea anywhere else I go will be scary.
I am not in a Rio or Sao Paulo mindset yet, but I can't help feeling perhaps a bit overly cautious when I am anywhere remotely run down or underlit. I do wonder if there's a poverty aspect to it, but Bolivia must be poorer than this and I don't remember feeling anywhere near as concerned there.
00:40. Just asked for the bill. I reckon I have a one in three chance of getting a competent and non-grasping cab driver. We'll see.
00:50. Still no bill. I shall ask again and then embark on the Herculean task of getting home.
Just got it. Looking more closely tonight, I see it includes a 10% tip. So I shall take my change. At USD3 a beer I'm not paying more than I need to. The taxi driver will take the money I save...
Besides, I only have four dollars not hidden about my person, plus a couple more to come in change.
01:20. Well, I feel amazingly bucked up. Maybe as it was early for a Saturday I easily accosted a cab in a queue of traffic outside Habibi's. Driver said it would be five, I offered him four and he accepted. And although he seemed to be haring along a bit and I noticed him put his seatbelt on after seeing some cops near the hostel :-), he did indeed take to Iglesia de San Jose and cheerfully accepted the four.
It's almost stupid but that cheered me up no end.
I also spotted an unexceptional but at least different club just down the road from Habibi's, so if nothing else turns up I can go there (carefully of course, given checkout on Sunday) tomorrow night for at least a small change.
I just had a quick shower. No sign of my towel but I will assume the hostel have taken it.
The shower has a single 'tap' which is just a lever like you might have on a gas pipe. Very crude. But the water, which I suspect comes direct from the mains, is at least not freezing so in this climate it's acceptable if a touch crap.
Anyway, maybe a brief surf and then to bed for an ideally earlyish awakening tomorrow to do some planning and booking before I go out.
Oh, there seemed to be a few very down at heel club/bar places (no signs, just doors with lights showing from inside and music and some people stood drinking in the street sort of thing) nearby in Casco Viejo. No way will I even attempt to visit one, but I make the observation just forthe sake of it.
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