Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Nice update Clark! Be safe while traveling alone! Like the close-ups added to the mix
My Grand Vacation begins
- Thread starter Clark White
- Start date
RockyMtnFamily
Explorer
Amazing photos and it looks like you are making good time.
Thanks for sharing!
Kevin
Thanks for sharing!
Kevin
Clark White
Explorer
Thanks all! I pay my $902 for the bike tomorrow morning and leave it with the shippers before flying to Bogota tomorrow afternoon. The bike is "guaranteed" to meet me at the airport at 8am Tuesday...we'll see how well that guarantee goes, but I don't expect any major delays. With any luck I will be headed south my mid day Tuesday, riding hard to see if I can catch Radioman from ADVrider and ride to Quito with him.
Clark
Clark
MattScott
Approved Vendor
$902 for air freight? That's seriously not bad. You'd spend that splitting a container + expenses while you're sitting around.
Clark White
Explorer
No sir! I also had to pay $419 for me, but I would have to pay that for the container as well...would have been nice to save the $400 and drink rum on a sail boat though!!! Schmucks.
Funny story of the day; when I went to the Aduana this morning the window was in full sunlight and I was already sweating from running around. I looked around and there was no one else there, so I decided screw it. I played the dumb American and waltzed right on in their office rather then going to the window, and then pretended like I had no idea what they were saying when they told me to go out, instead just handing them my papers...annoyed and giving me evil looks, they got my paperwork all done, stamped, signed in triplicate, copied, and off I went in less then 15min...sometimes I really like the stereotypical view of Americans being stupid and having no idea what is going on...if only they knew!
Clark
Last edited:
Streakerfreak
Jan-Kee
:clapsmile
Clark White
Explorer
Well the bike didn't make it. It took most of the day, and a couple miles of walking around in the sun and pissing people off to get a straight answer, but they finally called Panama and confirmed it was still there (they had been telling me they didn't know where it was, which was an answer I refused to accept). New schedule is noon tomorrow...we'll see...
Todays funny story; while looking for the place where my bike was supposed to be I got lost (I followed the signs, my bad...) and wound up walking towards a construction zone. The website mentioned construction so I just walked right on it thinking maybe I was in the right area after all. Turns out I was way off, and was actually in a restricted zone and wandering around the edge of the active tarmac. Rather then immediately turn around and arouse suspicion I marched on like I was on a mission from God. Lots of people watched me, and poked their neighbor asking who I was, but only one guy actually tried to stop me. When he approached and tried to question what I was doing, I simply said, "buenos" and kept right on marching. He stared at me with his mouth open but let me pass. No one ever actually stopped me despite being well behind the security line having not gone through security, and I walked all the way around the airport until I finally found something that said Girag Air...gotta love the airport security down here!
Clark
Todays funny story; while looking for the place where my bike was supposed to be I got lost (I followed the signs, my bad...) and wound up walking towards a construction zone. The website mentioned construction so I just walked right on it thinking maybe I was in the right area after all. Turns out I was way off, and was actually in a restricted zone and wandering around the edge of the active tarmac. Rather then immediately turn around and arouse suspicion I marched on like I was on a mission from God. Lots of people watched me, and poked their neighbor asking who I was, but only one guy actually tried to stop me. When he approached and tried to question what I was doing, I simply said, "buenos" and kept right on marching. He stared at me with his mouth open but let me pass. No one ever actually stopped me despite being well behind the security line having not gone through security, and I walked all the way around the airport until I finally found something that said Girag Air...gotta love the airport security down here!
Clark
Streakerfreak
Jan-Kee
There have been some bad stories about Girag Air and taking days, weeks, sometimes months for the bike to ship. Hopefully, that's not the case here.
Clark White
Explorer
I'll try to post up photo's and give a full update tonight, but just a quick one for now. The bike made it, but I didn't get out of customs until 630 last night so spent another night here. Today I ended up going to the gold museum and getting laundry done, so I wont actually leave Bogota until tomorrow morning.
Clark
Clark
crawler#976
Expedition Leader
Glad your bike made Clark!
Looking forward to your next report!
Looking forward to your next report!
Clark White
Explorer
Well since I finally got the bike, I have my USB cables and got pictures uploaded and edited, so I can do a full update.
I can't for the life of me remember the name of this lady, but she is currently riding her bicycle from Ushuaia to where ever in the U.S. she ends up. Slightly humbled, we started talking about our various trips, at which point she humbled me to the extreme. She has peddled the length of Africa, both directions, crossing the Sahara by pushing the bike through the sand. After that, she decided it would be fun to see Magadan...sorry Scott, she has you beat too. She peddled from her home in Europe all the way across Russia on the Road of Bones, then down through Asia to Vietnam, where she flew to Santiago de Chile...
I dropped the bike off with Girag Monday morning as planned and caught my flight to Bogota. I had heard from another moto guy that the Hostel Fatima was a good place to stay, so I grabbed a taxi and made it here with no problems. They have a bar restaurant here, so I got a Mojito (I think the best I have ever had, made completely from scratch), and some dinner.
I was guaranteed the bike would be there at 0800 Tuesday morning, but I took my time and called around 1030...they didn't know where the bike was and said to call back Wed morning. Well screw that, I jumped the buss and went out there to raise hell in person. After much ordering around and arguing, they finally agreed to call Panama and confirmed the bike was still there, not lost. Ok, noon Wed was the new time. I took the bus back to old town and walked around seeing the sites and taking some pictures.
Wednesday morning I took my time getting up, packed my stuff and caught a taxi back to the airport. I found my way to a new office (apparently I was at the wrong one the day before?) and they said the flight was delayed due to weather, they would have it by 1400. I wasn't going to pay for a taxi anywhere, so I went out and sat in the loby. Turns out I wasn't the only one waiting for my bike! Attila was sitting there waiting for his 650GS. He was in the know, and apparently the bike didn't make it Tuesday due to mechanical problems with the 272. How did they not know this here? We started talking and three more guys arrived from Honduras, riding two Harley's and a 1200GS. It took for ever, and we didn't clear customs until 1830, so we just returned to Fatima. This morning Atila and I got up, but needing to do laundry we dropped it off at the front desk and went to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum). It's a whole 3000 pesos ($2) and it is amazing. I thought the Spaniards had destroyed almost all, and looters the rest. Granted, what is in the museum is a tiny portion of what had been, but WOW. All authentic, no replicas...
Originally the museum started small, and back when Bogota was a much less friendly place, so all the gold was stored in a vault with an impressive door.
Afterwards we walked around some and took a look in the Emerald Trade Center. They had some amazing jewelry there, but holy crap is it all expensive!
With a bad case of sticker shock we walked across the street and got some lunch, which was amazing
We got back to the hotel around 1400 and the laundry was done, but we decided by the time we repacked everything and headed out (Atila north, myself south) we wouldn't make many miles, so one more night here at Fatima. Not going to get a real early start as rush hour begins at 0600, and we have been assured from the people here that if we leave at 0900 when it's ending, we will be able to move so much faster that we will get as far as if we left at 0600...guess I'll just have to sleep in tomorrow!
Clark
I can't for the life of me remember the name of this lady, but she is currently riding her bicycle from Ushuaia to where ever in the U.S. she ends up. Slightly humbled, we started talking about our various trips, at which point she humbled me to the extreme. She has peddled the length of Africa, both directions, crossing the Sahara by pushing the bike through the sand. After that, she decided it would be fun to see Magadan...sorry Scott, she has you beat too. She peddled from her home in Europe all the way across Russia on the Road of Bones, then down through Asia to Vietnam, where she flew to Santiago de Chile...
I dropped the bike off with Girag Monday morning as planned and caught my flight to Bogota. I had heard from another moto guy that the Hostel Fatima was a good place to stay, so I grabbed a taxi and made it here with no problems. They have a bar restaurant here, so I got a Mojito (I think the best I have ever had, made completely from scratch), and some dinner.
I was guaranteed the bike would be there at 0800 Tuesday morning, but I took my time and called around 1030...they didn't know where the bike was and said to call back Wed morning. Well screw that, I jumped the buss and went out there to raise hell in person. After much ordering around and arguing, they finally agreed to call Panama and confirmed the bike was still there, not lost. Ok, noon Wed was the new time. I took the bus back to old town and walked around seeing the sites and taking some pictures.
Wednesday morning I took my time getting up, packed my stuff and caught a taxi back to the airport. I found my way to a new office (apparently I was at the wrong one the day before?) and they said the flight was delayed due to weather, they would have it by 1400. I wasn't going to pay for a taxi anywhere, so I went out and sat in the loby. Turns out I wasn't the only one waiting for my bike! Attila was sitting there waiting for his 650GS. He was in the know, and apparently the bike didn't make it Tuesday due to mechanical problems with the 272. How did they not know this here? We started talking and three more guys arrived from Honduras, riding two Harley's and a 1200GS. It took for ever, and we didn't clear customs until 1830, so we just returned to Fatima. This morning Atila and I got up, but needing to do laundry we dropped it off at the front desk and went to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum). It's a whole 3000 pesos ($2) and it is amazing. I thought the Spaniards had destroyed almost all, and looters the rest. Granted, what is in the museum is a tiny portion of what had been, but WOW. All authentic, no replicas...
Originally the museum started small, and back when Bogota was a much less friendly place, so all the gold was stored in a vault with an impressive door.
Afterwards we walked around some and took a look in the Emerald Trade Center. They had some amazing jewelry there, but holy crap is it all expensive!
With a bad case of sticker shock we walked across the street and got some lunch, which was amazing
We got back to the hotel around 1400 and the laundry was done, but we decided by the time we repacked everything and headed out (Atila north, myself south) we wouldn't make many miles, so one more night here at Fatima. Not going to get a real early start as rush hour begins at 0600, and we have been assured from the people here that if we leave at 0900 when it's ending, we will be able to move so much faster that we will get as far as if we left at 0600...guess I'll just have to sleep in tomorrow!
Clark
Clark White
Explorer
Also, I will get pictures tomorrow since I didn't think about it today, but we have the bikes parked in a hallway, leaning against the wall on the stairs...was fun getting them in, should be an experience getting them out!
Clark
Clark
Clark White
Explorer
Well I'm learning it's rather hard to take pictures, edit them, and do a writeup while on the road. This is even more true when you are riding with someone as you hang out and drink beer and do lots of cool stuff that completely prevents you from updating anything. I have this afternoon off though, so here it is! While at the Hostel Fatima I met a couple other riders and a photographer. Atilla is an American who lives in Quito, Ecuador and is riding his F650GS down from California. Dina is the photographer, and Alex and David are riding together (Alex is Davids guide) to Ushuaia, in that order left to right with me in the background.
Getting the bikes out of the hallway ended up being much easier then I had expected it to be. We had two people in front lifting and pulling on the crash bars and both Atilla and I came right out with no problems.
Atilla and I rode to Honda together and had lunch, but then he headed north to Medellin while I went west to Manizales. The ride over the mountain was spectacular, with a sunset while cresting at my highest point yet this trip, 3,700m (~12,100ft).
Yes, that is snow!
I pulled into Manizalles rather late and had a hard time finding a hotel with safe parking for Porky, so I wound up at a much more expensive hotel then I had planned, but it was awesome to have a proper hot shower, good internet, and a good bed. The next morning I got up but didn't get an efficient start, what with the massive breakfast from the hotel and having to find new batteries for the SPOT. Once I did get moving though, the ride was simply amazing. I made it all the way to Pasto, riding through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.
I stayed in a cheap little place recommended by a local Policia, and the next morning I got a good start for Quito. I tried to stop and see las Lajas, but being a holiday and a Sunday, the entire area was more packed then a NY subway, so after much screwing around just trying to find a place to stretch my legs, I said screw it and kept on for Quito. The border crossing was very simple and took less then an hour from the time I pulled up to the Colombian side to the time I rode south into Ecuador. The scenery continued to amaze, and the towns and villages were even cleaner and generally friendlier then in Colombia, which is saying something because Colombia was awesome.
I made it to Quito before sunset and met up with Mark (Radioman on ADVrider) and Young James (known as Young because everyone he rides with is older then he). They have been on the road for 8 and 11mo respectively, and are planning on going all the way around the world. Originally I had planned to meet up with them and spend all of Monday in Quito changing Porky's oil and putting my feet up while visiting, but they needed to get to Cuenca to help another guy, Brian, who was having trouble with some bad vibration on his Wee-Strom. We headed south for Cuenca despite the rain and rode like hell, but that barely got us 2/3 of the way. The roads were crap, it was 5c and pouring rain, and being a holiday every town had the highway closed down for parties. We met a friendly family at one gas stop who wanted pictures of our bikes, and thought it was just the greatest thing in the world when we told them to climb up and sit on them!
We finally called it an early day in Alausi since we knew there was no way we were making to Cuenca and we were all frozen. Like all the other towns, they were having a big celebration, so we had some dinner in a nice little place on the edge of town and then I wandered around the crowd taking some pictures of the locals.
Radioman with San Pedro in the background
Still raining while we ate dinner
Clark
Getting the bikes out of the hallway ended up being much easier then I had expected it to be. We had two people in front lifting and pulling on the crash bars and both Atilla and I came right out with no problems.
Atilla and I rode to Honda together and had lunch, but then he headed north to Medellin while I went west to Manizales. The ride over the mountain was spectacular, with a sunset while cresting at my highest point yet this trip, 3,700m (~12,100ft).
Yes, that is snow!
I pulled into Manizalles rather late and had a hard time finding a hotel with safe parking for Porky, so I wound up at a much more expensive hotel then I had planned, but it was awesome to have a proper hot shower, good internet, and a good bed. The next morning I got up but didn't get an efficient start, what with the massive breakfast from the hotel and having to find new batteries for the SPOT. Once I did get moving though, the ride was simply amazing. I made it all the way to Pasto, riding through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.
I stayed in a cheap little place recommended by a local Policia, and the next morning I got a good start for Quito. I tried to stop and see las Lajas, but being a holiday and a Sunday, the entire area was more packed then a NY subway, so after much screwing around just trying to find a place to stretch my legs, I said screw it and kept on for Quito. The border crossing was very simple and took less then an hour from the time I pulled up to the Colombian side to the time I rode south into Ecuador. The scenery continued to amaze, and the towns and villages were even cleaner and generally friendlier then in Colombia, which is saying something because Colombia was awesome.
I made it to Quito before sunset and met up with Mark (Radioman on ADVrider) and Young James (known as Young because everyone he rides with is older then he). They have been on the road for 8 and 11mo respectively, and are planning on going all the way around the world. Originally I had planned to meet up with them and spend all of Monday in Quito changing Porky's oil and putting my feet up while visiting, but they needed to get to Cuenca to help another guy, Brian, who was having trouble with some bad vibration on his Wee-Strom. We headed south for Cuenca despite the rain and rode like hell, but that barely got us 2/3 of the way. The roads were crap, it was 5c and pouring rain, and being a holiday every town had the highway closed down for parties. We met a friendly family at one gas stop who wanted pictures of our bikes, and thought it was just the greatest thing in the world when we told them to climb up and sit on them!
We finally called it an early day in Alausi since we knew there was no way we were making to Cuenca and we were all frozen. Like all the other towns, they were having a big celebration, so we had some dinner in a nice little place on the edge of town and then I wandered around the crowd taking some pictures of the locals.
Radioman with San Pedro in the background
Still raining while we ate dinner
Clark