Man , this should answer your question :
http://www.nissan.com.gt/sp/web/models/PATROL/Specifications/129106789340520937.htm
Thanks again, JP!! I'm a little overdue for an oil filter change, but I can make it to Guatemala. Not that far away...
E
unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!
- Thread starter unURBAN
- Start date
Thanks again, JP!! I'm a little overdue for an oil filter change, but I can make it to Guatemala. Not that far away...
E
Newtac11
Observer
I've never seen so many stunning pictures. Do you do this more than a hobby?
Also...How long did you take to plan this? It seems you have timed everything so perfectly...Hit many events...almost perfect weather...most major off-road sites. I am very impressed form a logistics point of view.
Continue with your wonderful vacation, and stay safe.
Charles
Also...How long did you take to plan this? It seems you have timed everything so perfectly...Hit many events...almost perfect weather...most major off-road sites. I am very impressed form a logistics point of view.
Continue with your wonderful vacation, and stay safe.
Charles
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Thanks again, JP!! I'm a little overdue for an oil filter change, but I can make it to Guatemala. Not that far away...
E
Very good shop in Antigua across from the bus terminal. It is right next to a hardware store, I think south side of town. Dirt cheap and as I say very good mechanics. I saw a number of Patrols around town so more than likely a filter is also available there.....
good luck!
PS, spare room in my house here in Santa Catalina, Panama.
Hi Charles!
Thanks for the complements on the pictures. Malin is taking most of the pics, and I have to admit she's getting good!
And it is only a hobby (she's a chef (with a bachelor's degree in antropology)), at least so far in life..And when it comes to planning, I have to be honest... A lot of luck! The plan was to drive from Punta Arenas (where I would meet Malin when she was done with her season in Antarctica) and then drive around South America. Then she got a job offer for the Canadian Arctics, and the plan had to be changed. This happened about two months before shipping the car (to South America), and it involved a delay of about two months (three months in the end due to a delay from the shipping company). So, basically, most of the plans went down the ..., and we had to come up with something new. And I think that is one of the secrets! Know what to plan and what not. Don't plan too much! Leave openings in order to do things and visit places that you for sure will learn about along the way (so it will seem that it was really well planned...). It is of course important to plan the bigger picture (seasons, weather), and to plan and prepare for things that can go wrong (papers, insurance, visas, equipment, maintenance, etc), but I can't really exclude a fair amount of luck so far on this trip.
And I wont even start listing all the events and offroad trails we missed!
Best regards,
Espen
Very good shop in Antigua across from the bus terminal. It is right next to a hardware store, I think south side of town. Dirt cheap and as I say very good mechanics. I saw a number of Patrols around town so more than likely a filter is also available there.....
good luck!
PS, spare room in my house here in Santa Catalina, Panama.
Noted! Both parts!
Thanks RMP&O!
E
Mexico City
For months we debated if we should go to Mexico City or not. Too big, too dangerous, too much police that will try to rob us, too polluted, and, of course, too urban for unURBAN. But now, when we are safe and sound back at the campground in Teotihuacan, it is hard to know where to begin writing about all those impressions a four days visit to Mexico City gave us.
We decided to leave the Patrol at Teotihuacan Trailer Park in San Juan Teotihuacan. It is a fenced in campground, and they let you park your car here for half price of a camp site. The next morning we arrived in Mexico City after a 55 minutes bus ride, and checked in to a hotel in the city center. We spent the day walking around in the Centro Historico, and walked all the way down to Zona Rosa, a kilometer or two further south, for dinner. To get back home, we used Mexico City's excellent metro, and it took us right to the doorstep at our hotel.
The morning after we visited the museum of Frida Kahlo and the house where she and her husband Diego Rivera lived and worked. Their story is as fascinating as the city itself, and place is well worth a visit.
In the southernmost parts of Mexico City we found a nice surprise. Canals!
We jumped on a local bus (with a huge stereo, and a bus driver that obviously was into techno…, and it took us all the way down to one of the embarcaderos were we hired a boat (in lack of a better word) and a “captain”. And as this was in the middle of the Christmas holiday, it was pretty busy, and we saw everything from family lunches to music bands playing to flower stores on the different “boats” on the channels. On our way back to the hotel, we decided to check out another area for a good restaurant. Ended up in Condesa where we had a great dinner at an “organic” restaurant called La Buena Tierra.
Mexico City also has an impressive number of Starbucks coffee shops. And to keep the pace up, we started the third day with a couple of double lattes, and headed for the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. This is a HUGE museum with fantastic displays of the Mexican and the Mesoamerican history and archeological artifacts. This is a must see if you stay in Mexico City, and a full day (or perhaps two halves would be better) is a minimum of time required. We'll see if we are able to put some of the historical sites described here into our route as we travel further south.
And the last day was spent…………… SHOPPING! After eight months on the road we start to see some wear and tear on jeans, shoes, boxer shorts, sandals, etc. Stocked up enough to get us to Cancun.
We even had time to take in the view of the city from the 38th floor of the Torre Latinoamericano building before running for the bus back to the campground and the Patrol. The view point offers a 360 degrees view of the world's biggest city, and believe me, it is BIG!
For the record: we had no bad experiences, and all the people we met were nice, helpful, polite and smiling. Even the police, and there is a LOT of them in the streets. I can of course not say that nothing bad will happen in Mexico City, but we felt safe and well within our comfort zone at all times.
And tomorrow: Teotihuacan ruins!
For months we debated if we should go to Mexico City or not. Too big, too dangerous, too much police that will try to rob us, too polluted, and, of course, too urban for unURBAN. But now, when we are safe and sound back at the campground in Teotihuacan, it is hard to know where to begin writing about all those impressions a four days visit to Mexico City gave us.
We decided to leave the Patrol at Teotihuacan Trailer Park in San Juan Teotihuacan. It is a fenced in campground, and they let you park your car here for half price of a camp site. The next morning we arrived in Mexico City after a 55 minutes bus ride, and checked in to a hotel in the city center. We spent the day walking around in the Centro Historico, and walked all the way down to Zona Rosa, a kilometer or two further south, for dinner. To get back home, we used Mexico City's excellent metro, and it took us right to the doorstep at our hotel.
The morning after we visited the museum of Frida Kahlo and the house where she and her husband Diego Rivera lived and worked. Their story is as fascinating as the city itself, and place is well worth a visit.
In the southernmost parts of Mexico City we found a nice surprise. Canals!
We jumped on a local bus (with a huge stereo, and a bus driver that obviously was into techno…
, and it took us all the way down to one of the embarcaderos were we hired a boat (in lack of a better word) and a “captain”. And as this was in the middle of the Christmas holiday, it was pretty busy, and we saw everything from family lunches to music bands playing to flower stores on the different “boats” on the channels. On our way back to the hotel, we decided to check out another area for a good restaurant. Ended up in Condesa where we had a great dinner at an “organic” restaurant called La Buena Tierra.Mexico City also has an impressive number of Starbucks coffee shops. And to keep the pace up, we started the third day with a couple of double lattes, and headed for the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. This is a HUGE museum with fantastic displays of the Mexican and the Mesoamerican history and archeological artifacts. This is a must see if you stay in Mexico City, and a full day (or perhaps two halves would be better) is a minimum of time required. We'll see if we are able to put some of the historical sites described here into our route as we travel further south.
And the last day was spent…………… SHOPPING! After eight months on the road we start to see some wear and tear on jeans, shoes, boxer shorts, sandals, etc. Stocked up enough to get us to Cancun.
We even had time to take in the view of the city from the 38th floor of the Torre Latinoamericano building before running for the bus back to the campground and the Patrol. The view point offers a 360 degrees view of the world's biggest city, and believe me, it is BIG!
For the record: we had no bad experiences, and all the people we met were nice, helpful, polite and smiling. Even the police, and there is a LOT of them in the streets. I can of course not say that nothing bad will happen in Mexico City, but we felt safe and well within our comfort zone at all times.
And tomorrow: Teotihuacan ruins!
Last edited:
Teotihuacan
We had decided to park our car in Teotihuacan Trailer Park while we went to Mexico City and then visit the ruins when we came back from the city. But with some time to spare on the Sunday we got to San Juan Teotihuacan, we walked to the ruins just to have a look because we had heard something about free entrance on Sundays. It was free entrance, but only for Mexicans.
And from the entrance we could see a huge crowd of Mexicans had used this opportunity to visit the site. It was almost hard to see the top of “Pyramid of the Sun” with the crowd of people on top. We turned around and thought it was better to stick to our original plan and come back on Friday.
Friday morning we walked up the “Avenue of the Dead” to the Pyramid of the Moon almost by ourselves.
From the top of the Pyramid of the Moon is the best view down the 2 km long “Avenue of the Dead”, so named because the Aztecs that came to the site centuries later thought the platforms along the avenue was tombs. I heard somewhere that the avenue continues further on for 3 km more, but not enough research has been done on this part. Along each side of the “Avenue of the Dead” are houses for the priests and upper classes the common people lived spread around the city. Building of Teotihuacan started 100 BC and at its peak about 150,000 people lived in the city. The city fell in 7th or 8th century AD.
From the Pyramid of the Moon we walked down to the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world. After climbing the 248 steps we again had great views over Teotihuacan and the remains of the city is really impressive. What remain today are gray stone structures, but when one take into account that the whole city was painted red,
and with wall paintings as decoration, the city must have been amazing at its peak.
Our walk continued further down the “Avenue of the Dead” to the Citadel where we had a look at the “Temple of the Feathered Serpent” that is decorated with many stone sculptures and is a little different from the other pyramids in Teotihuacan.
Teotihuacan and especially the size of the Pyramid of the Sun is really impressive and the site is definitely worth a visit.
After climbing the third largest pyramid in the world we were ready to try to climb the third highest mountain in North-America, the volcano Pico de Orizaba 5635 meters above sea level. Or maybe it is just that as Norwegian we miss the snow and ice so much that we have to look for it one of the few places where it is possible to find it in Mexico……?
We had decided to park our car in Teotihuacan Trailer Park while we went to Mexico City and then visit the ruins when we came back from the city. But with some time to spare on the Sunday we got to San Juan Teotihuacan, we walked to the ruins just to have a look because we had heard something about free entrance on Sundays. It was free entrance, but only for Mexicans.
And from the entrance we could see a huge crowd of Mexicans had used this opportunity to visit the site. It was almost hard to see the top of “Pyramid of the Sun” with the crowd of people on top. We turned around and thought it was better to stick to our original plan and come back on Friday.
Friday morning we walked up the “Avenue of the Dead” to the Pyramid of the Moon almost by ourselves.
From the top of the Pyramid of the Moon is the best view down the 2 km long “Avenue of the Dead”, so named because the Aztecs that came to the site centuries later thought the platforms along the avenue was tombs. I heard somewhere that the avenue continues further on for 3 km more, but not enough research has been done on this part. Along each side of the “Avenue of the Dead” are houses for the priests and upper classes the common people lived spread around the city. Building of Teotihuacan started 100 BC and at its peak about 150,000 people lived in the city. The city fell in 7th or 8th century AD.
From the Pyramid of the Moon we walked down to the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world. After climbing the 248 steps we again had great views over Teotihuacan and the remains of the city is really impressive. What remain today are gray stone structures, but when one take into account that the whole city was painted red,
and with wall paintings as decoration, the city must have been amazing at its peak.
Our walk continued further down the “Avenue of the Dead” to the Citadel where we had a look at the “Temple of the Feathered Serpent” that is decorated with many stone sculptures and is a little different from the other pyramids in Teotihuacan.
Teotihuacan and especially the size of the Pyramid of the Sun is really impressive and the site is definitely worth a visit.
After climbing the third largest pyramid in the world we were ready to try to climb the third highest mountain in North-America, the volcano Pico de Orizaba 5635 meters above sea level. Or maybe it is just that as Norwegian we miss the snow and ice so much that we have to look for it one of the few places where it is possible to find it in Mexico……?
Absolutely!:coffeedrink:
Pico de Orizaba
After strolling around in the city and on the ruins it was time to turn up the action level a click or two. Close to our route to the east coast is the Peak Orizaba, the highest volcano in North America, the third highest mountain in North America, and Mexico’s highest point. Pico de Orizaba rises 5635 meters above sea level (18488 ft), and fortunately for us, it is the perfect time of year (! ) for climbing it! We had already spent about two weeks at about 2000 meters (Mexico City and Teotihuacan is at about 2300 meters), so the acclimatization had already started and would give us and advantage when driving up to base camp.
We didn’t know too much about the mountain and the routes going up to the summit, but after doing a bit of research on the internet we had a fairly good idea. One detail that we really liked was that with a 4x4 you can drive all the way up to the basecamp, called Piedra Grande, at 4250 meters (13944 ft). Our map did not show the road up to Piedra Grande, but on the internet we had found a company called Summit Orizaba ( www.summitorizaba.com )in Tlachichuca that said they could help with everything needed for the mountain. So on the way to the mountain we stopped by their place where we met a smiling and helpful Maribel. She gave us a description to find the road up to Piedra Grande and some info about the conditions on the mountain.
Then it was just to start the climb/drive up to Piedra Grande driving through a really nice landscape and forest with amazing views to the mountain.
The Patrol definitely felt the altitude, and just before 4000 meters we had to engage the low gear. But we made it up to base camp at 4250 meters with no problems, and that is good when we know we are going to the Andes further south.
At Piedra Grande we found an almost flat spot and put up the roof tent and the annex so we had our base camp. While putting up camp we could really feel the altitude, and only small efforts (as putting some rocks on our annex (on the “snow valences”)) felt like hard work. Still we were able to eat a good dinner and have a good night’s sleep.
Since there is a road going all the way up to Piedra Grande, most people that go for the summit arrive there one afternoon, sleep in the basic hut that is up there, do an acclimatization hike the next day, go to bed early, and then get up and start the climb to the summit from the hut at 2-3 o’clock the following night. As we are not really short on time we decided to take it a bit slower and get better acclimatized.
Our first day in base camp we were reading books in camp, enjoyed the view which is just amazing, and towards the evening we did a short walk. When we got back to our camp we were invited to eat tacos and mole from a group of Mexican students that had parked next to us.
These guys were just up for a day trip, enjoying the views and had a picnic. While we were camping up at Piedra Grande, we saw several cars with Mexicans doing the same thing.
On our second day in camp we had a slow start, but at lunch time we packed up about half of our gear and hiked up to 4740 meters were we put up our mountain tent as an advanced basecamp.
When it was all set up we hiked back down to the car to sleep there one more night, and then move up the next day. But the next morning Malin did not feel ready to try for the summit, so we spent another day reading and relaxing in camp. The rest did good, and the day after we both felt ready to move up to our small tent. Well up by the tent we put on crampons and hiked another 200 meters up the hill so we had a better view of our route the next day.
Our alarm went off at 5 o’clock in the morning and even Espen managed to get up early. Everything is moving in slow motion at this altitude, so we weren’t ready to start the summit attempt before 6.45. The advantage at starting relatively late is that the sun is getting up at the same time, and it followed us the whole way up so we did not have to walk in the shade. This makes a big difference at high altitude as it is difficult to push on in order to get warm.
It was slow going up, and the last hill (at about 35 degrees) is a “monster”! You don’t really see the summit, and it feels like tis hill doesn’t have an end… The last 100 meters we were just able to walk 30-40 steps before we had to rest. But at 11.30 we were on the summit. And it was spectacular!!
It had a huge crater in the middle that is not visible before you suddenly are standing on the edge. Some years back we climbed Elbrus in Russia, witch is about the same height (5642 meters) and also a volcano, but there the summit is just flat. Not nearly as spectacular as the summit of Orizaba.
We were the only ones on the summit, and we were sitting there for 45 minutes at 5635 meters in sun and with no wind.
The views in all directions are amazing, and we could look down on the town of Tlachichuca 3000 meters below us. Climbing the “monster” hill was worth it!
Walking down from the summit was so much easier. Back down at the small tent we had some food, packed up, and then continued the hike down. At 16.30 we were back down to the Patrol at base camp, and we made a quick decision to pack up this camp too and drive the 1 ½ hours off the mountain and down to Tlachichuca. A warm shower at the SummitOrizaba, dinner at their restaurant, and a proper bed, was more tempting than one more night in the tent in 0 degrees celsius...
All in all a fantastic experience!
After strolling around in the city and on the ruins it was time to turn up the action level a click or two. Close to our route to the east coast is the Peak Orizaba, the highest volcano in North America, the third highest mountain in North America, and Mexico’s highest point. Pico de Orizaba rises 5635 meters above sea level (18488 ft), and fortunately for us, it is the perfect time of year (!
) for climbing it! We had already spent about two weeks at about 2000 meters (Mexico City and Teotihuacan is at about 2300 meters), so the acclimatization had already started and would give us and advantage when driving up to base camp. We didn’t know too much about the mountain and the routes going up to the summit, but after doing a bit of research on the internet we had a fairly good idea. One detail that we really liked was that with a 4x4 you can drive all the way up to the basecamp, called Piedra Grande, at 4250 meters (13944 ft). Our map did not show the road up to Piedra Grande, but on the internet we had found a company called Summit Orizaba ( www.summitorizaba.com )in Tlachichuca that said they could help with everything needed for the mountain. So on the way to the mountain we stopped by their place where we met a smiling and helpful Maribel. She gave us a description to find the road up to Piedra Grande and some info about the conditions on the mountain.
Then it was just to start the climb/drive up to Piedra Grande driving through a really nice landscape and forest with amazing views to the mountain.
The Patrol definitely felt the altitude, and just before 4000 meters we had to engage the low gear. But we made it up to base camp at 4250 meters with no problems, and that is good when we know we are going to the Andes further south.
At Piedra Grande we found an almost flat spot and put up the roof tent and the annex so we had our base camp. While putting up camp we could really feel the altitude, and only small efforts (as putting some rocks on our annex (on the “snow valences”)) felt like hard work. Still we were able to eat a good dinner and have a good night’s sleep.
Since there is a road going all the way up to Piedra Grande, most people that go for the summit arrive there one afternoon, sleep in the basic hut that is up there, do an acclimatization hike the next day, go to bed early, and then get up and start the climb to the summit from the hut at 2-3 o’clock the following night. As we are not really short on time we decided to take it a bit slower and get better acclimatized.
Our first day in base camp we were reading books in camp, enjoyed the view which is just amazing, and towards the evening we did a short walk. When we got back to our camp we were invited to eat tacos and mole from a group of Mexican students that had parked next to us.
These guys were just up for a day trip, enjoying the views and had a picnic. While we were camping up at Piedra Grande, we saw several cars with Mexicans doing the same thing.
On our second day in camp we had a slow start, but at lunch time we packed up about half of our gear and hiked up to 4740 meters were we put up our mountain tent as an advanced basecamp.
When it was all set up we hiked back down to the car to sleep there one more night, and then move up the next day. But the next morning Malin did not feel ready to try for the summit, so we spent another day reading and relaxing in camp. The rest did good, and the day after we both felt ready to move up to our small tent. Well up by the tent we put on crampons and hiked another 200 meters up the hill so we had a better view of our route the next day.
Our alarm went off at 5 o’clock in the morning and even Espen managed to get up early. Everything is moving in slow motion at this altitude, so we weren’t ready to start the summit attempt before 6.45. The advantage at starting relatively late is that the sun is getting up at the same time, and it followed us the whole way up so we did not have to walk in the shade. This makes a big difference at high altitude as it is difficult to push on in order to get warm.
It was slow going up, and the last hill (at about 35 degrees) is a “monster”! You don’t really see the summit, and it feels like tis hill doesn’t have an end… The last 100 meters we were just able to walk 30-40 steps before we had to rest. But at 11.30 we were on the summit. And it was spectacular!!
It had a huge crater in the middle that is not visible before you suddenly are standing on the edge. Some years back we climbed Elbrus in Russia, witch is about the same height (5642 meters) and also a volcano, but there the summit is just flat. Not nearly as spectacular as the summit of Orizaba.
We were the only ones on the summit, and we were sitting there for 45 minutes at 5635 meters in sun and with no wind.
The views in all directions are amazing, and we could look down on the town of Tlachichuca 3000 meters below us. Climbing the “monster” hill was worth it!
Walking down from the summit was so much easier. Back down at the small tent we had some food, packed up, and then continued the hike down. At 16.30 we were back down to the Patrol at base camp, and we made a quick decision to pack up this camp too and drive the 1 ½ hours off the mountain and down to Tlachichuca. A warm shower at the SummitOrizaba, dinner at their restaurant, and a proper bed, was more tempting than one more night in the tent in 0 degrees celsius...
All in all a fantastic experience!
Toyotero
Explorer
awesome
Awesome story and photos. You guys had perfect weather for a peak climb.
I had planned to summit that peak when I was in school in Puebla/Cholula, but we only got around to summiting La Malinche, which at 4461metros/14635ft is a fun one itself for beginning alpinists... especially when they don't look at the weather report and climb to the summit while a tropical depression is crossing over :Wow1: I didn't expect to be hailed on while in MX, lesson learned on that one, ha ha! :sombrero:
Orizaba is truly a beautiful peak... especially viewed from the highway between MX city and Veracruz, it's height is truly impressive.
Regards,
Awesome story and photos. You guys had perfect weather for a peak climb.
I had planned to summit that peak when I was in school in Puebla/Cholula, but we only got around to summiting La Malinche, which at 4461metros/14635ft is a fun one itself for beginning alpinists... especially when they don't look at the weather report and climb to the summit while a tropical depression is crossing over :Wow1: I didn't expect to be hailed on while in MX, lesson learned on that one, ha ha! :sombrero:
Orizaba is truly a beautiful peak... especially viewed from the highway between MX city and Veracruz, it's height is truly impressive.
Regards,
NM-Frontier
Explorer
That looks like an amazing time! I cant get over the pics.