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.
|