Vehicle shipping in Panama, @colon, Panama, February 20, 2018
For a night owl like me, having to wake up at 5:30am is something I normally avoid or ignore. But today I had no other option – I needed to load my car into a container at the port in Colon. Darien gap, an infamous jungle between Panama and Colombia, is the only part of the PanAmerican highway that is not passable by land. Worse, there is no ferry connecting this route, so the only remaining option is to ship vehicles via containers, which is an...
Go-to dinner menu, hostal casa nativa, Panamá city, Panamá, February 19, 2018
It turns out this is my favorite combination as a dinner when 1) I can use a kitchen 2) I have time to do grocery shopping and cooking 3) and I am not interested in trying the local cuisine at the moment. Actually this was one of my go-to menus when I was living in DC. Old tastes die hard. @hostal casa nativa, Panamá city, Panamá, February 19, 2018
Pre container vehicle inspection, panama city, Panama, February 19, 2018
Got the vehicle inspected at the Dirección de Investigación Judicial in Panama City, first step to ship it in a container to Cartagena, Colombia. He just checked the VIN and the engine. This was also the meeting place with other overlanders with some of whom I have been sharing info online. Tomorrow the vehicle will be shipped at the Port in Colon. @panama city, Panama, February 19, 2018
City view, Granada, Nicaragua, February 13, 2018
In Latin America, every city I visit has a church, so I began to almost not care about any churches. In Leon, however, I visited Iglesia La Merced to climb the roof – the church is the tallest building in Centro area. There was a boy collecting $1 before climbing the stairs. The stairway was steep and narrow. Finally, the view was clear and the wind was refreshing, but I think it was better in Leon! @Iglesia la Merced, Granada, Nicaragua, February 13, 2018 https://listeningtotheworld.net https://www.facebook.com/listenworld/
lake atitlan, Guatemala, February 7, 2018
Recently I concluded that I am a water person, instead of a mountain person. I am happy when I’m close to water. And what I enjoy about climbing a mountain is that I can see water on the ground from a high altitude. Lake Atitlan is a big body of water so I was looking forward to it. But there are almost around 10 different lake towns to choose from. After research, I chose San Antonio Palopo because it’s a quite small town – I wanted...
Hot spring “Rio Chollin”, La Fortuna, Costa Rica, Feb 15, 2018
Costa Rica is known for a variety of adventure activities in nature, but this time (my second visit to the country) my body demanded a hot spring. I was originally going to a hot spring near Liberia, but the rough gravel roads did not sound motivating. Then I remembered a place where the tour guide had taken us three years ago. Only remembering that it was near La Fortuna, I began to track it down. @Hot spring “Rio Chollin”, La Fortuna, Costa Rica, Feb 15, 2018
Border crossing, Peñas Blanca’s, nicaragua, February 14, 2018
Exiting Nicaragua was the toughest vehicle exit so far. Exiting usually takes about 10 minutes but it took 1.5 hrs in Nicaragua. I am now comfortable with the usual processes and identifying who are real government officials and who are private helpers with similar looking uniforms. What was new here was that I needed to get approval stamps from a customs agent and a police officer, who allegedly were around this open square but in fact it was hard to find them. The police officer had...
Catedral de León, leon, Nicaragua, February 12, 2018
Unlike the previous few days, from Leon I had planned to spend more time for conventional touristy sightseeing activities. As expected, Leon was full of travellers which indicated that there is a free walking tour. So I joined one early next morning, only to find out it was the first real day for the new young travel guides. They were obviously nervous and there were so many pauses, which made the whole group feel awkward. Though I felt bad, I gave up after the first 40...
This website chronicles Leebong’s journey around the world for 2+ years, for the time being. To find out more, see The Travel & The Why.
To catch me, see Itinerary.
Impressions Series
