Historic Panama City

When you go to Panama City there are two unique things for tourists to do. You can go to Casco Viejo and enjoy stepping back in time, or you can see the Canal. While there is plenty of shopping, various museums and restaurants, those things are in every large city. We were on a few day layover in Panama City and wanted to make the most of our trip so we just went to the most popular sight.

Casco Viejo dates back to the late 1600s, it's not the oldest part of Panama City, there are some buildings that date back a hundred years earlier. The first settlement was destroyed by pirates and is just ruins that are not really worth seeing but Casco Antiguo or the oldest surviving part of Panama city is full of life.

Don't be fooled by the beauty here, we decided to take the subway to the nearest station and had to walk a few hundred meters to the old town-through a bad neighbourhood. While flower baskets hang from well maintained old buildings here, on our way we passed by hundreds of homeless people and shanty towns to get here. Panama City is seriously divided between the rich and the poor.

Police keep the historic center safe for tourists. There are cops everywhere which doesn't really make one feel safer but do they keep the riff raff out. Razer wire and electric fences help aswell.

Casco Antiguo or the old quarter is maintained for tourists. We stayed in the new city but there are many charming accommodations here and over priced restaurants. Tourists come to Panama for inexpensive shopping and for business. It's really not a great tourist spot as the water is dirty and the city is not relaxing.

The beach doesn't look that bad but there is a highway on a causeway if you look in the other direction and the sky makes the water appear less brown. The Panama canal is just beyond that hill so large ships pollute the shallow sea.

There is some magnificent architecture and art found in an around the alleys of Old Panama City. We had to carefully angle the camera to get such shots. Another issue with Old Panama is they allow cars everywhere, it is a giant traffic jam that smells like an exhaust pipe. They really should restrict traffic in the area as it would make the place magical.

One can buy panama hats and handcrafted souvenirs all around the old district. We didn't get a hat but I can't say we will never return. Layovers through Panama city are free if you fly with the national carrier, Copa Airlines. The city is very accessible from the airport by the metro system or an inexpensive Uber ride. People fly here from more expensive parts of the Caribbean just for a quick shopping trip.

It amazes me that a city was built on the Western Pacific Ocean by the Europeans before most of Canada was settled. Before the canal was built in the early 20th century for Europeans to get here one had to sail all the way around South America or around Africa and across the Pacific Ocean.

Panama City was first settled 88 years before Jamestown had its first wooden hut and it has grown nonstop since then. The old city skyline is in sharp contrast to the modern financial skyscrapers and residential towns which line the ocean for miles between here and the airport to the south.

Independence square and the metropolitan cathedral are two of the more popular sites in the old town. The church looks like it could use a good scrubbing as centuries of dirt have taken its toll on the buildings facade.

In the tropics, especially near the ocean, one has to consistently paint a building to keep up its fresh looking appearance. If you look closely at the walls you can see thick layers of paint and the city is under constant maintenance.

Keeping a green garden isn't as challenging here. It rains all the time and the sun comes out almost every day. Panama is less than 10 degrees off the equator so it's pretty much hot and humid every single day. We couldn't last more than 45 minutes walking around before it was time to get back to our hotel.

On that note, here is the Sofitel Legend Hotel, which offers the finest five star accomodations in all of Panama.

You can see some of the new city peeping out in the background here. The new skyline is very impressive and this hotel would have the best views of the modern city while being in the best part of the old city.

There are many boutique hotels, little galleries and restaurants in the immediate area and wondering the streets would be a pleasure if it wasn't for the stupid amount of cars.

We stuck to the edges of the old city trying to avoid the charming but dangerous streets. I wish we could have spent more time wondering around but it was too hot and we prefered walking around one of the two giant air-conditioned malls.

They just don't build things with the detail that they used to anymore and Casco Viejo is a constant reminder of that.