2 up thru 5

Finally we get back to documenting the rest of our South American trip.  Missing are Peru, Bolivia and Chile…..so many experiences to summarize, so while we focus on the blog we will be getting swept away with the beauty of the Australia.

We arrived in Peru on Friday, December 5th.  These were the first sites to greet us as we crossed the border.

 

As we were riding to Mancora we passed many of these enclaves of buildings/shacks/sheds and weren’t too sure if they were summer huts or permanent communities.  Some were more inhabited than others.

 Our first destination in Peru, Mancora, a very popular resort town.

 

    

 After a couple of relaxing days at the beach it was time to make our way back to the Andes.

     

At a roadside cafe in Saman where we first met Fernando and Almu who had been travelling for just over 18 months on a KTM 1190 Adventure R, having started their journey in Spain.

  

On the road to Olmos.

  

Olmos turned out to be a very desolate community.  The only hotel in town offered shabby rundown rooms, with no alternative we checked in.  After unpacking we wandered down to the local watering hole for a beer.  It was an interesting experience.  They set the table with a large plastic bowl in the center with one glass.  Then they brought over a beer.  We were a little confused and asked for three more beer. Now they seemed a bit confused, but brought us the beer.  As we sat talking about the day we noticed at the other tables people were sharing a beer.  They would pour a glass for a person, who would drink it in one shot, pour the dregs of the glass into the plastic bowl in the center of the table, refill the glass and pass it to the next person.

       

The following day we made our way back into the mountains before dropping to the lowest point of passage through the Continental Divide via the Rio Utcubamba valley.

 

A stop for coffee along the way, another new experience. You receive a vessel of very strong, thick instant coffee from which you pour a desired amount into your cup before adding hot evaporated milk and sugar to taste.

 

 

Riding along the river we were surprised to find working rice paddies, felt like Asia.

Hugging the river.

We reach hotel Villa de Paris in Chachapoyas.

The following day we were up early in search of an ancient fort, Kuelap, high in the surrounding mountains.  Unfortunately we did not find it before heavy rains set in.

We are just short of the summit with no ruins in site.  We decide to make our way down the mountain to avoid being caught in the approaching storm.

Tom and Tracy arrived a few hours later, soaked to the bone after nightfall and a slow difficult descent….but they did find the ruins!

We left Chachapoyas the next day, Wednesday, December 10th, to travel to Celendin.  We were on the road early not knowing exactly what would be waiting for us, just that the road was classified as one of the most dangerous in the world.

 

 

 

We arrived in Chacanto, only to learn we had another pass to travel through before we would reach Celendin.  This time the summit was 3600 meters, but not nearly as steep, narrow or difficult as the one we have just passed through, basically it has many long swithbacks to the summit, although still hugging the side of the mountain.

We decided not to stay the night in Celendin as accommodations were not very inviting and Cajamarca was within striking distance.   We wrapped up in our warmest gear as the cold was penetrating, the winds were picking up and we were headed for a night ride.

We arrived in Cajamarca cold, tired and hungry after a good twelve hour mountain ride through one of the most spectacular passes we had encountered.  We checked into the first hotel in the square, the Costa Sol Hotel, unpacked the bikes and made our way to the restaurant for a hot meal and a warm drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a brief sojourn, back on the road again, on our way to Iguazu Falls via Buenos Aires to get a new back tire for the bike.

 

 

We arrived in Buenos Aires before Tom and Tracy as they had made a side trip to see penguins and as our back tire was in dire need of replacement we weren’t able to join them.  We agreed to meet in BA and then continue the ride to  Iguazu Falls.  They limped into BA a couple of days after us, the BMW was once again having rear axle problems.  The end result,  Tom was faced with a major decision….was it worth fixing, with the worry of what would be next, as it is a 2007 with over 140,000km….it had earned it’s keep….or would he replace it, as he was going back to England for a few weeks anyway.

Final decision, new bike.  Change of plans, Iguazu Falls would be too demanding a ride time wise for us as we had scheduled a departure date for the bike and ourselves for Australia.  So much more time in Buenos Aires for us than planned and an early departure to England for Tom and Tracy to get things organized.

Instead of the Falls a shorter trip to Montevideo, Uruguay;  the four of us decided on ferry and bus as transport and off we went for a couple of days.

Back in Buenos Aires, farewell to Tom and Tracy, then back to enjoying the city and getting ready to change continents.

 

 

 

and ready to go.

talk soon.  🙂

 

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. We packed up our bike, enjoyed a homemade brownie at the lo de Haydee  Bakery then rode to el Calafate.

The road was paved all the way and the wind was at our back.

After setting up camp we rode the 70km to Perito Moreno Glacier.

We were very fortunate to witness and record a 240 foot column of ice calving into the lake.

After two weeks on our own, Tom and Tracy caught up with us in Calafate, nice to be riding together again.  The next morning the four of us departed to Torres del Peine Park in Chile. The ride to El Cerrito was relatively easy as we were on asphalt, but the strong winds that Ruta 40 is notorious for continued. After Cerrito it was rippia (gravel) all the way to the Chilean border with no rest from the wind.

 

After an incredibly smooth and quick border crossing we were back on the bikes and on our way into Puerto Natales.  As was becoming our habit, we were once again blown into town.

Warming up and looking for a place to stay.

We found a great hotel.

In the morning Tom’s bike was experiencing a starting problem which was caused by a faulty gearbox neutral sensor – not a simple fix. Luckily it happens infrequently.

Finally the bike started and off we went, another 70km of gravel and wind to ride to get to the park.

Reaching the Park gates.

We had been led to believe that the campsite within the park would be full, but to our amazement there were many tent sites available, so we set up camp with a front row view.

After setting up camp and enjoying the view we rode further into the park.

Lowering the tire air pressure as the road altered between rough gravel and washboard.

While having dinner at the park restaurant we enjoyed viewing both the wildlife and the sunset.

In the morning weather conditions were warm, sunny and calm as we set off for Punta Arenas via Puerto Natales.

We set off for Punta Arenas to catch the ferry for Tierra del Fuego.  That evening in Punta Arenas as we were entering Sorito’s, a restaurant recommended to us for dinner, we noticed Klaus sitting at the head of a long table with the tour group he was driving the support vehicle for. As we approached him to say hello, to our astonishment, sittting beside him was Dave Highton from our home town!   What a great surprise to see such a familiar face and once again proving what an incredibly small world it is.  It was wonderful to run into you Dave.  Hope the rest of your journey was amazing. We look forward to sharing stories.

Wednesday, Feb. 4 caught the 9am ferry to Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego.

 

Next, 200km of rippia before crossing back into Argentina from Chile.

After 200km of dust we crossed back into Argentina. Our destination for the day had been Rio Grande, but when we arrived all the hotels were full due to a convention!!!   By the time we had looked into all the accommodation options in Rio it was 6:30 pm, but we had light on our side being so far South.  We made the decision to ride the 225km to Ushuaia that evening.

We were greeted with a great road, beautiful vistas and a watercolor sunset.

We made it…..February 4, 2015…..our first views of Ushuaia; latitude S54 deg. 48′, the end of the Pan American Highway and the southern most city in the world.

We were pumped.

Next step, Ushuaia – Iguazu Falls…..or so we thought….

talk soon…..l+m  xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the 31st of January and we are enjoying some off road time in el Calafate, Argentina.  We are quite far behind on the blog so have decided to start in the present and work on the missing bits in the background, posting them as they are completed.

As some of you know Lindsay and I have been travelling without our travel companions, Tom and Tracy since Antofagasta Chile, as the back drive on their BMW blew out on the ride from Iquique to Antofagasta.  The plan was for them to get the bike fixed in Antofagasta while Lindsay and I travelled to La Serena to have the blown fork seals repaired on our bike. We offered to wait there for them, but they thought we should keep going and they would catch up to us, that was Jan 11. So after their many trials and tribulations we all reconnected last night, Jan 30, here in Calafate.

Lindsay and I crossed from Chile to Argentina on Jan 17th leaving the beautiful wine region of Los Andes, Chile behind and climbing through the Passo de la Cumbra with it’s 29 switchbacks (numbered), into Aconcagua National Park and into the lineup at the border crossing.

Once again we encountered the joy of border crossings.  This time is was a simple bureaucratic issue that caused us to endure a 2.5 hour crossing  It turned out there is a reciprocity tax charged to Canadians entering Argentina.  That was painful enough, $92 American per head, but the big issue was there was only one official to process the tax and he was busy processing bus loads of tourists, so we waited.

The site that greeted us as we exited the border crossing made us thankful that we were entering Argentina and not exiting it.  We estimated the line up of cars waiting to get into Chile to be 3 km to 5km long. Shortly after passing the endless lineup we were greeted by the beauty of Rio Mendoza Valley and made our first stop at the Puerte del Inca stone bridge.

Next stop was in the beautiful city of Mendoza, center of Argentina’s wine district, sheltered from it’s arid surrounding by boulevards lined with lush avenues of trees.

Outside of Mendoza we passed Volcano Tupungato which reminded me of a floating Buddha.

We were now experiencing the winds of Patagonia while riding  the wide open plains from Mendoza to Malarque.  We settled into our hotel in Malarque and enjoyed our first bite of Argentinian beef.

 The following day found us on gravel for about 100km of the ride to Chos Malal.  The first 40km was a construction zone, our least favorite type of surface as it is generally thick gravel that has just been laid to create a new detour, leaving a very loose driving surface.  This was accompanied by winds.  Fortunately the last 60km was a typical gravel road, much easier riding with the exception of the washboard being hard on the bike. It was nice to get back onto ashphalt.

Our rides were being defined by the mountain framed windswept plains of Patagonia.

After riding the plains for a few days we found ourselves dropping into the lush Lakes District of Argentina.

First stop in the Lakes District, San Martin Los Andes. We located the municipal campground and set up camp.  It was fabulous to be part of such a vibrant tenting community.

On the way to Villa Angastura. The road still presented a few challenges, but well worth the effort.

Got into Villa Angastura and checked into a campground, only to find that our tent poles had been lifted from our bike.  I know, you are thinking we probably forgot to pack them, but we checked our morning departure photos and they were strapped onto the bike.  Unfortunately we did not have a clear line of vision to the bike when we had breakfast in San Martin that morning, and we think that whoever pulled them off the bike didn’t know what they were getting and just took them because they were accessible.

Lindsay went into town to see if he could get a new tent, but they only had the the sleeve design. So after some thought we decided it was early enough to get back on the bike and make our way to Bariloche to see if we could find a tent there.   We were literally blown into town , the winds were howling off the lake .  We found our way to the town center and started our search for a tent.  Well we lucked out.  Lindsay, through a few karmic contacts. was directed to a sport shop, Garmont, where there was a possibility of buying the replacement posts for the tent. It turned out that the shop didn’t have exactly what we needed, but the owner, Santiago, assembled a whole new frame for us.  He was incredible. So we were back on the camping trail while riding through the Lakes District.

After San Carlos Bariloche our next destination was el Chalten to see Mount Fitz Roy. First stops enroute were Esquel and Perito Moreno.

It didn’t look like much, but the common area had the best music from the 60’s playing and good wifi.

Our campsite in Esquel, an indication of how windy our driving conditions were that day.

Left the next morning thinking that we would be camping in Rio Mayo.  We had read that there was a decent campground there.

We had heard and read many different versions of the road condition to Rio Mayo, but what we found was mostly paved with the last 70 or so km under construction, soon to be fully paved.

 As we rode into Rio Mayo our hopes of finding a decent campground diminished.

 

No photos of the campground, but they too were run down and inhospitable looking.  So we decided to ride on to Perito Moreno.  This time we lucked out with road conditions as we were expecting about 100km of gravel, only to find the highway paved after the 3km gravel exit from Rio.

Found a good municipal campground in Perito Moreno, winds were still our friend and there was a religious celebration going on in the outdoor common area with lots of singing and story sharing.  We got the tent set up and picked up a few snacks for the evening meal.  While we were settling in a group of Brazilian riders rode in.  Soon after Lindsay was sharing information with them.

Heard from Tom and Tracy via email during breakfast at a little café in town.  They were back on the road and about 7 days behind us.  After breakfast we started our ride to Gobernador Gregores our overnight stop en route to el Chalten. Roads were good all the way but again very windy.  Pretty sure that there is no Patagonia without wind…..just varying states of it.

Ride to Gregores.

 

 

 

Arrived in Gobornador Gregores low on cash as ATM’s in Argentina were not inclined to give chip cards money and we found that in the small towns many gas stations, hotels and restaurants wanted cash. We were sure that Gregores was a large enough center for us to find an international atm.  Not so…..once again the ATM did not like our card, but fortunately we could use credit for gas.  Next we looked for the campground, it was sketchy,  so we decided on a hotel.  Found the hotel, no credit taken, only cash.  So there went our last Argentinian pesos.  We managed to purchase some food as the supermarket took credit, but would not give cash with the purchase.  We decided we would be ok in the morning when the bank opened as we had some Chilean pesos that we could exchange.

We arrived at the bank right at opening along with about ten other people. After a 45 minute wait the sole clerk serving clients said sorry, there was nothing he could do for us, as he stood there counting thousands of pesos.

Next option, plead my case to the manager, a professional looking young woman.  She listened patiently then explained there is simply no way for the bank to either give me money on my card or exchange the Chilean pesos for Argentinian ones.  I explain we are on our way to el Chalten and the likelihood of being able to purchase either gas or food on credit seems to be highly unlikely. She agrees wholeheartedly.  Finally after a bit more pleading on my part she offered to purchase some of the Chilean pesos from her personal funds.  Great relief, thank you’s and we are able to leave Gobernador Gregores.

We left Gobernador Gregores with rain clouds looming in the distance, so we geared up hoping  the rain would bypass us.

As we approached our route, a dirt road, we realized that we had just missed the rain and were feeling pretty lucky. Then we noticed a grader in the distance turning the road, taking advantage of the soft conditions to level things.

And this is what we found.

The road had turned to mud that was so sticky it had collected between the front tire and the fender resulting in the wheel seizing and chucking Lindsay…..luckily Marian was a spectator at this point as it was a ‘test’ run on the new surface. Well our spirits were deflated, especially since the grader had passed us and was now coming towards us working the other side of the road.  Marian was thinking the only way out was to walk, and even that would be difficult as the mud was caking on our boots making walking almost impossible.  Of course Lindsay said ‘no way’ to walking.

As we were removing the fender and cleaning up the tire two bikes came cruising over the horizon.  Our jaws dropped!  As they approached they rode over the mud on their street tires then came to a halt.  They told us the road was in good condition, we just needed to get past this part, and we noticed that where the grader had passed earlier on the other side of the road things were already drying out, no caking on their tires.  We were hopeful.  Lindsay got the bike back together and off we went, knowing that the road was passable.

Reaching the end of the worst of it.

Gravel, a welcome site.

81 km later putting air back in the tires as we reach pavement.

Next challenge, finding gas in Tres Lagos, a pinpoint on the map.  We luck out, there is gas.

A popular stop….thinking we should get a 2up sticker made up.

 

After all the mud, gravel and ever present wind we are rewarded with a glimpse of what was to come.

Mount Fitz Roy

We stayed in el Chalten for two days with winds whistling through the town and campground all day long, while evenings brought calm star and moon filled nights.

We left el Chalten for Calafate on Thursday Jan. 29. ……

Will pick up the thread next blog.

p.s. Congratulations to Kevin and Lia on their recent engagement.  We are thrilled.

xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing the border into Equador.

First stop Ibarra.

From Ibarra we made a day trip to the Saturday market in Otavalo and rode to Laguna de Cuicocha in hopes of seeing Volcano Cotacachi …unfortunately the ceiling was too low, but we had great views of the lake.

Next stop crossing the Equator. We first crossed the equator while driving the Pan American Highway.  Not demarcation, but the gps showed it to be so.  We continued on to the official monument just outside of Quito to mark the event.

 Quito

 

Equador is already more than a month ago and some of the details escape us.  But the overall impression is that of great contrasts, from the dry coast to the lush Avenue of Vocanoes and through the  mountain passes joining the two. There was also a very strong contrast in cultures arriving from Colombia.  As we mentioned before Colombia was vibrant where Equador felt much more reserved and impoverished.

We made our way from Quito via Cotopaxi and Quevedo to Puerto Lopez on the coast.

Price of gas in Ecuador. Currency American dollars.

Not only was gas very cheap, but all tolls, and there were many, were free for motorcycles.

Through the pass in Rerserva Ecologic Los llinzes we reached altitudes of 13,180′, our highest pass so far.  We had views of beautiful cultivated terraced lands.  The rudimentary enclaves of inhabitants dotted the landscape and left us wondering how they keep warm and where they get their cooking fuel from living in such isolated circumstances.

En route to Puerto Lopez on the coast we weren’t prepared for the dry and burnt landscapes that would greet us.  It was the end of the dry season and there was a lot of agricultural burning going on giving a grey hue to the already monotone landscapes.

 A site for sore eyes when we reach the coast.

Upon arriving at Puerto Lopez we had the good fortune of passing a small welding shop that Lindsay visited to have the bracket for the ktm driving light repaired.

 Puerto Lopez.

The fishers

En route to Guayaquil via Salinas November 28.

 

From Guayaquil we rode to Cuenca through another incredible Pass in Parque National El Cajas.

Stopping for lunch to enjoy the view.

 Arriving at our hotel in Cuenca. The owners of the Hostel Posada de Angel were kind enough to let us park just at the back of their breakfast areas as they had no other parking for the bikes!!

 A taste of Cuenca

 

Rode from Cuenca to Loja, again riding into the highlands of the Andes.

Tracy and I were greeted with a questioning look as we entered the Grand Victoria Boutique to check in for our stay…..we decided the receptionist had never seen anyone decked out in riding armour!

We took a day ride abutting Parque National Podocarpus from Loja to the small mining town of Zamora.

 

On our descent from Zamora into Loja the bike died and we found ourselves coasting into town. As we were running out of ‘coast’ we pulled to the side of the road to contemplate what was happening.  The bike had just had it’s scheduled maintenance done in Cuenca, which had to do with the fuel system.  Lindsay discovered that the mechanic had forgotten to open one of the fuel lines exiting the tank. So fortunately it was simply a turn of the screw 🙂    Great relief.

Left Loja for Huaquillas to position ourselves for the proverbial border crossing, this time into Peru. Originally we had planned to cross at La Balsa, but information told us that the road conditions were questionable, so we decided on the coastal route.  Landscapes on the coast are always a shock after being in the mountains.

 

En route.

 

 

Wishing you all a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy 2015.

xx

 

 

 

Dear Family and Friends,

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and All the Best in 2015.  May your Christmas be filled with family, good friends and warm hearths and your New Year be Healthy, Happy.

xx

 

 

 

 

Arrived in Colombia Nov.12.  Good flight from Panama, no delays, in fact we arrived at the Bogota airport a few minutes ahead of schedule.  Only problem we encountered was going through security in Panama City.  Lindsay had forgotten to take his pocket knife out of his pack, so the agent confiscated it. We wanted to go back to luggage drop off and check it through with a small bag we were carrying, but there was no negotiating, the knife was gone.

Outside the terminal building we hailed a taxi van, loaded all our gear and started our drive into downtown Bogota.  It was amazing, four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic as far as the eye could see, hundreds of motorcyclists weaving throughout the lanes and great Spanish music playing in our van.  Talk about vibrant.  Forty five minutes later we pulled up in front of our hotel feeling very upbeat about being in Colombia.

Next day the main item still on the agenda was the bikes which were scheduled to arrive in the morning. At breakfast Tom says he has received an email from Veronica (the shipper) to say there is a slight delay, can we pick the bikes up in the evening or tomorrow morning.  We opt for the evening. The sooner the better.  Then yet another email, more delays, it would have to be Friday morning.

During our time in Panama City, Tom and Lindsay were able to locate BMW and KTM  bike dealers in Bogota. In fact there are 21 KTM dealers listed. The plan was to pick up the bikes on the Friday morning and ride directly to each dealer. Meanwhile, on Thursday they visited the distributor for Heidenau tires and each bought a new rear tire.  The dealer recommended which KTM dealer Lindsay should go to.

On Friday, armed with tires they took a taxi to the airport cargo area and after two hours of paper work and waiting around the bikes appeared. They were in perfect condition and as they strapped their tires across the back of the bike they had a large audience of shippers and general workers taking photos.

Bogota is a city of 8 million and the traffic is insane. A gps is a must but you keep running across one way streets or detours that are not noted by the gps so a fair bit of time is wasted getting to your destination. Lindsay reached the dealer at about 1:00 pm and Santiago, one of the co-owners, could not have been more helpful.  Santiago led Lindsay through the maze to the repair shop about twenty minutes away. Within minutes the bike was on a lift and being stripped down. Santiago said it would be ready by 11:00 am the next day with various items having to be attended to, including a new radiator and the rear tire mounted. Meanwhile Tom also had success getting a new rear seal fitted at the BMW dealer.

Colombia is the motorcycle capital of South America and it is evident everywhere. On every street bikes outnumber cars, and bikes such as ours command a lot of attention – bikers know their bikes. Surprisingly KTM is a far more recognized brand than BMW.

Meanwhile Marian spent the better part of the day getting the map of Colombia loaded onto the gps.  First not enough memory on the Zumo to accommodate another map, then the upload stopped half way through and the transfer of information was literally taking hours.  Picked up a cable for the computer to connect directly to the cable port, after much wasted time realized the port was not working.  Had the hotel technician fix the problem.  Once again try the download, still not working. Contact Garmin.  They send a check list of possible issues.  Finally after eliminating most possibilities changed the browser from Google to Explorer…..map downloaded in an hour.  Colombia now navigable.

Riding in Colombia is similar to Central America and Mexico, passing on the right and left, lane splitting, shoulder riding and ambulance chasing!!!! In Mexico we realized that at any stop, be it a traffic light or detour, bikes would make their way to the front of the line. We got pretty good at lane splitting and shoulder riding, but always at very low speeds. We found a new definition of ‘ambulance chaser’ in Colombia.  At a single lane detour we found all the bikes  lined up at the front waiting for the signal to proceed when an ambulance going in our direction passed us. All the waiting bikes took off in the ambulance’s wake, even though traffic coming the other way still had the right of way, but of course the ambulance had priority and the bikes were in its draft! We learned quickly and followed suit as the attached video shows. We followed this way through a number of construction areas before arriving at the open highway where the faster bikes passed the ambulance and the slower ones fell behind. We waited until it slowed down and waved us by, his emergency lights and siren still going.

Bogota was still very much an organizational stop, but we loved the city, the food and the people.  Even enjoyed a Starbucks!!!  Tracy and Marian did a bit of a walk around the historic section while the guys were maintaining the bikes.

Saturday, Novmber 15, time to leave Bogota for Honda.  Lindsay picked the KTM up from the shop around 11:00 and was back at the hotel by noon.  By the time we had the bikes packed and ready to go the skies opened and we were in a torrential downpour.  We dawned our raingear, hopped on the bikes and set off.  What a ride, we wish we had pictures to share, but the rain prevented it.  Roads were flooded, traffic was backed up for miles, chaos ruled the streets and we navigated our way through in the company of hundreds of local riders. It was crazy. The bottom line, it took us almost three hours to go 27 km before exiting the traffic.  I think the truckers and automobile drivers must still be there!!!

After clearing the traffic, our ride to Honda was beautiful.  Lots of curves, beautiful scenery and a good riding temperature.  Got into Honda around 7pm.  The bikes roared up to the Posada La Trampas, our hotel, to find a gathering of formally dressed people mingling outside of the hotel. They seemed as surprised at the sight of us as we were at the sight of them.  It turned out there was a wedding reception at the hotel, which was going to be a bit disconcerting in the early morning hours.  But at arrival the hotel was a beautiful old classic, all stone and wood.  The man at reception spoke no English and our Spanish was not going so well.  As we were exchanging words and hand signals Angela appeared.  A young Columbian woman from Bogota who was the manager and spoke English flawlessly.  Once we were settled into our rooms she organized dinner and drinks by the pool for us and shared a wealth of information regarding Honda.  When we went up to the pool area for dinner there was one other couple there, and as unlikely as it would seem, it was the Spanish BMW manager that Tom had dealt with in Bogota, small world.

After a great dinner of mixed fried rice and cold beer we called it a night.  As I alluded to earlier, the wedding reception was still going full force, and our room was right above all the celebrating.  Finally at 2:30 am all went still and we were able to sleep.  Morning arrived early and off we went to walk the village, visiting the historic bridge across the Magdalena River where an enterprising citizen had constructed a wooden bridge and charged a toll to all the locals for crossing. There is no longer a toll.

Left Honda for Salento around noon.  It was our first taste of the Andes and we were dazzled.  The ride was beyond beautiful, reaching elevations of 12,155 ft with the slopes manicured with coffee plantations and haciendas perched on ridges overlooking farms.

Time to gas up and no premium but we topped up giving a blended rating.  The station we stopped at turned out to be a real cultural treat.  The guys at the pumps were so excited to see the bikes.  After filling up they all gathered around so we could take pictures.  As we were doing that the police pulled in and in a reserved way let us take pictures with them.

 

While we were stopped a large truck went by us and hanging onto the back were two boys on a bicycle getting a free ride. It reminded Lindsay of “taxi-bottining” with his friends in his youth, hanging onto the rear bumpers of cars when the streets in Arvida were icy.

The road to Salento took longer than anticipated and left us doing some night riding, something we try not to do as we are unfamiliar with the roads and cities and it makes navigation a bit more challenging.  In this case the final stretch of road into Salento was very narrow, windy and lit up with a steady stream of headlights heading home from a long weekend, and the way drivers drive in Colombia you really need to take care on blind corners.  In this case we had the misfortune of being forced off the road as one impatient driver was passing another coming around a corner .  Luckily we were a bit before the corner and ended up on a very ragged shoulder, but a shoulder none the less, and Lindsay managed to keep us stable.

We finally arrived at the Central Square in Salento with the objective of finding a hotel, as we didn’t have one booked.  What welcomed us was a square jam packed with people enjoying the last of their long weekend. When we pulled up and stopped we were immediately surrounded by curios and interested people.  There were questions, photographs, offerings of help to find accommodation in a town that was completely booked up and exchanges of bike stickers, hats and emails.  It was amazing and a bit overwhelming. We managed to escape the crowds and start on our search for accommodation.  After about half an hour of going in circles checking out various hotels we ended up at the only room left in town at El Mirador Del Cocora….Tom, Tracy, Lindsay and Marian bunking together, a first for everything.  We did luck out though with it’s location, views and great breakfast.

 Next morning a quick walked to see the vistas then off to Lago Calima.  We struggled with the choice of going to Cali or Lago Calima as Lindsay had received an invitation to visit a bike shop in Cali from the guys he connected with in the square last night. Final decision, Lago Calima.

Another great ride, this time through the Lakes District.  En route a restaurant with about thirty bikes parked out front caught our attention. We pulled in and visited with the riders.  They were a touring group from Cali and highly recommended the Calima destination as well as recommending the Comfandi Resort area. Turned out to be a great little resort about three quarters of the way around the lake. Very inexpensive, meals all inclusive and very quiet as it was off season. We had a great night.

 

Next morning we enjoyed breakfast outside on the patio under a warm sun, then walked down to the lake before repacking and starting our ride to Popayan, “the white city”. We arrived in Popayan in rain after a sunny day of riding over and through the ridges, valleys and mountains of the Andes. We did not have a hotel reservation in Popayan so had to do some searching when we got there. During the search the heavens turned on the taps. We found accommodation outside of the main historic area at the San Martin hotel, but they only had room for us for one night.  This allowed us to dry out and book somewhere closer to the historic area the next morning.  We found a beautiful restored monastery, the Hotel Dann.  We checked in and then spent the day enjoying the historical buildings and square.

November 20th we were on our way to Pasto in preparation for the border crossing into Ecuador. On the ride to Pasto we encountered a great deal of road construction but this  is where our ‘ambulance chasing’  took place, which guided us through the delays in record time.

The construction ended and we arrived onto roads that were unparalleled in beauty.

We arrived in Pasco as rain was settling in. Lindsay and Tom went in search of gas because when we rode into town we noticed the stations had long lineups.  It turned out that the town regularly runs out of gas at the end of every third week of the month, leaving a gap in service, so getting gas was imperative as we were crossing into Ecuador in the morning.  Lindsay and Tom got caught in the evening rain, but came home with tanks full of regular gas. Good to go.

Up early bracing for another border crossing.  Loaded up the bikes and off to the border crossing at Ipiales.  It was amazing….it was a civilized crossing, calm, organized, no fixers, no money passing hands, clean, organized a real change from our Central American experiences.  The process still took a couple of hours due to bike paperwork, but it was very laid back.

During the process we met a German couple that had been travelling for five years in a refurbished firetruck that now resembled an armoured vehicle.

So farewell Colombia and thank you for such a spectacular and warm welcome during our visit.  It was such a breath of fresh air to travel here.  People were friendly and seemed incredibly happy with easy smiles and infectious laughter.  The scenery was beyond beautiful and the food was delicious. Travelling here gave a feeling of having run the gauntlet when coming through Central America, the contrasts were so great. And now we move on to our next adventure, Ecuador.