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August 3,
2003
i crossed the border into panama yesterday at sixoala.
a little spot in the jungle where the banana train crosses the river
sixoala. until 5 years ago, this part of panama was completely cut
off from the rest. it could
the border is a wierd thing... a railroad bridge that crosses the river which serves double duty as a car and truck bridge, a pedestrian footpath, an official border crossing and who knows what else. what takes this border a little into the surreal is that the bridge and connecting structures on either side are only as wide as a train, about 10 feet. so only one type of vehicle can cross at a time, in either direction. further complicating the flow of traffic are the customs and immigracion offices, which are housed directly at either end of the bridge, where the bridge, considerably elevated from the surrounding land, meets lengthy (1/4 mile) earthen ramps that facilitate a gentle ascent for the trains. hence, since there is no way to pull off from the tracks, and since the customs process requires that you stop in front of the offices and complete your tramite (transaction) before continuing on, each vehicle can arrest traffic for i would imagine as much as an hour.
as luck would have it, i pulled onto the tracks directly after an 18 wheeler came over from the other side, and continued over and through without seeing another vehicle. most it seems come by bus or taxi and walk across the border to a different passenger service on the other side. there are no passenger trains. all in all, like all off-the-main-road border crossings, its a good place to cross between costa rica into panama. people are friendly, unhurried, and sympathetic. i had what certainly the shortest border crossing so far, an exemplary showing of bureaucratic efficiency. the costa rican customs guy was busy changing the date on his hand-stamps and took my form and waved me through... immigration stamped my passport and i was off to the panamanian border in less than 15 minutes. there things were a little slower, but not by much. after paying a $1 preliminary fee, then bribing the immigration folks w/ $15 for not having a return plane ticket to show, i went over to customs, where i waited with a couple of stumbling drunk truckers while an official (who looked to be using a typewriter for the first time) filled out our requisite forms in triplicate. many mistakes were made, and complexities encountered such that by the end of the process, i was actually doing the typing while he essentially looked on in an approving way.
after a particularly thorough search of jesse i was on my way... ... to almirante, a dump of a stopping point where one must continue by boat to bocas del toro, my destination.
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