Panama City

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1779308]Pop quiz: What was the busiest port in Latin America before the canal was built? Hint: One of my favorite cities to visit![/QUOTE]Buenos Aires.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;1779935]Buenos Aires.[/QUOTE]Bzzzt. Wrong. Buenos Aires is a river port and not suitable for large draft vessels. 75 km up the ship channel from the ocean.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1780122]Bzzzt. Wrong. Buenos Aires is a river port and not suitable for large draft vessels. 75 km up the ship channel from the ocean.[/QUOTE]I'll guess Panana City. Prior to the canal goods were transported overland from one ocean to the other.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1780122]Bzzzt. Wrong. Buenos Aires is a river port and not suitable for large draft vessels. 75 km up the ship channel from the ocean.[/QUOTE]I figured you were thinking of Buenos Aires because

1. Transatlantic trade with the Americas before 1914, when the canal opened, was much more important than transpacific trade.

2. Santos, Brazil and Vera Cruz, Mexico presumably are not among your favorite cities. You detest Colombia so Cartagena's out.

3. Buenos Aires has historically been one of the busiest ports in Latin America, despite its location. According to Wikipedia, after an expansion in 1925 (11 years after the Panama Canal opened), Buenos Aires was the largest port in Latin America. Admittedly, not the busiest in terms of tonnage (that probably would have been Balboa or Colon), but the largest.

My second best guess is Lima, or actually Callao, in Peru. I'd be interested in what you believe the correct answer is.

[QUOTE=VegasCrazyGuy;1779927]Although I agree with others that it's sorta boring and overpriced it is something to be seen once. The most interesting part (for me) is the exhibits showing the history of the building of the canal. Realize all your going to see of the canal (which is about 45 or 50 miles long) is one set locks raising or lowering a ship. The visitor center closes mid to late afternoon so the timing of your trip also would impact your decision. Leaving Medellin early morning would work out well to spend a good amount of time at the canal visitor center.

As for chica hunting the real fun in P. C. is from 10 pm To the early morning hours. It's pretty dead outside of that timeframe. But as you mentioned the massage parlors would be an option. I think those cost $120 for an hour, credit cards accepted LOL.[/QUOTE]Agreed. I can't imagine someone would stop in Panama City and not visit the canal. While not spectacular like many tourist sites, it's worth taking a few hours to see it.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;1780251]I figured you were thinking of Buenos Aires because

1. Transatlantic trade with the Americas before 1914, when the canal opened, was much more important than transpacific trade.

2. Santos, Brazil and Vera Cruz, Mexico presumably are not among your favorite cities. You detest Colombia so Cartagena's out.

3. Buenos Aires has historically been one of the busiest ports in Latin America, despite its location. According to Wikipedia, after an expansion in 1925 (11 years after the Panama Canal opened), Buenos Aires was the largest port in Latin America. Admittedly, not the busiest in terms of tonnage (that probably would have been Balboa or Colon), but the largest.

My second best guess is Lima, or actually Callao, in Peru. I'd be interested in what you believe the correct answer is.[/QUOTE]The mere fact that there is so much conversation and historical fun facts about the canal on a Poon site about Panama City should be indication enough to make a pass on PC totally.

You want to see the Canal, google it and save time and money.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;1780251]I figured you were thinking of Buenos Aires because

1. Transatlantic trade with the Americas before 1914, when the canal opened, was much more important than transpacific trade.

2. Santos, Brazil and Vera Cruz, Mexico presumably are not among your favorite cities. You detest Colombia so Cartagena's out.

3. Buenos Aires has historically been one of the busiest ports in Latin America, despite its location. According to Wikipedia, after an expansion in 1925 (11 years after the Panama Canal opened), Buenos Aires was the largest port in Latin America. Admittedly, not the busiest in terms of tonnage (that probably would have been Balboa or Colon), but the largest.

My second best guess is Lima, or actually Callao, in Peru. I'd be interested in what you believe the correct answer is.[/QUOTE]The mere fact that there is so much conversation and historical fun facts about the canal on a Poon site about Panama City should be indication enough to make a pass on PC totally.

You want to see the Canal, google it and save time, money and disappointment.

[QUOTE=TellAll;1779267]After Medellin PC will be a let down unless you were asleep your entire time in Medellin.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=TellAll;1778994]Do the 1 hour and leave. You won't miss anything.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=TellAll;1780432]The mere fact that there is so much conversation and historical fun facts about the canal on a Poon site about Panama City should be indication enough to make a pass on PC totally.

You want to see the Canal, google it and save time, money and disappointment.[/QUOTE]TellAll, Respectfully, your recent posts about Panama may be too negative. If your primary goal is to bang lots of reasonably attractive women and not spend a lot of money, Medellin is superior. However, Panama has a diverse scene with all price levels. There's massage, stripper bars, cheap brothels and freelancers. It's safer than Medellin. The freelance scene is better than Medellin. The action at the high end is more concentrated -- there are are number of places within walking distance north and south of Via Espana.

What I like best about Panama, you can rent a car and see the country. The canal, Soberania National Park, El Valle, the beaches around Rio Hato, and the mountains in Chiriqui are all worth seeing. Bocas del Toro probably is too, although I've never been there. I suspect traveling around Antioquia, where Medellin is located, would also be fun. I've done a day trip there, in a taxi, but don't have the balls to travel independently.

To be honest the locks at Miraflores weren't awe inspiring for me. However looking down on the canal from a tower in Soberania park, and seeing ships wind through the canal out to the Caribbean, was.

The answer is Valparaíso, Chile. Fun place!

[QUOTE=TellAll;1780431]The mere fact that there is so much conversation and historical fun facts about the canal on a Poon site about Panama City should be indication enough to make a pass on PC totally.

You want to see the Canal, google it and save time and money.[/QUOTE]No don't skip Panama City. Go, visit Habanos at 10 PM. Meet chicas dressed up like it's New Year's Eve from several different countries. Chat them up to assess their attitudes. Negotiate with them on their prices. Have another beer and make another walk around some more letting them know you're trying to make a decision. Finally take one back to your hotel and eno!

[QUOTE=VegasCrazyGuy;1780659]No don't skip Panama City. Go, visit Habanos at 10 PM. Meet chicas dressed up like it's New Year's Eve from several different countries. Chat them up to assess their attitudes. Negotiate with them on their prices. Have another beer and make another walk around some more letting them know you're trying to make a decision. Finally take one back to your hotel and eno![/QUOTE]If I am not staying overnight (have not decided whether to do just a 7 hour layover or an overnight stay or two), then it might be hard to visit the night time action unless they have something going on during the day. This is why I was originally targeting something like GoldenTime for the daytime hours if Habanos or even Venetos is dead in the daytime.

Not only is Hábanos dead in the day time, it is closed. I like Hábanos and if you only have one night, that is where you should go. If you have two nights, go to Hábanos one night and Boca the next night. Golden Times is okay if you want to spend a bit more money and is quite near to Hábanos. Maybe six blocks. Panamá City is not a real exciting place and mostly exists as a place to get from North America to South America, as far as mongering is concerned. At least that is my opinion.

BTW I do not 'detest' Colombia. It is just dangerous and everyone should know that. There was some overlap in what I posted. For instance, when I got thrown in the clink, that was one of the two times they tried to rob me, and some of the problems with my doormen were connected with the taxi driver incident (which also involved cops, who were sort of assholes but also sort of just doing their jobs). Now you want a country I [B]detest[/B], that would be [B]Venezuela[/B] and I am not at all fond of The Bahamas.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1780807] Panam City is not a real exciting place and mostly exists as a place to get from North America to South America, as far as mongering is concerned. At least that is my opinion..[/QUOTE]Actually, I just saw Anthony Bourdain's episode in Panama and I quite liked the fish market he was in. I can see myself spending time in there during the daytime and trying out different types of cerviches in addition to checking out the canal.

I can see that so far, Panama at least has more to offer than say San Salvador, which is another common travel connection.

Well, saying that Panamá has more to offer than Salvador is a bit like saying that Richard Nixon was less of a crook than Tim Donaghy. I don't find fish markets to be much of a spectator sport ever since I vomited iln the one in Hong Kong, improving its smell considerably. In all of continental Latin America, El Salvador is the only Spanish speaking country I have not been to and that is because I have yet to hear anyone say anything good about it. That includes people who grew up there. In fact, I was just on a train in Spain with a guy who lived there for nine years and he told me not to bother going there. I will probably go there anyway at some point though, because as you say, there are a lot of flights through there to other places. Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador have this stupid visa pact, though. That means when I am in Guatemala, a place I like, I can't renew my visa by going to (El) Salvador and must go to CR or Panamá instead.

I don't think Golden Time is open in the day either. Last I recall (haven't been there in a couple of years) it opened around 7 or 8 PM like Hábanos and like Hábanos the selection was thin at opening time. Once I was drunk out of my mind while staying at Tower Suites and I went there around 5 PM and it was closed but I staggered into Hooter's and ended up talking to some tourons (a cross between a tourist and a moron) and they paid me to show them around so I took them to Veneto and it ended up being quite a night when all was said and done.