Thursday, January 25, 2018
Panama City to El Valle de Anton
Breakfast at Pips this morning was interminable! It took over an hour. Not that the service was especially quick the last two mornings, but today they were really off their game. Anyway, time to move on. We still managed to check out just after 11:00, leaving Panama City today for the small mountain town of El Valle de Anton, more commonly referred to simply as El Valle.
The Uber network wouldn't connect, so we grabbed a taxi to the Albrook Bus Terminal, where you can get a direct bus to El Valle for $4.25. We boarded a minibus holding 26 or so passengers that left at 12:08. On yesterday's bus they showed the American scifi movie “Passengers,” dubbed in Spanish, but today we were treated to extremely loud Latin pop music. Pro tip: carry earplugs. The bus made about a billion stops, arriving in El Valle about two hours and 40 minutes later, at 2:50 p.m. After turning off the Interamericana Highway at Las Uvas, the road to El Valle is very hilly and curvy. Pro tip 2: Dramamine.
The hotel: Residencial El Valle, on the main road next to the Mercado de Artesanias, $82.50 per night. No English is spoken here, but we had a reservation and checked right in. Our room was on the third floor and opened onto a large common terrace containing a full-sized fridge, microwave, hammocks, and tons of outdoor furniture. We were the only guests staying on the third floor, so this was practically our private patio! The mountain views from the terrace are outstanding, including a perfect view of La India Dormida (The Sleeping Indian Girl). We stayed here two nights.
Residencial El Valle
La India Dormida
Hotel terrace
Jana enjoys the terrace amenities
Soon we went next door to the Mercado de Artesanias, which also includes a nice but small farmers market, and bought a bunch of fingerling bananas to snack on while we walked Avenida Central. This town has a “mini super” every few feet. I don't know how they can support this many small grocery stores! Very convenient, though. We bought two beers, a quart of juice, and 375 ml of rum for $7.90. Deal! FYI, you can also buy a machete at any one of these stores. Jungle life!
Fresh Mercado
For dinner we went across the street to the Bar Restaurante Pekin for some Chinese food. We had the bistec picado con arroz, or beef with vegetables and rice. It was delicious! Of course, we had a couple of Panamanian beers as well. The Balboa is a little better than the other national beers. $17 total. Another deal!
Pekin Hotel, Mini Super, Bar and Restaurante
In the evening we sat out on the huge awesome terrace and enjoyed the spring-like temperatures of the tropical highlands. There were no cups in the room, so we'd purchased a couple of cheap plastic coffee mugs at the nearest mini super and sipped rum and juice as we watched little kids across the street playing with firecrackers – right next to a gas station. Later we could hear the dulcet sounds of music coming from the warehouse-style discoteca down the street.
No-frills disco
Tom
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