Day 99
On Sunday 11 February I headed off from the hotel in Panama city where I had been staying, North in the direction of Colon. In an earlier post I had visited Colon and found it not to my liking however, I was following a recommendation that I had received to visit the beaches to the East of the city. So as I approached the city I took a small road along the Caribbean coast to the East and headed for the town of Portobello where I had booked in to a hostel for 4 nights.
On arrival I found the hostel easily enough but the town of Portobello I found to be just a smaller version of Colon. Near to the hostel was an example of how a lot of the people here just leave what they no longer need or want lying at the side of the road and unfortunately in some cases this also goes for domestic refuse.
The hostel was cheap at $10 per night but one of the downsides of the place was that it did not have running hot water, I hate cold showers! This was the only place that was available when I booked it unless I wanted to pay ten times that amount per night for somewhere else. During my time at the hostel I met a couple of great people and I was able to finally get my website and this blog up and running. I also had time to sit and watch the varied wildlife that frequented the area around the hostel. This included birds that made nests that hung from the nearby trees like large elongated coconuts and the odd visiting insect that flew in to the hostel.
Anyway, once I had settled in at the hostel, a day or two later I took a ride along the coast road till I could go no further but to my disappointment I never saw the great beaches nor annything else worthwhile photographing, it was a very uninspiring trip and to make matters worse the road was full of potholes.
Day 100
When I rode into the town of Portobello a few days earlier I had seen that there were a couple of quite impressive old forts that sat on the shore. As I passed them on the bike I had made a mental note to photograph them during my stay here, but once in the hostel I discovered that the local carnival was on in the town therefore I decided to postpone taking a couple of photos of the forts until I was on my way out of town. However on my last day as I was packing the bike to leave it started raining so I never stopped to do so therefore a photograph from the internet will have to suffice in this instance.
As I headed South back in the direction of Panama city I took a smaller road from the main road and I eventually ended up at the Centenario bridge over the Panama canal which I crossed to avoid having to go all the way to and then through Panama city and over the bridge of the Americas. It was a great shortcut.
My destination for the day was Las Tablas which is situated on the peninsula directly below the city of city of Santiago. On my way there I stopped for a bite to eat at a roadside grill and I took the opportunity to take my first photos of the bike fully laden.
As you can see in the photo I have bought a set of Lomo throw-over panniers and a stuffa bag as new luggage. I also bought a couple of new bags for the side rails but as I am still experimenting with the distribution of my stuff I have not used them yet. Once I sort all of this stuff out at some point in the future you will eventually see them attached to the bike. On my main website I will also post reviews of the bags as I use them and find out what they are like to use on such a trip.
After being fed and watered I headed off again and as I was a few miles from the junction where I was to leave Highway 1 and take Highway 2 to Las Tablas, I was waived in to the side of the road by two cops who were on the road about 100 yards ahead of me. When I got off the bike and spoke to them they showed me a radar gun with the figure of 82 kph on it, I agreed that was my speed as I was in an 80kph zone but they told me that I was in a 60kph zone. I never saw the sign (if it was even there) and what really pissed me off was that just before I saw them and as they were in the process waving me in to the side of the road, I was being overtaken my a number of cars. However, I was the chosen victim and that was that. I got a ticket which I shall now have to pay whether I was actually speeding or not.
This was my first speeding ticket in forty six years of riding bikes and hopefully it will be my last.
About an hour later I arrived at my destination for the next three nights which was a very nice bed and breakfast run by a Panamanian woman who had lived in the USA for an number of years and who spoke perfect English, it was also good value for money at about $35 per night.
She even allowed me to park the bike in the secure back yard which is also the communal seating area for the premises.
