December 23, 2024

PANAMA CITY - Day 1 - HoHo Bus ( hop on, hop off)

Panama City is such a huge place we thought the best way to get the overview would be the Hop On Hop Off bus. The down side was they only had 2 buses running the 16 stop route and there was a ton of traffic everywhere due to the holidays and the wait time at spots was really long with an app that did not give accurate info. Regardless a lot of other fellow residents had the same idea - so our core group of 8 was constantly fluctuating. 

Scott & I jumped off bus at Panama Canal Museum. They had an excellent IMAX movie on the history of the Canal narrated by Morgan Freeman - we had a lot of laughs, as we tried to see IMAX over 3 intervals - last 1/2 - first 1/3 then somewhere in middle - whille we tried to catch the next buses on route. After 2 failed attempts we took a taxi to Old City. We did get a nice Air Conditioning break, restrooms and cold beverages. Did I say it was stinking HOT with really uncomfortable seats on the HOHO Bus!?!

Old City was quaint with 7 churches all connected by underground tunnels, cobblestone streets, and lots of quaint shops, restaurants and hotels.

One of the churches had the most unique Cresh / Nativity Setups I have ever seen.

By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
Some days I just don't want to sight see! My birthday was one of them. I just wanted to indulge in a good movie in a comfy, cool theater, eat some popcorn and follow with a yummy lunch! That's exactly what I did, despite some of my friends trying to convince me go on a 5 hour van to see 2 gigantic temples.
By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
The ancient temple of Soo Poo Kong was our next stop. We were all wilting in the heat by then, but they promised an air conditioned room for a 20 minute movie on the history - so we rallied! Basically, the Temple was erected as a thank you to the Chinese Muslim Admiral Cheng Ho who let the fleet stop here on their way somewhere else in Asia back in 1416 because his helmsman, Wang Jing Hong, was sick. Wang recovered from his illness in a cave on this site and built first the statue and then the temple to thank Ho for his life.
By Pat Patrick May 11, 2026
SEMERANG is the capital of Central Java , the world's 13th largest island and the 5th largest in Indonesia. Despite it's size, it is the world's most populous island, holding over 150 Million people (over 55% of Indonsesia's population). Today, I did a 50 person bus tour of some of the Semerang's history , so I could cover a lot in one day.