Tierra del fuego

Tierra

2009-12-28T21:20:00.000-08:00

So,after:
traveling about four months, in which I touched all four seasons
(I left in the fall, I was here in spring and summer and I will be back in winter).
And after:
about 18,000 miles ( 28000 km),
11 countries crossed ,
2 sets of tires ,4 oil changes, few cop bribes, salmonella, a quasi sinking boat, a couple of pretty bad falls, rain, snow, wind (the strongest ever!), cold, scorching heat, too many aduanas, too much meat,not enough road signs...
Nature ,nature , nature, and more incredible nature,
People, people, people… wonderful people.
Tierra, Madre Tierra…
Now:
I’m on my way back to my favorite home.
But this will not be an end. Infact (as I read written on a pick up on my last ride here):
La Vida eres el camino,no el destino.
That can be read:
Life is the journey, not the arrival.
And the journey keeps going!
In this lag of my journey I had the privilege and the luck to see so much, to smell, to taste, to feel so much, to experience so much, to be challenged in so many ways, to encounter so many wonderful people, even to play on the back of a pick up truck on the streets of Valparaiso for Xmas( thanks to the deligthful Villa Kunterbunt crew), and to do many other bizarre things but ultimately to get to know more about myself.
And this would have not been possible without the love and support of my dears and of many new friends I met along the way.
So, thanks to all of you , and to the Universe.
Amor, Paz y Luz.

Chiloe'

2009-12-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

Chiloe' is a very peaceful place...green as a place were it rains almost always and blu as the water that embrace this rolling hills and her rivers and her lakes. A magical island full of intriguing mythological ancient tails grown in misty woods and wild deserted beaches.
People are very nice, although I had hard time on understanding their spanish having all a very thick accent. Smiles are an international language. There are many wooden churches some 300 and more years old and constructed without nails or steel fasteners.
The tide (21 feet!)brings the water line almost a mile from the coast and that is why the old fishermen builded the houses on palafits. And a daily chance to work on their boats!
Xmas is here ( they call it Pasqua here..!?!?) And here it is my version of it.
Happy Holidays from the new baby jesus! ( or is it Santa?)

Ferry Austral

2009-12-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

The crowd taking the ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt was certainly a mix of all kind of people.
All kind of languages spoken there and few Italians too, that are also going to Chiloe and maybe I will see again. And of course my brazilian fun new young friends with whom I had a great time, entertaining many on the boat… Italian and brazilian cultures and sense of humor mix very well! But I also had wonderful conversations with many travelers and once again I was pleasantly enjoying the depth of the connections that can happen between people coming from so different backgrounds. And by the exchange of energy that comes from it. This time,among many other wonderful encounters, I got some very deep spiritual positive messages from a chilean truck driver! And once again the 2012 year of the change was mentioned by many and in a very positive way.
And the food was pretty good , and the crew delightful…and … the navigation trought this gorgeous and at times very narrow fiords absolutely amazing!
And it was so good to be able to see this incredible nature without having to freeze my ass and instead going inside on a cozy chair anytime I was getting tired to be exposed to such a powerful harsh nature where the wind was so strong that I had to hold to the rail to walk outside or it would knock me down to the deck. But the air felt clean and renvigorating. And of course condors and seals and otters and dolphins and birds of any kind. And some time we were squeezing and slaloming in places where the rocky sides of the fiords were only 50/60 feet away from us… almost scary! But the Capitan did an excellent job, and without automatic pilot! And he even took a diversion for us to get a very close look to a nice glacier in a cul de sac of a fiord.
Ultimately a great trip! Small cabin, rain and clouds and cold forgiven!
And last evening we even had a great sunset and the sky cleared and the star were amazing and we had a party on the deck and quite a riot of a dancing!
Today I made it to Castro, in the Chiloe' island and I'm enjoying this lovely little place. Tomorrow ( if it's not raining) I'll explore a bit more then Sunday I'll head up north.

Torres del paine

2009-12-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Torres del Paine is a park few miles from Puerto Natales where I am now and where I will take the ferry for Puerto Montt tomorrow. So, after I cooked spaghetti with ragu’ for few of us we had a fun party last night with young nice people from various countries joining us later on. I had tow very nice new friends. Two young guys from brazil that are taking the same ferry tomorrow and with them today I took an day bus ride in the park.
We spent about ten hours inside the park and it was great! The mountains are beautiful and the waterfall in the picture very powerful. But the highlight was the icebergs in the Grey lake…so magical. Blue magical. ( Paine is indio for blue...)
Anyway. Trekkers who went really inside told me how incredible it is…but definitely requiring equipments, time and …physical preparation. They are all very young and full of energy…and they are calling me …abuelito! It’s ok. Tonight I’m invited to eat ( and party!) again!
The weather is good, warm in the day and crisp at night.
Today was presidential election in Chile. Not sure who won but I can hear car horns so someone is celebrating. I’m gathering lots of opinion on the politics and social situation here. Very interesting, and complicated of course.
Looking forward to the ferry ride. 3 days in channels and fiords! And most likely no wifi. Oh well. I still have reading material.

Penguins!

2009-12-10T13:10:00.001-08:00

I wanted to go to a Penguineira since ever!
I love penguins! Don't I look like one here?
And here I was! In the middle of thousands of them! Cold cold cold wind but a wonderful sunny day on the Magellan straight, and on Isla Magdalena where there is this protected penguins colony.
I would have stayed all day! The interaction in between this birds families is amazing.
Now they are nesting and digging holes in the ground and preparing the nest. Also fighting on their property...but mostly just screaming at each other beak and sort of clumsy dancing puffing up to scare new squatters away.
So cute! And yet it's a serious surviving business they must do in this harsh enviroment. It's summer now so I can only imagine how bad can winter be in here...
Anyway. I had my chain and sprockets and oil change done in Rio Gallego, in a very nice shop ( SM motors) and I'm now in Punta Arenas( Chile). Then I'll go to Puerto Natales were I will take the ferry to Puerto Montt navigating fro 3 days trough the fiords...can't be bad!
More to come!

Mission Accomplished!

2009-12-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

YES! I made it to Ushuaia!
I finally made it to where I wanted to go since long time ago !... ...
With a last minute change in the plan...
I left the bike in Rio Gallego and I took the bus!
A decision very hard to take but that I'm glad I took.
I couldn't face this last 500 km with my physical limitations and with the fierce wind and road conditions I was foreseeing.
And I'm glad I did this. Even the bus ride was pretty rough!
So ...sorry for the full integrity of the trip but I decided at this point better safe than real sorry.
Anyway! I'm here!
And I have so many emotions going on at the same time...
When I opend the champagne bottle that I carried all the way from SF I was shacking and even a bit teary...and I offered some to the Ocean as my toast to all of you that are following this journey and I thanked the Universe that made all of this possible, and of course all of the loving people that helped and supported me. Including Karl, that, as we speak, is sending his bike back to California from Valparaiso. We did a long beautiful and at times hard stretch together and then we took inevitably our detours but still loving each other and we'll celebrate all of this back home some time soon.
Ushuaia is a beautiful town, surrounded by a stunning nature and tomorrow I will explore some of it.
Meanwhile a smile to all from El final del Mundo!
( BTW the date of the blog is wrong....
I arrived in Ushuaia on Sunday, December 6)

Crossing to the Atlantic

2009-12-04T03:13:00.000-08:00

The wind finally was gone yesterday so I started going south on Ruta 40 from Bariloche.
I asked around about it, including a couple of tour agencies and the responses about the status of the roads below Perito Moreno were quite concerned...
I decided that I would be deciding on east or south later and I left the nice and cozy Bariloche. Rested and happy. I had lots of dulce de leche and I even had a chance to play drums on a jazz version of Bach's suites! Fun!
The paved road soon become a paved road in construction and I had to take long stretches on dirt realizing then that my right hand is still not happy with the bumpiness...it hurts.
So that, together with the cold, the lenght of the route and some unconfortable feeling of being on a very solitary road made me decide for east...yes I might have missed gorgeous views...but I feel good on my decision.
I could talk at lenght about what this amazing trip is giving to me and it's making me discovering but definetly one is that I need to be aware of my limits and accept them, and make decisions based on the respect of who I am and what I need phisically and emotionally...
And I kept going east(there was nowere to stop really) and I made it all the way to The Ocean! Comodororo Rivadavia. The days are getting longer and there is still light after 9pm. The I found a nice place to stay where, after a nice meal( the only of the day) I slept like a baby... after a long 850km ride(530miles)!
Getting closer to te end of the continent...technically Tierra del Fuego is an island infact and I could stop on Rio Gallegos. But a mith is a mith! So I will take the ferry to the mithical island. Getting closer...

Patagonia!

2009-12-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

And here I am ! In Patagonia,Argentina! The last country in the list!
I crossed the border from Osorno in Cile to San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina yesterday.
It started raining on the chilean side and so I decided to turn east instead of going to Chiloe'...and so no rain but infact on the pass it was snowing....cold really cold! And quite slippery...not so much fun, but as soon as I started going lower and the first lake appeared, it was finally sunny and the beauty of the scenary made it all worth while. Patagonia, the land of the big feet people. No more desert! Water everywhere! And rivers, trees, and green mountains, and snow!
Then...the wind! It was really scary! So strong and so unpredictable...really hard to keep going and when I made it into town, a bit more protected, I was very happy.
The town is very touristy but nice and clean and full of amenities. The mountains around are gorgeus but today is a bit cloudy so no pictures, maybe tomorrow. I met friends of friends here...such nice people!
Your friends are my friends is a true statement! We had a lovely dinner (in a house!)and we talked for hours about arts, politics and our souls...
Tomorrow going to ruta 40 for a while at list, then I'll decide if going with that one all the way or cut on an easier path.
The weather is not so good and the summer seems a bit late as everyone is saying...so I'll have to see what to do. Gravel road ok. Mud no.
....
.....
......
It's impressive that I keep encountering so many "strangers" and situations that are so spiritually rich. And how we are all talking the same "language" after all. In Chile I discussed about the 2012 "change" that it will happen to the world and the Universe... and I got so many levels of interpretation that I could write about it for hours, but the main point is that it's good to be aware of it and to spread the message,no fear! Just work to be prepared to be ready for a big change that is coming...no fear!...love...paz, amor y luz...
in Peru' a cop ( instead of asking for bribes) was talking about the " spiritual energy" of MatchuPitchu.In Guatemala I was guided right in the middle of a very ancient sacred ritualistic place...words of unity and peace from so many "new" friends...signs, signs everywhere to be noticed and to be followed...

Valparaiso

2009-11-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

I've arrived in Valparaiso to be welcomed by Martina and Enzo and all the wonderful people at Villa Hostal Kunterbunt...just feeling home! Not only I can see Valparaiso and San Francisco geographical similarities but also this old house reminds me of my old carriage house where I live. The morning of Thanksgiving ( also my 59th birthday)I went to visit the Pablo Neruda's house in Isla Negra (some 60 miles south). That was his favorite house and where he wrote many of his poems. A beautiful house on the cliffs and in many ways of very simple construction but so rich of life, art, dreams and love... I was so ecstatic to be there and to feel the vibrant energy coming from all of it that I didn't care to be one of the many visitors and to be in line and to be ( after all) in an other tourist trap. That place has a magical power that can be felt only if one is there. Anyway! I came back to the hostel and after resting a bit I was invited in the living room and Enzo started playing old 33 and 45 records and it was faboulous! There was also a guitar teacher (Sandro!) and together we jammed for a long time. Than more friends joned in, including the nice of a dear friend of SF, that I contacted earlier and together we had a great party that lasted until very late! It was just fabulous! Today I got my new back brake pads and I'm ready to go but I decided to stay here an other day and relax in this beautiful small city. I will ship my bike back from here and so this is my last camp base to return to after the next leg of my trip. A very good place to come back to.

Chile Relleno

2009-11-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Desert desert and more desert

2009-11-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

Good thing I love the desert because this one is big! Huge! Incredible!
And beautiful. San Pedro de Atacama is rigth in the middle of so much beauty and diversity...and is a perfect place to actually, rest, eat well and to meet nice people. I took a bus trip to la valle de la luna...it was fun and stunningly beautiful.
The little museum also is very nice and shows that Incas were here before the spaniards ( the church is from 1500) and the gold work and the artifact of 2000 years ago or so are amazing. The more recent history of the miners is also quite interesting...
I left this morning late and I headed south. And passed the Tropic line!
I finally feel good and I can keep going without fear of getting again pain in my guts. There are mines,and miners, all over in this area, but I'm told that there are also vineyards... haven't seen any but I'll try to find the wine. It's so dry here. Maybe prosecco?
Karl? Not sure...I believe he's in LoveLand...

chile (s)

2009-11-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

So I'm in San Pedro de Atacama now...
After "resting" two days in bed in Iquique. Bed toilet to bed to toilet I should say.
I am skinny now. Not fun really.
Karl left for Santiago, were he will have a hot date with Emily...soon!
He's happy!
She should have with her my new GPS so that makes me very happy.
Don't know were exactly Karl is right now... somewhere south! No news, good news.
Today at the end of my ride I had guts pain so bad I had to stop in the middle of the desert...but I found a nice hotel in this supernice but extremely touristy town were I will rest my belly for an other day.
No pictures this time. Just imagine. If you really want to.

Chile!

2009-11-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

Crossing the border was a bit long but quite easy. So we were happy to have lunch in Arica, just accross the border and we left for Iquique some 300km south...and no gas stations in between... and we didn't fill up....so we had some doubts on that when the odometer started reading 258miles...(estimated ins 260....)...and around us , in front of us and behiand us was ...yes desert...beautiful, but still desert...real desert(it has not been raining in 20 years!)... and the little towns marked on the map were either few dusty shacks or..not existing...
fortunately one of this ( at miles 258)shacks was the mansion of a nice local that was happy to give enough gas to us to make it trough...and he could have even asked for more that we would have been happy anyway!
So we kept going and we made it to a gas station, than to Iquique, Atacama desert!... We were expecting a much smaller town. But we managed to find a decent hotel, even at dark, and this morning we went to the shop and had tires and oil change. Fun and nice people there!
... now...since last night i got intestinal problems... pretty intense...
Carlito is getting better... me ... not really...even one glass of water takes only max 20 minutes to get expelled...
a true cleansing I guess...I needed after all the evil I ingested... I just hope the meds will work soon. Maybe I'll get skinnier!

Cusco-Puno_-quasi Tacna

2009-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

Can't find the name of this little town now...my GPS is dead...well that's a bummer but not the real reason why I don't have the info. Just too lazy to go back to the room again and get the map out...and yes here it is an other time that the wi-fi works only in a remote corner or two of the hotel...and this time it even took us an hour to find out just how to connect...
Oh well, enough with the laments!
We rode from Cuzco to Puno on lake Titicaca...a nice ride, but at the end we were welcomed by frozen rain, quite a few iced painful pebbles and freezing wind on a very slippery muddy part of road...fun. Not.
Grey, cold, not so exciting...plus I started having bad respiration problems with the altitude ( 3,800m)...karl too but less(and his salmonella seems under control).
So this morning we decide to leave early... and to brave a possibly short cut on a 80 km dirt road from Llave to Maze in direction of Tacna and the Chilean border.
The dirt road was awesome! The rocks, the river, the birds in little pristine ponds, everything was so wild and beautiful! Except my front fearing started to get loose (same thing happend to K long time ago)because I lost one of the two too short bolts that hold it. ( we should write to Suzuki, but hey! if the complaints are just this we are lucky...actually I really things the bikes are holding great!)
Then we got back on the pavement and the road kept going up and up to 4,800 m. Almost 15,000'... well my breathing was getting worse , my head was throbbing and I really wasn't feeling so good... but the road was so incredible! Twisties and twisties and perfectly paved and surrounded by gorgeous mountains! A joy! Karl was in heaven!
Got a new bolt, don't know what to do with my dead GPS...got an iboprufen and breathing again...tomorrow is an other day!

Cuzco...

2009-11-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

A place to remember....not only for the colonial beauty...(although, despite the wonderful art work I'm gettig a big sick of the glorification of the "conquistadores" and their religion bathed in blood and gold...)
The cathedral is stunning and so the little streets and the massive doors and the balconies...plus, thanks to tourism the city is really well organized, clean and with good choices of food.
But this place will be remember by us as the place were Karl had an other not so good surprise..
Last night, at the return from the train ride Karl started feeling very cold and had stomach pain...it lasted all night and it did get worse so this morning at about 6 am I asked for a doctor at the front desk... the receptionist made a quick call and in 10' an ambulance arrived and a doctor was visiting Karl, excluding a classic tourist altitude sickness and instead suggesting a blood test for salmonella. So we rode on the ambulance back to the clinic, were we were welcomed by smiling nice nurses, then checked the vitals and drawn some blood. In about 30' we got the results... positive for salmonella. Few pills, more smiles and a bill for $90... yes ambulance included! Should I make any comment on an almost impossible comparison with USA (# 1!) health system? I will let you draw conclusions.
Let's just hope Obama's plan will change things a bit!
Anyway. The most important thing is that Carlito is getting better, resting and meditating on future eggs or mayo eating( although it could have been anything), and in his future diet for the next week.

Machupicchu

2009-11-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well...it could be defined as a tourist trap, expensive and overcrowded but still it's a breathtaking place!
We could have taken different ways to approach the site with our bikes, but we opted for the one that made it easier for us , considering the rain, our tires not exactly in great shape and the desire to do something new, as a train ride in this magical valley.
The train from Cuzco is 3:15 hours...long long hours in a very small seat, especially for tall tall people. The view is great! Valleys after valleys following a raging river dark chocolate color by the recent rain. Vertical peaks and tropical vegetation...
Then the terminal, and a bus ( more$$!) to the actual ruins( more$$!).
An other ascent this time on a muddy road not always exactly wide enough for two busses at a time...and the drop in the 2000feet valley( few inches from the almost bold tires) it really made me sweat few times, considering I was on a window seat...drivers seems totally confident so just trust the Universe!
Then the old city! Incas? Aliens? Whoever was here and did this it's impressive!
No words to describe the feelings. No words to describe the beauty, the majestic of the nature...everything...I was and I am speachless!
And we even got a rainbow!
So go see it!
But stop at Aguascaliente and spend a day on the hot springs...A day back and forth from Cuzco is truly exausting.
We'll possibly talk about Cuzco later.

From Nazca to Cuzco

2009-11-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

An incredibly beautiful road! Starts with deserts airpins (hot desert)than it keeps going up to 4000 meters, were we saw our first llamas and we had to wait for more than an hour for road works, making friends with all the truck drivers also stuck. Then lunch in Puchio a small village in the middle of nowhere, then the road kept going up to 4500m and it got so beautiful, and so cold and cloudy and it started snowing and we had to keep going of course...fun!
But then we passed the weather and we started going to lower altitude trough a beautiful endless valley. It was too late to make it to Cuzco but there were not many places to stop for the night( as we were told). So we decided to push it to Abacay. So we arrived at dark to find big rocks, sticks, tires, branches in the middle of the road...then busses, trucks, cars, stopped along the way, then police, then a nice ongoing riot! A civil unrest due to the protest against the alleged corruption of the mayor of the city.
After waiting for a while, hearing all kind of opinions on what to do or not to do, and a couple of moment where we thought all the hell was going to break loose,a kind cop offered to take us on a secondary road to avoid the blokade.
OK. So we followed in the dark, on a super dusty dirt road up on the hills, the police car that took us to the road to Cuzco.
At that point I was so tired that as soon as we saw an hotel sign we stopped in a very bizzare place. Where we had to wait for the room to be done, and for the food to be purchased...so we had the latest,crapiest dinner ever on a night stand and we watched the only channel available that had a obscure french movie with spanish subtitles. I was so tired that I could care less and I was soon snoring away. But in the middle of the night we got woke up from the sound of torrential rain...I forgot to mention that we had to park down a dirt road,and cross a field that at that point we thougth it was inevitably trasforming into a mud bath...more fun!
It was actually ok in the morning, so we rush as fast as we could out of there. Had a little breakfast ( rice and pork!)and soon after that Karl got his first flat tire! Fun!
But then all went well and now we are in a nice hotel in gorgeous Cuzco, two blocks away from the main square and right in front of an ice cream parlor.
I had some breathing problems this morning and think I was suffering from altitude sickness but after chewing on a few hojas de coca I feel great!
And ready for Machhu Pichu tomorrow!

Nazca

2009-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

This morning we left Lima…to get lost in the maze of this huge cahotic city . I even got rear ended by a scooter! So we asked direction to two cops on motorcycle and they ended up escorting us out of the maze even using the siren to make it faster…and they were so nice and smiling!
After we made it to the freeway we rode for a long time in an ever changing desert ...really beautiful.
And cold! Equator still surprising us with its temperature.
Then we had a quick stop at the look out tower for the famous Nazca lines ( I defenetly would suggest a bit of a search online). Not impressive view but still amazing to be in this sacred place.
Then we made it to Nazca…that we were expecting as a small dusty anonymous town…but it surprised us quite a bit! Full of life and business, new sidewalk were one can actually walk safely, cafes, restaurants, hotels…people smiling and really busy…clean and not so chaotic…and a lot of water for one of the driest regions of the world.
I had to enquire about this , considering that we are in the middle of nowhere…so I was told that the new stuff is because of the recent earthquakes and the wealth …because of tourism…great! It seems like it’s working good here!
So we had pizza and pisco sour…and chocolate cake… again defenetly planning a diet for my return.

Lima

2009-11-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Last night we arrived in Lima and landed by chance in a very charming ( and a bit run down!) Hotel . ( the Gran Hotel)... that it happen to be rigth in the center of the old Lima....So today I did a long walking all around the historic center of this 7+ million people.
I visited churches and inquisitions places and museums, and I got a big fix of catholicism...plenty infact. But hey! The art work and the architecture are great!
Too bad that the church did so many horrible things everywere and all the time...from "holy" wars to burning thousand of innocent women...in name of the love of (its)god...oh well.
The city is noisy, polluted and crowded, but I got a feeling of less neurosis than in other places...
Under the San Francisco church there are mounds of bones belonging to at list 25thousand people...I wish I was here for Halloween. Well. Next time!
Ice cream good, parillata too big...but sooo good! I'll have to start a vegetarian diet when I'll be back.
Tomorrow we'll ride toward Cuzco...brrr!

More Peru....

2009-11-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

The road from Mancora to Trujillo is a long flat streight long flat streight long flat streight uneventful road...desertic and undeveloped, made exception for few villages by the name of Nueva Piedrita or Arena Blanca or Mala Vida... very simple shacks made of sticks and mud, old cars dusty and dilapidated and lots of tuc-tucs overloaded with al sort of costruction materials...
Good time for meditation and chanting in my helmet...and Karl's acrobatics.
The only stop, at a gas station was the higtlight of the day...we had a very nice talk witha local policeman that told us:"Matchu Pitchu will give you the sense of the strong spiritual energy of this country and you will feel the magic of the universe..."
and the smile of the kid that cleaned our stop lights was priceless..
Then we entered Trujillo and we found the hostal "backpackers" super nice people.
We spent the last 24 hours trying to set up a tire change in Peru'. On email, on the phone and with the help of all the extremely helpful staff of the hostal! But we might end up doing it in Iquique. 300 km south of the border. We think that it will work. ( Thanks Annette!)
It's cold ! And we are on the coast! And it has been cold since we crossed the equator line! Surprising but so pleasantly unespected after two months of smoldering heat!
Truijllo is nice, although it seems that people here honk their car horns constantly like anywere else creating an incredible cachophony. Contemporary musicians?

Peru

2009-11-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

So we are in Peru. In Mancora. Were there is a huge surfing wave...but...in December!...
Still the beach is lovely and Karl got a chance to ride few little waves...and it's not hot!
The border crossing from Equador to Peru' was painless (!!!) and fast.
Equador left a good impression on us. Beautiful country,nice people smiling and helpful everywhere. Quito was ok but it was raining and we realized that big cities are not our favourite. Traffic a mess, very stinky of diesel fumes and noisy.
Talking to the locals and listening to the news on TV ,from a different perspective,about the world and politics,is very refreshing. Hearing the world "socialism" not as a scary concept but just as a different way to take care of things make the difference. Corruption is an issue but I think corruption ultimately is everywhere,yes even in country number one!
Anyway. We are doing good and now trying to organize a tire change in Lima...An other huge city that we will have to brave!

It exists!

2009-11-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

We finally found it!
La Mitad del Mundo! The middle of the world!
A great tourist trap worth every penny!
But apparently its position it’s not really accurate, so we didn’t even bother to try the water trick…
that anyway I believe it is a trick (supported by science too)…
But it was fun to be in line to step above the painted line that separates the two hemispheres with all the other excited visitors, and to be ( on our bikes) the subject of many of their pictures too! Ecuadorians are very nice and gentle and always very curious (as everyone else) about where we come from, were we are going, the size of the engine, the speed, the cost, the gps, the radios etcetera…
We even rode back about 15 miles to do all of this…but we have no regret!
And the bras that are hanging from the monument are not from the Equator’s fans but from women supporting the breast cancer research.

Were is the equator?

2009-10-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

Well... it's not marked very well ( if marked at all)... so we missed it! Karl's gps is working quite well and we know when we passed it...and the map was even showing a "monument at the equator" but we didn't find it! Bummer!
So it was an un-cerimonial disappointing passage. Oh well! Next time!
And we didn't have a chance to see if it's true that the water in a funnel on one side of the imaginary line spins right and on the other spins left...a mistery that will remain a mistery.
Maybe our friends riding after us will have a chance to do the test. I don't think I want to ride back for that.
Then we made it to Quito...the capital. Cold and raining...the old colonial part of it is quite great but the thin air (2800mt)is so polluted by diesel fumes that is hard to breath. Still we managed to walk around and enjoy the happy chaos and the working life of the city. Not many gringos here. In the "center of the world". and we missed the view of vulcanos too, thanks to the fog. Oh well. Next time!

Equador

2009-10-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

So we just left Colombia today...A country we loved. Nice people, beautiful, clean, on the move,organized and where the police never asked for bribes and they always smiled( the only one!). To use the words of the smiling last person I talked with: Colombia is not a country only of drugs and guerrilla, we are nice welcoming people and we are proud of our country...tell your friends.
Crazy truck and bus drivers though! We saw absurd dangerous manuvers that made us screaming in our radios, all over this twisted roads...but not many accidents!
We are officialy in the Andes now! (Dagli Appennini alle Ande!)
Few miles from the Equator line and it's cold! But we are at 2500m of altitude after all! And it feels good! A nice gift after waiting in the heat for hours to get the bikes papers stamped.
Anyway. Happy Halloween to all. We are working on our costumes...

Cali now...

2009-10-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yes we are in Cali. Medellin was ok but after all not so exciting, at list in our experience ...big cities are (so far) noisy, polluted and very hard to navigate in, forget the safety and the fact that all is very expensive. We stayed in a super (rip-off)fancy hotel for one night then we move to Picasso Hotel were Geary and CJ that we met in Panama were staying... and it was so much better! But again we did not fall in love with the city...actually we were happy to leave. On a positive note I want to say that people were super nice and helpful. We all got lost soon or later andlocals on small motorcycles offered to lead the way to were we needed to go. All smiling and welcoming. Streets are clean and it looks like a lot of improuvement is happening everywere. It's very easy to struck conversations everywere ( yes even in traffic) and they are all curious and appreciative about our bikes and our trip. I don't see many gringos here and I understand that the reputation of the country used to be not so good but I really think that things have changed and I can see a lot of effort put into it and defenetly an outspoken hope and desire,heard from the few I contacted, to make it even better.
Today we left early for Cali and the hills were really a beauty. Karl's clutch started slipping again and that was a real concern, but we made it to the Casablanca Hostel and after few phone calls we went to the Suzuki dealer 4 blocks away and they immediately took the clutch apart and ordered the new parts...we are very relieved! Again: super nice people and very capable.
Tomorrow the bike should be ready and we'll make a plan for the next move. Cali seems even nicer than Medellin. At list it's smaller. Maybe we'll get some salsa dance lessons! My foot is almost 100% back to normal!

Cartagena.

2009-10-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Cartagena...really nice! A definite carribean flavor here! A party town too!
Food is great, people are smiling and fun.
We had a lovely afternoon walking around and drinking fresh tropical fruit juices...
We also encounter some people from the ship ride and we chatted about our different destinations...
Some were backpackers, some just coming back home to Colombia,a guy was riding all over the world on his bike since 8 years ago, then us, then a lovely couple on the same bike... very diffent personalities and stories and travelling style and all confined in the small space of the ship for 6 days, sharing good time, hard time, chores and fun...and all went well! Good job to all!
Anyway... yesterday we left Cartagena and we stop almost half way to Medellin. In a little town were not many tourist might stop...but I was tired and some rain convinced me to stop.
Infact I cut in front of a local small bike and even if he braked he ended up hitting me on the side and I went down...no damage to anyone or anything...thanks to the muddy road and the slow motion of the impact... just quite embarassing... I have no pride left anymore!
Today we made it to Medellin. The countryside is beautiful. A nice river, rolling hills becoming lush mountains...fresh air... but then Medellin is hot again and a pretty chaotic town,not so appealing, at list as a first impact, so we will stay just the time to do laundry ( we stink!) and to fix few bolts getting loose on my bike and a couple of bolts broken on Karl's rack.

san blas pics

2009-10-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Sailing trip

2009-10-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

It would take me a loooong time to describe the last week...A trip within the trip...
and to send out images to document it...
So I will just give titles of possible chapters:
Wunderbar or the hostel from hell.
The Golden Eagle or the ship in hell ( as hot as hell).
San Blas islands or the paradise also hot as hell.
A great group of people on the boat that made hell bearable.
The best lobsters cooked on wood fire ( do we get that in hell too?).
Were we sinking? No just 8" of water under board...oh what the hell!
112F and waiting prisoners on the boat under a scorching sun (shade didn't help)for some stupid passport stamps...that was 5 hours of real hell.
But now we are in a cool(AC)hotel in beautiful Cartagena and all seems so far away...
And then dolphins, sharks, sea stars, canoes carven in trees trunks, sunsets and white sand,pelicans...
Karl was a sport...he got so sea sick! But he braved it all. He doesn't want to hear the word ship or boat again...Me...I loved it. Would I do it again? No.
It was great and hard at the same time.
Seeing the bikes lifted by strong giant locals and hoisted on the ship was incredible.
Seeing them on the road again and riding them even more satisfying.
Having ice cream last night it was heaven!
Tomorrow going south again! Toward Medellin. Hopefully a bit cooler. Still about 100F in this lovely Caribbean City.

Colombia!

2009-10-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

We are in Cartagena de Indias -Colombia!
A long amazing and at times very hard sailing trip in the Mar de Caribe !
But we made it!
Lots to tell and to show but a bit too tired to do it now...
Soon very soon!
Ciao a tutti!

Panama

2009-10-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

So we are in Panama’…Right now is Santa Catalina at the end of the road from Sona’. Locals are a bit territorial but otherwise a nice surfing spot. The roads we traveled to here were quite beautiful, winding trough fluorescent green thick jungle, fire engine red dirt and smooth pavements.
The border crossing was almost smooth made exception for assisting to a strong punch given by my “papers helper” to someone that allegedly was trying to get my wallet… or maybe to get his job… … it will be for ever a doubt…but it was sort of disturbing and anyway an other reminder of how brutal the world can be outside our protected daily bubbles…
On the freeway I had a traumatic chicken encounter( more for her than me…)…I take it as a good luck sign of self immolation. A blood sacrifice as a good omen for the future… the creature was waking all the way to the left when she decided to come back and diving right in front of my bike…I heard a loud bang and I saw in my rear view mirror a cloud of feathers…a bit too dangerous to stop on the freeway and giving her the proper honors so I do that now with all of you followers. I ‘m sure other creatures are enjoying her terrestrial remains.
May her next life be greater!
We stayed a full day even if Karl couldn’t keep surfing on those good waves due to a ding he will need to repair on his board. He met Joe Stinson here, a very nice and interesting man who is going to get married on Monday and that knows old friends of him and lives in Canadensis, close to were Karl grew up! And he’s not a surfer or a guy of his age but certainly a well traveled person and with a great knowledge of spirituality( among many other things!). The world is very small after all.
Today we made it to Panama City. A very boring ride were rain ( yes again!) was with us ( on us) a lot….
Tomorrow oil change, surf shop for a repair kit, pharmacy for sea sickness meds…hopefully time to see things around.

rain rain rain

2009-10-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Left Arenal(after the most incredible rain and ligthing storm I'v ever seen)we headed for the border...we started dry but rain rain rain arrived ...and we went up and up all the way to about 10,000 feet and the warm monsoon rain became freezing mountain rain...
So we were quite soaked and cold.... but the rain stopped when we were again in the lower land, a beautiful luscious tropical green allaround, and we were again dry and warm in half hour!
So we stopped at Palmar Norte, a very bizarre pueblo were we will spend the night and go to the border early in the morning, expecting an other long paper work ordeal. And right now....it's raining again! Good thing the roads are in pretty good order.
We had chines food tonite! And we got snickers for dessert too...diet first!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2009-10-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Not much to report.....we decided for one more day of healing for me and resting for Capitan Carlito.
Moonsoon rain, vulcano,hot springs, liquados, books, tv,and lot of sleep.
Tomorrow heading south, then Panama, then a ship on the 17th for Colombia.
Goodnight.

Resting...

2009-10-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here:
www.baldihotsprings.cr

we just realized that only registered users could comment.

2009-10-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Now anyone can! Please do so!
Thanks.

Nicar-agua

2009-10-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

As soon as we arrived in Nicaragua we felt so much more welcomed…even smiling cops and not asking for money!
So we decided to head for the coast and find some surfing spots. We saw a volcano with a plume of smoke, we even rode on few miles of fun dirt road and we ended up stopping at …. Nice place but not a real surfing spot at list in this season. So we moved the to a beach more south…a couple of hours south…as few people told us…a rideable road as they all said…
Well…it was not…at list for me…as we all know Carlito is a champ…me …no…and defenetly not on that road with rocks the size of footballs and dips and twists, washed by torrential rains and not on a loaded v-strom with road tires…Karl had to come back and ride my bike up a little hill… an obstacle that should have made me stop going…but…few miles ( they said….) and then the road is great! But the road was bad so and I ended up falling and hurting my left foot.
Then the road got even worse and the heat was horrendous and my foot was hurting and the iboprufen was making me sick, and I was exhausted so I went down again…and thanks to the crash bars the bike was still working but at the third timeI ended up on a wall of rocks, this time hurting the fairing and my right hand…
So I wasn’t able to ride anymore at that point, totally spent feeling sharp pain at every bump… so against his will ( and principles) I told Karl I to try go ahead and eventually getting a ride back with a 4wd and ride my bike back…
I could barely walk, actually limping…
So he went and I sat there, in the middle of the jungle… in pain and totally empty… but feeling not too worried even if the sun was setting , Nicaragua is a safe place …everyone knows…
A local on horse approached and we had a little chat…then he said…you don’t want to be here at night alone and not armed…muy peligroso!
Great! Perfect moment for sinking into Zen meditation…I’m not kidding. What else to do?
Mean while Karl made it (in a flash, due to his skills and the concern for me) to the first village were he found people willing to help. His Spanish is improving too!
So just when my meditation was actually sliding gently into a more western exploration of practical ways to spent the night safer, considering that I had no idea of when the rescue team would have been back, I heard a car coming up the road and towering above everyone on the back of a truck my hero was smiling. He even had a bottle of cold water!
So here I was squeezed on the back of a truck full of kids and luggage. And Capitan Carlito following us on my bike in the dark. Boy he’s good!
But then… we had to move the first rescue truck who got stuck on the road….and other painful hour long confusing chaotic ordeal…
But everyone meant more than well…they were all super nice. Including a family ( with a good 4wd) that on their way to a nice dinner at home, instead ended up being part of the adventure….
And we ended up sleeping in a pretty bad hotel but at list safe and now close to the surfing spot….
So the day after we moved to it…few miles road still dirt but not rocky…
And after few up and downs on the road we found a very nice hotel…except…they had stopped serving food… so in the evening we rode ( I was on the back of carl’s bike) a couple of miles to a nice restaurant…
Then…
It started raining…I mean moonsooning and the nice road becomed a river of mud in matter of minutes….
And we tried to get … and we both went down…no big damage but I decide to walking back….while Carlito was struggling with a mud that caked his tires and locked his front wheel so bad that he really struggled quite a bit to make it back.
Jin the morning we run out of there as soon as the road was dry to find out that Karl felt his clutch
slipping… did he burn it the night before on the mud?
And the clouds again were forming ominously dark over our heads… but we made it out …finally on the paved road! Joy! We got our dirt road fun for a while.
And the clutch needed only to be adjusted! Just in the middle of the main street of a village for the amazement of the locals of course.
So we made it happily to the border to Costa Rica. And we spent the next 3 long hours doing the usual absurd paper work… (we are getting used to it now) and photocopies and stamps and long sweaty lines… this time though in fun company of an other bunch of bikers from US going in the same direction…of course more rain this evening but now we are nice and dry in a Hotel in Liberia.
Tomorrow hot springs and volcano!

We are in Nicaragua...Internet connection not so good... More later!

2009-10-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Borders...

2009-10-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

So we left at 6;30 am Chiquimula (Guat), were last nigth we had a nice parrilliata after watching a parade of scooters with all kind of conbination of passengers ( see pics).

The crossing from Guatemala to El Salvador was very long and confusing so our plan to make it in a day to Nicaragua seemed dimming a bit. And even more after in El Salvador capital we got lost due to a deviation on the freeway that sent us in the middle of a extremely chaotic and knowingly dangerous city....we got help from a truck driver that was so willing to save us that even stopped on a very busy street to give us directions to get out of a scary maze were signs and directions don't exist...an other extremely helpful person finally gave us the final directions. He was so nice! and ended up apologizing and warning us about the fact that his country was not safe.

So we made it to the border with Honduras late...and ... a couple of miles before the border on a seedy road we were literally assaulted by groups of people that freaked us quite a bit...sort of zombie movie type...they were jumping in front of Karl waving their arms like trying to grab him so he decided (rightly so )to accelerate while I was beeping and swerving behind him sort of showing that I would have hit them....quite disturbing!

But we made it to the aduana, to face an officer that told us that we had to go back to have papers stamped...back right were the zombies were... ... no way! So after protesting they gave us an escort to go back. The all deal apparently was( !!!)that this people wanted us to stop ( yes so aggressively) so they could be "hired "to do the paper work! We also learned that in the morning an other party, also unaware of this strange thing, run away totally paniching and they had to be escorted back too... all very weird, and ultimately very dangerous for all.

Anyway, paper work seemed also very very complicated so we had an "official" helper that I'm sure might have got out a lot of extra money from us...but ( after 3 hours )we finally made it out of there (hopefully with all the right papers...) and also in a rush too, due to very shady gangs of young people gathering around us in an increasing darkening smoldering, increasing uncomfortable evening...

Now we are in San Lorenzo, Honduras, in a nice safe hotel were we had some tasty food, where internet works, air conditioning too and I enjoyed a nice swimming pool with a nice full moon reflection in it...

Tomorrow Nicaragua . Wish us well!

Tikal!

2009-10-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

Too hard to describe the beauty of all of this!

We are in the Jaguar inn right hundred yards away from the entrance of the ruins and inside this huge beautiful natural park.

So we had breakfast then we walked right in…. and after 5 minutes walk we had a chance to see spider monkeys in acrobatics. We were the only people around and they felt very confortable in jumping and eating just above our heads.

So we kept walking for hours, chatting away, through this very nice paths surrounded by thick jungle ,following small signs that took us from ruins to ruins…. Dozens! Some just small mounds of stones still to be restored but some truly amazing majestic buildings towering over the dense forest. We claimed few of them and everytime the view was just stunning.

We got also totally soaked in a burst of monsoon rain but it was just a refreshing blessing from the sky.

We had a decent lunch inside the park and we kept walking.

Then we went back for a little rest and we walked again in the main plaza of the ruins were we enjoyed, just us and the monkeys, a very quiet and magical sunset.

The road from Antigua was very very long and uneventful and defenetly a considerable detour from our route but it was worth it!

We are close to the border with El Salvador now ...crossing tomorrow...

Iximche Tecpan

2009-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday we got picked up by our new great friends Johanna and Edwin ( La united y El camion) who drove us to Iximche, Mayan ruins close to Tecpan…

Beautiful setting and great sky( we are in tropical

mountains)…and we had the honor to arrive when the ashes of a fire used the night before for a ritual were still smoldering in front of a site that has seen thousands of years of similar events. I took that as a blessing for our future path.

I also found out about my nagual according to the mayan

calendar… “ 3 I’X ”… the jaguar. Also related to one of the element …tierra…!

And we all got the best parrillata (bbq) ever! Very very good! And the tortillas, made by

hand right there were delicious .

Then we made a plan for the day after when we had to call a couple of shops and then go to Guatemala City to change the tires in a place were they could also do balancing( a very unusual concept here…)

We decided to take a cab into the city with our tires in

it…the safest and easiest way in a labyrinth of unknown streets of a very big city… a bit more espensive but well worth!Reading the news papers here, about crime in this chaotic capital is a bit unsettling….and risking to get lost , even during the day, could be bad. Motorcyclists ( and passengers) here has to have a specia vest with imprinted on the back in a reflective shining large size the same number of the licence plate…just because lots of criminals used to go around on bike and shoot around and run away in the traffic undetected….It appears that this expedient is working well.

Anyway all worked out and we have two new rear tires (balanced)

and ready to go to Tikal magnana.

And tonite we had a very nice dinner celebration with Johanna and Edwin and once again ( but never enough)we want to thank them for the incredible welcome and help that they have given to us.

And again: Antigua is a great, beautiful town. Lots of history, nice people, they even have a surf shop and Rainbow Café is a great place to hang out.

Different Universes.

2009-09-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we rode to Guatemala City for our tires change… we had to follow ( our angel) Johanna in her car because the route was quite complicated and we could have ended up getting lost in parts of town were we should not hang out asking for direction, even during the day.
The first store had only ( too smooth) street tires and the shop looked a bit inadaquate to us, on the phone all seemed ok ( maybe a bit too inexpensive to be true) but the reality was quite different…so we went to the Suzuki dealer ( they on the phone told previously to Johanna that they didn’t have our tires size..)but at list they had two rear ones…with two different prices and very expensive….and they would have installed them but without balancing … And… It was Saturday and everything was closing at 12….and the sky was getting so black and loomy and we were so frustrated by everything so we ended up buying them, tossing them in Johanna’s car and heading back to Antigua under the rain, sweating again, and feeling even more frustrated and confused.
I think that is finally sinking in the reality of the different world we are in …
But somehow ( I speak very personally now) learning a bit more of how people live everyday here and some data like the fact that only 3% of the population makes it to college and only 1% of it finish it, or that mortality rate is so huge that many parents don’t give a first name to their children until they make it to on year of age is putting things in perspective…
Not that we don’t have access to this type of information at home on our handy computers, but here it has such an impact on me… maybe because we are breathing the same air mixed with the same kerosene fumes…
... ... ...
Anyway, tomorrow we’ll make more calls and we’ll find the shop that can do a proper job.
Meanwhile here’s a pic of the volcano we can see from the window of our room.
Antigua is beautiful, more pics to come. No rain today( so far).

more birthday stuff

2009-09-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

And so with the joy of wearing dry clean clothes and the welcoming, friendly smile of Johanna we started the evening birthday celebration.
She picked us up at the hotel with her car ( it felt strange to sit in a car!) and after a short ride we were some were in town in a very nice new yorker expat ‘s bar. And, shortly after Makali,a Johanna’s collegue joned us and we toasted to Karl’s life with good local bier, “illegal” metzcal and …pop corns!
Our hosts are working for the Peace Corp and it was quite interesting hearing first hand of some of the wonderful work they are doing in here.
We also discuss some options for the next travel plans with them and listen to their take on the situation.
And I even found a decent guitar in the “secret” metzcal room so we had some metzcal/ital/flamenco (metzitalenco?) improv happening and with the full support of our party I had the best palmeadores ever!
Then time for dinner came and we moved conveniently to next door, were an intriguing Italian expat ownes a very nice restaurant…. Are we really in Guatemala? The tortellini alla bolognese were delicious!
And so it was the various liquors tastes he kept bringing out, together with some of the very interesting stories of his life.
And we even had a cake and a candle for Karl! And he had also his first "La Mordida"( basically gently smashing his face ( this time from Johanna)on the cake while he’s blowing the candle as you can see from the pic). The true Guatemalan cumpleano intitiation experience!
We slept very very well.

Antigua, Guatemala

2009-09-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

First of all Happy Birthday to Carlito!
All of you: sing with me....Happy birthday to you...etcetera...
In the pics he's having his first antiguan breakfast after a night of deserved rest.
We left San Cristobal in the morning not as early as we planned due to my second plug leaking air...we had to re-plug it and that took a while...the tires change tomorrow will make me (us) very happy.
Then the borders...the exit from Mexico was actually painless. We were on the other hand sweating profusely, but only because of the fierce heat.
When we arrived,a couple of miles after at the entrance point to Guatemala we thought that the people there directed us in the middle of an extremely busy market area instead of the passport office but no! It was the right way...We had to slalom trough vendors, chickens, kids, dogs, stalls, carts,beggars, shocked tourist and... cars and huge trucks coming from the opposite way...Tijuana is a piece of cake compare to this! But we made it to the offices and they were efficient and very corteous.
Then we took off trough a fantastic mountain side and gorges and beautiful clouds...than it became darker and darker until all the rain in it decided to pour on us!
Soaked again! Very very soaked...too late again to stop safely to wear rain gears...
So we kept going ...and going ...and going... we even got separated again trough a town with a lot of traffic navigating trough a river that must have been a street sometime...this time a couple on a scooter volutarely told me were karl was waiting for me when they saw me waiting for him...we must stand up quite a bit and again a sign of welcome in an other country.
And so we made it to the center of Antigua at dark and under a torretial diluge so we crashed in the first hotel we found. We parked our bikes in the lobby and we took a great warm shower and we loved wearing our dry clothes. We had a nice middle eastern (!) dinner and we slept non stop until this morning. Our clothes are drying now ( after been washed)and this afternoon we'll meet with Johanna and tomorrow off to Guatemala city to change tires.
Then...we'll see what to do, our plans are ever changing and it's all a learning experience including building strenght in accepting delays, de-tours and disappointments... geographicals and emotionals... ... ...
The team is still strong and in good health.
So we'll figure out also how to make it more south next... Maybe building a raft like El Che did...
Inshalla.

S C D L C market...

2009-09-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Todays images samples... and no comment. Too much to tell! Just visit it sometime!
And tomorrow up very early and going to Guatemala. Possibly all the way to Antigua.
We have been in email contact there with Johanna (she used to live in SF across the street)that extremely kindly and super efficiently made an appointment for us at a Suzuki dealer in Guatemala City were we'll have new tires installed. Mine has two punctures and Karl new Metzeler type is wearing out too fast. The roads are not exactly good and dry so we opted for safety.
Mole is good but we are enjoying pizza too! Lots of italians all over Mexico.

San Cristobal de las casas

2009-09-22T20:29:00.001-07:00

Tierra del Subcomandante Marcos!
We love it!It's so nice here. Although, on the way,Karl lost a nice bolt that is holding the fairing up...but we found Oscar just few miles after and the Carlito the Great Mechanic fixed it in no time! Cost for it 4 pesos!
Beautiful valley and mountain road...
San Cristobal from last time I was here (25years ago) has grown immensely. But still has kept her charm and welcoming.
We'll take more pictures tomorrow, right now it's raining cats and dogs!

Tehuantepec

2009-09-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

That's where we are tonite...and most likely we are the only two gringos in town....
The drumming kids were rehearsing pretty loudly but they were having a good time.
The transportation in this trycicles is quite fun too and efficient. The women dress with very long skirts as andalusian gipsy stile and their fierce attitude and soma reminds me something of that culture.
We got our first oil change in Oaxaca this morning and as we rode trough a beautiful thousand and one turns road we got quite strong rain storm so we got soaked but we dried off in 20 minutes, yes it's still hot. The valleys and mountains full of catus and agaves (metzcal)were so pretty....
I got my second tire puncture too... already fixed in the posada parking lot.
Tomorrow off to San Cristobal.

oaxaca pics....

2009-09-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Too many to upload so we'll send out a few. The ruins of Montalban are absolutely gorgeous.

Oaxaca!

2009-09-19T21:01:00.001-07:00

We left a beautiful Zipolite/Sauna early this morning to find ourself freezing on beautiful mountains toward Oaxaca. I think we reached 9000 feet and anyway we saw snow!
It was such a relief!
And so we arrived in this most congested city in a Saturday rush hour and we had to districate ourself in a labirinth of one ways, streets unmarked and honking cars...
And now we are in a posada right close to the Zocalo, were tonite, after meandering in an incredible market full of spices fruits artesania of all kind ,we had the chance to experience an extraordinary marimba band, danzones tradizional and mariachis all playing at the same time in a very energetic,chaotic and happy cacophony. Street vendors selling all kind of artisan items and questionable very bizzare things too...smiling people, kids, beggars,very few gringos and fresh fresh fresh air! We defenetly needed a break from the constant sweat we experienced since LA.
I left the camera at the posada so no pictures of the Zocalo...sorry.

dark moon in zipolite

2009-09-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Still here... Still resting and surfing. Still waiting for the laundry to return...meanwhile feeding the local bugs with our fresh gringo blood...although it's not so bad as last time I was here.Yesterday there was a ligthing storm but no rain. We made our plan for next few days. Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las Casasas and then Guatemala...
It's so peaceful and layed back here! Easy for me to transform into siesta man, easy to meditate on the moment and on life.
Movement is good as so it's stillness.
"Celebrate...celebrate...celebrate...
the day of the dark moon today...
her radiance...
her knowing...
her silence...
her profundity...
is inside all of creation..."
And here is a pic of the magical shelter were we are celebrating.

Zipolite!

2009-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

And here we are in deligthful Playa Zipolite!
And courtesy of my dearest friend Susanna we are stayng in a wonderful magical place were I can sleep and sleep and sleep and Carlito can surf and surf and surf.
And so we are both very happy…believe me!
The Ocean yesterday decided to give him a strong ritual of initiation. We went for an afternoon swim in shallow water and Karl felt a powerful sting in his right foot…
Waking out of the water Bruno ( a friend owner of this beautiful cabanas/restaurant called Las Casitas) saw us and Karl’s bloody foot and promptly guided us to the local doctor, who confirmed his immediate diagnose: manta ray sting!
And very furtunately he was there and so the doctor. According to past (rare) experiences , the poison of this creature can get extremely painful to the point that made big strong guys crying bent in two…but the doc injected some stuff in the foot and brave Karl experienced only part of the pain. But pain it was and he had to add a couple of shots of local Metzcal to easy it out. A new medicine he higtly appreciated!
He was back on riding waves at dusk again!
Laundry is drying ( my riding jacket was unberably stinky!) and all we have to do is
enjoying this little paradise for a little while.

2009-09-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

And so finally we made it to the wave!
NEXPA!
And so Capitan Carlito got to use the board! After a long but very fun ride with millions of twist and turns we arrived at a nice resort right in front of the water and In minutes he was ready to jump in the Ocean with huge waves and (for me) scary look! But he paddled bravely so far that he almost disappeared and I waited for him until sunset…his smile was priceless! Then after dinner we crashed exhausted but he woke up before sunrise (due to the clock still set backward but also by his excitement) and went out again in the dark….I think he got his fun!
Then we decided to ride to Acapulco… another long stretch…to arrive at another monstrosity…why so many people want to go there? Of course we didn’t go to the ultra expensive resorts that are crowding the all area but still…it’s a zoo! The only cute thing (in our experience) was the painted busses. We stayed in an expensive bad hotel and finally after a so expensive breakfast we decided to keep going on the coast…and there the police was waiting for us! Ah! Two gringos! Ah! They took the wrong turn! Ah! Let’s nail them! And to make a long story short we had to come up with our 1000 pesos donation to the officers that were threatening to take us to the station and to fine us 6000 pesos (we learned that it would have been at the most 1000 anyway, but someone said that it would have been 60…who knows?)… Heard this one before? Oh yea!
Let’s move on! Acapulco nada mas!
And now another cultural info (for those that have not driven down here yet): the left turn signal of the car in front of you means: 1) I turn left so I will slow down2) please pass me, it’s clear. 3) I am passing the car in front of me, so I will accelerate.
When, in the little village, the cab in front of me turned his blinker on I understood option 2 but it was instead option 1 so to avoid a collision a vired with her… to realize that my back tire was …flat! Not fun! But not collision either.Carlito was ahead of me but he came back soon and we found some shade in front at an animal inspection booth where we were welcomed in a very nice way by the two attendants that got very shocked by the rapidity and efficiency of our repair. They were very intrigued by our small compressor and by the ability that Karl showed in plugging the hole caused by a very substantial nail. Very nice guys. And it was a good way to balance the bitter feeling left by the two shady cops….
Anyway… we made it today to Puerto Escondido. Not good for surfing but we got the best sunset ever!
The roads are great and the palmas and the banana trees are definitely a gorgeous fixture in this luscious vegetation. Dogs are slowly adamantly the middle of the roads and few are finding an abrupt end of their life that way too but I can see some Zen attitude in that. Cow, donkeys and good size iguanas had also crossed our path several times. And I saw a squashed couple of snakes that I wouldn’t want to step on if alive. People are generally smiling and waving but we must look to them as Martians with our sweat dripping dark gears. Internet connections sketchy… Please stay tuned. More to come!

barra de navidad

2009-09-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

...that's were we stopped tonite ...nice place right on the beach...nice warm ocean water....not the waves carlito was hoping for but defenetly refreshing after a pretty long ride on a very twisty and fun road we rode on under occasional rain showers. Also refreshing but we were re-drying right away!

We went trough Puerto Vallarta...quite horrible mega resorts architecture and very congested traffic...Karl was slaloming graciuosly trough it andI was following but I had often to remember that despite I don't have a surf board strapped to my bike, my givi cases are wider then his rig...

anyway... we can hear the ocean very strong sound and we have next to our room tre nice lams...really cute! The owners of this place are two nice women from Colorado ( one is mexican) that just opend the hotel/restaurant and we are voting this so far the cleanest and friendliest place so far!

free the freeway

2009-09-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Baja adios!

Actual ferry experience:

Surprising good food on the ship.

Stinky and hot as hell Garage.

Great shower!

Met a group of beemers from Guatemala on the way back home.

Karl got sea sickness pills that made him sleep like a baby even after, when we were riding...

Mazatlan:

Nice breakfast, rain, beautiful people, too much traffic...

Ride to Tepic:

No more money to expensive mexican freeways! La carretera libre is so much beautiful, fun and ( on two weels) not much slower.

Too bad we got separated just entering town and we had to struggle to find each other again....

as soon as we lost site of each other we both went back to the confusing cross road but after

not seing each other for a while( probably like an old mime/clown skit), we tryed to go to the zocalo...but again we were waiting in two different squares! My walkietalkie battery was dead but finally I figure out how to call with my phone,and carlito turned his on! We were in two opposite side of town on rush hour...but finally we reconected. An other 30 minuts to struggle to find a place to stay and finally when I rode inside the garage the very first thing I did I ended up dropping my bike on the side of the van of the hotel's owner...not fun and defenetly embarassing! But ( so far) he's been very gracious and after all I have a nice mex insurance. Almost invisible damage on the van, appreciable damage on my pride.

We have to decide if taking the coast or going inland tomorrow. Weather a strong discriminant.

Watching replay of footage of 9/11 on TV...no comment necessary on that.

2009-09-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

I guess I forgot to say were we are...: still La Paz, BCS .

Finally we got the tickets for Mazatlan!!!! We'll leave tonite at 8pm. A 12 hours trip.

After paying a fine for being illegal immigrants and having to wait ( basically an extra day) for our not knowing and for their strange ( after all we are strangers in an other country)office hours and computers with a very erratical working performance .

I can think of much worse places to be stuck though...and so we had time to get used to this heat in a very comfortable and safe place. Ice cream last night was very good!

2009-09-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

I think I figure the pc pictures resizing...and we got our first taste of the ( low) speed of paper work in this wonderful country today...it's all a great learning experience..and a lesson in patience.

BTW..there was a ferry leaving today...but when we found that out it was too late to ( infact) be ready with the documents. One office was also close ( lunch at 10am?) and that was definitely part of the delay. OK. We'll leave tomorrow then! . I't too hot to do anything from noon to six. So we are also learning to be really lazy ( siesta?). It will come handy in the future!

jemena (the hurricane)

2009-09-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well...We wanted to stop in Mulege but the hurricane went trough it very badly and this little nice village was practicly destroyed...very sad...all the belonging of this poor people were scattered in the street and still wet and muddy... very very sad... people wandering around working hard to save what they could and trying to rebuild their lifes after the disaster...we saw an chopter and few trucks full of militaries hopefully bringing some relief to the area...

we didn't feel like staying and we left pretty quickly.

That shocking tragedy can't be even faynltly certainly compared to our first problems but I 'd like to report them too...

Karl lost again the right case and sligthly damaged the board. This time it happened on a detour, due to the road damage, were wee had to ride on rocks and pebbles... we migth have to use locktite on the clamps...

Then we stopped in Loreto were we stayed on an hotel right in front of the cathedral..very nice and picturesque and so the booths for the fiesta of the loreto's vergin...except...the fiesta was happening that evening...and that night...infact we had the fiesta right in front of our window! Local talent concert, speeches, tower bell playing ,country mex, pop star and firewors included...

fun but long and well attended , thousands...

anyway they were thanking the virgin that spared miraculously the city ( no kidding) and so the hurricane hit badly south and north of it...

but today we made it to La Paz!

to learn (while profiuosly dripping sweat in our gears) that contrary of what Lonely Planet says the ferry leaves on Thursday...so we will have to wait here an other day ( not a bad place really..)...and we'll have to get used to it but we will trash the book most likely. The other two things I looked up ( room prices) were also wrong!

Still struggling with my (new) netbook(pc)and how to resize pics so you'll have to wait for images...

surfing the topes

2009-09-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

Left Ensenada, we tried unsuccessfully and a bit impatiently to see the Bufadora( a natural water spray that supposedly goes up 90 feet high on the cliffs coast)... we saw a lot of local tourist though...it's Sunday after all.

Then we decided to continue to Guerrero Negro. There are a lot of "topes" or speed bumps on the road and we hopped on many of them happily...then ( riding behind Carlito)on one ,not passed even very fast, I saw his right case coming off and the surf board dragging it on the road...surfing?

Anyway no damage, but from now on Carlito will check the clamps on the bags more often...

The desert is beautiful (some saguaro cactus are three story high!) and the curvy road just a lot of fun. No pics ... still working on getting everything else working and getting used to the routine of the travel.

I'll try to keep the camera handy tomorrow. At the gas station they warned us that we might find water knee deep in some part of the roads still from the hurricane...we'll check that out!

crossed the first border

2009-09-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Yes. We made it to Ensenada...after many miles (and millions of cars )of lane splitting in a very hot day.

Devin,Karl's cousin, after kindly hosting us at his apartment in LA, escorted us on his KLR all the way accross the most crossed border of the world.Tijuana. What a mess! We had fun!

Ensenada evening is cool and we are enjoying some breaze from the Ocean. Tacos good.

Here two shots from the starting day in SF.

2009-09-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

So we left! As planned this morning from SF.

Met bishop Joey (first church of the last laugh) at Harris ranch.

Hot in the valley.

Following Karl (with his surf board strapped on the side of the bike) splitting lanes in the LA traffic was a lot of fun.

Nice warm evening in LA tonight.

Last sushi before heading for Baja tomorrow.

2009-08-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

Starting...

2009-08-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

My very first struggle is to make this "thing" work...

Much easier riding my bike!

More to come!