Panama

On arriving in Panama city, the impression from the taxi was of a modern American city. We saw many big American brand names and franchises, sky scrapers and a clean, safe city. Suddenly we left this behind and appeared to be in a post-apocalyptic world of derelict buildings, slums and heaps of rubbish. The hotel itself was not too bad at first, though more hostel than hotel.

A 5 minute taxi ride took us to the old town, and a third change in environment. This time it was colonial architecture housing posh bars and restaurants, a fitting environment to finally celebrate completing the South American section of our ride (over 8 thousand miles).

Unfortunately when we arrived back at the airport the next day (slightly hung over) to pick up our bikes, eight bikes including mine had been delayed by a day. We took the opportunity to visit the local bike shops. Phil and I now have new rear tyre (the third of the trip so far) - something I was rather worried about not finding before we reach North America.

The next day we did finally pick up our bikes, and after several hours waiting for customs to follow their bureaucracy we were on the road again. The start of our Central American section.