May 19 2015

A tale of 2 cultures – Panama & Costa Rica

During this trip we have pondered on how and why cultures develop differently and how they imprint themselves on their people, both consciously and sub-consciously. We first noticed this as we travelled the ‘Stans’ last year. In that case the breakup of the Soviet Union was only a couple of decades old, and while we had no prior knowledge of how each of the now independent countries has been during their participation on the Soviet Union, the very different driving styles we encountered were probably most likely developed in the last 20 years.

Here in Central America, we have a number of small contiguous countries that we shall travel through in the coming few weeks and will have a limited opportunity to see first hand how their cultures differ in our view, if at all, and the impact this has had on people’s behaviour. This will be a work in progress: as I write, we are only into our second country Costa Rica. It has been interesting as with only one day in Costa Rica, we have seen differences between here and Panama. I am jumping ahead here, lets go back a day or two.

As we mentioned in a previous blog, we have met some helpful people in Panama, but we have found that there is desire to make extra money, whether by proposing an inflated taxi fare because we are foreigners, while in Bogota the taxi drivers rounded down, or asking what we will do to avoid an official traffic infringement being raised. More on that later.

Our departure from Panama City took us out over the ‘Punte Centenario’ or Centennial Bridge which is situated just north of the two sets of locks on the Pacific Ocean side. We had our last glimpse of Panama Canal and a ship sailing towards the Atlantic. If felt that we were now really in the North American continent. I know there is debate about where to draw the actual boundary between the North and South American continents and people use country boundaries, geography, language and tectonic plates, but I like the idea of the canal, especially since it runs more North/South than East/West, which is something I had not really appreciated before we came here. As we have traversed Panama and now Costa Rica we tend to ride more West than North.

Crossing the Panama Canal

Until today on this journey we had two encounters with traffic police, both of which we were at fault, and paid the appropriate ‘Spot Fine’. We have been careful to observe the rules, well, as much as the locals do, while we ride.

Today we are pulled over on an open straight 4 lane highway and informed the speed limit is 80km per hour. We saw no signs, but could not guarantee we had not missed them while overtaking. We had been careful but these things happen. We are then told the infringement will be US$100 each, our policeman intimates a cash alternative is acceptable. We decide to pay the spot fine and then are asked for a pair of motorcycle gloves as well! Luckily mine are ratty and have big hole in the palm of my hand, he is not interested.

After departing we take a keener interest in the speed limits, and also the other drivers’ speed. It turns out that the 100km per hour only applied near Panama City and the rest of the four lane highway to the Costa Rica border is 80km per hour or less. Drivers are very careful, and stay below the limit, where they perceive or know of trapping, otherwise they go faster, but the heavy police presence trapping makes it a fraught game. We find the ‘Carretera Interamericana’ as the highway is called is being duplicated for over 160km and the speed limit en route, regardless of construction conditions, is either 30km or 40km per hour. Police trapping seems to occur after most of the infrequent speed limit signs. With the existing road surface being of poor quality, perhaps a 60 km per hour limit might be more appropriate. This starts to look more like a business not a road safety initiative.

Gorgeous tree outside Panama City

Would love to know what this sign means, Panama

Still 40kms/hour on our way to David, Panama

We want to beat the rain but the bum is getting sore

Anthony’s confidence is still high it will not rain on us

Just another customs check, 150kms from the border

My confidence in avoiding rain as we progress into the afternoon is misplaced and a black torrential tropical downpour envelops us. Must remember to put on waterproof trousers before the skies open up. It is easier for Anne as her new riding trousers we bought in Kuala Lumpur are waterproof. This downpour makes for interesting progress but we eventually arrive at our destination some 20km short of the border. We do not have an exact location of our bed and breakfast place and a kindly local drives ahead to show us the way. I can now dry out all the money in my jeans pockets. We also both have wet boots, our new pair of TCX Track Evo boots are still not waterproof…

We are not looking forward to the Panama / Costa Rica border crossing, we have read stories of long delays, ‘fixers’ being needed to help your progress, generally unpleasant. Our friend Kristjian had a torrid time here as well, it took him 3 days… We are lucky in that Kristjian has been sending regular reports of his crossing experiences which give us an up to date view. We also have multiple crossings to make in the next couple of weeks as the countries are small. In many of the Asian countries, we travelled thousands of kilometres before we crossed the next border so we only undertook the border crossing process occasionally rather than every couple of days as we will here.

– Anthony

Panama – Costa Rica border – 15 May 2015

As Anthony said, we were not looking forward to this border crossing following Kristjan’s experience. We had also heard the border crossing was very slow with many large trucks and coaches who make the journey overnight to arrive by 6am and a couple staying at our B&B were going to cross at around 10am ‘when it should be quieter’. We stick with our original plan to be at the border by 7am.

Nice to see blue skies as we head to Paso Canoas border

What we didn’t know is that only 3 tight lanes of vehicles can drive past the immigration/customs building, under a large tin roof – in our case a line with 2 coaches, and 2 lines of trucks. We are directed by an army official to park our bikes behind the lines – we park side by side behind the back of a Tica transport company coach.

At Paso Canoas border post

As soon as we get off our bikes and walk towards the buildings, a man approaches and waves to follow him. He is a “fixer” and we decide to accept his help.

First he takes us to the furthest building (there are only 2), marked Aduanas, asks us for our (vehicle temporary import) document, leans down into the little window opening and calls the 3 women sitting and chatting at the back of their office. One gets up – not sure she wants to assist, but she stamps one of the forms on the back. He has to ask her to stamp the 2nd one too which she does reluctantly. Now this when a fixer comes in very handy: he then took the forms and found the man who would sign the stamps!! He was busy with a truck and he too seemed reluctant to assist but he signed both. Job done.

Next immigration, which is in the first building on the left when we arrived. Not the long line of travelers who have come off one of the coaches, but the window to the far left left marked ‘solo transportitas’. Our fixer tells us to hand the vehicle document and our passports. Small delay as the 2 women behind the window decide to read one of the coach brochures on their shelf. We just wait. Brochure read, replaced, then whole pack removed… Iris photo taken, passport stamped, all documents returned.

The fixer then takes us back to the Aduana window where our temporary vehicle stamp in our passport is stamped too and cancelled.

Job done. The entire process took 15′. Would we pay US$5 each for his help, our fixer asks. Very fair price, no problem!! Time to leave, but how? There is no room to squeeze past the busses and trucks. Anthony goes off, while I secure our position behind the busses, to see if we can go through the entry side instead. Our fixer is not interested, not his area, fair enough. The army official who had told us where to park before the process began indicates it is not his call but we must ask a superior officer by tapping his shoulder on his (lack of) officers tabs. I notice there is movement with the buses and now the one in front of us is trying to reverse. On the bikes we hop, move back to find out the front truck and both buses have maneuvered to make space for us to squeeze past!!! Brilliant!!! Absolutely amazing. We are through in exactly 27′ total!!

On we drive a short distance to the Costa Rica border, past all the ‘no stopping’ parking bays (?!) until I give up and stop just next to a drinks seller. That will do – we are not in a no parking spot, just on the road!!

No fixer approaches us here so we walk towards a row of windows but they are unattended and we are advised by a helpful person sitting on a bench to go window 4 behind. That is one of the 2 entry into Costa Rica immigration windows. 2 people in the queue and we are next in no time, passport stamped with 90 days. We go to the Aduanas next but are told to buy our road insurance next door first, get copies across the road and return. A security guard is sitting by the insurance window. He offers his seat so that I can rest my helmet on it. What a gentleman!! He jokes that it is only for me, not Anthony. We chat about where are are going etc. and he tells us he is happy to meet us. Full details of the border process will be uploaded in our Borders and Visas section soon.

Once our entire process is completed, we say goodbye to Dagoberto who keeps telling us he is “happy, happy” to meet us.

Happy happy Dagoberto at Paso Canoas border post

Back at our bikes and we buy drinks from both sellers we are parked next to. What suddenly parks just in front us, the Tica coach from Costa Rica which moved over for us at the Panama border. We meet Alberto like long lost friends. While we get ready, we enjoy the banter between him and one of the drinks sellers – “she doesn’t want to have my baby!!”. We eventually say goodbye to Alberto and Dagoberto and head off into Costa Rica. One and half hours after arriving at the Panama border and we are through both borders. We are so lucky!!! Plus we have gained an hour being in Costa Rica, it is only 07.30am. We can have a leisurely ride to Jaco, 280kms away.

Alberto, the friendly Tica bus driver

We are instantly loving Costa Rica. We had so many wonderful Costa Ricans helping us and not once was there any question of money. It is so tropical here. No pretense of highway close to the border as we’ve found in so many countries, just a lovely country road. Bougainvilleas, poincianas, white poinsettias, jacarandas, banana trees, palms, it all looks and feels and smells like home. Lovely gardens, well tendered homes, clean road gutters. Palms and more palms – then palm oil factories. Single lane each way, gentle curves, a few trucks and buses and everyone is so courteous. It is a gorgeous ride. Lucky we had an early start as the rain decided to come early today and we get our first tropical downpour of the day by 9am. We slow right down. Eventually, a large coach approaches and hoots as he overtakes us. It’s Alberto!! We hoot back, and hoots some more. Later, he’s had to stop in a village for passengers so we overtake. There is a cacophony of horns going on for about ages as we approach then pass him. Byebye Alberto!! This country has a great feel already…

We are in Costa Rica!!

The Panamwrican highway in Costa Rica, past Rio Claro

The Panamwrican highway in Costa Rica – simply gorgeous

It is a wet ride today from Rio Claro, Costa Rica

Once again, we discuss how interesting it is that countries and societies can be so different in feel, habits, and wonder how and why they evolve so differently. We know we shouldn’t generalise and we haven’t spent much time in either country, but our personal experiences in each are so strikingly different.

We stop for lunch, so that our jackets etc can dry a little before we check into our B&B. By the time we are ready to leave, there are little puddles all around our table!! But not before Anthony has a game of pool with one of the restaurant staff.

Lunch stop just outside Jacó, Costa Rica

Great spot to dry out and have lunch

Anthony has a game of pool with one of the restaurant staff

We arrive at the bed and breakfast I selected based on its location, quiet street away from downtown Jaco and great reviews. I hadn’t realised the owner of La Villa Creole was Belgian from Brussels. It is great to speak French!! I also hadn’t realised how touristy Jaco was! From my point of view, it was a convenient location near the coast and close enough to San Jose where the bikes are being repaired under warranty Monday morning. There is apparently a great sushi restaurant, run by Japanese, so is authentic. After a lovely swim in the pool and shower, we head there for dinner, a 15′ walk down the road. What strikes us are the number of high security fences and serious fencing around homes. So there must be a serious theft issue here. That’s why the B&B were so concerned about our bikes and were uncomfortable about us deciding to leave all our luggage on the bikes. We covered the bikes – each pannier is locked anyway.

Common house security in Jacó, Costa Rica

Jaco is so touristy!!! It reminds us of Chiang Mai where we spent a week last year! Maybe because that was the last place we visited that was so touristy. But also because both have a high number of ‘expats’ who have made their new life in a foreign country, Over dinner, we once again wonder how societies develop so differently. While in Chiang Mai, we met many people who integrated into their adopted country, and you could see many mixed groups. We hear a lot of Americans here, but don’t see any mixed groups or couples. We wonder how integrated all the expats, or foreigners I should say, are here. And is there a real or perceived threat of theft here?

Saturday, we first visit the Tico Pod Art House & Gifts store which specialised in locally produced art and admire some stunning Boruca masks. The Boruca are a tribe of Indigenous people of Costa Rica who managed to scare off the Spanish Conquistadors and secure their independence to this day thanks to their scary masks. The masks are absolutely stunning. Would have loved to visit them but we are running out of time to get my DME replaced before end of warranty in June.

We then take a local taxi for a short ride to Playa Hermosa which we rode past after lunch yesterday. It looked stunning – and it was. While Jaco seemed packed with American tourists, Playa Hermosa is low key, with a few backpackers, hippies selling handcrafted jewelry or sandals and lovely healthy small restaurants and lots and lots of surfers. Apparently, Kelly Slater, the world famous surfer, has a home there, and for good reason!! The sea is rough, so much so that they have a huge sign which we should have on the Gold Coast beaches in Queensland, warning people of rips (strong currents that sweep you out to sea) and how to handle them. We enjoy watching the surfers while eating our fresh tuna salad.

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

La Villa Creole, Jacó

Sunday is an easy ride up to San Jose.

Perfect day for our ride to San Jose

On our way to San Jose, Costa Rica

Coming up to San Jose, Costa Rica

The only reason for us going to San Jose is for Streak and Storm to get new tyres and new steering head bearings on Monday. Our Heidenau Scout K60 tyres have performed marvelously: the front tyres lasted 33,000kms and back 22,000kms. The back ones could have lasted a little longer but there was no life left in the front ones and it was time to swap to asphalt & wet road conditions so 2 new sets of Metzeller Tourance tyres, a few too many $$$ later but great service from BMW San Jose and we are ready to continue our way through Central America. – Anne

– A&A

May 14 2015

The bikes are back in town

I stand under the roof of the old control tower at Tocumen International Airport, now part of the cargo complex, as another COPA, the local airline, B737 roars overhead, looks like the 800 series

for those who are really interested. We have started the process to be reunited with our bikes, and already the information we have on the process to retrieve them is incorrect. This information came from a friend who undertook the same process a week earlier. Nothing stays the same or should be taken for granted when following ours or other people’s instructions.

Anne has disappeared into the distance and out of sight while I remain with our two small bags and a five litre water container now filled with fuel. We had problems getting this filled, due to sensible safety concerns at the petrol stations our taxi driver tried to fill the water container up at. Finally one petrol station provided a loan fuel container which we could the transfer then fuel to our water bottle out of sight. Anne’s fuel tank has so little fuel left after being drained in Medellin that I doubt that the petrol filter is still wet.

As the countries we travel through are closer to our safety conscious western ways, the standards increase and the enforcement of the rules grow. In some countries fuel, or what purports to be fuel, is sold in old soft drink bottles at the side of the road. ‘Caveat emptor’ we take the risk here, as at home risk is regulated away – rules and enforcement encourage the correct behaviour of all, except usually those who it was targeted at in the first place who ignore the rules anyway. I have no doubt that most people who have been impacted by accident or injury as a result of failure of safety rules would disagree with me and, probably if I or a loved one was affected I would think differently. However at this time, I believe we still need to opportunity for adventure and perhaps risk in our lives and should be afforded it, if it only impacts ourselves. Enough rambling from me, yes I am still waiting for Anne to return, what topical subject should I tackle next while I wait?

Anne is back, our bikes were shipped with a different airline, so the initial instructions have changed. I have moved to new location a few hundred meters away. Time to ponder again.

What should be our next subject? Since I am not on Twitter, Facebook or other social media and more importantly do not have internet access at this time, I will need to choose. ‘US Presidential election 2016 campaign’ . Anne is back and has the three stamps and knows where to go for the temporary import permit. I think I will soon be on unwrapping and assembly duty soon. As we have been travelling north and now have less than 10 months before we return to Australia, we are thinking about our future. Since we retired a couple of years ago, we think what next, Chapter two after Chapter one ‘A year in Europe, interrupted by RTW motorcycle trip’. I had idly thought: how about working for a US Presidential Candidate in their campaign? Probably not sensible as they seem to take clever hardworking young Americans, and I suspect that when I get back to Australia, I will have to work to pay for all the fun times we will have had in two and a half years. Yes, by the time we get back in March 2016, we will have been travelling since September 2014, which was not our original plan of 9 months in Europe seeing family and back home. Great how life can unfold. I had no idea when we left Australia that I could end up sitting in an airport car park in Panama.

I hope we do not have to ride the bikes off the loading dock, the meter plus vertical drop will be a challenge for the bikes’ suspension.

Panama cargo area – the drop is a bit too much for the bikes

No, a back door exists and after donning a safety vest and changing my red warehouse visitors access card for a green airport apron access card, the bikes are then delivered on a metal frame just outside the gates literally, the front wheels are just outside the gates.

Our bikes are now delivered at Panama airport

A tiny bit of shade to reassemble the bikes

We fill motorbikes with fuel and are ready to depart for places unknown, err not quite, the steady flow of petrol from under the seats, where the petrol pump and filter we removed to drain the fuel tanks in Medellin must have not been replaced properly. We push the bikes away from the petrol bowsers for safety reasons and quickly start to syphon fuel from the tanks into spare containers. A downpour of rain makes life a little more problematic, and with no cover to work on the bikes, we decide to stay a night longer and find a dry hotel in town.

One of the 2 drowned rats while waiting for rain to stop.

A quick internet booking and we are set for a slow ride to town having syphoned enough fuel out of the tanks to stop the leaking.

We remove Anne’s pump first, reseat the pump and gasket, all looks good, refit the locking ring, refill Anne’s tank and the fuel just runs out again. Damm.. We need to go to BMW as this is beyond our basics skills and the gasket is probably damaged . BMW Motorrad is not too far away, and here we meet Arturo, who is very helpful and arranges for their mechanics to look at the motorbikes even though they are busy – they will replace the gaskets. They also confirm we need new front tyres and that my suspicions of a problem regarding the steering are correct. Anne had questioned hers previously but had been told all was ok so put it down to her highly sensitive sense of balance. We will need new steering head bearings but as they are very busy with other bikes, they can’t get to that this week. The tyres will have to be done in San Jose, Costa Rica as none of our size are available in Panama and the steering head bearings will also be done in San Jose under warranty. Arturo has kindly contacted BMW Motorrad in San Jose to confirm availability and prices, very helpful for us.

Panama uses US dollars and we need to get some smaller banknotes and yesterday we used a 100 dollar bill at a supermarket finding that for each 100 dollar bill they need your ID, signature and two staff counter signatures. Interesting that they are so concerned about this – forgeries I presume?

We have the bikes back and are set to go tomorrow.

– Anthony

May 10 2015

Surprised to be so inspired in Panama City

Our first full day in Panama City and we decide to go to the Panama Canal Miraflores Visitor Centre. I was looking forward to seeing this world famous canal, one which my mother went through when she travelled by container ship to visit us in Australia.

About to learn all about the Panama Canal

What I hadn’t counted on was how utterly fascinated and inspired I would be at seeing it and watching vessels pass through over the next 6 hours!!! Maybe it was because of the recent difficulty we had had on finding a way to cross the Darien Gap and get to Panama? Or knowing how many people died trying to cross the Darien Gap and building the canal. But the importance of the Canal was suddenly clear: I felt like it was allowing the life blood of the shipping world to flow, a connector for the entire world in fact. Building the Canal was a monumental engineering feat.

Here are a few facts: the Canal opened in 1914 and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama. It is 77kms long and 25 metres above sea level, the level of Gatun Lake which feeds the system of locks. The canal enables ships traveling from New York to California to trim 13,000kms off its voyage by bypassing the tip of South America. Between 30 to 40 ships use the canal a day. On average, it takes a ship 8 to 10 hours to pass through the canal. While moving through it, a system of locks raises each ship 85 feet above sea level. Ship captains aren’t allowed to transit the canal on their own; instead, a specially trained canal pilot takes navigational control of each vessel to guide it through the waterway. As the ship enters the lock, the ship is guided by 4 to 8 engines on tracks to make sure the ship doesn’t collide into the canal walls. It is absolutely incredible to see these huge ships gliding through the locks, with so little spare space, the engines attached to cables slowly pulling the ships along the locks. There is a size called Panamax, the maximum width and length allowable for ships to use the canal.

And here’s a brief history of the canal. The idea for a canal across Panama dates back to the 16th century but a survey ordered by Charles V determined that the construction of a ship canal was impossible. The first serious attempt at building a canal didn’t start until the 1880s by the men behind the Suez Canal and the Eiffel tower. The project was plagued by poor planning, engineering problems and tropical diseases (malaria and yellow fever) that killed 20,000 workers and the excavation proved more difficult than anticipated. The company was declared bankrupt in 1889. Sadly Eiffel retired from business after being accused of fraud and mismanagement of this project.

America originally thought of building a canal in Nicaragua but thanks to some intense lobbying by Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, one of the French engineers who had been involved in the failed French project, who convinced American lawmakers than Nicaragua’s volcanoes made it too dangerous but they should rather buy the old French assets. Although the US congress approved the purchase of the French assets in 1902, Colombia, which Panama was part of, refused to allow the US to build the Canal. The Panamanians revolted and declared independence and negotiated the Hay-Bunau-Varikla treaty which gave America the right to a zone of more than 800 square kms in which it could construct a canal, a zone to be controlled in perpetuity by the Americans. Well, not quite because, after some riots in 1964, then a number of political negotiations and treaties, Control of the canal was transferred peacefully to Panama in December 1999, and the Panamanians have been responsible for it ever since. The canal took 10 years to build, during which time 5,600 workers died, mostly due to accidents rather than tropical disease. The canal is currently being expanded to handle today’s megaships, up to the “New Panamax” size limit, and cargo vessels carrying nearly three times the amount currently accommodated. They won’t however be super-sized enough for the world’s largest cargo ships such as Maersk’s Triple E class ships, which measure 60 metres wide and 400 metres long!!

Interestingly, a century after the United States completed the Panama Canal, a navigable link across Nicaragua remains a possibility: in 2013, a Chinese company announced it had struck a $40 billion deal with the Nicaraguan government for the rights to construct a 275kms long waterway across Latin America’s largest fresh water lake and finally broke ground to start building the access roads in December 2014. Sadly, the Nicaraguan government has stated it does not have the funds to conduct an environmental impact study and I fear the construction of this new canal will be disastrous for Nicaragua ecologically…

Here is a selection of the 300 photos I took of the canal:

Panama Canal locks

Lock gates opening, Panama Canal

Boats of all sizes use the Panama canal

Time for a 3D movie on the Panama Canal history and operation

Tanker in one lock…

Lock level dropped…

Gates opening…

…time to move to the next set of locks

… Now in the last set of locks ready to head out to the Pacific

Enjoying the Panama Canal

Tankers nowadays make full use of the Panamax limits

LPG tanker being guided, Panama Canal

LPG tanker is now in the last lock, Panama Canal

Condensate tanker being guided by trucks along the lock, Panama Canal

Condensate Tanker lowered into the lock, Panama Canal

Condensate tanker and car transporter, Panama Canal

Container ship, Panama Canal

I told you I was completed fascinated and inspired by this canal!!! And this road sign made me smile:

Should be a Colombian road sign!!

The next day, we took the metro to a large shopping centre to buy new camera flash cards before heading as close to the old city as we could before walking. Panama city is full of contrasts. From the shiny and clean business area to the more run down commercial area and suddenly, from one side of a set of traffic lights to the other, you are transported to a different world. The old city has been beautifully restored. There are many empty facades, boarded up for future renovations. Although it was lovely to admire some of the old buildings, that part of town was surprisingly soulless. There were just a handful of local and overseas tourists. No cafes or restaurants to sit and watch the world walk by as there was no-one. Very odd. We eventually walk into the only restaurant we had noticed earlier that was open and had lunch. Perfect timing as the heavens opened up shortly after.

The old airport is now a major bus station and shopping centre – notice the shoe shine below

Shaved ice drinks seller, Panama City

Banana seller, Panama City

The old Panama City

The old Panama City, restored

The original Panama City, restored

Panama City

I really wanted to get a closer view of one of the towers I had caught a glimpse of when we first arrived. I thought of the stunning Turning Torso of Malmo, Sweden, but this one didn’t have the same elegance or finesse. Interesting nonetheless.

Panama City with the Revolution Tower in the centre

The Revolution Tower, Panama City

It meant quite a bit more walking and getting completely drowned on our walk back to our hotel – I am lucky Anthony is always so accommodating, especially considering his ankle is still constantly aching…

Tomorrow is bike collection day!!!

May 8 2015

My perfect birthday

6th May 2015

We are staying at a cheap hostal, which Kristjan also stayed at a week ago, because it is perfectly located between the airport, the shipper’s office and the cargo area. Anthony did ask whether I would like to stay at the much more expensive hotel across the road, but I don’t think it is worth paying 7 times more, for 3 nights, for an airport hotel – if it had been a country retreat, or beach hotel, maybe, but not for an airport hotel which can only be large, impersonal with horrendous food prices. The El Hangar hostal is clean and the staff really lovely. Ok our room is very small, thin walled with one tiny high window and the hostal full of passing travelers who don’t care about anyone whatever time of the night, but it is perfectly located.

El Hangar hostal, behind the petrol station, Medellin airport

Our room at El Hangar hostal, Medellin airport

I wake up on my birthday to a beautiful blue sky and birthday card which Anthony designed on his iPad. I read all my birthday messages on Facebook, WhatsApp, and email. It is nice to still feel connected to all my family and friends. For breakfast, we walk 10′ up the road rather than eat at the hostal and have a delicious omelet and coffee. On the way back we stop at the most incredible supermarket: it sells all the usual supermarket kind of stuff, but also has a hardware corner where amongst many things, we buy plastic tubing by the metre: we need to empty the fuel tanks for the flight to Panama. We also buy a bucket, toilet brush to get into the places fingers can’t quite reach, and food for tomorrow as we will be at the cargo area for hours while the drug inspection is conducted.

Shopping done, time to re-wash the bikes

My birthday morning is then spent re-washing our bikes. We had washed them the day before at a mountain roadside truck wash, but just before we arrived into Medellin, we had to cross a very muddy puddly right across the road – no way to avoid it, and even going at walking pace, it splashed beautifully!! Because the bikes were clean, the muddy spray is even more visible!! Anthony finds someone to give our 5 litres of spare fuel to and he comes over while Anthony syphons the tanks. No luck – the fuel doesn’t flow up despite several attempts at sucking in the horrid fuel fumes. The guy takes over and tries several times. No luck. Too bad, the mechanic who is going to strip our bikes tomorrow will have to empty the tanks himself.

Final bike clean before shipping

Bikes washed and ready for tomorrow, panniers packed and a few essentials left out for the next 5 days (it is interesting how we manage to live with so little now), a warm shower (we have had a few too many cold showers of late so a warm one is lovely), time for a quick lunch at the hostal and we walk over to the airport to catch a bus to town. Medellin is 30kms away, on the other side of a range of hills. We have the rest of the day free, so why not make the most of it and traveling by bus is a novelty for us, so I am looking forward to the trip. TripAdvisor is a great source of information on things to see in places we haven’t visited before and based on what I have read, I have no great expectation for Medellin, but Anthony has done some research and has found a sculpture park!! Great!! I have always loved sculptures, so I am looking forward to seeing them.

All our luggage for the next 5 days

We thought buses travelled fast when we are on the bikes, but being on one of them, they seem ever faster, especially on mountain roads!! And I am worried about the flights to Panama?! It is reassuring however to notice that they pull over to the side when a vehicle overtaking needs a little more space to squeeze past oncoming traffic. There is understanding, anticipation and courtesy despite the apparent madness when overtaking.

Medellin in huge, the 2nd largest city in Colombia. As we approach the city centre, it feels so different to other Colombian or even other South American cities. The streets are lined with tiny stands, often selling identical goods to the one next to it – we see so many cap stands yet don’t see that many people wearing them!?! The pavements are full of people walking or just standing, seemingly waiting for the day to pass. We walk around the square, past all the sculptures, watch people watching, but do not linger and return to the bus stop to go back to the airport. A perfect little outing.

Plaza Botero sculpture, Medellin

The only sculpture I liked – is the guy behind me really listening to music?!…

Umbrella repaIrer in Medellin

Great bike!

Plaza Botero, Medellin

Medellin suburbs

Before walking back to the hostal from the airport, time for a coffee and birthday cake at the airport!! Delicious!!

My birthday cake – marzipan frog

Oops

Back at the hostal to watch a movie Anthony has downloaded onto his iPad, Wild Target with Bill Nighy, before an early dinner back at the place we had breakfast as they were so friendly there.

Birthday dinner with banana chips

It was a busy and full day but perfect, the best part being sharing and enjoying the simple things in life with my darling and reading all my birthday messages from family and friends. A perfect 58th birthday 🙂

– Anne

May 8 2015

Over the Darien Gap

Having decided to fly both ourselves and the motorbikes over the Darien Gap we must make our way to Medellin airport to prepare the bikes for shipment. Early morning traffic is reasonably light and apart from the potholes and constant stream of motorbikes lane splitting, something we cannot undertake with our panniers, we steadily make our way out of Bogota, which we have enjoyed.

As we make our first descent, roadworks, mostly aimed as shoring up the mountainside, are in progress, at one point the stop/go sign holder walks ahead of us moving the road cones back, pursued by a gaggle of motorcyclists who have filtered to the front of the queue.

Waiting on the lollypop man.

It is interesting how, in many countries where small motorbikes are commonplace, filtering between lanes is normal and acceptable, especially when the traffic is stopped or slow moving. This allows the benefits of being a motorbike rider in the community to be enhanced. In the western world, this practice, as a general rule, is frowned upon or illegal. This reminds me of that experiment of filling a glass jar with large stones and asking the audience if it is full, then adding small rocks, gravel and finally water and each time asking the audience if the jar is full. The motorbikes are the sand in my mind.

Highway down the Rio Negro valley.

A new double lane highway runs up the valley of the river Negro, beautifully cambered and sparsely trafficked, a pleasure to ride. We will miss these types of open uninhabited roads we have found in South America. I am certain that Central America will not offer the same opportunities.

We all like to think of ourselves as adventure riders, but occasionally we come across a real adventure rider. This man daily takes on the challenge of delivering up to 1 meter high stack of eggs to his customers on the roads and tracks around the town of Pueto Salgar.

Scrambled eggs anyone?

This is a real adventure rider, not the pale imitation that I am. We watch him ride out navigating the truck park, potholes and small lakes masquerading as puddles with his load of eggs. Back to safe tarmac for me.

We decided to do the journey from Medelling to Bogota over a couple of days and stop over for the night just past Puerto Triunfo. Anne chose the standard room with fan – not realising this meant cold shower only.

Just a cold stream of water called a shower

Before shipping the motorbikes, we need to give them a clean. It is surprising how dirty they get, especially after the odd rain shower We have noticed in the mountainous areas, near fast flowing streams and rivers for an endless supply of free water, truck cleaning facilities. Here the trucks are made sparkling clean and we probably see more than half the businesses occupied at any one time. We find one unused, and are allowed by the bemused operators to clean our bikes.

Roadside cleaning, just a little more dirt to remove.

All clean at the truck wash.

The rest of our journey to Medellin is uneventful and pleasant, apart from the mud puddle across the road, that even at a few kilometres an hour negates the recent cleaning activity! We met our shipper, Dora, all our paperwork is ready for signing.

Tomorrow is Anne’s Birthday. Anne will cover her Birthday in a separate blog………….

We ride our bikes to the airport and into the Cargo area to be confronted by the first challenge of the day. The only way onto the loading dock is to ride up a short flight of stairs! Err no not for us – while I think I understand the physics and we are told Kristjian made it up last week, we both decide that the mechanic can do it, we don’t take risks unnecessarily. We lighten the bikes and up the mechanic goes over a few steps, ABS kicking in on the loading dock surface.

The first work to be undertaken is to remove excess fuel from the tanks. The mechanic who has ridden the bikes up the pallets and stairs tries unsuccessfully with the old syphon via a hose. This works as well for him as it did for me yesterday, not at all! Apart from the taste of fuel and a lung full of fumes, we both achieved nothing. I am able to show him how to remove the fuel pump and filter unit, based on our experiences with Anne’s bike in Myanmar. Maybe restoring some street cred after not riding the motorbikes up the stairs, probably not.

Streak and Storm stripped down for Customs’ inspection

After the mechanic removes the side panels of the motorbikes, the drug dog and his handler appear and check out the motorbikes for drugs. Another officer, who spoke English had checked our panniers and bags and helpfully repacked the panniers, another friendly and helpful Columbian.

Drug sniffing dog at work checking our motorbikes

All clear, paperwork signed off and the bikes can be reassembled. In three hours since we arrived, we are all done and the motorbikes are wrapped in plastic wrap. Why did we not wrap the motorbikes when we started the trip to keep then clean? Possibly not too easy to ride.

Well wrapped up!

We just need to get the motorbikes up onto the loading dock, so more pallets and muscle power and the motorbikes are ready to be loaded onto a cargo plane on Saturday. We will see them again in Panama City on Monday.

Getting the motorbikes up onto the departure bay

We return to the shipping company to make payment, and Dora, our contact, invites us join her for lunch. We are joined by her colleagues including her son Julian, who has been our English translator during the shipping process, the other three turn out to be Dora’s husband William, his brother Fernando and her brother Felipe. It’s a real family run business. (Our Visas and Borders section will have information on Dora’s company Master Logistic and other useful shipping contacts soon)

Jullian, Felipe, William, Dora amd Fernando

We have a regional speciality for lunch, Bandeja Paisa, which with the great company perfectly rounds off our stay in Medellin.

A small ‘ Bandeja paisa’ a local Antioquia district dish

Our first flight is interesting, the distance between Medellin and Bogota is only some 200km away by air. Flight time is about 30 minutes, by road it is a minimum of 9 hours! It took us 11 hours. We had seen few buses between the two cities, most people travel by air with flights every 20-30 minutes. Having done both ways, air is definitely the quickest and easiest.

We depart Columbia having enjoyed the country and its people immensely. Columbia goes on our shortlist of counties we have high on our list of places to return to. Panama and Central America await us.

– Anthony

2slowspeeds

Loving life – Turning Dreams into Memories

Category General

A tale of 2 cultures – Panama & Costa Rica

The bikes are back in town

Surprised to be so inspired in Panama City

My perfect birthday

Over the Darien Gap

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