John and Devn had tried to go there yesterday but somehow it had not worked out quite as planned and they had to return to the Hostel without actually seeing the Canal.
So it was another attempt at this for them as well. This worked to my advantage as we already knew exactly where to go and which subway to take.
Panama City has a brand new subway which only opened last year (2014). Apparently it should be working although the Carnival was on - even at 7 in the morning.
So we walked past, old, run down houses, with broken concrete pillars over to the big glass building that houses the escalator that lead down into the ground where aluminium, steel, glass and other shiny surfaces dominate.
It was a strange and sudden change from the old to the new.
A few minutes later the train arrived and brought us to the central bus terminal at Albrook. It was a very cheap ride - something like cent or so. I really wonder how they can afford a subway system (currently consisting only of one line but two more are planned) this fancy if the prices are so low. Well hopefully it all works out.
The guys already knew where to go and led the way until we got to another turnstyle where we had to pay another 35 cent for the next part of the journey. An old school bus that had a former life bringing kids in a New Jersey Suburb to school had been repainted in bright colours and was now used public transport to move around Panamenians.
We were not the only foreigners on the bus, so we assumed the bus was going to stop at the only touristic place along the way ... the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. But it didn't. So we rode on for another ten minutes until we worked out that we had passed the locks and got off.
Now we were sort of in an area where not many buses pass by and not much else to look at but we were lucky and a bus in the oposite direction actually came by fairly soon and took us back to the Locks.
The entrance to the locks didn't look like a tourist attraction at all. Maybe because most tourists arrive by taxi or on organized tours. We had to walk up the little road past the security hut and the Lock's dedicated powerplant all by ourselves. It had some sort of steampunk and industrial atmosphere to it. The buildings were al built for the grand opening in 1914 but had all been kept recently well in order.
We were not alone, there were warning signs for crocodiles - to warn us about crocodiles - not really signs for the crocodiles - but we didn't spot any of the fellows.
It was now 15 minutes before the the ticket office for the Locks would open at 9 am and a small line had built.
We got our ticket and entered and right away (as suggested by the travel guide) we walked up to the viewing platform before it became too full. We just caught a large dutch cruise ship that was in the locks and being raised from the level of the Pacific to the level of Lake Gatun.
It takes only a couple of minutes to pass through the two sets of locks but this ship took much longer.
While we watched this big Cruise ship sit there we could listen to live commentary in Spanish and English over the speakers. The announcer gave us a good overview of the impact of the Panama Canal to the region, economically, environmentally and culturally at the time when it was built and still today.
All huge impacts.
He threw numbers out there that were very impressive but of which I only remember a few. For example we were lucky to see a cruise ship to go through because only 1.5 % of the ships are liners and each of them would have to pay around 400,000 USD for the passage. Yes, that is nearly hald a million dollars just to go through the canal. The price is determined by the size and weight of the cargo.
A normal container ship of the Panamax dimensions (if I remember correctly, just under 300m) usually can carry around 5000 containers and would have t pay 250,000 USD.
This may sound a lot but if they were not able to take the canal the majority of the ships (the ones that are heading to Europe or the East coast of the US) would have to add another 8000 nautical miles and around 21 days around cape horn and through the strait of Magallan to their journey which would add up to 2.5 million USD in fuel costs alone. So for them it does pay off.
Now that PostPanamax ships have become more popular and the Chinese are building a canal for these ships in Nicaragua at the moment, Panama has decided to also build two sets of new locks (one on each side of Lake Gatun).
These will be able to carry bigger ships (up to 12500 containers) and will be more efficient and environmentally friendly as they will not waste all the fresh water that drains from the lake into the two oceans. They will reuse the water using pumps. The current canal uses only the gravity of the water to raise the ships but this means that all the water that is used to fill up one chamber will drain right away into the ocean and become salt water.
At the horizon we could see the work going on already and it will take another couple of years until the new locks are taking shape. Unfortunately, with building a second set of locks the throughput of ships will not be increased as they will still have to line up in the canal and pass through one by one there, but since the ships are becoming bigger the amount of containers will increase and this is how they make the money.
The whole thing was really amazing for me(as you can see by the detail I listed up there) and I would think that people less geeky than me would have also enjoyed it.
There was also a 3D animated film about the canal and about the expansion project on. This was pretty patriotic and sort of cheesy but still worth a watch. Then on the other side of the building was a small museum that showed the initial building project and challenges.
The whole thing was set up very professional and I loved it. I could have stayed there for another couple of hours and just watch the ships go by but by now the platform had filled up with people and it was not possible to just enjoy the view anymore. Aside from that the Hangover from yesterdays Carnival session in combination with immense heat of the day kicked in and it was time to head back to the city.
In summary I can only recommend a visit to these Locks for anyone who only passes through Panama (either by land or even on a ship through the canal). It really is a marvel of modern engineering.
It was time to get some substantial dish and we found just that at the place where we had the big drinks the night before.
For me it was a large burger with chorizo and chimmichuri on it.
It was here where I got the message from Kai that he had gotten approval from work for his holidays and that he will come down to Chile. In fact he would be there before me (just a couple of hours though). Great stuff - now there was a little more planning and booking to be done. But not before another siesta.
After an hour or so in the air-conditioned dorm I had enough energy to check prices for flights down to Patagonia, which had become shockingly expensive, and look into the hostel bookings.
To compensate this shock, we decided to go once again to the Carnival - especially since it was the last day.
Essentially it was the same thing again but a little bit busier and louder and more colourful.
We, once again, walked up and down the Cinta Costera and had a look.
It was the same thing but still worth going. How many times are you going to be at Panamenian Carnival, so use it.
There were fireworks but at some point we all had enough of it and headed back to the hostel and grabbed a bottle of Nicaraguan Ron on the way to the hostel where we spent a couple of hours drinking it and playing cards.
Luiz, who worked at the hoste was off around midnight and offered us to bring us out and show us how real Panamenians Party.
An offer we couldn't refuse, so we followed him to some sketchy bar where we only stayed very short. Next stop was a Casino because, supposedly there was a bar in there as well, but that was closed. So we went on to another place, that was sort of a normal bar. Had a few beers there and then he brought us to his place.
It was quite impressive (even though I was not sober anymore at this stage as you can imagine): He lives in a small apartment, he shares with an elderly lady, in an old not very homely building.
There are no windows, just openings, no air-conditioning, no TV. The food is stored on wooden shelfs at the wall and his cloths just hang on a line in the living room, because there is no closet. His bed is a mattress he puts on the floor at night and back up against the wall in the morning again.
Despite all this he is a friendly and happy guy who works in the hostel. A hostel that sort of looked a bit better after seeing this.
This experience once again reminded me how lucky we are. We take all this as a given and complain if the sports channel does not come down in HD.
I think we are luckier but are we more happy? I think I am very happy with what I have back home and also what I have seen and learned on this trip, but I think I may be more happy because I have seen that most of the things that we want are not the things that make us (or me) happy.
But they are nice... I have to admit that. I do look forward to my couch and the big TV and being able to just throw my things in the washing machine whenever I like or grab a cold coke from the fridge.
Anyway... heads off to people like him.
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