And just to add some more:
I spend 3 month,s in Colombia, crossed the country from south to north and east to west.
I have actually met guarilla,s from FARC and a groups of paramilitary,s. Both were easy going and possed no treath to me. The paramilitary,s asked me for some money to buy water, I gave them 1000 peso (40 cent) which they were very happy with. In return I got to play with there special "truck stopper" (a gun like the A-team used to have to blow out walls).

FARC did not want me to take photo,s, they fear recognition by army, police or (worse) paramilitary.

I also met a USA-citicen, who was stopped by FARC, they looked at his paspoort, saw he was american and... let him go on his way.

I never felt unsafe, not even when people would wave a gun in my face. It was always very clear they only wanted to "impress" me.

The only hassle I had was with the Cali-police when I refused to show my pasport when they did not say "please". But again, notting more then some bruses where they kicked my leg,s when they told me to "spread them" (they seemed to like starsky and huch)

I also had some experiance with robbers. One night (in Cali) four guy,s jumped me from behind, but the moment I started to fight back they run away.

My conclusion, Yes, there is some danger, but the same goes for many other country,s (try africa)... On the other side, the people are very friendly, the scenery is nice, travel is very easy (food and hotels are cheap and everywhere) and there are some superb cultural and historical places.

I am glad I did not skip it.

Maarten

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- www.maartensworld.com -
- Some photo's -

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maartensworld.com
beyond-anywhere.com

Hi Maarten

How long ago did you leave Columbia

Cheers Geoff

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In mexico heading south to central and south america until Jan 06

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Finished 09/04/06, Denver Colorado to Ushuaia and back to Santiago. 27000 miles two up on a 2005 F650GS Dakar

Some hard data on kidnappings in Colombia from Bloomberg News. I rode thru with three others in December, Bogota to Medellin and south, with no problems. Most remarkable was the hundreds & hundreds of military personnel on the roads.

http://67.18.35.242/-www.bloomberg.c...=latin_america

Colombia Abductions Probably Fell to Least in 8 Years

Jan. 5, 2005 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia, where kidnappings are frequent enough to slow economic growth, probably had its fewest reported abductions since 1996 last year after President Alvaro Uribe improved security against armed rebels.

Kidnappings fell 41 percent to about 1,300 in 2004, according to an estimate by the Bogota-based Security and Democracy Foundation, a watchdog group that monitors Colombia's 40-year civil conflict. Abductions peaked in 2000 at 3,706.

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http://ridefar.typepad.com

Hi Geoff,
I left Colombia around dec. 2004...

Greetings
Maarten


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- www.maartensworld.com -
- Some photo's -

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maartensworld.com
beyond-anywhere.com

One comment was to "look modest, preferably poor". That's going to be a little difficult astride a new BMW. Is there a network of other bikers who live in Columbia who might provide aid and some security while crossing this country?

Dan, it is really not necessary if you remain on the Panamericana. There are check points by the Army everywhere along the road and they stoped everybody, except us...
Only once we were stoped, and it was more curiosity about the bikes than to check the documents. The taxi drivers in Lima, Peru are much more dangereous than anything you will experiment in Colombia .
check out our blog with pictures and information about Colombia:
www.vamumansu.blogspot.com


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[This message has been edited by Homero (edited 29 October 2005).]

Holy @#$% Dan! Haven't you checked out the Communities yet? One of the best resources on the planet for motorcycle travel info - especially the Colombian Communities - they do a great job for travellers!

Link on left of the page...



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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Holy @#$%
Why you guys keep on calling ColOmbia, colUmbia!
Don´t you read the maps!
Understand that it is an offense to Colombian People.
It means (in deep) that the country or the name is so insignificant, that you don´t care even for spelling the name right.
It is like calling the U.S. United Stake, or so.
I have seen Grant call up every time postings refer to Colombia as ColUmbia.

Makes me angry, hope it changes.

__________________
THE Motorcycle JOURNEY is making known the unknown.
http://www.morocycler.smugmug.com

at least I can correct the spelling on the subject...

Grant

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I agree we should spell it correctly, but try to understand, in the USA we have a District of ColUmbia, a CloUmbia river, a town of ColUmbia Falls, (had) a spaceship ColUmbia and I don't know what else. The country of ColOmbia is the only place where that spelling is used. Cut them some slack!

I think I met you by the side of the road south of Creel. Did the guy on the Honda Pacific Coast make it to Batopilas?

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america

try to understand, in the USA we have a District of ColUmbia, a CloUmbia river, a town of ColUmbia Falls, (had) a spaceship ColUmbia and I don't know what else. The country of ColOmbia is the only place where that spelling is used. Cut them some slack!

I think I met you by the side of the road south of Creel. Did the guy on the Honda Pacific Coast make it to Batopilas?</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Andy:
Yes I understand, you have lots of ColUmbias, but for them that is the only thing they have, their proudly COLOMBIA.
You know, nationalism for we the latin people is very emotional and deep. We love our land, our people, our origins. And most of the times the country names relate to our origins, sometimes even sacred.

Sorry for getting out of the topic, just a response for clearing a little bit more the discussion.

And as far as I know, yes, he finally made it to Batopilas!

Greetings.
Humberto

__________________
THE Motorcycle JOURNEY is making known the unknown.
http://www.morocycler.smugmug.com

Gee, Hmoro, I guess I'll remember from now on.

I wouldn't be offended if someone misspelled my country's name even if the person was American. Oh oh, American... now I offended a whole continent! Let's just call it DC and we don't have to spell it at all.

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Prevously known as JSherm
My blog: http://www.motorcycleramblings.com/
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/sherman/ I will up date this soon, really Grant, I will....
"This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do." J Kerouac
"Who's more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him" OW Kenobi

Yes all the US citizens can reply for the entire continent. PLEASE

Hmoro get past it

Quote: " I'm having problems ascertaing what the risk level is. <1% 5% 50/50 100%? "

Well let's see:
Going to Colombia: risk factor 20%
Riding a motorcycle: risk factor: 80%

Everything is relative. What is your tolerance for risk?
My point is that if you are willing to tolerate a much larger risk by the mere fact that you are riding a loaded motorcycle for many months on end, why worry about a smaller risk that is Colombia? Get the big picture.

Just go and enjoy.


[This message has been edited by gyuris (edited 09 November 2005).]

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Ride On!

A.T.