Crazy Taxi Rides

Panama has some fucked up taxis. Almost every taxi ride I went on in Panama city ended up bad.

Taxi ride numero uno: Our taxi driver got pulled over becuase he illegally turned left. He had not paid 3 of his last tickets and so was going to have to pay a butt ton more for this infraction. sucks to be him.

Taxi ride numero dos: a kinda scary looking homeless man on crutches was asking us for money. our taxi driver rolled up all of his windows so the man could not ask us for money. The bum got super mad and smashed his crutch into the side of the taxi. the taxi driver got out and yelled at the old homeless man.

Taxi ride numero tres: Heading back at midnight after celebrating our last meal together, Danya and Roxaine and I got pulled over in the taxi. The police were checking everyones (the taxi drivers and the passengers included) identification. Apparently it is a rule in Panama that foreigners have to carry a passport with them at all times. However, if you are at all an experienced traveler you know that carrying your passport where ever you go is a huge risk. If it gets stolen it is your only way out of the country, so everyone just keeps them locked up in the hostels. So obviously we were not carrying our passports. duh. but it is a huge fine if you dont have them to show the police. what the fuck. we had to sit out on the street corner in the middle of the night like we were prostitutes or something, waiting almost an hour for the tourist police to show up. When he finally got there, he escorted us back to our hostel to look at our passports. It was actually pretty cool walking into the hostel with the police. We felt really bad ass.

Taxi ride numero cuatro: The taxi driver was super high or something and was driving crazy. He was blabbering on about how much he loved us. He told the one Czech guy we were travelling with that he loved him. Thank god the ride was super short, cuase I was super fearing for my life. When we got to our final destination the taxi driver wouldnt accept our money. He said that the ride was free since he loved us so much. So all worked out in the end. We survived and we didnt have to pay.

Moral of story: Do NOT ride taxis in Panama city unless you travel with a copy of your passport, have extra coins to give to bums, and you check the driver for sobriety before entering.