Panama, the end of the road

Here we are in Panama, where the Panamerican road stops, to start again on the other side of the inextricable Daríen jungle, in Columbia, South America. For us, it’s also the time of choosing : where will we go next ?

As we start pedalling in the country, we have the feeling that Panama is like a pale copy of Costa Rica, which impressed us so much. Yet, this country has the same natural assets than his small neighbour, but unfortunately they are not as promoted nor even as well protected as in Costa Rica. Not mentioning that, for us cyclists, these attractions are as out of our way as were some awesome places in Costa Rica, often requiring multi-day detours to get there. Consequently, we decide to avoid, once again, some of the must-seen places of Panama. Adios the high valleys, Boquete and its coffee plantations and the Barú volcano, the highest point of the country.

The Panamerican, again

So we resign ourselves to keeping on pedalling along the Panamerican road which is – lucky us – in construction over some 200 km. Which means, clearly : dusty conditions, poor road, no shoulder… and the joy of hearing again cars and trucks horning all the time when passing or crossing us. Sometimes to greet us, more often to let us know they’re coming or « politely » asking us to pack away. Oh, joy.

Fortunately, after two gruelling days we find a little quiet beach where we can camp, 10 km away from the road. Las Lajas allows us to recharge our batteries and we take a well deserved day off to cool down.

Si hard, so beautiful

Back on the road, riding towards East, we are lucky to realize we can take the old highway for some hundred kilometers, a road which seems way quieter and especially nicer than the actual Panamerican. Good for us, as once we leave the main road we’re absolutely alone on a very pretty road, riding on perfect, smooth asphalt, with stunning views. The next three days promise to be amazing and actually are, at least the environment we ride through, being green hills with clear rivers running through, making perfect spots to stop for improvised swims.

For the relief, however, it’s another story, as we string together huphills and downhills so steep they remind us of Guatemala. As far as heat, it is such that we simply don’t remember when was the last time we were so hot. If we start our days as early as 6:30 am, thus gaining from the temporary coolness, still the sun catches us again quickly. These few days end up draining us and we have to shorten our stages to go through this demanding but still awesome section of our trip. Cause, as Emma says : « if I have to choose, I’d rather ride up steep but quiet hills than on noisy roads : at least in the hills I can focus ! »

This is also during these few days that we reached a major milestone, breaking the 15,000 km. Do you think Emma’s proud ?

Fresh feeling

Eventually we arrive in Santiago where we take a rest day and go visit, by bus, the little village of Santa Fé, further up in the mountains. Well we won’t say we didn’t go to the high valleys ! And we don’t regret our move, as we walk in the quiet streets of this little pueblo nested in the mountains. And, at this height, a little freshness is well appreciated. On our way back, we go have a look at the cute little church of San Francisco, one of the oldest of Panama. It’s been a while since we didn’t see churches. Since Nicaragua, to be true.

Stop or Go ?

For the little story, it’s also in Santiago that we end up deciding about what’s next in our adventure…

After many days of intense thoughts, choosing one direction and its opposite, laughing and crying of our chronic indecisiveness, we finally decided : our journey will end in Panama.

We won’t sail in the San Blas archipelago, we won’t go in the much promising Columbia, nor in the diversified Ecuador, nor nowhere else. Not this time. Not before long. It’s not that we don’t want, far to be. We’re as excited about discovering new horizons. We we have to acknowledge one thing : on the daily basis, the pleasure has gone, weariness settled in instead and we don’t really see how to break it, other than by stopping. Said another way, it’s another difference between the fantasized long trip and the day-to-day reality.

Tired

Especially, Emma is not in anymore. We still feel her with us, but by default, « to please us ». Less and less, we see sparkles in her eyes. More and more, tears instead, and the will to meet again her friends and family. A few days earlier we asked her the question : « would you like to keep on traveling ? » Her answer was strangely mature and everything but ambiguous : « I’d like to go back home but if you prefer, we can keep on traveling… »

Physically, though, she’s been stronger day after day and even climb the steepest hills under the hardest sun without even struggling or sweating. But how would it be in the Andes, where the climbs would be a whole different game, as we would ride at 12,000 ft high ? Of course, other kids already have traveled there on bicycle, but none (to our knowledge) ever rode there on his own bike, at eight years old. There’s probably a reason to that and we don’t want to be in the Guinness book, even less if it’s to have our daughter in tears.

To sum up, the adults in us would have kept on traveling, but as parents we decided to stop. As we always said, this journey has to remain a pleasure for each of us, and if one of us doesn’t have fun anymore, then this trip doesn’t make sense anymore.

In Santiago, when we tell Emma about our decision to stop the trip, her face slowly enlightens. She smiles but strangely doesn’t exult, then goes back into the motel room. A few seconds later, we hear her softly crying. We don’t understand. Would we have taken the wrong decision ? As Cécile goes and asks Emma what’s wrong, Emma replies by asking : « Mum, have you ever cried of happiness ? »…

We definitely took the right decision.

All of a sudden, everything goes fast. The tickets are bought, the families are into the secret… Emma is already elsewhere, living only for the moment she’ll see her friends and family again.

The last run

But we still have 250 km to cover by bike before taking the plane. A few days during which we ride along this damn awful Panamerican road, where conditions get worse everyday as we’re getting closer to the capital. Always more noise, more traffic, speed and insecurity. We can’t wait for Panama city.

Our arrival in the city per say is quite turbulent, as the road becomes a highway and we cross the bridge over the canal to reach the town. We’re reassured to be at last in town, as then traffic is reduced. We find a hostel is a quiet street of the very beautiful Casco Viejo, the « old Panama ».

Our program for the next days is quite busy : of course we want to visit the surroundings and go see the famous canal, but first we have to find boxes to pack our bikes and all our stuff in. Quite a challenge, but we eventually find all we need. Once the bikes, trailer and panniers packed, we can now go visiting Casco Viejo, our minds in peace.

Heterogeneous Casco Viejo

And this area is well worth a visit. In the midst of an impressive mutation, its face changes almost everyday, as construction works are all over the place, in every street, every house. True, the potential is there, as there are so many old elegant colonial buildings.

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What a shock to see these damaged houses becoming true palaces ! Without a doubt, in ten years from now this neighborhood will become one of the most popular of Central America. Still, poverty is all around in the surrounding streets, living in houses not renovated yet. But it’s just a question of time until they will have to move away. For the best or the worst.

Panama City is also the most dynamic capital of Central America, by far, and its downtown full of skyscrapers is there to prove it : the real estate boom is at its highest here. And if this kind of environment is not really our cup of tea, still we have to admit it’s looking quite nice, by night.

But Panama is, first and foremost for many, its famous canal, at the source of the country’s fame and wealth. Imagine : over the last 100 years, more than one millions ships went through its waters, which is at least 40 boats a day, mostly cargos.

Being on the spot is quite impressive, watching these giant vessels slowly moving through the locks. An almost unrealistic show which is worth watching at least once in a lifetime to realize how mankind can realize technical achievements.

Even the best adventures come to an end… for some time

Back from the canal, all we have to do now is wait for our plane, which will take off tomorrow. We can barely believe it, so much all this seems unreal.

Four days after entering in Panama City, 18 days after crossing the Panama border, 17 months and 15,406 km after leaving Vancouver, we are now at the first end of our adventure.

An extraordinary adventure we don’t regret a single second to have done and one we would do again exactly the same way, as we have so many marvelous souvenirs in our minds.

Also, this doesn’t mean we won’t come back, oh no. We want to keep this dream truly alive in our heads, now that we tasted it. We totally fell in love with bike touring and hardly see now another way of traveling.

South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, Middle East and Europe all wait for us and we can’t wait to ride thousands of new unforgettable miles. Yes, even Emma, who’s excited to be a few years older and even stronger to keep on making this nomad dream happen, this dream of which we just finished the first stage.

In the future, we’ll probably travel during shorter periods of time, though, probably between three and six months, just to keep enthusiasm and energy intact, before they become blunted. And so, slowly but surely, by bits, we’ll have this dream alive even longer.

The « inspiring people » inspired

Over the last months, some of you wrote to us to tell us how « inspiring » we may have been for you. This is lovely from you, but let us tell you something, too : if we made it all the way to Panama, it’s also a lot thanks to you all, who supported us, cheered us, « liked » us through Facebook and our blog. Believe us or not, your presence beside us helped us climbing the hills, under the heat, the cold rain, riding too dangerous roads. In fact, we were not three people traveling. We were more than 2,000.

Without you all, we would probably have stopped earlier.

You are the real inspirers.

Dear partners

Before closing this long chapter, we really want to thank warmly our sponsors who supported us without conditions, especially MEC, who believed on our project since day one and renewed each year its trust, always stronger.

We also want to thank Black Diamond, BoB, Dumoulin Bicyclettes, Keen, La Cordée, MSR, Nature’s Bakery, Therm-A-Rest, Pack Towl, Sterling Ropes, Steripen, Vaude et Vélo Québec, who all gave us a precious hand.

See you all soon on the roads !

Emma, Cécile and François-Xavier