Copan Ruinas

While in Copan I checked out the Mayan ruins there. These ruins are pretty important because of all the hieroglyphics that have been found there, helping archaeologists learn more of the life of the Mayan people. well, so i am told.. Hard to believe the size of the empire that had to be here and that just disappeared..

Honduras

Starting to get into a fastish travel mode.
Yesterday I crossed the border from Nicaragua into Honduras. A guy tried to help me (for free though he wanted a donation when we were finished and he did do a lot of running around for me..) but I think I would have been better off on my own. Atleast then I would know what was going on (sort of). Anyway it ended up costing me 40 dollars (a lot of money when you think all the other borders are free...) and with no receipt I have no idea where the cash went to. I should have demanded on but once I got the paperwork done I just wanted to get going. Apart from that it was pretty straightforward.

Today I hooned up through Honduras to Copan which is very close to the border with Guatemala. Tomorrow I might check out the Mayan ruins which are near here.
Copan is a pretty town and worth the stopover.

Camera #4...

I don´t know how to write this but

You know that camera I bought about a week ago?? Well, it got nicked.

Not a happy chappy here.

Though the island of Omepete here in Nicaragua has made a pleasant visit. Pretty weird being on a largish island on a lake in a small country like Nicaragua. Got to ride around a few vlocanoes, swim in a freshwater spring, check out some monkeys and donate my camera..

wet wet wet in Costa Rica

Yes it is the wet season. Yes it rains here everyday. Yes, we get wet, very wet, every day.

But still I manage to forget about my passport and documents which I put in one of my coat pockets after another Police Checkpoint. The bike docs seems alright. Most of my passport seems ok, with a few smudged stamps. Unfortunately the only really unreadable one is the one I need to exit Costa Rica..

Even though it is wet we decided to punish ourselves and go to Monteverde to check out the cloud forests. Yeah, clouds usually mean rain, I know.

Typical hotel scene at the moment, trying to dry everything out. A useless gesture...

Splurged out on a Zip line canopy tour. Basically flying foxes through the forest canopy and across the valleys, the longest one being around 700m! There was also this huge tarzan style swing which was pretty exhillarating. A bit like the old tree swing we made back home as a kid but then 10 times bigger...

Into Costa Rica

Enjoying some fresh Coconut after an arduous Border Crossing..

The bordercrossing from Panama to Costa Rica is supposed to be one of the better ones around here. Well after a lot toing and froing from one place to the next we managed to get it all done - in 3 hours...

Costa Rica has even more gringos than Panama. It is pretty but I don't plan to be here long. We have been following the Pacific coast at the moment with nice roads lined with rain forest and the ocean. Brad has been trying to get a new chain and sprockets for his bike which is proving very difficult. Tomorrow we are heading into the big bad capital city, San Jose, which we were trying to avoid. My Speedo stopped working after the boat trip and after taking the front wheel off tonight my suspicions were confirmed -- actually the whole sensor unit in the front wheel is completely jammed. don't know if I can fix it or will have to replace the whole unit, though don't know what I can do about it here in Central America... Maybe no Speedo (or odometer) til the States.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away..

hi
Yesterday was one of those days that you'd love to rewind and do again. Differently.
It started fine. Got to check out the Panama Canal and on of It's locks. Pretty cool.
Then off we went (I'm travelling with Brad and Jola at the moment.). All is good. Panama has been a bit disappointing, being too westernised to what I have become used to. Then we get pulled over by the cops. They say we are speeding, blah blah, give us money etc. Eventually waved on then pulled over again 1km down the road. This cop was more grumpy and tried harder, trying to say that B&J didn't stop at the last road block and were speeding etc. Since they didn't stop it was left to me to have a bit of a yarn to him. This was all rather bothersome than being a real problem but then it started to rain. Really really rain. We soldiered on for a while to get away from these police who were phoning their friends further on and we thought the rain would deter them. BUT the rain was crazy and we had to get out of it. This was only a period of 5 to 10 minutes but it was enough time to destroy both my Camera and my Ipod which were in a pocket... You can imagine that I am not impressed. A rather expensive drenching. Thankfully I just backed up my photos onto a dvd disc the night before so it could have been worst.
So today I went and bought my 3rd camera for the trip.

For sale: One kidney..

Aboard the Stahlratte..

From Barraquilla I left for Cartegena. Cartegena is a pretty city but I was there to organise transport to Panama.

Now, for those not in the know, although there is a fairly continual land mass from the tip of South America to the top of Alaska in North America there is a section that is impossible to navigate on a bike (or car) due to the fact there is no road and the wet, muddy jungle is crammed full of baddies and desperate people. This area between Colombia and Panama is called the Darien Gap. Sooo you need to fly or take a boat.

Well I arrived in Cartegena (in the rain again) and it just so happened that I stop in a hostel frequented by motorcycle travellers and it just so happened that one of the most recommended bosts was leaving the very next next day and it just so happened that there was another couple on a bike (Brad and Jola) who I bumped into in Bolivia were also taking this boat and it just so happened that there was still enough room... Well this was too many `it just so happened` and so I jumped at the opportunity.

To get the bike to the boat it was lowered into a (rubber) dinghy from the water`s edge and then hoisted aboard. Not the normal thing a sane person does with his bike but after a few times you almost get used to it...

The Stahlratte (Steel Rat in English) is an old German sailboat for the early 1900`s which, at the moment is stationed in the Caribbean Sea. The trip to Panama takes about 2 days with 2 extra days of lazing around some picture perfect islands in the warm Caribbean sun.

The trip was fairly calm and with the help of a few motionsickness pills I managed to stay pretty alright, though spent most of the time sleeping...

The San Blas Islands lived up to their reputation as an idyllic spot for swimming, snorkelling, BBQs, hermit crab racing and general lazing around in the sun. 2 days in Paradise...

(a local Kuna village)

And then the fun began again. Since Central America is in the wet season the road from San Blas was unpassable for a mbike and so after all the backpackers got off (and the captain who was going to Panama City) we continued on with the rest of the Crew to Porvineer from where we hoped to catch a cargo boat to Miramar. Well all went well til they managed to run the boat abound on a sandbar where they were stuck till evening. Thankfully it was very close to the `dock` we needed to get to so after a couple of hours it was decided that it would be better if our bikes were offloaded.


Since the rubber dinghy from the sailboat decided not to work we made use of a local craft. The flimsy fibreglass bottom was viewed suspicously by Brad and I as we envisiaged our mbikes sinking to the bottom of the sea. I graciously let Brad go first....

After haggling a price (we were in bind and they knew it) we started our 4 hour trip to Miramar which went relatively smoothly. At the other end the last obstacle was getting our bikes off the boat. There is another boat tied to dock so what do you do? Well you tie alongside and simply manhandle the bike from one boat to the next and then onto the dock. Simple..

(a few more photos when blogger works again...)

When you enter a new country on your bike not only do need to get your passport stamped (or obtain a visa) you also need to make a temporary import of your motorcycle. Since this wasn`t possible at SanBlas we had to wait till we got to Panama City. The customs office wasn`t open over the weekend so we had to wait until today. We were a bit worried since you are supposed to do it straight away and we thought they might make a problem out of it. However after finding the right place it ended up being a smooth process. If only the rest of the borders here in Central America are going to be like this...

Barraquilla

One of the last places I got to visit in Colombia was Barraquilla which I really enjoyed. Not because of the city per se but for the experience I had. Nothing to do with Motorcycles but none the less still very important to me.

I went there to visit Mara´s brother Faisal and his family who belong to the Presbyterian Reformed Church (I think that is the name..) there in Barranquilla. Arriving after dark and promptly riding into another dodgy area I managed to find them with help of a local who led me through some dismal streets to get there.

So for the weekend I was given some accomodation in the Church building which is really a house. Must say this is the first time I `ve parked in a church building under the photos of John Calvin and John Knox.

Although a small Church (30 members??) I found the people to be very active and over the last 10 years of existence they have established another church in Barranquilla and have another Church/mission post further along the coast. They have started a School (John Calvin School..) which works in a poorer area and are trying to get involved in Politics, amongst other things... This, over against a sincere and continual search for the truth found in God`s Word.

Spending time on Sunday going to their Church (in Spanish..) and then meeting with Faisal, his family and the Pastor and his family was a special time for me having many discussions and sharing experiences. It was interesting to find out that this Church wasn`t started from outside influences as such (eg mission work) but as a breakaway from a Baptist church after the first minister (and some of the founding members) started learning more about the Great Reformation and reading books by authors like Calvin and Kuyper. It was exciting to hear their thoughts, also on Reformed Education, and on how much we shared in common. Their enthusiasm was genuine and infectuous and their thirst for knowledge left me humbled and excited for their future.

I hoped to return the next Sunday and, as a teacher, I was (am) interested in learning more about their School but it was not too be (as you will read in the next installment). I hope that I will be able to keep up some contact with them in the future as it is very apparent that God is working here in Colombia.

Bogotá to Barranquilla

Once back on the road I was pretty keen to get moving...

But at each place I stopped I just wanted to stay longer but I kept my resolve and soldiered on..



First stop, Villa de Leyva. An intact colonial village. Cobble streets with white walled buildings.



Stopped in San Gil, a bit of a Colombian adventure capital but I didn´t stay...



Getting really rained on seems to have become another daily ritual around here. The roads are very windy, the trucks in their thousands and adding rain to the mixture just creates one crazy experience..

And I think I have left the Andes for good this time, having roughly followed them from Patagonia in the south all the up to the north coast. Felt a bit sad as I wound round the last bend. goodbye ye old friend, I shall endeavour to return...

The highlight of the trip would have to be getting to the city of Mompós. I was getting tired of sticking to the main roads in Colombia and so took a few back roads, to Mompós. The road surfaces were challenging enough without being ulcer producing passing through farms, wet lands and small villages which don´t get to entertain very many travellers on ´big´ motorcycles.. A heap of fun and definite recommendation to anyone wanting a change when travelling in the North of Colombia..

Mompós itself was a fantastic little place. I think this picture sums it up.

Had to tear myself away from this place too to make it up to Barranquilla for the Sunday...

Bogotá

(my broken footpeg, for the second time...)

I´ve taken too long to get to this so I will keep it short...



In Bogotá I got to meet some friend(s) of a friend back home in Australia.

Mara, Jaymara, Manuel and Javier(who took the shot)

Unfortunately I don´t seem to have many pictures of them or of my time there but it was great hang out with a few local Colombians for a while. I enjoyed their hospitality (thanks heaps Mara) and got a bit more of an insight into life over here.. including what a priviliged working life we get back home in Australia... It was good to just chill out for a while but you can only watch so much cable TV and I was getting restless, especially with the knowledge that Canada was´t getting any closer..

One other thing I also got up to was attend a Suzuki meeting/ get together/whatchimacallit which had the unveiling of a new model to Colombia - the mighty B-King. For those that know bikes it is a `cruiser´ with the huge Hayabusa engine, (pretty insane I reckon). Anyway when they heard they had an Australian traveller in their midst I got hauled on stage and had to make an impromptu speech...

Thou shalt not covert.... :-)