Wow , I woke up on the 24th feeling great , it was raining and i was supposed to get an early start , nope not going out in the rain ! Not a good way to start the day at 3500m and in the rain. When it cleared I hit the road about 10am , the road was incredible smooth pavement and super curvy , no traffic , the day before x mas , up and down passes as usual , this was about 4 hrs everything was great untill .... I hit a dog .... I think I killed it , it ran out on a corner and I could not swerve so much as I would have wiped out. Theri were people right thero as well and i did not want to stop and cause a big deal of it . Peru is crazy with dogs, I have never had so many chase me untill this place, about 50 a day it was only a motter of time ... it was small so it did not bite it.... lucky, if it was bigger I may have taken a big tumble !!
After this the day went better , crossed a 4100m pass , incredible , scenery was amasing all day long hard to describe I will try to post pictures tomorrow or when i get to Cuzco. Yes, the local were right about the 3 days but it looks so close on the map ... only doing 200km per day at 30 km hr... not fast, but I feel blessed to be here with what I am seeing and feeling ... Complete freedom .....
I spent the night walking around town people watching , eveyone goes out on the street her for x mas . Had a relaxing morning sort of hit the road by 10am . All off road today slow and tedious.. averaged 25 km hr , constuction and out of the way roads, up and down and all around .... was in desert 2 times then up to 3900m , fog and hail again today . Put the warm cloths on, take them off , put them on, take them off .... you just have to laugh It was a fun day again and had a hamberger for supper , ran out of money and the machines don´t work in this town... it was a nice x mas day ! Hope your all well and the best for the new year, Feliz Navidad....
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Huanaco to Huancayo
Man , their are so many towns and villagaes out here with so many names which sound the same ...I never know where I am going, crossed over some high passes again today feeling real tired and sick and dizzy from altitude . Stopped to dry out all my gear.... sleeping bag, tent, mattress were all soaked from last night. Stopped at 3pm today I was told it would take another 3 hrs to reach the next town with a hotel so am resting up for the push tomorrow to Cuzco . I was also told it would take 3 day from here , well see ....
Huaraz valley southerly to La union
I decided not to cross the passes here as I was told I may have to wait while the snow clears and the traffic can pass, The highest pass here is 4700 m, I thought that would be cool to do but maybe not in the rainly season . This was a good decision, as I headed south I could see new snow down low already, I did not want to go to the coast again so decided to head inland I crossed over a 3100 m pass and it was raining and some hail , this day was the most amazing day for scenery on the trip so far. Roads were good for most of the day and it was incredible hope to post some pictures soon . The last part of the day was well nice but tough and slow going very windy and lots of mud and holes in gravel . It was 3pm and they said it was another 4 hrs of this type of road , I ended up making a few wrong turns out here , it is sort of like taking logging roads in Canada you never know here you are half of the time , most side roads are not marked , you supposed to know where you are out here .
Well I got to the top of another pass at dark and was not going to try top go down , I started to set up my tent on the side of this road when a truck stopped and said not too it was very dangerous for robbers !! So plan B keep going at dark I stopped and asked directions and know I was not going to get down and asked this family if i could camp in their yard at 3000m again. I ended up setting up in the dark and fog . The dogs did´nt like me camped in the yard and kept barking at me everytime i turned in the tent. Well it was a sleepless night between the dogs and oporing rain and the truicks passing by within a few feet. I was up at 5pm with everyone on else , I could hear people walking by my tent and talking about the gringo and why do they get up so early , it foggy, raining sort of and still dark, all they do here is heard sheep and cattle and donkeys . Well I said my goodbyes to the family and the dogs and headed down the windy muddy road for 2 more hrs . I am so happy I camped on the top that night instead of going down the road in the dark even if i didn´t get any sleep . I also ate something which made me sick this day and my kidney are really hurting to move much or bend over ...
Well I got to the top of another pass at dark and was not going to try top go down , I started to set up my tent on the side of this road when a truck stopped and said not too it was very dangerous for robbers !! So plan B keep going at dark I stopped and asked directions and know I was not going to get down and asked this family if i could camp in their yard at 3000m again. I ended up setting up in the dark and fog . The dogs did´nt like me camped in the yard and kept barking at me everytime i turned in the tent. Well it was a sleepless night between the dogs and oporing rain and the truicks passing by within a few feet. I was up at 5pm with everyone on else , I could hear people walking by my tent and talking about the gringo and why do they get up so early , it foggy, raining sort of and still dark, all they do here is heard sheep and cattle and donkeys . Well I said my goodbyes to the family and the dogs and headed down the windy muddy road for 2 more hrs . I am so happy I camped on the top that night instead of going down the road in the dark even if i didn´t get any sleep . I also ate something which made me sick this day and my kidney are really hurting to move much or bend over ...
Trujillo to Huaraz valley ,...
Well today i got up early , by the time I ate and got loaded it was still 8pm , the winds started at 830pm , it was not so bad today as the mountains are blocking some of the wind , wow is it dry here , i don´t see how they live on what , they live in shacks and have nothing . We are so lucky to be born in Canada .... I ducked inland at Casma and started climbing up to 3000m , quite a change in 2 hrs from sweating to putting on the rain suit and cold weather gear .
Nice ride then I had fog for an hr on a very narrow rd with stright drop offs , probably better I could not see over the side , I think sometimes i´m scared of heights when i´attached to the earth . Got up into the high alto plana not much grows well up this high but they farm most every inch they can farm . Never seen another car for 3 hrs . Dropped into the valley at 4pm and like usual it started to pour again . So hotel shopping looking like a wet rat .... Got a decent hotel and a warm shower. This valley is world famous for mtn clibing with soth very technical ice /rock climbing and is like the chamonis or South america . But I found out it is the rainy season here and the summer season in Lima on the coast , go figure that one out ...
Nice ride then I had fog for an hr on a very narrow rd with stright drop offs , probably better I could not see over the side , I think sometimes i´m scared of heights when i´attached to the earth . Got up into the high alto plana not much grows well up this high but they farm most every inch they can farm . Never seen another car for 3 hrs . Dropped into the valley at 4pm and like usual it started to pour again . So hotel shopping looking like a wet rat .... Got a decent hotel and a warm shower. This valley is world famous for mtn clibing with soth very technical ice /rock climbing and is like the chamonis or South america . But I found out it is the rainy season here and the summer season in Lima on the coast , go figure that one out ...
Saturday, December 20, 2008
I´m in Peru .....
Well, what a difference a few days makes , I went from Quito which is a huge polluted city to a county train station at 3500m. The ride was good except the last 5 minutes which it poured rain and hail. Boy did I get wet ! I found this neat little train station which has been converted to a hotel at the base of the highest mtn , in Equador . Had a nice supper and was the only one in the hotel . Next morning I woke up to clear sky´s and had a chance to see the Chimborazo mtn before it closed in . Next day , was a long ride I was trying to get close to the border so I could get to it early I didn´t want another 5 hrs wait.... nice windy roads all day up and down the mtns but I did not go below 3000m most of the day. Lots of poor people out here , the terrrain goes from dry desert to tropical sometimes depends on which side of the mtn your on .Up one side of the mtn down the other , all day long. I finally got a room at dark again ! I had to do this for the next 2 days .
Wow, only a few hrs from Macara the border , and it was so easy this time , no line ups and they were all really helpfull, what a change, I slipped thru in an hr both sides my exit and entry .
It was a marked change as go from 3550 m down to sea level and into Peru which seems to be very poor and barren. Now i´m travelling along the coast which is a desert ,very little vegatation except along the rivers and areas which are irrigated. I wanted to take the inland route but it is very slow and non paved and if I break down out their ... well I may have a wait and it is very dry and hot here. The past few evenings I rode late into the evening , 3 nights ago it was raining, hail and cold , then I had dense fog and bad roads, last night it was terrible winds and blowing sand.
Tonight I stopped at 4pm in Chicalayo only doing 4 hrs riding in , but stong coastal winds and blowing sand again, direct cross wind is starting to take the toll on me and it is really physical . The bike is at a constant angle and helmet gets blown sideways , so my neck it very sore..... ahhh, tomorrow i´m up early to beat the winds . I´m in a coastal town very cool ... old steets and nice atmosphere, very modern as well and everyone is shopping getting ready for x mas town in decorated in x mas trees and lights. Today had to buy a new toilet kit forgot it at my friends house in Quito. shit what a dummy ... Bike was burning a bit of oil today must have been the cross/ head wind and the passing of slow moving trucks. Tomorrow heading toward Hurez area, high mtns near 4000m lots of hiking and mtn clibing in this area, looking foward to getting out of this heat and wind....
Wow, only a few hrs from Macara the border , and it was so easy this time , no line ups and they were all really helpfull, what a change, I slipped thru in an hr both sides my exit and entry .
It was a marked change as go from 3550 m down to sea level and into Peru which seems to be very poor and barren. Now i´m travelling along the coast which is a desert ,very little vegatation except along the rivers and areas which are irrigated. I wanted to take the inland route but it is very slow and non paved and if I break down out their ... well I may have a wait and it is very dry and hot here. The past few evenings I rode late into the evening , 3 nights ago it was raining, hail and cold , then I had dense fog and bad roads, last night it was terrible winds and blowing sand.
Tonight I stopped at 4pm in Chicalayo only doing 4 hrs riding in , but stong coastal winds and blowing sand again, direct cross wind is starting to take the toll on me and it is really physical . The bike is at a constant angle and helmet gets blown sideways , so my neck it very sore..... ahhh, tomorrow i´m up early to beat the winds . I´m in a coastal town very cool ... old steets and nice atmosphere, very modern as well and everyone is shopping getting ready for x mas town in decorated in x mas trees and lights. Today had to buy a new toilet kit forgot it at my friends house in Quito. shit what a dummy ... Bike was burning a bit of oil today must have been the cross/ head wind and the passing of slow moving trucks. Tomorrow heading toward Hurez area, high mtns near 4000m lots of hiking and mtn clibing in this area, looking foward to getting out of this heat and wind....
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
X crossing into Ecuador ....
Its the 17th today , I was making terrible time in the last part of Columbia, very windy roads and truck traffic , I guess i have to get my ass out of bed earlier. But it is slow going some days. I was passed by some guys on bigger bikes today and tried to keep up with them , they were way to fast for me , I did pass them in town using my GPS for route finding and then we met up at the border. They are from Columbia and riding inot Ecuador on a 10 day tour , they helped me get thru Customs on the Columbia side , then we all waited at the Ecuador side ... for 5 Fu%$ing hrs , waiting to get a stamp into Ecuador , not a good start , but everyone was in the same boat , So next time I have to wait in a line up at Canada customs I will remember how organised it really is !! By the time we got out it was 5pm and getting dark and then it started to rain , I did make it to my friends house in Ibarra at 7.30 pm , 100 km north of Quito.
I stayed at Jorge house for 2 nights and toured around the area , I Put on an SIV course here in 1998 the first for Ecuadorian pilots and it was in this town , so it was cool to see it 10 yrs later .. Nice area but so complex with the weather systems , found some thermal pools and went for a soak for a few hrs and read my book , actually I read 3 books so far on my trip ... pretty nice !
Today i´m at my freinds house Henri in Quito , stayed last night and am planning to leave today to head south , have to make some miles , i figure it will take 3 days to leave Ecuador and head for Peru for x mas . I just don´t want to cross again on a Sunday like last week .. but you never know here ... life is good anyways .. at least i´m not in - 40c like Alberta ... Ha ha ....
I stayed at Jorge house for 2 nights and toured around the area , I Put on an SIV course here in 1998 the first for Ecuadorian pilots and it was in this town , so it was cool to see it 10 yrs later .. Nice area but so complex with the weather systems , found some thermal pools and went for a soak for a few hrs and read my book , actually I read 3 books so far on my trip ... pretty nice !
Today i´m at my freinds house Henri in Quito , stayed last night and am planning to leave today to head south , have to make some miles , i figure it will take 3 days to leave Ecuador and head for Peru for x mas . I just don´t want to cross again on a Sunday like last week .. but you never know here ... life is good anyways .. at least i´m not in - 40c like Alberta ... Ha ha ....
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tripping around ...Bucamarunga .
I spent a few days around Bucamarunga and small city about 1 million . Richi and I went riding out back and was showing me some of his flying sites , nice area lots of flying sites , deep valleys. Launch is in front of his house and you can pretty well fly all day here it seems , thermaling in the morning and ridge flying in the afternoon . I was flying at about 5pm and crossed a ridge out 8km away and did not make it back, had to land out ... tons of power lines just missed one on landing that I could not see ... yeeee ...
Well I finaly left B munga and headed over to Medellin another city , nice ride it took about 8 hrs , the last few were real twisty and got back into the swing of the bike again , F´´$&/$king crazy drivers here . I have heard they are going to get worse in Peru ... great . I spent a few days in Medellin , got my speedo cable fixed , 2 new signal light holders the other ones rotted off , the Kawi dealer gave them to me for free , sweet as the other ones were duct taped on .
Exited Medellin this morning, stayed in a great area of medellin and was a few blocks from all the bike shops , even better . Well I was supposed to be in Cali tonight but did not make it so I am in a small town called ?? about 100 km short , I only did 50 km in 2 hrs this morning traffic and twistys lots of landsides and construction, they just finished a very rainy time down here and had major floods and landslides I´m glad I was not doing this trip 1 - 2 weeks ago.. I also met up with a british biker whom i´d passed and then I got a flat on the rear tire . He stopped and helped me with the fix , put the new tube in and found out it had 2 holes in it , from rubbing in the boxes , so it took longer than usual to get back on the road . Just as we got back on the road it started pouring rain , on with the rain gear and back on the road . The next few hrs were slow , lots of stops for traffic and bad visability , I left the british guy, he was going a diffefernt route, immediatly after this my bike started to slow down then stopped in the pouring rain .... shit !! what could it be... I put the choke on and it started again, it ran rough for the next hr, then went back to normal, maybe water shorting something out .. or bad gas ? I was to tired to continue to Cali and it was dark so. off to a side town for a hotel . I can ´t believe I only did 250 km today i´m so tired the concentration is intense your riding has to be on the ball all the time whew .. i´m gojng to bed .....
Well I finaly left B munga and headed over to Medellin another city , nice ride it took about 8 hrs , the last few were real twisty and got back into the swing of the bike again , F´´$&/$king crazy drivers here . I have heard they are going to get worse in Peru ... great . I spent a few days in Medellin , got my speedo cable fixed , 2 new signal light holders the other ones rotted off , the Kawi dealer gave them to me for free , sweet as the other ones were duct taped on .
Exited Medellin this morning, stayed in a great area of medellin and was a few blocks from all the bike shops , even better . Well I was supposed to be in Cali tonight but did not make it so I am in a small town called ?? about 100 km short , I only did 50 km in 2 hrs this morning traffic and twistys lots of landsides and construction, they just finished a very rainy time down here and had major floods and landslides I´m glad I was not doing this trip 1 - 2 weeks ago.. I also met up with a british biker whom i´d passed and then I got a flat on the rear tire . He stopped and helped me with the fix , put the new tube in and found out it had 2 holes in it , from rubbing in the boxes , so it took longer than usual to get back on the road . Just as we got back on the road it started pouring rain , on with the rain gear and back on the road . The next few hrs were slow , lots of stops for traffic and bad visability , I left the british guy, he was going a diffefernt route, immediatly after this my bike started to slow down then stopped in the pouring rain .... shit !! what could it be... I put the choke on and it started again, it ran rough for the next hr, then went back to normal, maybe water shorting something out .. or bad gas ? I was to tired to continue to Cali and it was dark so. off to a side town for a hotel . I can ´t believe I only did 250 km today i´m so tired the concentration is intense your riding has to be on the ball all the time whew .. i´m gojng to bed .....
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Yahoo , I made it to Columbia...
Well after a few days of sorting out my rotten bike , had to pull the carb. off again .It´s a big hassel this time I took it into a mechanic and used his air hose to blow it out . It is now working fine, must have been some clogging in one of the holes , the gas was bad as well . I did get out of Panama the next day like I thought . Loaded the bike at the cargo terminal at 9am and was at the Passenger termimal at 10:30am . I had Omar a guy whom owns a Import/ Export business in Panama meet me at the cargo terminal, he took care of my papers with customs for the past year and helped me get my bike on a flight right away. Then he gave me a ride to the terminal such a nice guy , whom also rides a big 1100 harley, he just said to me well we are all bike riders and we help each other... all he wanted was to see me continue my journey without problems . Remember I had left my bike in Panama illegally , so when I came back into Panama I had to legally get it back into the country , so I could then take it out again , so he took care of the customs B.S. that goes on !!
Most flights were full but I did manage to catch a flight on Copa at 11:30 am and was in Bogata by 1:30pm . As I was sitting in the lounge waiting for the plane , I was talking with a woman , whom was also getting on my flight , well her Family owns the shipping company who I shipped my bike with , what a shot of luck ! She helped my get a taxi and find my place in the city and told me to contact her the next day to get the bike out easy. Well I was out of customs and had the bike waiting for me at the shipping company 2 hrs later. That´s luck for you ... but then the bike started acting up going thru Bogata city ,only 7 million people in this city ...
I couple of days in the city to sort the bike troubles out and now I am in Bucamarunga a city north about 8 hrs drive . Staying at http://www.colombiaparagliding.com/ it´s a nice place over looking the city. Richi Mantilla owns the company, does tours and tandems . A great place to fly and chill out for a few days . Bogata was a nice city as far as cities go relaxed, modern, clean and seemed friendly. Columbia is working hard on their bad reputation and are welcoming the tourist to their nice country . The county side was a mix of new zealand and switzerland , very green nice lakes and lots of farming . The roads were ok , lots of construction and crappy drivers passing going up hills with solid lines .... you really have to keep your wits about you , interesting and heart stopping sometimes !
Well thats about it for now , tomorrow i´m going flying and tuesday heading for Medellin west of Bogata . My speedometer cable holder fell on the bike and hit the spokes while i was riding yesterday causing the cable to get ripped apart , now i need a new one as i don´t know how fast I am going or how many km I have done .... oh well small problems on a trip like this ... cheers
Most flights were full but I did manage to catch a flight on Copa at 11:30 am and was in Bogata by 1:30pm . As I was sitting in the lounge waiting for the plane , I was talking with a woman , whom was also getting on my flight , well her Family owns the shipping company who I shipped my bike with , what a shot of luck ! She helped my get a taxi and find my place in the city and told me to contact her the next day to get the bike out easy. Well I was out of customs and had the bike waiting for me at the shipping company 2 hrs later. That´s luck for you ... but then the bike started acting up going thru Bogata city ,only 7 million people in this city ...
I couple of days in the city to sort the bike troubles out and now I am in Bucamarunga a city north about 8 hrs drive . Staying at http://www.colombiaparagliding.com/ it´s a nice place over looking the city. Richi Mantilla owns the company, does tours and tandems . A great place to fly and chill out for a few days . Bogata was a nice city as far as cities go relaxed, modern, clean and seemed friendly. Columbia is working hard on their bad reputation and are welcoming the tourist to their nice country . The county side was a mix of new zealand and switzerland , very green nice lakes and lots of farming . The roads were ok , lots of construction and crappy drivers passing going up hills with solid lines .... you really have to keep your wits about you , interesting and heart stopping sometimes !
Well thats about it for now , tomorrow i´m going flying and tuesday heading for Medellin west of Bogata . My speedometer cable holder fell on the bike and hit the spokes while i was riding yesterday causing the cable to get ripped apart , now i need a new one as i don´t know how fast I am going or how many km I have done .... oh well small problems on a trip like this ... cheers
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Panama Red .....
Hi . Finally arrived in Panama after 24 hrs of travel , yeah it sucks but no pain no gain right ... so did i tell you it rained non stop for the next 4 days , i went and bought an umbrella . Stazing at a friends house right now where i have the bike stored . Well actually it seems i did not store it, what was i thinking when i left here . Oh boy what a mess , the battery was dead , the chain was rusty metal was corroded and everything was covered with bird shit.
the battery was completley dry, so i walked around about 4 miles and found all the bike shops in Panama , ther last one was the kawi dealer , but not the place you get parts , Finally managed to get oil fliters , oil , new battery and lubricant , chain oil as well. Back to the bike , well 4 days of work later it is back to running well , i had to pull the carb off twice , to clean it or the bike would not run without the choke on . Did some research on the internet and found a solution , drill 2 holes in tis and that and all is running well now - The bike is like new , and im just waitng for permit to enter the country so i can leave it. Their are 2 ways to get to Columbia , by boat or by plane. I was to late to book the boat so i will leave by plane, so the bike get loaded on the cargo plane and i take the passenger plane hopefully tomorrow but you never know... i am in Panama .... more to come from Columbia ...
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