I had a stop over in Panama City, Panama before heading to Ecuador from Bangkok.  The ticket was cheaper if i stayed a couple days there vs. flying through (airlines go figure).  Since I hadn’t been there I thought it would be great and looked forward to something new.  I have to say I was a little shocked at how cool it was while I was there.  Every day it rained but for the most part I was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt most of the time.  I thought I would be dripping wet 10min after getting off the plane but the cool weather was most appreciated, esp after coming from Bangkok and Dubai.

I didn’t do much while in Panama as it rained most of the time.  I did make a stop off at the Panama Canal, so I can now officially check that off my list of places seen.  To be honest I really didn’t care to see it but when I asked anyone there what there was to see and do everyone always responded with the same thing “Have you been to the canal yet???”  It’s really the only thing to see in Panama City, as far as attractions go.  Other then late night clubs I think thats about all because that was the only other suggestion I got other then the Panama Canal.

So I went, took a picture, got a shout out from the museum guide who was giving the play-by-play of what was happing as the ships were moving through the canal.  He heard I was from Missouri and thought it was notable enough to tell everyone at the museum over the microphone.  To be honest, there isn’t much to see at the canal.  If your into the engineering or architecture then it’s a must see, as it’s a wonderment but it takes about 20-30min for a ship to go through one lock and it’s not all the exciting after 5min.  As far as pictures go, it’s an ok place but it’s hard to get a real scope of the canal as it’s just so big, as say compared to the Eiffel Tower or Mount Rushmore.  If I ever do go back to Panama I think I will try and head north to the Bocas del Toro Islands.  They have some of the nicest beaches in Panama and compared to prices for hotels and what not for Panama City (avg. hotel will cost you about $80 USD) it can’t be much worse on the pocket book.