Panama passage
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
221
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Panama City,
Panama
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Panama City, Panama
Panama beer - $.60
McDonalds Big Mac sandwich - $2.80
After our stay on the San Blas Island we take a van from the coast to Panama City, which takes about 3 hours; partly because of the bad road and partly because of the stops we made. The van driver drops the other passengers off at Zuly's Backpackers. They have no private rooms available so we look for another place. After checking out a couple places we give up and take a room at the Casa de Carmen which costs us an outrageous $55. We wouldn't have stayed but we are tired of looking and beat from the road. The place is not worth the price even though it has wireless internet.
June 12, 2008
Panama City, Panama
We decided to spend one more night at Casa del Carmen so we'll have the day to look for another place to stay. Irina paid the clerk for another night. Our search is not productive; the places in right locations, with the right prices are full. So we just decide to get our Panama sightseeing done and get out of town as soon as we can. We go out to the Albrook Mall to do some shopping, and since the long distance bus station is next door, we also check on the Tica Bus which goes all the way through Central America to the Mexico border. In the evening we returned to the Casa de Carmen to find our belongs piled out in the hall. The manager said we were supposed to check out at noon. Irina explained that she had already paid for this night. The manager finally figured out that we had paid for the night, but she had already put some other people in the room and there were no other rooms available.
11-01
Instead she returned our money and had the hotel's driver take us to the Hotel Aramo where the rate is $54/night. The Aramo is real hotel with a bar/restaurant and swimming pool -- generally a nicer place to stay, only no wireless internet. June 13, 2008
Panama City, Panama
We decided the cost to get on with our trip through Central America. We buy a package of tickets from Tica Bus which will take us all the way to the Mexican border. The cost for both of us is $266.85. Tica Bus is unique in that they are the only company that travels the entire length of Central America. We will stay two more days and then head to Nicaragua on the 15th.
June 14, 2008
Panama City, Panama
Today we visit the Miraflores locks to see the boats passing through the Panama Canal. It is like watching the Soo Locks only on a larger scale. This should not be surprising since the locks were designed by the same people who built the Soo Locks. Arvid has been reading "The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal" by David McCullough. A very thorough 700 page account starting with the French attempt and all the intrigue that went into the choice of Panama over Nicaragua and the "rebellion" of Panama from Colombia. The evidence dug up by the author showed that the work of "stealing" of Panama from Colombia while tacitly encouraged by Teddy Roosevelt was mostly performed by two men connected with French canal concession. One was a Wall Street lawyer who was a classic deal maker, he was the attorney for the French canal company charged with winding up affairs; the other was a former director of the French canal operation.
11-02
These two stood to gain hugely from fees they would charge for pushing the Panama Canal deal through. That is because the deal included buying out the French equipment and concession including the valuable Panama Railroad for $40 million. When the Colombian officials hesitated and it looked like Congress would choose the alternative Nicaraguan route. These two panicked and manipulated a few willing Panamanians to declare independence and ratify the treaty Bogota was hesitating on. Actually they rewrote the treaty so much in favor of the U.S. that the Senate could not possible reject it. One senator said, "it looked like it had been written by us". Private U.S. money was used to finance the revolt including paying off the Colombian troops in Panama. While it was private individuals and money that orchestrated the Panama revolt, Roosevelt's administration sent a gun boat to Colon just in time to encourage the revolutionaries. As soon as the declaration of independence was read in Panama Secretary of State Hay recognized the new government. The author suggested that if Roosevelt through Hay had quashed the rebellion intrigue, the deal with Colombia could have been concluded within 6 months. In fact Bogota did eventually agree to the treaty as originally offered but by then it was too late . Panama had already been created. Roosevelt asked the Attorney General Knox to construct a defense to his taking of Panama. Knox is reported to have replied, "Oh, Mr. President, do not let so great an achievement suffer from any taint of legality." Historically there had always been an independence movement in Panama and Bogota had to keep hanging revolutionaries there. And geographically the Darien Gap makes a natural boundary between the two nations. So it was not surprising that the young backpackers on our boat from Cartagena, who were from Australia and Europe, were unaware that Panama had once part of Colombia. If you think the United States should apologize to Colombia for stealing the Panama Canal then you should know that this has already been done. Despite to the fury of Teddy Roosevelt, the Wilson administration arranged for an indemnity of $25 million to Colombia which was paid in 1921. 
