T - The sailing was beautiful. The ocean was smooth and the temperature just right. We spent most of the time on the boat either sleeping, reading or eating. The captain told us that the weather was quite unusual for this time of the year. Normally it was windy and wavey. Lucky us!











The food on the boat was amazing. The crew consisted of a couple from Finland who helped with the sailing and also prepared all the meals. We had everything from tuna salad right through to Thai curry! Amazing!

On the last night we caught a breeze. The sails were billowing and Calypsa was racing across the now slightly wavy ocean. We were looking at being in the harbour of Cartagena by around 7 am. Then we would unload the bikes and go from there.







It was at this point that I thought I might look over the paperwork from Panama. Not for any reason, it just so happened that I had the paperwork file out. That's when I noticed a mistake. Another one from Panama aduana officials.

When we had received our exit permits from the DIJ I had checked and double checked every number. VIN, passport, everything. It was all correct. But in my haste I had missed one crucial error. No longer was I riding a Honda CT110. I was now riding a Toyota Moto.



Great.

T - We rolled into Cartagena nice and early this morning. The sea was a little rough last night and I lost count of the amount of times that I woke up as I was being bounced off the bed and into thin air as we slammed over waves. It was great! I have quite enjoyed being on the boat but I am looking forward to getting back on the bike and exploring Colombia.

The captain soon had a small boat out to meet us and had the bikes unloaded and parked on the dock. He then left to go and do something. We weren't really sure what but assumed that he was off to immigration.





C - As stressful as loading the bikes onto Calypsa was, unloading them was worse. It was completely terrifying to watch my little bike get lowered down by hand, from a yacht swaying around into a dingy that was swaying around even more. Thankfully it all went smoothly but I did not relax until both girls were safe and sound on dry land!

T - 4 hours later we were all sitting on the side of the road in the city with our bikes, no passports, no papers nothing and we had no idea where the captain was. It would be an understatement to say we were all feeling very frustrated and a little concerned as we were also pretty sure we couldn't just unload our bikes without some type of customs inspection.

People came and went and chatted to us. Pretty much they all knew what boat we had come from and what was going on more than what we did. Eventually the captain turned up and told us that the passports wouldn't be ready until 330pm. When we asked him about aduana he said he didn't know but that it shouldn't be a problem to have it all finished today. He has contacts in aduana for this type of thing.

After he came back with our passports he said that unfortunately aduana wasn't open today and it wouldn't be open until Monday. Aaron told him that he didn't think we should have unloaded the bikes just yet and the captain agreed that perhaps he had been in too much of a rush. So now we were legal in Colombia but our bikes weren't. This meant we couldn't ride them without fear of them being impounded so we pushed them to a nearby hotel. Is it worse to be caught riding a bike that probably shouldn't be here or pushing it?

This last leg has certainly has had its ups and down. From paperwork that is constantly wrong to now feeling like we are creating a mess for ourselves here in Cartagena. I'm feeling quite, actually very, stressed about the whole situation now. Chantelle keeps reassuring me that it will be fine. I hope so. Roll on Monday. Once I actually know where we stand in regards to the bikes then we can make a plan. Until then it's all limbo land.

C - We are not the first bikers to be in the situation and I am sure we will not be the last. I have no doubt that Aduana will process our bikes on Monday without question. We are not alone either, the other two bikers on the boat with us are here, along with another rider who came in the day before us on a different boat. Whats the worst that can happen, right?!?!?

The hotel we have is nice, comfortable and is close to the aduana for Monday and close to the old city for an explore tomorrow

T - It's certainly off to a messy start for South America hey?! Just when I thought we had stuffed up enough things for Colombia to cause me a big enough headache I discovered something else. We never officially cancelled our temporary import permits in Panama.

When we received the all clear to leave Panama with our bikes from the aduana officials we thought it was done and finished. Chantelle and Aaron both made a point of asking the officials in Panama City if there was anything else we needed to do before leaving and the answers had both been ‘No’.

Turns out there was one more item. We needed to cancel the TIP’s in Colon once the bikes were loaded onto the yacht. In theory we shouldn't have received an exit stamp from immigration in Portobelo before we had a stamp in our passports showing the TIP was cancelled.

Chantelle is staying nice and calm and she keeps reassuring me that it will be fine. We will get the bikes sorted out tomorrow morning and be riding for the Andes in a day or two. Inside I know she is right. But I am still worrying myself silly. The other bikers with us are also in a state of panic and they are worried we will somehow have to return the bikes to Panama to actually officially get them out of Panama. We have no bill of lading from the boat to show how we got them here either. Oh its crazy. My advice to anyone also thinking of doing this, do your research, use a reputable service to get you and your bike around the Darien. Today Chantelle and I both feel we should have just forked out the money to have just flown the bikes. We would have had them already and probably have been riding through the city.

C - I really do not feel there is any reason for concern. We have spoken with another biker who did use the ‘reputable’ service - the Wildcard. It appears his paperwork is really not that different from ours and Aduana in Cartegena did not ask to see his exit documentation from Panama. So I am not stressed about this about this all, but Todd is having a stressful day!

T - We went for a wander into the old part of Cartagena. It is a walled city built way back when. Cartagena used to be plundered by pirates who wanted all the Spanish gold, so the Spaniards built themselves a nice little fort. Its very beautiful with lots of colour and life. I really like it!









We had a tasty lunch at a bar that was dedicated to KGB relics which was quite cool and we both enjoyed just walking around.














Tonight we might head out for some cheap eats or just stay in and watch a movie.

Tomorrow we tackle aduana and should have our bikes legal by the end of the day.

T - Nothing too much to report today. We woke up and wandered off to find insurance for our bikes and then went and made the required copies of basically every document we had. We weren’t sure as to how we would go at the customs end because we had no proof of how we got the bikes from Panama to Colombia, and we hadn’t officially exported our bikes out of Panama. To be honest this whole thing has been our fault. We should have made sure we knew what we and the bikes needed before ever boarding the boat. But we are here now and so are the bikes so it's time to stop moaning and get cracking!

There were 5 of us in total that were basically all in the same situation. We knew that there was a slight possibility of our bikes being seized and us facing hefty fines. So we agreed to keep the bikes at our hotels, chained to concrete piers and well out of sight of the customs officials.

We marched into customs, handed our paperwork in, which we had filled out incorrectly, and were told that we would need to return later with the bikes to prove that they existed and be able to have them inspected. The customs lady also told us that the way we had come into the country was not good. They were no longer accepting motorcycles that turned up on the beach after being strapped to the side of a yacht. The fact was that bikes like ours were skipping customs protocols at both the Panamanian end and the Colombian end. Not once had our bikes or documents been inspected by customs, meaning that we could have left with stolen bikes, drugs, animals, people etc etc. Fair point too and we knew that we were doing things potentially unlawfully when we booked the boat by taking advantage of a very grey area in the shipping side of things.

So we will advise people to research it before booking these boats to take your bikes. Sure its an experience, but having lived through the last few days and not knowing whether our bikes would be penned away and never seen again, or we may receive huge fines or be looking at having to somehow return the bikes to Panama and start again kinda sucked. Next time we will send by cargo ship and take the yachts as a passenger. Also means our bikes wouldn’t get covered in sea salt!

As we were leaving the customs building the Customs lady told us that we could just prove our VIN, number plate, and colour of the bikes by just showing her a photo and to return with the photos at 2pm. Suited us as we would have had to push the bikes for a good distance to get them to her otherwise.



We hung out at the hotel for a bit and then returned to show her the photos. She ticked all the papers and told us that they would be ready to go in the morning and we would receive our temporary imports then. I felt so relieved but I decided to not get too excited too early as things can change so fast!

Then it was more chilling out by the pool and a bit of relaxation time before wandering into the old town for some amazing pizza and a well deserved !







Tomorrow we should hopefully be legal in Colombia and would like to head out of the city and into the country side. I need to find a new sleeping mat and a Leatherman as I seem to have lost mine on the boat trip over. A shame too as it was a good one!

T - It was 8am sharp and we were straight in the door at customs. The lady we have been dealing with came out smiling which we all took as a good sign. The papers weren't ready yet but if we came back at 10am then they would be finished. It seemed like a done deal.

We had a free breakfast with our hotel so we were quite happy to meander back and fill up on eggs, juice, toast and coffee while we waited. By time we had eaten and packed some of our clothes away in preparation for a swift escape, it was time to head back to customs.

We had to wait for a while longer as it was super super busy and we were a little ways down the queue. But then……

She came out with our documents. Stamped signed and dated and with a big X in the “Authorised”. Oh thank eff for that! We were free to ride south!



We went to a little cafe and I had a celebratory iced milo and cake! Then it was back to the hotel where we packed like mad so we could get on the road.

I then spent the next 20 minutes kicking the bikes but they refused to start. Rosie would grumble to life and then die as soon as I applied any throttle. Mabel was so mad at me for putting her on a boat in the middle of the ocean that she was still sulking and refused to even acknowledge my efforts to get her to run. Finally after draining the carbs and flooding fresh fuel into them and giving each carby a whack with the handle of a screw driver they both fired up on the first few kicks.

Riding away from the hotel was great. We were free again! We both had big grins and soon we were neck deep in the sphincter clenching crazy traffic of Cartagena. Bikes were the problem though. Those guys are crazy. They were zipping into the fast moving traffic without looking, riding up the wrong side of the road directly into oncoming traffic before shooting into gaps between trucks and buses. We saw them do U turns without slowing down or looking and watched as the traffic around them braked, swerved and screeched to a stop. We witnessed so many near head ons, bumps, scrapes and lockups that my head's still spinning from it. Normally we get a sense of the order of the traffic but this was total and utter chaos! For the first time on this trip we actually feared for our own safety. Riders would pile past us with bare millimeters of space between us and the stare back at us while weaving across the road into oncoming traffic. It was frigging madness I say!





C - Today was really the first time I felt uncomfortable in the traffic. Central American traffic is crazy to be sure, but today in Cartagena it appeared every single biker was seeking an early death. On top of this the intensity of the sun, the humidity and the sheer number of cars and buses surrounding u left us both dripping with sweat and we were aching to be free of the traffic and moving at a speed which would allow us to cool down. Just as suddenly as the madness begun, we were free of the madness of the outer suburbs of Cartagena and on our way!

T - We both eventually tore ourselves away from the scrum and soon we were cruising down the road. It was stinking hot but we were very happy! We ended sitting behind a small convoy of trucks for a while and it turned out to be a good move. Some locals had set up a small road block with a piece of rope across the road and were waving a stop sign at everyone trying to get a toll. We sat right up the back end of one of the vehicles as the trucks honked and just kept driving. The rope was down and we all raced on by. If we had of bypassed the trucks I am sure they would have tried getting money out of us! Cheeky bastards.



C - Initially, the scenery was dry and scrubby, much like Panama, but after cruising through a few small villages the vegetation started to change and became a brilliant green. We crossed some wetlands and rivers and before we knew it, it was 4.30pm and time to look for somewhere to sleep the night.

T - We found a hotel in the town of San Juan where we were greeted with handshakes, big smiles and secure parking! Always the secure parking is most important. Then to top it all off, we were told by the young guy running the place that even though their restaurant was closed tonight he would order us some food from nearby and have it delivered. Total cost for a huge serving of hot fresh food, hand delivered to our room, $7.50. For the both of us!





C - The dinner he organised for us was amazing - a massive slab of beef with yucca, rice, beans and salad. I only needed half of it, but ate it all because it was so damn delicious!



T - Tonight I will sleep so well. I can feel it. Tomorrow we head for the town that time forgot, Santa Cruz de Mompos.

T - Best sleep last night. No stress, no borders coming up, nothing. Made for a very easy sleep.

I was up with the sun this morning and keen to be on the road before the heat got into the day. So we packed our gear, started the bikes and soon we were heading down the road.

The highway we are on has been fairly busy with trucks, and as a result the road surface has taken an absolute pounding! It is rippled and buckled and our little bikes bounce around in the tyre ruts. But it was certainly fun to ride it. Kind of like a rollercoaster.



We cruised along, both of us commenting on how dry it is here. We thought Colombia was totally made up of rainforest! But it reminds us a little of home. Big farmlands, dry hills, and a blazing heat. Lovely! We found a little truck stop area that had a few restaurants scattered through it and we stopped for some comida tipico. Rice, eggs and a slab of beef. Yum yum! The meat here is amazing. A beautiful smokey flavour permeates the stuff. So good.









Eventually we wound up in the town of Magangue where we knew we would need to sort out our ferry crossing. We had to get ferried up a river, and then down a side creek to get to a road where we could ride to the town of Mompos. We didn't know anything about the ferry. Where it went from, when it went, how much etc etc. We are getting good at these water crossing debacles though!

As soon as we pulled up to look at our google maps we were surrounded by gentlemen who all seemed to know exactly where we wanted to go and told us the ferry had gone but that we should ride quickly up a dirt road where we would find a way to Mompos. One guy walked us to the start of the road and then said ‘Go go!’ and so go we did!

We found a barge that was preparing to load and cross to Mompos so we parked up and lounged about trying to find some respite from the sun. We watched as a large number of trucks reversed down a sandy bank onto the old barge and then cars squeezed themselves into the remaining gaps. I couldn't believe how many vehicles they fitted onto this thing. Then a guy came up and told us to come along and put our bikes on too.











We parked between hot trucks. One of them full of huge bulls. We were a little worried about them pooing on our bikes but another man told us that we should move them over to avoid just that happening! We paid our $2 for the bikes and then spent the next 10 minutes chatting to all the men who came to see the two touristas on the barge. Chantelle seems to be a real hit here in Colombia with many people doing a double take when they see its a woman under that helmet.





C - Everyone has been really friendly and super helpful whenever we have looked like we might be lost! The men on the barge just wanted to talk about our bikes, where we are from, what are doing and it was a fun conversation.

T - We then sat on the boiling hot steel deck and tried to avoid the sun by scooting under a truck. Finally the barge bumped onto land and we were off.



The road from here to Mompos was about 40kms in length and it was in a right state! Massive sections were torn up, fallen over, and covered in pea gravel. It was a hoot and the gravelly bumpy sections gave us a chance to pass the slow trucks and cars.

We pulled into the gorgeous little town of Mompos. Narrow streets, colonial architecture and gorgeous churches and parks. We were already falling in love with Colombia. We found our hotel for the night and the super friendly owners soon had us tucked away into a huge room and told us that we could park our bikes in the lobby tonight. Then it was time to have a wander through the town.









C - Thanks so much to our Aussie buddies (who we are yet to meet!!!) Monica and Simon who recently travelled through these parts and recommended this gorgeous little town to us! The hotel was lovely and set up a possie in the back courtyard where we could do our washing - Mum, you will be proud, I actually handwashed my clothes!

T - And we ended up lost. The maze of side roads and alleyways was brilliant. All the buildings were painted in bright colours and the were quite a few lovely murals scattered around the place. After a while we saw something we recognised and realised we were only a block away from the hotel.









Mompos is a delightful little place and very welcoming. We saw a few other tourists and it looks like this is one of those places where the secret of its charm is out. If you want to see a lovely untouched little place get in quick before the tourist buses find a way here.

C - As we were wandering around, a little girl getting her hair brushed by her grandmother on the pavement in front of their house, yelled to us ‘Turistas! Turistas!’ in a cheeky voice and then promptly buried herself into her grandmother whilst we all laughed. She was very cute!!







T - Tomorrow we are going to make our way to another hidden secret called Zapatoca. Probably a good two days ride away for us. We have also learnt of Colombias most dangerous road down south so that may be something to ride even the name alone makes us want to ride it. The Devils Trampoline, or as the locals call it “Adios mi vida” (Goodbye my life). Sound fun right?!

T - What a beautiful little place is Mompos. Chances are that we would have stayed a little longer but the road is ours for the taking, and take it we shall! We started off the morning with a coffee from a street vendor right outside our hotel. He must have known we were coming because he greeted us with a big smile and a booming hello while pointing at the two different sized coffee cups. Which do we want?

Well we went for the larger size, obviously! He poured some steaming black coffee out for us and we sat at a table and sipped at it. OMG. OMFG. It was liquid heaven. It had an amazing rich earthy taste and the sugar in it gave it a nice little sweet kick. Even Chantelle, who doesn't have sugar in anything if she can help it, said it was frigging amazing. Cost of the coffee, around 40 cents each. Incredible.

C - I seriously can not describe how simply amazing that little shot of espresso was. A little cup of freakin’ sunshine!!! The sugar complemented the coffee perfectly and it was muy deliciosa!

T - It wasn't long after and I could feel the caffeine and sugar racing through me. My hands shook and I felt like I could run a marathon. What concoction is this? Is there a dash of cocaine in each delicious cup? I need more! I need it NOW!



After we packed up we headed out of town and set the GPS to avoid as many toll roads and major highways as possible. Not that the toll roads bother us too much as bikes go through for free! We ended up taking some dirt roads, some sand roads, and some clay roads. It was great! And the people here are super friendly. Waving to us and chatting to us whenever we stop. Colombia is incredible already.





Then the kicker. Up on the horizon flashed some….mountains! It was the start of the Colombian Andes! From here on south we should see lots of mountains!





C - It has been quite hot the last few days and we were hoping to dive straight into the mountains to reach a cooler altitude, but alas, it was not meant to be! At the last minute, the road turned away from the mountains and we rode through a spectacular valley between two branches of the Andes mountain range.





T - We zipped along through busy little towns. Motorcycles buzzing all around us. There was an abundance of bird life and we even saw a heap of vulture looking things chewing on an alligator carcass. What??? Weird.





Then we were stuck on a major highway which took us south south south. By the time we reached our destination we had seen enough trucks and cars to last us a lifetime!



We checked into a nice hotel that gave us the best secure parking ever. Behind a huge locked gate and right near our room. We chucked our stuff down and went off for a wander. The streets of this town, San Martin, were covered in shade cloths right across the street. It was a busy colourful little town and there was an abundance of hardware stores.











We had a little slice of yummy cake and then retired back to our room while we waited for the street stalls to open up for food.







Tomorrow we should reach Zapatoca. Its about 200 kms south.

Dying to know how you pulled that one out this year
Loving your travels & pics guys

__________________
My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

Hahaha. Whoopsies! I created a new day! Because February rocks you know! Im a February baby. I went back and fixed it though!!

T - We set our sights on Zapatoca this morning. It was a tad over 200kms away, and a big chunk of it would be off road. We figured we might make it but if we didn’t there was another town along the way where we could find a hotel.

But first we wanted, nay we needed, some more of that damn Colombian coffee! There was a little place just across the street from our hotel and soon we had a cup of steaming hot cafe con leche sitting in front of us. It was divine! Todays coffee came with sweetened condensed milk, so with the sugar and the caffeine there was enough power there to make my hair stand straight up.

C - Oh seriously, that coffee. How will I leave here?

T - We were on the road soon after and we made great time down the highway. In fact we made such good time that we decided we should stop and have some food. We ordered the breakfast meal deal which came with a bowl of soup with chunks of beef in it, plus then a huge serve of fried eggs, bread and a thick tortilla type thing. Both of us were stuffed after just the soup. Our breakfast came to about $4 each. And we were stuffed full to burst.







We had to slog out a little more highway to get to where we were going. But then as we scooted along I spied a sign for the town of San Vincente. That was a town near to Zapatoca. So ignoring the pitiful beepings of the GPS we peeled off and took this back road instead. And boy am I glad we did! The bitumen soon deteriorated into crates and broken bits of tarmac before it finally gave up the pretense of being a road altogether and ruse became a rock strewn track. We loved it!









Our pace was reduced to a crawl, with 30 kph being about the fastest we could get to before we had to slow down and crash through another set of ruts. We twisted and climbed, ducked and weaved and then we found ourselves on some immaculate concrete roading. This led us into the very pretty but insanely confusing streets of San Vincente.







C - The ride was stunningly beautiful, passing through mostly agricultural lands with many cows, sheep and horses to be admired. We also saw many cowboys, going about their farming work and it was all so peaceful and so lovely. It was so lovely to finally be off of the highways and be able to enjoy the countryside instead. The road was sensational as well and it felt so good to be tackling the slow speed control riding again, rather than just slogging along a fast paced highway full of trucks.





T - There was a heap of one way roads and lanes here, but none of them were signed or marked in any such way as to tell us which direction was the right one. Locals kept waving us over and pointing us in the right direction. In the end a very kind man led us up a million streets, all one ways, and then pointed us the right way towards Zapatoca.

C - It was so lovely of this random gentlemen to help us out. The town of San Vincente appeared on our GPS maps as a one road town which saw us sticking to that road in and out of the town. But in reality, it is a big town with many, many roads. GPS fail!

T - We zoomed along another smooth concreted road that zipped around bends and left us wanting for more! Then we had to turn off the smooth road and onto a small nondescript track.

The track ran along the side of a mountain and climbed and climbed. It was as rough as all buggery but it was so much fun. We certainly have been missing these types of roads for some time.





We laughed and giggled over the headset as we bounced and bumped in and out of ruts and over rocks. There was mud, sand, gravel and clay. And the scenery was simply mind blowing! The mountains rolled off in all directions with the bigger ones in the background covered in a blue haze. So beautiful. Colombia is just incredible!







C - The scenery changed as we climbed through the elevations. Slowly, the agricultural vegetation turned to vibrant green tropical plants with their massive leaves and brilliant colours. As we reached over 1500mtrs, this gave way to pine trees and more alpine style vegetation. The road continued to bump and grind us along and we soaked up every bum bouncing moment.

T - We stopped for a lot of photos! Chantelle even managed to throw Rosie on the ground such was her excitement! I didn't want this ride to end. But the kilometers slowly but surely ticked down and soon we were high up on a hill and on the other side of the valley we could see Zapatoca.



C - I should clarify, that I jumped off of Rosie to check out the view on the other side of the road. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I didn’t realise we were actually on quite a hill and Rosie promptly rolled forward off her stand to have a little lie down. Of course, this all happened just as a bus full of passengers leering out of the windows went past. Oh well!



T - A short while later we pulled up out the front of a hostal called Hostal de la Prada. For 50 000 COP we ended up with a huge room, and hot showers! They even made space out in the back courtyard for our little bikes.





C - HOT showers! I should explain here that since we left America, hot showers have become a luxury. We only get them every now and then, and much less than now and then since we left Guatemala. In Mexico we learnt that toilet seats are superfluous and since El Salvador we have learnt that shower heads are also superfluous to life. But this shower has hot, hot water - I even had to put some cold water in it. It also has fantastic pressure and a shower head. Talk about winning at life!!!! How I love a hot shower and it actually broke my heart a little bit when I had to turn it off and surrender the blissfulness to Todd.

T - We showered and wandered off in search of some cold s to wash down the dust of todays travels. This town is damn gorgeous and we have already decided to stay here at least another night. Chantelle was over the moon when we found food as she managed to get some meat on a stick!









C - Now, I am a foodie. I love good fresh food, cooked with quality ingredients. But still, there seriously is no better invention than meat, on a stick, cooked over a fire. This one had carne (beef), pollo (chicken) and salchicha (pork sausage).



Today I was in heaven, from that first coffee, to the off road riding, to the beautiful scenery, to the many locals who smiled and waved to us and all the way to the and meat on a stick!

T - Tomorrow we are going to visit the Don Quixote museum and wander around the steep streets of this town.

T - Oh hot showers! I had another long one this morning. I'll never take a hot water tap for granted again.

We wanted to have a nice wander today and then check out the art gallery that uses Don Quijote as an expression of the artist views on the world. But first we had to go and have a coffee.

There is a little tent in the main square with numerous coffee machines stacked on a counter. So we went there and the guy behind the counter rattled of a dozen ways we could have our coffee with 4 different types of alcohol infused in them if we wanted! We thought it was a bit early for alcohol coffee so opted for the locally grown plain black espresso instead. Holy cow. It was so strong that my toes tingled right from the first sip. We, and by we I mean Chantelle, chatted to the owner for a few minutes and he said we must return in the evening and try the alcohol infused variety. Ok then, if we must!



C - The traditional Colombian coffee this morning was again, absolutely freakin’ amazing. We had it ‘sin azucar’ (without sugar) today and it was completely amazing. I was very keen to try the alcohol infused version, but thought it was better to save this for at least after midday!





T - We wandered up some of the steep roads and managed to get some glimpses out over the town. Every angle that we viewed this little place from just looked more amazing than the last. Not since Merida in Mexico have we both felt so comfortable and happy in a place. We have already decided to spend a third night here. This town is spotlessly clean, there are flower boxes under most windows and a huge amount of the houses have little painted murals on all their meter boxes. So lovely.













We wandered to La Casa del Quijote. A local artist and sculptor has put this magnificent little display together using Don Quijote and his side kick Sancho to show his view of the social goings on and politics of the world. It was bloody fantastic! I really enjoyed the message that each piece presented. Normally I am not into art but this was superb! I can not recommend Zapatoca and this museum enough! Hopefully the masses of western tourists stay at bay for a while longer but eventually someone will discover this magical place.







We had a guide in the art gallery who spoke mainly in Spanish but could also speak English very well too, even though she was a little shy about it. Then it was time for us to have some lunch and I really wanted a siesta for a few hours.





C - Again, a massive thankfully to Monica and Simon who recommended the Don Quijote experience to us. It was really impressive and lovely to delve into some intellectual thought about the imagery of the pieces. The representation of sociological and political issues that have been experienced through time was just superb! My brain was almost dead by the end of the tour, as I tried to get the explanations all in Spanish and then translate for Todd. After about an hour, I was starting to fade and then it became apparent that our lovely guide’s English was about as good as my Spanish! We were both in need of some lunch after our visit and we visited a little cafe which offered a set lunch of soup followed by a plate of meat, rice, lentils, salad and potato. After overeating yet again, we retired for a little siesta!

T - The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent sitting in the square, drinking coffee laced with aguardiente (Colombian made spirit), and coffee with Baileys, eating arepas cooked in butter and filled with cheese (amazing), drinking s, and eating humungous slices of pizza. Life is hard.













After which we felt like retiring to our room and watching a movie before hitting the sack.

Tomorrow we shall spend another day here just relaxing and enjoying Colombian life.

T - Chantelle has a little article that she needs to write up today. So that meant we would have some down time just hanging about in our hotel. But before we got too lazy we had to go get some more coffee.

This morning we both opted for black coffee laced with whiskey. Hooooo boy. That was like a flying kick to the brain! We sat in the park and patted the local stray dogs and watched Colombians get on with life.







Everything in this town moves at such a nice sedate pace. Even though it appears most people wander in and stop at the coffee guy, even the kids! People lounge around the square chatting to their mates and letting their kids play games. It is such a great atmosphere.

We spent the next few hours locked away while Chantelle typed like mad. I put on Jurassic World to watch as I have just finished reading the Jurassic Park books by Micheal Crichton. Not a bad movie. I do like the throw back to the original Jurassic Park though.

After which we wandered back to the square where we had another coffee, with brandy this time, and then sat in a pub and had a few cold s. What a life hey? We stuffed ourselves full of pizza, arepas, meat on a stick and some type of wafer dessert thing before calling it a day.









Tomorrow we shall leave. It will be a sad moment but the road calls and there are so many places in Colombia to visit. Our destination is a town called Barichara which is only about 60 kms or so away. But we have found an alternative road/track to the main one between here and there. Lots of curves and a few rivers to cross. It should be fun! Famous last words right?

T - I was a bit sad to pack up and say goodbye to Zapatoca. I could easily have spent another week here, but I want to visit another heap of cool sounding places yet. So I packed up and wheeled the bikes out into the street and soon we were off, to the coffee guy.

I had an amazing iced coffee. It is easily hands down the singular best iced coffee I have ever had. Loved it and it wasn't long before I drank the whole thing.

C - I tried the cappuccino this morning and again, it was amazingly delicious! I am going to miss this little bar in the middle of the square here - great coffee, friendly staff and a wonderful place to sit and watch the world go by. But, the show must go on!



T - We wanted to visit the big lookout that was just out of town and overlooked a huge valley with views that went on until next week. So we set the GPS and within 10 minutes we were there and looking out at…...clouds. The whole thing was a white out and we could only see a few spots as the cloud rolled back occasionally. Oh well. We set our GPS to take us to Barichara the back way which as luck would have it actually went down the mountain from the lookout and was only 50 kms away.

C - Despite the clouds, it was actually quite lovely at the viewpoint, and the fleeting glimpses we got of the valley between clouds was pretty special.









T - We followed the bumpy hard packed clay road along for a few kilometers before we were accosted by a barbed wire gate with a sign that said please leave closed. Now this should have been a clue for us to turn back right? Nah. We went through and shut the gate behind us and continued on.







The road got steeper and rougher as we descended. But the views. Oh the views! Every new twist in the road opened up the valley below us. The road snaked back and forth with super tight hairpin bends. The mountain was sure steep here. We bounced down postie bike deep ruts and climbed up rocks. Cliffs loomed over us and we saw many area where there had been rock falls. The more we descended the hotter the air became until we were riding in what felt like a furnace.













Both the bikes were boiling hot. The heat coming off them was super intense and I started to worry about them a little. However we were just plodding along downhill so they didn't have to work too hard.







We could see a mine in the distance but saw a few tracks crisscrossing under it so we figured we wouldn't have to get in the way. Eventually the track turned nasty. There was fresh rock falls every 2 meters and the road was severely undercut. Neither of us felt comfortable here and we rushed onwards.

C - This was definitely the most uncomfortable I have been on a track. There had been some significant landslides both above and the below the track, and in places, the undercutting had left the track less than 2mtrs wide. It was certainly not somewhere we wanted to hang about! Then, just in the right place, I obviously hit a patch of loose rocks at the wrong angle and Rosie slid out. Whoops. Thankfully, I was left standing, as quite often happens on these bikes when on slippery surfaces! I had her up in no time (record time I think) and was back on the way to get off this very dangerous section of road!



T - Finally the track dumped us out onto what appeared to be a haul road for the mining trucks. One way led towards the river and away from our destination some 20 kilometers away now. We turned right and then we saw a massive sign. Mining area ahead. But it didn't say we couldn't go through so we thought we would follow it along for a while and hope we could go through.







As we approached a front end loader the driver told us very clearly that we could not pass and would have to turn around and go back. Noooooo. There was another town a little way away that we figured we could get to and then head east and maybe hit the main south bound highway. But we were looking at 54kms to maybe get through. Ah what the hell. We went for it.

We cruised along the nicely graded haul road back past the track back to Zapatoca and down to the river. We passed a huge sign that said in big red letters Unauthorised Entry PROHIBITED. Whoopsy. We followed the road along for a bit and soon we were parked in a line along with about 5 mining trucks. The only way across the river was a barge. Owned and operated by the mine. And they were only taking one truck across at a time. We looked to be here for a good hour or more and that's if they would let us on the barge. So we decided to go back the way we came.

C - I really did not want to ride that section of road again, and I too was feeling for the girls, having to climb up from 800mtrs to 1700mtrs in a mere 20kms. It was really hot and we were both feeling the heat, given the physical nature of the riding.

T - It was a hard decision and one that neither of us was happy about. But we seemed to have run out of options. So back past the no entry sign and back up the haul road to our track. Sigh. Uphill we went. First and second gear only as it was that steep and rough. The bikes screaming and howling. Mabel was very unimpressed and soon she had developed some nasty sounding rattle in the valves anytime I put her under load. It was hot. The bikes smelt so badly of burning oil and metal. I felt we might kill them. Still we pushed on. Working harder and harder as the track became its steepest. The heat coming off of Mabel was insane! Then Rosie decided to have a nap. It was a tense moment as both of us were frustrated and our tempers boiled over and we snapped at each other. We rode in silence for a while after that.

Finally we made it to the top. We had a quick chat and put our spat behind us. Both bikes were at the point of boiling. They sat there and stank and let off heat like small suns. Our poor bikes.

C - Not one our finer moments on this trip so far!!

T - We pulled back into Zapatoca where we filled up on cold drinks and some of the locals came over for a friendly chat. That helped lift the mood some and then we were back on our way to Barichara. The normal way this time.





The road was rough and bouncy but to us it felt like the smoothest tarmac in the world after this mornings track. We zipped along and even managed to get up into 4th gear for some of it. The rough track today had taken its toll on Mabel though. She had oil down her front left hand fork boot. Poor thing. And Rosie had burnt out her rear brakes. Chantelle now basically just relying on her front one. We are hoping that we can find some replacements in Medellin in a few days.

C - My rear brakes recently started squealing with every use and after the long, steep descent this morning, where my rear brakes were very important, they seemed to have decided they are worn out! Thankfully there we no more steep, rocky descents ahead!

T - The ride to Barichara was a dusty one. We bumped over rotten old bridges where the concrete had fallen away leaving big holes that could swallow an unsuspecting postie whole, through to rivers that flowed over the road.









Then we popped out onto a bitumised road. Oh it was blissful. And it was as curvy as you could ever hope. We screamed along and Mabels pegs managed to scrape around some of the sharp bends. It was fun.

We pulled into Barichara and found a hotel where we could park the bikes away behind closed gates. They offered us an upstairs room saying that no downstairs ones were available. We were the only guests in a thirty room hotel…..weird.

C - The girl at the reception desk was adamant that we could not be married, because we shared the same last name. In her eyes, only birth relatives share a surname. I explained to her than in Australia, and some other countries, it is traditional that the wife takes on their husbands surname. She was absolutely horrified by this and then launched into a speech about the inappropriateness of this tradition. I was happy to hear her point of view - which was very valid - but I could have done without the reproachful glares!!

T - She really took an instant dislike to me and I was the recipient of many stares through narrowed angry eyes. I felt very uncomfortable and had I been more energetic I would have looked for another place to stay.

We had a short wander into town which has a gorgeous little square with an old church dominating the skyline. We were both buggered and after a short walk and after some food that was it for us.







Tomorrow we shall start the trek towards a place called El Penon which is near to Medellin. It will probably take us a good two or three days to get there.

T - We planned on taking some back roads today but we just couldn't verify if they existed. Our GPS said something different to our maps.me which said something different to Google Maps. So we decided to slog down the main highway to a town called Chiquinquira. About 4 hours riding to do 186 kms.

We made good time out of Barichara and soon we were cruising down the highway, stuck behind slow moving trucks on steep hills and sharp bends. It made overtaking a bit scary at times as we scooted past trucks on our underpowered bikes.





C - It was extremely disappointing to be stuck behind the slow, slow trucks on this twisty highway. We were both cursing the trucks for ruining our cornering fun!! On the plus side, getting stuck in long, long lines of traffic is not as frustrating on a bike, as we were able to zip up the line or one or two cars at a time!



T - We had a quick stop for some more amazing Colombian food and then it was back into the traffic for some more highway miles. The riding was quite nice and the scenery was certainly beautiful. However we didn't really stop along the way because we didn't want to have to get stuck behind trucks we had just past.



Eventually we pulled into the town of Chiquinquira. First impressions were that it was a bit dreary. We were quite high up and it was very grey and gloomy looking and all the shops and buildings looked bare and rough around the edges. We found a nice little love motel and soon had our bikes hidden away inside. Then we decided to go for a walk.

C - Todd stayed on the street with the bikes whilst I went into the hotel. The lady was adamant we had bring the bikes in quickly, as she stated that bikes regularly get stolen off of the streets in broad daylight here. We got the bikes inside the lobby with the very secure, automatically locking front gate very quickly! Our girls need to be safe!







T - The town centre was gorgeous. We wandered up and down pedestrian dedicated alley ways, had coffee in a cafe, and enjoyed some incredible street food. This town was an unexpected delight! We must have spent a good 2-3 hours just walking around and poking about in some of the shops.

C - After we strolled around the city centre in all directions and chatted to some lovely locals, our view on the town was lifted. The centre was not dreary and industrial, but wide pedestrian streets set around a beautiful, but bare, central plaza and a grand cathedral. Given it was quite chilly at the altitude, we opted for some liquor in our coffee, just to warm up our tummies, and they were so strong! A full shot in each cup.. I think we may have wobbled out of the cafe.





T - By the time we made it back to the hotel we were both exhausted so we lay in bed and watched The Secret LIfe of Walter Mitty before crashing out. Our plan tomorrow is to head the majority of the way to Guatape and El Penon.

T - Coffee late in the afternoon is a bad idea. Neither of us managed to get a decent nights sleep last night. Bloody amazing Colombian coffee, its all your fault!

We packed up and pushed the bikes outside and went through the usual pre start checks, oil, keys, clothes, stares, etc. Rosie bellowed into life on her first kick and sat there idling away happily. Then it was Mabels turn. She fired right up but then started misfiring and making a hell of a horrid racket. She backfired and rattled, spat and farted and died. Hmm. Weird. Maybe she was just cold.

I kicked her again and again she fired right up, but any use of the throttle at all result in nasty noises from her engine and massive farts and hiccups. Plus she smelt very fuelly. I couldnt and didnt want to pull her apart right here in the middle of the main street, with the cities occupants standing around staring at us, so we rode about 400 meters to where we could pull down a little side road and I could have a look at her. The whole ride she bucked and groaned, rattled and backfired and I couldnt get about 5km/hr. There was something seriously amiss here. I suspected either a blocked jet in the carby or maybe a jet had rattled out and fallen into the bottom of the fuel bowl.

We stripped her down and found that her carby was fine and clean looking and had a healthy flow of fuel. We swapped CDI units between the bikes, swapped sparkplugs out, did a valve adjustment, all to no avail. I was stumped. I wanted to swap out the coil and lead but it looked like a major operation so we put her back together and did the unthinkable. We took her to a mechanic.

C - A lovely gentleman passing by told there was a mechanic only three blocks away, so we ventured off to find him. We didn't find a bike mechanic in three blocks, but we did find plenty of auto and truck mechanics. One nice guy came out and told us that there were two mechanics, just around the previous right hand corner. Just in the nick of time too, as Mabel was getting adamant she was soon not going to run at all!

We were greeted out the front by mechanics from both shops, as they checked our bikes.



T - The mechanic was super enthusiastic about working on her and soon he had checked her cam and cam chain, stripped her carby down, gave her a new spark plug, checked the CDI, and then went and got his mechanic mate from over the road. They both concluded that Mabel was having and electrical mishap and after prodding and probing her bits with a multimeter declared that yes she definitely had some electrical issue.

He ended up swapping the stators between the bikes, swapped the carbies, swapped the CDI unit the lot. And still Mabel ran like a hairy dog. I asked him if he was enjoying this challenge of working on a bike he had never seen before, to which he replied “YES! It is very good!”





Finally he kicked her again and she started up and sat there…..running terribly. Nothing had changed. The guy had worked on her constantly for about 4.5 hours and still he was no closer to her running better than before. Then he tapped his head and while she was running and backfiring and filling his workshop with fumes he reached into her battery box and gave her a tickle and VROOOOOOOOOM. Her revs came right up, she idled smoothly and then I had to stop listening as the mechanic tested out her rev limiter for what felt like a month. He was very pleased. He fiddled a little more and pronounced her fixed. What he did I don't know. But she ran the best I have heard her run in quite some time.

He put her back together and then gave her another handful of throttle just to make sure she was still fixed. Oh Mabel. I am sorry! We have never revved our bikes hard like this! Ever. He took her outside and then waving and beeping at all his mates on the street he proceeded to race her around the place. I didn't mind. He did a good job on her, fixed some other broken bits and tidied up her wiring. He came back grinning and saying he liked her and that she was a very good bike and would take me to Argentina no problems at all.





C - After pillaging bits of Rosie to try on Mabel, the mechanic put Rosie back together, tidying up her wiring too. We were both prepared for a largish bill, but were both ok with this. The staff were all lovely and he certainly worked not stop on her all day.

T - So it came time to settle the bill. I waited nervously while he calculated how much to charge us. It came to a grand total of $18 USD. Oh my. I was very happy with that! In fact if I had to replace her whole motor I would have still been happy. This engine cost $300 and has carted my fat bum and all my luggage from Alaska to the middle of Colombia. About 37 000 kms with nothing more than oil changes and a new clutch. Go Mabel! Go Lifan! Go Rosie!

We then checked into a nearby hotel and called it a day. We hadn't eaten all day and both of us were a tad peckish. So after some chicken and rice we went to bed.

Tomorrow we shall try to get toward Guatape again!