Great blog. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

"Why is his bike bigger than yours when he is shorter...?"

Kids always ask the best questions!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/129.html



Just 50 kms south of the Chicamocha Park is the town of San Gil where we've booked a casa for a few nights. It's advertised as the adventure capital of Colombia because of all the natural structures - rivers for kayaking, caves for exploring, and lots of trails for hiking.


Catedral de la Santa Cruz is the most famous structure in San Gil. It's even on the back of the bus in this picture!


Ridley Scott commissioned this statue in the main square to commemorate his movie, Alien


Neda does some grocery shopping in the marketplace


This is the neighbourhood where our cozy casa was located

San Gil is a nice town, but nothing too special about it. Most people use it as a base to go on to do other activities in the area. We're here primarily for the hiking. Actually, Neda is here primarily for the hiking. I'm here because I followed her motorcycle...


Pretty town of Barichara

We took a bus 45 minutes out of town to Barichara, which is called "the most beautiful town in Colombia". Funny how every town or city has to have some kind of distinction around here, but in this case, it is definitely the most prettiest town we've visited in the country so far.


Church of the Inmaculada Concepcion, Barichara


Smooth cobblestone streets and a tranquil approach to life</center>


Churches are made of stone, but the rest of the houses are traditional whitewashed walls made of bahareque (compressed mud)


Hangin' out by a door, waiting for it to open


Walking around the picturesque town


The Camino Real between Barichara and Guane is a very popular trail for hikers

The Camino Real trail is a 9-km hike that typically takes a couple of hours, and follows a rough stone path originally laid down by the indigenous Guane people, and then later used by the early Spanish colonizers. Unfortunately, very few of the Guane people are around as the conquistadors wiped the civilization out.


Spectacular views along the Camino Real


Normally, I'm the one that has a short attention span, but Neda: "oh look, a bird..."


We encountered a small shrine along the way. It's kind of pretty and creepy at the same time...


Camera is surgically implanted in my hands


Trail ends in the small village of Guane

Guane is a tiny pueblito, the same kind of architecture as Barichara but on a smaller scale. There was a mass organized for the day. Later in the afternoon, a priest gave out a sermon while we sat in the shade people-watching and enjoying being in tranquil surroundings on such a nice sunny day.


Stage being set up in front of the Santa Lucia church in Guane


"The first rule of Fight Club is..."


A marching band helped further the day's festivities


Flagbearer (Flagbear?)


The town square in Guane was filled with vendors selling local crafts


Hanging out with the locals


Plenty of people had their eyes turned to the sermon at the church

We had planned on riding out of town shortly after returning to San Gil, but I developed a pretty bad flu. There was a pregnant woman who was in the room next to ours in the casa. She was there on vacation, but was bedridden because of a condition with her uterus. On occasion she would leave the room to walk around a bit and we would nod at each other in the hallway, two infirmed patients in the Casa Medico.

When my symptoms persisted for four days, Neda got a bit worried and insisted that we call in a doctor, especially after what happened to Simon in Santa Marta. Despite my stereotypical male-aversion to medical care, I relented, and the local doctor was dispatched to our casa to determine whether I had the Dengue...

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well, that sucks. You need some

Thanks. We tried the local Aguardiente last night...

If you drink enough in one sitting, it's strong enough to kill any bugs that might be in you! If you survive the night yourself!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/130.html



We've both been getting sick a lot lately, we seem to be taking turns one after another. It's quite annoying, but thankfully now that's we're past the Darien Gap, our schedule has freed up enough to slot in the occasionally illness with little to no advance warning... Bring it on, Disease and Pestilence! (just kidding, please don't...)

The doctor came by and cleared me of The Dengue, so we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, it would be a whole week in bed before I was ready to leave San Gil.


Negotiating the twisty highway south out of San Gil

Our plan is to head westwards, but the main highway goes north a bit before turning west at Bucaramanga - exactly where we came from, so we had an idea to journey on another highway south, and then take a smaller road northwest. Looks to be the same mileage, but it should give us some different sights, especially when we get off the highway.


At Barbosa, we get off the main highway and take a gravel road northwest


We pass by some very small villages and heads turn as they watch a couple of monstrosities on two wheels trundle by


Sometimes the small road turns into a narrow dirt path, made a bit slick by the earlier rains


Jungle-aya!

We both love riding off-this-beaten path. It really felt like you were riding through the heart of the Colombian jungle, like any moment you would need to get off the bike and hack away at the overgrowth with your (BMW Motorrad) Machete to cut a trail in order for you to ride your bike further!


Girls wanna talk about bikes? Neda is ecstatic!

We stopped for a water break in a larger town and these two girls approached Neda and started asking about her bike. Normally guys of all ages, from little boys to old men, are the ones interested in the motorcycles, so these two girls were quite out-of-the-ordinary! Neda was so happy to talk bikes with them!


Back on the main highway heading westbound

We stopped for the evening in Puerto Berrio. It's a very small town, but seems to have spent most of it's annual budget for Christmas lights!


Christmas lights strung up in Puerto Berrio


An evening out under the stars


Neon Nativity


Watching an evening wedding ceremony from outside the church


Christmas lights as far as the eyes can see

Puerto Berrio is so small that there really isn't a hotel. We asked around and we were directed to a place about 3kms outside of town. It was a Love Hotel!!! Our first experience with Love Hotels outside of San Salvador was not a pleasant experience, so we were a bit hesitant about staying the night here. But after checking out the room, we were surprised when it was actually a nice place. The first room we saw was the deluxe suite and it had a stripper pole in the middle! But the room we booked was a normal motel-like room - no stripper pole, no mirrors on the ceiling...


Even the skankiest Love Hotels have private garages - so the neighbourhood won't know who's LoveHotel-ing

Throughout the evening, we heard lots of partying in the other rooms. With so multi-generational families living under a single roof in Latin America, the Love Hotel becomes a very popular place to get away from the relatives.

We continued traveling westwards early the next morning.


Stopped for breakfast in this small town that pretty much consisted of this diner and a few other buildings


Our bikes got a lot of attention while we ate inside


Riding through some very peaceful countryside scenery


Good to be out riding!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/131.html



We're in search for somewhere to call home for a while. Although there's a certain romanticism around the nomadic lifestyle, we're finding we're now craving a balance of stability and routine - somewhere where we can stock the fridge without having to label our food, use all the pots and pans in the kitchen and not have to clean up immediately, walk around in our underwear... No wait, I do that last one everywhere I stay anyway...


Passing one of the small towns heading westwards from Puerto Berrio to Medellin


Riding into the big city!

This is the bustling metropolis of Medellin - the second-largest city in Colombia. The Spanish language in this country is a bit different than what we're used to - the double "ll" in Medellin is pronounced like a "J" instead of a "Y". So we teach our family and friends back home how to pronounce Medellin by telling them that it rhymes with Neda-Gene.

A city with a name like NedaGene, how can we not stay here for a while?


Hostel Casa Kiwi: "Just throw your motorcycle over there behind those plants..."

We booked into a hostel for a few days to get our bearings in Medellin. The plan is to search around for an apartment, which should greatly reduce the cost of our accommodations.


Crashing a Christmas Party. What's ADV.com anyway...?

Just a few days into our stay, we were spotted on the road by Marc, another ADVRider who was traveling southwards as well. We were invited to a Christmas dinner at the Shamrock Pub, just a couple of blocks away from the hostel that we were staying at.


Birds of a feather feasting together, while Valentino cooks up some mean ribs

We spent the evening hanging out with the latest group of motorcycle travelers who just got off the Stahlratte. The sailboat has dropped off two sets of bikers and backpackers in the time that we've been here! We feel like we're the welcome wagon to Colombia, and we'll soon be waving goodbye to these travelers as they make their way onwards.

We travel slow. Oh well...


Hey we got a kitchen! And an apartment came with it as well! Neda is super-stoked!

The search for an apartment was quite painless. We got a referral from the Casa that we were staying in in San Gil the week before. When we dropped in to take a look at it, we fell in love with the place immediately. Located on the second floor of high-rise condominium, it's got a walk-out balcony where we can sit down and eat or read a book. It's in a very nice part of town called El Poblado. There's a grocery store right across the street and the subway is a 5 minute walk away.


World-famous NedaBurgers make a return, with home fries and a side of sauteed mushrooms. Fancy!


I got a Man-Cave! Well... a Man-Corner...


We can catch a bit of sun out here on our balcony

The weather in Medellin is very temperate, even though we're fairly close to the equator. Because we're 5000 feet above sea level up in the mountains of Colombia, the average is about 22C all year round, it can get to 30C in the hottest part of the day and then down to 15C overnight. Because of its unchanging climate, Medellin has often been referred to as "La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera" (The City of Eternal Spring).

In other words, the perfect place to settle down for a bit.

By contrast, Toronto is suffering from the worst ice storm it's had in several decades. Over half-a-million homes were without power in the dead of winter. When we tried Skyping with my folks for Christmas, we found out that they had to relocate to a friend's house because their house was without heat or electricity.

Although we feel bad for our family and friends, I kinda feel a bit smug sitting down here in the City of Eternal Spring... hehehe....


So we get this idea that we'll ride everywhere in Medellin.
That idea dies a quick death when we get stuck in the city's horrible traffic...


...so these are our new wheels!

Medellin is very much a large, modern city. With a population of about 2 million, it's about the same size as Toronto. All the amenities are available here, and within walking distance there are plenty of huge malls, one dedicated to just electronics! I'm in heaven!


Every once in a while, we take a day-trip downtown, about 5 subway stops away


Vera Cruz Church. Behind the scenes: Neda ran into the courtyard
flapping her arms to scare up these birds... Locals not amused...


Sunlight on the Vera Cruz Church


Found some time to get our shaggy-dos trimmed. Shamefully, it's been months overdue...


What the heck are these things?

We were fascinated by the Parque de Las Luces (Park of Lights) downtown. It's as if a convention of giant Jedis just threw their lightsabers into the ground and went off to have lunch somewhere. We stuck around all afternoon and into the evening to watch them light up:


I sense a disturbance in the Force... or at least a disturbance in the city's electrical grid


Lightsaber Park is quite a sight at night


Popular place to hang out


The Parque de Las Luces was right next to this very avant-garde-looking building


Things are looking up for Neda


Buildings nicely lit up downtown


Can't get enough of the lightsabers


Christmas lights decorate the streets of Medellin


Streetside vendors take up valuable lane space downtown


Peldar Bridge, just a few blocks away from our apartment, all lit up for the Christmas season

Oh yeah, our second Christmas on the road... Kinda cool...!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com