I have a nagging doubt they will want my passport, which is back at the hotel. But I am not leaving Panama and they didn't warn me, so fingers crossed.
08:40. OK, they set up a small booth outside, I now have a purple paper wristband and am waiting to board the bus to take us 'wherever' at 09:05-10. I asked and I don't need my passport. (I mean, of course that's logical, but you never know.)
14:10. We have nearly finished. Apparently it costs this ship USD3400 for each transit, if memory serves at 120 feet long it is just under the 128 foot limit at which transits through the locks have to be done with locomotive assistance. The minimum toll is USD500, which is what small yachts like the one which went through with us pay.
We did a southbound partial transit through Pedro something and Miraflores locks to the Pacific. The bus took us out and I gather we will be docking where the bus started from.
It's not a "wow!" experience but I think it has been pretty cool.
21:50. Down at The Londoner, feel a bit silly being here again but sod it. After the canal tour finished about 2:40 I got a cab over to Panama Viejo. The driver seemed a very decent chap. He waited for me while I went in - I was a bit dubious about this, but I think it was smart - and then took me back to the hotel after. USD28 with a small tip, which seems a bit pricey but both the Amador causeway where the tour started/finished and Panama Viejo are a bit outside the regular city, so I don't think it's insane.
Panama Viejo was quite cool though the easy to see bit is fairly small and not that impressive, except for the ruined cathedral/church. I nearly missed the fact you could go up the tower, the views weren't amazing but quite cool.
Surfed a bit and uploaded a load more photos once I got back to the hotel, then came out for food (I went to the Indian restaurant opposite) then got lost finding my way over here. I could swear the map in the guide book is nonsense, but it doesn't help that my hotel's street is not on the map so I am left to infer things a bit to much.
I don't intend to be out particularly late after a 5am finish on Thursday night and an earlyish start today, but equally I am not rushing off. I probably have to be up super early on Monday to get the train to Colon and it is Saturday night so I'm not pressuring myself into going home early if I'm managing to enjoy myself.
A foul smell of vinegar has suddenly manifested itself. Even though I can't see anyone eating. It makes no sense.
22:50. I feel immensely bloated, though I'm only on my second pint, not counting the bottle I had with the curry. I was stuffed after I finished eating and I didn't even finish all the roce, but it's hitting me a bit now. Still, I'm sure it will pass.
For some reason they have hiked the TV volume right up. It's damned annoying. Loud music is one thing but I completely fail to see the need for this. There is boxing on but even so, it seems way too loud.
23:40. Feeling less bloated, my digestive system presumably having done its job. Music is back on (though very loud), "Zombie" now which always reminds me of Guanajuato...
00:40. Just got another beer. I wish the bars here would stop giving me a folded paper tower underneath my beer. It just gets sodden and sticks to the glass. If they're worried about their tables, why not just provide beer mats? El Pavo Real has beer mats but you still get the soggy tissue as well.
By no means deserted but far from busy here. That's cool, I just make the observation. I rather suspect it will pick up over the next hour or so.
Wow, they are playing Rush's "Spirit of Radio". Not sure I've ever heard that in a bar before. Certainly not in a while.
01:00. Just noticed a sign saying they shut at 2 (and are closed Sunday, FWIW). Bit of a shame, I had hoped for better given El Pavo Real is open til 5am, but I didn't want to go back there again. I may pop across to the overpriced place just opposite where I went last Thursday night when they shut here, I assume they will be open a bit later. I don't really want to go on a major quest for somewhere and I'd rather not go to some foul club if I can help it but we'll just have to see how it goes.
01:10. FFS. They are putting stools upside down on the bar already. I hoped to get one more in here before departing. Oh well.
01:20. At Starlight Karaoke & Lounge. It's nightclub-esque indoors (no entrance fee though) and although it's not remotely threatening I am not in the mood (the music is not really to my taste either, assuming the current song is typical). I would sit outside where it's a bit more tranquil if warmer but there are about three tables and they are all occupied, though one is semi-free except that a small group of scrotes is needlessly occupying two which they have pulled together. Oh well. It's all experience.
At least, unlike the last time, I happened to randomly select a beer which comes in 330ml instead of 285ml bottles. It ain't cheap at USD3 (and I am low on actual cash, though I can walk home, it is about five minutes I think) but still, every little helps.
On a random note, I note the doors here in Panama say 'hale' on them to mean 'pull'. My dictionary implies that is a Central American usage. But I can't actually remember what they say elsewhere.
Oh, the guide on the canal transit said you can't drive from Panama into Columbia, which I find surprising if true.
I have also been told (by the guide at the coffee plantation) and seen a sign which confirms it, that retired people get a 25% discount in restaurants by law. Including the rich foreign retirees. This whole thing seems monstrously injust (as well as frankly a bit odd). If the state wants to give benefits to retired people it should pay them itself, not put the burden on restaurants (who presumably have to inflate their prices accordingly, and hence pass it on to anyone else who eats out).
Oh, it is karoake here. I am not sure it was before (I noticed no lyrics earlier) but a somewhat sub-par bit of performance (and I of all people know what that sounds like :-) ) just made me look up.
People were dancing before and are not any more. So I half suspect a bit of a mix of karaoke with regular music.
02:25. Have come outside, there are tables now. The video for Lady Gaga & Beyonce's "Telephone" is on. And it's just weird. I don't even think it's cool, it's just weird.
I will observe in passing the weather is not as wet as I feared after my first night here. I have not been caught in any insanely heavy rain here in Panama City, it was different around David but I gather the climate is a little different there.
02:45. Am outside but they are clearly shutting up here. I just got a beer too. Sigh. I shall try not to rush it then go home. I am not seeking out anywhere else, even if I walk past, unless I am desperately tempted.
03:00. I am easily tempted. Cafe Uruguay, the half-decent place I spotted from the cab last Thursday, was still open. Nearly everyone is outside, I went in to get a beer (quick body search but no entry charge), the interior is smoky if I didn't imagine it (not tobacco smoke, that's illegal and there was far too much for that to be the cause regardless, that sort of stage-effect smoke), ice cold and the music was insanely loud (hard to order a drink loud). But it's practically empty. So I am outside where it's quite busy. I am drinking Panama in a small bottle but sod it. I have enough for at least one more if I'm so inclined and I was probably going to surf a bit if I had gone home (about 330m straight line, I dug my GPS out just to be safe before I came in here) anyway.
There is a projector running a TV out here and I got 'blinded by the light' on my way to a vacant table, but no big deal.
Maybe it's because it's the middle of the night but it's quite pleasant out. The temperature is fine and although there is a hint of mugginess, it's not really a big deal. I continue to be slightly astonished at this 'warm outside, cold inside' business though. But I think I am getting used to it.
I am actually liking the music here, at least outside. I can't really describe it, except that it's heavy on drum machines without achieving that naff quality. The videos are sort of quietly entrancing, in an almost 'Robinson in Space' way. This seems pretty cool without being wanky. Maybe I'm a bit drunk. :-) Though not that much.
03:45. Ah, the DVD or whatever just ended and a track list has come up. So I have jotted down a subset, being a bit of a nerd:
Josh Wink - Higher State of Consciousness (don't know if I saw/heard this, or any of them for that matter, but I love the Spaced connection with this one)
Global deejay feat Technotronic - Get up
Samim - Heater
Camile Jones - the creeps (fig remix)
armin van buren - the sound of goodbye (simon & shaker mix)
bob sinclair - sound of freedom
ferry corsten - watch out
The font sucks from a readability perspective so they may not be quite right.
03:55. Well that's a bit odd. I was just watching some video where a guy gives a woman a flyer saying 'Borough Bridge, 1:36pm' and I assumed it was set in the US but somehow (maybe the name, or maybe the scenery was subconsciously familiar) it reminded of me that evening I went to The Globe by chance and saw the weird yet cool performance where a woman wore an enormous tent as a skirt underneath the railway arches. And then they cut to a shot of a pub with 'The Globe' on it and I suddenly realised it must actually have been filmed round there.
I think the pub is called The Globe but the video is influencing me. I think it is, but I can't be absolutely sure. Whatever.
They are clearly re-running the same DVD as I am now recognising stuff from the first time round. No big deal.
04:10. Just went in to get my third beer. It *is* very smoky and there are people dancing even though the place is fairly empty. It is properly stroboscopic in there, I may never have personally seen a club in quite that way before. Laser light too, of course.
04:30. DVD finished again and sadly they've switched discs and we now have Michael Jackson live in Bucharest. Oh well.
FFS. Five minutes of posing before he even starts to sing. Wanky tosser.
04:40. Just got another beer. I am not noticeably drunk and I might as well push it, even if the music now sucks I am having an oddly good time. Plus if I am getting the train to Colon on Monday I probably have to be up about 6am and so probably won't be out tomorrow night. And I always have this weird desire to see just how late I am allowed to stay out. They may shut at 5 but it seems a bit unlikely.
Even though the inside is practically empty, naturally everyone is dancing along the obvious route to the bog. Use the fucking space, people. No big deal but I don't like fighting through dancers in a rammed club and when there's no real need it rankles.
Jesus, Michael Jackson was a skinny fucker.
I don't know what my plans or are were for tomorrow. I am sure there is stuff to see but if I sleep til 2pm or whatever it will annoy me but no big deal. I've ticked off all the main items now so while I want to make the most of my time, I'm not going to clamp down tonight. Besides, it's so late already that another hour or so (if permitted) makes little difference.
Sunrise is at 6am. So if they don't shut at five I may have managed to stay out all night. :-)
The video keeps cutting to women being carried out insensible by security guards and others almost crying with excitement. The latter is so alien to me. I might really, really like a band, but that major emotional excess is not even something I'd have to repress. I might grin stupidly or sing along but either tears or that hysterical shouting just wouldn't happen. Maybe I'm just an automaton or maybe they're playing up or something in between.
Oh, I think I remember what the coffee guide said that I thought was wrong. It wasn't on the subject of coffee so it doesn't really undermine him as a guide, but still. We were talking about some local natives (he had background with them but hadn't grown up in their community) who come and pick the coffee at the appropriate time of the year. He said something about the Spanish conquest taking down the Aztecs and the Maya, if memory serves, and I am fairly sure the Maya mysteriously 'died out' before the Aztec civilisation got going properly, never mind being around to be overrun by the Spanish. Maybe I'm wrong. I wish I knew more about that sort of thing, I need to read some books.
04:55. The video just cut off. This doesn't bode well for not closing at 5... If they close it's cool, I have a beer and I certainly could go home, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to. The music inside is still pounding out FWIW.
05:20. Well I just got another beer and if anything it's slightly busier inside than it was and there are still people out here.
For some reason I am mentally revisiting the mines in Potosi - perhaps triggered by a mention of catacombs in The Innocents Abroad which I am currently re-reading. I am recalling the experience in a slightly "I can't believe I did that" way, not in a nightmarish sense. But that was probably one of the most intense experiences of the trip.
I really do have to make an effort to do something like bungee jumping or hang gliding or parachuting when I am back in the UK. Push the envelope baby. The ideas scare me to varying degrees approaching shitless, but it would also be so cool to do such things.
05:35. Sky is perceptibly lightening. There is table clearage outside but I just may manage to get another. Not optimistic though.
OK, I just asked the guy taking the TV away next to me on the terrace and he said they were open, so I've got another. This will probably be the last though.
Really do have to do that adrenaline rush stuff mentioned above. It does sound cool and also I'm sick of being scared of everything.
05:50. My tables was the last to be cleared outside. Yet when I just went in to the bog I saw some guys being frisked by the bouncer. I suspect the 'club' is open longer but I don't want to be inside and I've had enough (though I am pretty sober) and it's pretty light and basically I've achieved my goals for tonight. So back home. Will walk of course, it being only a few minutes, and although I'd have done it at night anyway, it's light now so there really is no big deal.
OK, I have no sense but I do have a Rousseau-like honesty. There were still tables outside and a few seats, I was leaving then turned back and asked the bouncer if I could get another and sit outside and he was cool (as I say, I am not badly drunk), so I am. Curse this desire to 'see things through to the bitter end'. It is practically daylight now. I think this will be the last though.
06:00. Further table clearage outside (and yes, I know I said mine was the last earlier, I can't account for that). But hell, I asked and the guy said it was cool, so sod it.
06:25. Well that sucked. Left the bar about 10 mins ago. Just got back and had incomprehensible dialogue to get my key (card, really). I resorted to saying "I am a bit drunk, but not that drunk". That didn't immediately cut any ice but I felt compelled to say something as a result of the difficulties. I have no idea why it was so hard. Still, I have it now and if (unjustly, I am hardly staggering all over the place or anything) they think I'm a twat, sod it, I won't see them again after Tuesday (or at least, not for a few years).
At least we didn't resort to English. I don't know if it was an option anyway, but regardless, we didn't.
I think my plans for tomorrow boil down to just trying to find a couple of places to get a DVD burned. It's a moderately dull task but I am sure it will take me all over the city :-) and it's also not clamped down by a 5pm closing time. Anyway, I think a shower is in order and then to bed...
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