Adventures busing between cities

For my end-of-February trip to Penonomé, I tried a new-to-me form of travel.  So far here in Panama, my transportation experiences have included

walking, city bus, Red tourism bus, airplane,
boat (both big and small), metro rail, train,
Uber, taxi (only once!), friend's car, hired van, and rental car.

Missing from this list is the bicycle, which my husband has used a lot but which I have avoided. Also, notably missing from this list are the intercity buses that are everywhere visible on the main highway, and so my trip to Penonomé finally rectified that last omission. Let's see how it went!

The ride to Penonomé

Different windows for purchasing bus tickets
in the Albrook Transportation terminal.

My host José had told me that, rather than taking the direct bus between Panama (city) and Penonome, which was a fairly small bus, I should take the larger buses that pass through Penonomé headed for Santiago or Chiriqui, as those buses are larger and more comfortable.  The bus schedules are not available online, nor can you purchase a ticket in advance.  So, having done a bit of investigation at the terminal a few days in advance, I found a Santiago bus that does stop in Penonomé that runs on the hour, every hour, starting at 3 a.m..  I did not take the 3 a.m. bus, thank you; I took the 3 p.m. bus.

Each bus has its own teller window at the station.  I showed up at the counter, paid my $5.25 (cash only), and was pointed to the doorway through which I would board my bus. The driver took my bag and put it beneath the bus, and I got on. The seats in this bus were comfortable but very (very) close together . . . as in, when the people in front of me put their seats back, I had to turn sideways to use my computer.

Inside the bus.

In this bus, there were no bathrooms.  There were also no power outlets, but there were fold-down cupholders on the seats.  It was air-conditioned but not overly so; the windows had curtains on them, which helps a lot with keeping the sun from cooking the bus.  (I wish, because of the curtains, that I had taken a seat on the passenger side; I couldn't see out the curtains across the aisle to peek at where we were on the route.  I made a note to self for my next trip to switch sides.)

The ticket that I got did indeed say Penonomé via the Santiago line, which reassured me that I actually would be able to get off in the middle of this ride. The bus started pushing back from the gate right on time. The conductor came and collected tickets as we pushed back, and it seemed like they then used the ticket stubs for a raffle-like drawing.

My ticket to Penonomé

About five minutes after the bus ride started, the movie started.  Panamanians are not afraid of noise, is all I can say about that.  The movie was Top Gun II, dubbed in Spanish, with the soundtrack playing through bus-wide speakers.  The dubbing has some voices quite soft, others quite loud, with the music being part of the loud aspect. With no subtitles, lots of extra noise, and no being able to read lips, I found the movie distracting and hard to follow, . . . I've learned to have my earplugs with me at all times (like my umbrella), so I popped those in, turned my computer sideways into the open space next to me, and caught up on some editorial work.

Later I figured out that the reason I thought no one was calling out stops was because (a) I didn't recognize the city names when they were saying them, (b) the sound of the movie made it harder to hear the conductor calling out stops, and (c) the earplugs made it harder to hear yet.  Fortunately, a combination of tracking our location on Google maps and the conductor actually coming to me right before my stop to ask about my suitcase meant that I didn't miss it!

Every once in a while, the bus would stop at a gas station or plaza rather than a road-side bus stop, and a bunch of people would jump on to walk up and down the main aisle hawking churros and empanadas.  It reminded me a bit of being at a baseball game, actually. 

In Anton, a fairly large town, we stopped for about 10 minutes at a large terminal, I assume for a bathroom break.  By this time, the movie had changed to an even louder Adam Sandler movie, and I was very glad that the break also meant a 10-minute break in the movie. 

About a half-hour after that, we arrived in Penonomé, and (as I'd mentioned above) the conductor made sure I knew to get off; my suitcase was on the sidewalk waiting for me.  The main feature of my stop was a "Super Xtra" store with large billboards; across the street there were a bunch of covered bus stands and behind those some parking, but on my side it was just a parking lot for a shopping center with a bunch of stores including the gaudy Super Xtra.  

Many people had told me the ride to Penonomé takes a bit over two hours, but it actually took three.  It is possible that I took a slightly more local bus than José had recommended. I couldn't quite see the route we took (curtains on the windows), but I got the sense that we took some of the side roads instead of the highway the whole way.  As we'll see, the bus ride back on a bigger bus was quicker (but still more like two and a half hours than two hours).  

The ride back

On the way back, José and I arrived at the bus stop just as a double-decker bus from Santiago pulled in. Great timing! I had won the bus lottery! The double-deckers are the really comfortable buses, José had told me over and over. Because of the bus arriving so quickly, I didn't have time to take a picture of the bus stop (sorry!). The conductor tossed my suitcase in a compartment under the stairs leading to the top floor, just like in the Amtrak trains I rode across the US a year or so ago.

I found a seat on the bottom floor, as I had read elsewhere that the top floor was the really noisy one. There were three seats to a row: two on the driver's side of the aisle, and one on the passenger side of the aisle. The seats are wide and plush and comfortable. Just like in the first bus, the windows all have curtains. This time there were no cup holders, but there were buttons for overhead lights, and I think I felt an electrical outlet by the side of my seat.

Not a great photo, but that's the best I could do
as the bus was jiggling and the light of the day was fading.

I took a seat on the passenger side of the bus; this not only meant I wasn't seated next to someone else, but also that I could open up the curtains and peek out at where we were going.  The bus toodled along past the Panama scenery: small towns, open fields, over hills, flowering trees, cemeteries, road-side stands . . . very pretty.  We had basically zero traffic; I'd timed this right (and, as I noted, it was probably more of an express bus than the first one). 

It wasn't until an hour into the ride that I had to put my earplugs in (people watching loud movies on their cell phones or talking loudly on their phones).  It wasn't until two hours into the ride that the conductor came and asked me to pay for the ride; in this direction, there's no place to buy a ticket in advance so people just pay cash in the bus.  For some reason, this bus was only $5: that's 25¢ cheaper than the smaller bus!

Shortly after I paid for my ride, we crossed the Bridge of the Americas and then wended our way back into the Albrook Terminal.  When I got out, I finally got the chance to take a picture of the bus from the outside.

Notice that the route ("Santiago Panama") is painted
on the front (and back) windows of the bus. 
Each bus has its own dedicated route; surprising!

I have to say, I'm impressed.  If I were staying in Panama longer, I'd definitely do a bit more investigation into figuring out which buses are which (like, when it's a super-comfy double-decker bus vs the moderately comfy and movie-slinging single-decker), and I'd be inclined to take these between cities.  The price really can't be beat, and once you figure out which bus to get on, it's a very easy process to get a ticket and get a ride.  The seats are comfortable, and the views out the windows can be truly lovely.