World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Colombia
31° | sunny | km 487
South America!
on 2017-10-18 in Colombia
We got to experience first hand what it meant to be on open waters. All around us was nothing but water, we did not have much to do on the ship but relaxing. Gazing into the distance we started having deep thoughts. The sea was according to our Captain Ludwig very calm, the boat still went endlessly up and down but luckily we were all used to it by now. The day before departure Denis had made fun of three girls wearing some sort of acupuncture bracelets. One had already fallen sick the night of the departure but one of the other ones laughed about Denis' accident the same night. Luckily it did not take too long until Miss Acupuncture also leaned over the guardrail. The best part about it was that everyone took it with humor and we made fun of it.
We reached the harbor of Cartagena around 1 a.m. at night. The next morning everything went quite quickly. We dropped off the backpackers after a swift breakfast on board and went to another port to unload the bikes. We quickly unloaded the bikes and after saying our farewells to Ludwig and Anna we rode our bikes to the customs office in town. The best part was that everything was already set up and we did not expect to spent too much time at customs. In theory... because the Columbians had forgotten to get the necessary insurance documents for the Finnish couple. So we had to wait a little longer but after a while we were granted our customs documents and let loose on Columbia. The city center of Cartagena is quite touristy but still had quite a nice flair and gave us a good first impression of Columbia. After we had found a hostel and recovered from the boat journey we decided to meet up with the others at night to drink a farewell beer. Even Qua Qua met up with us and he was soon in the mood to party. We headed into a small disco bar and after a few drinks the night turned into a good time. The bar was almost empty when we arrived but our group was large enough to not care at all.
Two days later we decided to pack our things and head towards Bogota. One of our first observations was that we had to be more concentrated while driving in Columbia than in central America again. We rode on a good road South East and we were able to make good distance. We expected to arrive just in time for nightfall but we had not calculated that at some point we had to take a ferry. The road had suddenly stopped because the bridges over the river were still in construction and so we had to take a small local boat to get across. This did cost us valuable time and so in the end we had to make our way to the next city with hotels at night. Luckily we found a nice little village that appeared to have a lot of influence from the Spanish colonialists. The hotels looked very nice, but we were afraid that they would be a bit over our budget. Which would have been true if it was not for Fabis bargaining. In the end we enjoyed the higher standard. The owner of the hotel was coincidentally staying there as well and we had a pleasant conversation about the country and the people. Even though he spoke little English and our Spanish knowledge is limited to everyday stuff, together we managed to understand him. He had a great talent in using words that our combined knowledge of Spanish was able to translate.
The next morning we experienced something unexpected. For the first time in 90000 kilometers Denis had managed to get a flat tire. A 10 centimeter long nail had gouged into Denis' rear tire. We were still prepared, we removed the tire and the tube more or less quickly patched his tube and reassembled the wheel. We were more or less quick but as it turned out in the end we were too quick. The tire had lost a lot of air already at the next gas station so we removed the tire once more but this time brought it to a nearby shop. After 20 to 30 more minutes everything was back in place. The unbelievable part about getting help from a local shop was the amount they charged us. Removing the tire and tube from the rim, patching the tube and putting it all back together did not cost more than 1$! Denis could not believe it but even after checking back with them a couple of times the price remained the same.
Later that night we arrived at the foothills of the Andes. We could not wait to climb up the mountains and finally enjoy some twisty roads again.
We reached the harbor of Cartagena around 1 a.m. at night. The next morning everything went quite quickly. We dropped off the backpackers after a swift breakfast on board and went to another port to unload the bikes. We quickly unloaded the bikes and after saying our farewells to Ludwig and Anna we rode our bikes to the customs office in town. The best part was that everything was already set up and we did not expect to spent too much time at customs. In theory... because the Columbians had forgotten to get the necessary insurance documents for the Finnish couple. So we had to wait a little longer but after a while we were granted our customs documents and let loose on Columbia. The city center of Cartagena is quite touristy but still had quite a nice flair and gave us a good first impression of Columbia. After we had found a hostel and recovered from the boat journey we decided to meet up with the others at night to drink a farewell beer. Even Qua Qua met up with us and he was soon in the mood to party. We headed into a small disco bar and after a few drinks the night turned into a good time. The bar was almost empty when we arrived but our group was large enough to not care at all.
Two days later we decided to pack our things and head towards Bogota. One of our first observations was that we had to be more concentrated while driving in Columbia than in central America again. We rode on a good road South East and we were able to make good distance. We expected to arrive just in time for nightfall but we had not calculated that at some point we had to take a ferry. The road had suddenly stopped because the bridges over the river were still in construction and so we had to take a small local boat to get across. This did cost us valuable time and so in the end we had to make our way to the next city with hotels at night. Luckily we found a nice little village that appeared to have a lot of influence from the Spanish colonialists. The hotels looked very nice, but we were afraid that they would be a bit over our budget. Which would have been true if it was not for Fabis bargaining. In the end we enjoyed the higher standard. The owner of the hotel was coincidentally staying there as well and we had a pleasant conversation about the country and the people. Even though he spoke little English and our Spanish knowledge is limited to everyday stuff, together we managed to understand him. He had a great talent in using words that our combined knowledge of Spanish was able to translate.
The next morning we experienced something unexpected. For the first time in 90000 kilometers Denis had managed to get a flat tire. A 10 centimeter long nail had gouged into Denis' rear tire. We were still prepared, we removed the tire and the tube more or less quickly patched his tube and reassembled the wheel. We were more or less quick but as it turned out in the end we were too quick. The tire had lost a lot of air already at the next gas station so we removed the tire once more but this time brought it to a nearby shop. After 20 to 30 more minutes everything was back in place. The unbelievable part about getting help from a local shop was the amount they charged us. Removing the tire and tube from the rim, patching the tube and putting it all back together did not cost more than 1$! Denis could not believe it but even after checking back with them a couple of times the price remained the same.
Later that night we arrived at the foothills of the Andes. We could not wait to climb up the mountains and finally enjoy some twisty roads again.
21° | sunny | km 601
Running in new tires
on 2017-10-25 in Colombia
Once we reached the Andes we finally were able to use the sides of our tires again. The best part about the many toll houses that we passed was that bikes were allowed to pass on a little lane to the right. Even though those lanes were built for a lot smaller motorcycles we always managed to squeeze through.
We had made arrangements with motorradreifendirekt.de and Heidenau to get a new pair of tires at their distributor in Bogota. What a luxury. The communication with Gonzalo, Heidenau's distributor, went without a glitch and he not only had our tires and a place for us to have them changed, but he also invited us on a small tour with some other bikers.
When we reached Bogota we managed to hit rush hour. We all decided to agree on a point in our navigators and then everyone went for himself. Left and right and left again around cars, buses, other bikes, bicycles and pedestrians. In the end we managed to find a nice hotel in walking distance to Heidenau's warehouse. The next morning we met Gonzalo in person and he immediately made a very relaxed and professional impression on us. Within our first hour he had given us valuable tips on places in Colombia and the rest of South America. He himself had ridden a couple of tours across this continent and so he knew what to look out for and what to steer clear of. Before changing tires we decided to get the bikes cleaned from the mud, sand and salt of the past weeks. The bikes were cleaned well and shined like when we received them at the Los Angeles airport. Changing tires was therefor all the more fun. A huge thank you once more to motorradreifendirekt.de, Heidenau and Biker Stock Colombia, who supported us perfectly with this change.
The next morning started with huge horror... Getting up at 7 a.m... Gonzalo picked us up from the hotel with a couple of friends from which we headed towards the nearby mountains. On our way there we picked up a couple more bikers. This went perfectly without stopping, they suddenly joined us at intersections or traffic lights. Our group grew continuously until we stopped at a gas station and filled up our bikes for the tour. At the end we were a large group of nearly 14 bikers. Exceptional was that we only had two other 1200 GS' join our group, but six brand new Africa Twins. As far as we knew it was planned to do some light offroading for the day. But shortly after leaving the asphalt we quickly climbed a steep slope on tricky terrain. A small taste of what was about to come. Easy offroad was soon off the table, because we quickly found ourselves in tricky, technical terrain. Our group of 14 soon split up, we lost two on the way, and a couple gave up and turned around. At the end we were around 8 bikers but some of them still had to pick their bikes up a couple of times but managed to make their way through. We had tons of fun letting the bikes fly through difficult terrain with brand new tires and without any luggage. It was a great day and it is incredible that after all this time and all the kilometers we have done we still enjoy spending our "free time" on the bikes.
We want to especially thank Gonzalo who showed us a great time in Bogota and supported us tremendously on our journey.
We had made arrangements with motorradreifendirekt.de and Heidenau to get a new pair of tires at their distributor in Bogota. What a luxury. The communication with Gonzalo, Heidenau's distributor, went without a glitch and he not only had our tires and a place for us to have them changed, but he also invited us on a small tour with some other bikers.
When we reached Bogota we managed to hit rush hour. We all decided to agree on a point in our navigators and then everyone went for himself. Left and right and left again around cars, buses, other bikes, bicycles and pedestrians. In the end we managed to find a nice hotel in walking distance to Heidenau's warehouse. The next morning we met Gonzalo in person and he immediately made a very relaxed and professional impression on us. Within our first hour he had given us valuable tips on places in Colombia and the rest of South America. He himself had ridden a couple of tours across this continent and so he knew what to look out for and what to steer clear of. Before changing tires we decided to get the bikes cleaned from the mud, sand and salt of the past weeks. The bikes were cleaned well and shined like when we received them at the Los Angeles airport. Changing tires was therefor all the more fun. A huge thank you once more to motorradreifendirekt.de, Heidenau and Biker Stock Colombia, who supported us perfectly with this change.
The next morning started with huge horror... Getting up at 7 a.m... Gonzalo picked us up from the hotel with a couple of friends from which we headed towards the nearby mountains. On our way there we picked up a couple more bikers. This went perfectly without stopping, they suddenly joined us at intersections or traffic lights. Our group grew continuously until we stopped at a gas station and filled up our bikes for the tour. At the end we were a large group of nearly 14 bikers. Exceptional was that we only had two other 1200 GS' join our group, but six brand new Africa Twins. As far as we knew it was planned to do some light offroading for the day. But shortly after leaving the asphalt we quickly climbed a steep slope on tricky terrain. A small taste of what was about to come. Easy offroad was soon off the table, because we quickly found ourselves in tricky, technical terrain. Our group of 14 soon split up, we lost two on the way, and a couple gave up and turned around. At the end we were around 8 bikers but some of them still had to pick their bikes up a couple of times but managed to make their way through. We had tons of fun letting the bikes fly through difficult terrain with brand new tires and without any luggage. It was a great day and it is incredible that after all this time and all the kilometers we have done we still enjoy spending our "free time" on the bikes.
We want to especially thank Gonzalo who showed us a great time in Bogota and supported us tremendously on our journey.
23° | sunny / cloudy / foggy | km 1390
From the volcano to the death road
on 2017-10-29 in Colombia
We headed directly west from Bogota to the nearby Volcano del Ruiz. Gonzalo had mentioned to us that the road around the volcano would be mostly gravel which is why we decided to stop early near the volcano. The next morning we headed straight towards the mountain. We soon realized that our view would mostly be obstructed by thick fog. Our decision to stop the day before was definitely the right one, but we still stood before closed gates at the end of the gravel road. It was prohibited to go up the last kilometers by bike because of volcanic activities and so we would have to take a bus or a car. Because of the thick fog we decided against the tour because it was impossible to see further then a couple of hundred meters.
So we headed further south crossing the high Andes at more than 13000 feet. The landscape was incredible, finally we were back in the mountains. No more jungle, no more high humidity, only beautiful curvy roads through trees and fields. We kept passing through clouds on these high winding roads so it was a mix of sunshine and fog. Sometimes we were hit by short thunderstorms with lots of rain followed by beautiful blue skies and a warm shining sun. We ventured forth alongside the mountains towards the south. We were surprised to see so much military along the road. Geared up to the teeth with large caliber rifles and vehicles. We got a little sense of what it meant to fight the guerrilla. This region is still riddled with small guerrilla groups fighting with the local military in spite of the year long peace contract between the government and Farc. The military personal along the roads always gave us a thumbs up when we passed which at first we thought was quite common to us bike travelers, but after seeing that they also did this to the locals we concluded that it meant that the road was clear.
Shortly before the border to Ecuador we switched back to the Panamericana, because the road leading us to it called "Trampolín de la Muerte" was supposed to be a beautiful gravel road across the mountains. It is also famous as one of the most dangerous roads of South America. This reputation mostly comes from back in the days when there was no way around and many trucks crashed down the steep cliffs. If one does not try to make record times across the mountain pass it simply turns into a beautiful and fun offroad pass. None of us died and so we found ourselves once more on the Panamericana. The Panamericana is the infamous road from Alaska to Ushuaia and equally famous as the Route 66. But to be honest as it is with most of the famous roads that stand for freedom and adventure in the end they are basically just very famous unspectacular roads. Their reputation is the only thing that survived over time. More interesting was the Santuario de Las Lajas, a church built near the Colombian-Ecuadorian border. It was built in a valley on a bridge stretching over a river. One can already see it from the mountains far away. After a short visit with some pictures we headed to the border. The Colombian side was quick and went without any problems, that's how borders should be! In a good mood we headed towards Ecuador where we were greeted by the exact opposite.
So we headed further south crossing the high Andes at more than 13000 feet. The landscape was incredible, finally we were back in the mountains. No more jungle, no more high humidity, only beautiful curvy roads through trees and fields. We kept passing through clouds on these high winding roads so it was a mix of sunshine and fog. Sometimes we were hit by short thunderstorms with lots of rain followed by beautiful blue skies and a warm shining sun. We ventured forth alongside the mountains towards the south. We were surprised to see so much military along the road. Geared up to the teeth with large caliber rifles and vehicles. We got a little sense of what it meant to fight the guerrilla. This region is still riddled with small guerrilla groups fighting with the local military in spite of the year long peace contract between the government and Farc. The military personal along the roads always gave us a thumbs up when we passed which at first we thought was quite common to us bike travelers, but after seeing that they also did this to the locals we concluded that it meant that the road was clear.
Shortly before the border to Ecuador we switched back to the Panamericana, because the road leading us to it called "Trampolín de la Muerte" was supposed to be a beautiful gravel road across the mountains. It is also famous as one of the most dangerous roads of South America. This reputation mostly comes from back in the days when there was no way around and many trucks crashed down the steep cliffs. If one does not try to make record times across the mountain pass it simply turns into a beautiful and fun offroad pass. None of us died and so we found ourselves once more on the Panamericana. The Panamericana is the infamous road from Alaska to Ushuaia and equally famous as the Route 66. But to be honest as it is with most of the famous roads that stand for freedom and adventure in the end they are basically just very famous unspectacular roads. Their reputation is the only thing that survived over time. More interesting was the Santuario de Las Lajas, a church built near the Colombian-Ecuadorian border. It was built in a valley on a bridge stretching over a river. One can already see it from the mountains far away. After a short visit with some pictures we headed to the border. The Colombian side was quick and went without any problems, that's how borders should be! In a good mood we headed towards Ecuador where we were greeted by the exact opposite.