Santiago

What a spectacular ride today. This was probably the least populated section on this trip. It started off with views of the Chiriqui Highlands in the background while I was riding through a mostly agricultural region,

Then things became a little bit more dramatic (and exhausting), as sections of the highway were on ridges with great views,

and quite a few uphill and downhill sections,

This may sound like a strange comparison, but I found the route topography somewhat reminiscent of the Blue Ridge Parkway, even though vegetation, people, etc. looked very different (especially this time of the year). About 50 kilometers or so west of Santiago the road conditions became a bit challenging (reminded me of the Autobahn system in East Germany before 1989, which, due to lack of resources, had mostly been left in its pre-1945 state by the Communist regime). But then, I wasn't going at 100 miles per hour, so I could easily avoid all the huge cracks in the concrete and the kitchen sink-sized potholes. For tomorrow night, I am planning on spending the night in Penonome, and then spend a few days by the ocean. Splash!
There was a question about coffee: coffee is good, and available, not only in Panama. On my first trip to Chiapas and Guatemala years ago, there was only Nescafe everywhere. Now you can often get delightfully delicious coffee even at truck stops. I was thinking of going up to Boquete, but it's not a through-route east, so I skipped it.