Panama

Okay, now I can strike Panama off my list of 1,001places to go before I die. I do not know what the criteria needed to get into the Top 10 Places to Visit in 2012, but I am doubting the list after my visit to the country.

I arrived in Panama on a hot Monday night. In fact, the average temperature in Panama City was 98 degrees Fahrenheit the week I was there. 

January till April is the dry season in Panama. Fortunately, the breeze from the ocean does give some relief. 

Panamá Viejo is the remaining part of the old Panama City and former capital of the country. Together with Casco Viejo, the historical district of Panama - they formed a World Heritage Site. The archaeological site of Panamá Viejo is the site of the oldest European town on the American mainland, founded in 1519. When the town was moved to a new location in 1673, the site was abandoned and never rebuilt. It still retained its original streets and open spaces today. The Old Panama's cathedral and its bell tower is the best-preserved building of the ruins. Best time to visit is either early morning or evening as these times the weather is much cooler.

Balboa Avenue runs along the Bay of Panama and passes by all the new skyscrapers that is changing the skyline in Panama City. There are parks, walking and jogging lanes with an ocean view. The Avenue stretches all the way to the entrance of Casco Viejo. A commercial point in the past, it is now a major tourist attraction for its historic buildings, narrow brick streets, and wrought-iron balconies. However, there are many buildings left unoccupied. Some are in major restorations while others are just left empty. Wander off from the tourist's areas and you might end up at some dangerous areas which should be avoided at all times. 

The highlight is touring the Panama Canal which stretches 50 miles from the edge of the city to the Caribbean port of Colon. A half-day tour begins at 9 in the morning. The vessel left from Flamenco Marina at Amador Causeway before heading toward the Bridge of Americas. It passes through the Miraflores Lock and the Pedro Miguel Lock, and ends at Gamboa. There the bus picks you back to the Flamenco Marina. It is an interesting experience, but with the breeze blowing wildly after a delicious meal on board, one could not help but doze off. A walk along the Amador Causeway from Flamenco Marina to the Panama Biodiversity Museum takes about an hour or so. Strategically located at the entrance of the Panama Canal, and designed by fame architect Frank Gehry, the museum will add to Panama's list of top attractions when it opens later this year.

The city reminded me so much about Kuala Lumpur - hot, and chaotic. Traffic never seemed to ease as night fell, with cars and buses on collision course on roads that swirl around new high-rises and houses. A mass transit system is in the work, and the public is hoping that this would help improve the traffic congestion in the future. 

I had the opportunity to visit other towns during my week long stay in Panama.

Portobelo is about 3-hour bus ride from Panama City. It is a pretty nice town with excursions to different islands by boat. It is a sleepy town with ruins of the Spanish colonial fortifications still existed today. The well-preserved Customs House is now a museum. Unfortunately, the beauty of this town is spoilt by trash being thrown all over.

In Chitre, I met a Canadian with his Panamanian family. He runs a cafe and a restaurant there. This city has a lot of amenities and conveniences of Panama City even though it doesn't seem that way. The Union Park is in the center of town where its cathedral is located.  At night the rooftop of the cathedral is illuminated in red, making the cathedral the center piece of attraction in Chitre. Most shops closed at 8 during the night,  although Cafe Raquel (that runs by the Canadian) closed pretty late. And, you can always enjoy a ball game at a nearby stadium that cost only $5.

La Arena and Parita are two smaller towns which are accessible either by bus or taxi from Chitre, and both places can be done in a couple of hours. Parita is the oldest Hispanic settlement in the Azuero Peninsula and its quaint, little main square has not changed much since the days of the Spanish conquistadors. La Arena has rows of shops along the main road that sell ceramic wares to tourists looking for local handicrafts. There is even a market square selling local artists' products and designs.

 Overall, I find that the trip is not as enjoyable as I hope it would be. Influence from North America has a strong presence here. Panama City and its towns  seemed lacking in local streets food but fast-food joints from America are everywhere. Promoting the country as a major tourist destination is inadequate as its local artisans seemed to be struggling for tourists at the Centro Artesanal centers. I hope given time, Panama will be given a place it deserves as a top tourist destination but not now.

The world's tinniest street - Brasov's Strada Sforii

Panama Biodiversity Museum

Panama Biodiversity Museum is strategically located at the entrance of the 

Panama Canal, and designed by fame architect Frank Gehry, the museum 

will add to Panama's list of top attractions when it opens later this year.

1,001 Places To See Before I Turn 100: Yucatan Peninsula

1,001 Places To See Before I Turn 100: Yucatan Peninsula: I arrived in Mérida International Airport in the afternoon.  It was a hot and humid day in August.I hailed for a taxi to take me to Zocalo...

Yucatan Peninsula

I arrived in Mérida International Airport in the afternoon.  It was a hot and humid day in August.I hailed for a taxi to take me to Zocalo Square (Main Square, cost $11). I did not expect much traffic, but I was surprised that Mérida can be quite congested with traffic and pollution. 

Mérida is the capital and largest city in the Yucatan Peninsula. It is the twelve most populous city in Mexico. As the state and regional capital, Mérida is a cultural center, featuring multiple museums, art galleries, restaurants, and shops. Mérida retains an abundance of beautiful colonial buildings and is a vibrant cultural center with music and dancing playing an important part in day-to-day life. The town has a casual, relaxed feel despite the traffic and human congestions. Most buildings are in stucco and painted in light colors. I did not see lots of plants in the tropical city, if I did, most of them just grew naturally without any human intervention.

Zocalo Square is full of people sitting on benches, talking, and taking a relaxing stroll. The shades provided by the trees are so inviting, and it makes you want to sit and chat on one of its famous benches 'for two', on any time of the day. It is a mixture of present and past, framed in by the San Ildefonso Cathedral, the Montejo House, the State Capital Building and the City Hall, creating a whole architectural feast. Horse-drawn carriages are plenty parking on the side of the cathedral on Calle 61, and they might be a good idea for a ride on a hot day. 

The cathedral is the oldest on the continent, built between 1561 and 1598. Much of the stone in the cathedral's walls came from the ruins of Tihó, the former Maya City. Next to the cathedral is the old bishop's palace, which is now converted into an art museum, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatán. There are 17 exhibition rooms display work by contemporary artists, mostly from Yucatán. Palacio Montejo is a fine example of the Spanish architectural style known as plateresque. A bank occupies the building now, but you can enter the courtyard, and view the garden, and see the charming residence once lived by the Montejos descendants (the Montejo family once conquered Yucatán). Next, you can go to the second floor to see the meeting of all the city council at Palacio Municipal (Town Hall), and enjoy the view of the square from the balcony.

The streets can be quiet as soon as the sun goes down when the people go straight home after work. It can be very charming at night with spot lights beaming the structures around Zocalo Square. 

The next day, I had to wake up early (4 am) to catch the first bus at 6 am to Uxmal. 

One way fare is peso 32 (US$3). The journey takes about an hour. Entrance to Uxmal is 88 peso ($8). Uxmal is a large pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya Civilazation in Yucatán. Uxmal holds some of the most complex and beautiful examples of the regional Puuc-style architecture, and its magnificent pyramids and structures make it a popular tourist destination. The Maya architecture here is considered matched only by that of Palenque in elegance and beauty. Thanks to its good state of preservation, it is one of the few Maya cities where the casual visitor can get a good idea of how the entire ceremonial center looked in ancient times. Some of the outstanding buildings here include: The Governor's Palace, Adivino (Pyramid of the Magician),Nunnery Quadrangle (government's palace), and the Ballcourt.

It may be a good idea to come here as early as possible as the sun can be pretty hot by 10 am (I am glad I did). A tour which include lunch is 300 peso plus the entrance fee. For Uxmal, joining the tour is not a bad idea cause one has to walk out, and wait by the roadside for the bus back to Merida (I waited an hour). This can be confusing as too many buses go by. 

Again, I woke up at 4 am the next day as I was planning to visit Chichèn Itzà.

The bus ride cost 49 peso and the journey is about 2 1/2 hours. Entrance is 88 peso. Chichèn Itzà is also another large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya Civilization. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “In the Mexican Origin” and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings are connected by a dense network of formerly paved roads, called sacbeob. The buildings of Chichén Itza are grouped in a series of architectonic sets, and each set was at one time separated from the other by a series of low walls. The three best known of these complexes are the Great North Platform, which includes the monuments of El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court; The Ossario Group, which includes the pyramid of the same name as well as the Temple of Xtoloc; and the Central Group, which includes the Caracol, Las Monjas, and Akab Dzib. Dominating the center of Chichén is the Temple of Kukulkan, often referred to as "El Castillo" (the castle). This step pyramid has a ground plan of square terraces with stairways up each of the four sides to the temple on top. 

You can walk up El Castillo. Each side has 91 steps, and you can have a very nice 360 degree view of the surrounding. It can be hot once you're up there. Bus stops in front of the site, so it might be a good idea to go on your own instead of joining a tour. There are lots of souvenir shops outside. 

That night I had a delicious Sopa de Lima, a lime soup with a chicken broth base accompanied by shredded turkey and crispy tortilla. I left Merida the next day heading back to Tijuana. It cost $8 to the airport. 

Soup of the Day

I had this delicious bread soup with butter on top when I was in Reykjavik.

South of the Border

Situated on the United States-Mexico border adjacent to its sister city of San Diego, Tijuana is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California. Over forty-million people cross the border each year between Tijuana and San Ysidro, California, making it the busiest land-border crossing in the world.

A walk to the town center (where the infamous Tijuana Arch is located) is about 20 minutes. You can see the Tijuana arch from almost anywhere in town, and it's the landmark to head back to if you get lost. I thought I would see drunken rowdy Americans, and illegal street activities in broad daylight, but nothing came close.

Tijuana is a pretty quiet town, with lots of places selling cheap tacos (one for $1) and beers (draft beer for 0.99 cents). Souvenir shops are everywhere. The town offers goods from all over Mexico on sale prices. However, like any other places, the best deals are found on the goods made locally. In this case, the best deals in Tijuana are on leather goods. If you need anything in leather from purses to pants or motorcycle jackets to back packs , this is the place.

For many visitors, Avenida Revolución has been a mecca for tourists visiting Tijuana. In the early days it was known as a bawdy center for illicit fun. But now, some of the original attractions are prohibited: Gambling was outlawed in the 1930s, back-alley cockfights are also illegal, and the girlie shows whose barkers once accosted passersby are slowly diminishing. Don't expect staid and sedentary, however. Drinking and shopping are the main order of business these days; while revelers from across the border knock back tequila shooters and dangle precariously from the upstairs railings of glaring bars, bargain hunters peruse the never-ending array of goods (and not-so-goods) for sale.

If you're looking to see a different side of Tijuana, the best place to start is the Centro Cultural Tijuana (Tijuana Cultural Center). You can easily spot the ultramodern complex, designed by irrepressible modern architect Pedro Ramírez Vásquez, by its centerpiece gigantic sand-colored dome. The center also holds the Museo de las Californias (Museum of the Californias), with exhibits that trace the history of the Californias, dating back to prehistoric times. While you are there, stop to admire the wide, European-style Paseo de los Héroes. The boulevard's intersections are gigantic glorietas (traffic circles), at the center of which stand statuesque monuments to leaders ranging from Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc to Abraham Lincoln.

Many foreigners travel to Tijuana to drink and dance, buy prescription drugs, illegal drugs (especially in and around dance clubs), purchase bootleg brand-name clothing, timepieces, and other personal accessories found globally, as well as manufactured and hand-crafted local curiosities. While still an entertaining town with an enjoyable atmosphere, locals and tourists alike would agree that it has lost its "anything goes" mentality which it had once acquired, a mindset that was dangerous to tourists, locals, and the tourism industry as a whole.

Next day later, I went to General Abelardo L Rodriguez International Airport for my flight to Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula (cost $6).