Panama City Day 3

Today we all enjoyed some quality sleeping in and rolled out of bed, like clockwork, at 11:45 to try and catch the free pancakes before they were taken away at noon. Some of us were successful... others were not.
Our hostel is such an eclectic place. There's a full bar completely underneath the hostel and it opens up to a really cool courtyard. Upstairs there are rooms with hammocks and many, many couches and computers and lofts and a balcony with a great view of the skyline. But there are all these people from all over the world too. Just yesterday, I talked to a guy from New Zealand, Arizona and Southern England and some other girls from Israel (right out of the IDF) and London who got some music from our laptops.
At two we hiked over to the bus stop and then took Panama's public transport to Panama Viejo, the Old City and the oldest part of pre-Spanish Panama. While there, Tre, Jordan and River mapped out the VGs conquest of Panama.
Our bus over was a converted schoolbus that most closely resembled Dr. Robert's party bus from Across the Universe.

After we got to Panama Viejo, we toured the cultural center and then walked by the coast to the old city. We climbed up to the tower and took in some breathtaking views of Panama. Afterwards, we descended and then hopped taxis to get back to downtown Panama for dinner.

Before our taxi ride, though, some of the guys engaged in the time honored ritual of chicken-fighting. Guess who won? (Hit: The answer is Gravity)

Taxis here are so cheap - it's fairly standard that $1 per person will get you from anywhere in the city to anywhere else. The danger though is that you find a cab driver like the one we had today. We're pretty sure he's a legitimate pimp since he kept offering us Colombian women and massages for $100 or tabling dancing for $20. He looked stunned when we passed on his "generous" offer. The bus was only 25 cents but we timed it pretty badly and ended up riding to Panama Viejo with a bunch of school kids on their way home.
After dinner, we serenaded the hostel residents and sang House of the Rising Sun, Brandy and Bad Romance to a great response.
Now we're finishing up some spades games and getting read to take in the Panamanian night life. Check back soon!


-Simon