Author: Hurly

Thumbs Up Canada: Casco Viejo of Panama

Just want to share some pictures that I took from my phone when I stayed briefly at the Casco Viejo in Panama.

I couldn’t find someone to host me from couch surfing so I stayed at this really cool hostel called Luna’s Castle in Casco Viejo – an area in Panama characterized by old and run down but beautiful buildings.

Many of the buildings are so old and run down that they are abandoned. I love old buildings though so I thought that they were beautiful. Or at least people could see that a lot of these buildings used to be really beautiful buildings.

I went to Panama when it was their Dia De las Banderas literally means Day of the Flag which comes after the Panamenian Independence from Colombia. So the city had flags everywhere! So weird to see patriotism in flags but see the US dollar as their currency.

Anyway here are the pictures…  I love that the trees and plants are growing on the buildings! Its like, the buildings are dying and decaying and the plants are taking over and benefitting from the decaying buildings.














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Thumbs Up Canada: In Buenos Aires, Argentina

Finally made it to Buenos Aires. It is beautiful and hoooooooot. I am at a McDonalds now trying to take advantage of their free WiFi and airconditioning. It’s the only place I know that has free wifi!  🙂 Oh, they have security guards at the door of McDonalds like someone’s gonna steal a big Mac. — actually there are security guards everywhere. The banks, hotels, grocery stores, etc. It’s weird because to me it actually adds to the feeling of insecurity looking at these places that’s so heavily guarded.

I am seriously thinking that I brought the wrong clothes because everything I brought was for cooler weather. Mind you the reason I am in Argentina is to go to Salta and climb the Nevado De Chani – a mountain that’s about 6000 m. So I thought it was gonna be cool doing the trek so I brought clothes for cooler conditions.

But having spent about 35C in Panama City yesterday and now, another 30C in BsAs, I’m afraid that I’ll be too warm with the clothes I have!  My feet is sweating so much and I wish I. Brought sandals or flip flops instead.

I am thinking of starting to take the bus to Salta tomorrow night. It takes almost 24 hours to get there apparently which I don’t really mind because I wanna see the scenery on the way there. I also wanted to spend time in a less crowded city. Buenos Aires is beautiful but its a really big and busy city and to be honest, big cities aren’t my thing. It reminds me a bit of Madrid! Beautiful and busy! The architecture has a European feel as well. And they have lots of outdoor café and patios etc. I like that a lot of the streets are covered in trees!

Anyway, now that I have cooled off a bit, I’m gonna walk towards the train/bus station and see the bus schedule for salta tomorrow…







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Thumbs Up Canada: What? Tourist have free medical insurance in Panama?

I am in Panama City right now. I am staying here overnight and then tomorrow, I am taking the plane to Buenos Aires, Argentina where I am spending a couple of days before going to Salta to hike some mountains.

When I arrived at the airport, the immigration officer gave me this information about free medical insurance for tourist. This is pretty awesome! 30 days of free medical insurance and you don’t even need to be a citizen or a resident of this country! Why don’t we have this in Canada? I know a lot of people in Canada who don’t have access to any insurance because they are not a resident or citizen. Hummm….

By the way, I guess I really have to brush up with my knowledge of other countries because I didn’t know that Panama use the US dollar as currency! I thought they have their own currency but no, they use the US dollar. It’s a bit strange for me to use it because I know I am in Panama yet the money is American!

I am staying in this area called Casco Viejo. I will post pictures later. I’m really so sleepy and I wanna wake up early tomorrow to see the sunrise and more of the city before my flight to Argentina. 

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