Dirt Finally 🙂 Today we hit the first dirt road and I feel awesome. This is what I have been waiting for, anything off tarmac makes me happy, I just find it interesting and fun to ride bad dirt roads and feel that this is what adventure biking is about … to me anyway.

 a welcome watermelon break

Day 1 on the dirt: 450kms, Gadget and I took off like the devil himself was behind us. Sand, ruts, corrugations and potholes we did this wonderful dirt dance around them and tried to miss (unsuccessfully) as many as possible.  The only thing that wasn’t great were the trucks, they bulleted down these roads swerving to miss the big potholes and not giving a damn who or what was in the way, we had quite a few near misses. Riding behind them was impossible as the dust was so thick you were completely blinded. I have experienced a lot of dist riding / driving but this is crazy you literally  cannot see a thing not the sky above or the road below. It is truly scary. The only option was to pass but that was a challenge in itself. I was at one point behind this truck racing at phenomenal speed (for a huge truck) causing masses of thick yellow dust to billow out behind it. I realised that I must pass this truck since even if I dropped back out of the dust I’d be stuck behind it all day. So I tried to go left to see if I could see past it. Next minute I heard him slam on breaks and skid along the gravel (no break lights) the next second there was a truck inches from gadgets front wheel, I swerved right slammed on breaks locked the back wheel and went sliding all the way along the whole length of the truck to end up millimetres from a bridge rail. My heart stooped, phew that was far far too close for comfort. Fortunately since the damn truck slammed on brakes for the bridge, my guess is the driver was sleeping and did not see it earlier, I could at least think quickly and get past him after the bridge before he sped up again.

One good thing is that there were very few trucks on the road. The other really cool thing is that I saw and otter.  It was running along the side of the road and then crossed right in front of me but before I could get my camera out it was gone. We had seen 2 dead otters the day before which was very sad as they had been run over. The other sad thing is still no jungle. I enjoyed the day thoroughly though as gadget is an awesome off road little monster 🙂

 dirt glorious dirt, this is what we came for, lovely brown and sticky stuff, what we we do without it. Oh dirt glorious dirt wonderful dirt magnificeeeeeent diiiiiiirt  – sung to the tune of food glorious food 🙂

a few interesting but good bridges

on and off the ferry, we did quite a few of these little ferries

 lovely early morning misty start

 sunrise from the ferry

Day 2 on the dirt: 680kms, I have to say I do think this was bad planning as no one knew in advance what the road would-be like except that it is a dirt road. We were really lucky as it was in very good condition and most of it had been freshly graded, plus there seemed to be far fewer trucks. It there had been rain it would have been one big mud bath. I think planning a 680km day on dirt is not very good.  As bad luck would have it this was the day we’d have multiple issues.

We got up at 5am and were on the road by 6am. I rolled in at 20:30 14.5 hrs later in the pitch dark, on a very very sick bike. Everyone arrive in the dark … as I said bad planning as it is not at all fun to ride these pitch black dirt roads in the dark and it was the last 50kms of the road which just happened to be really bad.

So what can I say, corrugations will test the hardiest of bikes, as will bad fuel. Gadget sounds like a popcorn machine, but the sound is quite metallic and coming from the engine. The last 100kms were a killer I had to keep the revs very high and he crawled along at 40 – 50km/h it was a tough ride, plus he is only getting 5kms to the litres so he is drinking petrol like it is cool aid. However no smoke and no leaking fuel. The prognosis from the support team is that it is valves, worst case scenario the top needs to be taken off and valves or valve spring or something like that replaced. Best case scenario older model KLRs get a carbon build up on the top of the piston and then can be blown off by running the engine very hot and spraying water into the air intake valve. We’re going to try that since if it does not work the top needs to be taken off anyway. If the water trick does not work and the top needs to come off for the valves this can only be done by a mechanic in a mechanic shop so only in Belem (if we find someone, during our rest day there)

Now the bad news, Mike basically just told me that if we can’t sort the bike out there he can’t keep it on the truck and me in the truck all the way back to Colombia as he may need the space for another rider/bike in an emergency. Frack ( I will cross that bridge when I come to it IF gadget cannot be fixed)

The very bad news was that Henry hit a bridge and ripped the skin right up his arm to the bone OMG it was unbelievable the skin was pushed up like a rolled up sleeve and you could see the bone. With a stroke of luck this was 20kms outside a fairly large village with a Dr, talk about luck. Mike and all of us were convinced he would need to be flown home. However the Dr stitched him up and gave him a ton of antibiotics. Said he needs to keep it clean and try and bandage to be changed every day. In 8 to 10 days if all is good he can ride again. Henry refuses to go home and will sit in the truck for 10 days and then ride the rest of the trip as long as his arm is okay. In 2 days we are in Belem and Mike will take him to a Dr there for a check-up and if all is not good (since infection could be fatal) he is sending him home.

The next bit of very bad news is that the truck is fried they only got in at 3am on the back of a flatbed truck. The team have been working on it all day, it is Sunday and no mechanic will work today. Tomorrow is a public holiday but they managed to find a mechanic to work tomorrow so they will meet him at am (since it is a very catholic area so the reason for not working is religious) The rest of the group went on to the next town and we, me, Henry, Pete (the driver) and Mike will stay over one more night and then catch up driving the truck and riding Mikes bike (mine will be on the truck) day and night between the 4 of us (Henry can drive a little but not ride) This way we hope to catch the group in 2 days, the day before Belem where we will have a rest day (and I will try find a Mechanic for gadget)

So gadget was one issue, plus Henry’s arm, plus the truck, then we had 1 flat (thank goodness no more or things could have got even worse, I’ve lost count as to how many flats we’ve had) but then the radiator on Mikes bike also got damaged but he managed to get it back and fixed it today.

So the good part, yup there is always a good part, is that this is what adventures are made of 🙂 I hate that my bike is stuffed ESPECIALLY on the ONLY part of the trip worth anything i.e. 4 days of dirt riding (and nothing as fun as the BAM, just dirt roads but I’ll take what I can get) in 45 days of highway … seriously this trip should be called the Trans Highway Challenge.

Okay back to the good stuff … I saw and Otter 🙂 the day before yesterday it was running along the side of the road and then crossed in front of me, sadly it was gone before I could get the camera out.

I also say a HUGH really pretty black and emerald green shiny snake lying across the road, I swerved and missed it and then stopped and ran back to take a pic and the rider behind me almost ran over it which then frightened it and it turned and slithered off DAMN another animal picture missed.

Also while I was stopped once again on the side of the road while Mike went to fetch more petrol, it was pitch dark I mean as black as anything no lights anywhere and just the sounds of the jungle (yes we finally found a little bit of jungle) I looked up and saw the most amazing stars WOW I was in awe and just sat and stared for ages. Then I turned the bike lights back on as it was pretty dangerous sitting on the side of the road not illuminated.

So I am fine healthy, almost happy, still seeing the bright side, but gutted about my bike and trying not to think about what may happen if we don’t get it fixed.

and yet another flat Rick ?

  if you’re not dirty you’re not having fun

 little bits of jungle a welcome sight 🙂

 a flock of small black vulture we see them everywhere, loads of them … I am beginning to wonder if they are following me.

The border crossing into Brazil was the easiest we’ve had so far, and one of the easiest I’ve ever experienced (other than in Europe where they are almost non-existent).  I think it took an hour to exit Peru and enter Brazil. The best thing is that there are no vehicle customs controls in Brazil for private vehicles, this is the process that takes so long usually. Plus the border was empty so no long queues. The best part of the border crossing is that Lee and Cathy got into Brazil. They changed from there Canadian to British passports and no other border crossing would allow this so we were all waiting on tender hooks to see if the Brazilians would allow it and they did, it was an issue as no visa is required for the British passport but one is needed for the Canadians.

Now that we’ve entered the Amazon basin I cannot wait to get into the thick of things, this is the part of the trip I am most looking forward to, it will be challenging and good.  So far a couple of things I’ve seen on the Peruvian side of the Amazon basin.

1. The parrots. It is so strange and amazing to see parrots flying overheard. Back home I am used to seeing crows, pigeons or birds of prey but here parrots, how cool is that.
2. The butterflies OMG just gorgeous and so many … I really do love butterflies, we’ve ridden throw swarms of them (question: are groups of butterflies called swarms)
3. The amount of small towns. I am really shocked to see so many small towns and small holdings. It is quite sad but there are many hectares of the jungle that have been chopped down and burned to make farmlands. They are not big commercial farms and the ground is not very fertile for crops so cattle farms are the thing (I’ve been told but don’t know if this is true) , but there are a few banana plantations and many small sheep, horse and cattle farms. I’m curious to see if this changes as we get further into Brazil
4. The garbage is not left littering the streets but put up in box like cages away from animals that dig in it and spread it around
5. The dogs are reed thin and very skittish, clearly not well looked after or treated very well which is in direct contrast to those in Peru where even the street dogs look well fed and in good condition with some fantastic looking dogs just running around. There is garbage all over the place in Peru though and maybe that is why the dogs are well fed, many (not all) are also very friendly or at least not terrified
6. The people in Brazil are very helpful and friendly

We’ve come through Assis Brazil, Rio Branco, Porto Velho and Humaita and still no jungle, only dead straight tar roads and unbelievable heat.  The road itself almost seems to cook and this fiery heat just emanates upwards from it hitting you like an oven. Today we had 2 very brief but very welcome thunder storms, no rain jacket needed as every drop of rain was welcome to cool us down.

 tar tar and more tar … and a few potholes

 stopped to feed some turtles at lunch

 I want one of these for Gadget

 loving the butterflies

Left Cusco this morning to a little bit of drama. Steve has decided to drop off the tour. He was one of the riders in the taxi accident but was not injured. However he just said he’s had enough which is his prerogative so he is flying home. Rob the other rider in the accident went to the hospital for an x-ray as he is in a lot of pain. He has a cracked rib so will be spending a few days in the support vehicle but will be able to ride soon and finish the tour. I had a minor panic as well as I needed to change the back brake pads and walked down to the bikes with Rick only to find I had the front brake pads. I then clearly remembered that my back brake pads are in my panniers in Medellin. Uuugghh I panicked as my KLR is a different model to the others and so are the breaks. SO Mike said no option we need to put your bike on the trailer you cannot ride it like that safely. I was devastated but said let me just check my bag once more and there at the bottom were my back brake pads phew … gadget’s on the road again.

The road out of Cusco to Puerto Maldona is unbelievably stunning. We went up to 4724m and it was COLD but only because I didn’t put the lining in my jacket. After a couple of hours of very steep downhill twisties, great views and interesting Peruvian villages and animal markets we entered the Amazonian basin and were instantly warmer. In fact it got hot and humid within a few km’s plus the scenery changed instantly from high mountains with very little and shot vegetation to lush green Amazon.

Our first night in the Amazon was in the loveliest bungalows, but the last luxury we’ll have for awhile. The one thing we are all suffering from is insect bites, and this started in Cusco. We are covered in small red bits that are as itchy as hell, and suspect it is some kind of flea…and we haven’t even encountered the Amazon mosquitoes yet 😦

We arrived into Cusco at 3pm and the support truck and the two inured riders arrived at 10pm, tough ride for them in the dark but fortunately they are okay.

I was starving when we arrived so Jules and I went to grab a bite and wow once again were rewarded with great food. I’m enjoying the food in S America it suits me. In Abancaya, since I don’t read Spanish, I decided not to even try figure out the menu or order chicken / pollo again so just opened the menu pointed at a dish and ordered it. What a great choice the meal was similar to Chinese fried rice full of vegetables with medallions of beef which had been marinade, totally delicious.

After dinner we coincidentally came across a ceremony of some sorts with some kind of shaman blessing food and lots of dancing and singing, it was fascinating but I wished I knew what it was all about.

Today, the group went off to see Machu Pichu however I did not join them. The last time I was in Peru I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Pichu plus I will be back here with Joern in November. So today was my ”me” day J I like me days. I chilled, did my laundry, blogged, wrote emails while sitting in Nortons pub, skyped for 2 hours with Joern and walked Cusco flat.

What an awesome day. There was a big police parade in the centre of town which was fantastic, all the department we represented, the police, the dog unit, the horse units, the bike units and all of the rescue units, it was simply fantastic. I asked one police lady what the parade was for and as far as I can understand it is a big annual important police day for the police that have graduated (not sure if I understood it correctly but I think that was the just of it)

 This policeman was so nice, he was guarding the roads keeping the crowds back from the parade. Those two little boys crossed right in front of the parade and the small one stopped and burst into tears. The police went and picked him up and shushed him to calm him down, took the other boys and walked them across the street to behind where the crowds were standing. Just so nice…. Policemen rock

  Part of the parade were some demos from the swat team. They staged a couple of hijackings and the swat team swooped in guns blazing to save the day, it was actually super cool.

I felt so sorry for these guys they must have been burning up in those wetsuits in the sun, I was sweltering just watching them.

 The dog squad was my favourite they had some of the most gorgeous dogs.

After Manaco we headed down to Huanchaco, the road was long, boring and dusty so the pool was especially welcoming. In Huanchaco we also celebrated Rands birthday the second birthday on the trip.

Then back on the long Pan Am highway for another dusty hot boring day but finally we made it to Lima, fortunately in the light as no one wants to ride into Lima in the dark. We didn’t get to see much of Lima though but from what I saw it was very modern, but I believe there is a small old city that is worth seeing. I’m looking forward to exploring more of it when I come back to meet up with Joern.

From Lima we had a shortish ride to Nazca where the guys were hoping to hop a plane to see the Nazca lines but sadly there was a sandstorm so the planes were grounded.

        Relaxing in Nazca

After Nazca we were in for a real treat. The road out of Nazca is stunning by far the best landscape we have seen so far.  We started off in a chilly overcast day but soon broke through the clouds to mountains that seemed to go on forever. At the top were some crystal clear lakes and many lamas and alpacas. The roads were pristine and there was no traffic. I really got into the twisties this time and enjoyed them more than any other day, this is all due to them being traffic less 🙂

There are a few tiny flea bitten towns along the way and I cannot figure out what the people in them do. The very remote settlements are farms which is evident from the amount of Lamas and Alpacas and the herdsmen that you see watching over them. However in these tiny towns life seems quite dismal… but who am I to judge. I do know that I would hate to spend a winter up there

. 

Heading out of Abancaya we another story. The group got split in two amongst the windy confusing roads. So Roberto decided to carry on, after trying to find the missing 4 riders,  as he knew Rick (the 2^nd sweeper guide plus the support vehicle were still in town) There is only one road out of Abancaya to Cusco so we thought we’d meet the other riders on the road. When we stopped for a break,  Rand rode up to us to let Roberto know that the reason the second group was not there was because 2 of the riders had had an accident. They were stopped at a red light and a 16 seated white taxi van had simply ploughed straight into them.  Steve was hit by the van and hurt his foot as well as getting a few nasty bruises. His bike then hit Robert who also suffered a few bruises. Fortunately both riders are okay and can carry on riding and the bikes received a lot of superficial damage so are okay to carry on. A very close call and 100% the drivers fault, what can you say the drivers in Peru suck, nothing like in Colombia.

This was the first big accident we have had, other than this we’ve had bikes in ditches on the side of the road 4 times and once in the gravel on the opposite side of the road. We’ve also had 7 flat tires. Let’s hope the bad incidents are behind us as we will soon enter the Amazon 10 days of real challenging roads.

The border crossing from Ecuador to Peru was another story. The road to the border had some of the best views so far and far less traffic so I really enjoyed the twisties J I may convert to a twisitie rider yet…not. The border took forever not only did we need to wait in long lines to do the passport control but getting 13 bikes and a truck though customs took 5 hours.  This meant spending half the ride to Mancora in the dark, not fun. There are no street lights and when I say dark I meant dark. I have really bad eyesight at night as I see halos around all the lights. When I could see the back lights of the bikes in front of me it was ok as I just followed them but when they took off at 120km/hr I slowed down to 80 as you literally couldn’t see a thing. If a dog ran across the road or if there was a pot hole there would have been no chance of me seeing it in time to do anything, so I just went slow and tried hard to see how the road twisted in front of me, but finally we arrived in Mancora.

Mancora is a little back packers super town and quite cute. We have a rest day today and are all enjoying it.  I did my laundry, checked Gadget out thoroughly. For the last 3 days Gadget has not started in the morning or after lunch, the start switch is just dead and the only thing we can think of is that there is a contact issue since it is dead easy to push start and he’ll start within 2 meters . So I took the starter switch off and spraying it with some contact spray. The really strange thing is that Gadget started perfectly today, very unusual, I still took the button off anyway and am hoping the problem will not return as that could indicate something more serious. I hate electrical problems and I hate intermittent problems even more.

Other thank looking over the bike I had ample time to explore Mancora, swim, eat and just relax.

exploring the local market with Rand and Henry  fresh fruit for lunch

 this is what I looked like for most of the day

Tonight we’re all going out to dinner and will be celebrating Leigh’s 71^st birthday.  Leigh and Cathy, who also rides but is riding pillion this trip have been married for 51 years and ridden all over  the world.  They are the most awesome couple I have ever met, they are Cleary still in love but also just seem to get on flawlessly and are good friends. I hope  Joern and I are the same when we are in our 70s (I suspect we will be)

The border crossing from Peru to Ecuador was so simple. These things take time but wow how easy, NOTHING like border crossings in Russia.

We made a brief stop at the equator for some pictures, it was cool as I’ve crossed the equator many times but never been on the equator 🙂 The scenery through Colombia and Ecuador has been breathtaking, unfortunately I blinked and missed Ecuador due to the speed we rode through it.  We only spent 2 nights in Ecuador but I will be  coming back anyway on my way down to meet Joern in Peru.

Or Guides

The gang

On the road down to the Peru border

Another Volcano in Ecuador erupts

From Medellin to Salento: The 250km ride from Medellin to Salento was interesting to say the least. This group is FAST OMG not only am I not used to riding in a group like this but the entire group ride the same speed and it’s all or nothing. As Leigh commented ‘’usually on a tour like this there is a natural split in the group fast, medium and slow riders, but not on this tour’’ The main thing I am not used to is a tour where all the riders ride together behind a guide and with a sweeper rider at the back (this is like trail riding off-road) The adventure bike tours I have done were run different, each rider was given a GPS with all the routes and waypoints. During the morning briefing we were told at which waypoint we’d meet up, the final waypoint being the hotel. If the route was easy and not complicated we’d only meet at one or two waypoints. If the route was more complicated like Mongolia we’d meet frequently at waypoints. This way everyone rode their own speed stopped for breaks, coffee or pictures at will. Interestingly enough even the really fast biker often arrived last due to stopping for pictures etc. I really like this way of travelling in a tour. It’s taken some getting used to the way Motolombia organise their tour, where you ride and stop as a group. This is not a complaint it is simply different and I am sure suits a lot of people.

So I had a really shell shocked day. I’m not a huge fan of fast mountain twisties but try doing them in Colombia with a group of riders all of who have min 30 years biking experience and do twisties at 80 – 90 kms/hr, then add a myriad of huge Colombian trucks to the mix. I think I ended the day with post traumatic stress disorder. However there were some great views along the way.

Salento, Popayan and Pasto: My first overnight stop with the group was in Salento, what a lovely town. The day we arrived was a holiday and the town was in full celebrations, full of people, music and festivities.

 This lady is making a caramel sweet similar to marshmallow, quite tasty but SWEET

 On the hill overlooking Salento
The next morning we went to a coffee plantation for a tour which I can highly recommend.

ready to get picking

 Brian grinding the coffee
I spent the day riding with the sweeper guide, Roberto. He walked me step by step through twisties, gearing, breaking and watching my line. I also spent a lot of the day following him to get the line right. It was a great day and has done wonder to help me improve my technique and speed. I will never do twisties at 100km/hr or overtake on a blind rises but I am not no more than 5 mins behind the group. I have had to just live with being slower since my justification is that if I wipe out no helicopter it going to arrive in 5 mind and take me to a hospital in 15, plus it means the end of the my 8 month trip. I am just not comfortable going at the same speed as the group and also not willing to take the risks, but then again I don’t have the experience they do so they can handle it.

In Medellin I joined up with the Amazon Challenge group, a great bunch of people and will be spending the next 45 days with them. We’ll be travelling through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela and back to Colombia.

17 people, 13 bikes and a support truck. I don’t have much time to blog right now so will need to catch up when we have a rest day. Cheers for now

 Somewhere in Colombia

 The group

Yesterday I had an easy trip to Medellin less than 100kms, but it still took 2.45hrs, and it was nice to be back on the bike.  When you plot a route in Europe Google maps will roughly indicate that 200kms will take 2hrs. In Colombia Google maps will estimate twice that so 200kms will be estimated as 4 hrs and it is not wrong. Google maps estimated the trip from Guadape to Medellin 84kms at 2 hrs. It took me longer due to getting very lost in Medellin 🙂 as some of the GPS roads were closed to motorbikes.

 Graffiti in Medellin

 View from the hotel room

Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia and it sure is huge and has even worse traffic than Bogota. The roads are in good condition though and it is a nice city. I am not a fan of huge cities but when travelling they are worth seeing just to get a feel of the country you are visiting, you need to see both cities and countryside to really feel a country. One thing I have noticed is the amount of police. Not a day has gone by that I have not seen at least 8 to 10 police on motorbikes. I’ve only seen about 2 or 3 police cars as most police are on KLRs or DR650s. I’ve also seen at least 1 to 2  police check points on the roads between cities. I have only been stopped once and that was on the way into Guatape. The policeman was very friendly as asked where I was from and where I am going and wished me luck.

 (I still haven’t had a chance to get a pic of the police so had to borrow this off the internet so you could see the luminous bikes)

So far besides the beauty of Colombia the two things that have struck me is how colourful it is and how friendly the people are.  After arriving I went for a walk and met a local lady in a little coffee shop. She asked me where I was from and what I thought of Medellin. She told me how dangerous Colombia and Medellin were 20 years ago, that it used to be the murder capital of the world at one point. She explained that the government put a lot of money into education, building libraries and schools in some poor areas. She said this has done a lot to raise the prospects of children in those areas so they can now get jobs. The government also put a lot of effort into stopping crime, increasing the police presence. She went on to explain that Medellin is now safe, there are some slums outside the city and she told me not to go there alone, and also to be careful of pick pockets. However this is the same in all big cities, overall Medellin is a safe and nice city. The lady told me that there are still some areas in Colombia close to the border that are dangerous due to the drug cartels but most rural areas are very safe and the people very helpful. She ended by saying Colombia may not be perfect but it is perfect compared to what it used to be like. Wow what insight into this wonderful county in a short conversation, and it goes to show that countries can change.

I knew Colombia was safer than a lot of people would have me believe. I cannot count how many people told me not to visit Colombia as it is so dangerous and that I must be very careful I don’t get kidnapped etc etc, but it is even better than I imagined. It is a pity that it still suffers from the old stigma.

Today I went to explore a little more but it is hot, so I didn’t spend all day walking around just a few hours, downtown and to the Botanical Garden.  In Medellin there are even more police and at least 4 in every metro station, which I very modern, clean and extremely cheap. Sadly at the Botanical gardens the butterfly house was closed for renovations (I love butterflies J ) but I was rewarded by seeing a huge big iguana in a tree. Another good day in Colombia, and tonight the Motolombia tour arrives and I head off on the Amazon Challenge trip for the next 6 weeks. We are going to Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela and back to Colombia.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA