Chiriquí Chatter

I took a trip up to the Frontera this afternoon; I had some jeans I needed to exchange at Almacen Wong Chang. If you go to the Frontera, this is one of the stores you want to visit. While I was in the Frontera I took a few photos. This is just a small portion that you will see, but it will give you a taste of this area.

Parking is always a problem. I had to park down by a PIO PIO chicken restaurant because all the parking in front of Wong Chang was full. This is the store across the street from the PIO PIO.

Before I crossed the street I noticed this rack of gas tanks. I don’t think I have ever taken a photo of these tanks before. These tanks are what most folks use for all their gas needs. The tanks are larger than the barbeque tanks in the US. Maybe by 50%, I am not sure. They cost around $5.50, again I forget the exact price. These tanks have the advantage that the price is regulated and it is cheaper to use these than the larger tanks, which are probably, equal to five of these. When I used to use the large tanks the price was always going up. With these the price stays the same.

This is looking right in the direction we just came from. Wong Chang is by the truck on the left.

Ok here we are at Wong Chang

If you are up here and have a lady that likes perfume, then check the prices here. Beware there will be many fellows trying to get your attention to sell you perfume out side of the stores, but in all likelihood they are imitations. These are the real thing.

Here is an area with fishing equipment.

They also have stereo equipment and CDs. In the upper area you will find clothes for men, women, children as well as shoes. You can buy Rockport shoes and similar brands here much cheaper than David.

They have a pretty large section of watches, but if I remember right they will be Japanese and no Swiss. Good choices in Citizen and Seiko.

That is not all of the areas in Wong Chang. There is a lot more. This is also representative of several other large stores in the Frontera.

Now I will take you into an area to the back of Wong Chang. This is a long narrow corridor that has small shops selling many different types of things, but mostly clothes.

This is the other direction and the way I am going to go.

My reason for going this way was this store. It is a duty free store. Don’t forget your passport.

If you like liqueurs, wine and any of the hard liquors, then you are in the right place. On some bottles, you will save enough to pay for your trip from David. If you buy enough you can even pay for your trip from Boquete. I like Amarula, which is a creamed liqueur from Africa that I think is better than Baileys.

This will let you know that the Wii is in Panama. Here it was $302. Remember that is the final price since this is the duty free store.

They also have a perfume section. It is good to know your prices though. Sometimes the duty free is not that much better but normally you will see some things here that you wont see in David (maybe some cameras and stereos etc.).

This is the street that is behind the corridor we came down. This is still Panama, but if we walked one more block we would be in Costa Rica.

This is looking the other direction.

Heading back to the car I passed a small shop selling DVDs, you may see some that not out yet. None of these are legal DVDs. Some have good quality and some don’t. I prefer to wait and rent at Blockbuster. One reason is that the counterfeit DVDs rarely have the extra portions of the DVD and I enjoy them many times as much as the movie itself.

After I took the photo of the DVDs the fellow behind the counter wanted his photo taken.

Well that is a part of the Frontera. It is usually always crowded on weekends. Many people from Costa Rica come here because their money will stretch a lot further. That is all for today. I hope you enjoyed the trip.

Tags: Tourist Related