Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding... | Page 38 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/132.html

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Medellin is located in the Aburra Valley. The city creeps up both eastern and western slopes like an urban kudzu, eclipsing the mountainside underneath, threatening to crawl up even beyond the horizon. From any point in the heart of the city, you can see the terracotta-roofed urban sprawl curving upwards as if you were inside a Dyson Sphere.

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Because we are in a valley, there is a permanent haze as the mountains trap smog and pollution...

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...Despite that, we still love staying in our new adopted city!

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One thing Neda didn't like was this tiny pueblito...

To relieve Neda of her planning duties, I did a bit of research and found a tourist attraction not too far from our apartment called Pueblito Paisa (Paisa is the name that people from Medellin call themselves). It's a little replica turn-of-the-century villa built on top of a hill called Cerro Nutibarra, which I keep referring to as Nutbar Hill.

Neda wasn't impressed, saying it reminded her of Epcot Center: "Why would you visit the France Pavilion when you've already been to the real country?" But isn't the most popular pavilion at Epcot Center the USA Pavilion...? In your face, Neda!

The view of the city from up here was nice though...

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Cat hangs out in the fake church inside Pueblita Falsa. I think they actually do hold services here.

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Street painting in Parque Lleras

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Dropped into the Medellin KTM dealership

KTM has quite a lot of 200cc-400cc motorcycles on the showroom floor. It makes sense as there's no need for 115hp with the traffic and road conditions here, plus being small, light and agile means being able to lane split and filter through the constant jams and gridlock. Riding a motorcycle down here means saving an hour each day in commute time to work and back.

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Limited Edition is KTM-Speak for Pay More For Decals

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Beautiful city, horrible traffic!

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Apparently I took this picture not during Rush Hour. You can still see pavement...
 
I was really missing playing music for a long time now, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money buying an instrument that I knew I would just have to leave behind. So one day, while browsing the music stores, I found a cheap $40 guitar to bang away on! It doesn't stay in tune for very long though...

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...And now I'd like to play an ancient Chinese folk song called Too Ning...

We're two weeks into our month-long lease on our Medellin apartment and we are loving it! Life is muy tranquil. Neda peruses the grocery store daily coming up with dishes for us to try now that we have a kitchen. Even though this is supposed to be down-time for us, compared to me, she is a whirling dervish. All throughout this trip she has been preparing and giving weekly English lessons to her niece in Italy over Skype. Now she is able to devote more time and energy towards it.

I am able to devote more time and energy into doing nothing. :)

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We're really enjoying having home-cooked meals again. Easy on the budget and the waistline!

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Neda has been trying out new recipes. This is her No-Cream Mushroom Soup and Soft-Cheese and Spinach Crepes

I think back to my reservations about leaving the tiny haven of Taganga and now it all seems so silly. Everything is much better here: the weather, having our own place, having more stuff to see in the city. Neda did her research very well. To her credit, not once does she say "Told ya so".

I totally would have...

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Checkered cathedral of Plaza Botero behind the "Plump Fellow in Hat"

Gigantic bronze sculptures of chubby men, women and horses are littered all over the Plaza Botero, which is named after the artist who sculpted them, Fernando Botero. We were first exposed to his Rubenesque figures when we first arrived on Colombia's shores so long ago in Cartagena. That was almost 9 months ago! We haven't traveled very far since then...

On the weekends, the plaza gets super-busy - tons of tourists posing in front of the sculptures, and kids climbing all over them. In the middle of the day the bronze gets very hot, so not so many kids climbing then...

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Hey kiddies, you can ride the pretty horsey if you don't mind a bit of seared flesh...

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Back streets and the alleyways of Medellin

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North American Indians? In Colombia? Last time we saw this was back in Winnipeg
However, they weren't playing Peruvian flutes back then... LOL!


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In NedaGene, even the malls are cool-looking

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Open air shopping experience

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I'm next!

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Antique train sits as a monument in what used to be the old railway station in the heart of downtown Medellin

The railway system, constructed in the 1870s, used to be an important transportation network in Antioquia, hauling gold from the mines and then later coffee to all parts of the department. The trains stopped running by the 1960s, having been overtaken by the new highways being built and truckers hauling cargo faster, cheaper and further than the rail.

As we rode through the mountains of Antioquia to get to Medellin, we would often see remnants of the rail system - no tracks, but huge circular holes in the mountain face just large enough for a train to run through.

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A rainbow of variety in the streetside snacks

One nice thing about having a (temporary) permanent address is that we can get stuff shipped to us now. We took the opportunity to get some motorcycle stuff mailed to us that we couldn't find locally. Surprisingly, you can't find Heidenau tires at all in Medellin. When we asked the BMW dealer in town, his response was, "Our riders like to go fast", so nothing but street tires sold here. Our Tourance fronts were getting worn down, so we had to get a couple of K60 fronts shipped from Bogota.

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I installed a mini wading pool in the back, just like those El Caminos with their beds lined with garbage bags!
Helps with the MonkeyButt at the end of a long riding day...


I had to get one of my heated handgrips fixed, so we headed down to the dealership to get our fronts replaced as well. I've seen some other adventure riders roam all over the world with an extra set of tires strapped to the back. After having just ridden 2kms from the apartment to the dealership with these tires behind me, I don't know how anyone could do it for thousands of miles, month after month. They're freakin' heavy!

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Cool tank decal! "Adventure" is BMW-Speak for "Let's make your off-road bike heavier and less suitable for... Adventure..."

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Neda's bike is next in line for a frontirectomy
 
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/133.html

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We can't seem to leave Medellin.

So much so that we're bumping up against several deadlines: our month-long lease on the apartment has come up, our three-month tourist permit is expiring and so is our vehicle insurance. I can't believe we've been in Colombia for three months!

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Government buildings downtown where we visited the Aduana offices

It took us a few days to visit all the different offices which were scattered all over the city: DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) to renew our tourist visa, Aduana for our vehicle permits and Sura, which was the only company that would insure imported vehicles. The upshot is that we're legal in Colombia till the end of April! Actually, we only purchased insurance on a month-to-month basis, because surely we're not going to still be here in April!?!

But then again this is us, so you never know...

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Diana and Neda at AcroYoga

Early in our stay in Medellin, Neda had an irritating (to her) experience at the Exito, the grocery store that we live beside. At the meat counter, she asked for some cold cuts in Spanish. The guy behind the counter replied back in English. IN ENGLISH!!! Neda returned home furious! You see, all over Latin America she's been very proud of the fact that everyone congratulates her on how good her Spanish accent and grammar is. They always ask if she is a native speaker. Until now...

"DAMNYOU, MeatCounterGuy!"

So to fix this, she logs onto Couchsurfing, a web site that's primarily used for finding accommodations for travelers in new cities, but it can also be used to meet local people who are willing to show you around. On there, she finds Diana, who is willing to meet up and converse with Neda in her native Medellin tongue in exchange for some English practice.

The two become fast friends and when Diana finds out that Neda is a Yoga fan, they meet up on the weekends as well to practice AcroYoga in the park.

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Warning: Do not try this at home. Yoga professional at work.

Neda has been trying to drag me out to AcroYoga for weeks now. I've never had any interest in Yoga before and AcroYoga sounded way too circusy for me. But one weekend, I relented...

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I was right. This AcroYoga stuff was totally sideshow...

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I was not enjoying myself. Not. One. Bit.

So the whole point of AcroYoga is to combine Acrobatics with static Yoga poses. I quickly learned why they practiced in the park because if you're a novice, the poses involve a lot of falling down, hopefully on a soft surface like grass. If you get a face full of dirt, then you're doing a variant called AgroYoga.

Hint: if you see participants practicing on hard surfaces or on top of a really high platform, it means that they're really good and they're showing off.

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More advanced stuff... kinda hot too...

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A different kind of showing-off

We've made some friends in Medellin and created a semblance of a life with some routine, so when our lease on the apartment came up, we knew we wanted to extend our stay, but for how long was up for debate. In a strange turn of events, it was Neda who wanted to stay longer, perhaps to renew the lease for another month. I didn't want to leave immediately, but a month seemed too long. So we compromised and we're set to depart Medellin in two weeks time.

Before our trip, I never would have thought we'd stay put in one place for over 6 weeks! It's been really awesome here, but I'm starting to get itchy wheels syndrome!

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Medellin Transit involves trains, gondolas, blimps, hovercrafts, submarines...

One morning, we headed out on the Medellin transit system, which is called Metro, up into the mountains. The trains transfer to a cable-car that takes commuters up to the residences and buildings that carpet the mountainside. These gondolas are actually a necessity, as they make the barrios up here accessible to public transit, since buses have great difficulty traversing the narrow streets that wind through these steep hills. There are currently three different MetroCable lines that go up into the mountains.

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Catching the "L" MetroCable line at the Santo Domingo station

We're taking the "L" line, which travels deep into Arvi Park, a nature preserve set up by the Medellin government at the peak of the eastern mountain range. The introduction of the Metro Cable has made it very accessible to locals and tourists alike, and the park boasts lots of hiking trails, flora and fauna.

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Surprisingly, this is *not* part of the Metro system...

At Arvi Park, the government has set up a free bicycle rental. How nice! So we fill out some forms and now we're roaming the park on two wheels again!

It was here that we experienced our first run-in with the law. Although Neda is pro-helmet when it comes to motorcycling, this belief stops when it comes to bicycles... As part of the rental agreement that we signed, it stipulated that we would wear our helmet at all times. So when Neda coasted to a halt at one of the bicycle rental stations sans helmet, the official on duty pulled her aside and confiscated her bicycle. It was then that we were introduced to a new Spanish word: "Multa" which means fine.

We were going to get fined for a free service?!? That's a great way to make money for the city...

We surreptitiously walked away from the bicycle station and talked to a tour guide who was leading a group up to the viewpoint where you could see the whole of Medellin from up top. The bicycle official seemed to forget about us, so we thought we'd avoided the "multa"...

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Hey, it's the Medellin Epcot Centre on Nutbar Hill! We're a lot higher up now...

After a 15-minute hike, we got to the viewpoint and while it was true you could see the entire city, it was less than impressive because a thick cloud of smog and pollution blocked our view. I had to do a bit of Photoshopping in the picture above so you could actually make out any detail.

We made some friends with some local guys who were also on the tour, they were asking a million questions about our trip and our motorcycles. When we got back to the bicycle station, we decided to pay our "multa" and ride the bikes back to the MetroCable. The official wagged his finger at us: the "multa" wasn't monetary - it was "Bicycle Rental Privileges Revoked for Five Days!" LOL!

We walked sheepishly back to the MetroCable station and caught up to the locals who we had met earlier. When we told them about our "multa" they laughed at us and made fun of us the whole walk back. Good times!

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Our tour buddies, Lenin, Julian and Frank at Arvi Park
On the walk back, they taught us Colombian swear words and we taught them English ones! :)


These guys were hilarious. While we were on the long cable car ride back, we tried to help them pick up these very pretty Japanese tourists. No joy for them, but it was funny as hell!

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Back at ground zero

We heard something amusing from an American who was also traveling south on the Stahlratte with us. He swore that every Latin American beer was made from the same company but they just slapped a different label and shipped their weak-tasting beer to all the countries in Central and South America. Anyone who's sampled every weak, thin-tasting beer from Mexico all the way down south has to laugh, because it's so true!

However in Taganga, we were introduced to an amazing brew called Apostol. We especially like their darker beers, they reminded us of the English ales that we just can't seem to find anywhere down here. So when Neda found out they offered a tour of their brewery here in Medellin, we totally jumped at the chance to get some yummy beer-tasting in our last days in the city!

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Yeah yeah, enough of the history of the company, when do we start drinking?!?

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Different beers have to be poured at different angles to bring out the taste.
Yeah yeah, when do we start drinking?!?


The tour was actually quite interesting. The reason why ales are not that common in Latin America is that the grains required to make the darker, fuller-tasting brews require four seasons to harvest. We did not know that. Apostol imports all the grains and the ingredients from Germany, and their brewing equipment is German-made as well.

Even our tour guide's name is Hans. Hans Rodriguez-Gonzalez...

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Pretty, pretty colours

Speaking of equipment, I was entranced by the deep copper colours of these tanks, so as the tour went on, I stayed behind taking a million pictures. I think the security guard that stayed with me got a bit weirded out because I was acting very Smeagol-ly towards the pretty, precious kettles.

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My Precious...

Anyway, enough of all this non-motorcycle stuff... our time in Medellin is winding down. Wheels up, next blog entry!
 
Very kind of you to share all of this with us. You two must have a wonderful relationship, throwing yourselves into these adventures. Be safe, and keep the stories coming.
 
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/134.html

I'm walking on eggshells today.

Ever since we entered Mexico and Latin America over a year ago, Neda's done the bulk of the work organizing, communicating and leading the ride. I think she needed the break in Medellin a lot more than I did. So today, as we are packing our lives back into 120L of panniers and topcases, I'm acutely aware that this departure is my idea. We're leaving earlier than she wants because *I* want to travel.

So I try to do everything to make sure this day goes as smoothly as possible for Neda. I tell her that I'll organize everything and take the lead for the next little while.

Things don't go as planned.

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This *was* the plan for today...

In our parking lot, with all our bags all strapped down and ready to leave, I thumb the starter: <click> <click> <click>

Nothing... My battery is dead.

The bike has only been sitting idle for maybe a week, this shouldn't happen. It's a brand new battery - I just picked it up in Guatemala in September. I suspect there's something wrong with the electricals, perhaps a short somewhere in all the gadgets I've got hooked up to the battery under my seat. Ruefully, I unpack the bike, lift the seat and stare at the spaghetti wiring around the terminals.

I don't have time to diagnose this. I just need a jump-start.

While I'm tearing apart the bike, I ask Neda to ask around the building to see if anyone has jumper cables. To my surprise, she returns half-an-hour later, telling me that 1) nobody in the building has cables, 2) the super said there was a car rental place beside us, so she went over and asked, no luck, 3) the car rental guys says there was a bike shop 2 blocks down the street so she went over and asked, 4) the bike shop guys said they had a cable, but they didn't want to sell or lend it to us, can we push the bike over?

Neda is visibly upset. The stress-free day I promised is slowly cracking like the eggshells I'm walking on...

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Neda: "He told me this would be a stress-free day, so now I'm the one running around trying to jump start his battery..."
Mechanic: "What a dope."


We pushed my half-laden bike through traffic to the bike shop, got a boost and we started off on our journey. However, my confidence in the electricals is shaken and I don't feel safe leaving the big city without jumper cables. I didn't have them in El Salvador with my EWS problems, and now with this, I really felt I needed the safety net.

Neda disagreed. We were burning daylight and she was anxious to get out of the city.

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Neda: "I told him we have to leave now so he decides he wants to look for motorcycle-specific jumper cables..."
Storekeeper: "What a dope."


There are a million automotive stores in Medellin. They all sell jumper cables, but only the really heavy-duty kind: 20-gauge, 400A clamps, 50-feet-long cables, 20lbs heavy. The kind you use to jump-start a Panzer tank with...

Because her Spanish is better, I ask Neda to ask around to see if there are lighter gauge motorcycle-specific cables.

She grumbled something dark and venomous and set out around the block. Another 45 minutes later she returns and tells me that she's visited 20 different stores and none of them sell lighter gauge cables. Do I want to buy the f*&^%ing tank cables or not?

I've screwed up her day. I know it. So we buy the Panzer tank cables.

My motorcycle's suspension sags under the additional weight. Kinda like my morale...

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Change-up from the big city - our hostel in Guatape

The town of Guatape is only 85kms east of Medellin, but it takes us over an hour to just get past the city limits because of the terrible traffic. The entire way I keep the communicator open, ready to receive my wife's rage and wrath. All I get is the cold crackle of Silent Treatment as we negotiate our way past buses, filtering between stopped cars in gridlock, and dodging pedestrians dashing out in front of us.

Only until we're riding the uncongested and curvy roads leading out of Medellin does normal conversation resume. I know my wife well and all it takes is leaning into a few twisty roads to lighten her mood. Perhaps this day is salvageable after all and I won't wind up hanging from the rafters tonight with a 20-gauge noose wrapped around my neck...

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Our motorcycles get a nice view for the evening

We've found a great little hostel just 5 minutes walk outside the lake-side town of Guatape. The actual lake is a man-made reservoir for a huge hydro-electric dam, and the mountains of Antioquia rise up all around us. It's a very tranquil setting and it makes up for our hectic ride out of Medellin.

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Nice view for us as well too

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Mickey & Luna, the owners of the hostel. After the day we've had, they're giving me some really good ideas

The weather up here in the mountains is markedly colder than the big city. At night, we shiver under heavy blankets and listen to the heavy rains fall outside. We're told it rains nightly here. Now that we're on the move again, we have to get used to brand new precipitation patterns and plan accordingly.

The late morning sun slowly burns off the chill and dampness of the previous night and we walk down the hill into the town of Guatape to do a little bit of exploring. I'm sensing Neda is in a better mood given the nice weather and peaceful surroundings. *This* is what I had planned for us, not the nightmare rush out of town yesterday.

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Walking through the Crayola-coloured streets of Guatape

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Although there are a few foreigners wandering the streets, it seems that the majority of tourists are from Medellin. Because of its proximity to the big city, Guatape is a popular weekend getaway for Paisas.

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What is this towel for?

All over Latin America we've seen older men with a towel draped over one shoulder. We have not been able to figure out what its purpose is. Is it functional or just fashionable? Maybe the next time we see this, we'll ask.

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Cobblestone chat on horseback

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World Cup Dreams in Technicolour

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What I love is that almost all the buildings in town have taken up the Crayola-theme

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Even the tuk-tuks get in on the action

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No towel, can't ask.

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Returning from the grocery store with some dinner supplies for a night in at the hostel

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Our favorite Colombian beer to toast our getting back on the road

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In the distance, a huge rock rises from the ground. We'll explore tomorrow!
 
We're living vicariously through you and Neda...thanks for sharing this with us, and looooooove the pics! :)
 
I'm in Medellin right now!! If you guys are passing back through Medellin maybe we can meet up. I used to live here for 4 years. Guatape and El Penol are great places. Be sure to climb the rock; view is amazing!!

Send me a PM
 
BTW i have a package for you to pick up for me while in Columbia .. hee hee. :)

Sure, just pick it up next time you Blow Buy town...

I'm in Medellin right now!!

LOL! I just got your name: Paisa Medellin... Unfortunately, we've left Med. already, not sure if we're going to return anytime soon. Would have been nice to meet up!
 
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/135.html

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Today, we're going to investigate that huge rock in the distance. The owners of our hostel say it's only a couple of kms away if we ride through Guatape. Or... we could take a 10km dirt road that travels all the way around the valley, cutting through lush farmland and the scenic coniferous forest... So we opt to take the Long Way R[rest of comment deleted pending either trademark lawsuit or gross overuse by the motorcycle travel community]

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Very pretty-looking farms along the way

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As we make our way around the bend, La Piedra looms up ahead

La Piedra del Penol y Guatape (The Stone of Penol and Guatape) is this lone monolithic rock that rises 220m (650ft) from the ground. It's a landmark that can be seen from miles away in all directions because it's the only object of that size and shape in the area. This has led to speculation and legends from locals that La Piedra is a huge meteorite that fell to earth. The scientist in me looks at how intact the rock is as well as the lack of a surrounding crater, and I've come to the conclusion that it is indeed a meteorite... especially when I can tell friends and family back home about the time we climbed a huge rock from outer space that landed in the middle of Colombia...

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Cue the 5-note theme from Close Encounters

In our hikes around the area, we've seen La Piedra from all angles. Behind this view, there's a giant "GI" painted on the back. Strangely enough, I don't have a picture of the "GI". (Edit: Neda says, "But you take pictures of EVERYTHING!”) The "GI" was a remnant of the time the town of Guatape tried to paint its name on the side of La Piedra and but were stopped half-way through the "U" when the neighbouring town, El Penol, claimed that La Piedra belonged to their town.

You'd think they'd have washed it off by now... but then again, you'd lose a pretty funny story!

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There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold...

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About half-way up, they've put a Virgin Mary up here so people can pray for strength...
to make it up the rest of the way...


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Along the way, you can catch both your breath and a nice view at the same time

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There are 659 steps on the way up La Piedra. They are labeled in increments of 25,
should you want to keep track of your progress or measure just how out of shape you are...


When I was a kid I used to listen to radio programs late at night in my bed under the covers while my parents thought I was sleeping. I used to listen to shows like "The Shadow" and a Twilight Zone-like program, can't recall the name. On one of the shows, the hero was climbing up a spiral staircase in a tall, dark tower. He was claustrophobic, so to calm his anxiety he counted the number of stairs till he reached the top. As he made his way down, he counted the stairs again and was horrified when the number exceeded the count on the way up...

I think I've told this story before, but everytime I climb stairs, I always think of that radio program. Those numbers written on La Piedra's stairs made it even more vivid! I also have a Buried Alive Like a Mummy story, but that'll have to wait for another more appropriate blog entry...

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"Ok, let's see what all the fuss was about..."

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Oooh, nice. I like how La Piedra casts such a huge shadow over the land

If you look closely at all the little islands, you'll see that the greenery doesn't reach all the way to the shoreline. We found out that the artificial lake around Guatape and La Piedra has been lowered by about 7m (21 feet) recently because of the hydro-electric dam. This has exposed the brown soil previously underwater, and it looks quite picturesque when viewed from this high, but up close it's not really that pretty.

I am very impressed by how large this reservoir is, it reaches as far as the eye can see in most directions!

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Front row seats to the best show in town

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The Andean Condor is the national animal of Colombia

We recently saw a three-dimensional version of the Colombian coat-of-arms and wondered why they chose a vulture to sit on top of their crested shield. We later learned that it was actually a condor, but for the longest time we thought it was a turkey vulture and we snickered. Kinda absurd, like having a beaver as your national animal...

Edit: I just found out condors are vultures. Back to making fun of their national animal again! HAH-HAH!

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The stairs on the way down were haphazard and made no sense at all.
They reminded me of an Escher drawing...
 
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Today, we're going to investigate that huge rock in the distance. The owners of our hostel say it's only a couple of kms away if we ride through Guatape. Or... we could take a 10km dirt road that travels all the way around the valley, cutting through lush farmland and the scenic coniferous forest... So we opt to take the Long Way R[rest of comment deleted pending either trademark lawsuit or gross overuse by the motorcycle travel community]..
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Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/136.html

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We're on the move again.

It's only been a few days since we left Medellin and after 6 motionless weeks, we've anticipated that it might be difficult to click into the cadence of travel.

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The mountain roads of Antioquia - a sinuous distraction

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Bye bye kitchen - back to road-side stops for meals

I've done really well with my diet during our rest periods in Colombia. I've eaten very healthy thanks to Neda's cooking and lost a whole bunch of weight. I kinda dread having meals on the road again because I have no willpower. Those greasy, carby dishes just seem to glow and pop-out from all the road-side diner menus: "Con papas francesas?" "Por supuesto, Senor!" (Google translation)

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Construction on the bridge across the Rio Magdalena has traffic backed up for kms

We're descending quite rapidly from the lofty heights of Medellin and the temperature begins to soar into the low 30s. A traffic jam builds up because of construction on a bridge up ahead and our motorcycles follow the path of least resistance, flowing out of the lane and onto the centreline, our panniers brushing up against oncoming trucks. One 18-wheeler stops short of pushing Neda completely over as it attempts to squeeze by her invading bike...

After this, we take to the opposite sidewalk. It's much safer knocking down pedestrians than it is being knocked over by a truck. At least there, we have the Right-of-Weight!

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Bustin' out! Hundreds of bikes let loose before the cars and trucks over the Rio Magdalena

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Asking for directions to a hotel in Honda

We're stopping in the town of Honda for the evening. The town is bisected by a river and is known as the city of bridges because there are at least four vehicle-bridges and a couple of pedestrian walkways over the river. We get a bit lost because half of these bridges are under construction making navigation through the one-way streets a nightmare.

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Even when standing still, Neda's bike still wants to lean

The next day we do a short walking tour of Honda in the morning before we leave. It's not a very large town and since it's a weekday, all the streets are deserted while everyone's at work.

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At least the mornings are a bit cooler and pleasant to walk around in

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Surprisingly not a lot of Honda vehicles in the town of Honda...

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Patriotic Alleyway Art

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The only place that was bustling in Honda was the marketplace where we stocked up on supplies for the road

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On-The-Road Selfie! I forgot to do Duck Lips...

For the last few days, we've been debating whether to ride into Bogota or not. I didn't really care whether we go or not, there's nothing there that I am interested in seeing, plus I've heard the traffic is brutal! The city's population is a densely-packed 8 million people - 4 times larger than Medellin, and we weren't too happy about that traffic.

However Neda heard that the old city was very pretty, so as always, on a last minute decision just as we are leaving Honda, we decided to dive headfirst into MegaBogopolitan traffic.

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Just wanted to Shoei you what we had for lunch

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Change-up in chain maintenance

Neda is changing up her chain maintenance routine. She finds it tough to lube the chain at the end of the riding day, since we're both tired and just want to either eat or relax. So she's started to do her chain maintenance either during lunchtime while we're waiting for food or at our fueling stops. It's working out too well, I can't hear her chain rattling when she's riding now and have to check my mirrors to make sure she's still behind me...

The weather is changing once again. As we climb from Honda's relatively low elevation of 750 feet all the way to Bogota at 8600 feet, the temperature goes from scorching to chilly in just a few short hours. Neda tells me we're at 15C, almost a 20 degree difference! The air is misty because we are now riding into the clouds clinging to the mountains around Bogota.

As if it wasn't cold enough, it starts to rain cats and dogs on us. It takes us an hour to traverse the heavily congested 25kms from the outer ring of Bogota's residential suburbs, through the very modern downtown city core, all the way to the historical centre of La Candelaria, where Neda wants to stay. The moment we arrive, the rain stops. Of course.

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We heard Bogota was a dangerous place. So while Neda looks for a hostel,
I guard the bikes against... um, curious schoolchildren...


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Hiding out from the cold afternoon showers in Bogota in our new hostel

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RideDOT.com Trivia: Neda has read nearly 50 books on this trip. It's her favorite downtime activity

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After lights-out, the girl in the upper bunk to the left of Neda started sleep-talking up a storm.
I wished I spoke Swedish, it sounded very important...


When we stay at hostels, we usually get a private room because it's more economical for two people. However, the private rooms were all booked up so we had to sleep in Gen Pop. Because we were the last to check in, we were left the worst beds in the dorm - upper bunk.

In a kind of reverse-H.G.-Wells, UpperBunkers are basically the Morlocks of the dorm, treated with disdain by the Eloi who live beneath. You end up disturbing everyone while gracelessly trying to get into bed, you shake the whole bunk when you toss and turn and heaven forbid you need to get down to go the washroom in the middle of the night! And all the while, everyone is tut-tutting away in the dark with over-exaggerated annoyance...

I'll see you for breakfast tomorrow, my tasty little Elois...
 
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Getting out of our warm bunk beds to the chill of the Bogota morning was very difficult. We spent the morning talking to the other backpackers in the hostel over breakfast while waiting for the weather to warm up to do some sightseeing.


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NedaTV: All Neda, All the time. Security cam on our hostel.


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Across the street from our hostel


We had heard a lot about Bogota, mainly warnings about how bad the crime is in the city. The traffic certainly lived up to its reputation, so we had certain expectations about the rest. Bogota surprised us. It was not the dirty, slummy place we had envisioned, but instead was quite modern - at least the touristy places that we went to, within walkng distance of our hostel.


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La Candelaria


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Morning ruminations


Our hostel is located in the heart of La Candelaria, the city's historic centre. It was very pretty with its charming colonial architecture. We walked by the Military Museum of Bogota and peered over the fence into the courtyard at some tanks and airplanes. A guard in a military uniform saw us taking pictures over the fence and strode over to us. We thought we were in trouble but instead he invited us into the museum, telling us it was free to the public.


Free is good. Not getting arrested is even better!


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Close-up of the inscription on one of the old wartime cannons


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The detail on one of the miniature ships was astounding


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More cannons. Not phallic at all...


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Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception


The Metropolitan Cathedral also called the Primada Catedral, dominates the city plaza. It's been rebuilt several times since the 1500s due to earthquakes and the odd revolution. Nowadays, the only mobs that overrun the square are flocks of pigeons that greedily peck at the corn that vendors sell to tourists so they can get a picture with the birds.


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I think this little guy wants his money back...


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A different kind of mob hangs out in the city plaza, also waiting for tourist dollars


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Walking the city streets


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Further past the Catedral we walk into a more modern Bogota. Older buildings give way to storefronts and office buildings. Rolos, which is what the people from Bogota call themselves, stride purposefully through a pedestrian-only street. They've got the eyes-forward attitude that we're so familiar with from all our time living in a large city.


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In addition to a pedestrian street, there's also a bicycle-only lane


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There are some beggars on the street, but not as many as we have seen in other cities. This was a rare sight above.


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I think this is called a Cherimoya, also called a custard apple in other countries


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"We'll take four!" The custard apple has a very sweet creamy inside and tastes like... custard. Also very messy to eat.


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Other side of the sign says, "The End of the World is Near! When?"


The guy above is selling cell-phone time. For 150 pesos (about 8 cents) a minute, you can use one of his cellphones to call another cellphone. This is a particular Colombian peculiarity that you see in every town and city, because of the fact that the landlines and cellphone networks in Colombia are not connected. You can't call a landline from a cellphone and vice versa. So strange. So people without cellphones just "rent" one for a couple of minutes to call their buddy to let them know they'll be running late.


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Historic and Modern Bogota architecture meet in the city streets


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Jazzy buskers entertain passerbys


La Candelaria was nice, but we're both getting a bit fatigued of sightseeing in large cities, especially after spending so much time in Medellin. I know there are many other things to see in Bogota, but we're craving a change of scenery.
 
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I think this is called a Cherimoya, also called a custard apple in other countries

We call them Atis - "A-tis". Used to have a tree in the front lawn, they are yummy and I miss the taste.
 
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I think this is called a Cherimoya, also called a custard apple in other countries

We call them Atis - "A-tis". Used to have a tree in the front lawn, they are yummy and I miss the taste.

Used to have these in our family backyard - along with the mangoes, it remains the part of my childhood I miss the most.
Amazing!


Also, that "bum" on the street looks pretty well put together (and clean shaven). LOL
 

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