Wednesday 15th January:
In the evening Rafael cooked us some food then took us to a few local bars, where for 15 dollars you get 15 minutes with a girl. There were loads of hookers standing around, scantily clad, just blatant. And then loads of men either with their friends or on their own sometimes disappearing off with a girl to a pension, or a private room. I found it quite shocking, and I felt sorry for the girls. Central America is a bit screwed up I think...and Panama is one of the better places in Central America though!
Today we decided to visit the Panama Canal. I went with Frank, the new couch surfer form Holland, who is also staying at Rafael's. On our way we met this American soldier who told us a story of how his bag had been stolen with all his money, passport, credit cards in, but was going on a cruise with his family in a few days time! He had just come back from Afghanistan and was surprising them. Basically he had to fly to a military base in Honduras where they could give him a new passport straight away, and was hoping they would accept his wedding ring as a deposit for the flight, that he would pay for when he came back. Kind of a shit situation for him! I almost offered to pay for the flight but I just wasn't sure if he was a conman or not. I mean he seemed pretty sincere and I had no reason not to trust him, if he was lying he was brilliant at it. In the end we just gave him some dollars so he could get some food. Later on after our way back from the Canal, we bumped into him again and he said he had managed to sort out his flight! He said he would send us a picture of his family when they saw him at the cruise ship, what a nice surprise. I felt a bit bad we had doubted him, but Frank told me there was a traveller in Colombia who basically made his money by conning people like that.
The Panama Canal ok. I was a bit annoyed when we got there because we spent 15 dollars to get in and there was just a canal lock, a very big one, but basically just and industrial site, no ships, fortunately one did turn up so we got to see the Canal in action, with flocks of other American tourists...then there was a museum about the history and the building of the Canal, which kind of shocked me cause so many people risked their lives to build it, like mainly from malaria and dengue fever, because they basically had to clear an entire jungle out of the way. I also find the entire history of the place interesting because it was been fought over for so long by Americans, who basically paid for the building of it in 1914. They then occupied the canal to reclaim the building costs of it up till about 2000, I think. You can see the heavy influence of America on Panama.
The Panama Canal ok. I was a bit annoyed when we got there because we spent 15 dollars to get in and there was just a canal lock, a very big one, but basically just and industrial site, no ships, fortunately one did turn up so we got to see the Canal in action, with flocks of other American tourists...then there was a museum about the history and the building of the Canal, which kind of shocked me cause so many people risked their lives to build it, like mainly from malaria and dengue fever, because they basically had to clear an entire jungle out of the way. I also find the entire history of the place interesting because it was been fought over for so long by Americans, who basically paid for the building of it in 1914. They then occupied the canal to reclaim the building costs of it up till about 2000, I think. You can see the heavy influence of America on Panama.
In the evening Rafael cooked us some food then took us to a few local bars, where for 15 dollars you get 15 minutes with a girl. There were loads of hookers standing around, scantily clad, just blatant. And then loads of men either with their friends or on their own sometimes disappearing off with a girl to a pension, or a private room. I found it quite shocking, and I felt sorry for the girls. Central America is a bit screwed up I think...and Panama is one of the better places in Central America though!
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