Vegan pancakes, walking through Cuenca and the bike repair continues

I walked through Cuenca and started to work on my next project - getting the required papers for Peto to come to Europe. Meanwhile Andres made vegan pancakes in the morning and I continued to repair my broken rear shock.


Company who did the rear shock work:

Leon Motors
Taller especializado: motor, suspencion, frenos
Christian Leon (he speaks English and his wife speaks German)
Parque Industrial Modulo202
Cornelio Vintimilla y Carlos Tosi
Cuenca, Ecuador
0992832161
crisleonmx@hotmail.com
-2.876990, -78.977967

1000days on the road

It is difficult for me to comprehend that I have been on the road for 1000days now. This lifestyle with all its ups and downs has become the normal thing to do and I sometimes forget that I am on the journey of my life - seeing all those places, experiencing new cultures and all that on my motorbike! So much has happened during those 1000days... and when looking at the maps of South America so much is still ahead. And then there is still Asia and Australia :D

72000km 39 countries 4 continents :)

Market day and bike repair in Cuenca, Ecuador

Andres, the owner of the hostel, gave us a tour to the local market. Besides waiting for my parts to come, I repaired the leaking oil filter... hopefully.

Oh shit - what to do now?

There I was - somewhat stuck in Ecuador. The big question is what I will do next after I realized that my great plan was rubbish.

Wolfi's new master plan

Hanging in Riobamba and making new plans for the future.

Colombia - Tracks, waypoints and accommodations

Tracks and waypoints can be found here as GDB and GPX files.

Almost 3000km

List of pet & bike friendly accommodations:

Cartagena - Hotel Palma Real

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 65000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: inner yard
Contact: booking.com
GPS: N10.39121° W75.52241°
Comment: Clean, cold shower, TV, Wifi, A/C, fridge, restaurant next door and in neighborhood

Sincelejo - Hotel La Ceiba

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 40000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: in front of reception
Contact: GPS: N9.27408° W75.41026°
Comment: Clean, cold shower, TV, no Wifi, A/C (on/off via fuse at reception, no remote control),

Sincelejo - Hotel Liyen

Type: Room with two beds
Costs: 80000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: garage yard nearby
Contact: Hotel Liyen, Calle 25 #24-19 Calle Cauca, Sincelejo (Sucre), hoteliyen@hotmail.com, 2760044, 300 258 4885, 300 4981175, GPS: N9.30156° W75.38896°
Comment: Clean, cold shower, TV, Wifi at reception (and rooms near enough), A/C, fan, downtown, opposite to shopping mall

Planeta Rica - Hotel Linda Palma

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 80000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: besides the house
Contact:
GPS: N8.35945° W75.56115°
Comment: Clean, cold shower, TV, Wifi, A/C, country side, green surroundings

Valdivia - Hotel Monterrey

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 25000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: in front of the house
Contact: GPS: N7.16656° W75.43916°
Comment: cold shower, Wifi, restaurant, at the Terpel filling station

Medellin - Pit Stop hostel

Type: Big room with one bed
Costs: 90000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: inner yard
Contact: http://www.pitstophostel.com/
GPS: N6.20755° W75.57373°
Comment: Shared bathroom, clean, hot shower, common TV, fast Wifi, some parks around, common kitchen, pool

El Penon de Guatape - Parking lot

Type: informal camping
Costs: free
Dogs: free
Bike parking: besides tent
Contact:
GPS: N6.22187° W75.17881°
Comment: Toilets during day, no shower, Guards are not too eager to let you stay there but then they seem to give in.

Alejandria - Golden Elephant hostel

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 48000pesos low season (60000pesos high season)
Dogs: free
Bike parking: inner yard
Contact: http://www.goldenelephanthostel.com/index.php/en/airbnb,
GPS: N6.38033° W75.14047°
Comment: Shared bathroom, hot shower (low pressure), common TV, Wifi, common kitchen, billiard

Rio Claro Park Camping

Type: Camping
Costs: 25000pesos for two nights per person
Dogs: free (small dogs are ok even though there is a sign no dogs allowed)
Bike parking: besides tent
Contact:
GPS: N5.89484° W74.85849°
Comment: No parking besides tent, toilets, cold shower are besides campground but were far away (10min walk) from our site, there is supposed to be Wifi at the reception, restaurant and attractions are a few minutes by feed further down the road.

El Portal de Salgar - Hotel El Portal de Salgar

Type: Room with two beds
Costs: 60000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: secured parking in yard nearby
Contact: Calle 16 No5-14, 8399018, 313 6519049, Puerto Salgar,
GPS: N5.46849° W74.65166°
Comment: Private bathroom, cold shower, TV, Wifi, A/C, fan

La Vega - Hotel Los Heroes

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 80000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: secured parking in garage
Contact:
GPS: N4.99782° W74.33832°
Comment: Private bathroom, hot shower, TV, Wifi, fan, pool, restaurant

San Fransisco - Finca El Cimmaron

Type: House with three bedrooms
Costs: 300000pesos/week
Dogs: free
Bike parking: garage
Contact: 317452666
GPS: N4.98483° W74.28824°
Comment:

Facatativa - Loma Linda

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 45000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: secured parking behind room
Contact:
GPS: N4.82316° W74.37134°
Comment: Private bathroom, hot shower, TV, Wifi, cold nights

Near Bogota - Hotel

Type: Room with two beds
Costs: 32000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: at parking lot
Contact:
GPS: N4.52659° W74.34722°
Comment: Private bathroom, there was supposed to be hot shower but we had no water at all, TV, no Wifi, truckstop, internet cafe next door

Girardot - Gran Hotel Luis Fernando

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 80000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: in inner yard
Contact:
GPS: N4.30106° W74.79893°
Comment: Private bathroom, TV, swimming pool, A/C, Wifi was slow and worked only in a few spots, cold shower,

Tatacoa Desert - Camping

Type: camping
Costs: 5000pesos/person
Dogs: free
Bike parking: besides tent
Contact:
GPS: N3.23481° W75.16685°
Comment: Toilets and shower, restaurant, no Wifi, they had also rooms either with private or shared bathroom.

Neiva - Hotel Del Rio

Costs: 50000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: in inner yard
Contact: Cle33P No. 4-38, 8740143, 3112180499
GPS: N2.94814° W75.30939°
Comment: Private bathroom, TV, A/C, good Wifi, cold shower


OTHER INFO
Bearings
Rodamientos California
Pablo Cesar Penagas Chavarro
Cra 5 No. 3-12
Neiva
Tel: 8716716, 3152264075
rodamientoscalifornia@hotmail.com


Machine shop
Alvaro Santofimio e Hiljos & Cia
Almacen Taller y reconstructor de motores
Cra3 No.2-25
Neiva
Tel: 8721647, 871 4870
rectisantofimio@hotmail.com

Palestina - Eco

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 60000pesos?
Dogs: free
Bike parking: besides house
Contact: booking.com
GPS: N1.72057° W76.11906°
Comment: Private toilet, shared shower, Wifi did not work, ice cold shower

Sibundoy - Hotel

Type: Room with one bed
Costs: 25000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: in front of the hotel
Contact: N1.20470° W76.92105°
Comment: warm shower, Wifi at reception

Pasto - Hotel Concorde

Type: Room with two beds
Costs: 60000pesos
Dogs: free
Bike parking: paid parking opposite of hotel (moto: 8000pesos/24h, car: 10000pesos/24h)
Contact: N1.21931° W77.27989°
Comment: Clean, warm shower, TV, good Wifi


Vets:
De perros y gatos
7360688,3113689229
Cra36 # 18-79, Pasto, Colombia


Bacanes
Cra 36 # 12-87, 27228222, 3017552625, 31652443323, bacanesmv@gmail.com
www.veterinariabacanes.com.co
Pasto, Colombia

One down in the bucket list, many more to go - in Ecuador

Finally I crossed the equator with my bike. One down in my bucket list and many more to go...

Bordercrossing Colombia Ecuador

That was one of the easiest, smoothest, cheapest and fastest border crossing for a long long time. No fees, no trouble with the dog, no "helpers" and the customs officer at the Ecuador side even spoke some English. Despite other travel reports, there was no need for any vehicle insurance. Welcome to Ecuador!

Skippy's arrival in Madrid, Spain

For all of you who wonder whether Skippy and the girls made it, here is the answer. Feel free to follow her adventures on her own youtube channel (Raw Finn) and on Facebook (Raw on the the road)

Skippy's nightmare of leaving Colombia with dogs

It was time for Skippy and the girls to leave Colombia. We have traveled a lot but never ever had such trouble. Skippy was devastated and I am still missing words to explain what happened. See for yourself...


If you want to leave Colombia with your pet by plane then you must obtain an export permission from ICA for your pet. This also applies in case you owned your pet before you enter Colombia.
ICA office is in Bogota (I am not sure where else). This was the case with Avianca, maybe other airlines are less strict.

Trigger-happy Colombians at the Blacks and Whites' Carnival, Pasto 6Jan2016

Many Colombians seemed to me very trigger-happy folks independent of age, sex, or whatever else. Have a look for yourself what happened at the "great parade"…

Blacks and Whites' Carnival, San Juan de Pasto, Colombia (Carnaval Negros y Blancos) 31Dec-4Jan - the warm-up days

Fact is that we came to Pasto because Skippy decided to stop the trip and Pasto is the last big city before the border. Then we heard of the upcoming carnaval and thought it would be a great opportunity to enjoy some nice moments in the end of our common trip. See for yourself what happened and what we thought about it.


Next video is about the grand parade.

Blacks and Whites' Carnival (Spanish: Carnaval de Negros y Blancos), is the largest carnival celebration in southern Colombia, its geographical indication belongs to the city of Pasto. It is celebrated from 2 to 7 January of each year and attracts a considerable number of Colombian and foreign tourists.

In 30 September 2009, this Carnival was proclaimed by UNESCO, as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Source: Wikipedia

Still impressions from Desert Tatacoa, Neiva and el Trampolín del Diablo a.k.a Adiós mi vida

Here are again a few still impressions from our ride through the desert, Neiva and our ride on one the most dangerous roads of the world.

Break: Wolfi checking his bike, Skippy not so happy

A thought came along this road: is a sidecar with its asymmetry a good vehicle to go on such roads?

Desert Tatacoa - cute waysign

And that is how the commercial sign dominates...

View from the first stop

Panorama (click to enlarge)

Pablo's bearing shop in Neiva, Colombia

Pablo (holding my front frame) and Adolfo after the successful operation. Thanks you very very much Pablo, and thank you for your fast work Adolfo.

Since I was out almost all day, Peto made sure I am not going anymore out without him...

... seriously ;)

Welcome to one of the most dangerous roads in the world: trampolin de la muerte

With a length of 69.7 km, the road between Mocoa and San Francisco in the department of Putumayo in Colombia, is one of the most dangerous roads in the world. The road is known as Trampolín del Diablo (Devils trampoline) or Adiós mi vida (Bye bye my life). The road was built in 1930 and zigzags the Andean mountain range.
This road, which is not suitable for public transport or heavy, was built in 1930 to transport soldiers during the war between Colombia and Peru, and so far has been directly responsible for ending hundreds of lives. Different sources record more than 500 people dead in 2011 and in 1989 about 300 people died in a terrible collapse.
Source: http://www.dangerousroads.org/south-america/colombia/3030-trampolin-de-la-muerte-mocoa-san-francisco.html

And such a nice scenery - it was worth going there.

But those steep drops, better not think about it.

Wolfi posing near Laguna de la cocha

Info on the companies:
Bearings
Rodamientos California
Pablo Cesar Penagas Chavarro
Cra 5 No. 3-12
Neiva
Tel: 8716716, 3152264075
rodamientoscalifornia@hotmail.com

Machine shop
Alvaro Santofimio e Hiljos & Cia
Almacen Taller y reconstructor de motores
Cra3 No.2-25
Neiva
Tel: 8721647, 871 4870
rectisantofimio@hotmail.com

Alea iacta est

Alea iacta est. Skippy has made her final decision on what to do next...

Riding Trampolín del Diablo (Adiós mi vida) - Colombia's most dangerous road

This road certainly was spooky. A single lane gravel road often without protection guards and extremely steep edges. One mistake and death is certain. Sharp curves as well as many fast driving trucks and cars required full attention. As this was not enough, we rode parts of it by night and Skippy ran out of gas.


With a length of 69.7 km, the road between Mocoa and San Francisco in the department of Putumayo in Colombia, is one of the most dangerous roads in the world. The road is known as Trampolín del Diablo (Devils trampoline) or Adiós mi vida (Bye bye my life). The road was built in 1930 and zigzags the Andean mountain range.
This road, which is not suitable for public transport or heavy, was built in 1930 to transport soldiers during the war between Colombia and Peru, and so far has been directly responsible for ending hundreds of lives. Different sources record more than 500 people dead in 2011 and in 1989 about 300 people died in a terrible collapse.
Source: http://www.dangerousroads.org/south-america/colombia/3030-trampolin-de-la-muerte-mocoa-san-francisco.html

and a Happy New Year!