Category Archives: Central America

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

第一百四十天: 再見拉丁美洲…

Posted by 霏 her

4.5月來只坐過一程短途機 (巴拿馬城去卡塔赫納)，我沒意識地被長途巴士寵壞了 － 這 10句鐘的夜機對我來說過得很快，看完一齣戲後已沒有足夠時間睡個飽！加上座位向後傾斜度絕對不及舒適的巴士，我顯然有些不習慣。 Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

2 Comments
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Day 139: End of the Road – Latin America

Posted by 山 him
Rio de Janeiro seen from Corcovado
- the world’s most jaw droppingly gorgeous city

This is it. Our journey in Latin America has come to an epic end. Who would have thought we’d travel through Central and South America by land, with only a hopping flight between the two. We’ve clocked 450 hours of bus and boat time, covered 28,000 kilometers of gravel, dirt and asphalt (3 times the flying distance from Rio to London!), 17 border crossings and 14 countries. We made it – Mexico City to Panama City; Cartagena to Rio de Janeiro; 139 days, traversing from the sea level beaches of Nicaragua up to altitudes of 5,000m in the Andean plains of Bolivia, and back down to sea level again at the jaw dropping beaches of Brazil. Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

12 Comments
Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Snapshots: 巴拿馬 Panama

Posted by 山 him
Children hanging out by an abandoned house
on Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro
Palm fringed shores of Boca del Drago beach, Bocas del Toro
Colonial architecture in Casco Viejo, Panama City
Old Panamanian licence plates 
A cargo ship from Hong Kong passing through the Panama canal

You might also like:

0 Comments
Friday, March 26th, 2010

第45天：巴拿馬人，我得罪你了嗎？

Posted by 霏 her

我想說，巴拿馬讓我感受最深的，是當地人的無禮。跟其他中美洲國家的熱情好客截然不同！博卡斯 (Bocas) 不計因為這是屬於沙灘和派對的小鎮，大部分都是外地遊客或外來人在這裡落地生根… 到了 David 和巴拿馬城 (Panama City) ，他們就原形畢露了。先是 David 的巴士售票員，然後是司機和坐在我旁的那位女乘客。先不說他們的差勁態度，我只是希望 Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

4 Comments
Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Day 44: Bridging the Pacific and Atlantic

Posted by 山 him
First thing we saw at the canal – a Hong Kong container ship!

When I think of Panama, the first thing that comes to mind is the canal. And today we got to marvel at this engineering wonder at work. The canal connects two oceans, facilitating global trade routes such as Asia & East Americas / Europe. Massive cargo liners carrying BMWs, Mercedes and other various goods passed before our eyes, slowly being positioned into the locks and raised as the gates closed and the locks’ chambers filled with water. Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

1 Comment
Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Day 40: Beach Bumming

Posted by 山 him

Bocas del toro is an archipelago in the caribbean sea, lodged in northwestern Panama.

When I heard about Bocas I imagined white sandy beaches, clear azure waters, coconut palms, and best of all – island hopping. Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

7 Comments
Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Day 39: Bribing our way into Panama

Posted by 山 him

Crossing the bridge to Panama
Panama – final chapter of our LP guide (that is now falling apart), and the final leg of our Central American tour.

We decided to cross the border at Sixaola-Guabito for two reasons: (1) getting to Bocas del Toro and (2) a laid back border crossing where we hoped our passport wouldn’t raise much of an issue with visa requirements – our understanding was it should be visa-free, just need to pay US$5 each for a tourist card. Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

8 Comments
Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Day 37-38: Getting in touch with tropical wildlife

Posted by 山 him
Cahuita National Park

Another 10 hours roadtime to the bill. Bussing in Costa Rica comes at higher levels of comfort compared to Guate or Nica – the buses are newer, bigger, less packed, and the roads tend to be paved. Lack of A/C meant we still have to deal with the stuffy heat but the journey was pretty easy nonetheless. I think we’re getting used to bussing around now and 10 hours is a “short ride”! Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

4 Comments
Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Day 36: In Good Company

Posted by 山 him

Having spent almost two weeks in stale hot temperatures*, we couldn’t get ourselves to leave Monteverde’s cool crisp mountain climate. The weather here was perfect and the atmosphere so laid back we wanted to stop and take it slow (ie. see nothing for a day). Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

0 Comments
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Day 35: Doing the Tarzan & Superman!

Posted by 山 him

Canopy tours are all the fuss in Monteverde, and also the reason we’re here. This is where zip-lining all started – “flying” across the forest canopy as you hang from a zip line in a safety harness. I first heard of this activity from a colleague who visited Costa Rica a year ago but never imagined it to be such a unique way of experiencing the forest – I mean how else would you be able to feel like a bird on speed as you whiz through trees? Continued 繼續看…

You might also like:

7 Comments