Speeding Wet
Day 90
After a few days in one place I get ansy to move on and discover a new town, good or bad just somewhere different. This feeling had set in here in Panama, although it may have had something to do with that knife that was placed to my stomach a few days ago. The four of us grabbed a quick breakfast then Norm and I packed full our white Terrios with luggage. This time I easily found my way out of the city, well only a few u-turns. Soon we crossed the Panama canal on the Bridge of the Americas and we cruised west on the Panamericana.
After 2 hours of driving through farmland we turned north to stop off in the hill country town of El Valle. Much like Boquete in terms of climate, however El Valle had much less foreign tourists and none of the American retirees. The town was in a beautiful setting surrounded by green mountains. The real attraction is the sunday market that is held here. Vikki loves to shop so this was our main reason for visiting. The market turned out to be a bit smaller than I anticipated but nonetheless Vikki and Jordana walked away with a few purchases. Norm and I mostly watched and debated over whether we should buy cigars that were not in a humidor. It actually felt a bit like home, the men watching the woman shop. Maybe the most worthwhile moment at the market was watching Norm try and explain that in Toronto there was lots of snow right now. Lucky for him this time he found an English speaking Panamanian.
After the market we stopped by some waterfalls located in the cloud forest just north of town. The walk was supposed to be easy so we figured it would be perfect for Norm and Vikki. Well the walk was beautiful but damn short. Pretty much some family has started to charge $3/person to walk a ten minute trail to spot one waterfall. Then if you want to swim its another $3 to do that. Greedy, so we made our way back to town for some very tasty pizza. Its now carnival in Panama and while not huge in El Valle it was still celebrated. Well mostly just by children splashing water. While waiting for our pizza some kids next door proceeded to soak me with an errant hose. This gave everyone a good laugh and I gave the kids a “Come on!!” Doubt they understood but I think I scared them, always a good way to stop a kid from misbehaving.
After lunch we drove back down to the Panamericana and made our way to Santiago, we would spend the night here before driving to Bocas del Toro in the morning. Police were all over the highway since Carnival also means lots of drunk driving. I kept a steady speed of 80km/h, the limit anywhere from 80 to 100km/h. A green car passed me and we passed over a small hill, it was then a cop jumped out flagging a car to stop. Surely it must be the car that just passed me. Nope, green car kept on going and he flagged me to stop. “What!? Why us?” I yelled out. Norm’s comment was, “See I told ya to watch your speed.”. I pulled out my license and waited for the officer to arrive, in my head expecting how screwed we were. I had heard stories about cops demanding exorbitant bribes. He was friendly enough, asked where we were going and then tried to tell me that it was me that passed the green car. Not only that but I was going 112km/h. What!? This little thing hits 100 and it shakes. I tried to tell him that in very broken Spanish but he smiled and had none of it. He turned back to write a ticket or so I thought. As he made his way back to the car he motioned for me to get out. Great what now? With a big smile on his face he tells me the ticket is $25. Thing is he didn’t have a ticket. “Can I have the ticket?” I asked. No he said, ok no ticket, then no $25. I was bargaining with a cop, unbelievable. He then comes back with, ok only $10. Ahhh ok fine, we have a deal. I give him a $10 bill and he tells me to be off the road before dark, lots of drunks. Yeah thanks officer, then he shakes my hand as he returns to his motorcycle. In the end I just chalked it up to another…Can you only imagine this happening at home?
Tags: Panama
Michael Coroneos
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