Panama (2)-Boquete

Jan 30: Our next destination is Boquete, Panama, a resort town and a hot spot for American retirees. It was 300 miles driving distance away from Panama City. We had researched the options to get there before the trip, but none of them provided us any confidence with detailed information. For example, the Rome2rio app gives out a few options, from the city bus to the luxury bus, for $9 to $50. There isn't any reliable information on bus companies' websites either. Some of the companies only have Instagram or Facebook accounts with old information. Since it was our first time taking a long-distance bus in the country, we were a little nervous about it. So, we woke up early. After breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to the Panama City Bus Terminal, where all buses in and out of Panama City stop and depart, and next to the largest shopping mall in the Americas. There was no direct bus to Boquete, only via the town of David, 30 minute drive from Boquete. The bus terminal has many ticket windows arranged according to the destinations. The window for David has a short line, and there were no other options to choose from except one bus to David operated by the DP, leaving the terminal a few times a day. From the waiting room to the bus outside, we needed to use the local bus card (costing about $0.1), which we didn't have, to open the gate. A guy saw us stuck in front of the entrance and used his card to open the gate for us. We paid him $1 for the four of us, and he made a small profit. We don't understand why they can't just add the entrance fee to the bus ticket.

The bus was a double-deck bus with a toilet on the back. We sat on the second deck with the large windows. The passengers got on and off occasionally, and at some stops, people got on the bus to sell twist dough, gold necklaces, etc. We had no clue what they were saying, and they were not aggressive in selling their stuff. Near the destination, the immigration police boarded the bus to check passports, and a dog sniffed at the luggage storage. The bus ride to David was comfortable, and we stopped halfway for a lunch break. Time passed fast; we arrived at David at 5 pm after the 8-hour ride. Instead of taking another bus to Boquete, we negotiated a $30 taxi ride. Since we all had luggage, we checked the car first to ensure enough room for the bags before we agreed on the deal. We stayed at the Bambuda Castle up the hill, an hour away from David. This castle hostel is famous in the local area. We stayed in the tower room with the bathroom on the ground floor and a tiny bedroom on the second floor while our friends were in the cabin room. In the tower room, the stairs up are narrow spiral stairs typically seen in the Castle. It was cool but not very convenient, just for the castle experience.

The Castle is beautiful, nestled in lush hills in Boquete but far from the town center. There were no restaurants or cafes in the surrounding area except the dining service in the Castle. Since we skipped lunch and were a little hungry, we just picked a menu card from the counter to order the food. The items on the menu were minimal, so we ordered chicken wings and something else. The chicken pieces were not very good, and we didn't finish them. We all complained about the limited menu for dinner; then, we suddenly saw someone had the pizza. By then, we realized we had missed the other menu card.

 Jan 31: We had a simple breakfast in the open-air dining hall with 180-degree dreamy views across coffee plantations to the green hills of Volcan Baru. We sipped coffee and watched little clouds moving over the mountains, like in paradise. We had booked an adventure tour of suspension bridge walking and Zipline this afternoon. The meeting point was at the tour operator's office in the town. We walked down the hill to enjoy the view of the countryside for 45 mins. Boquete is a small tourist town with many restaurants and gift shops. We wandered around to find a place to have a quick lunch. We settled in a small café on a small street hidden away from the main road. We had typical American fast food, chicken fingers, and pulled pork, but they were comfortable.

Both the walking tour and zipline tour are in Tree Trek Boquete Adventure Park, which is a short driving distance away from the town center. All tourists boarded their truck-modified tour bus. After we arrived at the park, we were separated into two groups, walking and Zipline. We feared high, so we picked the suspension bridge walking, and our friends went on a Zipline adventure.

The $30 suspension bridge walking tour covers 3 miles and six suspension bridges, with the highest point of 6,000 feet above sea level. Tree Trek suspension bridges range from 70 to 135 meters long and reach heights 10 to 75 meters above the ground. Along the way, the local guide introduced us to some unique local flowers and plants in their natural habitat. The two major differences between the cloud forest and the rainforest are that the cloud forest has no mosquitoes and higher oxygen. Hiking in the cloud forest is more pleasant than in the rainforest. We enjoyed hiking for three hours in the forest and walking across six suspension bridges with stunning views of rivers, waterfalls, and Baru Volcano.

After the tour, we called a Taxi to take us to the Boquete sign on the edge of the town. While taking pictures in front of the Boquete sign, we noticed more than 20 coatis in the parking lot nearby. It was a little scary and uncomfortable. We took the same Taxi back to the town. For dinner, we went to The Fish House, a small but cozy place with most customers who were Americans. The food was delicious, and we raised the cups and bottles to celebrate our good day of adventure. After dinner, we wandered the market by the river before returning to the Castle.

 Feb 1: Today is another beautiful day. As the morning's sun beamed into the window of our tower room, we were ready for another day of adventure. We could see a hotel staff watering grasses from our windows on the top of the beautiful Garden Bungalow covered. Boquete is much more comfortable with low humidity and fresh air than Panama City.

Today's adventure was hiking in the area. After doing a lot of homework, we chose the trail of The Lost Waterfalls among other trails to see the three waterfalls. We called a taxi to take us to the trailhead, and the driver also agreed that he would come back to pick us up in three hours. After the suspension bridge, it took less than 10 minutes up the hill until we saw a cluster of cabins. The entrance fee to the park was $10. A girl at a shed collected $10 for each person, and we also checked in on their notebook.

The trail led us through fantastic jungle scenes. With an average slope of seven hundred feet per mile, hiking up on the muddy path with frequent silt and tall steps was challenging for us. Fortunately, wooden guardrails were in the steep part of the trail to help a little. Despite the challenge, we were immersed in adventure mode in hanging vines, luscious trees, and large leaves in the cloud forest. We arrived at the first waterfall after we trekked the muddy paths. The waterfall was massive and breathtaking. After taking a few pictures, we were on the trail to Waterfall number two. We were a little tired, and the trail from Waterfall One to Waterfall Two was more difficult; getting to the second waterfall needed more encouragement and persuasion.

The second waterfall had a small pool where people could swim. By then, going to see Waterfall Three was out of the question, and we ran out of time and energy. On the way down, we bypassed Waterfall One and hurried back to the trailhead. Our taxi driver picked us up on time and dropped us in the town center. After lunch at Butcher Chophouse, we returned to our Castle to rest. Chenggang felt sick with a high fever. Fortunately, the COVID test was negative. He believed he had stomach flu after having two pieces of the bad tasted chicken wing. Tomorrow we are embarking on a new journey.

 Feb 2: Today, we did something we had never done before, dragging suitcases and carrying backpacks to enter another country. In the morning, our reserved Taxi picked us up at the hotel and dropped us off at the Panamanian border. We were stamped and fingerprinted at the border post on the Panama side and walked out of Panama to Costa Rica. You can go in and out of the border at will, and no one cares. But if you do not go through the border properly, you may have trouble later if you leave the country from elsewhere.

Now we were in a new country and started another adventure.

1/30: 今天早早起床，吃完早餐之后，就赶去巴拿马城公交车总站，所有进出巴拿马城的公交车都会在这里停靠和发车，车站旁边是美洲最大的购物中心。我们要坐大巴直穿巴拿马到达Boquete，一个度假小镇，也是美国退休人员喜欢的地方。在这之前，因为没有直达公交，做了不少功课，但对于怎么走还是很不确定，毕竟第一次在中美洲乘坐长途汽车，而且这还是我们最长的长途汽车。来到公交车总站，许许多多的卖票𥦬口按终点站排列很清楚，根本不用选。我们的长途大巴是那种二层带厕所的，很舒服。前前后后坐了8个小时，行驶450公里，中间时常有乘客上下，也有人上车卖麻花，金项链等等，我们反正也听不懂他们在说什么。在接近终点站时，移民局警察上车查护照和查行李。

坐了8个小时的长途客车到了大卫（David)城后，没再转公交车，而是直接找了个出租车送我们来到一个小时外的度假小镇Boquete在山坡上的旅馆。这个城堡旅馆在当地很有名，我们选择了城堡房，底层是厕所，楼上是卧室, 上楼的楼梯是那种狭窄螺旋的，很酷但还是不太方便，也算是一种体验吧。

1/31: 昨晚到城堡时天已黑，今天早上起来发现我们住的房间从外面看还是蛮漂亮的。今天我们俩参加吊桥徒步游，一共走了3英里，最高点是海拔6千尺。在云林里徒步三个小时，走过六个吊桥，很享受。沿途导游介绍了一些当地独特的花和植物，云林和雨林二大区别是云林没蚊子和高氧。我们的朋友俩去参加了高空索道，一共十二索道，很刺激。

2/1: 今天又是一个好天气，清晨从房间窗户看外面，那一个个别致的草顶房很有意思，这些也是这个城堡旅馆的特色客房。比起巴拿马城来说，这里舒服多了，湿度低，空气清新。做了不少功课，又问了前台，我们选择了被遗忘的瀑布这条登山路线（The lost waterfalls), 看三个瀑布大约需要三，四个小时。我们叫了出租车把我们送到登山路口，并且说好三个小时后来接我们。登山门票每人$10，不便宜，反正只有外国人会付这个钱去爬山。这条登山路线不容易，比我们预想的难。平均每英里七百英尺的坡度，而且时常有淤泥，台阶又高，现在还是这里的干燥季节，不可想像雨季会怎么样。幸好这条路坡度大的地方有木栏杆稍微帮些忙。我们三小时内只去看了二个瀑布，一是没时间了，二是上去看第三个瀑布的路更难。到了第二瀑布我们就匆匆往回赶，我们出租车司机准时来接我们。

爬完山大家都有点累，在城里吃完午饭后就回到我们的城堡休息。明天我们要开始新的旅程。

今天（2/2）我们做了一件从未做过的事，拖着行李箱，背着双肩包出关进关。上午出租车把我们送到巴拿马边境，边境站里盖了章和按了指印，就算出了巴拿马来到哥斯达黎加的领地。其实边境我们可以随便进进出出，没人管。但如果不按规定盖章按指印的话，之后想要从其它地方出境的话就会有麻烦。

新的国家新的旅程。