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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Panama: Panama City

The Panama City skyline
The Panama City skyline

To be honest, Central America isn't the best place to go for world-class cities. Most of the region's capitals are dirty, crime-ridden dumps that are have very little to attract the average traveller: Belize City, Guatemala City, San Salvador, Managua and even San José are all places whose mothers would have trouble loving them, let alone complete strangers. And even if their edginess is interesting in its own right, you rarely find yourself wanting to hang around for too long.

Boats at the fish market
Boats at the fish market

The Panama Canal

A container ship entering the lock
A container ship entering the lock

When I was a nipper, my favourite palindrome was all about this part of the world (ignore, for the moment, if you will that being a nipper and having a favourite palindrome is gut-wrenchingly nerdy... but yeah, I guess that was me). Here it is in all of its 'reads the same backwards as it does forwards' glory:

A man, a plan, a canal... Panama!

The ship being lowered by the first of two locks
The ship being lowered by the first of two locks

It's genius, and not just because it neatly sums up how one of the world's greatest feats of engineering came about. The French started building a canal in 1881, but disease wiped out the workforce and the engineering challenges proved too much, so the company behind the project failed. The Americans took over the project in 1904, and the canal opened a decade later on 15 August 1914, mainly due to the drive of Major George Washington Goethals, who was appointed chief engineer in 1907. This man took the original plan and built the canal, and it's still an amazing piece of engineering.

Heading into the second lock
Heading into the second lock
And finally, off to the Pacific
And finally, off to the Pacific

Cinta Costera and Casco Viejo

The Cinta Costera
The Cinta Costera

The canal might be a unique attraction – and it's definitely the main draw card for the crowds of foreign visitors who flock to the city each year – but for me it pales into insignificance compared to the beauty of walking around Panama City. Yes, there are large parts of the city that are poor and decaying and full of crime – this is still Central America, after all – but as a visitor you can simply avoid those places, and instead you can wander freely and safely along the waterfront, enjoying amazing views all the way.

The view of the financial district from the Cinta Costera
The view of the financial district from the Cinta Costera
The city from Casco Viejo
The city from Casco Viejo
The French Embassy building in Casco Viejo
The French Embassy building in Casco Viejo

Panamá Viejo

The cathedral tower
The cathedral tower

At the western end of the Cinta Costera is the historic centre of Panama, Casco Viejo, which was settled in 1671. However, the original Panama City was founded by the Spanish some 8km to the east on 15 August 1519, where it flourished until it was sacked by the pirate Henry Morgan. Now known as Panamá Viejo, the remains of the original city are in ruins, but they make for an engaging visit nonetheless.

Panamá Viejo from the tower
Panamá Viejo from the tower
Ruins in Panamá Viejo
Ruins in Panamá Viejo