The 111th week on the road began with a journey from Boquete to Valle de Anton. It took about 9 hours with three different buses. The entire journey cost about $15 dollars in comfortable public buses. I arrived at Bodhi Hostel in Valle de Anton, which would be my base for the next three weeks.
A lot of other travelers almost choke when they hear how long I stay in one place. However, I am equally surprised as to how much people bounce around on buses and take on transit days just for a couple of nights in a destination. A couple of hikes and they move on to the next area, which to me is more of a travel culture rather than a thoughtful decision. Why do we feel the need to visit so many different locations when we often skip the most beautiful spots in a location we just rushed out of. I don’t say any of these things because we all travel in different ways with different time restraints but it always crosses my mind as I farewell group after group from the hostel during my stay.
Valle de Anton is insane. The valley is actually a huge volcanic crater. The town is built inside a crater. Therefore, you can imagine that the entire town is surrounded by peaks and ridges perfect for hiking. Beyond the crater are endless adventures in the form of waterfalls, mountains, watering holes, and canyons. This is another adventure town!
I put in the longest run of my life this week with a 24km run into the hills. I honestly, didn’t feel too bad and ran it at a 5.48 pace with 610m of elevation. I didn’t really breathe too hard the whole run and definitely have a lot of room to push if I want. I am still aiming to run my unofficial marathon before returning to Australia on October 4 and the goal is a humble four hours.
On top of the endless adventures in Valle de Anton, I have been daily blogging as best as I can. I often push through to keep the ball rolling and have managed to throw down 9 blog posts in my first week and a half in Valle de Anton. Productivity is solid and the backbone of everything I do. I will link to every adventure below and suggest you click the one that interests you the most as to see the region in which I’m currently staying.
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-picacho-san-carlos/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-picacho-ola/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/manglarito-waterfall-panama/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/los-cajones-de-chame-panama-2/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/pozo-azul-panama/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/la-india-dormida-sunrise-hike/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-de-la-cruz-panama/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-gaital-hike/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-la-gaita-hike/” target=”_blank”]
[contentcards url=”https://www.journeyera.com/cerro-cara-iguana-hike/” target=”_blank”]