Thinking about skipping over the border to leave my bike for a few weeks. Any ideas how long I get for the bike and does it go in the passport. Thanks

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How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

C'mon you miserable b'stards. I always try to post when you want to know something. I am positive someone has been through at Ipiales recently. You sure as hell aren't ALL enjoying Venezuela - are you???

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

I got a permit for 90 days - tourist permit and bike - at the Macara(?) crossing. It didn't go into my passport. (I didn't reply at first, had to check my passport).

Now, take a deep breath, exhale slowly. (feel better?)

Oops - Macara was crossing from Ecuador to Peru.
It was the one in the north (forget the name now) where I got the 90 day permits for Ecuador. (got 90 days for Peru too). Must be my charming ways.

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Brother,

How is it? I got 30 days at the border (whatever the Colombian crossing point's called just beyond Pasto) and extended by another 60 days at Quito Airport. Be warned - Ecuadorean customs are natural-born jobs-worths and can be quite the pain in the hole. Maybe you could get in touch with Albert or Ricardo if you have any specific problems.

Chin up, Mickey.

Suerte, Dan

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Que el cielo exista, aunque mi lugar sea el infierno...

I just asked. I first requested a 90 day tourist permit at immigration, so then getting the same 90 days from aduana was no problemo!

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Now that I know I can get DIAN off my back by bunking out of Colombia, I am feeling a lot better. Mind you, the bike is illegal at the moment, so I will have to get there first. Quastdog, you are a gentleman - we met in Medellin once but you don´t know it. And... Dan, you the man. What are you doing with yourself these days - still in Nicaragua? I´m loving Colombia more and more each day.

Chao Chao

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

Stretcher, is your permit for Colombia expired? If so, what problems have you had? Let us know what happens when you check out of Colombia into Ecuador. My bikes parked in Med. and will be about six months overdue when i return.
BTW, Ecuador does not stamp your passport. Entry and exit was a piece of cake!

In South America I never had a problem when leaving. Mostly they did not even want the temp-permit except Argentina.

At one point I left Venezuela and did not "check out" my bike since I had to return there in a few weeks. When customs asked me about the bike I just told them "not to bother" since I would come back. And so they did not bother. Neither when I returned two weeks later.

An other crossing in Venezuela I had just done all the paperwork but it was getting late. Since there was no nice place to stay there I just rode back to Colombia to spend the night there. Crossed back again the next morning. No one cared.

Ecuador into Peru (at the west-side crossing) I once crossed for a day without doing any paper-work.
The only "annoying" thing was the touts shouting to me that I had to do the paperwork when I rode by (together with a friend who also did not do the paperwork).

Leaving Bolivia into Peru the main border was closed, so I used the local crossing. Since no one crosses with a car of bike there, they had no idea what to do with the paper and did not want to have it.

Entering Bolivia via the grand chaco (no border-crossing) I showed up a few days later at the customs at Santa Cruz. They simply back-dated the stamps, no questions (or bribes) asked.

Same for Paraguay when leaving. Need to 'check out' two days and 400 km before you cross the line.

Crossing over the paso de jama from Chile to Argentina there is no Chilean border-post (you need to check out a day before in San pedro).

It seems to me that if you don't present it, they don't need or want it.

Maarten

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maartensworld.com
beyond-anywhere.com

The first time I came to Colombia, a little over 2 years ago, I didn't bother checking the bike in at Cucuta. I got asked a few times for the paperwork, but Colombians being Colombians, they are far more interested in you and your bike than the papers. Paul at Casa Kiwi in Medellin has also had the same experience. I eventually left on a boat, once again, not informing customs. In the more recent past, I have left at the Maceio (Guajira) border without papers and then re-entered via the same crossings. Frankly though, the prospect of having to visit Venezuala again does not entice!

Basically, the message is this: you have nothing to lose by simply riding towards the border on your return. There is nothing that can now be done about sorting the paperwork. If there is, Paul at Casa Kiwi can advise, (DIAN is close to the Alcadia near to Alpujarra). A lot of extraneous paperwork, a smiling face and maybe a few bucks, (or regalos), will probably be more than enough to overcome any problems at a Colombian roadblock.

Suerte

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

Mate, could be too late here. I crossed in to Macara a couple of days back , asked for 30 days, they gave me 90, and definitley not in the passport, so even if you're coming in from another border yuo'd assume (okay okay) they'd bea ble to do the same at every border.

Dan, where are you bro? I'm down in Zamora, heading for Cuenca tomorrow then Quito in a few days to get some bike stuff done (don't ask, just don't ever ride your bike on the Salar when its wet is all I'll say),

Pete

www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/baird

No, it's not too late. Got plenty of time. It would be wicked if I could get 90, which would allow me to fly back to UK for a couple of months and grab some spondoonicks.

Now the question is; where is that Dan Walsh?

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

Hola,

I just left Colombia yesturday (boo hoo ( ) at Cucuta. the morning i left i got my paperwork ready, and noticed a discrepancy on the temporary import document. the 90 day permit didn´t equal the date marked. i vagualy remember pointing it out on the way in at ipiales, but was assured it was ok. I think when he counted the 3 months he was including the month we were in! but not wanting to make him look silly i didn{t push the point as i wasn{t expecting to stay too long ( time and money thing as always), but as it was colombia i was there 2 and a half months. I even tried to fold teh paper the wrong way so the teh date wasn{t obvious ( school boy trick , and it didn{t work!) . i tried to look as surprised as possible when the Aduana man pointed it out, wasn{t easy when you are expecting a fine of some sort. I tried to explain as best i could and 45 minuted later after taking a brass rubbing of the bikes serial numbers (normal they assured me) and burning himself on teh exhaust header he let me go . Said it was all ok and he would sort it out with the Aduanas in Ipiales as they made a mistake.

Still took me 3 hours to leave colombia , mainly due to getting lost as there is huge amounts of constuction in town now, and non of teh guide books point out there are 2 bridges that you can cross teh border. only 1 has a DAS office. But i did get a police escort through town to get to the right one!!

Then i took another 3 hours to get in to Venezuala. ( hard work, but they were polite and reasonably helpful)
Just to hijack the post for a minute -
I got a 90 tourist visa in the passport, but after a huge amount of running round to get teh bike in they said the maximum was 30days for a bike, and i could only enter 2x per year. one then said i had to wait 3 months before re-entering, and the other said i only needed to wait a day. Does any one have any idea what the rules are, because they certainly don´t!

And the roads are even more bendy than colombia!

Don´t know if there was any point to the story, but i guess Colombians are on the whole very helpful, they love bikes, and they want you to come back. so just be nice to them and i´m sure you be alright!

cheers
mike

These are all the answers i was expecting. Thanx everyone, i wasn't really worrying about it anyways. ...Colombia being what it is!

I sort of remember a KLR at Casa Kiwi, but can-t place the face with the bike now. Shoot, I can-t remember the names of the towns I sleep in - its the short term memory thing, and mine ain-t what it used to be. When I wake up and can-t remember where I-m at, that-s when I go for the Altzheimer check - if I can remember to do that.

I-m in Peru now. You-re right about Colombia. When my original 60 days was up, I decided I had best leave the country then, or I would be trying to figure out how to get a permanent residence visa.

Enjoy the trip.

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand