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South of 'Mer'Ka by Motorbike, Winter 15-16
South of Mer’Ka INTRO #1
https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...f800sunset.jpg So this is just a little introduction to my site. The catalyst for creating this site is that it will be my blog/trip report/write up of my upcoming motorcycle trip this winter with Kalil Allon. From December 16th (+- a couple days) to the end of March 2016, we will be traveling by motorcycle south from California, hopefully making it to Argentina this spring. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...2/img_0118.jpg Don’t tempt me with a good time! The trip: To ride my motorcycle from California south, through Latin America, through the western part of South America, down to Argentina. I will be taking approximately 3 and a half months to do this, starting mid December, 2015 until the end of March, 2016. I will be riding my 2012 BMW F800GS, which already has accumulated 29k miles at this point and many random adventures, from mud to nice, curvaceous roads tucked away in scenic places. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...2/img_0196.jpg No kickstand required… My riding partner: The person who spawned the idea and has continued to encourage me not to give up on this idea is Kalil Allon. He showed up a couple years back at Alpine Meadows, where I was grooming snow at the time as a veteran of the Israeli army who had never been around snow before, but was going to attempt to be the best middle eastern snowmaker that Lake Tahoe had ever seen. With a seemingly endless amount of enthusiasm and a knack for meeting people, we became friends. That spring, I was going to be working in Colorado, but my motorcycle was back in Vermont. So my grand master plan was to get to VT, then take 2 weeks to ride to CO. In the process, I roped in Kalil into the plans and we decided we would buy him a motorcycle when we got to VT, and then we’d ride together to CO, where he would continue back to Tahoe for the summer. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...2/img_1479.jpg Taking a break after riding the Tail of the Dragon (Deals Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border in the Smokey Mountains) 318 curves in 11 miles. VT to CO May 2014 That summer, Kalil calls me up and asks, “what are your thoughts on riding to South America next winter?” So the idea for this trip was born! |
Quick Update!
Shakedowns & Wrenches #2
https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...shakedown1.jpg So now let us get a little bit up to speed with whats happening! Today is Sunday, December 13th, and as of right now, Kalil and I are staying at my lady friends’ spot in Sacramento, California. We are getting all of our last minute things in order. I’ve spent a bunch of money on shots and pills (because who wants to have to quit early because they’re sick?!), bought a bunch of parts for the motorcycle (tires, valve shims, chain and sprockets) and spent a couple days skiing. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...shakedown2.jpg I also spent a couple days taking some windy, back roads down to Santa Cruz to go mountain biking and get a sweet new headlamp from my only sponsor of this trip so far, Light and Motion! Go out and get your own sweet headlamp ASAP!! These are great, by the way, especially when your dealing with motorcycle valves… https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre.../12/valves.jpg So after getting my bike all tip top, covering all the basics, she’s ready to go for a winter of exploring a bunch of new places! Kalil showed up after 2 weeks of training for his job (he hangs by ropes off of the top of windmills… Yeah, windmills, like the 300ft high ones you see all over the midwest…) and we got busy on his bike, so that’s all ready to go! As of now, we are getting set to start our slow ride south on Tuesday! Stay tuned…. Quick Update #3 Hey everyone! It looks like we will finally be on the road today! So the past few days have been very busy. Tahoe had been getting quite a bit of snow, so of course as a ski bum, I had to take a day and see what I was going to be missing this winter. Kalil came along and we got some sweet turns in! It was difficult to leave to be honest... https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre.../12/skiing.jpg Yesterday we had a big day of getting all of our documents in order and getting the bikes all together. But we as of right now, we are doing our final packing and about to start to head to the coast in a couple hours. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...ting-ready.jpg |
Post #4!
Lost In The Dark #4
https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...day-1-camp.jpg Good morning, folks! Today finds us tucked away in a hotel in San Diego, getting the last of our things together before crossing the Mexican border at Tijuana. OUR FIRST BORDER CROSSING!! By the time we got going on Wednesday, we had an agenda of places to go for more last minute organizing. First stop, San Jose, where the great people at Sena (we invested in very good in-helmet communication so we could talk to each other without stopping, which was VERY handy in LA traffic last night!) who helped us out of a huge jam with a malfunctioning bluetooth receiver in one of the units. We then continued on to Marina, CA, just in time for sunset and to meet up with my good friend Stokey. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...unset-day1.jpg We then had to make a decision. We hadn't made it as far as planned, so should we ride on in the dark and take it slow? We were going down one of the most scenic highways in America (hwy 1) for at least an hour or more, however, we had both ridden here before, so the decision was made to plow through to get to our scenic campsite in the dark. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...5/12/day-2.jpg https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...camp-day-1.jpg Camping is not my strong point, so after getting comfortable, warm enough (it was a bit chilly!) and a few good hours of sleep in, I was awoken by an extremely loud howl of sorts. Being half awake now, I could of sworn there was a coyote that just howled a few feet from my tent! Turns out, as a stayed awake for a half hour, not necessarily as comfortable as I had been before, I heard it again, and again, getting closer each time. Realization set in that it was an owl! He must have landed on my bike the time before! Scary, but funny. And yes, Kalil slept through the whole thing. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...12/skyline.jpg So we continued south on the "road" that got us to our campsite for a few more hours. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...2/distance.jpg And another: https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...12/skyroad.jpg So apparently it had gotten cold enough to freeze over the puddles with a very thin layer of ice (which may or may not be obvious in this picture) Get some, Kalil! His riding skills have come a long long way from our first road trip! https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre.../waterxing.jpg We continued along until, FINALLY! Highway 1 again! https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...ean-siting.jpg Each turn of the road led to an even more amazing view: https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...an-siting2.jpg So at this point, with our goal being San Diego for the evening, we had to start pushing south in earnest. With the exception of one or two errands, which included extra fuel storage for Kalil, which led us to a hardware store where this super helpful guy (I'm sorry we never got your name!) helped us find the perfect solution for mounting up Kalil's spare gas cans: https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...o-hardware.jpg After a successful mounting, a nice sunset just as we entered the Santa Monica mountains, we braved LA traffic (why and how do people survive without going insane there!?!?!?) and made it to San Diego around 9:30pm. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...sunsetday2.jpg |
Have a great trip!
I hope you can support HU and HUBB by posting your reports here as well as on your Blog. Posting links doesn't really help this site at all. With no ride reports HU could go dark. If not too much a hassle, post updates pics here! bier bier |
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The Long Lonely Desert #5
The Long Lonely Desert #5
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ely%20road.jpg So we left off in San Diego, where we camped out in a Quality Inn, getting ready for our first border crossing. Took our time in the morning getting ready, since we couldn’t find any information about how long it would take to cross the border. Seemed like plenty of information about crazy wait times coming into the US, but nothing about any wait times getting into Mexico…. Oh wait, because there is none. We had almost gone too far when we realized we had to stop and walk into the building, otherwise we wouldn’t have done any of the proper paperwork. So we parked our bikes up next to some security guys, who didn’t really seem bothered or think that anything was going on weird, even though we pretty much pulled a U turn leaving the border. Walk up, took care of all the necessary paperwork (it wouldn’t have been necessary if we were only staying in Mexico for less than three days and not going past Baja) in about an hour and a half. Everyone was super friendly and helpful, so it was looking up! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...fun/MEXICO.jpg Spent a couple hours getting to Ensenada, where we stayed with Randy, who Kalil met through the couchsurfing website. We couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming host to Mexico! Randy had a sailboat parked in the harbor where we were going to stay for the night. He had just finished working as an engineer on a boat that did commercial dives with great white sharks off of Cabo San Lucas… yeah… crazy!! Super interesting, took us around town, got our money changed to Peso’s (by the way, if you go to Mexico, change your money over, a lot of places offer far cheaper prices in Peso’s than dollars) and took us to the oldest bar in Baja. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Baja%20bar.jpg which led to our first siting of the traveling Mariachi http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/Mariachi.jpg Whom we saw later on in the evening. We had a great time on our first night in Mexico! Thanks again, Randy!! The next morning we headed towards San Felipe, Randy (who also has a motorcycle) rode with us for the first part (the twisty roads) before heading back to town. We made it to San Felipe where we did our final prep for the Baja, which means getting our extra fuel cans filled… which I should have checked mine… buying factory seconds isn’t always the best idea, because when you start filling it up, sometimes you will notice it pissing out gas from a pinhole in the bottom…. Fail on the Rotopax deal! But +1 on Mexican plastic JB weld which set up enough in the time it takes to eat lunch! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...4fun/leaks.jpg Met some locals saying there was camping several KM’s down the road, which we got to at sunset. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...set%20day4.jpg The next morning we noticed the place was a ghost town, a bunch of houses on the beach of the Sea of Cortez (some of them even looked nice) but everyone was gone for the holidays or something. Off we went. For lunch we stopped at a little cafe on the side of the road where we met some interesting guys on pedal bikes. One of them, Mike, from Austria, was carrying more gear than I was on my motorcycle! He had all of his downhill mtn biking gear on his BOB trailer, including mountain bike tires. He had put road tires on his mtn bike, and had started in Alaska, going to different places and going downhill mountain biking and was going to try and make it to Argentina eventually! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...kethrubaja.jpg So yeah, that’s humbling. Then they proceeded to tell us of someone they’d met up in Alaska who had WALKED!!! with a shopping cart with all of his things from Peru… So just when you think you’re doing something special and perhaps a bit off the beaten path, prepare to be humbled. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...aLAsunrise.jpg http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...iseBahiaLA.jpg We stayed in the Bahia Los Angeles, saw whales breaching in the distance at Sunset while talking to 2 very interesting Swiss couples doing overland trips. One couple had just spent the past 2 and a half years traveling the world in their Toyota landcruiser, from Iran, all over Africa, South America, then Alaska, all over the US into Baja. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise, packed and left town with the intentions of getting some serious miles in towards La Paz. Took a side road which looked like this for 4o miles: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...bajadesert.jpg And ended up having a couple sandy sections where we both spent some time playing (picking up very heavy bikes) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ndweredown.jpg Just at the time when our patience and our bodies had enough, we stopped falling over, and got back to the main road! We motored along some very desolate and straight roads to make it to Mulege by nightfall. It’s getting close to Christmas and we want to make it on the ferry to the mainland before then, so we got up early and headed out of town. On our way out, someone waved us down, saying that the fuel station he was just at was out of power. We said we had plenty of extra fuel, and we would be happy to ride behind him to the next fuel stop heading South. So by now, everyone reading this is ready for bed, so I’ll end it with, we have tickets for tomorrows ferry to the mainland. We had to drive through a street festival, up a couple stairs, and into the courtyard of our hotel tonight though. Stay tuned! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...telparking.jpg What a neat hotel! And one last picture, my dream bike! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...sLapazbike.jpg As always, you can see where we are by clicking SPOT Shared Page |
Great start! Some of my favorite places! :D:D:D:D:D
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You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello #6
"Hello, Hello, I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello, hello, hello." (Beatles, "Hello, Goodbye") Ending our time in Baja, and starting our long journey down the mainland of Mexico.
Here's a shot of the sunset in La Paz: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...aPazSunset.jpg We stayed in a very interesting hotel that provided us with parking inside of the building, in it's courtyard, which we accessed by driving through their reception area. This was in the morning on our way out: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...l%20Yeneka.jpg There was a Christmas market gong on, and the street in front of the Hotel was shut down and full of stands where people were selling anything you can imagine could be useful at Christmas time, from clothes, toys, and several booths that would wrap your presents for you with some quick ornate hand made bows. We received an escort to and from the hotel by these nice gentlemen dressed in blue, and Kalil made sure to have a picture taken with them: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...alilsCops1.jpg My view of the situation: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ils%20cops.jpg So off we went. We had a ferry to catch to the mainland. So when we made it outside of town to where the port was for the ferry, we realized that we were a bit early, so continued on to find some very nice looking beaches. This one in particular was very shallow, and you could walk out for perhaps a quarter mile before it reached above waist height: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bajabeach1.jpg And this beach was quite scenic as well: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../BajaBeach.jpg After a very long, hot, and sweaty wait to get onto the ferry, where we watched what seemed like hundreds of semi trucks (this ferry is BIG) and even more personal vehicles of many different types, we finally loaded the ferry LAST! I started hoping that we'd get to be the first ones off since we would be landing on the mainland at night and would have to drive half an hour to the next town to get to our hotel. Once on the boat, Baja gave us one more spectacular view before night fell: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...oodbyebaja.jpg So the next morning we got to meet up with Francisco and Romain. Francisco is a good friend of a friend of Kalil, who is also passionate about riding motorcycles. Francisco invited us in for a wonder "Mexican style" breakfast, introduced us to his son-in-law (who was just starting to get into motorcycles) and asked us all about our trip. So let me stop the story here for a second and let everyone in on a little secret: I really don't have a specific plan for this trip, other than being in Panama City by January 21st to do paperwork for the boat trip to Colombia, and to pick up my lady friend from the airport who will be sailing to Colombia with us. Then, the only OTHER plan is, to make it to Argentina by early March. The rest, my friends, is completely open and subject to change. Francisco was so helpful in helping us figure out what we wanted to see in Mexico. So after breakfast, and some good laughs and a few stories, we were on our way. Suddenly armed with a very organized travel route supplied by a knowledgeable veteran of traveling by motorcycle in Mexico! What a great way to start our journey on the mainland! Thank you! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20romaine.jpg So our first destination was to make it to Sayulita, just over 400 miles away. A cute little surf town that is also quite a tourist attraction. We made it there after dark, set up camp. Kalil went out, and I, feeling quite exhausted, decided to just head to bed. In the morning, we found ourselves still quite tired. Kalil from being up all night in a tourist town celebrating Christmas Eve, and I for being kept awake by continuous random bursts of fireworks that occurred throughout the night. Kalil had made some friends from a hostel a couple blocks away, one of whom was doing a similar trip to ours, who had started in Quebec on a R1100GS. He currently was stranded in Sayulita with a blown rear shock and a bad battery. Here he and Kalil are staring sadly at his wounded ride: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...wTravelers.jpg One of his new friends, Marcela, a Brazilian gal who was working at the hostel while on summer break from school. She was very helpful in helping us find a good price for a boat to take us to Marieta Island. This place was quite interesting, you take a boat 8 or so KM to the island, then you jump in the water (life vests required...) and swim through a tunnel onto the beach. It was a volcano that has eroded to the point were the water has reached the cone, and the walls of the cone remained intact, or some such thing! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...canoIsland.jpg Then we did some snorkeling and I got to use the underwater feature of my camera! Here is Marcela and Kalil posing underwater: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Underwater.jpg Snorkeling and testing my camera: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...esinthesea.jpg And on the way back to shore we saw a couple boats gathering, then we saw this: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Whalestale.jpg The tail of a young humpback whale! The sea was a bit rough, so I wasn't able to get a clear picture, and missed the best part, which was when the mother had her fin in the air which was taller than the tail... Pretty epic day, I'd say! Then we returned to our camp for the evening: (coconut trees are everywhere.... and I mean EVERYWHERE) Merry Christmas! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Beachcamp.jpg A little homemade bridge in the town over a small stream had a bucket which was labeled: "tips for bridge" I was going to, but then realized they probably couldn't read English well, and might get offended with what I had to say! To be honest, I really like the ingenuity that comes forth from people solving problems while not having many resources to work with, an art that has been lost for the most part in the US. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...BridgeTips.jpg So off we went, heading south, trying to stick to the rough draft of the plans we had made. We've been making a habit of trying to find interesting spots to eat on the side of the road. This little stand had a fire oven and advertised "pizza". Lets use that term loosely, but it was pretty darn good, including something called "Queso de Philadelphia" which turned out to be cream cheese rolled up in a really tasty bread roll. The son of the lady running the place was interested in Kalil's camera, but once Kalil showed him what it did, he didn't want any part in being in the picture: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ingFriends.jpg That evening found us in a small town past Manzanilla, quite a bit short of our original goal, but we had found what should have been a good hotel on a black sands beach. Upon taking a couple mile road along the beach, we rolled up to the gate to find out it was closed for the Holidays. On our way there, we had noticed an open garage with a trike and a car with Ontario plates. On our way back through, they were standing outside talking to their neighbors, so we of course had to stop and say hi, and ask where the next best hotel was since it was getting dark. So Daniel and Suzanne were the couple from Ontario, and George and Kathie were both from Colorado. Both couples were very much into motorcycling (George and Kathie actually have done the Iron Butt together!!! 1000 miles in a 24 hour period!) After a bit, we had to go, but instead of leaving, we were invited to spend the night. Daniel and Suzanne were the most amazing hosts! After some excellent leftovers from Christmas dinner, and a few hours of great conversation, we enjoyed our most comfortable sleep of the trip. The next morning a plan was made to ride as a group through a few of the neighboring towns all together, with George and Kathie, and get breakfast. We posed for this photo where we separated ways, a glorieta (roundabout) with a statue of the Colima Dogs (Colima is the state, and if you're interested, google it...) We couldn't have ever expected such hospitality on top of getting to meet some more amazing people! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Goodpeople.jpg And so now we continue south... south... and MORE SOUTH!! Stay tuned, and as always, feel free to check out where we are by checking out our SPOT Shared Page http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...okingahead.jpg |
Bumps in the Road #7
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Might as well start out with a little serenity before immersing myself into a long winded story of what has happened since I last posted, where we were headed south to Puerto Escondido to visit a coworker of Kalils’ who was vacationing there. So where to begin? Oh, I know, lets talk about horsepower: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...Horsepower.jpg Yeah, that happened! I had seen this guy earlier in the day and was quite upset that I didn’t get the shot, until after getting gas and getting stuck at a long stoplight, this guy rolls up right next to me! (they all take a long time, probably to support all the people selling stuff at the lights, fireworks, drinks, floor mats for your car…) I couldn’t imagine my luck, as I pulled my sticky, sweaty gloves off, pulled out the camera, the light turned green. Several honking horns later, a few extra beads of sweat, and off we were again. Honestly, this is one of the nicer looking trucks that I have seen carrying horses in the bed, however, it was the first one that had 3 horses! After 2 long and sweaty days (did I mention it was HOT?!?! Like, 95F hot?) We didn’t quite make it to Puerto Escondido. Now, I should have taken some pictures of these evil creations called Topes, but honestly the frustration of these hellish speed bumps escalated to a point where stopping near one would have resulted in swearing, kicking and yelling. Ok, ok, maybe not that bad, but seriously, the kids sit next to them waiting to see how hard some unsuspecting driver will hit them, and they show up out of nowhere, with very little warning at any sign of a building, or town. So that being said, progress was a bit slower than expected. We did travel through Acapulco, which both Kalil and I decided must have been a fun place until it got destroyed by mass tourism and cramming so many people into one small area. On an interesting side note, pretty much every other car in that town was a beetle… and most were taxis, but occasionally you’d find one not quite so beat up that someone actually cared about. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...-18/Herbie.jpg Onward and southward from Acapulco, we made it to Puerto Escondido for breakfast on Tuesday, the 29th. Met up with Marko and Audrey to get the day off to a great start and started exploring the town. At the end of a crowded beach, we hiked around some rocks and found ourselves on a long and deserted beach…. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ertedbeach.jpg What a relaxing day! Coming back around the rocks added to the excitement as the tide was coming up. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...8/Hightide.jpg We couldn’t have timed it better, the sunset was prime just as we were nearing the long walk on the beach. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../supsunset.jpg After a shower, clean (kind of) clothes, we spent a few hours on the town. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...didoNights.jpg The next morning we took off trying to find cooler weather. Head for zee hillz as they say, and so we did. And my oh my, they are pretty! Over the course of the day we went from 100F (sea level) all the way down to 75F (at 6000+ft). The roads up to Chiapas were so much fun to ride as well as the scenery! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...orthehills.jpg That night found us in Chiapa de Corzo, where there was plenty of Christmas festivities still going on, and we saw some native dances, a whole lot of Christmas decorations, and some amazingly delicious Horchata! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ativedance.jpg The next morning we walked down to the boat launch, and took the boat up the Sumidero Canyon. This is one amazing canyon! The walls are over a kilometer high, straight into the canyon. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...anyonwalls.jpg There was a lot of nature to be seen in the canyon, lots of birds of many different types flying overhead, a few monkeys could be seen swinging in some of the trees in the areas where it wasn’t completely vertical, and to top it off, a crocodile. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ecrocodile.jpg For New Years Eve, we made it to the town of Palenque. This is a major tourist attraction, since it is just down the road from the Palenque ruins. We celebrated by having a big pizza and a few drinks before hitting the hay around 11. Well, we tried until midnight struck and the fireworks started… The pizza was very good, in fact, most foods are really good here in Mexico. The few times the food has been sub par, the salsa accompanying the food makes anything tasty! The next morning, we hit up Palenque first thing. Hoping the tourists were too hung over to make it out in time. Kalil and I have made the decision that getting to these places early results in the best experience, as it usually is getting crowded by the time we leave. here is one shot of Palenque, with Kalil studying… the ruins?! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...elookingat.jpg Oh, and don’t forget to buy your selfie stick! Here are four locals making sure you can take your selfies properly: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...elfiestick.jpg After the we ran away from the selfiestick guys, we headed out of town to head south. It is amazing how hard some of these people work, and it shows when you see hillsides planted with corn (by hand) in what seemed to a certain extent, straight. This field continued up over the hill, onto the front of the next hill, probably totaling 5-6 acres. Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, a perfectly flat pasture (where I would have planted my corn) had a herd of cattle. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...8/hillcorn.jpg So our goal for the day was to make it to Frontera Corozal. This town lies on the bank of the river that separates Mexico from Guatemala. There were two goals we were hoping to accomplish: A) see the ruins of Yaxchitlan, another major Mayan city located several miles downstream of this town, accessible only by boat, and B) hopefully pay someone to ferry our bikes across to get into Guatemala. Goal A was easily accomplished this morning. This place was by far more impressive than Palenque in my opinion. The reason for so few pictures of these amazing ruins is this: you need to see them for yourselves, as well as there are so many better pictures of these places online that my photography skills don’t do it justice. In my exploration of the area on a long path to another section of ruins, there was a fellow tourist signaling to be quiet, but come up to where he was. I’m not kidding anyone, I promise, but I got to see a Jaguar! A full on, jet black jaguar. It was high up in a tree, about a 50 yards away. With all the leaves, it was impossible to get a picture, but I got to see his tail and his head poke up…. Terrifyingly beautiful to say the least! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../yaxchilan.jpg After an awkward Spanish conversation (I tend to go silent as I try and remember words, Kalil fills in the silence with Ummmm… haha) we found out we will not be able to cancel our Vehicle Permits at this location, so our $400 USD deposit would not be returned. Plan B FAIL! Head north, do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars. (In this case it was $400!) So tonight leaves us in a hotel, just north of the border of Guatemala, where we will head south to Tikal tomorrow! Check out this iguana! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...anacoconut.jpg The next photo shows our Italian friends who we shared the boat with to Yaxchilan, so much fun to meet up with all the different travelers and hear their stories. Everyone is traveling with different budgets and time frames which makes each story unique. And to all of you whom I’ve left out, I’m sorry, but I do remember you! I’ve just run out of time since I've already made everyone late for their bedtime! Guatemala is on the bank to the right…. sooooo close, yet so far! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...alasoclose.jpg FOLLOW OUR SPOT Shared Page! |
Far better to share your story here and the blog, well done, enjoying the ride....
Gino |
Detours and Shortcuts #8
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Hello again, everyone! So we’ve made it another few days, several pictures, a couple hundred miles, a bunch of new friends, and a whole bunch more experience in the world of “adventure motorcycling”! Ah, where to begin… well, I guess lets add an explanation to the picture above. As we were heading out of town to head towards the Guatemalan border, there was a police checkpoint and the officer stopped us. He was telling us we couldn’t go to the border the way we were going. After several minutes of attempted translation, we started to understand something had happened to the road, and that we would have to take a detour that involved several kilometers next to/on railroad tracks. Luckily, someone drove by suggesting motorcycles could possibly make it if we continued the way we were going. So off we go, how bad could it be? A blown out bridge could be a good reason. So after some assessment, I decided that I could get the bikes across, since any sort of railroad track riding seemed like a potentially more dangerous situation. After that small victory, we got to the border 40 minutes later and with a bit of trepidation, we made our way towards all the buildings to figure out the process. 2 hours, several copies, a few people laughing at our sad attempts at speaking Spanish, we were smiling and taking pictures with the guy that signed our bikes into the country! AND we officially put up an Alpine Meadows sticker in Guatemala! (FYI our Spanish has been improving!!! haha) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...connection.jpg This guy kept our bikes safe while we walked to town a 100 yards past the border to change money and get copies. Say goodbye to Mexico! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...toourbacks.jpg Now we are riding in Guatemala! Our first dirt road in a long time, and it was nice to be experiencing the Guatemalan countryside. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...oguatemala.jpg Our first destination was a town called Flores, which is the hub for tourists going to visit Tikal, one of the most well known sites to see Maya ruins. We booked our tour for first thing the next morning where a bus would pick us up at 4:30am. Everyone suggests being there for sunrise, so some people actually get a bus at 3am to insure they get there in time. Luckily we were not feeling that ambitious (it costs $20 usd more!) and skipped the first bus and went at 4:30, since there never was a sunrise that morning. The first thing we see as we entered the park is a beautiful and quite impressively large tree. This is what the Maya called ‘the tree of life’. I don’t remember the whole spiel about it, but it was impressive! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...treeoflife.jpg Just as we were settling into another long walk around a bunch of rocks moved around by humans, a guide started motioning for everyone to come around. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...undaspider.jpg A tarantula! Apparently, they are very common, and not very dangerous, since they picked it up and let people hold it. Focus, people! There are many impressive ruins about! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...estoration.jpg Yes, that is a picture of a temple, in the natural state that the explorers would have scene them when this site was discovered in the 1800’s. The soft limestone the Maya used to build these buildings didn’t last long against the jungle. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nkeyaround.jpg Hey, seriously people, quit monkeying around and look at ruins! So all of these buildings that we see below is the result of many tens of thousands of hours of painstaking labor to remove the vegetation and rebuild the outer crumbling stone. Tikal has been the most impressive ruins we have seen yet! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...estoration.jpg Gobble gobble! There were hordes of these colorful turkeys all throughout the complex. Tikal must have been an immense city when it was in its full glory. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ureaturkey.jpg After getting our fill of ruins, we relaxed the rest of the day and headed into the city to grab a couple cervesas. We ended up meeting Joe, a fellow adventure rider who had come down from Texas and was riding around into Belize and Guatemala to get a feel for the difficulty of border crossings for a future trip like ours, then heading back north in a few days. He was curious about our next destination of Semuc Champey and the time it would take to get there. So we laid out our plans for the next days ride, and he would get back to us in the AM about whether or not he wanted to ride with us for the day. So in order to add a little randomness, we saw this on our way back to our hotel: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ndeerejeep.jpg So the next morning, Joe contacted us, excited for the days ride to Semuc Champey. The day started out great, got on the road at a decent time, got gas, got out of town, then sat down for a quick breakfast…. and then the rain started. No big deal, we three had no fear, so onward we charged until we came upon a large river crossing our road. Before we could think about what to do, a couple people pointed us closer and closer to the river until this little boy in blue grabbed my handle bars and started backing my bike onto this little boat! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tontheboat.jpg After the laws of physics had been tested by that crossing, we bravely pressed on in the rain until our GPS told us to take a left. One discovery about riding in the rain is that you are a little less likely to stop and chat about what the GPS is telling you. We were making great time, and so this MUST be the way, right? RIGHT?! WRONG!!!!! After a half hour of dirt, we started to climb, and the road got worse. And yet it climbed farther, and sure enough, the conditions got worse until we came across a rope across the road and a guy with a shovel asking for 100 Quetzals ($14 USD) for the passage of all 3 bikes. Kalil boldly took the lead and told the guy in broken (but improving!) Spanish that unless he’s going to fix the road with the shovel so we can go quicker, he’s only going to get Q40 (~$5 USD). So off we go, climbing higher with slightly lighter wallets. This cannot be the way to Semuc Champey we all begin to say! But alas, we find a local saying 2 more hours. Not long after, a group of fellows with a shovel and a rope tell us that we need to pay yet another toll to pass. This time, I’ve had enough as well. So before Kalil could work his bargaining magic, I immediately told the person I was not giving up more than Q10 (about a $1.50) for the three bikes riding on this terrible road. The man starts to argue and I point at the road explaining, road is terrible, not worth more than Q10. If they fixed the road, and I could go faster than 1st gear, I’d pay more, handed him the ten, gunned the throttle and the rope was slowly lowered for us. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ainanrocks.jpg After a few hours, a couple slip and slide falls for Kalil, and many other close calls, we started to get out of the clouds. The limestone rock used to make the road, combined with some sort of red clay dirt made for what seemed like a skating rink! Collectively exhausted from the very slick and rocky road, we were ready for a break. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...offeebeans.jpg We came across a small village where they were sorting through the coffee beans they had harvested that day. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...offeebean2.jpg We must have been a strange site to them! This was a good sign, since it seemed as if civilization was getting closer, which meant the roads were getting better. With several sighs of relief, we reached the final turn heading towards Semuc Champey and took a quick break. The rain was clearing, the view was amazing, a couple deep relaxing breathes, and we did the last few miles of what one could consider true adventure riding! Later on, as it turns out, the GPS sent us on “the shortest route” through 40+ miles of single lane dirt mountain road, instead of 70+ miles of established paved roads… True adventure riding! Luckily for us, Joe was a seasoned rider with a considerable amount of off-road experience, so it helped keep the spirits high all day, even when the conditions seemed the most daunting. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...groughroad.jpg When we reached some signs advertising a hostel and immediately followed them, only to find it sitting on top of a steep hill and decided, the view might be worth the challenge, and as we crested the hill into the small parking lot, I spied two more BMW F800gs bikes with Quebec plates and immediately knew we were where we were supposed to be! We checked in and immediately realized we had found a true diamond in the rough called “The Zephyr”. We met Eric and Israel, the two fellows on the F800’s that were heading the same way, on a similar time frame as Kalil and I! Anyway, this part of the story will be saved for later, because that would be getting ahead of myself. We have just arrived near Semuc Champey, and you deserve to know a little bit about that before I lead you prematurely into the next chapter of our adventure! After many libations, several new friends, and a couple hours of sleep, we headed to Semuc Champey. This place is difficult to describe. It is a set of naturally created pools in the middle of a canyon, just above a raging river. That pretty much sums up the basics, the internet will have the rest, as well as some better pictures to do it justice. Needless to say, it’s quite the spot! After some swimming, a lot of slippery hiking (remember that limestone? Yeah, well it’s everywhere!) to a wonderful viewspot, it was time to head back to the hostel to lay down our upcoming plans! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...mucchampey.jpg Back at the hostel: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...asturecows.jpg Yes, I’m leaving you hanging, but hey, we’ve got to keep you on the edge of your seat… Thanks again for tagging along! As always, you can see where we are now by clicking SPOT Shared Page Still not ready for bed yet? Check out the guys we will be riding with a for a few days at The Wind Seekers – Adventure Travel |
The Opposite of No Friends on a Powder Day #9
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We left off at a little oasis called “Zephyr Hostel” in the town of Lanquin just near the Guatemalan National Park of Semuc Champey. Joe, or friend on the KTM 1190 Adventure who had joined us on our ride from Flores, had left us the day before heading back north to Mexico. Yet as we left the hostel, we found that our group had doubled in size as we picked up some new good friends and fellow F800GS riders, the Wind Seekers. We climbed up out of the valley of Semuc Champey and found ourselves off of the slippery rocks and back on pavement, so first things first, lets inflate our tires! In order to ensure we had sufficient grip on the rough and quite sketchy dirt road to Semuc Champey, we had decided that we all needed to reduce our tire pressure to increase traction. Once on pavement, it’s necessary to inflate the tires to the normal operating pressure for handling and tire life. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...3-26/airup.jpg There is a couple of locals in the background to the right who must have been quite confused by the show of the four of us pumping up our tires. So off we were, headed as straight as possible to get to the border of El Salvador. The Wind Seekers are on a similar schedule as ours: get to Panama City by the end of January to catch a boat to Columbia. However, no road is straight in Guatemala, and so while we took a minute to regain our bearings and choose our destination, Izzy found a new friend! This guy was hanging out on the roof of the building and we didn’t notice him until after Izzy climbed up on a van at the gas station to get an aerial view of all 4 bikes parked close. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ynewfriend.jpg That night found us in Jalapa, Guatemala. Not exactly a tourist attraction, but we were still able to find a nice hotel that had secure parking for us. That night, we crammed four of us into a 3 person room. Traveling with 4 is a lot more interesting! That morning, the receptionist and a couple of the other gals that worked at the hotel were interested in our story, so after a bit of talking, they wanted to get pictures with us and the bikes: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...orefriends.jpg Not long after, we arrived at the El Salvador border! The process is simple: stamp yourself out of the country you are leaving. Then cancel the vehicle permit. Now you are free to leave the country. Enter the next country, get yourself (your passport) signed into the country, then acquire a new vehicle permit for the country you are entering. Simple, but somehow, it still takes a couple hours for the entire process. Here is a big sign just above the “welcome to El Salvador” sign saying to be aware of all the corruption that occurs at the border: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...elsalvador.jpg We definitely spent a little more money, and a little less time by hiring one of the guys who hangs around these border crossings attempting to “help you for just a tip”. All said and done, we got through and we didn’t get charged too much of a tourist tax. Tourist tax in this case is when a traveler pays more than what a local would pay, or a tourist pays for something that is completely unnecessary. That being said: hello, El Salvador! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...6/bmwposse.jpg Some great windy roads and a couple great scenic lookouts were waiting along the coastline of El Salvador! It was quite obvious however, that El Salvador was not as glorious as it once was. Roads that had been built well in the past were slowly crumbling. People seemed to be a bit more impoverished than elsewhere, along with many closed down tourist attractions that would have been quite nice back in the day. That being said, it still has beautiful coastline! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...vadorcoast.jpg For the first evening in El Salvador, the destination was El Tunco. This somewhat gated tourist town seems to still be thriving on the tourist dollar. We met up with David, who Kalil grew up with in Israel who was searching for waves and wind in Central America. During breakfast, comments were made about the rampant (mis)use of selfie sticks. So in order to prove that a long armed Dutchman does not need one of those silly inventions: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...elfiestick.jpg Meanwhile, lets not ignore how beautiful the beach is and the fact that someone was just riding along the beach on a horse: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...beachhorse.jpg Ok, I lied, yet again every local you see in these areas is trying to sell something and before we knew it, this man was trying to sell someone at the restaurant a horse ride, or something? After breakfast, some time was taken to pack, relax, go for a swim and prepare for a few hour ride to bring us closer to the border of Honduras. The days are very hot down near the ocean, and after a couple hours of riding, we stopped to re hydrate. This spot was directly in front of a cemetery (no picture) and a few minutes after stopping we had someone with a little cart selling ice cream show up (no picture). It seemed like the day was really coming together! After enjoying some nice cold ice cream, a few old ladies were walking by and seemed interested in our bikes. So after a few minutes of broken Spanish, this occurred: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...6/Kalilsgf.jpg After several thumbs up and many more laughs, the road beckoned and we rode on. The roads became increasingly more difficult to navigate. Not only were the pot holes becoming bigger and deeper, there were also a few times we had obstacles of the 4 legged variety: (please excuse the blurry picture, and I won’t tell you about the difficulties of trying to take a photo and ride at the same time… We will call it even, eh?) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...reetherder.jpg Finally arriving at our destination, hot, sweaty, tired, and probably one of the more tiring days after only 4 or so hours of riding! I miss the snow! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...otandtired.jpg Good night everyone, the lights need to be turned off, and a lot of rest needs to be had. The windseekers (Eric and Israel), Kalil, and I have a big goal ahead of us tomorrow. Enter Honduras, drive 3 hours, then attempt to get into Nicaragua all in one day! See where we are now by clicking SPOT Shared Page And if you’re not tired enough yet, and would like to read another perspective of a similar trip, feel free to read up on our fellow motorcycle adventurers at The Wind Seekers – Adventure Travel |
Great up date guys ... yes .. you have fans who are following along!:thumbup1:
I see by your heavily overloaded bikes that you must be packing camping/cooking gear on board? Yes? The question of bringing camping gear always comes up here on Hubb ... So ... how many nights have you guys actually camped so far? Would you bring the camping gear if you had it to do over? !que le via muy bien! |
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That being said, yes, both the windseeker fellows and ourselves are carrying camping gear. We have camped several times so far, and if you're on a budget it is definitely worth bringing! That being said, in the warmer and slightly more dangerous areas we have been aiming more towards hotels and hostels. When we get to the cooler climates in South America I feel as if we will do a lot more camping again. The cooking set up is another matter. Here in Central America, it seems that it's often cheaper to go out to eat than buy the supplies and cook it up yourself. We will see how it goes when we get away from civilization in South America though! Thanks for following along, I haven't had great internet to update as much, so I have another that I have ready tonight.:D |
End of the Beginning #10
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Where did we last leave off? Seems like ages ago there was a group of 4 people crammed into a sweaty room in the south of El Salvador preparing to cross two borders in one day. The room may have been sub par for the price we paid, but at least the parking situation was quite favorable! The group unanimously agreed that although Honduras would definitely have a lot to offer if there was time, it was best to get through as quickly as possible to leave the group with more time in Nicaragua. So off we went! 15 minutes got the group to the border of El Salvador and Honduras. 2 hours, 95 degree heat, 16 copies (4 copies each) and far more money than anyone wished to spend on driving through Honduras, we were driving south through Honduras! However, that heat must have messed with our heads because not too far into Honduras we were seeing strange things, like a coffin being transported in the back of a truck being held in by the Honduran equivalent of baler twine! Good thing we had a picture to prove it! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...inhonduras.jpg We also ran into several herds of cows that seemed to wander all over the roads in front of us: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0watchout1.jpg The Honduras segment of the trip seemed as if it would fly by too quickly to remember anything remarkable about it (other than our hallucinations of coffins and cows). That was until we got to the last 20 miles before the Nicaraguan border. The potholes were so deep and so many that it was impossible to dodge all of them since you had to dodge all the oncoming traffic which was using the whole road! Needless to say, there was luck on our side and the only casualty was a slightly bent rim on my rear tire from taking a deep pothole straight on. So as the group neared the Nicaraguan border, the patience and hydration was slowly wearing thin. As we pulled into the border, we noticed a cyclist pulling in behind us who we had just passed. Turns out the wind seekers had met Andrew several days earlier at the Mexican/Guatemalan border! This guy was a true manimal! (Man/Animal) who was capable of covering 200 to 240 km a day with no stress! (120 to 135 miles per day). He was from New Zealand and has been traveling the world by bike for the past couple years and is a true adventurer. Spent time cycling through Iran, had been hiking up an erupting volcano in Guatemala avoiding the flying debris, and was planning on going through the Darien gap… Yes, THROUGH the Darien Gap. Anywho, border crossings are hot and a bit stressful, so sometimes pictures are forgotten which means I have no pictures of this meeting. We entered Nicaragua at 4:15pm and had 2.5 hours to ride… We arrived at our destination of Simple Beach Lodge in Las Peńitas after dark and were greeted by the owners, Matt and Ceci. They had come up from Argentina on a motorcycle and when they reached Nicaragua decided to stop for a bit and ended up buying a place on the beach! The next morning, we awoke to this view: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0busybeach.jpg It had been a long and difficult day the day before, so Eric and Kalil decided to relax, get their ears lowered, and explore the town. Izzy and I decided we wanted a closer look at the big volcanoes we had seen in the distance the day before as we neared Léon. So a few way points on what looked like some back roads, stripped the luggage off the bikes and off we went! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...forgetpigs.jpg Pigs, cows, horses, horses pulling carts, cows pulling carts, fences made from volcanic rock, provided a nice ride and experience getting away from the main drag. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...wscowscows.jpg The next photo is not for the feint of heart. As we were nearing the main road, we noticed a flock of black vultures flocking on the side of the road. On close inspection we found they were naturally disposing of a dead dog. It’s a sad reality in Central America that there are so many non domesticated dogs roaming around that barely are surviving. They survive by eating the scraps of trash left on the sides of the roads. A big negative point on this trip has been seeing all the trash left on the sides of the road, the dogs that are skin and bones sorting through it, or even worse, these trash piles are lit on fire on the side of the road and you have to drive through the smoke. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...aldisposal.jpg Well, lets move along to happier thoughts, shall we?! How about a shot of the volcanoes! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...istersride.jpg While setting up for this shot, a few of the locals came up to watch us. After a minute or two, conversation was initiated and they were convinced to join us for a group photo! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...endswbikes.jpg These kids had been working in the fields all day and were headed home. They seemed like good kids who were trying to get ahead in life. So when one asked to sit on the motorcycle, caution was thrown to the wind, and before second thoughts could be had, a local was riding Izzy’s bike down the road! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ninglocals.jpg Time to head back to the beach and catch the sunset! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...beachlodge.jpg The following day found us packing into a van and heading towards Cerro Negro, a very young (1850 wikipedia tells me) and very active volcano for an up close view and some thrill seeking as well. After a 45 minute hike carrying a 3 foot long wooden board and a set of coveralls, we were at the top. After exploring around the top and looking into the different crevices and rims of this volcano, we prepared for our descent. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...wnavolcano.jpg Yup, it was a long, dusty, and gravely way down. I say a long way down, but it didn’t mean it took a long time. Supposedly some people have reached 90kmh (about 54mph!). I was hoping to try and do it standing up, however, it isn’t quite sand, it’s more similar to course gravel, so I stuck with the sled and still ended up taking a little tumble at the top which provided me with a few good scratches on my calves (the overalls weren’t quite tall enough for me, go figure…) The last stretch you have little choice but just to hang on as it gets steep and managing speed was a bit of an issue. Out of a group of 8 people, there were 2 big crashes which resulted in a few scrapes and bruises, however as we loaded up the trucks, everyone was still smiling! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...othebottom.jpg That afternoon, the ocean provided a great way to relax and get a mild sunburn since there was only one other task to do that day. Earlier I had mentioned that our hosts at the Simple Beach Lodge had been traveling on a motorcycle until they decided to put roots down in Nicaragua. Well, Matt’s bike had been sitting in the kitchen for the past three months with a dead battery and a pile of towels on it. So after a bit of rearranging, we had his bike running and out of the kitchen with the intent of having him ride with us for a couple hours the following morning. That 660 Tenere really looks like a natural part of this group! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...therewere5.jpg Our first stop for the day (other than getting gas which is shown above) was Masaya Volcano National Park. A place where you can drive right up to the rim of the volcano and check it out. This volcano is constantly belching out large amounts of sulfur dioxide, so much in fact, that the signs suggest you spend no more than 5 minutes at a time near the edge of the rim. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...fthecrater.jpg Apparently in the dark, you can see a faint glow in the mist of smoke. In my mind, I was staring at the center of the earth. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...oftheworld.jpg I however did not enjoy the volcano to the fullest since only a few minutes before I made a horrible realization that my motorcycle was not charging properly. This is a photo taken later, but it looked the same as it did at that moment: the engine running, and the voltage only reading 12.5 volts…. That seems ok, right? Well, not if for the past 10k miles it had been reading 14.3! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20voltage.jpg Before leaving on this trip, I researched extensively what sort of problems I might encounter on this trip. Of course one of the main area of concerns is; what problems might occur with my motorcycle? One issue I had read about is that over time, the stators (the main part of the generator which generates electrical power for the bike) fail. Hence the reason for installing the aftermarket voltage gauge. So the days plans were thrown to the wind and we rode back into Managua, the capital of Nicaragua to find some place that might be able to help. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ingadealer.jpg After some basic tests, we narrowed it down to it most likely being the generator. So off we go to find a hotel to spend the night and figure out the situation. The Wind Seekers and Kalil were very patient with my impatience and stuck with me the whole day, so I found us a nice hotel nearby to the airport to relax for the night. This could be the end of my trip folks. According to BMW parts, it is necessary to buy the entire generator assembly for $900!!! Not to mention the fact that by the time it arrived at my location, I would have already missed my boat to Panama! Um… Yeah. After some cries for help to the adventure rider community online, several potential solutions presented itself. The first one being that, if I unplug as many electrical things as possible, the bike may keep charging enough to stay running so that I can continue south to where I might find a potential solution. However, it is obvious that the generator is in its final stages of life and might die at any moment, leaving me with a dead battery and no way to keep going! The next morning, I unplugged the headlight, made sure all my gizmo’s were charged and we rode with Rick and Izzy to the ferry to Ometepe where we had to say goodbye. Kalil and I were headed south to see if my charging issues could be fixed without having to put an end to the trip. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...inggoodbye.jpg That night, Kalil and I found ourselves in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Most likely the most popular party/tourist destinations in Nicaragua. The bike made it, charging the battery just enough the entire day. Will it keep working tomorrow? Will this amazingly helpful online community of adventure riders be able to help me with my problem? http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nnicaragua.jpg See where we are now SPOT Shared Page And if you want to see what Rick and Izzy are up to, feel free to check them out at: www.thewindseekers.com |
Enjoying the ride report.
Dan & Sara World Wide Ride seem to have the alternator issue every 30,000 miles and carry a spare, if your struggling worth contacting them for the name of their supplier. All the best & enjoy the ride Gino |
Or to perhaps buy stock in Bosch ... or whomever?
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So luckily enough, I ended up getting into contact with a retired mechanic who just so happened to have worked on BMW motorcycles professionally for several years before retiring to Panama. He owned a couple F800's and had all the necessary parts, and more importantly, knowledge to get me going again and send me on my way with a more positive mindset. Made it to Columbia, so now time to try and catch up on posts... Cheers, and thanks for reading along!
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Fresh #11
So there we were in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. One border crossing and 270 miles to get the ailing motorcycle to a place where she could get the help she needed. After a cry for help to the big wide wild world of Adventure Rider I found a potential savior for my ride. So off we go to the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Kalil felt at home with the countless windmills lining the road as we drove south along Lake Nicaragua. It was all going great until we encountered a mist…or what we thought was a mist…..
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a1.jpg Many tens of thousands of dead mosquito’s later, we made it through the ‘mist’ to the border. Kalil and I ate breakfast while staring at the ominous border zone. It was getting hot already and as the food settled into our stomach, our resolve strengthened to prepare for another 2 and half hour battle with getting ourselves, then our bikes checked out of Nicaragua, then checking ourselves, then our bikes into Costa Rica. Honestly, it’s a simple process that becomes frustrating due to the lack of organization, walking back and forth for copies (why can’t they just do it right there and save everyone some time?) the heat, all the people begging for money as well as people “trying” to help you (for a small tip) and the language barrier just adds up to it becoming slightly frustrating. Enough complaining! Lets ride! And see some cocodrilos! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a2.jpg Don’t feed them! Luckily the bridge was a good 30 feet above them because there were many crocodiles in the area below the bridge. I took several photos, but this was my favorite. This dude was huge and he was just chilling staying stationary: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a3.jpg Onward and upward, I mean southward and downward! So continuing on south, the weather was becoming some of the hottest we had experienced, so it was necessary to pull off every so often to cool off and stay properly hydrated. And then there was this: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a4.jpg I’m wondering if we will have cameo’s in this guys next music video? There were 6 people (one holding an umbrella) and a drone watching this guy sing along to a song they were blasting from the car. And here I was thinking two overly large bikes overloaded with gear was strange to see on the side of the road… One of our last stops before reaching our destination for the evening was a cool surfer bar. The owner came out to show us where his motorcycle parking was… Right in front of his custom scooter: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a5.jpg Yeah, Dawg! We made it to our destination just as the sun was going down. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a6.jpg The following day, Kalil and I decided to split up. We had spent a bit too much time together at this point as well as if my bike was not a quick fix, I would hold him up from getting to Panama City in time. So Kalil rode on to Panama. I had to meet with my ADVrider contact who was supposedly had what I needed. Reaver (his online persona… probably prefers to be anonymous so people won’t come around bugging him for help too much) not only had the part I needed, he also had the knowledge to make sure I hadn’t misdiagnosed my issue. After much sarcastic humor, a lot of sweat (Costa Rica is HOT), a fan, and a couple camp chairs, we had the culprit of my issues out of the bike. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a8.jpg Yes, the hammer was necessary. So here’s the thing, yes, I have a BMW, yes they are extremely reliable, BUT if man makes it, IT WILL BREAK. It just so happens that after 30,000 miles or so, the stator insulation tends to break down on the F800GS due to the location and the heat of the stator. Mine apparently was in far better shape than most when they start to fail, so luckily it was caught early before it could leave me stranded. Check out the insulation starting to deteriorate on the stator: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0panama/a9.jpg After a few beers, a very delicious steak, more stories, a nice relaxing sleep, and a nice breakfast provided by the missus of the house, I was kicked out and told to be on my way to Argentina. I can’t quit now! Costa Rica on my way back to the main road: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a10.jpg Thank you so much for giving me the motivation to continue, the part to continue, and some needed sarcastic humor to life my spirits, Reaver! On to the Panama border!! Found some fellow adventure seekers: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a11.jpg It was a couple from Costa Rica, on a mission to get to Colon, Panama to find a way to Columbia… Turns out, my planning ahead several months for a boat was the way to go. Kalil met this couple a few days later and they were struggling to find passage. I still had a couple days before my lady friend Michelle was scheduled to fly into Panama City, so I headed for the mountains of Panama for some cooler air. I washed some sweaty clothes and did what one would expect one to do with a properly running motorcycle and made it into a clothesline post! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a12.jpg The following day was cool and rainy, so I took the opportunity to explore a couple waterfalls in the area of Boquete, Panama. A beautiful jungle area up in the northern mountains of Panama. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a13.jpg Found a nice spot for a short hike through some farm land. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a16.jpg It felt so amazing to be able to wear clothes and not sweating constantly. The following day, Kalil and I were meeting up in Boquete to drive the 300 miles to Panama City where a lot more paperwork, my lady friend, and more heat awaited! So lets end this post with the view at the end of the short hike: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...panama/a14.jpg SPOT Shared Page |
hi guys, you got some great photo,s keep them coming. what ever you do stay upright and safe cheers,
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Trading Wheels for Sails #12
Lots of pictures and not a lot of words this time, I promise! Michelle made it to Panama City and so we are off to explore the city for a day… Well, to be honest, it was half a day. Kalil and I spent 6 hours at the DIJ office (the Panamanian equivalent of the FBI) getting ONE slip of paper verifying that our bikes were ours and they were legal to be in Panama and legal to leave Panama. Ah, got to love Central American paperwork! But Panama City is quite nice!
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...chellefrog.jpg They have a nice boardwalk with statues and some interesting looking buildings. This was my favorite building with all the multi colored balconies. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ulbuilding.jpg Lots of pelicans feeding right off of the shore. In this picture there are 3 diving into the water at once: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ngpelicans.jpg The skyline of Panama City is quite an interesting contrast to all of the other cities we have seen so far in Central America. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ityskyline.jpg That night we met a friend of Michelle’s, Jill, who is living in Panama city. We went out for dinner and drinks and ended up on a rooftop bar. The nighttime skyline is equally impressive. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...citynights.jpg The following morning we had to take off early to get to Portobello (2 hours away) to collect a letter from the captain of our sailboat in order to do our final step in signing out our bikes from Panama. Since I now had a passenger and extra luggage, it was a learning experience trying to figure out how we would pack the bike. In the process of this experiment, the hotel receptionist came out to see what was going on and to offer us some breakfast. Thanks again! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...villehotel.jpg We finally were loaded and ready to go! Now I’ll have a photographer on board the bike… http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lfieletsgo.jpg First order of business was to go over the bridge into Panama city since we didn’t get a chance to see any of the tourist sites along the Panama Canal. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...anamacanal.jpg The traffic was terrible, so we took a little side road and found a quiet spot near the entrance to the canal. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...012/aextra.jpg We then tried to avoid going back into the city, so we went a little north to another bridge crossing over the canal which I believe is the Bridge of the Americas. I definitely will need to go back to Panama to properly experience the canal since it really is quite an amazing feat of human engineering. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...morebridge.jpg As I have traveled south in Central America, the buses have become increasingly more interesting to look at. Panama took the cake though. Old school buses are used everywhere to transport people and the decorations and flair are apparently very important! I’ve been wanting to get pictures of these buses for awhile, so now that I have a designated photographer on board the bike, viola! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0badassbus.jpg And no, those chrome stacks are not just for show, they are fully functional. Black smoke is also a must. Every once in a while you will find some colorful butterflies as well. We noticed this poor guy stuck to the hand guard of the motorcycle as we entered Portobelo. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...1butterfly.jpg Portobelo is a very neat little town with a big history. To keep it short but slightly informative, Portobelo was an important hub for the Spanish in the movement of silver from the pacific side of South America back to Spain. Goods and treasure from the pacific coast of South America would be brought by boat to Panama City, brought overland to Portobelo, loaded onto galleons that would then sail to Spain (and vice versa). So this town was the site of a lot of pirate attacks which means that there were several forts all around this town. Many of the cannons are still in place. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...2portobelo.jpg I promised that I wouldn’t get too wordy, but I feel like this next part needs a little explanation. Between Panama and Columbia there is a 50 mile stretch of mountainous jungle which is called the Darien Gap. This area is legendary to overland travelers since there is NO ROAD going through this area. The list of reasons for this area not having a road is long, but that is something you can look up on your own time if you are interested/curious. The important part is, in order to get around the Darien Gap, you have 3 main (safe-ish) options: 1) fly you and the bike to Columbia. 2) put the bike in a container, then fly or get on a sailboat (there are many sail boats making the connection) to Columbia and meet your bike there. 3) Book passage on one of the few sailboats who not only will take you on a 5 day sail to Columbia, but also your motorcycle. The 5 day sail includes 3 days of hanging out in the sparsely populated San Blas Islands. So the next morning we got to the docks to load our bikes. I posed with Michelle and my bike. Yes, I feel as nervous as I look… http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ooknervous.jpg Lets load the bikes! This is a big bike going on a little boat… http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...littleboat.jpg Once on the little boat, motor on over to the sailboat and then we winch the bike on board! (They say they’ve never lost a bike into the water….) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...utnotleast.jpg And there we are! Ready to sail that night! We met some new biker friends as well. More about that later, it’s bed time! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...eadytosail.jpg SPOT Shared Page |
Barefoot for 5 days… #13
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It was 10am, January 23rd. With our motorcycles safely on board the Wild Card sailboat and a departure time of 5pm, Kalil, Michelle (my lady friend), Brian, Karoline (a couple from Alaska traveling in our same direction on a motorcycle as well) and myself had to find something to do that didn’t require a vehicle. The harbor seemed like an interesting place and after finding a couple kayaks, we began to do a little tour of the area. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a%20kayaks.jpg That was a lot of orange! The picture at the start of this post was the result of a little exploration up river from the harbor into the mangroves. Portobelo is an interesting place and we found some more signs of early Spanish settlements that the jungle was trying to make disappear. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...kayakruins.jpg After kayaking, it was time to do some final checks before being stuck on a boat for 5 days. Our hostel boasted the worlds best bloody mary, which Michelle couldn’t resist. The look on Brian’s face suggests he doesn’t agree with the title! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...bestbloody.jpg As we boarded the sailboat, the captain told all 15 passengers to remove our shoes. We would not get them back until we reached Colombia five days later. We were on Island Time now he said. The only things we were allowed to do was relax and enjoy living on a boat for 5 days! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nd%20ready.jpg Everyone got settled in, shown our bunks, and fed. Now was the time to set off! The destination was the San Blas islands, a long island chain off the coast of Panama. It would be about an 8 hour sail through the night. As the boat left the protection of the harbor, it was immediately apparent the seas were not in our favor. 6-10ft wind swell made our very large and heavy steal 60ft sailboat seem small as the boat pitched and rolled. It was quite unfortunate that Kalil was the first victim of seasickness. I’m not sure he’ll feel the same way about spaghetti again… Not long after, a few other people joined Kalil at the edge of the boat talking to Poseidon. Eventually, it was time to go to bed. After having felt fine for the first few hours of our rough voyage, laying down ended up being my downfall. After lying down for about 20 minutes, I joined the growing list of seasick individuals. The boat stopped around 2 am and some rest was accomplished. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...dcardbeach.jpg Island time had officially begun! For the next 3 days our itinerary was quite simple: swim around the boat, maybe a little snorkeling, swim ashore to any of the islands the boat happened to be near at the time, 3 meals a day, and at least once a day, we moved to another group of islands. On one of our scouting trips of an island, we found a ‘bat’, and some things to try and play baseball with. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...chbaseball.jpg I’m definitely not a natural when it comes to baseball, but at least I hit the darn thing! Brian found a starfish, but he didn’t look as good holding it as Michelle did. (Sorry Brian!) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20starfish.jpg Every time we set sail, the captain and his first mate would put out a few lines in order so we could eat some fresh seafood. Here is Captain Youyou with a 30lb yellow fin! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...6freshfish.jpg So the San Blas Islands are an interesting place. Many of the islands are inhabited by the local natives called Kuna. On the smaller islands, often there is only one family, while bigger islands have more families living there. The Kuna are very interesting. They are technically Panamanian, however, they completely govern themselves and adhere to their own customs and way of life with little to no control from Panama. One of our island stops included one of the Kuna “city” islands where we had a quick little tour and some very interesting insight to the life of the Kuna. Here is the photo of tradition and technology coming together in the form of solar panels, street lights, and a traditionally built home: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/a9bkunas.jpg For some this is paradise. While being very picturesque, a few of us were ready to head towards Colombia, but not before a couple more pictures of “Island Time”. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...7bluewater.jpg Motorcyclists stranded on a island: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...bbfiretime.jpg The voyage to Cartagena, Colombia lasted an eternity for those who were seasick. Or 36 hours for the crew and those who were fully dosed on dramamine. Seeing land when we woke up on the fifth day was a huge relief! Welcome to Colombia! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...DCartagena.jpg Here is the motorcycle gang as well as the crew of the Wild Card. Captain Youyou with the long beard and endless enthusiasm (center right), his first mate Orizon (sp? right front) and front center, the cook Flor. Thanks guys!!! An unforgettable experience! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../a9thecrew.jpg As we were unloading the bikes, we saw this neat looking boat, not much else to say about this picture. I liked it so now you have to look at it. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...10coolboat.jpg And here we are! Extremely happy to be on land and putting our gear on our bikes! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...backonland.jpg Until next time! If you’re curious as to where we are RIGHT NOW, CLICK THIS: SPOT Shared Page |
hi guys , your enjoying the trip, just one tip , ive noticed your carrying a bit of gear, rethink what you need,cause it will make riding more enjoyable have a good one, stay safe cheers
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Quote:
Last observation is, if I did this again, I would definitely take far more than 3 months, or just do one country at a time by flying in and renting a bike in each destination. If you take more time you can get to a location, drop off the stuff at a hostel/hotel and take day trips out from the area for a couple days then move on. This would be my preferred method in the future. Sorry, that got wordy! Cheers! |
Colombian Treats #14
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Weclome to Cartagena, Colombia! This city was one of the first major Spanish ports in the Caribbean sea. Lots of neat old buildings as well as the Walled City which we spent a little time in. Lets start with a little story before picture time, shall we? Our first day in Cartagena, we had to go to the middle of the city to buy our Soat (Colombian vehicle insurance). As we left the hotel, one of the guards told us we couldn’t go downtown (we were staying several miles up the coast), then someone else told him everything would be fine because we were tourists. Baffled by this 5 minute exchange and not getting a full explanation, the expedition continued to find the Soat office. As it turns out, no motorcycles are allowed in the center of the city, so when the office was found, parking was a bit interesting… First, a one armed man (by the end of the day, his official name was ‘one armed bandit’) told us to park on one sidewalk. As this was transpiring, we realized the office was across the street which looked like more suitable parking, so after moving the bikes, a policia kindly spent a few minutes telling us that no bikes were allowed in the city, but we could park in front of the building for a few minutes. He also used his phones translator to tell us he has notified all the other officers in the area to let us be when we leave. Also translated was that we needed to pay the parking guy, which turned out was a younger guy, not the one armed bandit who seemed very upset that we were not parking on his street. So once that was all squared away, we ran up to buy insurance! 11:13 was our arrival time to the 8th floor (the elevator only went to the 7th floor). As it turns out, their system shuts down at 11 for lunch and won’t process anything until 2. After all the stress of parking! So one of the office gals who spoke a little English went down stairs with us to explain our situation to the policia. So the bikes got parked next to the building, the parking guy got paid, and everyone seemed to be satisfied (except the one armed bandit!!! who wouldn’t leave us alone until we left the area). So the bikes would be parked there until after 2pm when the computer system finished lunch and insurance could be purchased. So now we go for lunch! After entering the walled city, and a couple small museums later, we found ourselves in a coffee shop with prime Colombian coffee. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...razycoffee.jpg They even had special ways of preparing a cup of coffee! This was my favorite which seemed to be some sort of reverse osmosis kind of crazy thing! So cheers to a strong cup of Colombian coffee! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rongcoffee.jpg With some time to kill in the walled city, we decided to continue to wander around. Michelle was getting distracted by all the fancy knockers on all the old doors. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ceknockers.jpg And then we found a Chocolate Museum! Someone is as excited as a kid in a candy store! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...kechocolat.jpg We also saw a lot of fruits. Welcome to the tropics where you can buy just about any fruit you can imagine on every corner for extremely cheap! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...6%20fruity.jpg So after our tour of the walled city and 2pm on the horizon, the group returned to the Soat office. With the building in sight, the one armed bandit struck again! Hassling us for money. We ignored him and entered the building. On the way up, Brian said he had offered the guy a couple dollars before but he wasn’t satisfied. It seemed as if he wanted the same compensation as the other parking person? As we left the insurance office, we quickly geared up and headed out of the town hoping the one armed bandit wouldn’t see us. As we were pulling onto the street, a car came right up onto our back wheels honking! THE ONE ARMED BANDIT! Brian was in the lead and quickly navigated our group through the traffic, zipping left, right, and through a couple red lights! After a few minutes of evasive maneuvers, the black car slowly faded into the distance in our mirrors!! What an experience! Later that night at the hotel, we all had a good laugh at the situation. So the next morning, we were all anxious to get on the road and head towards Medellin, where we would gain elevation and the temps would be cooler. Here is Brian and Karoline enjoying the 100 degree heat! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20karoline.jpg So much more chances for photos now that I had my own personal photographer on board! Michelle even got a quick shot of some locals loading up some donkeys with water. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...aterdonkey.jpg After long and very hot day, we stopped in a town called Caucasia. Our impressions of Colombia were mixed at this time. The roads seemed to be in good shape, but we had expected more mountains, more elevation, and not as much heat! The following morning our expectations were met and then surpassed! Within the first 50 miles the scenery began to change. After entering a valley and riding along a river for several miles, we crossed a large bridge where my personal photographer told me we had to stop to take a better look: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...urchbridge.jpg We had entered the mountains! While taking a break at the bridge, we realized there were military posted all around the bridge. One came over to the kiosk we were at and Brian convinced him to take a picture with him. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20soldier.jpg Meanwhile, a family became curious with what was going on, and before long they were posing with our bikes! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...newfriends.jpg After the break the roads started becoming very interesting. This was one of the main roads connecting the coast to the city of Medellin, a major city with a population of over 3 million people. So there were many trucks on this very windy mountainous road. Between hairpin turns, steep up and down grades, and many blind corners, the trucks were starting to hold up progress. But after watching many locals making seemingly suicidal passes and all the other drivers cooperating to make sure no one got in an accident, our confidence grew. Soon thereafter, the passing began! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20passing.jpg Just peak your head around the corner, if there is any room, start to pass. The trucks were going so slow in areas, it took no time at all to get around them. Quickly we realized our advantage! Large motors which could accelerate uphill, all of us (other than my photographer) were connected through an intercom system so we could notify each other of oncoming traffic, as well as a renewed excitement as the temperature fell from elevation gain. No evidence was found to give credibility to this sign: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...zypassing2.jpg The roads were extremely enjoyable to ride and the scenery was becoming increasingly interesting. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0on%20bike.jpg After several exhausting hours of seemingly perfect motorcycling roads, the final approach to Medellin began. As we got closer to the city, we began to notice much more touristy activities. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0hangglide.jpg The following day, we took advantage in being in a large metropolitan area and went out in search of a place to get some motorcycle maintenance done. Brian was out to get sprockets, chain, and a rear tire put on his bike. Kalil and I were due for oil changes. After fighting a little traffic, we found the mecca for motorcycles! A whole street dedicated to motorcycles, accessories, parts, repair shops, fabrication shops, paint shops, yup, it was all there. This guy and I had a fun time changing my oil in his shop even though we only understood about 10% of what the other said! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...l%20change.jpg Brian had noticed a machine shop next to where he had his tire changed (for under $10 USD! and faster than our oil changes!) and suggested to Kalil that he should take his ailing pannier over there to get fixed so that he could use the lock again. So not long after, I decided to take advantage of another machine shop to get an extra foot welded onto my kickstand: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0kickstand.jpg For under $10, you could get a lot of work done! 30 minutes later, Kalil’s pannier was properly closing and locking, and my bike wasn’t leaning over as far when I put the kickstand down! So much accomplished and it was only a little bit past lunch time! Time to go find something touristy to do! The heart of Medellin is in a valley along a river. As the city grew, it expanded up the mountain sides all around the heart of the city. This city is huge, FYI. While the public train system works great along the river in the flat area, it doesn’t work up into the hills around Medellin. So the solution is: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20hillcity.jpg I’m a big fan of chair lifts. I’ve been building lifts for five summers, as well as riding them constantly for 14 winters. So checking out a metropolitan gondola that cost me less than a dollar to ride was exciting! The town has two more gondolas under construction as well! Maybe there is a future in lift building…. The following day, our destination was outside the city to a place that Brian and Karoline had researched. El Penon rock in Guatepe, Colombia. This huge rock sticking out like a sore thumb a midst rolling green hills happens to have a great view from the top of an area flooded by a large dam down river. They built a stairway to the top of the rock, creatively building the staircase into a crack in the rock! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lstaircase.jpg The top elevation of the rock is around 7005ft (2135 meters) and after 675 steps, we are all still smiling! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...of%20steps.jpg The view: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ice%20view.jpg After getting back down, it was time for lunch, where the view still was quite extraordinary. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20bigrock.jpg That evening, my photographer had a date with an airplane to take her back to California. So this is all I have for now! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...yemichelle.jpg How far have we made it? Don’t wonder, just click on this link: SPOT Shared Page |
Getting High #15
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As you can see from the first photo, I’ve lost something important! Alas, I have to continue on, so here it goes! The lady friend flew out the night before this photo (Feb 2nd, yes I’m a bit behind on posting!) and Brian, Karoline and I were staying in a small bed and breakfast type place next to the Medellin airport (it’s actually an hour from the city center). Kalil remained at his hostel in Medellin the previous night and we all agreed to meet at a gas station where our routes towards Cali would meet. So our route to meet Kalil involved some skinny two lane roads, which included the bridge pictured above. There was one stretch of 25 miles on our route to meet Kalil that turned out to be a single lane dirt road! It was a very good road in terms of adventure and scenery: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ep%20crops.jpg These farmers are incredible! For the skiers out there, imagine a black diamond ski run. Imagine planting crops on that ski run. That’s how steep these fields are! After 25 miles of incredible dirt road that hugged the steep hillsides, we were graced with pavement again! This road included an amazing view across a very large valley of a town that seemed to be perched precariously on top of a ridge: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...wnonaridge.jpg Had we not been 40 minutes behind schedule, I would have had a couple more pictures of the next several miles of fantastic twisty sealed road that had been cut into the sides of these steep mountains. When we got to the meeting point 40 minutes late, Kalil had left just 10 minutes before according to the gas station attendant. So we pushed on as fast as we could, since Cali which was our destination for the day was still a long ways off. I miss having my personal photographer on board the bike, since there were many photo opportunities that were missed with no time to stop. Luckily, I was quick enough to snag the camera to get at least one photo of the many sugar convoys that we passed. These trains of very large wagons were traveling at about 30 mph and usually had 4-5 of these huge wagons. They were filled with the sugar cane from the fields and hauling it to the processing plants. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...sugartrain.jpg One more instance where a personal photographer could have captured this moment a bit better: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...hatsupdawg.jpg Hey, whats up, dawg? These two guys and their best friend kept up with us for awhile. Every time traffic slowed down the group, these guys would catch up. They must have rode like that for at least a half hour! After getting to Cali at dark, our group was exhausted and didn’t wander farther than the front door of the hostel by having our food delivered! Kalil had survived the day just fine without us and had actually made some new motorcycling friends in a town an hour or so north of Cali. He had met a local motorcycle enthusiast who owned a restaurant/bar and he had invited Kalil to spend the night, hanging out with him and a few other local motorcycle guys. So another night, another planned meeting spot for the following day. Ok, so there has been a couple important things that have not been mentioned yet. First of all, the people of Colombia are the most friendly people we have encountered so far. Everywhere we have gone, they have done everything they could to help us out. (with the exception of the one armed bandit from the previous post!) I cannot say enough about the kindness of the Colombians. And second of all, the roads in Colombia are AMAZING! As we go deeper into the mountains, the roads continue to impress me. They are for the most part well constructed (a few places they aren’t so nice, but there is a lot of heavy traffic on steep areas, so that cannot be helped) and the scenery is stunning. The following day our goal was the city of Ipiales just north of the Ecuador border. For one stretch it seemed we had gone back to the desert: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...llsideride.jpg After a lot of elevation gain (we reached an elevation of 10,500 feet that day!) we also encountered some rain and the temperature dropped significantly. After getting all layered up, we reached our destination an hour or so later. It was still quite chilly since the elevation of Ipiales was still just shy of 10,000 feet! While looking for a hotel in town, I couldn’t help but to take a picture of this crazy statue in the middle of a roundabout: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...domstatues.jpg That evening everyone slept well without needing any air conditioning. The following morning we would be reunited with Kalil at an interesting location just outside the town of Ipiales, but first you should look at some llamas dressed to impress! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a9%20llama.jpg The Las Lajas Sanctuary is a very interesting place. Long story somewhat shortened is: back in the 1700’s a mother and a daughter (who was deaf) were seeking shelter from a storm along a river bank in a canyon. While the storm was raging around them, the deaf daughter yelled that she could hear the Virgin Mary calling to her. As the lightening flashed, the silhouette of the Virgin Mary appeared on the side of the cliff. For a couple centuries there was a shrine built in the side of the cliff at that spot. Eventually they built a bridge to the shrine and at the beginning of the 1900’s they began building this incredible church high over the river in this canyon. It was finished in 1949. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchnpeople.jpg So after we paid our blessings, the reunited group continued on into Ecuador that day, destination Quito. The highest official capital city in the world at 9,000 feet! (La Paz, Bolivia is just under 12,000 feet, and even though it is the administrative and de facto capital of Bolivia, it is not the official capital of Bolivia. Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia) While at the border checking out of Colombia, we met Riccardo and Fabian, two Ecuadorians who were riding a couple large BMW’s into Colombia to help out some friends. There is a lot more to this story, but this isn’t the time or the place. What IS important about this meeting is that they were headed back to Quito that evening and wanted to meet up with us. This will be important later on in the story. Anyway, welcome to Ecuador! By far the most relaxed border crossing yet! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...etoecuador.jpg First impressions of Ecuador: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rhillsides.jpg More windy roads, more mountains, and a whole lot of volcanoes! And the main roads were very well built! We cruised the remaining 150 miles to Quito in no time! It was such a relief for all of us to be at the higher elevation and cooler climate. The bikes were starting to feel under powered by the lack of oxygen as well. Once we arrived in Quito, Brian and Karoline split off from Kalil and I as we were going to go find a hostel to spend a couple days in Quito and they were looking for a hotel with the intentions of leaving south early in the morning. That night, we met with Fabian, the fellow motorcyclist that we had met at the border and had a good time meeting some very interesting people. Fabian has actually toured South America twice and has published several very nice coffee table style books from his travels. So needless to say, we planned on spending at least another night in Quito so we could sit down with Fabian and get some insight as to things we should see. The following day we found the gondola in Quito and decided to be touristy. So up we went: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ndolaquito.jpg The gondola gives a great view of the city of Quito. Hiking around up above the city was exhausting since it is around 13,000 feet up there! And then there was this guy: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0piedpiper.jpg That evening, I met with Fabian to pick his brain about what to do with my limited remaining time. He suggested many things and as the conversation progressed, he proceeded to write out a very detailed day to day itinerary of what I should do with my remaining time! What luck! Every time it seems like I have run out of steam of trying to plan ahead, incredible meetings like this seem to occur to continue to point me in the right direction! The following day, the itinerary suggested that we ride up to Pichincha volcano. This volcano is several miles outside of Quito, and you can take a long windy dirt road to just a few hundred meters below the crater of the volcano. Kalil wasn’t feeling quite up for the task of offroad riding, so I unpacked my bike and took off on my own. I kept having to stop and take pictures though. Here are some cows grazing in the distance at a relaxed elevation of 12,500 feet: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...owsgrazing.jpg I don’t usually like panoramic photos, but when you see this view, you have no choice but to take a panoramic shot. (Pichincha is on the left and the summit on the right is just above where the gondola takes you from Quito) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20panorama.jpg Once I reached the parking lot, I looked down at my phone (my GPS) and it was reading 14,977 feet!!!! Easily surpassing my motorcycles previous high of 13,186 in Colorado! So I parked my bike and began the 200 meter walk up to the crater of the volcano. At the saddle (about 100 meters from the parking lot) not only did I have to catch my breath from the altitude, but also from seeing this breathtaking view: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...craterpano.jpg After a few more breaks to catch my breath, I finally made it to the top! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...theglasses.jpg 4781 meters is what the marker read, that’s 15,685 feet! WOW! No wonder I was having trouble catching my breath! It is interesting how starving the brain of oxygen can really help someone clear their head. It was very refreshing sitting at that elevation. The top was clouded in, so I wasn’t able to get any good photos of the view. Although, there was a very curious bird who was hanging around the top. I have been told it was a caracara. After returning to the parking lot, there were a few curious people looking at my bike. After a short conversation in broken Spanish regarding the trip, I wanted a photo with my new friends! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ighfriends.jpg One last night in Quito and then we continue to head south. I’m not sure if the caracara was headed south as well, but this picture is a nice metaphor for the end of this post! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...yebyebirdy.jpg Thanks for reading! There will be more soon:scooter: but until then, track our current progress by clicking this link:SPOT Shared Page |
Enjoying tagging along, remembering the sights of the journey through your photos. No way would I take the boat across the Darien though, we flew, same price and no seasickness :mchappy: Enjoy
Gino |
Extremes in a Small World #16
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February 8th, 2016. The universe has yet again proven to me that the world is truly a small place. At the hostel we were staying at in Quito, we met Erik, who was also originally from Vermont. Not only was he originally from the same state as I am, but he had also moved west in search of snow and had ended up at Alpine Meadows for 10 years grooming snow! As it turns out, his last year grooming at Alpine Meadows was the year before I moved out to Lake Tahoe. It is a small world, and we all know many of the same people there, so the first picture is a tribute to all of our friends at Alpine Meadows! I miss you guys! (and the snow!) So after 3 nights in Quito, the road was calling, so we answered and headed towards Quilotoa. Located 3 hours from Quito, Quilotoa is a beautiful lake inside of a very large volcano crater. The sky was cloudy and gray, and the air was cool enough that we had to stop and add some layers. The road to Quilotoa was a real treat as well, many miles of twists, curves, hills and all on nice pavement. At one point we reached an altitude of over 13,000 feet! When we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed 2 matching KTM’s with California plates. Before long we were deep in conversation with a couple from San Francisco and ended up having lunch. Chris and Zoe are doing the official tip to tip journey, having gone up to Alaska before heading south. Their adventure can be found at https://tiptotip690.wordpress.com/ http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...wtravelers.jpg After lunch, we remembered why we were in Quilotoa to begin with: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20quilotoa.jpg Stunning doesn’t quite sum up this lake. About a 20 minute hike would take you down to the actual shore. And lets not forget that this is the crater of a volcano! After a few minutes, the clouds started to thicken and it was time to head on down the road. The extra layers we had put on earlier were very helpful as the wind, clouds, and elevation kept things very chilly! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...fulweather.jpg Our destination for the evening was Banos, a touristy town, considered by some to be the extreme sports capital of Ecuador. Lots of hiking, mountain biking, rafting, and kayaking. After a few hours of ominous skies and thankfully very little rain we made it to Banos. As we entered the town, we stopped to pinpoint a spot to spend the night. We were told by a local that we may have a difficult time finding a room for the night since Carnival was going on in the town. It was starting to get dark and it was starting to rain. This was going to be a problem… Or was it? We stopped at the first hotel we saw as we entered the town and sure enough, a room for 2 people and safe parking AND not too expensive! Winning! So as soon as the bikes were parked and the gear was inside the room we began to explore the town. Carnival is quite the party. On every corner there were people selling cans of foam spray. It seemed that every other person was carrying at least one can of this foam spray and random acts of spraying were occurring. It didn’t matter if you were young or old, it seemed like everyone was having fun with it. It’s all about the wig! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nevalbanos.jpg The following morning it was raining when we left Banos, but our destination was Pialon del Diablo. The reviews for this waterfall suggest taking a raincoat. So since we were going to get wet anyway, we hopped on the bikes and went for a ride in the rain. This is not the waterfall we were looking for, but it was still pretty neat: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0banosrain.jpg When we reached the Diablo del Pialon, it did not disappoint. It was about a 15 minute hike down to the falls, then there is a path that takes you to the base of the falls. From there, you can take a crawl space so you can actually stand BEHIND the falls. We opted to not do that since it seemed a bit difficult to do in bulky motorcycle jackets. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ndeldiablo.jpg After a quick breakfast, it was time to try and get to Cuenca, our destination for the day. The rain did not stop as we rode, in fact, it seemed that it kept raining harder since we began finding mudslides across the road. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20mudslide.jpg We did cross one much worse than the one pictured above, having to wade through 4-6 inch deep mud for about 100 feet. There is no picture to prove that because the rain had washed away the ambition to pull out the camera and then deal with struggling to put my soaked glove back on. Later that day found us on a windy mountainous road (that seems to be the theme here in South America!) that turned into mostly dirt and many many many (did I mention a lot?) of potholes. Just as our spirit of the adventure was starting to fail, we crested a hill and the rain began to taper off. Lower and lower we went, our goal for the day was suddenly an hour away when we came across some single lane roads hugging this hillside: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0crazyroad.jpg Incredible scenery to end our soaking wet day! The following day our gear needed to dry out and our ambition needed to be boosted, so we stayed in Cuenca for a day. I found a few interesting things to take pictures of, such as this “Ducati”: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0%20ducati.jpg And this motorcycle I actually thought was done very nicely. My friend Geoff would really appreciate this tiny Honda made into a cafe racer. I gave this guy a big thumbs up. Sporting the cafe racer with crocs, gotta love it! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0caferacer.jpg I didn’t just take pictures of motorcycles in Cuenca. Cuenca has some old Spanish architecture as well as some other historical sites. I found this church interesting as well! I would have taken a look inside but it was ash Wednesday so there were a lot of people milling about and I wasn’t in the mood to go to mass. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...2%20cuenca.jpg After a day of drying out, it was time to hit the road again the next morning. When we woke up, it was raining. But before our mood could become too damp, it seemed to taper off and as we headed up into the mountains towards the Peru border, it cleared off and left us with some fantastic views: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...uthecuador.jpg After seeing this sign a couple times, I had to turn around and get a picture. Something about it just makes me laugh. Essentially it’s saying to respect the life of living, don’t kill the wild animals. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...noshooting.jpg Part of the reason it makes me laugh is because of how many animals are living on the sides of the roads and in the roads. Donkeys, horses, cows, dogs, sheep, pigs, and goats! Couldn’t resist getting a photo of the roadside mowing crew: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...sidemowing.jpg We reached the Peru border that afternoon. Still dry and smiling. Easiest and most relaxed border crossing to date. It wasn’t hot, no one hassled us, we didn’t have to make any copies, and we even were joking around in our limited Spanish with the Aduana (customs) guy! We also met an Australian couple who were on KTM 990’s who had been on the road for 11 months and had been all around the world and were 2 months away from finishing their journey in Patagonia. We exchanged information and said we would meet later if things worked out right since the day was getting late and both parties had a couple hours to go. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...cometoperu.jpg Within an hour into Peru, the landscape completely changed as we lost altitude and headed towards the coast of Peru. Nothing to see here, no seriously, there is nothing to see but sand: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...desertperu.jpg After making to our destination of Piura, Peru, we were having a little trouble locating a hotel to suite our needs (safe parking, honestly, we aren’t THAT needy!). As we huddled around our GPS, a guy walked up to us seeing if he could help. Yet again, random people helping us out of a jam! He recommended to us a hotel a couple blocks away that would have parking. The next morning our route took us through a lot more desert and dusty little towns. We stopped to fill up with gas and I noticed the kid pumping the gas was pretty excited about the big motorcycle, so of course I had to let him sit on the bike! His brother ran and got the camera, so I had to grab mine as well. He was pretty excited! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...kinghisday.jpg Another observation of this trip is that everywhere we have gone, the locals tend to enjoy putting artwork on large vehicles. In Central America, all the buses had fancy artwork. Lately I’ve been noticing that all the trucks have been painted as well. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20truckart.jpg That night in Trujillo, Kalil and I met up with the Australian couple Lee and Paul at a motorcycle oriented bar called the Paddock. You can find Lee and Paul’s blog on their around the world adventure at: http://www.bikenbeers.com.au The owner of the Paddock has spent a lot of time touring Peru on a motorcycle. He is the founder of Peru Moto Aventura PERU MOTO AVENTURA As it turns out, he was out of town so he put me into contact with his son, Gianfranco who met us there as well to give us some advice on which routes to take. A really good time was had by all! Thank you all for coming out that night, it was great to get to know you all! Cheers! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...paddockbar.jpg Until next time! See where we are now by clicking here: SPOT Shared Page |
Thin Air #17 http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20coplove.jpg After a nice evening hanging out with new friends in Trujillo, the following morning we set off in search of this famed Canon Del Pato (Duck Canyon). About 45 minutes out of town, we were flagged down by a police officer. As we pull over, we recognize two couples on motorcycles who we had seen at the Ecuador border. As the cop was walking towards us, the Mexican fellow tells us that they bribed the guy $60 Soles each (just under $20 USD each) to let them go since he caught them passing on the double yellow line. Uh oh. Peru is well known for its corrupt cops. After a few minutes of talking to the officer, Kalil was able to convince him that of course we aren’t passing on the double yellow line, we enjoy Peru and we are taking our time to check out the scenery. We ended up getting friendly with the guy and he even offered to trade gloves with me since he had proper warm weather gloves. After about 10 minutes of conversation, he let us continue on. All in all it was a positive experience! 20 minutes later, we found our road that would take us to the canyon, so we turned off the Panamerican Highway and started down this dirt road: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20heshome.jpg During a quick picture/snack/water break, I was told by Kalil that the landscape was identical to the Israeli desert. Guess I have no need to go there now! Dry, sand, rocks, and dirt with some very impressive looking mountains in the backdrop: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ert%20road.jpg After a bit, we met up with Santa River, which was extensively farmed. Lots of rice paddies, some banana trees among many other different crops. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rtcontrast.jpg The road followed the river for quite a ways before we started to gain elevation and started to enter the mountainous area. The road is well known in the motorcycle community not only for the scenery, but also because the road boasts many tunnels along the route. At one point, we ran into a group of fellow motorcyclists from Europe who were on an organized motorcycle tour heading north. Here is Kalil discussing different tours that Wolfgang and his friend had taken previous to their current South American tour: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...dventurers.jpg After a few minutes swapping stories, we continued on to find many more tunnels: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lsincanyon.jpg All along the route, you would find other valleys joining the valley we were riding through, which provided some very nice scenery: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...anyonriver.jpg And there was a waterfall as well: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0waterfall.jpg Everything seemed to be going great. The road was good, and the temperature was cooling off as we were gaining altitude so things were looking up. Or at least they were until I noticed a baseball sized rock with sharp edges in the road a second too late and as I swerved to miss the rock, I hit it just right so that it actually punctured the sidewall of the tire and popped my inner tube. First flat of the trip! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tirerepair.jpg A spare tube, a tire patch on the inside of the tire so the tube would stay protected, and a minute of running the air compressor and we were making progress again in just over an hour of down time. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...canyonwall.jpg And then we were there, the main event: Canon Del Pato http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...yondelpato.jpg You can barely see the river in the canyon, directly below Kalil in the picture above. No guard rails, the road was barely a lane wide and to top it all off, there were a whole lot more tunnels and traffic! On a positive note, the road was paved and there were a lot of signs to remind you to honk your horn before entering. First one to honk their horn has the right of way. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ootyerhorn.jpg It is necessary to take a moment at this time to admit something; I am not someone who is very good at honking a horn while driving. Leaving driveways, yes of course, a couple honks to say goodbye, but not while driving on the road. Not anymore. I have found the horn button and I use it… A lot… We reached our destination of Caraz with some daylight to spare and enjoyed a nice dinner in the little tourist town. The following morning we unloaded ALL of our unnecessary gear (weight) off of the bikes and headed up into the mountains to Lake Peron. It would take an hour an a half to climb up 20 miles. Had we not stopped to take so many pictures, it would have been possible to make it in an hour, but that would have left a lot of words and no pictures like this one: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20sweetpan.jpg Panoramic pictures are not my favorite, so here is a regular sized picture of half that view: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ookingback.jpg After a bit of rough dirt road, we were left with yet another breathtaking view. At this point the GPS was reading almost 13,500 feet (around 4,100meters) of elevation. According to my map, the peak in the background of this picture is Huandoy peak at an elevation of 6,385 meters, that’s just under 21,000 feet!!!! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lacierbike.jpg Here is Lake Paron: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ke%20peron.jpg So the claim to fame for this area is that the glacier covered mountain that is in the clouds in the middle of this picture is the mountain used for the logo of Paramount pictures: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...mountcloud.jpg So normally this time of year (rainy season) in this area, the mountains are clear first thing in the morning and then during the day, the clouds gather and then it will rain. So as we spent more time hiking around the area, the clouds began to gather, so the opportunity for more pictures was missed. That being said, pictures do NOT do this justice, with or without clouds. There are so many factors involved that make this area absolutely breath taking, it is very difficult for an amateur like myself to properly photograph it. Here is a look back down the valley that we rode up: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...valleyshot.jpg The road going up to Lake Paron had a lot of farming going on, and at one point we passed a house were they were hanging up ears of corn to dry. What seemed like rafters filled with insulation at first turned out to be ears of corn! I found this worthy of a picture. It is difficult to see in the shadows, but there are 3 people preparing the ears to be hung. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...19%20corny.jpg Back in Caraz, Kalil noticed that the sole of his riding boot was starting to separate. There may not be any stores to sell you new riding boots, but there are several places where they can do a professional job at repairing your boots! They spent 30 minutes repairing his boot and his sandal and only charged him a couple USD: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...solerepair.jpg The following morning, we checked out of our hostel with all of our riding gear packed up again with an ambitious plan of trying to cross the mountain range twice in one day in two different spots. Not knowing how much would be paved or the condition of the roads, back up plans were made but our confidence remained high as we started to climb up to these peaks: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lacierfarm.jpg As we gained altitude, our average speed was a mind boggling 17mph on the washboard dirt road. Eventually we entered what looked like a canyon with a couple skinny lakes trapped inside. At this point the clouds had covered the sun and extra layers were needed. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0morelakes.jpg And after passing the lakes there was a mountain in front of us. Well, the road doesn’t dead end, so we might as well keep going, right? After countless switchbacks later, we still had not reached the top, but the view of the valley we had ridden through was breathtaking! Or was it the fact that we were at an altitude of around 14,500 feet? http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a22%20high.jpg The top! My phone GPS is reading 15,482 feet (about 4720 meters) http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%2015482ft.jpg Yup, this is the road we just rode up: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...witchbacks.jpg Now it was time to head on down the other side of the pass. Totally engulfed in clouds and a heavy drizzle, there were no photo opportunities. After many more miles of single lane dirt roads and a significant amount of elevation lost, the weather cleared up and it was time to try and capture just how amazing this area is: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...hemountain.jpg No, yet again, pictures cannot truly show how majestic this mountains and valleys are. One other important thing to mention is that all along these treacherous windy roads, you will find all sorts of villages, fields full of crops, livestock, and people somehow managing to survive on these steep mountain sides. After 5 hours and approximately 70 miles of continuous dirt roads that were mostly a single lane wide, the tires of our bikes touched pavement again. It took a few moments to remember how to shift the bikes out of 1st gear! An hour later we found ourselves in a little village called Chacas, our backup plan if we felt like we didn’t have time to attempt the second crossing over the mountains to get to Huaraz. With the discovery of pavement and 4 more hours of daylight left, we pushed on. And the pavement continued: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a26%20more.jpg All the way up to another breathtaking altitude above 15,000 feet! This is the pass of Punta Olympica. Within the last few years the road has been paved and they have built a tunnel underneath this peak to the other side which a few people proudly told us is the “highest tunnel in the world”. Whether or not it is the highest tunnel in the world, it will always stand out in my memory. As we stopped to regain our composure at the top of the pass, the clouds started to dissipate and the peaks in the area began to show themselves to us. This is Punta Olympica: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20clearup.jpg And here is the peak to the right: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0whataview.jpg On the other side of the tunnel the road was still paved and it looked quite impressive as well. You can see the continuation of the road we were on going out of the valley. Essentially the road was a maze of switchbacks down the steep hillside until it met the valley floor. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...valleyview.jpg So the ambitious day was a success! Made it to Huaraz with time to spare. After all of the stunning views and amazing roads, we were not looking forward to dropping down to sea level and back to the hot temperatures to search of tires in Lima. For now, this is all you get though! See where we are at now by clicking this link:http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...mYuTOlnfIXxbRD |
Highs and Lows #18
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16 February, 2016 We have now been on the road for 63 days. Kalil and I unanimously agreed that the previous 3 days have been by far the best riding of the trip up until this point. That has brought a feeling of rejuvenation to both of us. With a bit of reluctance we now have to leave the mountains of Peru and head towards Lima. Lima is a necessary stop however, since that is where we will need to go to get our tires replaced. After enjoying the cool climate of the mountains, the heat, traffic, desert, and population of 10 million people in Lima seems overwhelming. It seems that each day spent on the road, there are countless great photo opportunities of the most bizarre things. Unfortunately the opportunities pass by long before I can get my hands on my camera. However, every once in a great while I get lucky! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tta%20corn.jpg That is a truck loaded (some might consider it overloaded) with corn stalks! The most fascinating part is that these trucks are loaded by hand… Lima was a struggle. 20 miles of stop and go traffic, and at one point, Kalil’s oil/air cooled motor started to overheat and we had to pull over in traffic for 20 minutes to let it cool down. The relief of finally reaching our destination was significant! When we arrived at Touratech, we immediately recognized the two KTM 690’s ridden by our friends Chris and Zoe! They stopped in to change their oil. So it was an enjoyable afternoon, catching up and getting our bikes serviced with new tires. Later in the day, a fellow F800gs rider from Germany stopped in. Olaf was also on a tour of the Americas and was having several issues with his motorcycle and stopped in at Touratech to get some issues sorted out. To make a long story short, one of the issues is quite common to the F800GS, and you can buy an aftermarket part in order to prevent this issue from happened. It just so happens that I have installed that part on my motorcycle. As much as I wanted to leave Lima the next morning, I realized it was a good opportunity to try and get a little extra karma on my side before the last leg of the trip. So I offered to take apart my bike in order to take the aftermarket brace to a machine shop to have it replicated so that Olaf would not have any more issues with his rear suspension. So we had a little extra time to get a birds eye view of the southern part of Lima: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a.../a3%20Lima.jpg There are some advantages to taking a little extra time in these big cities, and that is that you get to witness some situations that seem like a disaster waiting to happen: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...haapproved.jpg After 2 nights in Lima, the anxiety to get out of town was growing. However, at the machine shop they were still trying to properly replicate my shock brace: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...achineshop.jpg So while the machine shop was hard at work and needing one more day to finish the job, I decided to get some other issues taken care of. First and foremost was fixing my GPS. I have been using my phone as my GPS for the whole trip, downloading the maps to use without needing any signal or WiFi. It was working great until it was left out in the sun too long in the sun and the heat of Lima traffic. One of the best parts of the culture in central and south America is that they will always try and repair things before they go out and buy something to replace it. So within no time I had found a cell phone repair kiosk in the market. I returned a few hours later to find this: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0deadphone.jpg The lady felt terrible that my phone was a complete loss. The heat had actually melted different parts of the phone together and so it was completely destroyed. No worries, it is what it is, onto the next project: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...eeringhead.jpg When you have time, just start taking parts off of your bike and find more small issues! So there I was servicing my steering head bearings. Finally that evening I got my part back, put my suspension all back together again, and Kalil and I were excited to finally get out of Lima! The following day we got up early and got out of Lima before traffic could slow us down. Our destination was Cusco, a 2 day ride from Lima heading back up into the mountains. Once the road headed inland from the coast, we quickly gained elevation. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rrendesert.jpg Barren desert hills, but there was something quite serene about the landscape. As we continued to gain elevation, the temperature dropped significantly and the clouds began to darken. And then, this: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ainyseason.jpg Time to put on all the cold weather and rain gear! In the next few hours we encountered some of the most extreme weather on the trip. Downpours, hail, and at one point at elevations above 15,000 feet there was snow on the ground: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a11%20snow.jpg That night we stopped in a little town called Puquio, which had absolutely no significance other than it was about halfway from Lima to Cusco. After experiencing a couple thunderstorms while riding, including some fierce lightning, we decided to check into a hotel. As we checked in, we noticed another large motorcycle packed up heading towards us. Turns out, David was heading north from Argentina with the intentions of making it home to San Diego, California. So we spent the evening swapping stories while trying to find a restaurant that served beers! In the morning we said our goodbyes and continued our journey to Cusco. Not long after, we caught up to what looked like a decent sized bike loaded up. As we passed, we realized it wasn’t a big bike at all, but instead a little vespa! We had to immediately stop and see what this guy was all about! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20vespaguy.jpg This dude actually spoke no English, but we were able to carry on a decent conversation with him and found out he was headed to Bolivia. He was from Quito, which is where he had started his journey. His days were spent going no more than 60 kmh (36 mph) and usually tried to accomplish 300km a day (180 miles). Quite impressive! That night we pulled into Cusco, slightly wet from the non stop drizzle, a bit chilly, and most definitely tired. Checked into our hostel, snapped a photo of the town square from the 3rd floor and headed into town to book a tour of Machu Picchu. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nightcusco.jpg The next morning a van picked us up at 7:30 and we began the long 7+ hour van ride. Long story short, getting to Machu Picchu is VERY EXPENSIVE! The only way to get to the town of Aquas Caliente (which is at the base of the mountain that Machu Picchu is built on) is by train or by walking. The train costs $140 USD, the entrance fee to Machu Picchu is $50, the bus to take you up to the site and back down is $24. The total cost of taking van to a town near there, lunch, dinner, hostel, breakfast and the entrance fee was $85. The only issue with this scenario is it involved walking 10 km to Aquas Caliente along the train tracks, hiking for an hour and ten minutes straight up the hillside to the site at 5 in the morning, and then walking all the way back to where we started. The bus ride wasn’t so bad since the scenery was quite good: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...adsideperu.jpg All was going well until we encountered a mudslide which included a van like ours planted in the middle of it: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20mudslide.jpg After an hour of messing around, the van was pulled out, rocks thrown into the ruts and traffic was flowing again on this crazy, single lane road that hugged the mountain sides. This could have been another road of death but the traffic wasn’t so bad! At one point we crossed this very unsafe looking bridge with a packed van. It was barely wide enough,and to add to that, it was a hairpin turn to get onto the bridge. Luckily, the driver was a pro and we crossed safely. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...carybridge.jpg Once we reached the end of the road for the bus, we began the 2 and a half hour walk to Aquas Caliente. The advantages of the walk are that it gets us exercising as well as a break from the bikes for 2 days. Not to mention the train tracks followed a raging river for the entire 10km and some of the views from the train tracks were quite stellar: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...agingriver.jpg The following morning, breakfast was served at 4:30 and we started hiking up at 5am in order to get to the top in time for our scheduled tour at 6:30. Machu Picchu is stunning to say the least. I’d put up more photos, but I’m not a professional and it is too easy to find much better photos by searching on google. But here are a few anyway: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...achupicchu.jpg A llama (pronounced djama for all your english speaking folks!) hanging out with one of the tour groups: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0Llamatour.jpg After the tour, we had a few hours to walk around the site and came across this Incan bridge built into the mountain side leaving the site: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...incabridge.jpg The path was barely shoulder wide with a big drop and extremely steep side hill. These Inca’s were amazing architects! Ok, one more picture, this one you won’t find on google: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...achupicchu.jpg The following day we remained in Cusco to sort out our Bolivian visas. This was a bit of a difficult process for US citizens. It involved online forms, photos, re-sizing photo’s, paying $160 dollars, and a few other hoops to jump through. Thanks Mer’Ka! Luckily, only Argentina and Bolivia have the reciprocity rules in effect where they make US citizens go through the same process and payments as their citizens have to do in order to get into the USA. That night we yet again met up with Chris and Zoe who were in Cusco where they met up with a couple friends who had flown in from California to visit Machu Picchu. This was Chris’s birthday dinner and we found a really nice restaurant to celebrate! Cheers!bier http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0bigdinner.jpg Until next time! If you’re curious as to how far behind I am on the blog, just click this: SPOT Shared Page |
#19 Judas
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So not long ago, we were in Lima and had 2 days of down time. Then we rode 2 days to get to Cusco where we also did not go riding for 3 days. It was high time we got on the road and got some riding days under our belt to keep up with the schedule. Leaving Cusco was another drizzly morning with a lot of clouds. The high plains are great to ride through. The scenery is interesting, with small towns here and there and a lot of small scale agriculture. One observation here in South America is that there are plenty of people who are doing trips similar to ours. Many of them have also thought ahead and made personalized stickers for their trips. I had run out of time before leaving for the trip and had never gotten around to getting stickers made, but what we did have for was to get a stack of Alpine Meadows stickers. Sometimes we even remember to use them! Here is an Alpine Meadows tag at a gas station in Peru near Lake Titicaca: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...pineinperu.jpg That day left us next to Lake Titicaca south of the town of Puno in a small farming community. While taking a short walk around the area, dark clouds were starting to gather. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ormbrewing.jpg That evening was one of the more intense lightening and thunder storms I have experienced in a long time! The thunder is so much more intense at an elevation of 13,000 feet! The following morning, the heavy rain from the night before had tapered off into a slight drizzle. Attempting to get good photos of Lake Titicaca is very difficult when it is so damp and grey! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ketiticaca.jpg Eventually we reached the Peru/Bolivia border, looking forward to feeling the accomplishment that comes with crossing a border successfully with no problems: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...oodbyeperu.jpg As it turned out, we saved a lot of time by having spent an extra day in Cusco getting our Bolivian visa! However, when we stepped into the Aduana office to import our bikes, it was 10 minutes before they took lunch and they made us wait an hour before he would process our paperwork. The interesting thing was, it was the first customs person that attempted to speak English with us since the Mexican border. As you can imagine, it was a bit difficult to understand him. This sign on the door to the office is a good example: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...anabolivia.jpg As we waited for all the folks in the custom office to have lunch, the weather began to clear up. Not long after lunch we were on the road with sunny skies and nice roads for a short ride to Copacabana. This is a nice tourist town on Lake Titicaca. We stopped here to have some tea and make a plan. The day was turning into a good day for weather! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...acawithsun.jpg After a cup of tea, the decision was made to push on and get to La Paz that evening. The sun was shining for the first time in a while and it felt great to be riding in nice weather again! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20moretiti.jpg A little farther down the road and another nice view of the lake in the distance: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20morecaca.jpg At one point we had to cross on a very unstable looking ferry. We reluctantly got on and had to really hold on to the bikes to keep them from tipping. These big wooden crates ferry tour buses across as well! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0ferrytime.jpg As we raced south towards La Paz, we noticed the skies beginning to darken again: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20rainbow.jpg And before long, it was raining again. 25 miles outside of La Paz, we stopped at a what looked like a river across the main highway. Cars were lining up on either side, so the flash flood must have just started not long before we had gotten there. It looked about a foot to a foot and a half deep judging by the cars going through. Let’s do it! Kalil went first so I could grab a quick photo: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ercrossing.jpg “My bike stalled, and it won’t start” Oh no! I raced through the water to the other side, parked my bike and ran into the water which was just high enough to go into my boots to push him out to the other side and out of the way of traffic. The bike wouldn’t turn over. Is the battery dead? A quick attempt at a push start and my worst fear was realized: he had sucked water into his motor! But how!? It was only a foot to a foot in a half deep. That’s far below my air intake! As we began to dissemble his bike to get the spark plugs and air filter out, realization set in… His air intake is just above his piston, just barely above the foot and a half mark! So one of the vehicles heading in the opposite direction had pushed a wave right into the air box! First things first, get the water out of the cylinders. Pull the spark plugs, turn the motor over. Water flies out of one cylinder. Check. It’s starting to get dark out, glad I had my Solite from Light and Motion handy to keep everything well lit! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ettingdark.jpg Next step, make sure the spark plugs spark. Hook up the coils to the spark plug, ground it to the frame and crank the motor over, check. At this point, the battery seemed a bit low on power. Pull my bike over, run a couple wires to his battery and let my motor run for a bit while slowly charging his battery. Check. Put spark plugs back in, leave the wet air filter out, try to start the bike…. Nope. Nothing. Wait for awhile hoping things will dry out a bit more and she will fire…. Nope. Drag my computer out and plug it into the bikes computer, no fault codes. Allow the battery more time to charge: nothing again. Now it was fully dark and the traffic was thinning out. We’d better try and find a truck or something to get the bike to La Paz and tackle this situation in the morning after food and rest! After a bit, Kalil was able to find him and his bike a ride to town. I followed along slowly, frustrated by having to drive at the pace of all these slow four wheeled vehicles that for the last 2 months I’ve been passing with impunity. 11:30 PM we arrived to El Alto, suburb of La Paz. It was dark, we were exhausted, tired, and very hungry. Luckily, a couple of the people who were in the truck with Kalil were staying at the same hotel (which as luck would have it had an underground parking garage as well!) and also needed to eat, so we shared a taxi to get food. The next 30 minutes in the center of El Alto at midnight were by far the sketchiest experience on this trip so far. But after a little street food, taxi back at the hotel, it was time to sleep and feel grateful that we were under a roof, dry, safe, and the motorcycles were parked in a safe spot for the night. The following morning we went on a mission to find internet, breakfast, and some supplies. The spent most of the afternoon continuing to grasp at straws as to why the bike wouldn’t start. Kalil found a possible contact in La Paz who might be able to help us! Robin was originally from England but has been living in Bolivia for 9 years. He used to be a mechanic in England for the RAF (the British version of the AAA but far better) as well as a part owner in a motorcycle rental company here in Bolivia. He offered to pick up the bike with his trailer and bring it to his little garage at his house where he had more tools and patience than what we had at our sketchy hotel. So we had some time on our hands and felt like a little gander around town was in order. Since I am a bit partial to ski lifts, and La Paz just so happened to have a brand new public gondola that was only a few years old, we decided to check it out. What a great way to experience a city! Above all the traffic and being able to see the big picture, including roof art: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ftop%20art.jpg What an impressive lift! Included were some spectacular views in the distance: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20goodview.jpg That night, we changed hotels and got Kalil’s bike to Robin’s house. Time for bed and an early start in the morning to do some more wrenching. The following morning, we anxiously tore the bike down hoping that we had missed something simple. After several more tests, the worst fears were realized. When the bike had taken in water, it had caused the connection rod between the crankshaft and the piston to bend slightly. This is because when an engine is working, it compresses the air and then it fires and an explosion happens. When it takes in water, water will not compress which causes the motor to suddenly stop, or in this case, the motor stopped so quickly that it bent the rods. To sum up the situation, the motor was now not able to compress enough air in the cylinder to cause an explosion anymore. This problem is repairable. However, it would take a lot of money to get parts to Bolivia, it would require a full engine rebuild, and about a week at least of work once the parts showed up. This leaves us with only a couple options. So Kalil and I went into town that evening to figure out what to do. We both agreed that I should keep going since there was not much I could do to help at this point other than fall behind my already tight schedule. His options were to, a) attempt to sell the bike in La Paz b) try and figure out a way to ship the bike back to the US and then? Rebuild it? Sell it for parts? Part it out? This discussion needed a beer! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...16%20judas.jpg JUDAS! Yes, Judas. What a perfect name for his bike! It had come so far and accomplished so much, just to betray the trip on it’s final stretch! The next morning, breakfast was a somber affair as we tried to ignore the inevitable. Saying goodbye was not easy, and riding off alone not knowing what the outcome was going to be with his bike was even more difficult. So many unknowns, but at least there was direction. First thing he had to do was to figure out what to do with the bike. So Kalil was headed to the market after I left to see if he could find anyone in the bike district who might be interested in his bike. The whole day, I was distracted from my ride thinking about whether or not I had done the right thing leaving down with so many questions unanswered. That night as I pulled into Uyuni and logged on to some wifi, this picture was in my inbox: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20byejudas.jpg Kalil had a successful day! He had found someone to buy his bike for parts! This meant that within one day, his fortune had changed from totally lost with a heavy anchor tied to his freedom in the form of an out of commission motorcycle; to having extra money in his pocket and free to go in whichever way the wind takes him. So to all of you following along, this changes things. No longer will I be providing first hand information about the adventures of Kalil and Hans. I will only be providing information about my own adventures. That being said, I will stay in touch with Kalil and at the end of each post I will make sure that everyone is updated on what he is up to! Until next time… |
#20 Solo Mission?
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February 28th, 2016, I’ve now been on the road for 75 days with Kalil and this was the morning I had to say goodbye and continue heading south on my own. It was raining in La Paz as I left and the weather was cold. It seemed that the weather was matching my mood, traveling alone changes a lot of aspects of how you travel. You cannot take the same chances, you don’t have someone to watch the bikes as another person goes off and tries to find information/hotel/food/ etc… After a few hours of troubled thoughts I began to notice the weather was changing and before I knew it, it was sunny and with interesting landscapes, including flamingos: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0flamingos.jpg After a few hours on the road, and about halfway to my destination of Uyuni, I noticed a Kawasaki KLR next to a hole in the wall restaurant and it had a Canadian license plate. Needing a drink of water, I stopped to see who this fellow traveler could be. Turns out Jota was from Chile, but had been working in Canada for awhile and had decided it was time to go back home to Santiago, Chile. However, airplanes were boring, so on a whim, bought a motorcycle and went to Alaska, across Canada to New York City, back out to California and then headed south. He had been on the road for 6 months and was heading the same direction as I was. 30 minutes later there were two motorcycles riding in tandem south again. When we arrived at the Salar de Uyuni, Jota wanted to ride out on the salt flats. The salt flats in Uyuni are the biggest in the world, 3 times bigger than Bonneville salt flats in Utah. One problem, they were flooded! It is rainy season, and the flats were covered in a couple inches of water. After watching countless jeeps entering and exiting the flats, we decided to go for it! And boy was it worth it! What an unreal experience: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a3%20salar.jpg The 2-3 inch deep water with a base of salt (pure white) was a perfect mirror of the sky. The experience was absolutely surreal! Before long, we noticed in the distance (which is very hard to judge) a group of jeeps and people. So we veered in that direction and 2 miles later we arrived at a raised area that was sporting a large salt monument to the Dakar rally that goes right through this area: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a4%20salty.jpg After leaving the salt flats, the most important thing to do is IMMEDIATELY GET THE SALT OFF OF EVERYTHING! Why did I do that again? http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0saltywash.jpg After a very thorough washing (no joke, 20-30 minutes of spraying and making sure EVERY nook and cranny was clear of salt) both Jota and I were quite pleased with how the day turned out and went into the town of Uyuni and found ourselves a nice little hostel. The next morning we both decided it was necessary to spend a day catching up on our lives, blogs, going online and paying the Argentina visa fee and printing it out, and laundry. Also a trip out to the Bolivian train graveyard just outside of town was necessary. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...doftheline.jpg Train set or swing set? Well, why not both? http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20trainset.jpg The following day it was time to make tracks to Argentina! The road that headed south out of Uyuni looked like a main highway on the GPS but it was much different when we were riding in person. The road was undergoing major construction to make it a major highway, which meant the detours weren’t exactly perfect road bed. Several sandy and muddy sections later, we had gotten good at picking up Jota’s loaded up KLR. I felt like I was bad luck! Jota had only dropped his bike 3 times up until this road. And in one day, he more than doubled his total falls after falling 4 times. That being said, the first time wasn’t his fault. While pushing his bike out of the mud, a random road worker was pushing on the side of the bike effectively pushing it over. After all the trials and tribulations of this road, we were rewarded with some stunning landscape: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...sofbolivia.jpg For 60-70 miles we didn’t pass any towns and passed very few people other than the many different areas of road construction crews that really didn’t seem like they were in a hurry. At one point the road took us into a canyon and we were riding through a small river/stream: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...thatsaroad.jpg After that low, the road took us up until we were high up on a ridge, with stunning 360 degree views, including some red hills in the background conveniently lit up by the sun: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...inebolivia.jpg As we neared the main paved road that would take us to the border of Argentina, we got one more great photo opportunity that reminded me a lot of Utah: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...formations.jpg After a very typical Argentina meal of a giant plate of BBQ meat, we raced to the border of Argentina. We arrived at 6pm Bolivia time and decided to attempt the crossing. Before long we were joined by our Mexican and Bolivian motorcycle friends that we had seen at the Colombia/Ecuador border as well as just outside Trujillo! 4 hours later, including an hour and a half long excursion into the town on the Argentina side trying to buy insurance, and losing an hour to time change, putting all our things through an xray machine that was inside of a van, we were packing up our bikes to go into town to find a hotel: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...gestborder.jpg The following morning, Jota and I decided that we would continue traveling together until we reached Mendoza. Our destination for the day was Salta. Along the way we stopped at Quebrada de Humahuaca, a very colorful range of hills: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ty%20hills.jpg Yet again, my pictures don’t do it justice, feel free to google it! It’s quite amazing! So after several hours of desert sun and slowly dropping in elevation, we eventually reached more rain! The last 40 miles to Salta was very damp, but the mood was quite positive since we were both enjoying the road, which was about one lane wide and winding through the hills: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...oadtosalta.jpg We reached Salta, exhausted, soaked and ready for a hot shower. After a good nights rest, the following day we headed out of Salta, which was still in the clouds. The first hour after leaving Salta reminded me a lot of Vermont. Large fields of corn, grass, pasture and green mountains in the background. As we got further away and the climate was slightly drier, there were countless acres of vineyards growing grapes for some delicious Argentine wine. Then there was a drastic change in scenery as we entered a canyon that seemed to pop up out of nowhere: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...therplanet.jpg At the bottom of the canyon was the town of Cafayate, which is a very beautiful little town well known for it’s wineries and mild climate. That night we ate traditional Argentine BBQ with the guests of the hostel along with friends of the hostel owner listening to a couple die hard football (soccer) fans talking trash about the upcoming big match between rival Argentina teams. Relaxing times before we both got ready for our last big push to the south of South America! Kalil UPDATE: Kalil spent the week in La Paz where he was taking private Spanish lessons. He was not alone, only a day or two behind us were the Australian couple (bikesnbeers) and the San Fran couple (Chris and Zoe) who spent some time hanging out with. Tragedy had also struck Chris and Zoe when one of their KTM 690’s experienced valve trouble. I do not have the full details of the situation, but they were in the process of waiting for parts when Zoe had to unexpectedly return to the USA. Kalil has not been keeping me up to date with any pictures or much information, but I think they are trying to figure out a way for him to continue on the newly repaired KTM 690 with Chris while Zoe takes care of important matters back in the states. |
Want Cheese with that Wine?
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Ruta 40 is a famous road not only in Argentina, but in the world. For example, the BMW dealership in Colombia (several thousand miles north of Argentina) is named Ruta 40 in honor of this road. It is one of the longest roads in the world at a mind numbing total of over 5000 kms (3,107 miles)! We had hopped on the Ruta 40 at Cafayate. We had 2 days to spend traveling this road before reaching Mendoza. There isn’t much to talk about when driving the Ruta 40 in most places. It’s very flat, very straight, and basically you are driving through a desert. And then it will surprise you with some very drastic scenery changes and some good bits of riding. The above and below picture are at such a place. This pavement is only a year or so old. In some areas you can see parts of the old road which hug the sides of these hills as a single lane dirt road. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20niceroad.jpg That evening we found ourselves looking for a place to stay in a tiny little town called Guandacol. Stumbling upon a small spot that claimed to be a hostel, we pulled in to find… nothing. A few buildings but no one around. After walking around the area for several minutes, suddenly an older gentleman came walking up to us. After talking with Jota for a good half an hour, we were showed our room, a kitchen, and were given a promise that we would get to taste some of the wine that he was making (the property was a vineyard). Yet another interesting lesson of how sometimes things are not as they seem. That night, it seemed to rain a little bit where we were. We had no idea that we were about to head south into what must have been quite the storm the night before! As we headed south along the long flat plains, we were noticing that the dips that they had built for water to cross the road were filled with lots of runoff. Pretty soon these dips were not only full of debris, but also a few inches of water still flowing across the road. The next town we got to, we started to realize just how major the storm had been: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...otsofwater.jpg Well, since motorcycles are perfectly capable of riding in the rain and none of the dips were deep enough to submerge anything important (such as air intakes!!!!) we continued on our way south. As the distance to Mendoza shrank, the amount of water flooding the plains seemed to grow: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...odedplains.jpg It definitely added to the experience in a positive way since if there had not been all the flooding, the drive would have been extremely less memorable. That afternoon we arrived safely in Mendoza and settled in for one last dinner before Jota headed south in the morning and I stayed put in Mendoza for a few days. The following morning, I met up with my friends Sebastian and Janelle from Sacramento, California. Sebastian is originally from Mendoza and was back in Mendoza for business. A nicely timed rendezvous! He was staying at his sisters house and he had 2 very important things for me: a place to work on my motorcycle and PARTS! That morning was spent working on changing the oil, fixing several tiny nagging issues I had, and replacing the steering head bearings (that was quite the challenge!!). For lunch, I was invited to go over to a close friend of Sebastian’s family for a traditional Argentinian BBQ: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...itionalbbq.jpg That would be a bit difficult to turn down! I cannot thank my gracious hosts enough for making me feel at home when I had almost forgotten what that felt like: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...cioushosts.jpg The following morning I was invited to partake in some of the activities that Sebastian and his company had organized for their clients. First stop was a winery where I experienced my first wine tasting. Never have I ever thought in my life that I would be spitting out perfectly good wine out of my mouth! Oh the humanity! But after tasting several wines, I began to understand… Following the wine tasting, the bus headed up the road towards the mountains and I followed on the motorcycle (another reason why it was important to spit out the wine… hehe). The group was headed to go rafting on the Mendoza river. My original plan was to split off from the group and ride up near to Aconcagua. Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in the world if you don’t count the Himalaya mountains at 6,961 meters (22,838ft) which was about an hour and a half further up the road. The plans changed as the weather remained extremely cloudy with some rain mixed in every once in a while for effect. So I went rafting instead: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20rafting.jpg I have never rafted before, so it was quite a good experience! The guy in the right of the picture ended up falling out of the boat in a short section of class 3 rapids. I was told the river isn’t that extreme and if I go again, I will definitely look for a more difficult stretch of river to float down! After rafting and food, the group headed back to Mendoza to rest up before a big wine festival event (did I mention that there was a large wine festival going on in Mendoza while I was there?). Sebastian and I were left behind with a car and a motorcycle. Since I had spent the last three months on a motorcycle and Sebastian has been playing family man, I did what any good friend would do and told him I’d be insulted if he didn’t ride my bike back to town. Yup, he’s excited! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ebaexcited.jpg That evening was quite an experience! The wine festival in Mendoza is a grand event every year. The show is put on for four nights in order to accommodate all the people who want to go see it. Each year the actual show completely changes, but the theme is the same, which is to celebrate the history of wine in Argentina and to celebrate yet again another harvest season (it’s fall here). And what a production it was! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nefestival.jpg All said and told there must have been at least a couple hundred people involved in this well choreographed show! At one point, several people dressed as angels were hooked up to a crane and lifted off the stage and out of sight. Not exactly OSHA approved! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...gbyathread.jpg And to top it all off, Chef Boyardee was there! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...efboyardee.jpg He was quite a friendly and outgoing fellow! Apparently this show was a bit toned down from normal years. This is because the show is produced and funded by the government and Argentina is undergoing a lot of political change recently and the government is probably trying to cut spending. Either way, I was impressed! The following morning was a bit tough to wake up on time. In Argentina they run on a different schedule than I am used to. Most businesses open in the morning until noon or 1, then they close down until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Then, everything seems to stay open until the wee hours of the morning. So the past few nights, it had been about 2 am before I laid eyes on my pillow! But wake up I did, since today was the day I was going to leave my wonderful hosts and head south. But first, I was invited to one more winery to experience and learn a bit (actually quite a lot) more about wine. It was a clear morning and on my ride to the winery, I couldn’t help but try and capture this view: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nvineyards.jpg The backdrop of immense mountains void of clouds always seems to help clear the mind a little bit. At the winery, I had to remember to not drink any of this amazing wine in order to prevent the mind from becoming cloudy again! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...inetasting.jpg After tasting 10 or so wines, it was time to take a tour of the winery. Here is several hundred bottles of some very tasty sparkling wine aging to perfection. Every several days they are slightly turned to help the fermentation process. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nthebottle.jpg Then back to the tasting room to learn a lot more about wine and I must admit, after all the rhetoric, I believe that I have begun to understand why good wine is good. The tasting finished with the top vintages of the Atamisque winery, which I must admit were very tasty! When the tasting was all said and done, a quick pilgrimage to the atamisque bush that the winery was named after: Cheers! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0atamisque.jpg Afterwards, it was time for a relaxing lunch, some golf with my new wine friends and after a few hours of clearing my head it was time for my final push south! Until next time…. Kalil Update: Kalil is still in La Paz, but a plan has formed! Zoe and Chris, our friends from California (www.tiptotip690.wordpress.com) have a ride for him on one of their 690’s. Zoe had to return home while they awaited parts for one of their bikes in La Paz. Once the parts are there in La Paz and the bike is running, Kalil will be handed the keys to join Chris on their mission south. |
#22 It’s Chile in the Mountains
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After a few days of amazingly gracious hosts, wine, friends, and indulging in the finer things in life in Mendoza, I reluctantly had to continue south. A freshly serviced bike is always good for the soul. Having driven/operated many different vehicles, machinery, and motorcycles, it is a feeling I find hard to describe but for some reason after spending several hours checking everything over, changing oil, and general check up, the machine always seems.... happier? It probably is all in my head but my motorcycle was running smooth as silk. So I began my trek south on Ruta 40. A few hours south of Mendoza, the paved road turned left to San Rafael, and Ruta 40 continued straight south and immediately became a dirt road. After about 5 miles, the road began to have small washout areas that were a little rough to cross at my ambitious speed of 40 mph, but I was willing to push on until a few miles further, a slightly larger dip contained a generous amount of sand that made my handlebars go very far left, then suddenly very far right and somehow luckily at the end of the sand trap, my bike was still going straight. Gut check time! Alone, on a dirt road where the conditions were questionable since there has been so much rain in the area recently, I had a very important decision to make. Continue on Ruta 40 with questionable conditions for an unknown amount of time with no other rider to keep my speed at a reasonable pace, or turn back 10 miles, stick to the pavement which would go in a roundabout way south. 100+ more miles in total distance to get to where I wanted to go. The photo above is proof that I choose the safe route. Several hours of no scenery, flat straight roads, and nothing for a couple hundred miles, I was quite surprised to see another motorcycle park next to mine at a gas station! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20morebmw.jpg This fellow was an Argentinean heading to the same place I was that day, Neuquen. So even though he could not speak English, and my Spanish abilities that day were even more terrible than normal, we spoke the international language of riding a motorcycle. So off we went, riding together which made the long flat and increasingly windy drive far more interesting. I have noticed that my Spanish abilities ride on a roller coaster, some days I can get by quite well, other days I might as well be speaking gibberish! After arriving in Neuquen, the fellow on the other bike went to stay with his family there, and I went off to find a place to stay. The following morning, as I was trying to find my way out of this rather large city in what seemed to be absolutely in the middle of nowhere, I found an advertisement for a band. I immediately had to pull over and take a picture: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbiaqueers.jpg Judging by the picture, the name, and the fact that they are from Argentina, the thought began to form that perhaps I should stick around for the show... But my motorcycle disagreed and before I knew it, the motor began spinning the sprockets and the front tire was again pointed southwest towards Chile and the Andes. After an hour or so of pavement, the GPS wanted me to take a right onto a dirt road. Zoom out the GPS, sure enough, the dirt road will cut off 30 miles. Several miles down the road and the decision still seemed like a good idea: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...4%20desert.jpg After 15 miles of decent road, yet again, the GPS said take a left. There was a gate to the left and behind the gate, a plowed up strip of earth heading west. Staying on the road would take me north before connecting to another road to take me west. Turning around would admit that I had made an error and I would have to backtrack 15 miles. Gosh I hate being stubborn! So I opened the gate, went through, closed the gate behind me and moved on to see what the hell my GPS was talking about. Sure enough, big sign roughly translated was telling me the road was... being created still? 5 miles of a decent double track next to plowed up surface representing what will become a nice two lane road... someday? and I began to worry. My GPS was telling me the next turn was in 25 more miles! Suddenly the double track lane merged onto the loose dirt... DAMN! Slowing down to 1st gear, my stubbornness began to be tested. 45 more minutes and I had covered 10 more miles. The whole time reminding myself that I was completely alone for miles. Do NOT take chances, relax, don't try and speed my way over obstacles. Time to take a break: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...hisisaroad.jpg Hold on, in the distance, on the valley floor there was a barely noticeable black strip... Could it be!?!?! But the GPS said 15 more miles but on a closer look, sure enough, the GPS didn't consider merging onto the pavement as a turn!! Hurrah! As much as my stubbornness does NOT need any positive reinforcement, it got a large boost. A long loose descent to the valley floor, 100 meters of deep sand (grab a large handful of throttle, lean back and let the bike float!) and there it was! Pure, beautiful, flat, smooth wonderful pavement! An hour later I found myself back in my happy place, surrounded by mountains in the nice quiet touristy town of San Martin de los Andes. Pulling out a couple slices of bread, I packed up the last of the ham and cheese I had stashed away which was left over from my simple dinner the night before and take a few minutes to let the view soak in: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...delosandes.jpg Half an hour later I was thoroughly enjoying twisty paved roads in the mountains! This is DEFINITELY what the doctor ordered! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...nsandlakes.jpg That evening the motorcycle was parked at a hostel on the outskirts of San Carlos de Bariloche, a very well known resort town which essentially could be considered a ski town since a popular large ski area is located a half hour away. That evening I found myself cooking my own steak at the hostel and realizing that perhaps this was a great spot to take a day off and recuperate some motivation. The following day while touring the area, I had a sudden feeling like I had just been transported to the Alps: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...8%20europe.jpg A couple miles down the road and there was another picturesque landscape that needed to be saved digitally on my camera: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ilochegolf.jpg After 2 long days through flat and barren landscapes and suddenly I was transported to vacationland! Vacationland included some delicious chocolate shoppes boasting some very large chocolate Easter eggs: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...lateanyone.jpg A few beers along with some fantastic local chocolate and it was time to head back to the supermarket near the hostel for another delicious Argentina steak. But not before trying to capture (rather unsuccessfully) the sunset colors over the lake: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...1%20sunset.jpg The following day, the motor started up like it usually does. "Funny" I thought to myself. Shouldn't my bike be as excited as I was? Today would be the day that I will finally reach the last country that I will visit on my trip, Chile! But then again, why put the horse before the cart? There was still a few more hours to enjoy Argentina! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ingtochile.jpg When my GPS told me to turn right onto a dirt road towards the border of Chile, it also told me that I was still 30 miles from the border. The road was covered in very loose gravel and it takes some extra concentration to prepare for corners and traffic as the bike seems to just drift all over the road. So when I decided it was time to take a quick break to regain some nerve, confidence and stretch my legs, luck was on my side as 20 meters off the road this view appeared: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...osttochile.jpg About 100 meters from the Argentina border control, I went over this bridge and couldn't resist getting a picture of the river: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...acierriver.jpg Welcome to Chile! And look! Asphalt! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...chilepaved.jpg Turn around and say goodbye to Argentina and that loose gravel for a couple of days as I avoid a very long and boring ride on Ruta 40 and head into Chile to enjoy the Astral Highway in Chile. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...largentina.jpg That evening I found where I had been hiding my camping gear after finding a peaceful campsite next to the river in Futaleufu, Chile. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20camping.jpg That's it for now! Stay tuned, there are a lot more miles of road left going south! |
Long Distance Endurance
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The celebration for having survived 89 days on the road on a motorcycle started with dismantling the tent and packing up all the camping gear for the first time in a couple months. Sleeping next to a quietly murmuring river resulted in a good nights rest and a positive attitude. Once on the road, progress was slow due to loose gravel road conditions meandering through the hills and mountains of the Lake Region as I made my way to the Austral Highway. There were 50 miles of slow gravel roads separating me from the highway. Progress was further slowed by all the amazing scenery around every corner. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20trifecta.jpg This was one of the only roads around for many miles and the sparsely populated countryside survived on tourism and what seemed like small ranches. At this point in the year, it is the middle of fall and you could see the landscape slowly changing as it prepared for winter, overshadowed by glaciers in the mountain tops. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...erbackdrop.jpg Once on the Carretera Austral, the road was a bit more established, with long sections of paved road which wound around many small lakes and hillsides. After about 30 miles or so of fun twisty paved roads, it would turn back to dirt as you could see signs of construction as Chile tried to tame these wild mountainous areas with established high speed roads. So other than the one necessary fuel stop, there was no actual human interaction other than waving to the few other motorists on the road. Which was fine because to stop and enjoy these views without any disturbances was very peaceful. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a4%20lagos.jpg I stopped for "lunch" at a particularly nice lake with some great views. It is just too difficult to capture the serenity of this road. If anyone ever plans on doing a road trip in and around Patagonia, I would highly recommend finding the time to check out the Austral highway. Simply stunning! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...moreastral.jpg As I continued south, I began to notice a lot more glaciers up in the mountain tops. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0hadtostop.jpg After gaining some elevation, there were a few great lookout spots to get a good glimpse of the valleys I had just ridden through. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ivervalley.jpg After a what seemed like a long day of many peaceful mountain settings and stunning views, I found myself in the town of Coyhaique, 260 miles down the road from where I had started. The following morning I made my way towards the border of Argentina, only 2 days in Chile and I was already leaving. After signing in at the Aduana (customs) I pointed the bike east towards Ruta 40, which was 60 miles away. I was greeted by this view of... not much: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...8%20100kms.jpg Several miles into this long straight gravel road, I went through a tiny little frontier town and found this neat old horse drawn wagon: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...iggertires.jpg These must have been the main mode of transporting goods before the proliferation of the modern dinosaur burning vehicles. Having seen many old pictures in various places on this trip, I deduced that these were the South American equivalent of the wagon trains that settled the west in North America. The next thought I had was, maybe my tires need to be bigger in order to conquer these rough gravel roads! After gaining confidence, the speed slowly climbed on the long straight gravel road and before I knew it, I had put 60 miles between me and the border of Chile. Back on Ruta 40, I was happy to be cruising on pavement again and heading south. Well, until boredom set in. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20straight.jpg Long, straight, flat, and I began to notice a little bit of wind pushing me around on the bike. All along the road, there were hundreds of Vicuna scattered everywhere. They are the South American equivalent of deer, running around in the wild, and seem to congregate along roadsides. The vicuna are essentially a very close cousin to the llama and alpaca and they have never been domesticated. There were so many of them, it wasn't worth taking a picture. And for they seemed to be quite smart as well because there were very few dead ones on the side of the road, so even though they were all grazing a few feet from the road, they never strayed into oncoming traffic. The first times I saw the rhea, it was pretty amazing! These flightless large birds which are related to emus and ostriches blend right into the landscape and as you drive by them they jump and run, so it was a bit tricky to get a good shot of one closeup. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...a11%20emus.jpg That evening found me settled in a hotel room in Perito Moreno. There is absolutely nothing significant about this town other than it is the last town with fuel or ATM's for a long long distance. Luckily the gas pumps seemed to work fine, but the ATM's on the other hand were not working for my foreign card... Shoot, hundreds of miles from the nearest decent sized town that would have an ATM that would work with a foreign card. Stranded in no mans land, completely out of Argentina Pesos, a pocket full of Chilean Peso's and a secret stash of US dollars. Luckily the hotel owner was up to make a little profit and exchanged the $40 USD into pesos which would have to get me to the next big town tomorrow! The next day I made a discovery: that getting down to the southern tip of Argentina had one major challenge that in all my research I had not come across. That challenge was how to keep yourself entertained for what seemed like the most boring drive of my life! This puts all the long straight boring drives in Kansas, Nevada, and even Nebraska to shame: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ingbutwind.jpg And to add to the boredom, I began to encounter wind. It didn't seem so bad at first. Lean a bit to the right and you keep going straight. Set the throttle to 65 and you're fine. It was about 216 miles to get to the next fuel stop. 4.2 gallons in the tank, so I needed to average over 52 mpg. That shouldn't be a problem, should it? After a couple hours, I began to notice my average was slowly going down as I had to lean a little more to the right to combat the wind. Slow down a bit more. Lean a little more as the wind got stronger, slow down a little to keep the mpg. As my speed dwindled to just below 55, I was graced by a large tractor trailer truck passing me by. I quickly grabbed the throttle and tucked in behind him! 65 mph and my mpg jumped through the roof to a whopping 65+mpg! Hurray for drafting! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0windbreak.jpg On a side note, I did have 2 extra gallons of fuel on board in the red fuel can. My stubborn side told me that to use that would be to admit that I hadn't done my planning right, so even if I had run out, I would have been totally fine. I also could have hammered down on the throttle and flown through the boring sections at 75 mph! After following this truck for about 80 miles, the next fuel stop was in sight! Along with a long line of cars... http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...les160togo.jpg 160 miles to go to the next town and back up into the mountains, so I didn't wait around long before pushing on in the wind. Unfortunately without a nice big truck as a wind block. Everything seemed to be rolling along fine until I came across a 45 mile section of Ruta 40 that was still waiting to be paved. No problems here, I had accomplished 60 miles of these gravel roads yesterday! Um... http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20funroads.jpg It is no problem staying in that skinny wheel track, until you factor in the stiff cross wind! The stones were a couple inches deep on each side and if a gust hit you just right, it would send you into the loose rock and the bike would start to float around. The only solution is: when in doubt, throttle out! DO NOT hit the brakes! As you accelerate, it reduces the weight on the front tire and you can then manage enough control to get the bike back in the lane. Don't accelerate, or even worse, hit the brake, and the front end will plow through those loose stones making the bike feel like its floating and it goes all over the place uncontrollably. Good times! After successfully making it through the rugged dirt roads covered in "rippio", I turned right off of Ruta 40 towards the mountains and a small town located on the edge of Glaciers National Park called El Chalten, home of Monte Fitzroy. As I neared the town, relief set in after a 400 miles of wind, straight roads, and rugged gravel roads with crosswinds! I was looking forward to getting out of the plains and the wind and getting back to the mountains! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0mountains.jpg |
Kalil Update!
So for all of you who have been waiting for information on Kalil, here it is!
I last left Kalil in La Paz, Bolivia after we discovered that the motor on his motorcycle had bent the connection rods and would not run without a lot of time, money, and parts. With time slowly slipping away, we both decided that I would continue on by myself and he would stay in La Paz to take care of his now dead motorcycle and make a plan for the rest of his adventure. Kalil was able to sell his non-running motorcycle in no time at all, which was a very big relief. With the funds from the sale of his parts bike, he decided to sign up for a week of private Spanish lessons in La Paz. During that week, some of the fellow motorcycle adventurers we had met along the way passed through La Paz. Including the couple Chris and Zoe. They were having trouble with one of their KTM 690's and needed to take a break in La Paz as well. During their stay there, Zoe had to fly back to the USA for a family emergency. It was at this point that they (Zoe, Chris, and Kalil) all sat down together and decided to make a deal which would allow Kalil to continue riding south on Zoe's bike after she left for the states. After a week of waiting for parts, Chris and Kalil were ready to ride! They headed south from La Paz, to the Salar de Uyuni. From there they headed west along what is known as the Laguna route towards San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...72_o.jpg?w=646 Kalil managed to snap a few good pictures on this leg of their journey. https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...03_o.jpg?w=646 From there, Chris and Kalil headed south a little bit and then east towards Salta, Argentina. This route would somewhat follow the route of the Dakar race. Once in Salta, they set their sites south and west towards Mendoza. There they enjoyed some wine, met some locals who took them out on some off the beaten path dirt bike trails. After a few days of enjoying Men https://deboerjohannes.files.wordpre...94_o.jpg?w=646 |
Another great update. Great to hear your riding buddy has continued on! Hope you guys can meet up down the trail somewhere for a reunion. bier
Love the pic with those pesky Llamas! Ride safe, rubber side down! :scooter: |
G,day guys, great to catch up on your updates, love the photo,s . Seems your enjoying yourself, BMW don,t like to swim, I,m surprised, when in Thailand, 2011 my KLR was able to swim without a problem. keep the photo,s coming, stay safe, cheers, Roger.
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Park Day #25
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On the 16th of March, the 92nd day of the journey, I got to see two of the most popular places to see in Patagonia; Mount Fitzroy and Perito Moreno Glacier. That morning I woke up in El Chalten and went on a brisk early morning walk outside of town. For some reason, I felt like using my timer feature on my camera and get some proper proof that I have actually been to these places! Above is a photo overlooking the river valley leading into El Chalten. After about an hour of hiking I found a great view of Fitzroy: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20fitzroy.jpg Another hour and I found a lake which still had a great view of Fitzroy and decided to test the timer on the camera again: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20fitzroy.jpg It's official! I made it down to Glacier National Park in Argentina and I have a picture to prove it. I'm sure there are millions of pictures of this spot, but only one has me in it... Might as well try to do the similar picture without me in it. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...itzroylake.jpg After about 4 hours of hiking, it was time to hit the road again and continue to El Calafate. El Calafate is the main hub of Glacier National Park and also an hour away of visiting Perito Moreno Glacier. As I left El Chalten, I had to take a quick photo of the amazing skyline in the distance before I headed back out in the plains fighting high winds and boring straight roads. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...ingthemtns.jpg After arriving in El Calafate with plenty of time to spare, the decision to get to the glacier for a look was easy to make. Perito Moreno Glacier is 97 square miles of ice and is part of the Southern Patagonia ice field. This ice field is the 3rd largest reserve of fresh water. The last interesting fact I'll add is that the Perito Moreno glacier is GROWING! Yup, you read that right, one of only 3 glaciers growing in the ice field, and certainly one of the few glaciers still growing in the world. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20lottaice.jpg The size of the glacier is unbelievable... The photo above was taken from about a half mile from the glacier. The glacier actually comes down into the lake and meets the hill on the other side of the water. When that happens, the water one side of the glacier builds up over time because it doesn't have an outlet. Eventually, it builds up enough to create a river underneath the ice. Every 4 years or so, the ice bridge will weaken enough and collapse down into the water below. Unfortunately for me, the bridge had just collapsed a few days before I got there so I didn't get to see the ice bridge, only the rubble left behind by its destruction. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0icebridge.jpg Since the theme for the day was to use the timer on my camera, I took the time to try one more self portrait on my way back to the motorcycle. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tta%20hair.jpg On my way back to town there was one last photo opportunity to take advantage of to cap off an amazingly scenic day! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20glacier.jpg |
#26 Bear-ly Visible
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After all the excitement of El Chalten and El Calafate, it was time to head down the road to Puerto Natales to see another natural wonder, Torres del Paine. *Today's route would take me south a few hundred miles and then west into Chile. *The first stretch south was very cold. *It was very chilly that morning, cold enough to have the heated vest plugged in, hand warmers on high, an extra layer under the helmet to add some insulation for my ears and fresh dusting of snow in the hills in the distance. After a fuel stop and some time spent warming up the hands, I finally took the time to stop and get the picture above of a sign I had seen several times but had been too busy leaning the bike over in order to keep going straight. As I neared the Chile border later that day, the weather turned on me and it began to rain. I had thought I was cold early in the day, but now I was REALLY cold. After another uneventful and simple border crossing into Chile, it was only 15 minutes to get to Puerto Natales. A delicious pizza and a warm shower helped to boost the spirits. The next morning, I met up with Jota again. Since our parting in Mendoza, he had ridden the Ruta 40 all the way south from Mendoza and from there the rest of the way to Ushuaia. He was on his way north back home to Santiago and it worked out that we would go camp out in Torres Del Paine for a night before parting ways again. On our way to the park, we stopped at the Milodon cave. This is a place where explorers found preserved animal skins dating back several hundred years that were similar to the shape of a bear. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20bearcave.jpg As it turns out, this huge cave was the home to these very large bear-like animals called Milodon. There used to be many of these bears in existence a few thousand years ago, but as the glaciers receded and the whole landscape and animal populations around them changed, they started to die off. The last known evidence of there existence was more than 800 years or so. Pretty big bear! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20bigbear.jpg After the cave, it was only about an hour or so to the Torres del Paine national park. With fresh snow in the hills and mountains around, it allowed for a couple decent photo stops. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...rtonatalas.jpg As we neared the park, there were a flock of condors taking off in a field as we rode by. Unfortunately there was not enough time to stop and take a picture. It was the last animal on my list of animals to see! Shortly after the condor siting we got our first view of the Torres (which by the way is Spanish for towers, Torres del Paine is a group of giant rock towers circled by mountains). Very impressive from far away. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...inefaraway.jpg The clouds were a bit ominous and both Jota and I were hoping that later in the afternoon they might burn off for some clear shots. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...esdelpaine.jpg After arriving to the park, we set up our tent and had some time so we decided to do a little hiking. After 2 hours of hiking up a seemingly deserted and off the beaten path trail, we had a pretty good view point of the Torres. Unfortunately, the clouds had not burnt off. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...y%20torres.jpg With our hopes of the clouds burning off began to diminish, we pushed on for awhile longer. Even with the clouds in the way, it was still very refreshing to get out and hike and get in some great scenery of the valley below. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tillscenic.jpg The last 30 minutes of hiking up, the weather started to get a little more stormy and the hat and puffy jacket had to make an appearance. I could have sworn there were snowflakes! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tillcloudy.jpg Since it was impossible to get any pictures of the cloudy Torres, I gave up and took pictures of the valley below. The foothills of Patagonia are extremely flat, windy, and desolate! http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...tpatagonia.jpg Torres del Paine is a very famous national park and many tourists arrive every year. Somehow we managed to find a hiking trail that not many people know about. After spending about 4 and a half hours on the trail, the only people we saw was a group of 3 people who worked in the park. They were amazed that we had found the trail since it is only used for special guided tours for people looking to do serious hiking in the park. It was definitely not the easiest hiking trail I've been on: http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...0whattrail.jpg That evening, Jota made some tasty omelet sandwiches. It was a very busy campsite, but we managed to find a hidden spot where we weren't bothered by any of the groups that were partying near by. http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...20parkcamp.jpg The next morning, after packing up our camp, Jota and I said our good byes and separated ways once again. He was heading back into Argentina to head north and I was headed to Punta Arenas which from my extensive research is one of the few places that would be 'easy' to sell my motorcycle legally. Punta Arenas is the southern most major city in Chile. A major hub for travelers headed south to Ushuaia and beyond to Antarctica and north to Patagonia. I would have 5 days to try and sell my bike before I would have to turn tail and run north to Santiago as quick as I could to catch my flight back to the USA. If I sold the bike, I would simply fly to Santiago from there. If I didn't sell my bike, I'd have to ride the 1800 miles to Santiago and arrange last minute shipping for the bike to home in less than a week... http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...iteushuaia.jpg |
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