Page 110 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

108 The Panama Canal and CenTral isThmus Around Colón
BUILDING THE PANAMA RAILROAD
So often overshadowed by the building of the Panama Canal, the Panama Railroad was the
world’s first transcontinental railway and a phenomenal engineering feat in its own right.
Anticipating the Gold rush, wealthy American businessman William Aspinwall constructed a
76km track linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to facilitate trade between new York and the
East Coast and rapidly developing California. At a total cost of almost $8 million (six times the
original estimate), it became the most expensive track per mile in the world, though the hefty
2 first-class transit fee, $25 in gold, also made it one of the most profitable.
The human costs were brutal. during the five years of construction an estimated six
thousand to ten thousand workers died, though appallingly records were only kept of the
white employees, who constituted a fraction of the workforce. The high death toll enabled the
railroad to sustain a grisly sideline in pickling bodies in barrels to sell to hospitals worldwide.
Although most of the labourers came from the Caribbean, others migrated from as far as India,
Malaysia and Ireland. despite the constant influx, work occasionally stalled since at any one
time only a third of the men, who spent long days up to their waists in swamp, attacked by
mosquitoes and disease, were fit enough to wield a shovel.
little sign of the dreadful human cost remained when the inaugural transit was made in
1855 amid much pomp. As one passenger wrote, “It affords the observant traveller an
opportunity of an easy enjoyment and acquaintance with intertropical nature unsurpassed in
any part of the world”. The same is still true today (see p.96).

Hotel Internacional Av Bolívar at C 12 T445 2930, and nicely appointed rooms above a restaurant (see below)
Ehotelinternacionaldecolon@gmail.com. A good deal provide a comfortable base from which to explore Fuerte
on one of the safest streets in the city (all things being San Lorenzo and the Atlantic side of the Canal. $154
relative), within a stone’s throw of the bus terminal. Rooms ★ Radisson Paseo Gorgas, C 13, Colón 2000 T446 2000,
are basic but comfortable, with cable TV and clean Wradisson.com. Probably the best in town, this hotel offers
bathrooms; there’s a (sporadically open) rooftop bar and a unremarkable business-standard rooms with the usual
reasonable restaurant (closed Sun). $45 amenities, plus a spa and casino on site. It’s in the cruise-ship
Marina Hotel Shelter Bay, 28km south T433 0471, terminal, Colón 2000, so be prepared for cruise passengers to
Wmarinahotelatshelterbay.com. Though aimed at be peering over you when you’re lounging by the pool.
yachties wanting on-shore pampering these new, simple There’s a varied buffet spread for breakfast ($16). $100
eaTinG
For safety reasons you should eat in or near your hotel, especially in the evening. If you have to go out, take a taxi for all
but the shortest journeys.

Arrecifes C 11 and Paseo Gorgas, behind Colón 2000 T441 freshly prepared – soups and salads, gourmet sandwiches and
9308. Nice terrace overlooking the sea slightly away from the burgers ($8–10) and succulent flame-grilled seafood options
cruise-ship crowds, and with a/c dining too. There’s a superior (from $15). Cash only. Daily 7.30am–9.30pm.
menú del día for $7 on weekdays and plenty of seafood dishes. Nuevo Dos Mares C 5, between Av Central and
Mon–Sat 11.30am–10pm, Sun 11.30am–8pm. Arosemena T445 4558. Specializing in Caribbean
The Dock Shelter Bay Marina, 28km south T433 0471, cuisine, this restaurant offers a wide range of tasty fish and
Wshelterbaymarina.com. Lovely bayside setting for sipping seafood (from $11) with coconut rice, fried yuca or
a cocktail or enjoying a leisurely lunch on your way back from patacones. Take a taxi and organize a pickup time, or get a
San Lorenzo (see p.110). The food’s nicely presented and takeaway. Mon–Sat 11am–7pm.

Around Colón
Southwest of Colón, a road runs through to the enormous Gatún Locks, where you can get
up close to gigantic container ships being raised and lowered between sea level and Lago
Gatún. Once across the Canal, the road divides: to the right it meanders 22km through
dense forest to the evocative ruins of the colonial Fuerte San Lorenzo, standing guard at the
mouth of the Río Chagres; to the left, it rises above the shoreline of Lago Gatún, offering

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