On a. Tour of the. Fundamental to the drum of joy was written in one thousand nine hundred eighteen is a simple advertising jingle for a dunce but today the song is a National Symbol of animal popular street musicians and on the waterfront of the capital city. And i come back last night to the german Childrens Book or third general issue also penned in ensuring the popular from age to the country with his book the trip to panama its title in german translates as a beautiful panama aids. Not forwarded on the morning local here governor neutron bomb were going on a journey to discover for us. Seldons just down beautiful panama really is our main focus the panamanian railway its quite a bit older than the better known panama canal that it has run alongside the mold than the central and latin america are about to have bottled water out it will. Become airborne malo. Down. My. Gas bill. Not yet. To come and the. Panama is the southern most Central American nation at the countrys narrow is pointed canal connects the coastal cities of panama city and cologne the pacific with the atlantic and caribbean. The ticket hole in the station of the Panama Canal Railway is low on charm and there arent many customers its the rainy season and that means low season. When you have. A total of ten diesel electric locomotives hold the passenger trains then named of the stations along the route that numbers derive from the early years of the railway in panama our trains ready it has a locomotive and both ends this push pull system means the stuff dont have to do any shunting at the final stops. Is a tour guide hell be showing as a very special corner of his country served by students trying to top up their income a small but welcome breakfast at seven fifteen on the dont the only passenger train of the day departs panama city for cooling the seventy seven kilometer trip takes around an hour. And only runs with days undeterred by the early hour passengers from many countries have come along for the ride the excursion is one of numerous Tourist Attractions in panama. This is the task will be yet panama citys old town for example a unesco World Heritage site the architectural splendor of panama is colonial past still shines bright here the buildings were commissioned by newcomers from spain and later from france and north america the days with trans road through the quarter are long gone. In the heart of the city on placer maior dressed punish lee in resplendent white is the impressive iraq at the drop metropolitano. The old town is panama citys number one tourist attraction. In recent years the state of private citizens have been investing in the renovation of its many dilapidated buildings. Gentrification is pushing up rents in casco and changing its character a problem faced by many old towns around the world. But for tourists the colorful buildings are a picture perfect backdrop act. Time and again the streets and squares of board attractive views of panama cities modern skyline. Theres a lot of bold architecture beyond the waterfront road and the need of. Latin americas high skyscrapers can be found here International Trading houses banks and hotels. Panama city at the pacific end of the canal is the seat of government as speculators paradise Money Laundering center and a destination for migrants its a cosmopolitan city undergoing rapid growth the capital is home to one and a half million panamanians thats more than a third of the countrys entire population that number swells every day with the influx of commuters the public transport system is largely serviced by buses these are often wildly painted vehicles are known as the able Author Office red devils hat and metro opened in panama city in april two thousand and fourteen the citys very proud of it its central americas only underground railway. Is sixteen kilometers long and traverses the citys south to know a second line is under construction and a third one is in planning. Act. The operator of the state run metro says two hundred fifty thousand passengers use line one every day there are nineteen trains with three carriages each on the line they were built in spain they operate at three minute intervals servicing fourteen stations. There arent many tourists out on foot amid the exhaust fumes in modern panama city they prefer to admire its skyline from afar tourism elsewhere in the country on the other hand is evolving into a key income generating industry has actually thats the idea of to be. Promoting panama as a sure and tourism destination and obama has many attractions and thats why we are happy that we are. A lot of tourists from all over the world so were becoming a very trendy country. With regard to. The panama canal has been a destination for travelers for a century not many people explore the country beyond it sure i mean its our Main Attraction people think of the canal when they think about panama leave to go back home they. Have a lot of other beautiful things to offer. A trip on the panama canal right away is one such attraction it guarantees views that you wouldnt get in a calm or room full of the canal zone is closed off apart from a few Access Points at the locks and trains are allowed to. Be exquisite journey doesnt come cheap. The train ticket from panama city to cologne cost twenty five us dollars. The bus equivalent is two dollars fifty. Thats probably why its only tourists enjoying the views in the historic carriages. For many people the trains just too expensive its just for tourists which i think is a shame sometimes people from panama city ask me where i work i tell them on the train they think im in the metro for every american crazy many dont even know the Panama Canal Railway and theyve never been to the place were going there and back and they often ask me what kind of train this is. One of the carriages of the train is reserved. For employees of the cologne free trade zone they use it to go to book a variety of antagonism but im off to get your schedule is set so that we get to work on time i guess we depart panama city at quarter past seven and we arrive at twenty past eight and are in the office on time. Then we work for eight hours which is the norm in panama you have to be one of the companys managers thats what gives you the privilege of taking the train. To appreciate it when its not cheap after all. The ticket. Is it too expensive for regular panamanians by me a little more for them and they might try the train one day just for fun. Enormous out of. We take this train every day but only because the company pays for it otherwise we wouldnt be able to afford it. Near a florist pedro may get and get to a ship has to pounds three locks to get from the pacific to the atlantic who vice versa by the shortest route possible namely eighty one point six kilometers. The tugboats the desist the huge vessels play a crucial role they called a remote do it in spanish. Carries a. Range and have more than six thousand horsepower our boats currently maneuvering a chinese container vessel into the mirror flores look. There to cope with rain are assisting the ship one on the bow on me and. The reason im here is to help. Control if need be to stern and help him not have headway able to slow him down or even stop while the other one on the ballot pressed to control the bowing and keeping interest me because its a canal and not open water its better for the ship actually for us to move whether it be. A couple angles or a news course or a couple degrees in the course. And for him to you know we should be getting to the logs easier rather than trying to steer and end the ship being heavy or not make a wider turn and he certainly we need. Once we do the lucky good bandsaw and im ok. Once he goes by himself then we go and. There we go again make sure you goes into the me and then we repeat the process two hours to an hour of hours until we get to those. Raising and lowering the water level when the Chamber Takes around ten minutes around four hundred thousand liters of water on the move to the container vessel will head on to the gap to know where other tug boats would sisted after around ten hours it will be in the atlantic and get shift is over for today heres my mug one two three four five six rings. You get to work today. And thats just a normal day. Usually sometimes theres a more very few things that. The japanese mutes the electric locomotives that run on the whos working credit card they pulled a huge ships through. The logs more than thirty of them per day. Locomotives are equipped with two motors of two hundred sixty horsepower each as well as a rock rail system made in switzerland to cope with this grid essential rock which gives them support. Yet another rail supplies the muse with electricity. Then named after the pack animals that traditionally carry goods on the panama canal route. You know their number up a little in their coal in mules because they work osis they need to be very strong for that. Its all about the work they do at least. The animal exactly ram up to fourteen thousand ships again make their way through the panama canal which was opened in one thousand nine hundred fourteen the lot gates still hopeful the general didnt want to give the fed you cant go to the moon so far nothing serious has happened the canal is maintained very carefully that makes me incredibly proud of this engineering feats the greatest thing my country has to offer lots of different cultures working and everyones passionate about offering the best service around the clock for ships from all around the world but not out of. The construction of the impressive panama canal was documented by the new york artist william b. Van england in realistic mural paintings they were installed in the panama canal headquarters in one nine hundred fifteen. The building is located on a hill twenty six meters above sea level which is equivalent to the highest elevation in the canal. And avenue illustrates the length and width of the locks. One of the exhibitions in the Panama Canal Museum displays objects from the every day lives of panamanians. Live it highlights the canals increasing importance in public and private life from the early twentieth century. Many developments in panama are associated with the isthmus but theres of course more to the country than the can now the museum seeks to answer questions on the identity of panamanians. We were bad before to come now and we were panamanians before to come now. If i can at least part of our identity but is not the only part and the building of that identity is this scribble this this museum. The canal Museum Opened in the old quarter of panama city in one nine hundred ninety seven. Recreated scenes from the lives of canal workers the famous photograph of president Theodore Roosevelts visit to the canal a rusty wagon from what was then the Worlds Largest construction pit pictures newspaper articles and tools not least for the newly created Railway Department the collection has its very own history. This museum on began without anything so i put an ad in the paper that said be a part of the history of you half so and so and saw these kind of things please contact me and the. Response of the people was a. B. C. People began. Calling and calling and bringing things and we found that range that is a rino or from the station and that wonderful piece that is from sally james farhad and you can see in there really all this top of this train station a rich digital photo album tells the story of the panamanian railway it traversed the country from ocean to ocean long before any ship in the canal from eight hundred fifty five onwards it sped travelers from having to sail the longer route around cape horn at the tip of south america their brain around was that opportunity to carry three days most not only carry and people would call her thoughts. And to enrich our identity. The Panama Railway was founded in new york more than ten thousand workers died from malaria cholera during its construction. The railway was initially a Success Story but the significance faded with the completion of the trans continental route across the United States in eight hundred sixty nine it regained importance during the canals construction. When the french began excavation in eight hundred eighty one they bought the railway and used it to transport workers and materials. When. They ran out of money however and in one thousand know for the United States acquired control of the canal zone overseeing the project to it successful completion now the Old Railway Route had to be changed because it followed the river valley that would be flooded the line was relocated at a cost of nine Million Dollars during the canals construction trains counted a way around two hundred million cubic meters of soil and while nobody cared about their fate when the area was flooded on the fifteenth of august nine hundred fourteen the panama canal opened to traffic and. The thing and while the shipping route flourished from the outset the railway was in the red nationalizing it in one nine hundred seventy seven made no difference either. The railway line once celebrated as the first into oceanic connection on the isthmus decayed for decades it was rescued by a private company that has been operating the Service Since the year two thousand on new tracks through the canal zone and. Our guy jill bento is a member of the coo no an indigenous tribe who live on the san blas islands off the coast of panama the train used to be cheap and he remembers the people especially me and my granddad remove sometimes the island by boat as they could train from the sea here in the panama city because he was working in the panama canal and the time. He was there for a school i was. Working as an implement and i have banjo has lived in panama city for a long time he likes it there but nothing beats arlin block this is a small x. In the city and. Because to have only been out to the normal bearing natural life so we dont report it and went to the to the slip him. Is nothing like that dont worry about what time is now. There is a roller coaster like road through the rain forest to the coon a young a region on panamas north coast we company jus bet on a tree that. Was. Bad that the. Food you know in ireland on the san blas aki alligator are inhabiting. In one thousand nine hundred twenty five the khulna one autonomy from the panamanian government in a bloody fight for the survival of their culture. Every Island Community has its own groups some reject tourism of those have cautiously opened their dealing world to outsiders. Is from the island of counties. And where allowed to accompany him that. The. My. Family and in some of the. First we introduced in the congress all the Assembly Hall and. Directed them all here for that hes like a minister of culture for all the communities and thus again hes just visiting tomorrow he will travel to prague and the cool part of solar where hell talk about the tradition. Over there we have all three will cheat us this is the most important house of the criminal culture thats why all visitors should come here and drink the chiefs or get them like a small donation is expected katine is home to a thousand people other communities count just one hundred members of the islands maybe remote but so net energy and mobile phones on a rarity many who not work on the mainland they bring the technology with them when they return home to small festival is just coming to an end and the women and girls seem to have dressed up for the occasion but in fact these colorful clothes are every day out fix. The chops are adorned grid application fabrics known as move was designed to protect the wearer from the dangers of life. The small village Museum Displays many spiritual objects of the coun our culture along with a large collection of mourners which are popular souvenirs among visitors to panama. City but the museums curator underlines the true purpose. That is not in the corporation the mall us is protecting spirit of the. Work on the board in the war most of them all of this walking of the colors the black one we used to laugh. Used to hide in the knife to hide in the spirit of the red color red color here is but the quinoa c. S. U. Happy like the spirit of the spirit on the yellow one is double the gold in the shade it is like the sun is still to go among the blue ones about this page the green is about the mainland of the mountain everybody make but most women are the female and they indicate to make them all of somebody sometime sometime this summer i learned the good of mankind of war they can do that of them all of this is personal for them you know. How similar made several layers of fabric are placed on top of each other patterns a cut out and the edges are sent to get the by hand in the language must sell or tails is a little bit about her life. And we actually had a name with it and then in the language her mother and grandmother turn to everything she says that the fabrics cant be bought in the city they dont use natural dyes that she often produces traditional patterns but very modern ones too she sells them for around twenty dollars why american money. Only when economic convoy ok very little is a low. Income even though i may not jude battle and his mother when hes in. City the thing he misses the most is how cooking. Monarchs i had in the book eighty percent of the food traditionally. Is healthy. No exaggeration. Its a digest fish and other sea for. Their smoked fish uka or good nails and of they want to make planters we cook them in coconut milk nuts to coon a jar. Whenever i visit the island after having been in the city i wish i could stay over the weather but oh well i have to go back to work. But i guess its a magical place by and by with a lengthy its name and crew not. In spanish its called christine by yours but its real name is c. Im glad. Better c. R. Y. I dont have like a lot of my c. R. Y. Doored do you misuse some. Within. Me see this as a year and she says yes means yes and the coup not on which but i come every saturday whether i think. The United States handed the can our over to panama in one thousand nine hundred ninety s. Ownership of th