I left Pasto and drove the short steep windy Pan-American highway drive to Rumichaca (the border crossing near Ipiales, Colombia and Tulcan, Ecuador) but first stopped at the pastiche church of Las Lajas. A 10 minute walk down the overly-tourist heavy path (it is the beginning of Semana Santa) and then some bad chorizo and [...]
San Agustin I spent three nights at Hotel La Casa De Francois, a French run place that is probably the best hostal I’ve stayed at. Perched above San Agustin with the dormitory (a 4 bed 2nd floor cabana) to myself (Francois promised to put anyone else in the other dormitory) eating homemade real bread and [...]
Popoyan, Cauca, Colombia I spent three nights in Popoyan, Colombia. It is a colonial town in the south west of Colombia in the Cauca department. It’s buildings are well maintained partially it seems as a result of it having one of the biggest Semana Santa celebrations in Colombia. Every building is painted a stark white [...]
I drove into Salento after visiting the coffee farm in Chinchina. Salento is a little town in the high hills that receives a large number of tourists. It itself isn’t very attractive and has a bit of a sullen atmosphere, however the surrounding hills and valleys are full of pretty rolling green cow pastures. The [...]
Manizales is far too complicated for someone driving a motorbike arriving after a 10 hour ride on dirt mountain roads. I was lost for 45 minutes in a 3km square radius while looking for the Mountain House Hostal. After finding it I spent the night and decided to leave in the morning for a ‘coffee [...]
I picked up my bike from Mr. Bike in Medellin on Saturday. They hadn’t complete a few non-critical repairs and the bill was 1,385,000 pesos (~$700 USD), much more than I had expected. It was the senatorial elections in Colombia on Sunday so the ubiquitous Leya Seca (‘Dry Law’) signs were everywhere forbidding the sale [...]
As my muffler had cracked and melted my seat (making for an uncomfortably warm ride) and my tire had become warn enough to make driving in the rain dangerous, I decided to go to the same mechanic (Mr. Bike) as Torben. While driving there with Torben on the back the bike started slipping – as [...]
I haven’t updated for 1.5 weeks because I’ve been in Medellín waiting for my bike to be repaired. Medellín has a tendency to become more appealing with time. At first glance it seems like another sprawled, car congested American city set in a vast valley albeit with good natural light and a lot of trees [...]
Kai and I arrived in Bogotá after a great mountainous ride from San Gil. As we approached the city the traffic became much more aggressive and I matched it by driving like a maniac along the 7 avenue as we made our way to the old center – La Candeleria. Arriving in the neighbourhood there [...]
We drove through the deforested humid and hot coastal valley towards the mountains on highway 45 leading to Bogota. We arrived in Aguachica and spent the night as neither of us could stand being on the bike any longer and the ferocious storm showers, lightening, and broken branches on the road made it inadvisable anyway. [...]
Things Said
August 31, 2010 (9:31) Santiago Chile and arriving in Buenos Aires Hi, Saw that you rode from Santiago to BA. My brother and I want to take an unguided motorcycle...
August 19, 2010 (8:44) How to air-freight ship a motorcycle from Buenos Aires great article thank you very much!
July 21, 2010 (7:36) How to air-freight ship a motorcycle from Buenos Aires This is great information. Any idea who to contact in Los Angeles since I want to do the same th...