Ruins and markets

It is finally the weekend and we are free to leave the hotel and check out the sights around Panama City. Unfortunately, several of the conference participants have come down with either a cold or the flu. I'm included in those ranks, although mine is not nearly as bad as some others who ended up with a high fever. I took some cold meds and hit the road, not about to spend the 1 day I can leave in bed!

A group of us hired a van from the hotel and had the driver take us to see some of the sights around Panama. We mostly visited some artisans markets and bought some nice things made by Kuna or Embera-Wounaan indigenous groups. I got some molas and a couple of beaded bracelets. One bracelet is basically a string of beads that makes a neat design when it is wrapped around the wrist. I like it, but the very nice lady shown here tied it on too tightly so I ended up taking it off already. I've tried putting it back on, but it is proving to be a bit difficult to do so.

We also walked around some of the ruins of Old Panama (Panama Viejo). They were built in the 1500s but the city was sacked by Henry Morgan and mostly destroyed. The city was then moved to Casco Viejo, so the ruins are still hanging around, giving a nice contrast to the very modern Panama City. The second and third photos are the former convent of Panama Viejo, the fourth is me falling into a well.

We got some vegetarian food, which was fantastic and extremely cheap. After that, we tried to go to the fruit market next to the fish market, but it was pretty lame so we just came home. Leah and I will probably head to the supermarket tomorrow instead, and perhaps to the outlet mall. I normally wouldn't care much for a mall of any type, but I have heard some good things about this one so I would at least like to check it out. I was hoping to do a canopy tour, but they won't organize a tour for just me and no one else is interested. I guess I'll just have to come back! It's just as well, I still have more than a month to go on a limited budget!