Panama

My first stop on my Central American trip was Panama City (photo 1), which is not one of the most attractive cities in the world but this did not stop me having a really good time there as I met good people and had late nights every night I was there. The Casco Viejo (photo 2) is the old part of the city and where the colonial architecture is concentrated.

The most famous thing from Panama is the hats which aren't actually Panamanian but come from Ecuador and were only called Panama hats as the French engineer in charge of the original canal project was always photographed wearing one. The second most famous thing about Panama is the canal. The photos below show a ship passing through the Miraflores lock where it is raised several metres (photos 1 & 2) in order that it can sail across the Miraflores lake and along the rest of the canal. Many of the worlds ships are built to specific dimensions dictated by the width and length of the locks on the Panama Canal and one can see just how snugly the ships fit in to the space (photo 3). Piloted very precisely by canal employees and where every vessel is piloted by a canal employee, including military vessels from other countries. The canal is an incredible engineering achievement and understandably one of the modern wonders of the world.