Celtic Adventurer - Riding the World

Ruta 40 - Medellin

On the advice of loads of other travelers i dropped into Ruta 40 (the BMW dealer here in Medellin) yesterday morning. These really are friendly guys. I was getting noises from the bike and wanted to get it checked out. Right from the start I was made welcome, was offered coffee etc. By the end I had my bike fixed, new rear breaks, a free t-shirt, and few stickers. Service really is great! i recommend them to anyone passing through.

As an update on other issues, been hanging out with Simon here in Medellin, and plan to stay here for Halloween, our plan is to head south to Salento on Thursday morning. Todays project was to find a printers to get some laminated plastic stickers with the website address and logo on them, to stick places and give to people. Tony Fitzsimons!! I could have done with your help! But eventually came across a lithograph printer down a back street here. Then came the task of explaining exactly what I wanted, todo en espanol. Supposed to pick up the delivery tomorrow evening so fingers crossed it all goes ok. 

Fake Plastic Boobs!

Yes you guessed it I have arrived in Medellin, former Narco Capital of Colombia and home Pablo Escobar, oh and also breast implants. Seriously its the first thing the jumps out at you here... can I use those words. .. Pictures to follow later.. maybe. Actually it is quiet a nice city, aside from the awful architecture which makes comunist Moscow or the Ballymun towers look like a centre of Excellence. I really was surprised how much money there is here, and how much it has changed in the last number of years, to go from on of the most dangerous citys in the world where you could have someone taken care of for a few quid, you now can buy a Ducati in the shop around the corner, or sip coffee in one of the many cafes. Actually it is a very western city.

I arrived in the rain from Tolu on the caribbean coast on Saturday lunchtime after a seven hour drive through the pouring rain, and met with Simon another crazy biker who is heading south also on a KLR 650. He is a good guy and we are going to travel together for a bit.

All the main roads here in colombia are tolled, dont know why becasue they are in bad condition, maybe it is to pay for the many army check points. Sometimes it can be a pain, but its better to be stopped by a few soliders than some badits or FARC. Below is a picture of a checkpoint. Great thing about the tolls is they are free for bikes!

Elsewhere I passed my diving exam so now am a certified diver!! It really was a great experience, such a different world under the waves, than sailing on top of them. I was amazed how you control your position in the water just by breathing. Inhale.. more oxygen.. you float more, exhale you sink.  But now I am finished with the sea for awhile and its back to the mountains. They are starting to get high now and it wont be long before I am into the Andes. 

Carribbean Coast

Heya all ! well now I am relaxing on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and am just back from my first diving lesson. In another four days I will be a PADI certified open water diver! Arrived in Taganga here and saw the school, and thought why not! So Andy when I get back lets go diving.. or maybe in Buenos Aires for Christmas. But the school is great, run by two German guys. Actually spoke my first few words of German in nine years, its amazing how much of it you forget.

The rafting didn't quiet go as planned. Because of the rainy season there was so much water the rivers were unrunable. So instead i settled for caving, which turned out to be great fun. Checked into Shaun Dohertys hostel in San Gil (no prizes for guessing his origin..actually Aussie) which is great if anyone is passing through San Gil, I recommend it. The cave was interesting, nothing special compared to the ones I have been down in the Burren, but there was an amazing end to it. Had to climb down 15 foot along an iron ladder, which was in the waterfall, all the time trying to hold on against the force of the water until you reach a small 3foot square platform. From here you have to jump another 6 - 7 meters into the plunge pool below in the darkness! its harder than it sounds when the river is twice its normal size and you cant see the bottom! bit of a leap of faith. But such a great buzz. Then its a simple swim out of the cave to where the river reemerges and a hike back to the village.

The next day took the road to Santa Marta - Taganga, from San Gil 400 miles in one day, most of it twisty mountain road with absolutely amazing stunning vistas. The first section to Bucamaranga is by far the slowest, but certainly the most pretty. I traveled the road on Sunday, but it totally clogged with trucks, was happy I was on a bike, because a bus would take at least 3 hours more. Finally i arrived at dusk in Tagana after leaving at 8 am in the morning.

My first stop was for fuel and food around lunch time where I met these people electioneering, (local and state elections are next Sunday) they were all the usual questions about the bike, where you from, how fast does it go, how big is the engine, how much ? they shared their lunch with me! and then invited me to a party in the town! it was great, but then they were asking was I married, had i kissed any Colombian girls yet, that they had some friends who would love to meet me and would do "cosas muy malas!" ha ha I had to politely decline and be on my way, but not before posing for some fotos and getting a free t-shirt which i had to promise to wear, think they are the conservative party, but I cannot risk offending anyone.. so it will never be worn.

Near Santa Marta the road is pretty bad, and without warning it disappeared and I hit an almighty pothole! nearly knocked me off, and totally bend my front rim. just as well i have spokes or the wheel would of been fecked! So yesterday I stripped it down (have the fotos so will post them when I get a decent connection) removed the brake disks so i was just left with the ring, and brought it to the local bike shop. Here for $10 the guy hammered it back into shape! amazing what these guys can do. So then it was bus back to Taganga where all was reassembled and tested! So back to normal and lets keep my eye open for more pot holes! Oh Dylan / Mike tyre change was much faster only and hour off and on!! getting better! and the green washing liquid really works. Makes the tyre slide on and off around the rim much easier.

So its next few days here, then on to Cartegena to find Simon, the English dude on a KLR650.

   

Colombian Highlands - Villa de Leyva

I am now in an internet cafe in San Gil, the rafting capital of Colombia, after spending the last few  days at Oscars hostal in Villa de Leyva. What a cool place. It is like the town the time forgot, with one of the largest plaza mayors in Colombia. The place hasnt changed in 200 years, I was sitting in a cafe on the main square under the Arches having a beer, they were playing a CD by Club Social de Bueno Vista (Cuban), and at that moment i really felt like I could be a Spanish Colonialist.

The area is great for outdoor activities with some great trails to be ridden, even some of the main roads are compact gravel, or not so compact in places. I opted for two excursions. One the first day went walking to see some of the Cascades located nearby alongside the National Park. They are really great. The first one is over 25 meters high, this leads down to another, and another. There are five in total. Each one is prety spectacular.

Second day I did some rapelling down into a cave with Bats, and then had to climb back out using the rocks and roots of the trees, despite the saftey rope attached to my harness it was possibly the scaryist thing i have done in ages, just got to remember not to look down. Have plenty of cool photos but got to get a wireless link to upload them.

Plan for tomorrow is to raft a grade 4 - 5 river here, then head to Bucamaranga for some paragliding. The Weekend should see me in Cartegena on the carribbean, then its along the coast and down to Medellin, and on south. Colombia is really great, with some really great people. Glad i made it part of the trip.

Colombia

Arrived in Colombia in one piece! No problems what so ever. Actually i have found a place with some really friendly people, a beautiful country and some great coffee.

Before arriving in Colombia I had to over come the problem of the Darien, a section of Jungle and mountains which divide Panama from Colombia. This area has a dangerous reputation and has been used by drug smugglers and FARC guerrillas, and in addition there is no road through it. I speculate it may have some thing to do with lingering acrimony between Panama and Colombia going back to Panamas Independence at the start of the 1900's. For whatever reason I had two options, to sail or to fly. After examining the options and the costs, flying was faster and around the same price. So i contacted Girag, brought the bike to the Cargo terminal at Panama City Airport, signed the paperwork, paid the money and said goodbye to the bike. It was kind of emotional being parted from the machine for the two days!

After sorting out the bike I had to get my own ticket with Copa Airlines. This was a simple internet booking. Actually the flight was really nice, we were even served food on a 50 minute flight. The plane was a Boeing 737 -700 with comfortable seats and lots of legroom! it was no Ryanair for sure.

After landing in Bogota the visa was easy, just a simple quick chat. What i am doing etc. It was the day after the 40th anniversary of Che Guevara's death so the obvious question was so you are doing the route of Che... So I got my 60 day visa. The slowest part of the process was waiting for the inspectors to sign off that the paperwork matched the bike. Which took all of 3 hours. But once reunited had to go to the petrol station to fill up, (tank has to be almost empty for flying). Here I had my first coffee in Colombia.

When trying to find the hostel i decided to ask two cyclists. These brothers not only gave me directions but rode with me the whole way to make sure i wouldn't get lost. The Hostel, Hostel Sue is great, located in the old downtown area, and a close walk to most of the main attractions.

For all you football fans I picked up a ticket for the Colombia Brazil game next Sunday!!! so will be staying around Bogota until then. After I plan to head up the coast to Santa Marta, and Cartagena, before going south to Medellin and Cali, and onward to Ecuador. But right now there is a Cathedral in an underground salt mine which i am going to check out.!

Panama

Its now Sunday evening and I am sitting here in the Hostel Casa de Carmen. Brennan thanks for the recomendation its really nice. But like every day for the last number of weeks its lashing rain outside. come evening time the heavens just open. Might have something to do with the rainy season. But today was lovely. It was spent exploring the city with Claudio (the Argentine on the Goldwing), also trying to get a GPS .. not successful so far, and viewing a few boats go through the Miraflores locks of the Panama Canal. I was talking to the guy at BMW and my bike is scheduled in for the 13,500 mile service in the morning! it will be well deserved!

We arrived here yesterday night after a 14 hour get lost many times on crap roads ride from San Jose Costa RIca to Panama City. Our arrival was probably not to the most salubrious part of town, as we were greeted by prostitues and drunks, found out later this was the old part of town (or Panama Viejo), but quickly we found Ave Balboa and the nice part of town, the Hard Rock Cafe Panama and a nice dinner.

The roads in Costa Rica really are poor, the main one is a twisty mountain snake!!  Panama is slightly better with some nice sections of two lane black top. But at times it degrades to single lane with sections missing. But Panamas problems is not its roads, just its lack of sign posts. There are none anywhere. I think they just assume you know where you are going. On the main autopista there is only one exit for the city and it has a small sign which is on top of the exit.. No chance to get off, then the next turn back is miles down the road.  It was the same story today trying to find Miraflores. But the hardest part of the drive was the constant rain, extreme humidity and driving in the dark when no one dips their lights, and there are no cats eyes or lamposts to show you the road.

But really i have little to complain about. I have a lead on the GPS front, so along with calling the aircargo Girag, and dropping off the bike i think i will have a busy day tomorrow! 

Costa Rica

Arrived in Costa Rica the other day after finally saying goodbye to Managua. Guess Salvador was too good a host, or maybe his grandmothers food was too good, but enjoyed my stay there. Only problem is the power problems in the city, each day the power is switched off in different areas of town. In our area it was 2pm to 7pm. During this time you need torches!

But while heading south I had the pleasure to run into Annette from Denmark, who has spent the guts of the last 2 years in South America on her BMW F650 Dakar. We stayed in Playa Copa, had a few beers swapped maps, tips and of course bike stories! Then today at breakfast we stopped in Liberia for some food and parked beside this huge new shiny Honda Goldwing. We got talking to the owner, who is an Argentinian living in Miami, and he is officially crazy. He is driving the bike from Miami to Ushuaia Argentina (also my destination) ... but its a Goldwing!! big tourers are not meant to go there. So we rode together today and will probably get the bikes sent to Colombia together with Girag out of Panama City. I myself fly on Wednesday morning with Copa. So next few days are going to be hectic  getting everything sorted out. Got the Service, the Shipping, and have to locate a GPS unit! But all going well, and of course will have to go visit the famous canal.

Nicaragua - Managua

I write this on my last night in Managua from the house of Salvador. I have spent the last few days since leaving Leon here with another of the HMD’s, which really was a fun experience. Nicaragua is really cheap compared to some of the other countries around here. Dinner can be had for as little as 2 euro a head. We ate at Sals grandmother for lunch most days and really got a flavour for some of the local food. There was a different fresh juice drink for each day, each of them I had never heard of before.
Payed a visit to the highest point in the area where you have a panoramic view of all Managua stretching out to the lake. There is a Cut out statue of Sandino here and the remains of tank that was gifted to the dictator Somoza Gacia by Musolini of Italy.
On Saturday we drove across to Matagalpa for the biggest party in the area, where we met up with some friends and danced the night away. Brought the camera out and you can see some of the pictures over on the right. The videos you will never see! I actually met another red head at the party. She was Nica but her Grandmother had come from Ireland and hence the hair!
We left here on the Sunday morning and drove up around the Selva Negra and did some of the dirt roads before heading back to Managua. Now I have to pack up the bike again and get ready to head to Costa Rica, but first an overnight stop at the beach in San Juan del Sur, for an early border crossing and avoiding the long queues of tour busses!

BMW R1200GS

The BMW has now crossed over 12,500 miles and is going great. This trip from Ireland to Argentina has almost reached the end of Central America, and shortly the R1200GS will be in for its next service in Panama.
After spending the last four months sitting on it everyday it is starting to feel like an extended part of me. I think in am in love! The bike is probably a little heavy but it handles great, and I think i have started to master fast curves.
Driving over here has really forced me to alter my driving style. You really must be much more defensive, and not put yourself in a position where you are vulnerable. The next corner could bring two busses coming towards you, or just a seriously huge hole in the road waiting to swallow you up!
Message is stay awake!!!