David and Boquete
The last few days have been quite interesting. When Aaron and I got to David, we decided we were going to stay there and have another rest day the following day. We didnt do a whole lot. Aaron slept in, and I was up finishing my book while he slept in. When he got up, we went and got some food, and went on a search for some panamanian cowboy boots. Aaron had seen a billboard on the way into town, and he said, I gotta get me a pair of those! He had seen the perfect pair, or place I should say to get some boots while he was in Peru, but the guy was gonna need three days to mak them, and he didnt have that much time. I think from the sounds of how he described these boots he was going to have custom made, he will never find another place like that. I am thinking at some point in his life, he will go back to Peru to that place, just to get those snake skin custom leather boots made for himself. anyway, I digress. We shopped, figured out some bus prices and schedules and went back tothe hostel. Aaron was there on the web, and Iw ent and laid down. I got a nap, and it was glorious! hahahaha. I woke up and Aaron had napped as well. By the time we woke up, it was close to 5 or 6, and we started getting our stuff together. Aaron was going solo the next day, continuing his ride, and heading to Costa Rica. Me, I was not all that sure what I was gonna do, and was actually a bit nervous about my options. AAron had been doing a great deal of hte communicating for me along the way, and I trusted his guidance and what not along the way since he was a pretty seasoned traveler, and he spoke much better spanish than I do. I contemplated just going back to Panama City, and getting to Lunas Castle where I would feel comfortable, and just waiting out the rest of my time, till I went home.
WHAT? Aaron said when I told him "fuck that Mike, you gotta go to Boquete!! People come from all over the world to Central AMerica to see the Mountains, and the forrests, and there isnt shit to do in Paama City. You gotta go!"
"alright!" I said, and it was decided. I coudlnt be a puss, or scared, and I was gonna venture out on my own. So that night, we got our things together, ready for the next morning, and went and got some dinner, and hung out. We had some good conversations over dinner, and Aaron asked me if I had any advice for him on his way out on the solo portion of his ride. My advice to him was the same thing I had been repeating, and had become some what of a Mantra for us over the last few weeks
One Day at a time
small bites, dont get ahead of yourself
be present
listen to your body
rest when you need to rest
and be aware of the signs the world is giving you
be aware of what your intuition is saying
have fun
So the next morning we get up, and Aaron gears up his bike, I get my bag ready for my trip, and I watch him ride off. I actually video'd that part. I got him getting on his bike, and saying good bye and heading around the corner. I'll have to post that when I get to acomputer that can do it.
He gave me his Lonely Planet book for Panama, so with that as my new guide, I got a cab, and headed to the bus station for Boquete. Boquete is this really cool mountain town about an hour and a half bus ride from David. It cost 1.45 on the bus to get there. I had a hostel picked out from doing some research, and knew how to get there from the bus stop. Outside of that, I had no clue waht I was gonna do, or who I was gonna do it wiht. There is suppoesd to be some amazing hikes you can do, some to hotsprings, some to a volcano that is far away. The weather when I got there was rainy, or drizzly, and windy and a bit cold. I had my windbreaker on, and my rain pants so I was fine. It was about 10am when I got to the hostel, and they said they wouldnt have anythin for me until about 2, so I paid, gave them my bag to hodl and went out in search for some food, and a bito f site seeing. I ate and got some coffee, and then took a walk aorund. I went through this garden area, paid 50cents to get in, and that was alright. I walked across the river, and took some photos, and then I happened across this tours place. I went in to see if they had any hikes to the hot springs, but they said they didnt. The guide was out of town, and that was the second place I tried so I figured a hike was not in the mix for me. What about horse back riding? I read that in teh LP book. Yes, she could arrange it. At this point it was only 11am or so, so she lined it up, I was gonna do a 2.5 or 3 hour horse ride, and teh guide would pick me up at 3pm at my hostel. PERFECT! I had only been horseback riding once before, and it was while I was in Norway, and it was brief. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes. So I went back ot the hostel, wihtout really knowing what to do. They had this tiny little living room, and I sat there, adn there as a girl in there to reading a book. We got to chatting a little bit, and she was quite nice. She was from Holland, and was a bit pissed cause all her friends went hiking, adn while she didnt want to go and was happy to be sitting reading, she was upset cause tehy took her purse wiht all her money so if she wanted to go eat or anyhting she couldnt. A bit later an older guy walked in. He had long long silver hair, and a super long silver beard. He looked like a world travler for sure. He and I got to talking, and his name was Daniel, and it turns out he was from Mill Valley. He said he didnt really have a home anymore though, and had been traveling around for the last 4-5 years. We talked about all kinds of stuff, from the government, to other countries, to travels, etc. It was cool. He was a bit odd in appearance at first, you'd think, who the fuck is this guy. But once you started chatting with him, he was actually quite a cool dude, wiht some very interesting perspectives. Funny how htat works. After chatting with him for a while I decided I was goingto go and get some coffee. That region of Panama, in and around Boquete was supposed to house som of hte best coffee, so I figured I would go check it out. I asked the girl sitting there if she wanted to go, and she said yes. But I dont have any money, she say. Dont worry I can get you a cup of coffee, they're like 40 cents. So she adn Iwent for a walk around, and were talking more. I didnt know her name up until then, it is Rose, and we walked and talked, and smoked some cigarettes, and got to hanging out. WE stopped ina real coffee shop and got a capucinno. Our conversation covered a lot of topics. We talked of life, and listening to yourself, and not the wants and needs of society. Of traveling. We talked of her family a bit, and how her father encouraged her to travel and see the world cause he had once done the same when he was younger. After coffee, we walked over to a lunc hspot owned by an american woman by blood, but a foreigner by experiecne, and the food was awesome. Boquete Bistro it was called, and the food was amazing. A bit pricey for panama, I think it was like 6 for each plate, but well worth it. At the end of our meal, her frineds called her, and were waiting for her at the bus stop. You must come with me, I have to pay you back she says. No no its ok, you dont have to. I know, but I want to, I dont like to do this, she says wiht her accent. Ok. So we walk over there, meet her friends who are all getting on teh bus back to david. I give her my email, and blog, and say good bye. Thanks for hanging out Rose, it was a great conversation, and I enjoyed the company. Little did I know at that point, that her and Daniel were just the first of many great people that I was on my way to meeting, while out traveling on my own. So at this point it was time to go horseback riding, and while I was sitting waiting to be picked up I started talking wth the girl who worked at the hostel. Her name was Wendy, and she says she has the day off the next day, and wanted to go bike riding and asked if I wanted to go. WEll, since I didnt have anything else to do, sure, I'd go.
I was picked up for horseback riding by the guide, his name was franklin. He adn I hit it off almost immediately. Franklin was born and raised as a farmers son, and had grow up on the land where we went riding. His family had herded cattle, and still did, and owned a ton of land through the hills. The last few years they ahd started doing horseback riding tours for the tourists and ex pats living in Panama. It also turns out that Franklin is a writer, and had ready the power of now by Eckhart Tolle, and the Alchemist, and was in the process of shopping his own book to publishers about existentialism. The horseback riding was amazing. I got a horse named Lazy Boy, and he was pretty true to his name on the way up. Slow, and steady for the most part. I did get to run on a few occasions, and that was so much fun. The tour had four other people from New York, and they were all older or retired, but very very nice. One guy used to do construction in the highrises in NYC, adn the other guy was a sailor, did yachting, and sailing on some championship teams. The tour was AMAZING. We climbed up adn up to the top of this one hill, and the views were absolutely stunning. You could see for miles, and miles and the sun was oging down, so the light on the scenery kept changing, as did the way the views looked. WOW. Again, I really dont think the camera I have can possibly do any justice to the view with the naked eye. On the way back Franklin and I got to talking cause we had a 30 minute drive back to the hostel, and he is a poet, and shared some of his poetry. He told me about his book he is writing, and a litlte bit about his family, and he told me about the spanish language. I had told hoim I wanted to learn and he said that it was important to know that Spanish was a language charged with a lot of emotion, and there were many ways to say the same thing, and all held slighlty different connotations or meanings. That night was very chill. Iwent and got some dinner, a burrito from a mexican restaruaunt, and a 2 scoop cup of ice cream. Only 50cents. I love it. Was in bed early after watching THE ROCK of all movies. Can you believe it? After naming my bike after one of the characters in the movie, they put that on. I thought that was quie a coincedence, but a good one.
The next day I got up, nad got some breakfast, and then WEndy and I went out on a bike ride. IT wasnt avery long one, but we did stop at some amazing gardens, and we made our way up to a waterfall which was really cool. Turns out she is actually moving to SF in March or something, so I told her she had to come to the closeout event we are going to be having when AAron makes it back to the city.
So for all my worries and apprehension about making my way to boquete on my own, it was all for not. I met amazing people, and had an absolute blast. The worst part about the trip was that at some point during my bike ride, my camera decided it didnt want to work anymore. So I'll need a new one when I get home. The good news is that I can still access all of the photos, and will have no problem uploading more when I get back home.
WHAT? Aaron said when I told him "fuck that Mike, you gotta go to Boquete!! People come from all over the world to Central AMerica to see the Mountains, and the forrests, and there isnt shit to do in Paama City. You gotta go!"
"alright!" I said, and it was decided. I coudlnt be a puss, or scared, and I was gonna venture out on my own. So that night, we got our things together, ready for the next morning, and went and got some dinner, and hung out. We had some good conversations over dinner, and Aaron asked me if I had any advice for him on his way out on the solo portion of his ride. My advice to him was the same thing I had been repeating, and had become some what of a Mantra for us over the last few weeks
One Day at a time
small bites, dont get ahead of yourself
be present
listen to your body
rest when you need to rest
and be aware of the signs the world is giving you
be aware of what your intuition is saying
have fun
So the next morning we get up, and Aaron gears up his bike, I get my bag ready for my trip, and I watch him ride off. I actually video'd that part. I got him getting on his bike, and saying good bye and heading around the corner. I'll have to post that when I get to acomputer that can do it.
He gave me his Lonely Planet book for Panama, so with that as my new guide, I got a cab, and headed to the bus station for Boquete. Boquete is this really cool mountain town about an hour and a half bus ride from David. It cost 1.45 on the bus to get there. I had a hostel picked out from doing some research, and knew how to get there from the bus stop. Outside of that, I had no clue waht I was gonna do, or who I was gonna do it wiht. There is suppoesd to be some amazing hikes you can do, some to hotsprings, some to a volcano that is far away. The weather when I got there was rainy, or drizzly, and windy and a bit cold. I had my windbreaker on, and my rain pants so I was fine. It was about 10am when I got to the hostel, and they said they wouldnt have anythin for me until about 2, so I paid, gave them my bag to hodl and went out in search for some food, and a bito f site seeing. I ate and got some coffee, and then took a walk aorund. I went through this garden area, paid 50cents to get in, and that was alright. I walked across the river, and took some photos, and then I happened across this tours place. I went in to see if they had any hikes to the hot springs, but they said they didnt. The guide was out of town, and that was the second place I tried so I figured a hike was not in the mix for me. What about horse back riding? I read that in teh LP book. Yes, she could arrange it. At this point it was only 11am or so, so she lined it up, I was gonna do a 2.5 or 3 hour horse ride, and teh guide would pick me up at 3pm at my hostel. PERFECT! I had only been horseback riding once before, and it was while I was in Norway, and it was brief. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes. So I went back ot the hostel, wihtout really knowing what to do. They had this tiny little living room, and I sat there, adn there as a girl in there to reading a book. We got to chatting a little bit, and she was quite nice. She was from Holland, and was a bit pissed cause all her friends went hiking, adn while she didnt want to go and was happy to be sitting reading, she was upset cause tehy took her purse wiht all her money so if she wanted to go eat or anyhting she couldnt. A bit later an older guy walked in. He had long long silver hair, and a super long silver beard. He looked like a world travler for sure. He and I got to talking, and his name was Daniel, and it turns out he was from Mill Valley. He said he didnt really have a home anymore though, and had been traveling around for the last 4-5 years. We talked about all kinds of stuff, from the government, to other countries, to travels, etc. It was cool. He was a bit odd in appearance at first, you'd think, who the fuck is this guy. But once you started chatting with him, he was actually quite a cool dude, wiht some very interesting perspectives. Funny how htat works. After chatting with him for a while I decided I was goingto go and get some coffee. That region of Panama, in and around Boquete was supposed to house som of hte best coffee, so I figured I would go check it out. I asked the girl sitting there if she wanted to go, and she said yes. But I dont have any money, she say. Dont worry I can get you a cup of coffee, they're like 40 cents. So she adn Iwent for a walk around, and were talking more. I didnt know her name up until then, it is Rose, and we walked and talked, and smoked some cigarettes, and got to hanging out. WE stopped ina real coffee shop and got a capucinno. Our conversation covered a lot of topics. We talked of life, and listening to yourself, and not the wants and needs of society. Of traveling. We talked of her family a bit, and how her father encouraged her to travel and see the world cause he had once done the same when he was younger. After coffee, we walked over to a lunc hspot owned by an american woman by blood, but a foreigner by experiecne, and the food was awesome. Boquete Bistro it was called, and the food was amazing. A bit pricey for panama, I think it was like 6 for each plate, but well worth it. At the end of our meal, her frineds called her, and were waiting for her at the bus stop. You must come with me, I have to pay you back she says. No no its ok, you dont have to. I know, but I want to, I dont like to do this, she says wiht her accent. Ok. So we walk over there, meet her friends who are all getting on teh bus back to david. I give her my email, and blog, and say good bye. Thanks for hanging out Rose, it was a great conversation, and I enjoyed the company. Little did I know at that point, that her and Daniel were just the first of many great people that I was on my way to meeting, while out traveling on my own. So at this point it was time to go horseback riding, and while I was sitting waiting to be picked up I started talking wth the girl who worked at the hostel. Her name was Wendy, and she says she has the day off the next day, and wanted to go bike riding and asked if I wanted to go. WEll, since I didnt have anything else to do, sure, I'd go.
I was picked up for horseback riding by the guide, his name was franklin. He adn I hit it off almost immediately. Franklin was born and raised as a farmers son, and had grow up on the land where we went riding. His family had herded cattle, and still did, and owned a ton of land through the hills. The last few years they ahd started doing horseback riding tours for the tourists and ex pats living in Panama. It also turns out that Franklin is a writer, and had ready the power of now by Eckhart Tolle, and the Alchemist, and was in the process of shopping his own book to publishers about existentialism. The horseback riding was amazing. I got a horse named Lazy Boy, and he was pretty true to his name on the way up. Slow, and steady for the most part. I did get to run on a few occasions, and that was so much fun. The tour had four other people from New York, and they were all older or retired, but very very nice. One guy used to do construction in the highrises in NYC, adn the other guy was a sailor, did yachting, and sailing on some championship teams. The tour was AMAZING. We climbed up adn up to the top of this one hill, and the views were absolutely stunning. You could see for miles, and miles and the sun was oging down, so the light on the scenery kept changing, as did the way the views looked. WOW. Again, I really dont think the camera I have can possibly do any justice to the view with the naked eye. On the way back Franklin and I got to talking cause we had a 30 minute drive back to the hostel, and he is a poet, and shared some of his poetry. He told me about his book he is writing, and a litlte bit about his family, and he told me about the spanish language. I had told hoim I wanted to learn and he said that it was important to know that Spanish was a language charged with a lot of emotion, and there were many ways to say the same thing, and all held slighlty different connotations or meanings. That night was very chill. Iwent and got some dinner, a burrito from a mexican restaruaunt, and a 2 scoop cup of ice cream. Only 50cents. I love it. Was in bed early after watching THE ROCK of all movies. Can you believe it? After naming my bike after one of the characters in the movie, they put that on. I thought that was quie a coincedence, but a good one.
The next day I got up, nad got some breakfast, and then WEndy and I went out on a bike ride. IT wasnt avery long one, but we did stop at some amazing gardens, and we made our way up to a waterfall which was really cool. Turns out she is actually moving to SF in March or something, so I told her she had to come to the closeout event we are going to be having when AAron makes it back to the city.
So for all my worries and apprehension about making my way to boquete on my own, it was all for not. I met amazing people, and had an absolute blast. The worst part about the trip was that at some point during my bike ride, my camera decided it didnt want to work anymore. So I'll need a new one when I get home. The good news is that I can still access all of the photos, and will have no problem uploading more when I get back home.
Is that the same old camera you took with you...the one that is about 20 yrs old by now? Get one that fits in your pocket.
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