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Hey Andi and Ellen. Damn Im sorry to hear about all your troubles. Really hope it all gets worked out. Wish I would have remembered you guys were in Phoenix. I was down there this past weekend. Would have offered to buy yall dinner or something. Take care of yourselves.
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Phoenix To Ramona
Phoenix ... Where To Start
Friends of friends helped us when we needed help... not sure what we would have done without them to be fair. They have become a very large part of our trip and have seen the highs and lows of changing out bikes and equipment to bike and equipment....the very stressful part of RTWing to be honest. Also seen first hand some jealous people hacking on us about the DRs and blatantly lying as well as using a lot of elastic to better their story without facts then laughing about getting the KTM, thank you to those people and one of these days you will find out the truth if you chose too but don't let the truth stand in the way of a good fabricated story!!. The lows became very heavy to the point I was ready to pack it in due to being ripped by the seller of Maya which was very low to say the least, nothing that money and time cannot fix. On a positive note we now have new friends for life, their generosity and warmth when we were down was something they provided us and I know they weren’t prepared for what was to happen with Maya etc. Post Maya the shitty drama that followed it was 3 steps forward and 10 back daily, one by one we clobbered the problems and issues and finally we are prepared with some minor adjustments to do. While in Phoenix and wanting to do a shakedown test run on Maya we did a local loop recommended by Dillon at Zen Motorcycle using local knowledge, this was great for shaking the shit out of the bike and testing my two up riding ability on ice .... in Phoenix!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ide/image1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ide/file-6.jpg Snow!! :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ide/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-10.jpg Clocked over 2000 miles http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ide/file-7.jpg The purpose was to do about 180 to 200 miles, combo of shingle and offroad with a blast on the tar as well to check on fuel milage too see indicatively where she is at. To our surprise Maya did 37 mpg on the small amount offroad and shingle road and 48.75 mpg on the open road, on the motorway we specifically sat around the 60 mphr on the speedo which is our open road cruising speed given we want to look out the window, 60 mphr on Maya is 56-57 mphr corrected on the GPS and this is what we have done all the way down on the rest of the trip on the DRs. On our return to home base in Phoenix we took the tank off Maya and pulled all the filters and screens to check her heath. Apart from a few dregs leftover from the sump cleanout they all came up ok, hoping now the new waterpump fitted at Zens has seen the last of issues at least for a good while, period maintenance would be cool now. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-15.jpg Oil filter http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-14.jpg Dry sump screen http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-12.jpg Sump screen http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-16.jpg Next mission was to luggage up, initially we set out to go Wolfman complete however this would mean leaving hiking gear behind and a few big other compromises, one up it would have been fine but two up was leaving too much behind and taking away the hiking aspect of our trip which is a big part of it for us to take the place in and look around. Given the SE’s are known to have weak subframes this was going to add a lot of extra work to it, enter Al Jesse of Welcome to Jesse Luggage Systems engineer extraordinaire. We presented our wish to Al, after some sitting around in his workshop sitting on panniers and chewing the fat for a coupla hours Al said no worries .... we can do it, build a separate subframe to transfer the weight to the main frame .... simple. Al set to and created a bolt on subframe taking up two main frame mounts and connecting to the passenger footpeg mount all within a beautifully fabricated triangle mount, the rest is cantilevered off that thus taking the load totally off the original subframe. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-11.jpg The top case has load dividers transferring the weight again back to the new subframe as well as a wingframe which does the same. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...res/file-7.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...res/file-8.jpg It passed the fat bastid test :evil in this photo there are no top mounts or anything in place, just the front!!:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...res/file-4.jpg Finished ... looking very poofy http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-14.jpg The man himself http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-17.jpg The secret location http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-16.jpg All in all it worked out very well and we are very happy, so now we have a combo of Jesses with two small Wolfman tank panniers on the top of each pannier. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMG_0147.jpg This has enabled us to retain our hiking gear, we have sent our Hilliberg Keron 4 GT home and bought a smaller Hilliberg Nammatj 3 without the big vestibule but we still have full camping gear complete. Yesterday 9th January 2013 we finally set off to Ramona, a 350 mile day which was nearly twice what we normally do but we needed to cut the milage, during the day I started feeling crook with sore throat and stuffed nose ... I think the stress and long hours working on the bike(s) finally caught me up and took it out on me. We took in this Rock garden which was cool! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ain/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ain/file-3.jpg We did a fuel milage check to see where Maya is at as well, she did 222 miles and used 4.69 US gallons so 47 mpg, or 5L / 100 km for us metricheads we had a combo of flat, hills, rolling, traffic lights and a variable cross and head winds so a reasonable cross section of a slightly easier than average day but we are in the right ballpark of running correctly, HUGE thanks to Spencer for setting her up very well indeed. On the way to Ramona we climbed to 4000 feet, the temperature dropping down to 3 degs C .... it was just cold enough especially while I was feeling off shade. Arriving at Ramona we were greeted by fello ADVers Arnie and Christie, originally we were only staying the one night but with me being crook they insisted we stay another night and my arm was easily twisted, for me feeling like shit this was very welcoming, the weather also turned, the road we came over through Julian had 8 inches of snow over night!! Today 11th January we are heading back to Mexico .... that is for next round. Just to finish, there are so many people that helped us in Phoenix in one way or another, support when needed was absolutely fantastic and proved although there are some who will blatantly rip you there are also plenty more who will help and go the extra mile to makes things right. You guys have accidentally become a huge part of trip now and to be honest I am not sure where to start and given my non thinking head cold .... well you guys know who you are, specific mention given to Bevan and Clare who hosted us and helped us get sorted out, Craig and Sharon who constantly gave us shit and some good KTM advice and lifted our spirits, Spencer for first class mechanical work and advice, Dillon at Zens for the repairs to Maya and Mark for map and travel info on a 950 SE. Thanks to all, onwards and downwards :clap :clap. |
Ride on guys! Good luck:cool4:
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Great job Andi & Ellen!
Our thoughts are with you guys as TwoMotoKiwis hits phase 2 (it probably feels like your on phase 8 already!) After all the shennanigans of the last few months get back to the task of enjoying yourselves.....:D Ellen are you back close to 100% now after the big off ? The bike/luggage setup looks sweeeeeet!!! Suerte! Grif & Lisa XX |
I am very happy for you that you sorted it all out in the end and can see the positive side of it! I wish you good luck with Maya and everything!Get better soon ( I know exactly how you feel right now, when the tension of the stress disappears). Keep the sunny side up and have fun! I hope I will meet you on the road! I am still in Queretaro and waiting for parts. They shpuld be here by monday. Have not heard from KTM yet who is gonna reassemble the bike. I do not want to do it myself as it was a KTM dealer who messed it up (guarantee) and I guess that KTM Austria will find a solution.
How are your plans? I wonder if I should change mine cause I lost so much time! Wonder if it makes sense to fly from Panama to Santiago de Chile or so, ride down to the tip and take my time on the way back to the north. Otherwise I would have to stress like an idiot and miss the best part! Another option would be to go as far as I feel for, park the bike secured, fly home in june, attend my sister´s wedding and come back to finish the trip. Then I have to know which country would make least problems leaving the bike... Any ideas? |
Glad to see things are getting back on track for you:thumbup1:
Stay Safe! |
Heya all
Yeap great to be turning tires again, today we reached Ensenada in Mexico, about 10 deg C all day, me feelin second hand with a monsta head cold. Will take a few days to down Baja, La pAz -> Mazatlan then down again. Ellen is 95% now and the last 5% will take the time. norschweger yes been following your issues too, sad to see, fortunately Dillon at Zens took care our ours swiftly and nicely. We are not to far behind you and would love to catch up, today we are in Ensenada, tomorrow heading south again. We have two waterpumps shafts and seal on board if these are of help. As far as you other options, see when you get you bike back together and make plans then. Cheers Andi |
Looks Poofy ?
Well done !
All of you. Poofy you recon? Crikey mate, it would give a jellyfish a hardon :eek3: Happy travels bier |
Hey All
Thanks for all the support, very cool to say the least, not long now and I will remember how to write and ride and we will be game on again.
In between you will have to suffer through this. |
Ramona To Ensenada
After staying two nights at Arnies and Christies we hit the road but during our stay the boys got to go to the shed and spend quality time with the two SE’s, the only FAIL on our part is no photos .... WTF how did that happen.
I thought I was getting a head cold, turned out to be a full blown flu that makes me ache from top to bottom, side to side.. so we will blame the lack of pics on that. We did however get pics of Arnie in action on the cooker knocking up yummy burgers http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...enada/file.jpg The mob http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ada/file-2.jpg With great directions from Arnie we made our way to Tijuana pretty easily ... in fact too easily as we wanted to stop at the bank and get some petrol but we were on the border before we knew it. We crossed through the border .... no-one stopped us or was even interested in us, any quicker and we would have gotten a speeding ticket... even the dogs dipped out not havin the chance to piss on them shiny wheels!! Next mission was to find the TVIP station, now THAT turned out to be a mission, see our spot for our tour of Tijuana, you wonna know something in Tijuana let us know as I reckon we saw it all. We were lucky enough to talk with some cool Police, then they got more Police, then they contacted a Motorcycle Police Officer ...was not long and we had half of Tijuanas Police force there, after much discussion and 20 minutes or so in the end two Police from one car ... follow us!! ... so we did. We went to the wrong place first then found out the correct place, we proceeded to head to the correct place, at this stage of the game we had turned off the front fuel tank to run the CJ’s rear tank after doing a successful leak test ... and you guessed it, running around Tijuana behind the Police car we ran our on the motorway so we had to pull over and switch tanks ... bit embarrassing but only a 1 minute holdup. The traffic was thick and the Police and us sat through two sequences at one set of lights ... suddenly the car lights and siren came on, everyone pulls aside and away we go .. c h o i c e VIP treatment. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ada/file-5.jpg These dudes wanting to sell oranges and aeroplanes ... a likely combo. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ada/file-6.jpg Delivering us safe and sound we got our TVIP in about 10 - 15 minutes. Wasn’t long and we were on our way again heading southish kinda north west kinda eastish and eventually down the coast on the Cuota to make some time. An uneventful but cold trip greeted us to Ensenada, we found a reasonable hotel with a HOT shower which I made the most of being cold and feeling like shit from sporting the flu, most of the day was about 10 to 12 degrees so to an achey old body is was a little uncomfortable. Dangerous dogs in Ensenada http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ada/file-4.jpg Maya playing hide and seek in the bushes at the Hotel http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ada/file-3.jpg |
Ensenada to Cata Vina
The following morning we set off south again from Ensenada, it was even colder and was hovering around 8 - 10 degrees C most of the day, I was not feeling any better, but we poked in 360 km before calling it quits at Cata Vina just on 4.00pm, the temperature had dropped to about 5 - 6 degrees and coupled with the windchill would have set it below zero.
This was some scenery from along the way, nice day other than frezzing. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gro/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gro/file-3.jpg Rock gardens http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gro/file-7.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-13.jpg The hotel was $91 US or $1100 Pesos so REALLY expensive but the next accommodation is two hours away so we just took it, thankfully the water was HOT and we could get to bed early to help shake this flu (after writing this report). No pics, couldn't afford to take photos and stay there :rofl ... except this one, another SE... these things are like blowflies in Ozzie http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-15.jpg We did another milage test with Maya so the stopping, starting, overtaking, dodging Toppes cruising, and one or two crack it open to past maneuvers (without exceeding the speedo limit of course) etc and Maya used to 5.9 L / 100km or for you imperialists 39 mpg so pretty happy with that. Coupla Gins, some food, heat pump set to 30 degrees we finally set down for bed at 7.58pm ... way past my bed time...gonna kick this bloody flu to bring a grin back cos we can’t carry enough cheese for this whine. |
Cata Vina To Guerrero To Negro
Leaving the spendie hotel it was 4 degrees C, got my heated gloves on and all, still feeling full of the flu so woulda been happy by a fire with some orange juice.
We only had 266 km to do so not a biggy, my heated gloves failed probably one hour into the ride which is a bumma as I have only used them probably 4 times total. The scenery along the way great typical rock and cactus garden all the way, the temperature dropped even more as we picked up elevation to 1900 metres then mum nature chimed in with a few spots, we were so lucky as we rode through the middle between very dark spots so we only caught a few drops. Around lunchtimeish Maya was thirsty and we were hungry so a stop was had, Maya got her favourite, 87 in a pipe and we had a coupla tacos. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-16.jpg Lunch spot http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-17.jpg Again a quick milage check we did 426 km and used 23 L so 5.40 L / 100 km or 43.8 mpg. Being that would equate to an average Mexico style of day we will get around 550 km or for you imperialists 344 miles / tank plus the 10 L reserve CJ tank as well. The rest of the ride was uneventful, just cold, tonight we are staying at Guerrero Negro so we can do the whale watch tomorrow. We were getting organised and we noticed Maya looking at herself in the mirror ..... the cheek of her!!:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-18.jpg |
at least you got a back warmer now : )
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Guy's so pleased you are up and going again!
I wish you both every success,with your travels to come.Noel:D
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great to see you guys are on the road again! :thumbup1:
you may pass 2 blokes on klrs a blue and a red one. give em a wave from me :thumbup1: |
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Guerreo Negro Whales
A tourists day.
What a day, being close to the timeline somehow we got mixed up and we set or alarm for 7.00 am for the 8.00 am start of the tour. Somehow we managed to stuff things up and set our alarm right but did not check the time on the phone thus we got up at 8 for our 8 O’clock tour.... FAIL!! Anyway, the hotel we were staying at also ran the tour and they too were slightly late so we gobbed some breaky down and took off. Mum nature delivered us a perfect day (other than bloody cold) for whale watching, on arriving at the lagoon a quick recovery of the delivery ute was in order as this was used to ferry people out to the boat and back. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...hales/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-45.jpg That done we set off out to watch these beauties gracefully glide through the water with the occasional playful tail splash and heads bobbing out of the water. The ship http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-49.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-4.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-12.jpg We spent a total of about 3 hours out on the water which was so cool. You would think it was cold or something http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-47.jpg Part way back is the slat mine, an added bonus with some kickarse big machinery This truck carries 360 T of salt in one load, I tried looking it up in the KTM accessories catalogue but couldn't find it.:D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-31.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-35.jpg Dumping a load of salt :eek1 120T in 5 seconds!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-34.jpg Conveyors http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-30.jpg Sieves http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-27.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-25.jpg D9R ..... I want one :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-39.jpg The Salt heap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-41.jpg Spot the D9R bully on the top http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-40.jpg On returning back to Guerrero Negro we were running late, I was still feeling like crap so we decided to stay another night here and set off in the morning instead. This also gave us the chance to write up today then we are all but square, Wifi will get harder south so we have to make the most of it when we have it. |
Guerrero Negro To Santa Rosalia
Not an early start as we only had 266 km to cover, well we needed the time as it turned out.
We left Guerrero Negro in stunning weather other than bloody cold again but we rugged up and enjoyed it. Not even 50 km down the road mum nature got angry with wind and wind gusts that saw us drop to 30 - 40 km/hr at stages and riding far enough over I thought we were gonna get a knee down. We rode through sandstorm after sandstorm with the road coming alive with swirling sand in an instant then being blown off just as quick, pics never do it justice.. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-9.jpg Every truck that came past was new mission in learning to stay upright ... kinda fun for a while however with me still sporting my bad flu this soon wore off to a chore. It really took it out of me reverse counter steering for upwards of 200km and little reprieve, as luck would have it I was thinking I need a break and we came upon a Military checkpoint, still blowing and cold we got off the bike very carefully as I could see Maya going to ground. After the cars and truck had cleared it was our turn to explain WTF we were doing out in this weather .... but they just waved us on with the gun and big smile so we carried on with a big smile. The rest of the trip was uneventful other than big winds, on arrival we looked for a Hotel, couldn’t find one at a reasonable price so we got some lunch instead to get a level head and I was stuffed and needed some hot input for energy. After that we found a half reasonable place out of the town centre with off street parking as a lady said don’t leave you bike in town!! A walk back into the town to buy supplies and take a look at the church that was designed by the dude who designed the Eiffel Tower. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-4.jpg Not a hugely impressive lace but kinda cool with its historical background. On the way back from town we spotted this.. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-10.jpg This was the view across the sea of cortez from where we stayed http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-7.jpg This was someone moving house Mexican style. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lia/file-6.jpg Again, Tacos for Tea, Gin for desserts and early to bed after typing this up, 8.17pm ... I am knackered ..... anyone wonna swap a hangover for the flu??? |
Santa Rasolia To La Paz
The day started out in normal style.
Pack up Maya, first trick was to get her back to the top. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Paz/file-1.jpg Our plan was to get to Ciudad Constitucion and we made it there in good time by 2.00pm, we decided to carry on to the next town to find there was no accommodation and the wind was fair howling through. Another 134 km would see us in La Paz so we made a break for it, the wind was an absolute torment making it yet another hard ride and great practice for Patagonia. We passed some beautiful Cacti gardens of epic proportions http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Paz/file-3.jpg Beautiful bays full of holiday makers http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Paz/file-6.jpg A few washouts to content with but all pretty minor http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...az/file-11.jpg Cool as twisty roads http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...az/file-13.jpg With La Paz in our sights we made it prior dark and found a Hotel, it was a very busy place indeed. The day we accidentally did, http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...orNegromap.jpg Turns out the El Norte winds is what we had encountered over the last few days that had battered us and froze us, I hadn’t worn my puffy jacket since Alaska and certainly didn’t think I would wear it for three consecutive days in Baja!! :rofl |
La Ventana
Leaving La Paz we headed south to La Ventana to stay with some friends of friends, we were welcomed in which was very nice and nice to have a break while getting better, for the first time in a week we could say it was warm. :D
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...house/file.jpg Our first day was to relax, go for a walk on the beach, we also took a local ride to Bahia de Los Muetros and out to the lighthouse at Punta Arena. Us in front of a plant :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-1.jpg A trip out to some hot springs http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-5.jpg Turning Maya in a sandpit :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-4.jpg Time to get out of the sand .... gotta love hp!.... just shift that sand behind me...... :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-6.jpg Down to the beach to watch kite boarding, some talented people riding them http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ntana/file.jpg Photo op .... does my bum make that boat look small? http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-10.jpg Getting around here in the sand has its moments and once or twice I left a couple of small swerves and trenches http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-3.jpg On the way to the lighthouse http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-14.jpg The lighthouse http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-7.jpg Some ruins ..... and a knackered concrete structure :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-10.jpg More plants http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-12.jpg I originally put my helmet and glove there out of the wind ... then I liked the picture :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-8.jpg The old structure and old lighthouse base http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-9.jpg Next on the plan was to do a ring circuit of the bottom of Baja for as look, total 390 km day return taking in all the sights and places, an uneventful trip was had along with a beautiful lunch from stall beside an industrial area. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...bottombaja.jpg No pics of this day tho .. bit slack really but nothing r e a l l y caught my eye. Saturday night we went to an event called Burning Bush which was the 10th annual event, a small brother event to Burning Man in the Arizona Desert. This was absolutely fantastic, never seen anything like it, what an effort these guys went too, fire displays lit up the sky with assistance from petrol, diesel and LPG ..... totally cool pyrotechnics with good music and atmosphere. As it was a rising from the ashes theme the Phoenix was the feature of the night with huge wooden birds with wings able to be flapped with human power. Here is a multitude of pics, got SO many but you get the story anyway. Structures awaiting their fate http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0Bush/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-22.jpg It started http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ush/file-1.jpg Our crew from left to right, Jill, John, Brenda, Ellen and I http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ush/file-6.jpg The burning sphere ..... my fave, this was totally cosmic lying on the sand looking up underneath it, best had with a dooby or whiskey to enhance its effects :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ush/file-9.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-10.jpg Now shot darkening the structure ... check it out!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-13.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-15.jpg The bubble man http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-16.jpg Some burning plants http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-19.jpg A close up looking into the burning plant http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-18.jpg Some Phoenix birds that the wings operated and were fire breathing http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-20.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-21.jpg The big Phoenix on the beach http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-23.jpg The volcano erupts http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-25.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-26.jpg Finally the hill that goes boom :rofl .... this was REALLY cool and let off quite the boom with a totally cool mushroom to go. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sh/file-24.jpg Apart from that it has been boring :huh :rofl. |
La Paz To Lo De Marcos
Leaving La Ventana on Baja we headed up to La Paz to the boat, arriving is La Paz we did a drive by look around on the way out to the Ferry terminal.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-18.jpg Arriving at the terminal we paid for our tickets, all went well until we left the ticket office, then they wanted $300 Pesos to park the bike ... port fees..WTF? we just paid our tickets!!!! So some arguing and phone calls then f i n a l l y an English speaking lady said there is a port fee and it was $70.00 Pesos. Back over to the $300.00 Peso people and yes that right it is $70 Pesos for motos ... here we go again. $70.00 Pesos paid and we were good to go again but waiting for someone else to jump out with their hand out. Getting onto the boat with time up our sleeve I went to tie Maya down, the shipping crew asked me where are my tie downs .... WTF this is your ship which I just paid to use?, so the guys comes up with a rope about 40 mm round..... nup that won’t work, then they bought truck size snig chains and I said very very polity like ****!!. So they found some rope and started to tie Maya down sensibly, they acted like they had never seen a bike before???? http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cos/file-1.jpg I had to do this all by myself including locking and tying as passengers are not allowed so they go on a separate bus. After tying and securing Maya I went upstairs, by this time I was dripping wet and hot as, I found our seats and as luck would have my was and auto recliner or in English terms it was fncked. Anyway leaving the gear there on our seats I went outside, set the socks out in the sun to dry etc ... nice. Ellen soon appeared and we were reunited so I guess I will have to take her. Soon as the boat set sail we commandeered some cool window seats that didn’t auto recline, we missed out on a cabin so we saved $500.00 Pesos ... always a bonus. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cos/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cos/file-3.jpg The sailing was smooth, not much sleep for me tho, maybe an hour over 48 hours so I was a bit dozy ... no one noticed any difference anyway. :huh Disembarking at 11.30 am we had to the aim of getting back to Lo De Marcos to see our Canadian family of friends, it was 12.40 pm when we exited Mazatlan with a 400 km ride ahead of us. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cos/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rycrossing.png The traffic was thick with trucks and overloaded utes which slowed us down, luckily with the power of Maya this helped to get ahead. Arriving at Lo De Marcos just on dusk we were greeted like family which was really really nice, riding through the entry gate I felt I was home again. Hugs, kisses and smiles from George, Carol, Alexandro and Mabel were had so everything that makes a trip worthwhile, again the next morning catching up with Isy and Rod who were there to help when Ellen was struggling with her feet. With an invitation to tea we had a quick shower, warmed up and turned into humans and were fed and watered like Kings and Queens. Next day was a relaxer and reenergizer which was well overdue and needed, a walk along the beach and a bottle Red that night all was good. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-13.jpg |
Lo De Marcos To La Manzanilla
Saying goodbye to Lo De Marcos and our Canadian family we set of to La Manzanilla.
With 294 km to do it was an easy day, weather ok temperature for riding in and fine, the trip was uneventful so quite a bonus. Arriving later than we anticipated after getting caught up in thick traffic we went down to Jolandas Restaurant and the staff told us where to find Jolanda and Leons where Ken and Carol Duval were staying, we had some goodies for Ken so we were playing delivery boys as well. We headed back into town to check out the sunset. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-4.jpg Jolanda and Leons is a great hideaway with great security, a cool as Rotweiller (once you have been introduced), swimming pool and three Cabanas set 2 km off the main road, we really enjoyed our stay for three nights relaxing and getting more health back day by day. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-13.jpg Ken and I chewing the fat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-12.jpg During our stay we all piled into and onto the ute and went into town for a rock concert night at Jolandas, danced and drunk Pina Coladas ... what a treat! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-10.jpg Silly face contest http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-28.jpg Leon makes bread as part of their Restaurant and Accommodation set up, we bought some to try and it was second to none, freshly baked you just about have to reserve your loaf as they go quickly. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-16.jpg With beautiful sunsets and birds La Manzanilla is a really neat place, the other wildlife we caught up with was a very spooky fish head on the beach ... dunno what breed it was but I think it came from Mars. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-9.jpg Jolandas accommodation is found at N19 17.939 W104 46.176, you turn off opposite the turn off to La Manzanilla township, first house on the left after going through the trees, through a dip in the road then along a straight, spot the white house with the black double gates, highly recommended with neat cabanas. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-34.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-35.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-56.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-55.jpg The restaurant is downtown and RIGHT on the beach, easily found at N19 17.001 W 104 47.305 down the main drag, last turn right before the beach and 300 metres along on the right hand side. Me sittin on the beach in the sun http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-23.jpg The lineup, Len, Me, Ellen, Jolanda, Ken and Carol http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-63.jpg The restaurant http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-21.jpg These guys are both RTW motorcycle travelers too so plenty of good yarns over Red wine. Ellen is also offered a job as a Sushi cook at Jolanda's but she decide to travel around the world before settles down :wink: |
La Manzanilla To Manzanillo
Leaving Jolanda and Leons on Saturday we made tracks for Manzanillo to finally meet Spencer and Mary, at only 1 hour down the road it was an easy day, we set off with Ken and Carol Duval in a private BMW v KTM Dakar race ... we recklessly reached speeds of up to 85 km/hr :rofl
Again an uneventful trip ... I am getting used to these !!! we arrived at Spencers and Marys to to warm welcomes. The boys had planned a local ride without luggage for the Sunday, in the morning Spencer and I set off for a ride which turned in to 200 km jaunt with probably 100 plus km of this offroad through small Mexican villages and some really strange looks, I am guessing to say it would have been the first ever 950 SE through there. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-17.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...llo/file-7.jpg Our route http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-35.jpg Really enjoyable ride taking in scenery and dust, we found our way out despite local advice of just turn around and go down that track!!!!! Again we returned a little later than planned due to navigational discussions but Mrs.Garmin actually got us back to the tarmac. Sunday night was one of Sushi galore a n d Kens 60th birthday so wines, Sushi and good times were had followed by a night of Dakar on the TV. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...llo/file-6.jpg Monday Spencer had to go to work, we had some jobs planned for Maya, windscreen brackets and pannier braces as well as a home made bike cover, for the reference 4 metres of fabric does not go around a 950 SE so Tuesday we have to go back and grab some more. We did go into town and go to the vege market .... felt like a total gringo ..... ouwh Ellen just said we are :D Few pics from in town, not in any order, Big arse bottle http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...llo/file-5.jpg The latest WW 2 frigates in the harbour http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...llo/file-2.jpg The large entrance mural for atmosphere http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...llo/file-3.jpg Very nice beaches http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-12.jpg Yummo :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-19.jpg The colours http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-20.jpg Large iguana on Spencers back fence .... Mr.Boots the dog eyeing it up licking his lips :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-39.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-36.jpg Unfortunately there was a lack of intricate engineering shops so my brackets etc went to the back burner, will try again in Mex City. We did however make a new bike cover, this did get finished despite Ellen buying the wrong coloured material after she short ordered it ... at least we know which way is front now. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-40.jpg To conclude this is our we were here photo with the mob http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-41.jpg Spencer said to make mention that RTW travellers are welcome with plenty of tent space in his yard, his only request is beer and a ride to go and play :clap Thanks to Spencer and Mary for having us stay. |
La Manzanillo To Apatzingan
Said goodbye to Spencer Mary Ken and Carol and headed for the hills.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-11.jpg Our route took us along the coastline then inland to Colima up to Tepalcatepec and down to Apatzingan .... apparently a very dangerous road we found out afterwards but everyone we saw waived. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Apatzingan.jpg Some dangerous locals on a truck http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-15.jpg It was a reasonably long day (for us anyway), we got up to 2300 metres and it was actually quite cool again. Apart from a quick chain adjustment and a coupla photo stops it was 20 degrees still and sunny ... but no lattes!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-13.jpg We did however watch a hill steam away with a small eruption which was a treat. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-12.jpg Arriving at Apatzingan it was BLOODY hot, 40 degrees and we managed to time it perfectly for rush hour and were stuck in traffic ..did I mention it was hot. Poor Maya worked up a bit of a sweat reaching 6 bars out of 7 on the temperature gauge, she had a piddle of petrol too, sounds like an O ring maybe on its way out. We found a Hotel, parking way off the street and quiet (well... for Mexico), we turned on the ceiling fan and nearly had to nail everything down with stuff being blow everywhere. ... it worked well!! Dude who worked there was really keen to learn of our trip, nice guy too. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-17.jpg Tea time was on so wondering off into the town centre we found a Chinese Restaurant, we said (we Ellen did) gidday and Ellen started talking in Chinese to Chun Sheng the fello at the counter who turned out to be the owner. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gan/file-8.jpg After about 10 minutes of chatting we decided to stop there and have Chinese for a change from Tacos etc. We placed our order, Chun Sheng gave a us a BIG serving and then said gratis!!! .... he was so happy to talk with Ellen in Chinese so it was a treat for him and we certainly appreciated the food which was second to none, a very nice surprise indeed. If you find your self in Apatzingan and wanting Chinese he is located about 4 blocks south of the city square on Constitucion, the food is excellent. A treat was in order while in town so we got icecreams, it was very nice to sit in the town square and watch the world go by. Couple of pics of town centre http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gan/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gan/file-3.jpg A fountain http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gan/file-5.jpg The church by night http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-10.jpg On the way back we found these, we have no idea what they are but the colours were outstanding. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gan/file-1.jpg Next stop Uruapan and Volcano hunting!!:D |
Apatzingan To Uruapan
.... I know a shortcut. :D
As defined by Murphy “a shortcut is the longest distance between two points” :eek1 Bastid was right but we had fun so that is all that matters, leaving Apatzingan we exited up and up a zig zag steadily climbing to a small village, main street was one lane but the Mexicans managed to crowd three across. Our turn off towards Nuevo San Juan was not posted and Mrs.Garmin was having a siesta it would seem so we shot past and carried on along the main street....which turned into rougher cobbles...turned into dirt .... this aint right.:huh Doing a U turn on a road not a lot wider than the length of Maya we headed back and stopped asking directions ... there was pointing up a funny skinny little road which was obviously the turn off ... :rofl Gracias for the directions and we were off again, a beautiful narrow winding road through the village up and out then shingle, freshly dumped shingle, gravel, stones etc for rebuilding the road. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-18.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-19.jpg This made for interesting wrestling .. I mean riding as it was soft as well and boney, I used this as a good training, relaxed and let the long wheelbase of Maya look after us which she did. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-21.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-20.jpg The semi gnarly bit of the road was only 6km long before we hit beautiful tarmac again winding up through the trees and nice riding temperatures to. Nuevo San Juan appeared which was our turn right down into Uruapan which was our destination, inspired by Gene and Nedas Volcano report we wanted to get to the church hidden amongst the lava. We had arranged a couchsurf at Uruapan at a fellos place call Jorga, arriving at his work we waited for his return then he took us out to the section. Also while waiting on the street a hot young lusty was really interested in the bike and us and even bought her boyfriend back for a look and chat, we were invited to a motocross event but it on after we were leaving. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-25.jpg While waiting there a fello on a 100GS races past and returns a minute later, quick chat and a few giggles and he races off again. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-28.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-29.jpg Jorga has two large dobermans, the boy was called Son and the girl was called Bitch. Unloading the bike and getting organised we used our newly made bike cover for Maya to hide under, unfortunately Son took a liking to the cover and tore a big hole in it .... I didn’t see the funny side of that given it was the first time we used it....never mind, Ellen and a needle and thread fixed it, now there is no dispute as to which is the front. The place was really neat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pan/file-8.jpg Extreme security :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pan/file-5.jpg Banana tree http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pan/file-2.jpg Porcelain plant :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pan/file-1.jpg The dogs also barked all night at anything and everything, growling and telling them off made no difference, being really tired we really wanted a sleep and after the dogs shredded things we got a hotel just up from Jorga’s work and stayed a further two nights, turns out the owner of the hotel was the dude on the 100GS. The not so new bike cover http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-35.jpg Visiting the National Park which was just up from where we were staying was cool, nice plantings, beautiful creek and a river source that was very clear and cold. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-11.jpg The rest of the day was filled out with cruising in town and getting some tucker. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...an/file-14.jpg Angahuan and Paricutin was the plan to go to the Lava flow and see the church, we were served up a beautiful day so we made the most of it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...hurch/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-31.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rch/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rch/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rch/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-35.jpg We didn’t get up to the top of the Volcano having walked into the church, this part of the history is amazing with the lava flow spreading for miles, see Gene and Nedas thread looking down from the top. Church and volcano in the back ground http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-28.jpg The place has an incredible stark beauty in the middle of the sea of lava, this bought back fantastic memories of our 2010 Iceland trip. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-24.jpg Lunch spot at Cafe del Lava :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-25.jpg Huge expanse of lava flow with the volcano in the back ground http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ch/file-26.jpg That evening we set out for tea and found a small place with pork and chicken soup, Ellen got the chicken and I got the pork not realising that mine was hot as .... all good ..red faced and sweating I enjoyed it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cuaro/file.jpg The menu http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aro/file-1.jpg Next stop Zitacuaro :clap |
Uruapan To Zitacuaro
Leaving Uruapan we headed to Moreila then towards Toluca, we managed to get completely lost trying to get out of Moreila .... as did a Canadian who was equally and directionally challenged as we were.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-10.jpg We figured it out after cooling down with a cold coffee and some lunch, the road to Zitacuaro were we stayed was outstanding and a sport bikers dream climbing to 2900 metres http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aro/file-4.jpg Some locals http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-13.jpg Comfort stop http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-14.jpg Beautiful day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-15.jpg Arrriving at Zitacuaro we decided to call it a day there as I was getting tired again (I must be gettin old). Finding a Hotel was a mission, some were very pricey and others were ... very cheap, wanting something a little more than dodgy and not quite 5 star we ended up and Hotel Mexico on the main drag, very nice place and reasonable rates too, right in the hub of town with a huge food selection. We stayed in Hotel Mexico, probably one of the nicest places we have stayed and very reasonably priced to, come highly recommended to a tired RTWer. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-20.jpg Once settled in a dealt to Maya's bleeding fork leg after some great advice from over on the OC. We tried to get a film to do the job however the photo shops were shut so we cut up a plastic drink bottle which worked a real treat. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-21.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-22.jpg While performing the delicate operation in the parking lot of the Hotel we gained a small crowd who had taken interest ... so a photo was in order http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-23.jpg To keep Maya company they bought along a child to chat with :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-24.jpg A short walk around town after the repairs were done we saw all sorts of things, I seemed to be of interest being pretty much the only blonde head in town :rofl Ballons and goodies for sale, seems to be the norm for a lot of these town http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-17.jpg More food http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-18.jpg VW vans are everywhere, they are used as Taxis. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-19.jpg A good sleep and wee were off to Mexico city to meet Gary and Ivonne :clap |
Zitacuaro To Mexico City
Sorry for the delay chaps and chapesses ..... been very busy in the big city......so,
The trip was very uneventful, we only had small milage to do to meet up with Garry and Ivonne from ADV, otherwise known as garryhostel.com On the way we had time for an Oxxo Coffee http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ity/file-6.jpg We met at Toluca BMW outside the KTM shed .... yes just a shed while the poofy BMWs sat behind glass(only jealous). http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0City/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ity/file-7.jpg Garry and Ivonne arrived, greetings and smiles were had and we followed them back to garryhostel.com That is were we are going.... http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-10.jpg Garry and Ivonne taking the lead http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-13.jpg We had the room with the orange wall so I felt at home straight away. Warm welcomes and next thing the bar b q is out and game on for feed second to none, grilled chicken tacos with cheese mmmmmm. Step aside Gordon Who? .. the master at work. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ity/file-3.jpg A table load of tucker under ominous clouds http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ity/file-4.jpg The full team from left to right, Ivonne, Garry, Ellen, Ivonnes mum ... and me. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ity/file-5.jpg Garry was kind enough to take us into town, as it doesn’t rain in Mexico City ... except for that night ..... we travelled around looking at downtown in the wet ... no worries we had a windscreen, heater and wipers ... saweet.:clap Coupled with this non rain we were treated to spectacular lightning display which lit up the car time and again like someone was taking our photo time and again.:eek1 Garry pointed out some cool places to go, this was great as we knew then what we were looking for. We returned home weary and hot the sack given it was a school night for Garry |
Mexico City Day 1
Not being big city people we probably would have ridden around Mexico City, with the invitation from Garry & Ivonne to come and enjoy their city we took the opportunity to overcome our fears. :eek1
So how to talk about a monster you are scared of only to be befriended by it and even wowed by it.:clap For anyone in our shoes our advice is make the effort and get into it, whole heartedly. The only issue we had was when Garry stopped to tank up, I thought what the hell we may as well too, the forecourt was on quite an angle being it was on the hill, if we parked the direction of the arrow the bike would fall straight over so I went in, turned around back to the pump, the attendant got quite upset, then a lady in a Jeep wanted our spot and she got upset.:huh Gezz I was only gonna top up :D, given we were in the space first and parked I waved her on to another pump, she got upset at that too .... then the attendant wouldn't turn the pump on, at that point I said come on just let me fill up FFS and we will be gone .... but no that was not on the cards. The boss man was called over and Garry got involved and the boss man said to the attendant let us fill up despite the bike was pointing the wrong way, I always fill the bike as they seem to spray petrol everywhere when nearing the top ... well he got upset about that too :rofl Anyway, alls well ended well ..... the most and only drama we ever had filling up!! ... not sure if we will be allowed back in Mexico City :rofl ......Anyway, Day 1, we took the 43 bus and subway into town leaving Maya to have a rest, I would not want to ride into town and this way we didn’t need to worry about our gear either and of course we are humans not bikers. First stop was the architecture and arts centre called Palacio De Bellas Artes, this building is nothing short of stunning, a QS’s nightmare as it would be expensive to build. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-28.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-27.jpg The Cathedral http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-35.jpg The inside of the Cathedral ... unreal!!:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-37.jpg This building is sinking at one end, see when you line up the columns it is visually seeable http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-38.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-39.jpg Monster pipe organ http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-40.jpg Chinese food was smelling incredibly good amongst plenty of eateries so that won us over for lunch, what a feed!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-30.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-32.jpg In and around town you can use the hire bikes, ride them them park them up. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-19.jpg Check out the spokes on this wheel, you would need a uni degree just to lace it up! groovy machine. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-29.jpg Walking into the earthquake zone of 85 you can see where the old building still standing today have suffered what can only be described as very large bends, curves and misalignments, in New Zealand they would have been condemned and knocked down, in Mexico they put another metal flashing over it, see this photo showing how bent the building actually is, left hand side of the photo is lined up with the flashing!!:evil. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-47.jpg See the bend in the building http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-17.jpg Discovering the old ruins and pyramids beneath the city has been an archaeological win for the city, the building were simply built over the original ones, now they have fenced off the area and are sifting their way through the ruins. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-52.jpg After taking all this in was mind bogglingly deep for me thus bringing on the need of a good coffee fix ... I was rewarded !!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-56.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-55.jpg With the coffee down and smoko over we headed for the Museo Nacional De La Revolucion, we didn’t go to the top as it was outside our budget. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-61.jpg Note the KTM coloured chairs :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-21.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-23.jpg From there is was the subway --> Bus 43 --> Wrong 43 Bus --> Ooops, change over to Right 43 Bus --> garryhotel.com ..... home James. In only a few words it was a very fully day. |
Nice to see a positive side of the city
Glad you guy's are at last having a good run,enjoying the photo's as always.:D
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Mexico City Day 3 (day 2 a rest)
Getting into town we stopped at the correct place to go to the Zoo to start with, walking through the gardens and lake along the way, the water probably not drinkable :evil but making beautiful colours.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Zoo/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...20Zoo/file.jpg The Zoo, first to to say is it is FREE ... yes FREE, could not believe it. First thing you say is well it must be crap if it is free, NOT ON YOU LIFE!! this place is incredible, well kept and great facility, I saw animals there I have not seen before and to be fair I went mad with the camera, I will bore you will only a few shots ... the rest you will have to go see for yourself. Grizzly bear http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-24.jpg A Busy turtle :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-21.jpg A Lyncs, beautiful cat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-19.jpg Monkeys http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-18.jpg Camel http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-17.jpg A lion http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-13.jpg Rhino http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-10.jpg Giraffe http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Zoo/file-9.jpg ....last one, Panda bear http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Zoo/file-5.jpg No more or I will bore you to tears ... but I just loved the place :clap :clap After leaving the Zoo I was half spent ... certainly not expecting the amount of stuff to see and do, next stop the Museum ... yawn ... not much of a Museum fella really and given I am an insomniac I use the opportunity to go to sleep. :D The Museo Nacional De Antropologia http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-29.jpg Ok in we go, 57 Pesos each (about $5.00) so not too bad, first thing is have a coffee to refuel, secondly I didn’t need my lunch as I had a huge feed of eating my own words. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-30.jpg This place blew my socks off, starting at the Maya section we wondered through, the displays and setup is astounding, we continued our way around the Museo for the rest of the afternoon before meeting a friend for tea at 6.30pm. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-47.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-48.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-32.jpg Central waterfall feature in a single span monster roof, very impressive to say the least. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-31.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-59.jpg Mayan stuff http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-34.jpg Beautiful rock carvings http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-35.jpg Pre internet books :D, check out the detail http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-36.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-37.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-38.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-41.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-43.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-46.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-50.jpg We also have visual confirmation that Gangnan Style is also a remake from hundreds of years ago ... just a copy cat :rofl The original http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-54.jpg The remake http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-62.jpg The latest BMW 1200GSA :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-53.jpg I would have to say am very impressed and this is an understatement, it is incredibly well done and seriously worth while going to, from a non Museo dude you can take that as given!! On finishing our epic Museo visit and still fizzing from the Zoo we met up with Sean who met in Hermasillo. Sean took us for a small tour then we went to Villa Maria restaurant for tea. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-58.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-57.jpg The food was beautiful and the atmosphere outstanding and fun with mariachi band singing away at full noise. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oo/file-56.jpg On our way home we continued our tour getting a great insight into Mexico City, a huge thanks to Sean for taking us out for tea and showing us around .... Sean, spot you back in NZ mate!!! |
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Mexico City Day 4
Was another semi R&R day building the extra chain guard for Maya to help keep the chain a little cleaner, also cleaned the air filter and made some brackets for the windscreen.
I had to stay close to the banos due a tummy upset. That evening was special, Chinese New Year. Getting into February, lots of our Chinese friends start to remind us that Chinese New Year is coming soon. Ellen has to do something to show she is still Chinese so making dumplings is on her to do list. Dumpling making is very time and effort consuming. It’s been a while since she had made any of them. Ivonne helped Ellen to get some pork mince from their butcher shop, we also got all the ingredients we needed for the dumplings. In the making, Ellen couldn’t find a suitable rolling pin. She was looking for a solid round stick, not too big but not too small. After trying a handle off an egg beater, she decided to find something more “Chinese” to do the task. Ellen thought about Andi’s alloy wheel bearing dolly in his tool box. It’s an aluminum stick, worth a try. Ellen got the stick out, washed it three times with detergent, here we go, got the right tool .... Andi is right “The World Is A Workshop” http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...%20NY/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-1.jpg Ellen always complains about me using kitchen utensils to fix my motorbike, now the table has turned, it is Ellens turn to use my tools as a kitchen utensil so yeap “The World Is A Workshop” use what ever means you have to make it work. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-2.jpg We had our dumplings made and cooked professionally, we had a proper Chinese meal for the Chinese New Year. Garry, Ivonne and Ivonne’s mum seemed to like Ellens dumplings, at least we found a good excuse to get us wearing the party hats and drink wine. Ivonnes mum http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...NY/file-12.jpg Garry http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...NY/file-11.jpg Ivonne http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...NY/file-10.jpg Ellen http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-6.jpg Me http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-5.jpg Garry with his supercool ktm tie :rofl ... looking a tad worried about what we are going to say about him :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-7.jpg The mob http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0NY/file-4.jpg On a side note Garry had never tried them before so was completely outside of his comfort zone and was bullied into trying them and he even enjoyed them, onya mate well done. |
Mexico City Day 5 & 6
Mexico City Day 5
For me it was one to get our racks modified slightly to take out the wobble, the top case wobbled a bit on corrugations and toppes so instead of waiting for things to crack I added to braces in to transfer the load. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-23.jpg I met Sinoe from Moto Desierto, very nice guy and very helpful and a rider beyond belief in the mad Mexican traffic. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-18.jpg First I had to buy a full 6m bar of tube and .5 kg of welding rods, next we had to get two 3m bars back to the workshop after cutting the main length in half. No worries, bungied to the front and I held it up so Sinoe could ride us back to his workshop. Sinoe had some other jobs to run so I carried on and fabricated how I wanted the job to turn out. Maya created quite a bit of interest with many photos and people stopping to look. Mexico City Day 6 The Pyramids And Birthday Party .... the perfect combo Sunday, great day to visit the mighty pyramids north of the city, the main pyramid, pyramid of the sun in Mexico City is the 3rd tallest in the world so definitely worth going too. We had a stunning day dished up for us and to be fair the crowds (according to Gary and Ivonne) was pretty good so the lineup only about 80 metres long and we were in pretty quickly. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-12.jpg Four of us lined up and ready to go http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-51.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-11.jpg The stomp up the pyramid was in three tiers, good for a rest part way up and photo stop op. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-52.jpg There was a steady flow of people up and down, at the top of the big pyramid there is a small metal “thingie” that you can place your finger on and feel the power ... after doing that we all walked around the top of the pyramid like superman and wonderwoman taking in the spectacular views. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-71.jpg From the top http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-23.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-18.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-21.jpg Finishing with the biggie we continued to the smaller pyramid called the pyramid of the moon the other smaller pyramid are all just and breath taking with the amount of work that went into them. From the other end http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-31.jpg Show the size of the place http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-32.jpg Ellen on one of the side works http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-36.jpg Mini panorama http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ds/file-63.jpg That evening we were invited to a 30th birthday party for first response motorcycle doctor and a very nice guy indeed, there was family and friend there and two dodgy kiwis, they had mariachis singing at 110db and dancing, it was quite the bash. The main man http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Party/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ty/file-10.jpg Mariachis http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rty/file-3.jpg Garry and Ivonne dancing the night away http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rty/file-1.jpg Tamalis were supplied for the evening supper along with some non alcoholic drinks, we had taken some wine so that went down very well. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rty/file-6.jpg |
Glad you enjoyed your stay in DF. We missed each other by some days I guess. What is next? I can recommend Puebla, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido. From O to P.E.is a great ride across the sierra. Plan many more hours than usual...Cheers
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Good to see you still enjoying Mexico - I had expected to meet you at home now. Jill and I are staying for the second night in Wanaka. We are near the end of a 12000km tour of NZ, and then it is back to Aus.
I brought my Sportster across from Aus, and Jill had intended to as well. But we Got Routed, when the shipper changed the shipping arrangements and refused to refund the deposit that we had paid. We ended up buying a 400 Honda for Jill, and it has been reliable enough, but whoever said that you do not need big bikes in NZ was kidding themselves! NZ is awash now with lumbering campervans, driven by people who fail to realise that they are driving a truck instead of their Audi. With enough power (say 1200cc), I dont give a stuff: but poor Jill, creeping along behind..... And she swears! Never knew that before we had intercoms! Ride safe! Rob Hall |
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No worries mate at least you are now back on the road after the dramas you had!!! Cheers Andsi |
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Bugga about the shipper that is not god, at least you guys enjoyed NZ, pity we were not there to host you and show you around our place ... maybe down that track? Have fun guys. |
Mexico City To Cholula To Puebla
Only 137 km to do, easy as, relaxing start saying goodbye to Ivonne, we had our directions nailed so we were good to go.
We had not even left town and a bus nudged our left pannier nearly sending us to the deck, it was all my mite to hold Maya up but we got away with it, the dickhead didn't even do a thing :huh Luckily this is all we have to show for it .... I won't show you my undies :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-10.jpg On exiting the city and just getting onto the cuota road we came across a bad truck crash on the other side of the road, it slowed things slightly but we managed to carry on easy enough, there was a line of traffic probably 5 km long banked up tho on the other side. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-24.jpg Worthy of TV coverage http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-23.jpg Thinking how lucky we were not to be jammed up in that our road suddenly came to a stand still, as far as we could see there were cars and truck banked up ... argh no. It was stinking hot, uphill and we were crawling at best, so Maya didn’t overheat we kept turning her off and starting to move up, it took us two hours to move two km, we had had enough of that, Maya had the fuel issue of squirting fuel out of the sensor when the tank got pressurized by heat and today she was like a boy dog having a big wizz. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-18.jpg A truck and a pickup has collided and it was fooking mess, both vehicle out of our lanes but the lanes had been narrowed hence the monster bottle neck http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-15.jpg Not and ideal situation, finally we broke free from the traffic and managed to cut so clean cuota road stopping at a small town to tank up tummies and Maya. Somehow we managed to screw something up direction wise and we bypassed Cholula and got to Puebla which we didn’t want to do and on the way we also managed to go to a road where Toppes were EVERYWHERE stop ... start ... stop ... start ..... it was fun!!! so Plan B was quickly activated. Along the way tho we managed to get stuck is a small street parade so a bit of a bonus, we had front row seats :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-13.jpg A band http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-12.jpg We found a hotel not too badly priced and called it quits for the day. Walking into town to the very local scene we had ended up in was interesting, not another whiteyfoo to be seen but the locals were all smiles and very friendly and we had a beautiful feed of something not having any idea what we order other than pointing at others plates and saying Dos Por Favor (two of those please) All in all not a big milage day but one for of accidents, 3 done, things come in 3's we are sorted now :clap ... being trashed from heat, crashes and toppes we bunked down for a good night sleep. |
+1000
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Spot Broken
If you wondered why we are not moving now it is because Spot has crapped out.
We have contacted spot and await there response to replace it so in the mean time our block will cover were we are. Luv to all Andi & Ellen |
Oaxaca
The trip from Puebla to Oaxaca was uneventful and we took the Cuota road to make some time given the hard day getting out of Mexico City.
We had arranged a couchsurf stay with Don and Pat, riding the Cuota road we made good time, we had a bit of fun finding their place but not because the lack of instructions :deal They greeted us and welcomed us in and made us feel at home .... bloody typical Canadians!! :rofl Unpacking and changing into human clothing we sat down and scoffed some cold water which was very welcomed, Pat had organised Spaghetti for tea which was outstanding and set the bar high. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-52.jpg Next morning Don took us to town to see if we could find sealant and an O ring for Maya given she was pissing fuel out when things got hot, success, we did get an oring but more so we bought some fuel proof sealant/adhesive to fix the problem, looks like we succeeded thus far. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-53.jpg Swapped the non return vent to the rear and put put the open hose to the main tank, thanks to the Flexx Bar cushion it holds the tube in place perfectly. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-58.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-57.jpg That afternoon Ellen set to and made some dumplings (No pictures sorry, we could show you but we would have to kill you :D), I set too and fixed Maya ... again. Centro was calling so we piled into a bus and had a look around Oaxaca town center, arriving back home we all tucked int the dumplings, Don and Pat gave them the big thumbs up so that was great. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aca/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aca/file-2.jpg Tequilas and chats then off to bed with another successful day under our belt. The pyramid ruins were on the agenda for the following day, we were greeted with a hot clear day and our hike started at 9.30 am before the heat really set in. The ruins were very cool, amazing the flat area that had been formed on the top of the mountain which commanded 360 degree views. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-25.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-38.jpg Some large circular base columns http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-40.jpg Me!! (note Ozzies no pink bum :rofl) http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-44.jpg View of town from the top of the ruins http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-16.jpg On finishing there we took the bus into Abastos the huge market place in Oaxaca town, memorizing to say the least. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-45.jpg Fruitart http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-46.jpg Valentines Day .... same same world wide http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-47.jpg Once we were done mindlessly running around in circles we headed back to home base. Pat and Don cooked bar b q chicken, another outstanding meal thoroughly washed down by more Tequila :freaky ... life is good. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...a/file-1-1.jpg The plan was to leave the following morning however the teachers were having their annual strike blockading all major shopping centres and city exits so we were not going anywhere, Don and Pat said no point trying to go so we decided to stay (mainly cos we can't go anywhere). Ellen could not get Sushi ingredients so unfortunately Don and Pat dipped out, onya teachers!! :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-56.jpg Receiving an email from Phil and Jane, team bro and sis traveling south as well, we had a few emails back and forth and they came out to join us for tea that night, Don and Pat took us all out for tea to a local Tacorilla, the food again was outstanding and we all left substantially heavier. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...a/file-2-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-59.jpg See what the fud did to Phils eyes ... it was so big it made his eyes pop out :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/file-62.jpg As we were being kicked out Phil and Jane had organised to take our room the next night as we were on our way again. :clap |
Oaxaca to Tuxtepec - It Rained Cats And Dogs
Then the rain got heavy!! :eek1
We left Oaxaca when it was overcast. Not sure what the teachers are going to do on Monday, we didn’t want to wait and find out either. Don told us from Oaxaca to Tuxtepec is nice windy road, up to the mountains and very nice. When we left town towards the mountain, it started to rain. We haven’t seen any rain for about 7 months, this time, it’s a real one. I guess because the Oaxaca side doesn’t get much rain in the dry season, so it brought out the oily stuff to the surface, it’s as greasy as a butchers knife and slippery :eek1. We carried on up to 3200m high, the temp went down to 3 deg C, we both got really cold. We had to stop on the top of the hill and found a restaurant, hot coffee ordered followed by some hot food. After a while, when we warmed up a bit, plus more warm clothes put on, we are on our way again. The rain was driving in horizontally !! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tepic/file.jpg The sign of a desperately cold face ... proof that yello can turn blue back to yello :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-1.jpg The life saver http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-2.jpg My jacket left a huge puddle on their floor, the water was pouring out of everywhere, the Klim gear held extremely well but water was driven in through the cuffs and the neck soaking down from my balaclava as I had to ride with my visor open for a fair bit of the time to see where we were going :eek1 Descending down the hill, this side the road was not as slippery as the other side, but the fog set in (we were actually in the cloud so no big view for us today), we can’t see 50m. It took us 5 hours to do the 220 km, and our Spot was killed by the rain too. See the water rolling down the road http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-4.jpg Bit damp but somewhere under there is a smile http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-5.jpg It was windy as well as rainy so there was foliage all over the road. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-7.jpg Visibility was less than ideal http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-9.jpg Thick fog and water chasing us down the road. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ic/file-13.jpg Getting to Tuxtepec, we quickly found a cheap hotel. Although our Gortex was water proof, riding in the rain long enough, water still found its way down to our chest and sleeves. Luckily we had the ceiling fan working all night to dry most of them. To finish there was a waterfall cascading off the building so what is one to do but make the most of it :rofl ... next time I will wear my togs! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...pic/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ic/file-15.jpg |
Tuxtepec to Manititlan
Although the hotel was cheap, we both slept in until quarter to ten! :eek1
The rain has stopped, we had a dry day to start with. :clap We rode towards to San Cristobal, just after Acayucan, the weather was looking dogdy again - dark clouds in front of us again. Andi stopped to zip up his pants. We both hop off the bike, we saw a pile of oil under Maya’s belly, and it was still pissing oil! OMG, here we go again! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lan/file-4.jpg Oil was everywhere http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lan/file-3.jpg Maya was undersealed with synthetic oil, my previous cleaning job shot to pieces with road muck, rainy stuff and oil all over everything :cry http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lan/file-1.jpg We were just opposite a Pemex, so we pushed Maya to the side. The lady from the service station was very kind, she let us park under the roof. It started spiting again. I pulled the bash plate off started the bike and found the oil hose was split, that was where the oil came from. I cut the broken hose off, it’s now to short to put back up. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...itlan/file.jpg Ellen went to ask where we can get a long hose. The lady from Pemex told us of a mechanico just across the road, as luck would have it he had a straight piece, not perfect but it will get us going. So cutting and mucking around and two hours later we were back on the road, we lost 2.5 L of oil and could only buy dinosaur oil so we got the 20 - 50 grade motorcycle oil to fill up, oil change due in about 600 km so it will come out then. Can’t believe how lucky we were to find the problem there as a few km down the road would have been a different story and probable engine damage ... life is interesting. Arriving at Manititlan we looked for hotel, they were either dodgy as for 150 Pesos or too much for us at 700 Pesos, we decided to hit the road out of town to find somewhere. The last point prior hitting the main exit road was a love motel, 200 Pesos for 4 hours .... we want the night, discussions were had and we said 300 Pesos for the night?, she disagreed with us and said no and wrote down 270 Pesos till 9.30 am ......she won!!:rofl The place was great, no Wifi she said, we turned on the computer and bing straight onto the net ..... a bonus.:clap Being outa town a bit restricted us access to good fud so off to OXXO for hotdodgies and a tamale that was ... filling.:huh Another interesting day saw two tired kiwis hit the sack for good sleep. |
Great report once again.
A bit arsey finding the leak in time.carry on.:D
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Minatitlan To San Cristobal
Spotless :D ... in two ways, what a beautiful city and now we don't know where we have been .... or at least I don't, Ellens memory is betterererer than mine :rofl
So ..... leaving the love shack we had a nice warm and dry day, milage to complete was 350 km, easy as. We chose the Cuota road for this leg as the Libre is partly dirt and loaded with toppes through small town so would take two day for not much. We paid in total 100 Pesos so about $8 dollars which was worth it to make the ground on mostly smooth road with NO toppes. To be fair the view from out the window was pretty good too, once we got to Tuxtla we then got on to the Libre road which took us up to 3000 metres with a beautiful twisty road and views that were outstanding. Only a few road pics today Someone wrote KTM on the road but clearly can't spell KTM :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-32.jpg Beautiful day and backdrop with mountain ranges http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-31.jpg A large inland lake we passed http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-30.jpg Arriving in San Cristobal was sunny, warm and inviting, within 10 minutes of arriving we found a nice hotel called Hotel San Luis with a courtyard for Maya to play in, the rooms nice, Wifi and QUIET ... something to treasure in Mexico. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-38.jpg We decided that was the place, soon as we unpacked we decided that was the place for two nights! Walking into town once in civilian mode we went to a recommended coffee shop, up till now Durango had the best coffee, now it was this place buy a country mile. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...bal/file-5.jpg So good was the coffee we didn’t bother going elsewhere for the duration of our stay, of interest the coffee is locally grown as well so we are supporting the local, a nice feeling to be honest. Around and abut we walked through town taking in the sights and at one point at the top of stair near a church we just sat and observed.....really neat watching the Mexican world go by. Cool old bike http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-10.jpg We like our shadows as they are taller than us :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-13.jpg Town in the evening http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-36.jpg Like a boring old couple we went back to the Hotel San Luis with a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers (like Wallace and Grommitt) and caught up on our trip reports and purchasing stuff for Maya. Also to our surprise we saw a traveller earlier in the day on a Yamaha Tenere, when we arrived back home there was the bike in the courtyard and its owner Eamon Molloy came back later on so we sat round chatting... till after midnight. Morning arrived dishing up a beautiful day again. We set off to our favorite cafe this time bringing Eamon with us, again the coffee did not disappoint yet again reinforcing it being the best we had since leaving New Zealand. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-69.jpg On returning to the hotel we fixed the rear brake pads which were covered in oil from the burst pipe thus leaving us with NO back brake and hauling up on one single front disc wasn’t cutting it. Took the pads out, took them out to the sandstone street and sanded the oils shit off, job done in two minutes. I then helped Eamon fix his leaking carb with a quick needle and seat cleaning job and some new filters. Maya stalking Aemons Tenere like a tiger in the bushes http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-40.jpg After fixing Eamons bike Ellen and I went for a ride to a couple of local villages to look at them, it was a nice ride and on our return we returned for a Frappe Coffee treat at our new local. Staircase to the top of the hill http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-76.jpg Crusing back to the hotel was more writing and picture uploading before heading out for some Indian for tea which was very nice indeed. All in all we absolutely loved San Cristobal, is was nothing like we thought and far better than our expectations to the point that both of us agreed it was the nicest place we have been in Mexico so far ..... did I mention it was quiet .... just golden!!! Eamon had gone to the movies and on his return we decided to ride together to Pelenque etc ...... 10.31 pm, time for the old fella and felles to go to bed. |
I must say this part of mexico is not at all what i thought it would be like also!
As always great photo's.:D Im in the process of major house reno'ing you guys are keeping me interested in life.Thanks.Noel:scooter:
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Hopefully have change of scenery soon, be nice to get back into some more bike stuff but with Maya still needing attention we are not wondering away to far from facilities. |
San Cristabal To Palenque
Perfect weather again, I can get used to this, 9.30 am start with Eamon running a bit behind we left at 9.45 am, 209 km to do, waterfalls to see and thousands of toppes to run over we were on or way.
The road was very twisty with moderate traffic so we set a slower pace so we could look out the window as the scenery was mint. There was a number of the 15 mphr club on their Sunday drive on Wednesday so we passed these guys. During the day Maya clicked over 10000 km http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-15.jpg At one stage we caught up on a line of traffic probably near on 700 - 800 metres long all caught up behind a semi trailer going very slow, one by one we picked them of as it was half of first gear crawling speed with hot temps which Maya does not like ... nor do I sitting on top when it is 35 degrees plus at that pace. After about 10 - 15 minutes of passing and pulling in one at a time we finally broke free of the pack just in time to get to a military check point and to be waved through, had we got stuck behind all the trucks etc we would have been there for hours. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...anque/file.jpg Getting to the turn off to the waterfall we headed off down the hill, paid our 57.00 Pesos each and parked up by a restaurant with the restaurant man waving us in and inviting us to leave our gear under his watchful eye (also when we come back we have to buy from him .... a good business man) Ditching all our bikie gear and turning into humans (cos it was 38 degrees C and STICKY as we wondered off looking like everyone else taking photos of the waterfall and it was very well worth going to. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-21.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...que/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...que/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-24.jpg Ellen piled in for a swim, bit cold for me as I like it steaming before I get in. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-26.jpg Returning to the bike and the restaurant Aemon bike was there, we took a seat and ordered two nice cold Cokes, no wonder he flagged us in with a big smile on his face as they were spendie ... but worth it to get a sugar boost and something chile inside, in that heat neither of us felt hungry so we didn’t eat. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-32.jpg Carrying on to Palenque we turned off toward to ruinas per good advice from the guy running the Indian restaurant in San Cristabal, the first few places were very expensive, one was super cheap but we had to share it was cockroaches mossies and an assortment of other aliens and finally we found a place within our price range and not to bad ... but no Wifi ... a funny thing now we have come to rely on being our link to you guys. At that stage of the day it was sticking hot and super sticky, we both had a quick shower then the water ran out!!!.... not cold ... ran out!! 8-( The restaurant was below so we went down for a feed, Ellen wasn’t hungry and I was only peckish so I ordered a medium size feed which fed both of us easily couple with a coldie each. The owner had some seriously awful almost depressing music playing (note DEFINITELY not restaurant style stuff) so Ellen politely asked if he had Mexican music to which he said yes and changed it ..... this lifted the mood in the whole place.:D Bedtime was calling .. time to rest for the ruinas. Next morning we woke to a fine day for poking around the ruinas so we set off on Maya with only two km to do to the gate. Parking Maya up the guy wanted 30 Pesos to wash her and 20 Pesos to watch her, we said no to both ... maybe he should have washed her but to be fair she is covered in oil from the popped pipe so it would not be fair to him as his gear would have gotten caked. The ruinas were excellent to say the least, it is hard not to take photo after photo and we just sat looked, listened and learned taking in the place, many tourists on tour just rip around and out the other side, I think our money comes to us a bit harder than them so we want to make the most of it and it was a big effort to get there, your good advice Bevan, when you see it see it well!! (reinforces what we were already doing and advice taken as a reminder) Just a few pics of the place as it has been done to death, if you want to see more go here Palenque Ruins Photos by Twomotokiwis | Photobucket http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ns/file-13.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ns/file-28.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ns/file-44.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ns/file-19.jpg Finishing at the ruinas we wondered back to Maya who was patiently waiting in the carpark, still dirty, still intact, jumping on the super heated seat in shorts I temporarily toasted the blokes !!!.:eek1 The Museum was just back down the road so we dropped in to see that as well, again very well presented and air conditioned it was a nice reprieve from the heat and humidity. Again Maya waiting in the carpark we piled back on to go to the hotel, again jumping on the super heated seat in shorts I temporarily toasted the blokes !!!.... again!!!:rofl Leaving the bike at the hotel we took a bus to town to have look around, grab some lunch and just mill around. We found a shop named after us too :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-36.jpg We found The Italian Coffee Company and the had Wifi so that was mint, do a ride report, upload some pics and do some ordering co-ordination. I also went to an auto shop as Maya has been losing antifreeze, hopefully from junk under the radiator cap. Finishing our office work over a Frappe-chino (darling) we headed back to home base to fix Mayas coolant drinking problem, removing the radiator cap it had crusty crap everywhere so we cleaned it out lubed everything and filled the antifreeze back up, hopefully this will sort it out. Home made tacos with salsa and avocado was on our menu along with apple juice. A quick chat with our french neighbours and it was time to call it quits for the night. |
Welcome any time
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Palenque To Campeche
Nothing happened :D .... at least that is what Ellen said. :eek1
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...e/Campeche.jpg The trip was very hot and sticky, we are starting to get used to it now but 38 - 40 degrees with high humidity still takes some adjusting for us Kiwis. Arriving at Campeche was nice, the town is very clean, tidy and nicely kept. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...peche/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...che/file-3.jpg Ellen found a new boyfriend http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...che/file-4.jpg Finding a hotel was a bit of a mission as there wasn’t much in centro that was reasonably priced. There was the 200 Peso dump or the 700 Peso middle of the range and up from there, Campeche is fairly touristy thus this showed in the prices. We settled on an expensive (for us) hotel at 400 Peso but it did have air conditioning, the first place we had with air conditioning so it was nice. One of the side streets, beautiful colours http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...he/file-26.jpg A walk down to the waterfront to watch people do there thing was neat, we were treated to a pretty groovy sunset and the place was alive with people cycling, walking and general exercising which was a little unusual but we are guessing it is the influence from the Expats living there. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...he/file-16.jpg And check it out, the sun's brother the moon. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...he/file-15.jpg There are canons lined up along the waterfront and lots of places to sit and relax http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...che/file-9.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...he/file-12.jpg Being hungry and near food stands we bought chips and deep fried chorizos for tea and churros for dessert .... YUM!! Churros, dessert in the making :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...he/file-29.jpg Plus our empanada lunch, we really had a bad food day, big time! Heading back to the hotel Ellen splashed out and bought some new jandles as hers were falling apart. A good nights sleep was had in the cool of the room WITHOUT dogs barking their heads off..... it was very nice indeed to have the change.:clap |
Nice pics, you are going to have to put up with the dogs barking thing ALL the way to the bottom I think! Maybe catch up as we pass each other
Gino & Fiona www.ginoontour.blogspot.com |
Tea not supper
Jandles not thongs/flip flops so im suprised judder bars havent replaced topes? Anyhoo carry on! |
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Cheers Bro |
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The dogs yeap I don't think we will get any reprieve except for a lucky break every now and then....have earplugs will travel :thumbup1: We have been watching your blog too, I think a catch up would be a great idea. |
Campeche To Playa Del Carmen
With the intention to get to Merida only we set off early as we woke early.
The road down in southern Mexico being superior to those up north we made it there in good time and easily. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...adelcarmen.jpg We made the decision to carry on to Playa Del Carmen where we had organised a place to stay, that part of the trip was slower but we made it in off the road about 5.00pm. Mrs.Garmin could not find the address so we parked up at McDees and had a cold frappe, a nice reprieve from the heat. During the trip in the middle the temperature got up to 38 degrees C, luckily there was a small breeze to help dry us out. We met our host there and she lead us back to her home. Now it is time to organise oil and our trip to Cuba ... something that is a big unknown and we hear various reports from just go for it to people saying we will have VISA trouble etc ... time will tell. Our first day consisted of going into town to see travel agents who were all closed as it was Sunday so we walked along the beachfront taking in the sights in the Gringo area. Some amazing sculptures http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...men/file-4.jpg Coupla neddies on the roof :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...men/file-3.jpg Some very cool wind decorations that were seriously cosmic to watch rotating in the wind ... quite clever stuff really http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...armen/file.jpg Buildings here painted incredible colours http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...men/file-1.jpg Being set up for tourists the food prices were higher so we went back three streets to the local food, better priced and more importantly far nicer. Ellen wanted a swim so we decided to head back to “the zone”, we did this via a fruit shop so we took fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juices which were simply divine. Sitting in the sun was very nice, Ellen piled into the water and had three swims, this girl got in the way when I was trying to photograph Ellen :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...men/file-7.jpg Heading back to home base we took the wrong bus ... we have done that before. Thankfully I had noted the house on the GPS and packed it before we took off so it was only a 1.7 km walk to home after we realized we were heading the wrong way. Ellen knocked up some Chinese dumplings for tea yet again producing fine fud. :clap Day 2 consisted of getting back to the now open travel agents, as we can’t get on the Stahlratte till 14 June we either slow the whole thing down and take a better look around here or we fly across the Darien ....which is the expensive option. :puke1 Based on that we have decided to slow the whole thing down and spend three weeks in Cuba rather than the original week to 10 days, so 27th February we fly out to Cuba and return on the 19th March. The rest of the day was getting oil for Maya and sushi stuff for us as well as a nice sit down at the beach to look at the scenery. Day 3, change Maya oil and clean the clutch jet, the results far better than when we first picked up Maya and the filters were full of shit. The sump magnet looking clean http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-38.jpg Dry sump filter with some residue I suspect and hope is leftover from last time. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-36.jpg Bottom screen nice and clean http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-13.jpg The filter a whole lot straighter than the original so no coolant damage which is a huge relief http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-31.jpg Our reward was a trip to Akumal to do some snorkeling and a reward of a coldies afterwards at the bar. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-21.jpg Check out the cloud forming behind Ellen http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-20.jpg Some coral with really cool pattens http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-18.jpg Local fish hovering around ... he was at least a metre long .... mighta been 2!! :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-17.jpg Some very ominous looking cloud formed and it came over black as a burnt sausage and you guessed it soon as we jumped on the bike to return home it started pissing down .... this was nice though as the temperature dropped and our visors got a wash. On returning back to home base Ellen waved her magic sushi wand for tea then we packed down for Cuba. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...en/file-25.jpg Next report from Cuba ... see you then. |
looking ,looking,looking!
so whats happening?hope you guys are ok.Noel
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Back From Cuba
Heya Noel
Just back from Cuba today, locals are NOT allowed internet, you can only get Wifi in selected locations at about $10 US per hour and it is extremely slow so now we will update everything. Cheers mate |
Glad you are safe and well.
Will look forward to you Cuba report.Noel
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Cuba － A Step Back In Time
Quick overview, we have broken the report down to each day so there will be 21 reports, a few pics each, in the Cuba sum up we will put the link up to the photo album so you can see the rest of them if you are at work :D
This is our route we took so for names and places look on here to make sense of it if you can ... if you can make sense of it let us know :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/Cubamap.jpg Day 1, February 27th 2013, we left from Playa Del Carmen to Cancun on the aeropuerto bus. Arriving at the aerupuerto to terminal two we established that was where we needed to get off. Per our travel agent lady we arrived three hours early to find our man who was meant to meet us wasn’t there .... when he did get there he had changed genda to a she ... no worries same job done just on Mexico time. At the Cancun airport you can buy anything Harley except a bike :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-9.jpg Getting our tickets and VISAs etc all handed over was very easy done and painless so all we had to do is then wait for our call to board our plane at gate 6 ... which was then changed to gate 4 or we would have gone to Canada ...... not too bad option either. Tickets ... WOH HOH we are off!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-12.jpg Leaving Cancun the views from the tin bird were pretty cool giving a great perspective of the layout of gringoland. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...abana/file.jpg We left our pen in the cargo luggage, when we were given a customs form, we thought we could borrow a pen from the cabin crew. Ellen asked nicely to a male hostess t borrow a pen?, got a straight answer “NO!”, oh well, that’s the Cubana Air service for us. It turned out at the end we gave the blank forms to them, nobody really cares anyway so what is the point to hand them out at the first place???. Crossing a few smaller islands we had only just been given a drink and snack then we were descending down into Havana so it is not far. Arriving bang on 4.10 pm our bag took over an hour to get as did everybody else’s, they musta been having some sietas in between pushing each bag out as the machine almost seemed constipated. Finally we cleared the sniffer dogs and customs to meet our preorganised ride to our preorganised hotel for the first and last nights. The hotel was a 4 star.... yeah right - we think the location was but not the room and facility were 2 maybe 3 star at best. The air conditioning was a fan, the sliding door would not open without an epic arm wrestle, anyway, you get what you pay for... sort of. Pic of the room on super vivid to make it look better, note we had the latest tube TV :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-6.jpg The view was cool although the glamourous looking pool was freezing cold. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-7.jpg That evening we got out cash and had a small “feet on the ground” look around not venturing too far as the footpaths were not lit and it was very dark but to be honest it was as safe as. In new territory with new currency and new prices and the unknown of where we will stay we both had that sinking feeling that we had when we entered Mexico of WTF have we done. Won’t be long and and we will get into the rhythm. |
Cuba - Day 2 - Habana
We woke to a gray day then is started to rain then it start to blow then it started pissing down .... lucky we were inside having breakfast so it didn’t matter.
We were tossing up whether to move or stay put with the weather caving in, with only having three weeks to play with we decided to crack a pace and move, coupled with our hotel package the room was $30 CUC (same same US) but each night extra was going to be $53 CUC so we booted ourselves out and found a home stay which is very easy as they are everywhere and much cheaper and better than a hotel. Taking the tourist bus into town we had a look around to get our feet on the ground. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-21.jpg We were the only ones on the top deck toughing it out so we had the place to ourselves :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-22.jpg The funny thing is with Cuba is 99% of their cars are either American heavy metal or Ladas http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-4.jpg Most American cars have Japanese diesels in them although I did spot a 4 cyl Lada diesel sitting in a 56 chevy ... the small engine looking extremely lonely in the huge engine bay!!! We established that food was not too badly priced and we bought a bottle of Cuban wine for $2.50 which to be fair was actually quite nice, lunch was a plate of food for $2.00 each and filing. Tomorrow we head to Tinidad where we will stay for three nights and use it as a base camp to look around. Wifi is VERY hard to impossible to find and when you find it they are wanting $8 euro, about $10 US per hour and it is slower than a wet week, locals are NOT allowed internet, only tourists and at selected locations like 5 star hotels. Because the internet was so scarce we couldn't even get a photo of it :huh :rofl Although I am not an arty person I found this painting quite striking with want on my mind. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-8.jpg The old cars are pretty much all Taxis, we went camera mad then realized these old dolls are everywhere, none the less I was lovin it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-20.jpg Local little taxi .... not as cool as the cars!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-19.jpg There is a train restoration yard right in old town centro, they go from this http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-25.jpg To this, beautiful work http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-26.jpg Some locals relaxing at the waterfront http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-28.jpg Canons along the waterfront set up nicely http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-35.jpg Russian tank on display, military stuff is everywhere and in your face, every corner, every street. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-38.jpg Stunning old car being used as a wedding vehicle this day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-41.jpg |
Cuba - Day 3 - Trinidad
Leaving Habana from our Casa we travelled in a minibus with 4 Italian girls who were heading to Trinidad as well.
The minibus arrived to pick us up at 8.15am instead of 8.30am ... the biggest catch is we slept in till 8.10 am so it was a 2 minute shower, 30 second dunnie stop, 10 second pack up and the rest for a quick coffee that our host had made - very nice cuba coffee indeed, then we were on our way at 8.20am. The rest of the 4 hour trip was uneventful other than our driver getting pulled up by the feds for not wearing his seatbelt and two goats crossing the road around a blind corner which saw our driver slam the brakes and the ABS doing its work very well indeed. Arriving at our new Casa Particular we were welcomed in and shown to our room which was $20 US per night and very nice. Taking a good look around town to suss things out we had a pizza for lunch and checked out scoota rentals etc. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-32.jpg Walking away from the gringo zone things change incredibly quickly, there is a real “them and the us’s” going on, we are not allowed to go to the locals bank to get CUP Cuban Peso which is 24/1 dollar, we were told no and where we were to go so would could exchange it. They use the two currencies over here in Cuba, CUC which is parity with the US dollar and the CUP which is $24CUP/$1USD, everything in centro and cities/tourist zones is CUC until you get to the local scene where you can buy with CUP, a tourist trap is to buy in CUC and get given change in CUP so you have to look at what you are getting or you will pay through the roof. Ural sidies are everywhere, they are all old dolls tho. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-8.jpg Also KHI from Russia, a watercooled stinky. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-7.jpg Our experience so far in Cuba has been great, people are very friendly, we have already walked through some very 3rd world areas and not once have we felt unsafe ... in fact the people smile and greet us at least in the smaller places... hola or buenos dias/tardes/noches depending on the time of day. We did try to find the beach but too far to walk for the time we had, stopping at a small bar we had a chat with the bar manager and bought a cold coke, he was a neat guy and great to chat with despite our language barriers, all smiles and drawings on paper ... easy as. A few sights to see like this garage door, if you car does not fit in just make a bigger bulge to take it :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-30.jpg Heading back to our Casa we bought some fruit for breaky and nibbles, $20 CUP which is about 0.83 cents for four mangoes and four tomatoes Back at our Casa for tea, Lobster .... what more could you want it was superb and cost $8 CUC. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-17.jpg |
Cuba - Day 4 - Trinidad
Waking up to a very wet day mum nature had decided Cuba needed a wash, we had planned to rent a scoota but nah tomorrow will do when/if it is fine.
Our neighbour from Bacelona had a breaky and it was huge, she couldn’t eat it all so we helped her with the coffee and fruit and juice .. a nice start. Today now is Spanish learning day as this will help with the basic understanding when we get to Guatemala. The rain continued off and on all day, more on than off however later in the afternoon we had a window to sneak out and have a look at another part of old town Trinidad, stopping along the way we bought a Pizza for $20 CUP which is $0.83 cents. Continuing up the street to the old centre were small art shops, bars etc all for the tourist which is the biggest industry here. Walking along a small side street a lady said welcome in to see her dolls for sale ... what caught my eye was the CBR1000RR Repsol sitting in there ... WTF????, very very unusual to see a big bike other than a Ural and even more surprising to see a big Japanese bike as 99% here is MZ or Ural and a massive array of small Japanese two strokes. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-12.jpg Town was very nice and the streets all cobbled from yesteryear. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-8.jpg We even managed to get a photo of the local hotrod before it blazed on past. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-6.jpg Pictures of Che feature everywhere, this was an opportune photo with a picture in the courtyard behind. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-2.jpg Mechanics working in the street on an old Chevrolet ..... still sporting drum brakes etc but most of these cars have engine conversions to Lada diesels, kinda funny with Russian engines in US cars. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-7.jpg |
wow!great colours beautiful photo's.
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Cuba - Day 5 - Trinidad
Mum nature decided to be nice and play well today, we woke to a sunny morning although cold and breezy, todays mission was to hire a scoota and go for a hoon around the district and take in the locale.
n o i c e helmet eh :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-54.jpg The fuel gauge was playing up and according to the fuel bars we were going to run out of fuel but when we got to the petrol station we only just squeezed in 5 CUC. We did get to the viewpoint on the way to the National Park which was cool but decided to call it at that and not head into the park given we thought we were short on fuel. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-75.jpg This is the road up ... woulda been more fun on Maya!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-74.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-73.jpg The wind had picked up and it was blowing hard along the beach front so not too many people sitting in the sun, it did make for great waves tho. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-60.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-58.jpg A boat that had sunk many years ago and has just been left there http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-70.jpg Cruising around Trinidad we caught some locale, was cool. Some local lads having a good old chat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-8.jpg Yesteryear pic http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-9.jpg Another two stroke, they are everywhere. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-12.jpg Two local girls wearing vacuum pack clothing http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-47.jpg During the afternoon we took the scoota to the sugar cane mills and checked out a 7 storey kinda building. Flat out!!!:evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-55.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-53.jpg The tower http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-41.jpg The views from the top were great, the stairs were a bit dodgy with one corner of the stair open to a window to fall out 5 floors!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-42.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-43.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-48.jpg Returning back to Trinidad we dropped off the scoota and went to a small cafe/bar and ordered a Majitta and a Pina Colada, the bar owner learning we were Mojittan virgins kindly gave a us a complimentary Cuban cigar to have with our grog. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-25.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-22.jpg Live muzic, Cuban cigar, Pina Colada, Mojitto .... life is good. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-27.jpg For those of you tempted by what you see and want to go to Trinidad this is the place to go .... tell him the Kiwis sent you. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-21.jpg Well that kinda pasted the rest of the afternoon as we hit relax mode in full, we were going to walk up to the repeater station above the town but nah Pina Colada was more important. 6.50 pm we sat down to tea which was lobster, rice, spuds, gerkins, cucumber and stir fried cabbage topped of with a sweet marmalade and cheese style dessert. .... perfecto!!!! All this was rounded off by a Sunset, Pina Colada and Mojitto for good measure and good health so now we are very healthy. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-4.jpg |
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Cuba - Day 6 - Trinidad To Camaguey
The bus leaves at 8.00am ... we had to be up early as we have to be there at 7.30am and our clock does not normally start that early.
Leaving bang on 8.10 am (Cuba time which was pretty good) the trip was good going through the Cuban countryside, wet met an Ozzie traveler Barry from Ozzie (obviously), real nice guy (for an Ozzie) and having a great trip through the islands, best for your trip too mate, arriving at Camaquey at 1.30 pm we were stood up!! ... no Casa people??? All dressed up and no place to go, on exiting the bus station we got SWAMPED ... Taxi, Taxi sir .... come with me ...Taxi, seems our host from Trinidad who had organised our next stay had not quite filled in everything so we had to start again .... no worries, plenty of Casas and we were sorted in 5 minutes arriving at our new Casa Particular. Starting with a coffee with a BOOT we left for centro and had a good look around. Camaquey is more of an industrial town and had art shops and the usual touristy part, we did have a very nice coffee which has become the norm here in Cuba, prices ranging from the local single shot at $.04 cents to the cafe today which was $1.20 for a cappuccino with a lump of chocolate which was very nice indeed. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-20.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-13.jpg We tried to get a photo of the bike but this hot young Cuban girl was getting in the way :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-21.jpg All over Cuba it was very common and very popular to have the latest 1980's Boby Brown hairdo http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-14.jpg What a surprise to see this ..... :puke1 ... it is absolutely rubbed into them everywhere and right from early school drummed in them. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uey/file-1.jpg A very common sight in Cuba is lineups, these people cueing for bread http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uey/file-4.jpg This guy was chasing me round asking for money, this is another in your face happening on a daily basis ... this is my understanding look. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uey/file-7.jpg Captain Koul, Bobby Browns bro http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-10.jpg Another local Ural sidie, these are everywhere from the west to the east http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-19.jpg These chairs kinda stood out in a street where nothing was happening and they just looked ... well...odd! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-23.jpg This is very much a typical cattle class local bus, as whiteyfoos we are not allowed to ride on these again very much reinforcing the "Them and the Us's" in Cuba, in reality we were not too worried as they were alway severely overcrowded but it would have been neat to have gone on one just for the experience. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-27.jpg A groovy wee man made cave which was very well done in a local park. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-29.jpg A very common scene on the local streets a Lada and older two strokes, in this case all three were blue so we shot it with a different approach. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-31.jpg Local paintings on wall with a big cat in a park that you could walk through the middle of http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-32.jpg The other fashion in Cuba for woman is to wear fishnet stockings of all descripts which was kinda unusual to see, even the elderly ladies did the same so it wasn't just a young persons thing.... most stockings we almost lady of the night kinda look (not that there is anything wrong with that) :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ey/file-35.jpg To finish, our wine tonight was Cuban Soroa Vino Tinto at $2.08 was a real splash-out, not entirely top shelf but good enough to sit and write a report with, that is not to say you guys are not worth it but just saying it was still ok :rofl. |
Day 7 - Camaguey To Santiago De Cuba ...Almost
Waking early from traffic noise we decided to use our time for other things, the day was bright and shiny luring us to have more of a look before hitting the bus to Santiago De Cuba so back to the coffee shop for a another boot.
Having finished our look around we took a bici taxi (Trike taxi) to the bus station, we couldn’t buy tickets until the bus arrives cos then they know how many people are on the bus and if they can sell you a seat....kinda potluck. In between times we had organised another ride via collectivo who was going to drop us off door to door to our next Casa Particular which saves on time and more taxis. Peter and Miriam a Dutch couple we meet and an English girl were also at the station and were heading to Holguin which is a little over half way to Santiago De Cuba then renting a car from there and do a round the island trip Our collectivo man came back and said our car had shit itself and couldn’t go so we were back to the bus again, we chatted with Peter and Miriam about their travels and they asked if we wanted to join them, hell yeah, it is what we wanted to do and it halves their cost too .... being dutchies all round this was a win win. After bus to Santiago, then collectivo to Santiago, then back to bus to Santiago, we finally did the bus to Holguin then do the rental car thing from there .... 4 mind changes in ten minutes.... not bad.... I am starting to understand how woman work (runs for cover) :D The bus trip to Holguin was uneventful (liking that), arriving at Holguin we were MOBBED by Taxi, Taxi sir .... come with me ...Taxi, seems to be the norm here and I kid you not you do not even get out the door of the bus and they are in your face so it is total mayhem. One guy talked English so he won, they took us to a local Casa Particular and organised us which was great, on the way into town we were unfortunate enough to see a car not stop at an intersection and take out two guys on a Russian MZ 250 motorbike, both hoped up but both went back down again so it wasn’t ideal, they were rolling around and holding the heads as they hit the corner of a stone building after smashing over the front of the car, hope they are ok. Getting settled at our Casa we established that Ellen had not taken a bag of our stuff off the bus and it would have been half way to Santiago De Cuba, it had our big knife, ti spoons, chopping board and some fruit and some wine in it, we came to blows over this as I am always against having our good gear in loose plastic bags so that will not happen anymore. Not only does it dent the budget having to buy replacement stuff but good quality replacement stuff in Cuba is a non event so we spent the rest of our night chasing the bus company trying to organise to get everything back, luckily we have great host here who are going to help us out with picking them up from the bus company. No pictures today lads and ladesses .... just bus stuff and taxis so kinda unexciting. |
Cuba - Day 8 - Holguin To Baracoa
Argh Cuban weather, mostly reliable to wake up to a pretty nice day... which we did.
Breakfast was organised at our Casa so was taken care of, the standard of food was good with Cuban coffee to boot our day into gear. Peter and Miriam arrived after breakfast so we all set off into town to find a rental car, arriving at Cubatur car rental we said we wanted an economic car, she said we have a medium car, we said we wanted something economical and compact, she said we have a medium car ..., ok, we said how many cars do you have? she said well ...one. Turns out it was a medium car in white, perfect my favourite colour, size and make :D .... I think it was a Citroen so we said if that is it we will take it. Pure luxury :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-87.jpg We were splitting the cost down the middle with Peter and Miriam which made it economical to do so we took it for 5 days and now we are off the bus beaten track and actually seeing Cuba. Stopping at a small place for lunch we were very much in the Cuba back yard, we managed to buy pizza for lunch which was $5 pesos so 20 cents each. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-86.jpg We chose the worst road in Cuba because we could ... the pavement ran out and the 3rd world road/track begun and the scenery got better and better. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-47.jpg This is a common scene in Cuba http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-51.jpg Passing the old copper factory where we were not allowed to take the photos of clean green Cuba we continued along the coastline, 4wd standard in places but rental car capable. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-85.jpg Stopping at a road side stall selling coconut juice the lady was slightly standoffish, we all bought one drink to try and had another because it was excellent and we gave her a tip as well, her eyes lite up nicely when we wanted more so it was good times all round. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-44.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-83.jpg There were some groovy coral cliffs which looked quite daunting really and something from a jungle style horror movie. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-38.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-36.jpg Our destination was Baracoa and we arrived around 5.15pm, just in time to find a new Casa with two rooms and space to park the car off the road, done within 15 minutes sorted and settled. Showers all round we went out for tea to a local restaurant. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-62.jpg Ellen was attacked by her Mojitto and was feeling the effects of alcohlove http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-63.jpg |
Cuba - Day 9 - Baracoa
Starting with a Casa breaky which set us up for the day our setting was fit for a king and queen ... so we will take that!!:clap
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-28.jpg After our breaky we headed out to a waterfall which was $8 CUC each for a 40 minute walk :eek1 :huh .... you have to be kidding us ... no way, unfortunately we are just viewed as a treasure chest full of money rather than people. Price came down to $5 CUC each which was still way over the top so due to their greed they lost everything and we decided to go 1 km down the river to a free place we could fluff around in the water which was very nice. Mirium contemplating life on a rock in the river ... probably wondering how the hell she got tangled up with the two dodgy kiwis :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-20.jpg Two girls sitting on the two rocks keeping an eye on the getaway car http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-21.jpg On the way down there was bridge that was a little worse for wear ... coat of paint should fix it :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-19.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-17.jpg No worries the locals had blazed a track around it http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-16.jpg Continuing back down the road we stopped at the chocolate trees to see how they grow, amazing plants with amazing colours http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-24.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-26.jpg It was getting toward lunchtime so we headed to a Rio (River) restaurant where we had lunch and it was outstanding and cost $5.80 CUC so much better value. My coconut drink with real bambo straws ... awesome!!!:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-11.jpg This was Ellens drink, everything in a natures own bowls ... perfecto http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...coa/file-9.jpg There was a tour group coming in for lunch and they had a pig on a spit which unfortunately we could not get our hands on http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-12.jpg The smell .... ouwh the smell :tb:tb:tb:tb:tb http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-68.jpg Finishing lunch we headed for the Playa (Beach) to sit in the sun on the beach, we pretty much had the place to ourselves other than an older woman who decided we looked like very rich tourists.... no boobie shots today sorry :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-64.jpg After that Playa we went to another very off the beaten track Playa and met some locals who were super friendly and vey nice people. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-60.jpg These guys were really cool and very welcoming ..... cool.......whiteyfoos :eek1 :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-61.jpg On a complete turn on the above this is Wifi in Cuba and pretty much somes it up http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-30.jpg |
Cuba - Day 10 - Baracoa To Caleton
Leaving Baracoa with good memories we took the scenic highway, along the route there were people selling chocolate, bananas, oranges and a coconut and jam mix.
This is the "gift" highway scenic route that Fidal gave to this area in 1960 as access previously was only by boat. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ton/file-1.jpg Stopping at one guy to buy some sweet bananas he said wait a minute and all his other friends came over and mobbed the car trying to sell anything and everything and they were yelling so it was not very nice, the guy tried to charge us about 20 x what they were worth so no-one there made a sale. (Photo courtesy of Miriam) http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-35.jpg Next guy we saw was sensible and asked a reasonable price so we bought a lot from him. Arriving in a small town called Imias the road was closed, accidente the policeman said, so we had to go around through the back streets before getting back out onto the man road. We came across scenes of despair with people crying, hugging each other, holding hands and some just staring into space like they were owed something so it was not a good look at all. Getting back up onto the main street we looked left towards town and could see and oddly parked bus and emergency services galore. It wasn’t until a few minutes later driving down the road an ambulance caught us up, we pull over to let it go or I should probably say let all SIX of them go .... all lights and all sirens they were not mucking about even with the very uneven surface on the road...very sobering :cry http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ton/file-3.jpg It is just something you don't see every day .. actually ... I have never seen this before! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ton/file-2.jpg We don’t know what happened or the outcome but by judging the mood on the street we suspect at least one (or more) may have died as it was pretty somber to say the least. No photos out of respect to the families for the injured and or deceased, best to the families involved from us. The cheerful mood in the car changed to that of wonder and respect given the size of the event for a small town however dooms day had not finished yet. 20 km along the road, people everywhere, buses, police etc and people examining the road a local truck had lost a wheel and gone off the road and rolled down a 10 meter high bank, again no photos out of respect. We were stopped by the police as they examined the road looking for something which were don’t know. On our way again we settled in to get to the bank and tank the car, arriving at Guantananmo Ellen and I went into the bank, it was a hell of a mission just to get money but we got it in the end, NOTHING is easy in Cuba other than getting a Casa Particular, getting a Taxi or spending money IF you can get it. We had a quick lunch stop or pizza the standard lunchtime affair in Cuba, Miriam returning with the fud :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-39.jpg Carrying on our journey we went through Santiago De Cuba but with more interesting things to see we skipped through and out the other side to take the coastline road. We stopped to sort out which way we were going and saw this a BIG city bus http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-40.jpg We did get navigationally challenged at this point, a local stopped to "help", he was there maybe a minute or max 2 then wanted $5 CUC .... :eek1 ($5 bucks ... I don't think so) Peter and I talking with Mr.5CUC http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ton/file-9.jpg We had stopped right beside a big square with art so that was cool http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ton/file-8.jpg Heading out from the city our trip started again, neat coastline road with who knows what in stall for us and based on the earlier part of the day nothing would surprise us ... or so we thought :evil The road was badly damaged so we were in first gear at times, this was a ship gun turret poking out of the water http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-12.jpg Did I mention the road was rough http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-14.jpg Nearing the end of the day we started to look for accommodation, spotting a campismo we pulled in to find it was full, one of the guys siad he had a Casa Particular 2 km up the road, 2 rooms and yard to park the car .... perfecto. Arriving we looked at the place .... right on the waterfront ..... s e r i o u s l y basic with no hot water .... that is us!!! :clap Getting sorted we all relaxed and organised tea with our Casa. A few photos of the place and surroundings .... The Casa http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-17.jpg The local fishing boats and view http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-27.jpg USS Montana (see youtube:evil).... Cuban style:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-24.jpg Kids in for a swim http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-16.jpg After a good day ... sunset http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-50.jpg Casa fud ... WOH HOH .. it tasted as good as it looks :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-51.jpg |
Wow not bad reporting for Kiwi's.
I refer to your earlier comment's about Aussies:DI some times wonder about what the world thinks about the brother hood that is Aussie/Kiwi ,asked if the relationship with English/french was the same(you know a couple of brothers bickering )No! was the reply from my English friend we just don't like the french.and visa/versa.I wish people would not make generalizations ,take people how you find them .Anyhoo lovely photo's,great to have you guy's back.Noel:scooter::D
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Quote:
Anyway we are slowly educating the world bit by bit abut our brotherhood. :clap: |
Cuba - Day 11 - Coastline Road.
Breakfast was organised for 8.00 am ... at 7.00 am Miriam knocked on our door and said breaky is ready!!!, Ellen had already gone out for a walk so we almost waited for her before we tucked in.:evil
Again we were given a stunning day to play with, Ellen took some early morning shots. My fav!!:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ine/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ine/file-5.jpg Given the hour earlier we were accidentally given we made good use getting on the road at 8.15 am for our long and slow portion of the trip on the southern coastline road which was literally WW3 for 180 km. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ine/file-8.jpg In places the road was washed out and some bridges were destroyed but still being used ... this was something new for us. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-11.jpg The watermain pipe had kinked and split so they just made new joining sleeves at bizarre angles and welded it back together stick squirting water out .... fixed :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-13.jpg There were no warning signs, no nothing to say you will be decapitated if you drive on that side .... imagine driving into that at night .... you would not stand a chance!! :eek1 The coastline offered stunning scenery and exciting views, the road did however come to an abrupt stop were the tunnel had collapsed and the road beyond repair, they had cut a new road/track up and over the top. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ine/file-7.jpg This was more of a 4x4 track than a main road so with some effort from some local Cubans we pushed the car over the first steep bit. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-26.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-27.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-25.jpg They showed us the next bit which was steeper but not as stoney, using my 28 years of 4x4 experience from New Zealand I put the car into first (it was an auto) so it would not kick down I used momentum to get over the stoney loose parts and gunned it on the bedrock parts to keep my momentum up and reached the top in one hit while the Cubans were standing there waiting to push me ... no way man I am a Kiwi!!!! :clap View from the top http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-28.jpg Next mission ... the road narrowed to a single lane so the tar road completely destroyed. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-29.jpg As Murhy would have it we meet the only car in a long while on the one lane stretch ....and it was a white rental car as well. / 4wd http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-31.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-30.jpg Upon successful completion of our off road excursion we continued to Pilon however our offroading had not finished, this bridge middle span had sunk, this time there was a sign in the middle of the road. Look closely you can see a Ural sidie coming across http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-34.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-35.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-37.jpg So with the offroad section then c o m p l e t e ...... well not quite http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-17.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-22.jpg On the guard rail all the concrete had spalled off where the reo steel was corroding and expanding blowing the concrete off, this is a very common scene on coastal Cuba http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-20.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-16.jpg We spotted a resort on the way to Pilon, it was very hot and we were hungry so we drove in, we walked in like we owned the place and Peter and Miriam went for a swim then we drove down to the beach hut.bar/lunch spot. We ordered 4 burgers and asked Cuanto Questos (how much) and he replied it is all included (but we were not staying at the hotel) so again we asked how much and the same reply was given so OK we will have 4 burgers, we had intentions of paying at the hotel but he was adamant we didn’t have to pay ... he won ... but we did try. Continuing on after our gratis lunch thanks to Che we went to Manzanillo to the money exchange for Peter and Miriam. We parked the car in the town square and some guy came up and started washing part of the car then walked off??? He returned so I went out and said “No” we did not ask you to do that, he glared at me then walked off, I said to the other guys time to leave so we went back to the car to find it smeared in mud, the arsehole had come back and smeared mud over the windscreen and down the left hand side.... great guy. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-47.jpg We left and I saw him on the street, we stopped and I yelled out in my most abusive spenglish but he didn’t seem to give a shit, narrow minded little man he was. Check this out, 5 on a Ural sidie, they still had space for a few more :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-65.jpg Our journey today at ended in Bayamo, we had a nice drink at a local bar and got eaten by mozzies, Lonely Planet recommended this nice garden bar overlooking the river ..... it was more like overlooking the sewer and stagnent mozzi pond so don't believe everything you read in Lonely Planet, we don't but we read Peters book. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-67.jpg Choosing somewhere else to eat so we weren't on the menu our somewhere else the food was excellent as was the service until we went to pay then they tried to rip us off .... again, we paid the bill in full, it was only $1.50 CUC but it is the principle so we left no tip which would have been worth $5 CUC to them, yet again greed sets them back. |
Cuba - Day 12 - Bayoma To Holguin
An early start with breaky at 8.00am ....8.50am Cuba time, then our all inclusive night we had to pay $2 CUC extra to get our car back ... there is ALWAYS an addon with Cubans pretty much no matter what even if it is in writing, sorting that out (paying) we hit the road heading toward Holguin.
Arriving at Holguin we went back to our Casa from 5 days ago as they had our knife and spoons etc and they were great people with a nice place to stay, we were very appreciative of there help in getting our good kit back we gave them a good tip/extra for helping. From there we went out to the beach at Guardalavaca, nice place it was too but very touristy. I don't know what lengths you have to go to a photo of a winder surfer when people just get in the way :wink: http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...amo/file-1.jpg I was trying to work out if this was Coca Cola...... http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...amo/file-2.jpg The beach http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...amo/file-7.jpg Peter and Miriam just relaxing http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...amo/file-8.jpg Another beautiful old car immaculate ... would love to take that home http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mo/file-10.jpg Returning we followed this, again a very common sight to see. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ayamo/file.jpg Peter and Miriam had tea with us at the Casa then we walked around town, very clean streets with terrazzite ... lavish finish for a street!!!!. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mo/file-18.jpg On returning back to the Casa Peter and Miriam were leaving to Vinales so we walked with them up to the bus to say goodbyes. Ellen and I walked back through town and there was heaps happening, Ellen bought me some candyfloss which was real treat but it was not pink like it is in New Zealand. It cost 2 pesos which was 8cents. There was an orchestra playing awesome music with a conductor that was so into it you could feel the soul through the music, nearing the end a few of them stood up and did their solos showing off their talent while letting loose again this was very cool and they were loving it playing passionately to the audience. They use washing pegs to hold their paper, very cuban style. Unfortunately, we didn’t have our camera with us. We did return with our camera but they had finished, we did however get to see an open air movie which was war based and about how they had succeeded with their idea ... what a surprise. The more interesting thing for us was the DVD player strapped onto the back of a bike http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...in/file-18.jpg ... and the projector taped onto a stand http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...in/file-19.jpg Back to home base at 9.40pm it was bedtime ready for the morning hike before jumping on the bus to Giego de Avila. It was quiet as Peter and Miriam had left, we really enjoyed our chance meeting and 5 days cruising around doing some very interesting stuff, onya guys you made the middle part of our trip special and fun. |
Cuba - Day 13 - Holguin to Ciego De Avila - Disaster Happened
Andi started to have some stomach pains the on the way back to Holguin. He took some Chinese poo pills which helped a bit, but still not one hundred percent. We got up at 8:00 am and walked up the three hundred steps to the hill, which was great.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uin/file-2.jpg Fron the top http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uin/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uin/file-4.jpg On the way back, Andi’s stomach felt uneasy again. We got back to the casa, had shower, breakfast at 10:30am, bread, ham, eggs, juice and coffee as you do in Cuba. Our hosts were very nice to us we must say, so we paid some extra for their outstanding services they provided for us. Everybody was happy. We walked to the bus station, the guy in the ticket booth sold us the bus tickets, but he said the bus is 11:30am, which we were told the night before was 12:15pm. WTF? In cuba, you just don’t know who is right who is wrong. 11:30 passed, no bus, 11:45am passed, still no bus. If we had not been here before 11:30am, we would shit ourselves if the bus was not here. Finally, 5 to midday, the bus arrived. Then the driver told us they will stop for lunch, the bus will leave at 12:30pm. At this time, Andi had done two toilet visiting, he was not happy. Back to the waiting room again (because when the driver went out for lunch, they locked the bus, everybody had to come out.) 15mins later, I went out to see if the bus started to load, and saw Tony, any Irish cyclist we meet a couple of days ago near Santiago De Cuba. He has been cycling around cuba for 8 weeks. It’s his last week in cuba. He was going to Ciego as well. I told him Andi was not well, he said he had some good pills to stop guts ache etc. The bus was loading again, we were all on the bus. I asked Tony if Andi can have some of his good pills. Andi took some of the good stuff, it didn’t work. He had two vomit and things getting worse. I could see he was in severe pain, but can’t do anything to help. The last time I saw him like that when he had a kidney stone. I asked him if it felt like that? No he said. By 5pm, he was almost passed out. He asked me to ask the coach driver when we will be in Ciego, he needed to get to hospital. That was what I thought too. The bus driver said 20 mins, and I just saw a road sign said 40kms to Ciego, I knew it will take longer than 20min, but we were in the middle of nowhere, it won’t be quicker if we got off the bus and get an ambulance either. So I had to go back and lie to Andi we will be in town in 20min, please hold on. We passed some horror crash and burned car and a tractor on the road, I had all my mind on Andi, even didn’t think to take a picture of that. When we got to the bus station in Ciego, Tony asked if he could help. By then, Andi couldn’t even stand up. Tony and the other guy help Andi get off the bus, I took our two bags and I was going to get a taxi. The coach drive came and told me they will drive Andi to the hospital, so we went back on the bus, they drove directly to the E&A gate, we put Andi on the wheel bed, I felt a little bit relief - some one can help Andi now. The doctor in the hospital spoke very little English, but the students there who can really speak good English. One male doctor came checked on Andi. About 10 min later, we went to see a female doctor, she then sent Andi to test blood, then X-ray, then ultra sound. They were very helpful, especially the student who has been pointed as our interpreter called Carlos. Later on (one hour maybe two, I had no ideas) we finally finished all the waiting and checking, Andi was given a bed and was about to have some drip to put on him. He told me to tell them give him some thing to stop the pain. I did ask the doctor, but I don’t know if they give much pain killer or not. A young black female doctor came to discuss with me about Andi’s medical history. She spoke perfect English. Later I found out she was from Namibia, has been studying medical for 6 years in cuba. She then translated all to the doctor in charge. With all the students and doctors help, Andi finally settled down. The pain was still there, but he could have some rest. Tony, after settled in a Casa, came to the hospital found us and offered more help. Thanks Tony. It was 10:00pm, and an other doctor come to checked Andi again. He explained to us that Andi didn’t have anything severe needing operation - that is good news. I am impressed that for one patient, they have gone through many special doctors to make sure their diagnose was correct. Andi’s Version Whoa .... what a day .... one I don’t want to repeat, not sure of the cause and the irony of this is the incubation time we don’t know. Ellen pretty much summed it up, for me while sitting/laying in the bus I started to lose feeling in my hands and feet then arms and legs as well, I lost all my motor function and was shivering badly to the point I felt my body was shutting down. :eek1 to be honest I was very scared.:cry I don’t remember the last part of our ride I am guessing maybe the last 1/2 hour or so, I don’t recall getting off the bus but we were very lucky to have a concerned driver that took us to the hospital which is well above their duties especially negotiating a 12 metre bus around the narrow streets to get us there. This is me looking totally stunning (per cool runnings)... you dead .... ya mun :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-13.jpg To the driver I will probably never see again thank you so much. I couldn't do much to help but to them I am very greatful, their diagnosis was Severe Gastro Enteritis so a pile of antibiotics. On the better side of this report Ellen snapped a couple of pics of the town that I missed out on. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-11.jpg Groovy coloured buildings http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ego/file-9.jpg A cool old Harley too ... I could easily take that home. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ego/file-7.jpg |
Cuba - Day 14 - Ciego De Avila To Santa Clara
We managed to get into a hotel at 12.15 am after getting out of the hospital, they were not going to let me go unless I could walk by myself, Ellen got me a Lemonade fresco loaded with sugar so I downed that 1/2 hour before and that was my saving grace. Also thanks Tony gave us the Hotel Santiago Habana in town which we know we can stay there.
They (the doctors) said I need rest and sleep and that was NOT going to happen in the hospital with people coughing, weazing and yelling in Spanish as well and coming up to me every half hour and prodding me to see if I was sleeping!!!! :huh So I bluffed my way out of hospital and got to the hotel knowing it would be 10 - 15 minutes of torment before being able to rest peacefully and sleep in which I desperately needed. Check out was 12 noon and we got ours extended till 1.30 pm so I stayed in bed till 1.00pm .... man I was knackered. Down to the bus station to catch the next bus we used my sick day (don't want to use annual leave :evil) ((forgot we don't have any :D)) to keep our timing, very uncomfortable to say the least but you can’t halt progress. The funny thing at the hospital they gave me nothing for pain ... WTF, they either thought I was tuff or thick :D Not many photos in this report ... you have seen enough dead Andi photos and herd enough whining ..... onwards to the next day :clap We did however go out for tea in Santa Clara or at least Ellen did and I tagged along ... mine was the bowl or rice, Ellens was the lobster salad and Mojitto :cry. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ego/file-2.jpg |
Cuba - Day 15 - Sanata Clara To Varadero
An early start of 6.30am for breaky ... I was not very hungry but ate a small amount to get some energy.
As usual the bus was somewhere in the middle for timing, we got our tickets which you can only buy the hour before and we were off, me holding my guts over the cuban potholed road. Varadero was meant to be our sunshine, relax, lobster and Pina Colada drinking two day tourist stop .... FAIL. We arrived and it was raining :eek1 ... sometimes shit just does not work out despite your best efforts but you know what we were there and almost in one piece. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-16.jpg Still time to forge a grin http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-15.jpg Walking down to the beach it was deserted with winds and rain, the surf was up but not very inviting http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-14.jpg Ellen bought some new bikinis cos her old ones were shagged and fell off quite a bit exposing asian boobies to unsuspecting onlookers, these are genuine made in Cuba so we did our best to support their economy :D She had to try them out but wasn't totally enthused http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-5.jpg It was cold :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-8.jpg Walking back through town we stopped at some craft shops, there are some real talented people out there making cool stuff our of waste http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-9.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-6.jpg The cigar shop had a dude making them in front of us, he was very good at it http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-12.jpg With my exit bodily functions still havin a go we went to the diving school to see if Ellen could do a dive (while I am crook) but the sea was too rough and all diving was cancelled for 3 days ... walking back through to the main street I spotted this .. I wasn't sure if this was a sign or a "sign" :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-13.jpg Finishing up that evening we went to a small restaurant with a two for one lobster deal, I had a Pina Colada sans rum :cry, Ellen had a Mojitto and a feed, again I ordered simple rice with some veges with the smaller tail of lobster so I didn't dip out but to be fair I chewed on it not really enjoying it from feeling uneasy (note sign above) :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...adero/file.jpg My drink ... kinda cool eh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-1.jpg Back to the casa it was time to turn the lights on... http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-3.jpg An early night was had to try and recharge. |
Page Shortening Post
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Page Shortening Post Again
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Page Shortening Post, last one.
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Cuba - Day 16 - Varadero Tourist Day
Another rest day for me at least, still feeling sick and the back end still going strong we went to the medical centre again, they stabbed me with a needle the size of a lamppost in my right bum cheek and gave me some more heavy drugs and emptied the pocket for $108 dollars.
That afternoon we took a two door 55 Chevy out to the end of the spit and back as the double decker bus was chocker every time we saw it so today was treat day. Lady Ellen Delis http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0060.jpg 55 Bel Air http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0058.jpg Sir and Madam bodgies :D ... just need a fag packet rolled up in my sleeve to complete that picture. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0042.jpg Three of us in the car http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0020.jpg Saweet!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0044.jpg We stopped at an old building which was summer house for someone rich from yesteryear ... my memories lost the name http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0065.jpg A view down the ocean front with me doing my garden gnome impression http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0075.jpg The driver is great guy and stuck to his quoted price, I felt like giving him a tip for being straight up but being straight up should be normal and we had already paid very fairly. Arriving back in town we wandered into the park for a look and a lite lunch, check out the colour of the water http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0001.jpg On our walk later in the afternoon I spotted and old BSA which was cool as you just don’t see any (many) British bikes here. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-5.jpg Fuel Injection with a high flow stealth filter :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-4.jpg Cool covers http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...adero/file.jpg I took some photos as it was just parked in the parking lot, there was a guy milling around, he didn’t say anything and let me take photos, I was just about to leave THEN he asked for $1.00 CUC (dollar), I said I have no money, he made me empty my pockets which was a glasses cleaning rag in one and dunnie paper in the other and he wasn’t interested in the dunnie paper cos I offered it to him quite forcefully which he DIDN’T like so they don’t like it when you do it to them but it is ok for them to harass you???? I don’t even think he was the owner as he had a taxi that he was milling around in. Anyway, I still have my photos and dunnie paper and my $1.00 CUC to blow on something else ..... probably more dunnie paper. :rofl Finishing up for the evening we ate in at the Casa having Lobster to sign out from Varadero in style, for once in my eating career I could not finish mine so I gave it to Ellen. As usual we were quoted $10 CUC for the both of us and when it came to paying the price had doubled, this time we stuck to our guns and said no that was not what was agreed and she backed down, every time is a mission and you get worn down by having to hold your wallet hard as they sneakily add more in here and there pretty much ALWAYS. It does take the shine off the place when this happens day in day out. |
Cuba - Day 17 - Varadero To Habana To Vinales
Early start of 6.30 am .... again!!, our Casa host to be honest was not that friendly and didn’t seem to keen to help us despite it being the most expensive place we stayed in Cuba, she gave a us an alarm clock to use which didn’t work, luckily Ellen woke at 6.40 am so we still made it to the bus.
Our trip up to Habana was nice along the sea front with mum nature whipping up the sea with big winds from the weather system from the US. A bit of a wait in Habana we walked around in town for a while and got water etc for our next part of the trip to Vinales. Along the way we stopped at a small eating place with a Tobaco fame beside it so being nosey we had a look through ... as ya do. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-18.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-12.jpg Coming down into Vinales you come through a narrow winding road then kinda pop out at the head of the valley into the steep mountainous area and quite spectacular, these shot from the bus so not very clear http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-5.jpg Arriving in Vinales we were greeted by our Casa host’s daughter, the Casa was recommended by a girl we met in the bus station and a good recommendation it was too we were warmly welcomed in. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-3.jpg Arriving at our casa they showed us to our room ..... :eek1 it looked like a 1970's porn room with orange bed spreeds, all walls curtained and a luve heart bedhead with a mirror :D .... c h o i c e http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-2.jpg Before we settled in and the sun went down we took a walk into town and booked a bike tour around the local area. Phones ... something you don't see anywhere else http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ero/file-1.jpg This is a local bus, V8 powered Russian truck, it sounded very throaty and quite awesome for a bus, not entirely sure why they need a 6 wheel drive machine for town but maybe they know something we don't http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...adero/file.jpg |
Cuba - Day 18 - Vinales
My first breakfast in a few days and although limited in what the Docs would let me eat I enjoyed it which was a great start, NO coffee for me until the meds are done so that is a bit hard smelling beautiful Cuban coffee knowing I can’t have any. :cry
We set off on our bicycle tour to the Cigar farm, rock artwork and caves, $20 CUC (dollars) was so well worth it as it included lunch, drink, park entry, bike hire and a our guide who could talk Spinglish. Our getaway vehicles http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-39.jpg Leaving at 9.00am it was a 25 km round trip over 4.5 hours duration and a great way to take in the local sights having the local guide. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-65.jpg There is a massive painting by a local artist that is 180 metres long and 120 metres high http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-64.jpg To gauge the size of this incredible work you need a human so I got three, Ellen in the middle, Lucy and Sarndra to the left http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-44.jpg Dedication to photography ... just for you guys :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-43.jpg Part of the trip was through caves, walking then onto a small boat ... outstanding it was and really well worth it. Looking up toward the roof of the cavern you can see the lime and clay wash coming through http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-28.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-21.jpg Lime wash down the walls http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-24.jpg Nearing the exit of the cave http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-19.jpg Our Amigos Sarndra and Lucy who were on the cycle trip with us we organised to meet for tea, Lucy has just come back from 10 months in South America and said nowhere near enough!!!! ..... real keen to chat more with her and to swap todays photos. A brightly coloured casa we passed on the way back http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-16.jpg This buckled and beaten Ural caught my eye along with the phones (again), the thing that set this bike aside from the others is it had a Dulux overhaul nothing less than hand painted with a house brush so it will mechanically sound for another 100000 :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...es/file-14.jpg Later in the avo we walked up to a spendie hotel to get grande views of Vinales, the weather was clear and hot so a nice walk indeed then back to town for a juice. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-5.jpg Check out this little fella, he surprised me with how far he could jump http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-2.jpg There is something about Urals, they are very much the Cuban workhorse but this is the first one we spotted with a trailer http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...les/file-1.jpg This one was only four people and a cake tray http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nales/file.jpg For our trip back to Habana we organised a Cubataxi with two others, it worked out at $3 CUC each more but we get picked up from Vinales Casa and taken door to door to our Habana Casa so it actually works out slightly cheaper to do this as we do not need to get a taxi at the other end which would cost another $8.00 CUC. |
Cuba - Day 19 - Vinales To Habana
We managed to get a Cubataxi that was organised to pick us up at 10.00am, most Cubans to be honest are very punctual and sure as normal 9.59am the car rocks up.
Said goodbyes and did photos with our warmest casa host in Cuba http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-24.jpg We pile in and meet out travel companions for the morning from Mexico Sean and his good lady (that is short for we forgot her name), very interesting chatting to them about their travels etc. The driver was good keeping up a nice and steady pace ... nothing too life threatening, arriving in Habana we were dropped off at the Casa we had been recommended by Lucy and Sarndra but unfortunately they were full and not having their phone number we could not ring ahead, no worries they ALL have amigos and within 10 minutes of watching “Meeting The Fockers” in spanish we were sorted and taken to a very nice place. The price was more than we wanted to spend as my medical bill had left us slightly short but he was slightly accommodating so we booked in for tea and breakfast as well which he was pretty happy about as they do well from the meals. Into Habana old town I had my eye on a painting we spotted three weeks earlier the day we arrived, such was the colour and vibrance on this painting I really wanted it so we negotiated with the lady and a combination of CUC $, CUP $ and smiles we agreed with everything we had in our pocket which was about $29 dollars so I am stoked.... can’t believe I bought some art tho, Fiona you will be impressed I am sure, this is it, cost us $50 bucks to send it home :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-8.jpg ... I must be getting old or sensible so I will have to deal with that separately. :rofl On the way back to the Casa to leave my prize painting in our room we stopped and bought some guayaba (nice fruit) and for a rest.... back out down the waterfront for a look, relax and sit in the sun and watch Habana go by. This was a local lad who was running then diving off the wall ... dude had balls!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-23.jpg ....not much space between him and a grated belly :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-22.jpg There was major watermain reconstruction happening but very slowly, there was a serious cutting machine to cut through the concrete road, I would love to see it going!!!! see Ellen standing there. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-13.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-1.jpg She was also surprised how small the main tools were for such a large machine 8-D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...abana/file.jpg Spotted near the art shop was three Harleys, the white one we had seen in another town days prior http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-15.jpg This car was still sitting in the same place three weeks earlier .... wonder how long it will sit like that http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-17.jpg Evening drew in and tea was served for Ellen with me still opting out of a full meal, I helped Ellen finish off. Off to bed like a couple of old people ready for our last day in Cuba.:clap |
Cuba - Day 20 - Habana, Last Day In Cuba
A good nights sleep at the Casa which was nice and quiet we sat down to a breakfast that was very nice indeed.
Our neighbours from Switzerland joined us at the table and we had a great chat to them, turns out we were on the same flight back to Cancun. Finishing our breaky we walked the other side of old town in search of two famous cocktail bars, Floridita and La Bodeguita Del Medio ... we found both, Hemingway’s idea was NOT for capitalism, the funny thing here in the government own these and the cocktails here are the most expenisve in Cuba and people are lining up to have a Mojitto where Hemingway had one so the non capitalist govt is making a killing while the masses suffer .... go figure. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-18.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-14.jpg We only took photos and continued our own tour of interest in the old town taking in the sights and sounds. A local school class in action http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-25.jpg We found this very amusing, an old guy wearing an Alaska T shirt and a national flag on his hat... kind of contradicts itself a bit :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-23.jpg From the front he is a very typical Cuban guy http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-22.jpg Buying some cheese and ham from a local shop we sat in a local park and ate lunch with a cold can of Coke .... yes American Coka Cola.:huh .... you can't find it in many places in Cuba:freaky. Wondering back along the waterfront towards our Casa we wanted to get some photos of the open top cars and the the bodgie Buicks with ruffians hangin out of them. See the line up of oldies, this is a very normal lineup http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-36.jpg The Buick turned up but looking sensible .... sorry guys. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-5.jpg An assortment of old cars trundled past so we did manage to snap a few. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-9.jpg Gringos :rofl ... loking at Gringos http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-13.jpg Last one, I could post million of photos of these old honeys http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-17.jpg Picking our gear up from the Casa we caught a 56 Chevy Taxi to our final stay in the prebooked hotel, the Taxi is more like a collectivo where they stop and pick up people along the way and drop them off so you don’t have it for yourself, the locals also pay in CUP and we pay CUC so the sam ride cost us 10 x more (Them and the Us’s) The afternoon was nice and hot so we slacked around at the pool for and hour or so but the pool water was freezing even by Ellen standards or piling in anywhere. Having 32 CUC left we had lobster kababs for tea then stopped for finish cocktails across the road from our hotel, after all that we had $2.60 left and the icecream tubs were $1.30 each so we splashed out and bought two ..... now were are officially broke in Cuba and as poor as everyone else. In the small shopping centre there was a pile of metal elephants that were very well done http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ana/file-1.jpg I think the one on the right is Manny from Ice Age :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...abana/file.jpg Ellen chatted with some Chinese guys for a while then we set off home to bed for the final time in Cuba. |
Thanks for the insight into Cuba,enjoyed the photo's,cars etc does make you wonder after all these years they have not built their own home grown cars.
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Hey Andy:
Man that was tough!!! Hope you are better now. Rob |
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The closest we saw to home grown was the chevy with the lonely little 4 cyl Lada diesel in the hole. :clap: |
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Yeah wasn't pleasant eh, no more sick days left now. |
Cuba - Day 21 - Leaving Cuba
Havanatur was organised to pick us up at 9.30 am so we made sure we had breaky done and dusted and ready to race, 9.45 am no bus????
I went to the Havanatur office, a few frantic phone calls they then said we are picking you up at 10.30 am cos the time changed????? ours said 9.30 ...WTF??? Another hour just wasted, we could have slept in :D The weather had really caved in big time by this stage with water pissing into the hotel everywhere, during our breaky they blocked off half the restaurant and five staff turned up with buckets and brooms etc, they took about 9 - 10 buckets of water off the floor in five minutes. :eek1. The roads were flowing like a river and the foot paths under water so it wasn't a bad time to be inside. We saved this photo from the rest of "the petrolhead display" as it fits in this post and was amazing to see, you can't halt progress just whip up a couple brollies and carry on http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-38.jpg The view from our van on the way to the airport http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-39.jpg |
Cuba Sum Up
Cuba is far from “green”, I really wanted to remember Cuba for the Cuban Coffee smell but the smell I will remember Cuba for is half burnt oily diesel from mostly worn out engines and bad tuning and maintenance, this one wasn't bad tho.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oa/file-51.jpg I have to admit I had visions of Cuba been somewhat cleaner understanding you jump into a time machine 60 years but the state of disrepair of a lot of vehicles is mind boggling and we saw first hand the fatal effects of this. Understanding though it is a very poor country they are unfortunately severely handbraked by their communist leadership and antiquated ways making Cuba a real horse and cart country literally and to the detriment of the people which is saddening really. My own opinion (and interestingly enough talking to others behind the scenes) next time they have a revolucion and a good idea the people should really be better off, not stagnated or in a lot of cases gone backwards. We stayed in a combination of Casa Particulars which are home stays, everything from seriously basic no hot water etc to very nice indeed, across the board the Casa hosts were outstanding to say the least and were happy to help, only two Casas out of 18 we could not get a smile out of the owners and both were the only ones who really tried to change the ball game from what was agreed. Our favourite was right on the sea edge down on the south coast and undoubtedly the most basic by far but the people were great, friendly and good to us, what more can you want? http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...on/file-17.jpg Our favourite Casa hostess is in Vinales, she was awesome, bubbly, welcoming and a ray a light. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-19.jpg The grumble, only thing we didn’t really like about Cuba is the “Them and The Us’s”, the tourists get clobbered for prices around 10 x to 25 x the amount of locals, even buying petrol we were declined at two service stations with the guy saying ... it is complicated????WTF ... it seemed simple to us, empty car, paying customers with cash in hand, petrol station with petrol and empty forecourt .... what gives?? Also when buying churos the guy beside us paid $10 Pesos, we got the same as he did and we handed over $20 Pesos and they wouldn’t give us anything back saying that is the price and they just turned away so we were not there anymore .... in New Zealand that would end in a pubscrap!!!! .... we just had to accept it. Getting money out was a half hour ordeal and quite a mission including handing of passports etc and more paper than you can fit in a wheelbarrow but at least we got cash and at $30 CUC/US per withdrawal you get as much as you can. Most Cubans were great people but some were very snide and begrudging of us and particularly me being blonde like we owed them something, people everyday just saying “give me money” and being harassed for it took the shine off it a little, there are NO favours done here EVERYTHING means money, CUC or CUP you better have it as even asking for directions will cost you if you are soft and they will jump on you. I will qualify that by saying if you are known to them or already an amigo (paying customer) they will go out of their way to help a little but 99% of the time they will put their hand out for more even after agreeing the value, across the board not the friendliest mob we have met in all of our international travels (not just this trip) as smiles are few and far between, when you smile at them they frown back .... hmmm. Time, millions of man hours each day are just wasted, lining up for the bank, lining up for bread, lining up for buses they don't have money but they have time. The highlight for me at least was seeing so many old cars on the road and of course the Urals, couple of Harleys and MZ stinkies (two strokes) everywhere so I will miss that zing buzz and ring ding ding sound, I would also add on the human side a lot of the Cuban woman with African genes/descent are very beautiful as well, without sounding like a freak-show stalker I was lucky enough to have my photo with a Casa lady (so I got to touch her without being.....odd :D) , she was very nice to us and made our stay outstanding... just in case you guys wonder what she felt like ....well ... just the same as us whiteyfoos :rofl, I will remember her smile. Our favourite city is Trinidad and the best Pina Colada I had was here in the wakey wakey shakey shakey bar. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-20.jpg Our favourite road was undoubtedly was the south coast road goin 4 wheelin in the rental car. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-27.jpg My worst experience was obvious the Gastroenteritis which didn't really rate on my fun meter ..... me dead in bed. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-12.jpg The lowest Cuban people day was the nice guy who smeared mud all over our car ... can't understand the logic with the man as I was polite to him but he had it in for us. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ne/file-46.jpg Our impression of Cuban people is a lot of them live behind window bars in the background, this lady was dancing to music and having a great time with a huge smile which was very nice to see however a lot just mill around looking out to the street with a very distant look on their faces. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...na/file-41.jpg For us across the board we found it to be a great place, really enjoyed it and it certainly was and eye opener, we have now ticked that box and ready for the next mission should we choose to accept it ... which we do. Back to being travelers not tourists.... |
This may be over simplifying things but!
What a change in attitude would make to their circumstance,be overtly welcoming ,charge people all the same ,they'd be up to their arm pits with tourists.As my dad would say "you can milk a cow all the days of its life but you can only kill it once."will look forward to your next installment.:D
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Yes they could have it a lot better if they were a little more polite, not all of them are like that but you know in a "tourist" industry they really could tidy things up for themselves and get the rewards. ... just our observation anyway. |
Playa Del Carmen After Cuba
We had organised to leave Maya in the good hands of Leslie who is Garry Dymonds daughter, Garry lives in Mexico City.
While staying at Leslies waiting for our flight I took on a number of small jobs for her that she had been wanting to get done. These included fitting eight isolating valves to her sinks and basins, properly fixing the two basins to the walls and leveling them, laying floor tiles and fitting a blind in her bedroom, it was nice to help her for the help she gave us, Leslie works big hours too so giving her more free time to do play things was nice. On our return to Playa Del Carmen from Cuba Ellen had a very saw tooth so went to the dentist, turns out she has an infection in her jaw bone under a tooth and it needs a small op to be fixed. Man talk about tribe of sick people, everything seems to come at once which is not a bad thing, the other positive is we are in a great place to have it fixed and hopefully properly .... now we are wanting to get it done and get back on the road again .... itchy feet. The last few days has been relaxing and loading up all the Cuba reports and photos, quite a full job in itself. We took in some local sights :eek1 .. both of them, cheek out the guy on the bike running knobblies in town. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...urn/file-9.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rn/file-10.jpg There was a rack with interesting helmets which were useless but looked cool http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rn/file-14.jpg We were very impressed that the little girl had floaties on her arms http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rn/file-12.jpg There is an interesting selection of boats anchored too http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rn/file-11.jpg Also here in Playa Del Carmen in Martin and his family from Denmark so meeting up with fello ADVers has been great. We were treated to a display of local talent, these guys were very good http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...urn/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...urn/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...urn/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rn/file-15.jpg With Maya’s oil changed and few other minor fixits taken care of we head to Belize for a week before hitting Guatemala for Spanish lessons and to meet the legendary Julio (Guaterider) who has very kindly helped us with shipping stuff for Maya to his address. |
Playa Del Carmen To Chetumal
Firstly, thank you to Leslie for looking after us. :clap
Leaving Playa Del Carmen were given a nice day. Mostly uneventful we had lunch at a small bus stop, we were there only a couple of minutes when a car pulls up, a young guy hops out, all waves and the car left .... wouldn't have been two or three minutes later a Ford explorer pulls up fairly hastily. I very pretty young lady opens the window, ... me , I am thinkin the lucky bastid!!! She hops out of a car and we unwittingly become part of a “break up scene” :cry:cry She was clinging onto him and crying her heart out and he was pretty much looking straight ahead and staunch, even tho we understand very little Spanish at this point the heart felt discussion made me feel sad.:eek1 We quickly finished our lunch and started gearing up when the Taxi arrived, the crying got louder, he got in the Taxi and for her it was a scene of total devastation, we got our gear on even quicker and left ... my heart sunk knowing we had just seen first hand a Mexican break-up which seem to hurt as much here as it does in New Zealand... love the hardest game to play!! Back to our trip we arrived at Bacalar where were going to stay, all accommodation a was booked out with Spring break / Easter so we carried on to Chetumal. A few people had said Chetumal was not a great place, arriving we found a hotel and unpacked, doing our usual we walked to town centro and were surprised and impressed by it. Given it was our last night in Mexico we Tacoed, Marquesitas and Churrosed ourselves out enjoying the last of the street food from Mexico. I am not fat it is my fur :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mal/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mal/file-5.jpg Chetumal Centro http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...al/file-10.jpg Fountain lit up with all sorts of colours http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mal/file-7.jpg There was a massive moon out and it had a orange tinge from smoke or sometong and looked very cool, we only had the little camera so it didn't come out very good but the water looks spooky :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mal/file-9.jpg Next morning we set off to the Belize border, the seriously unhelpfull border guard wanting to charge 295 peso to leave and with no banks open due to easter we were stuffed, we had to ride back to Chetumal and get some cash from a change shop, lucky we had enough US on us to do it. Back to the border it was busy with Spring break/Easter but that is the way it is, the only other thing that added lots of time was they were training people .... what a great idea on a public holiday!!!. With our TVIP returned and refunded we clocked out of Mexico after a little over 4 months of enjoyment. |
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