Colombians
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Category Archives: Photos
FollowDarien Gap Done
I’ve made it to South America…20,000km, 10 border crossings and three months after setting off from Manitoba.
My last update was from Panama City…I spent more than one week there, sorting out some bike repairs, visas, banking and a million other little things. I was also down with a nasty flu bug, which I think I’ve finally managed to shake after about a month of feeling off-key.
From Panama City I drove towards the Darien Gap, a several hundred kilometer jungle wilderness that separates Panama from Colombia. It was a great ride to the Caribbean, where I and my bike boarded Jacqueline, a 56-foot catamaran. I was joined by about eight backpackers from around the world…a full boat means a big party. We spent several days lolling around in the San Blas islands, snorkling, spear-fishing and just being lazy. Then we hoisted sail and since there was almost no wind we motor-sailed the 200 miles to Cartegena, Colombia. We arrived yesterday morning, and spent much of the day getting through immigration and clearing the bikes through customs. Cartegena is a very lovely colonial city. If only it wasn’t too blazing hot to actually walk the streets…but I’ve checked into a hostel with some new friends and we are doing a bit of exploring, hanging out on the old city walls, etc.
Tomorrow I set off on Stage 3 of Menno Moto. I’ll stop in Bogota for a Paraguayan visa, and maybe a new sprocket for the bike, and then through Ecuador, Peru and long stops in Bolivia and Paraguay to get to know the Mennonite colonies there. I’m running exactly 2 weeks behind my planned schedule…not too bad after three months on the road, considering that I’ve driven about 7,000km more than I had expected to cover by this point.
Leon, Nicaragua
Volcano Violence
Vic and I went tobogganing in Leon, Nicaragua. Basically, you hike up an active volcano, put on an orange boiler suit, sit down on a makeshift toboggan, and let her rip. I hit 62km/h, the fastest in our group by 20km/h but still 25km/h short of the record. Then I wiped out…and it hurt. And the board broke in two. But it was fun, and well worth it.
Guatemala
We’ve been in Guatemala for about three days..maybe four. It’s like that on the road. Feels like we’ve been here three weeks. We started by exploring Tikal, the ruins of a 2000+year old Mayan city right on the border with Belize. Stunning stuff, and even better that we got to camp, right in the midst of dozens of coatis, sort of like a pointy nosed monkey. For once I was not the only one scratching myself in public.
From there we rode up into the mountains and to Semuc Champey, an area with limestone caves and waterfalls. The ride down was epic, a rough rocky mountain road so steep that when we stopped I had to use both front and back brake to keep from sliding downhill. By the time we reached our camping spot the sweat was literally dripping out of my jacket sleeves. We stumbled down the dark jungle path and found the falls and pools to be just the cooling solution we needed. However, the next day’s ride out of the site was…a disaster. Both of our bikes have electrical problems, meaning that if we stalled riding up that hellish road we had to turn the loaded bikes around and push start them downhill…not easy. So not easy that I got pretty bad heat exhaustion, and long story short we gave up and hauled the bikes out on a truck. Lesson: riding a bike on a mountain path while dizzy and having tunnel vision is not a good idea.
We then met up with Richard and Suzanne (picture by Victoria below), fellow riders Victoria met online. The riding community is pretty awesome…they met up with us, we had lunch, and they drove us to the fabulous Earth Lodge overlooking the colonial town of Antigua.
I thought I’d take a few week break from the Menno part of Menno Moto…but when we arrived at the lodge we were served Mennonite farmer sausage for lunch. Turns out there are a few Swiss Mennonite villages nearby…so I’ll go see if I can find more cousins, though it’s unlikely given it sounds like they are all of Swiss origin.
Victoria shows the road who is boss
Semuc Champey waterfalls
Semuc Champey waterfalls
Camping in Tikal. Works well when you have a cheap tent.
Tikal Mayan ruins.
Semuc Champey waterfalls
Tikal
Semuc Champey waterfalls
Richard and Suzanne
We are taking a writing day, and this is the view from our desks (photo by Victoria)
Bye bye Belize
It’s time to cross another border…Belize to Guatemala. It’s raining out…touring the Mayan ruins of Tikal, in the middle of the jungle, will be very …. wet.
Belize is an interesting, odd little place. I spent the last few days in Blue Creek, with Ed Reimers, who did a splendid job of hosting me. I didn’t see much of Belize’s tourist features, but I’m in full sightseeing mode for the next few weeks, and countries. Vic has patiently been waiting in Belize for nearly 3 weeks…I think we’re done here.
And I have a camera lens once again, so expect more snaps.
Yucatan Mayan ruins
I’ve spent the last few days visiting a few of the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan. Namely Sayil, Xlapak, Labna, Kabah and Uxmal. Pretty impressive stuff considering they built it all without using the wheel or beasts of burden. Good work ethic…like the Mennonites who are now farming all around these ruins. Oh…but didn’t the Mayan culture get destroyed by drought and internal fighting? Hmm…
This isn’t Mayan…it’s the Catholic church in Hopelchen
Hopelchen Old Colony Mennos
I spent a few interesting days with the Sommerfeld and Old Colony Mennonites that live in the colonies around Hopelchen. They were friendly, if a bit shy and guarded. It’s a relatively new area for the Mennonites, the first colonies were started about 28 years ago, and there are still new colonies being started today. They are not nearly as rich as the Mennonites in the north, and in general are far more conservative. The Mennonites here don’t have as many confrontations with the Mexicans as is the case in the north, but there’s still some tension caused by the rather destructive and land-depleting farming practices of the Mennonites, as well as their racism and ignorance.
There’s a very clear racism towards the Mexicans (both Spanish and Mayan) from the Mennonite side. I was told that the two can’t mix because they eat different food, they worship in different churches, and, if that’s not gonna stop you, Mennonite men with Mexican wives have reported that they even smell different.
The Mennonites here would say faith and culture hold the community together. I’d say ignorance plays a pretty big role as well. These communities actively promote ignorance as a virtuous trait, and are afraid that if their children receive more the 6-7 years of education that they now receive that they’ll run away from the colony. I ran into a lot of people who had no knowledge of basic natural science, such as how ocean tides work, why there are clouds in the sky, etc. They are deeply ignorant of anything beyond their tiny world. The Beachy Amish have come to proselytize the Old Colony (as have other more evangelical Mennonites as well as the Jehovah Witnesses) but even they warned me that education beyond Grade 12 could put the soul in danger. I think this ignorance plays a pretty big role in the tension between the Mennonites and the much better educated Mexicans.
Curve Sickness
It’s been an incredible ride south from Mexico City. Victoria has come up to speed, literally, on her bike. I have to confess, after the first day of riding with her I thought, “Oh dear, this could be a long few weeks of riding.” She was quite nervous on the first day, especially when we hit the highway and she had to pass big trucks. But since then she’s become very comfortable on the bike and is taking on the role of biker chick very well, as this photo shows.
The morning of our departure we discovered that an oil seal on Vic’s bike was leaking…actually gushing oil. We couldn’t find an O-ring of the right size, but we managed to cut one down to fit. However, the oil still leaks out when the bike is cold…so we’ll have to sort that out at a bike shop soon.
From Mexico City we headed to the Tenochtitlan ruins. Impressive, hot, and lots of tourists. The ride to Puebla was Vic’s first taste of the open highway. We ended up ducking into a Holiday Inn the first night, as it was dark, we were tired, and it was there. The next day’s ride, from Puebla to Oaxaca, was incredible. Twisting mountain roads, 2-lane, incredible scenery, tiny villages, and just km after km of riding, with very little traffic.
Of course, you can’t go riding off into the hills of Mexico without having a petrol issue. Oddly, Victoria’s little 250cc Yamaha appears to have longer fuel range than my 650cc, so at around 6pm I frantically started looking for fuel. We had 2 hours left to ride, and everyone we asked seemed to have a different idea on where we might find fuel. Finally, after stopping and asking for a “gasolinara” for the umpteenth time we found a family selling petrol out of their back door.
Fueling station. Photo by Victoria
Many, many curves later we rolled into Oaxaca, very tired. We took the next morning off to take a quick look at the town. Stunning architecture, lots of cool little shops and cafes. And lots of tourists.
It was back on the curvy road that afternoon, but we didn’t make it far before I got us lost, and then Victoria’s gear shifter broke (twice). I had a bolt that fit, but while I was working on the bike I firmly planted my elbow on the hot muffler. Ahh, the smell of BBQ on a mountain road. We fell short of reaching our target of Tehuantepec for the night, so holed up in a little village about 50km away. It was dark by the time we rolled in, and we had just enough energy to enjoy a few Coronitas and a very tasty 40 peso (for 2. that’s US$3) meal on the street.
Yesterday we made the final dash to San Cristobal. We found a shop along the way, which gave me an old bushing which I sanded/cut to shape to fit Victoria’s bike. Now it’s good as new.
Repair job. Seems I'm always begging shop time on my adventures. Photo by Victoria
We rolled into San Cristobal during daylight…a first since leaving Mexico City. This is yet another lovely little city, cobblestone streets, amazingly pretty courtyard hotels with well-kept colonial-era buildings. Today I’ll do some work on the bike — new tire is so wide it rubs on my muffler, so gotta adjust that, and a few bits that are rattling, need oil, etc. I may also raise my bike back up. When I bought it I dropped it an inch cause I’m too short to ride it at stock height, however, fully loaded on Mexican roads I really need that extra inch of travel/clearance, so I’ll just have to grow my toenails long so I can touch the ground.
Photo by Victoria Burrows
Mexico City
I pulled into town on Thursday and met up with Victoria Burrows. She’s a good friend of mine from Hong Kong. She now lives in New Delhi, where she’s been learning to ride a motorbike. Now she’s setting off on a 4000-5000km ride from Mexico to Panama. Brave girl.
Setting off from Gary and Yvonne's "motorbike hostel" in Mexico City. Photo by Victoria Burrows
It’s been a hectic week. I left Manitoba Colony on Monday around noon. Thanks to my new friends there, Johan, Corny, Benny, Leonard, Jacob and Ralph. And a very special thanks to Bram Siemens for introducing them to me and letting me sleep at his radio/newspaper office.
I rode the 2000km to Mexico City in two and a half days. Hard riding. I had one lovely afternoon and evening in Zacataces, a very cool little city. Mexico City totally surprised me. I expected it to be choked with car exhaust, dirty, nuts, ugly. Instead it has stunning architecture, great restaurants and bars, lovely historical sites, shaded streets…I wish I had longer here.
We’re staying with Gary and Yvonne, a lovely Brit/Mex couple who have taken in about 80 riders over the years. Vic found them on a web forum, Gary helped her buy the bike (Yamaha 250) and get it ready for this trip.
Gary, Yvonne, Victoria and I. Photo by Victoria
They took us to a great taco place last night. The best tacos in the world. Ate them hiding from the rain, under a tarp. Standing in puddles. Main structure of the kitchen/restaurant was the guard railing of a road. In the parking lot of a Starbucks/Blockbuster Video/Dominos Pizza. I woke up this morning thinking of them.
I’ll try to fill in this post with more details and photos in the next day or two, but I’m an hour away from roaring away with Victoria. We’re off to see the pyramids and then south. She’s mad nervous about riding her bike, I’m nervous for her. Somehow we’ll make it work.