Road to Panama: Part 2

Bus passengers take a break at a rest stop in Costa Rica along the Interamerican Highway en route to Panama Oct. 12.

The bus takes us from San Jose and winds through mountain passes and through river valleys along the Inter-American Highway. We pass by numerous villages and homes with small family-run stores that offer snacks for travelers, but this one has ample room for the 40-foot tour bus to park and let us off. We stretch, take a bathroom break or buy a snack and are on our way as fast as we got there.


Corn, peppers and tomatoes at the rest stop along the Interamerican Highway en route to Panama. Most of the stores and fruit and vegetable stands one may encounter display their produce in bins out in the open. Many vendors hang bananas and bags of onions from the ceiling.


— Christopher