Needless to say I am very tired. Very, very, very tired. And to make matters worse the racket started back up around 6 am. Apparently it's okay to get up early and make a lot of noise. Today I am going to the Panama Canal and to Panama Viejo. I had thought about doing the hop on hop off bus tour but was told it wasn't that great by a guy that worked at the first hostel I stayed at. I had done the hop on hop off bus rides before and they were pretty good. But I now had a metro card, thanks to Marcos, with money on it so I decided to try my luck and take the bus to Miraflores. I didn't leave til after 12 pm because I was waiting for Mariella to tell me if we were will going to Colon Saturday. Someone from Couchsurfing was coming this weekend and she wanted to see if I could go Sunday instead. I didn't plan to stay til Sunday so I was waiting for her to confirm the plans. In the end she said her friend hadn't gotten back to her and I should just continue with my plans. So after I checked out I went to find the bus station. I already knew where it was as I had walked by it on my journey to find the red devil buses. I took the metro to the bus station. I then tried to find the bus to Miraflores. This was a little bit of a challenge as they didn't have a sign for it. Finally I got into a long line to wait. I asked a couple people in the line and a lady told me that the bus would come at 2 pm at this same spot. So I got out of the line, after waiting in it for a good while, and waited for the bus. I waited over an hour at the bus stop and the bus came late. I even got worried that the bus wouldn't come but then it finally did. I took the bus to the last stop and it let us off at the canal. I walked around the canal and to me it's not that great but I guess it's something you have to say you did if you go to Panama. Kind of like going to NYC without seeing the Statue of Liberty which I still have yet to see. I watched the movie on the canal and got to see a couple of ships pass. Afterwards I went and waited for the bus. I waited over half an hour for the bus and then it finally came. I took it back to the bus station and decided that I would try to make it to Panama Viejo. I got in the line for Panama Viejo and didn't have to wait long for the bus. I'm not sure how long I took to get to Panama Viejo but by the time we got there it was starting to get late. It was almost 6 pm. I went to the multicultural center where they sells crafts an other things but they were closing at 6. I asked if it was far to walk to the ruins and they told me yes. But I didn't think it was far so I decided to walk. I started to walk along the road and then saw a low part in the fence that i stepped over. I am pretty sure it's free so I wasn't doing anything illegal. Also there were other people there walking, siting, playing soccer, etc.. I walked as fast as I could and took pictures. I then asked someone where to catch the bus back to the center and was told to go to the other side of the street. I did. And when a bus came by that said Mariscos I got on it as I believed it was going to the fish market near me. But really I wasn't to sure. I got worried on part of the bus ride because it was dark and I didn't recognize anything but really that's not saying much because again I am bad with directions. We finally came toward the center of town and I began to feel at ease. I got off the bus at the fish market and walked back to my hostel to grab my things. I then took a cab to the bus terminal. I was going to take the metro but I wanted to see a movie so i wouldn't have to just sit and wait for the bus. When I got to the terminal it was 7:40 pm and the movie started at 7:45 pm and there was a very long line. I went and asked the restaurant, Crepes and Waffles, what time they closed and was told 10 pm and all places close by 10. So now I had a dilemma....to eat or not to eat...that is the question. In the end decided to eat. I love Crepes and Waffles. Sadly, they don't have any in the US, that I know of. And they have wifi. One of the people that work there even let me charge my phone as I ate. I ended up hanging out in the restaurant for some time using my tablet and then I sat outside the restaurant and watched some shows. A little before 10:30 pm I packed it up and walked to the bus terminal. The bus terminal is adjacent to the mall. I found out which bus stop to go to and got in line for the bus. We were able to board shortly after 10:30 pm. I got on the bus and had a good bus ride that I slept on and off. Oh and today is my brother Khalil's birthday!!!!
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