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Panama Travelog #28
Panama City, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 10pm.
OMG. What a fucking mess this afternoon and evening turned into. Things have finally gotten under control somewhat by now but I'm still so pissed off.
Around 3 or 4pm today things looked good. We finished a revenge hike near Gamboa and needed to drive into Panama City. The plan was we'd drive to our hotel, check in, stow our bags in our room, then drive to the airport to return the car, and finally Uber back to the hotel. Oh, and squeeze into that list stopping at a Machetazo, Panama's equivalent of Walmart, so I could buy a swimsuit because I forgot to pack mine this trip. (It hasn't mattered until now because our last hotel didn't actually have a swimming pool, just a duck pond.) All these things happened, and in proper order, but how they all happened involved way more frustration than it should.
Back at the hotel Hawk and I divided our efforts.
Once the laundry was de-alcoholized and the phones were working we went out for a late dinner. The front desk had recommended a few restaurants within easy walking distance. We picked their first recommendation, Costa Azul, a restaurant with a huge menu of Panamanian standards. I noticed it's open 24 hours and was clearly popular with the late-evening crowd. And the food was... well, it's available 24 hours. I felt like they'd steered us to Panamanian Denny's.
As for the room temperature, I have temporarily accepted the solution of "Just turn it off". I will approach the front desk manager tomorrow. I expect the day shift manager will have more latitude to authorize a room change.
Panama City, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 10pm.
OMG. What a fucking mess this afternoon and evening turned into. Things have finally gotten under control somewhat by now but I'm still so pissed off.
Around 3 or 4pm today things looked good. We finished a revenge hike near Gamboa and needed to drive into Panama City. The plan was we'd drive to our hotel, check in, stow our bags in our room, then drive to the airport to return the car, and finally Uber back to the hotel. Oh, and squeeze into that list stopping at a Machetazo, Panama's equivalent of Walmart, so I could buy a swimsuit because I forgot to pack mine this trip. (It hasn't mattered until now because our last hotel didn't actually have a swimming pool, just a duck pond.) All these things happened, and in proper order, but how they all happened involved way more frustration than it should.
1. For starters, our cell phones went on the blink. Both of them. At the same time. They couldn't connect to network even as we approached Panama City. We didn't believe it was a problem when we were up in the national park, because cell signal was spotty there earlier this week, too. But coming into Panama City, with a metro area population of upwards of 2 million, our phones telling us "No Signal" was complete bullshit.
2. Having no signal 80%+ of the time made the drive into a major unfamiliar city... painful. At times our phones were literally directing us 180° the wrong way because they lost signal. And this was with Road Warrior-esque traffic patterns around us.
3. We finally got to the hotel and stowed our bags. The room was cold, so we increased the temperature on the HVAC and left to return the car. Oh, and no upgrade on the room despite being a Lifetime Titanium member. Thanks, Marriott.
4. Driving to the airport with spotty mapping wasn't too bad. I committed as much of the route as possible to memory before we left. And after the first mile or so on city streets it was "Get on the toll road, drive east, then follow exit signs to the airport."
5. Getting an Uber to get back to the hotel was a bit dodgy because of the cell service bullshit. Ultimately it involved some waving and crossing a street when the driver pulled up, but we made it.
2. Having no signal 80%+ of the time made the drive into a major unfamiliar city... painful. At times our phones were literally directing us 180° the wrong way because they lost signal. And this was with Road Warrior-esque traffic patterns around us.
3. We finally got to the hotel and stowed our bags. The room was cold, so we increased the temperature on the HVAC and left to return the car. Oh, and no upgrade on the room despite being a Lifetime Titanium member. Thanks, Marriott.
4. Driving to the airport with spotty mapping wasn't too bad. I committed as much of the route as possible to memory before we left. And after the first mile or so on city streets it was "Get on the toll road, drive east, then follow exit signs to the airport."
5. Getting an Uber to get back to the hotel was a bit dodgy because of the cell service bullshit. Ultimately it involved some waving and crossing a street when the driver pulled up, but we made it.
Back at the hotel Hawk and I divided our efforts.
6. Hawk got on a text chat with Verizon via hotel wifi to find out why our cell service suddenly went to shit on Day 5 in Panama.
7. I called the front desk about the broken air conditioner in our room. I'd set the temperature to 25° C an hour earlier. The room was about 19° C and the air conditioner was still blowing full blast. The hotel sent its repairman, who only showed me how to switch the HVAC from AC to heat. "Now wait 20-30 minutes," he suggested.
8. Hawk got escalated from a Level 1 tech— the kind who asks questions like, "Let's check that you didn't turn on airplane mode"— to an advanced tech.
9. As I unpacked clothes from my suitcase into drawers and hangers in the hotel room I found out that the small bottle of rum I'd purchased a few days earlier to enjoy in the evenings had somehow leaked. I saw somehow because I screwed the cap on tightly. But now several of my pieces of clothes were damp and smelled like rum.
10. Nothing else was going fast, so at least there was time to wash clothes. Hawk wanted to wash a few of hers anyway. Fortunately the hotel has a self-service laundry. I got quarters from the front desk— yes, the machines at this hotel Panama require US quarters to operate— and started a load.
11. Back at the hotel room, it was still cold. The AC was still blowing cold air full blast despite "heat" mode being switched on. I called the front desk again and said, "The air conditioner is still broken." "I think it's not broken," the front desk agent replied. WTF? "I want to change rooms," I added. "No," she answered. "You can just turn off the air conditioner if you don't like it."
12. I was steamed about the hotel's intransigence but it was time to move my laundry to the dryer. I went back downstairs and... the washer was unplugged. With my clothes still in it. And the lid was locked. Another guest hovering in the area explained to me that he unplugged it because it was shaking. He accused me of breaking it and said he'd informed the hotel manager.
13. The hotel manager and repairman arrived at the laundry room. By then I'd plugged the machine back in to resume my wash cycle. The washer was working fine. I struggled to explain to the manager, who spoke very little English, that no I did not break the washer, as clearly it was working fine. I told them again about my room's air condition, which actually is visibly broken. They shrugged.
14. Hawk and the Verizon tech finally did get our phones to reconnect to the cell network for more than 2 seconds at a time. The diagnostic process stretched across almost 2 hours.
7. I called the front desk about the broken air conditioner in our room. I'd set the temperature to 25° C an hour earlier. The room was about 19° C and the air conditioner was still blowing full blast. The hotel sent its repairman, who only showed me how to switch the HVAC from AC to heat. "Now wait 20-30 minutes," he suggested.
8. Hawk got escalated from a Level 1 tech— the kind who asks questions like, "Let's check that you didn't turn on airplane mode"— to an advanced tech.
9. As I unpacked clothes from my suitcase into drawers and hangers in the hotel room I found out that the small bottle of rum I'd purchased a few days earlier to enjoy in the evenings had somehow leaked. I saw somehow because I screwed the cap on tightly. But now several of my pieces of clothes were damp and smelled like rum.
10. Nothing else was going fast, so at least there was time to wash clothes. Hawk wanted to wash a few of hers anyway. Fortunately the hotel has a self-service laundry. I got quarters from the front desk— yes, the machines at this hotel Panama require US quarters to operate— and started a load.
11. Back at the hotel room, it was still cold. The AC was still blowing cold air full blast despite "heat" mode being switched on. I called the front desk again and said, "The air conditioner is still broken." "I think it's not broken," the front desk agent replied. WTF? "I want to change rooms," I added. "No," she answered. "You can just turn off the air conditioner if you don't like it."
12. I was steamed about the hotel's intransigence but it was time to move my laundry to the dryer. I went back downstairs and... the washer was unplugged. With my clothes still in it. And the lid was locked. Another guest hovering in the area explained to me that he unplugged it because it was shaking. He accused me of breaking it and said he'd informed the hotel manager.
13. The hotel manager and repairman arrived at the laundry room. By then I'd plugged the machine back in to resume my wash cycle. The washer was working fine. I struggled to explain to the manager, who spoke very little English, that no I did not break the washer, as clearly it was working fine. I told them again about my room's air condition, which actually is visibly broken. They shrugged.
14. Hawk and the Verizon tech finally did get our phones to reconnect to the cell network for more than 2 seconds at a time. The diagnostic process stretched across almost 2 hours.
Once the laundry was de-alcoholized and the phones were working we went out for a late dinner. The front desk had recommended a few restaurants within easy walking distance. We picked their first recommendation, Costa Azul, a restaurant with a huge menu of Panamanian standards. I noticed it's open 24 hours and was clearly popular with the late-evening crowd. And the food was... well, it's available 24 hours. I felt like they'd steered us to Panamanian Denny's.
As for the room temperature, I have temporarily accepted the solution of "Just turn it off". I will approach the front desk manager tomorrow. I expect the day shift manager will have more latitude to authorize a room change.
Today I got another delivery-failed notice. This time, at least, the driver stopped his truck at the end of the block. He even came to my door. But instead of ringing the doorbell or knocking he simply stuck a "Sorry we missed you" note on the door. I started heading downstairs to open the door when I heard his truck engine. By the time I opened the door he was already driving away. 🤬
