The Sunken Train

(En Français plus bas)
Once upon a time, when we were young and beautiful (read young with pimpled face) Grégoire, I and others (Xavier?) got the rare opportunity to scuba dive in the Lake Gatún, part of the Panama Canal.
Our friends Ned and Tom from the US embassy invited us to join the US army diving club on this occasion.
Diving on a ship wreck was already pretty cool, but most exciting was our second dive where we visited a train brought there by the French around 1880. Still on its rails, the engine and two platforms used to evacuate excavation materials, were flooded when the area was transformed by the US into a huge artificial reservoir to feed the canal locks (52 million gallons of fresh water used for a single ocean-to-ocean crossing). Likewise one of the French cemeteries (over 22.000 workers died, mostly of yellow fever and malaria) was flooded and can be visited underwater, but we didn’t see it.

Anyway, the reason for this reminiscence is that, as Laura and I were about to enter the new museum erected at the Miraflorès locks, Laura, who knew of that dive (I’m such a show off) asked whether the train exhibited at the entrance was similar to the one I saw.
Of course “my” train was a bit more impressive in my memory. More platforms may be?
It’s only when I saw inside the museum a movie of the salvation of the train from the lake that I connected the dots. This train was the one we visited in 1992 in the low visibility waters of the canal, as we were hearing underwater distorted noises of propellers from the huge cargo boats that seem to be passing over not so far away.

It was indeed a rare opportunity that we’ve had that day.

---

Il était une fois, quand nous étions jeunes et beaux (entendez encore immatures) Grégoire, moi et d’autres (Xavier?) avons eu la rare chance de plonger dans le Lac Gatún, qui fait partie du Canal de Panama.
Nos amis Ned et Tom de l’ambassade US nous avaient invités à joindre le club de plongée de l’armée américaine pour l’occasion, le canal étant encore sous leur contrôle.
Plonger sur l’épave d’un bateau était déjà super, mais notre seconde plongée du jour était nettement plus excitante car il s’agissait de l’épave d’un train abandonné par les Français vers 1880. Encore sur ces rails, la locomotive et ses deux plateformes, utilisées pour l’évacuation des matériaux excavés, avaient étés engloutis quand du convertissement de la zone en lac artificiel destiné à approvisionner en eaux les écluses ( 200 million de litres d’eau douce utilisés pour une traversée d’océan à océan). De même l’un des cimetières français a été couvert d’eau (plus de 22.000 travailleurs sont décédés, principalement de la fièvre jaune et de la malaria) et peut être visité sous l’eau, mais nous ne l’avons pas vu.

La raison pour cette réminiscence est que, alors que Laura et moi-même étions sur le point d’entrer dans le nouveau musée érigé aux écluses de Miraflorès, Laura, qui avait entendu parler de cette plongée (je suis tellement vantard) m’a demandé si le train exposé était similaire au « mien ».
Bien sur « mon » train était un peu plus imposant, peut être avait il plus de plateformes en attache ?
Ce n’est qu’en voyant le film de l’opération de sauvetage des eaux du lac que j’ai réalisé. Ce train était celui sur lequel nous avions plongé en 1992 dans ces eaux à faible visibilité, avec le bruit distordu des hélices de cargos qui semblaient passer pas si loin de nous.

C’était effectivement une chance rare que nous avions eue à l’époque.

Sixteen years later

As we fly out of Panama, headed for Guatemala, I reflect on what this country meant to me. My life took a turn for the best when I moved to Panama in late 1991, thus evolving from a somewhat protected and sedentary youth to the realization that the world was there to be discovered, experienced and enjoyed (and yes it took me 21 years!)
My dear friends Grégoire and Mayté were our dedicated and thoughtful hosts in Panama City (I'll keep you posted if they open a B&B) and many stories of the good ol' time were told not only for Laura's benefit but also for our sheer pleasure.
"And the time your parachute got twisted by the wind in mid-air... that was scary!" Yep, life was good for young people who spent their weeks planning their weekends.
It's so good to see again this happy couple with their bright and beautiful kids Adrian and Paola.
Panama changed a lot (got lost driving a few times) and keeps growing more modern under American influence. Currently about 150 high rise buildings are planned or under construction in the capital. Also foreign retirees and investors are being offered easy way to gain residency, advertised low cost of living, low taxes, evading the IRS or just getting a place to flee to in case of war or instability at home. And conveniently enough your immigration attorney might even offer a temporary transfer of a 6 digits sum onto your account, to make you appear as a suitable immigrant investor.

One highlight of our short visit was a 24 hour trip to the San Blas. This little piece of paradise is formed of a Caribbean coastline bordered by over 300 small islands, all placed under the authority of the indigenous Kuna community.
Flying there on a small aircraft is part of the adventure, as we gain views of the very modern city skyline, the Panama Canal, then the lush tropical vegetation that resembles cauliflower seen from above, lastly the coast and its numerous white-sand islands that could get as little as the 4 coconut trees they support. The water is turquoise, fishes are colorful and ending the day with a lobster dinner and beautiful sunset didn't suck. Our visit was way too short, but we were too ambitious to visit Mexico and Central America over 9 and 1/5 weeks.



See our pictures here

What you mean, SimplyThierry?

This blog's name does not only reflect my lack of creativity, but also my will to keep things simple for a change. Unlike my previous trip for which I crafted a web site (the old days before blog's were fashionable), this time I will make due with a blog. That choice is also dictated by the fact that the trip started, well... about 7 weeks ago.

So here we are Laura and I, on the path to poverty (we quit our jobs respectively last January and February) and what matters most, a path paved with discoveries and pleasures that I'll try to share a bit with you here.

Here is our situation: after expediting 36 cartons to France, we left Seattle with a truckload of belongings, headed for Laura's mom in Denver 1600 miles away. Then we started our trip in Mexico on March 22nd, with the goal to reach Panama by land. From there we would fly back to Guatemala, to reach by an alternate route Mexico City, as shown on the map below.


So we meet in Mexico City on March 22nd, Laura is coming from Denver, and myself from France.
We head to Palenque, and the Yucatan, then cross the border to Belize where we snorkel and scuba off Ambergris Cay.
We enter Guatemala to visit Tikal, and then go South to Honduras (scuba off Utila Cay), Nicaragua, Costa Rica and eventually Panama.
We’ll fly back to Guatemala on May 16th, to reach by road Mexico for our return flight on the 27th of May.

En Français

Ce nom de plume ne reflète pas seulement mon manque de créativité, mais aussi ma volonté de garder les choses aussi simples que possible. A la différence de mon dernier voyage pour lequel j’avais construit un site internet (les jours d’avant les blogs), cette fois ci un blog fera l’affaire. Ce choix est adapté aussi au fait que... le voyage a commencé il y a 7 semaines.

Donc nous voici, Laura et moi, sur le chemin de la pauvreté (nous avons quitté nos emplois respectivement fin janvier et février) mais surtout sur un chemin peuplé de découvertes et plaisirs que j’essaierai de partager avec vous un peu ici.

Voici notre situation : après avoir expédié 36 cartons pour la France, nous avons quitté Seattle avec un camion chargé de nos biens, en direction de la mère de Laura a Denver, Colorado, à 2500 km de route. Puis nous avons démarré notre voyage au Mexique le 22 mars, avec le but de rejoindre Panama par voie terrestre. De la nous retournerons au Guatemala, pour nous rendre par une autre route jusqu’a Mexico City, comme indiqué sur la carte ci-dessous.


Nous nous rencontrons à Mexico City le 22 mars, Laura venant de Denver et moi de France.
Nous allons à Palenque, le Yucatan, puis entrons au Belize ou nous visiterons l’île d’Ambergris.
Nous irons au Guatemala pour visiter Tikal, puis irons vers le Sud au Honduras (plongée sous-marine depuis l’île d’Utila), au Nicaragua, Costa Rica et enfin Panama.
De la nous volerons de retour au Guatemala, et rejoignons par la route Mexico City pour notre vol de retour.