After another free pancake breakfast that couldn’t be beat, I got word that friends were gathering in Panama City. It was going to be a long trip, so I started off right away.

So I went back through David for the 2773rd time in a week, and caught a connecting bus to Panama. The bus was big and comfortable, and I was able to sleep for a good portion of the 7 hour ride.

The Panama City bus terminal is unlike anything I’ve seen in Central America. It looks like a supermall from the not too distant future. I immediately wanted to get away from the modern urban center. Luckily for me, my friends Robbie and Anna had already met up with Alec at Luna’a Castle, a hostel in the old section of Panama City across the bay from the skyscrapers and traffic.

The hostel is old and cool looking and was absolutely buzzing with people, all getting ready for the Halloween party. My original plan to go as Billy Mays (I was already wearing a blue button down shirt and I’ve got the hair and beard down) was shot down, as it wouldn’t go over with the international crowd (in fact, the two Americans there didn’t know of him either). Instead, I borrowed Alec’s Cuban revolutionary beret, made a fat cigar out of an empty toilet paper roll and went as Castro (though most people called me Che).