Wanna buy my bike?

Posted on October 23, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

I’d like to sell my bike to someone planning to ride north. The bike will be available in Jan/Feb, in either S. Argentina or somewhere in Chile. I’m happy to change my plans a bit to meet the buyer.

2010 KLR 650, bought new in Spring 2012 in Canada (demo bike with 650km on it). Well maintained, no crashes so far (fingers crossed!), comes with Hepco & Baker alum pannier set, Kawi extended windscreen, stiffer main shock spring, SW MOTECH center stand & crashbars, highway pegs, upgraded sealed battery. Tools, spare parts (cables, bulbs, inner tubes, etc) included. I’ll throw in some camping gear as well if you like. It now has 26,000km, and I expect it will be close to 40,000km by the time I’m done. I’m asking $5,000 and open to offers.

;

Ride to Cusco

Posted on October 22, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

I’ve just arrived in Cusco, a small city in the middle of the Peruvian mountains that is a total tourist nightmare. Lovely colonial buildings and old cobbled streets though. This is the main town near Machu Picchu, the ruins of the ancient Aztec city. I’ll likely stay here a day or two and get some writing done, although prices are triple what they are elsewhere in Peru, and then go see Machu Picchu before heading to Bolivia.

I was in Huacachina (pictures in previous post), which is about 750km from here. I took two days to ride over, camping along the way. Most of these pictures are of the scenery along the way. Impressive mountains, with the road often topping 5,000 meters.

A very tired and dirty rider after 10 hrs on the road.

High altitude lake. I was driving around on a path looking for a place to camp, but the wind coming off the lake was bitterly cold, so I continued on looking for some shelter. It was sunny, but cold enough that there was snow in the shade and the water had ice around the edge.

And then I found this little refuge. A broken down herder’s hut just big enough to fit my tent, and some pretty splendid views. Only problem was that I was at around 5,000 meters, so I had a headache, felt dizzy, and was panting like a dog. Made for a troubled night of sleep, but it was well worth it.

There are heaps of wild llamas running around on the plateaus. They make a very odd sound, a cross between a bleat, a yelp and a belch. And they all defecate in one spot. No, really. I actually saw one go to the designated crapping spot, do his thing, and then wander off. There were only turds visible in these areas. Maybe the altitude was playing with my head, but that was my impression.

Hour after hour of this, with some dirt side roads thrown in occasionally for a bit of fun. I’m getting pretty good at curves by now.

The scale of this landscape is breathtaking. Huge, huge valleys, massive distances, and crystal clear air so you can see it all.

Coastal Peru

Posted on October 20, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

The fishermen in Huanchaco, Peru, which is on the coast just north of Lima, use an ancient reed boat to go fishing. One man, one boat. They kneel in them and paddle out to sea.

Huanchaco, Peru

Reed boat in Huanchaco.

I spent more than a day driving along the Pacific Ocean coast. In Peru the desert leads right to the sea. When I saw the road would soon take me away from the sea I drove down to the beach for a bit. My first attempt — cutting through a luxury housing development to get to the sea — didn’t turn out great. Thankfully the guards who came to chase me away also helped me get my bike unstuck from the soft sand. I drove a few more KM and found another access point where I could stop and say goodbye to the Pacific. I won’t see it again on this trip.

Hotel in Huacachina, a small oasis town near Ica, a city that was nearly destroyed by an earthquake a few years back. This place was overrun with tourists doing tourist things, like climbing into dune buggies to be driven around the sand, or paddling around the small lake on small boats. But it was still a nice setting.

Sand…and more sand, and blue sky. That’s the Peruvian coast in a nutshell.

Ceviche, which is raw fresh fish marinated in lemon and chilli, and Inca Kola, the local soft drink. I’ve had my fill of both, although both are very good. They’re both staples here.

Goodbye Pacific Ocean

I’m still upright…

More sand and blue sky.

I found an odd little park, called Reserva Nacional Lomas de Lachay, formed by an oasis area in the desert. After days of arid, sandy, windy landscape, suddenly I was in a misty green jungle. The ecosystem is created by mist that forms in the area. It never rained, but my gear and I got soaked from the heavy mist. Lovely, mysterious little camping spot, and I had the whole reserve to myself.

Ecuador Express

Posted on October 16, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

I crossed into Peru on the 14th, slept near the border, and then rode about 500km into the country yesterday. It’s been a long haul of riding from Colombia. I made it across Ecuador in three days of solid riding. I realized I’m well behind schedule after faffing about in Central America and Colombia, and want to make sure I have plenty of time with the Mennonites in Bolivia and Paraguay. So I’ve been hitting the road hard. But I’m loving the riding. I’m usually on the road by 6:30 or 7:00 am, and ride for 10-12 hours, then repeat. It doesn’t leave much time for blogging, I’m afraid.

Ecuador was mostly mountain riding, much of it above 3000 meters. It was a relief to ride in cooler weather after all the heat and humidity of Central America. The towns and much of the rural areas reminded me of northern/western China. Dry, dusty, gritty, grimy. Unpainted brick buildings, and when they are painted it’s with product or political adverts. But clearly there’s some new money around, all from oil I think. New cars on the roads, lots of new, big houses.

I’d hoped to do some camping in Ecuador, but I wasn’t planning out my days well enough, and always ended up in some gritty little town at night, so that’s where I’d sleep. The one day I did make it to a national park, late, in the dark, they turned me away, saying that they were having security problems in the park and that it was unsafe to camp. So I backtracked down the mountain and found a little cabin with a fireplace.

My first flat tire of the trip. I’d been carrying a new rear tire since Panama, so decided the old one was bald enough (and very thin, I realized when I took it off) and opted for a new tire and tube. Problem was, the new tire was very stiff, and my little traveling tire tools were not up the job. I managed to flag down a car –driven, of course, by another motorcyclist — and he drove me and my wheel to a town 10km away to get the tire changed while his wife watched my bike on the roadside. Came back, thought all was right, and put the wheel back on and loaded up. Then I realized I’d pinched the tube in my frenetic attempts to put the tire on. I tried pumping it up to drive a short distance…but the hole kept ahead of the pump. This time I had no one to watch my bike…took the wheel back off, locked the bike up as best I could and hitchhiked back to the tire shop, got it fixed, hitchhiked back to the bike, all was well. Four hours later I was back on the road. Going shopping for new tools in the next big town.

Gorki Mayorga, the man who came to my rescue and gave me a ride. His wife, also a journalist, stayed behind and watched the bike for me while we went to the shop.

All

All well so far. The bike is standing up pretty well, despite the stray dogs that throw themselves at me. KLR 2, Dogs 0. (although the last one broke my improvised tool box when I hit him.)

Crossing Colombia

Posted on October 9, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

I met Dom Harris, another KLR 650 rider, on the boat over from Panama. We drove from Cartegena to Bucaramanga together, a marathon 15-hr ride through the mountains.

Stopped to make some adjustments to the bike, and as always a crowd gathers to ask questions.

I went hang gliding for the first time in Bucaramanga. Awesome views, plenty of fresh air.

After I left Bucaramanga I retuned to the road alone. I stopped in Barichara, a 300-year old colonial town, for the night.

Kids playing ball in Barichara

The scenery on the ride to Bogota. I had about 500 km of this…nearly drove off the road a few times. Crisp, cool mountain air.

A protest of sorts in Bogota. Plenty of cops.

Young Colombian taking in a punk rock concert in Plaza Bolivar.

Thanks to Utz-Jay and her amazing family in Bucaramanga for their hospitality. I stayed with them for several days, and they fed me, did my laundry, showed me around town, etc. These sort of people make traveling easy.

Colombians

Posted on October 5, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

Darien Gap Done

Posted on October 3, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

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.

Santa Rita Revolution

Posted on September 13, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

This trip has taught me a lot about Mennonite culture. Sometimes I find just what I expected to find, other times I’m surprised. Sometimes I’m disappointed in “my people”, and sometimes I’m very proud to call myself a Mennonite. What I learned in Santa Rita surprised me, and in many ways impressed me.

I just spent two days with the Duecks/Friesens in a small Mennonite community near Santa Rita, Costa Rica, in the San Carlos area. It’s not a colony, but there is a concentration of Mennonites in the area. About six families moved en masse from Spanish Lookout some 35 years ago because Spanish Lookout was going through a rough patch with its youth, and these families did not want to expose their children to that environment. Secondly, the Kleine Gemeinde sect of Mennonites that historically have formed the core of Spanish Lookout resisted active proselytizing to the native Belizians, and this small group wanted to do more evangelism. After a few years in Costa Rica they left the KG sect entirely and instead joined with the Beachy Amish, a moderate and evangelically-minded Amish sect that has its cultural roots in Switzerland, versus the Russian roots of the KG sect. (I’m also Russian Mennonite, and it’s that cultural group I’m most interested in on this trip.)

Those that moved have created a unique community in that they are one of the very few cases where Russian Mennonites have formed a community with Swiss Mennonites. The Russian Mennonites were effectively adopted into the Beachy community, leaving behind their German language and many Russian Mennonite customs.

They are also interesting for their active attempts to open the community to non-Mennonites. One of the key traits of all the colonies I’ve visited so far is that Mennonites want to keep to themselves, and strictly limit participation in the community by non-Mennonites. For example, large communities have credit unions and stores that deal only with ethnic Mennonites. The Santa Rita community still sees itself as Mennonite in terms of their religious beliefs, but they have gone to great lengths to assimilate with the local community rather than remain isolated, as is the Mennonite tradition.

George Dueck, a prominent farmer and businessman in the community, said they were very willing to abandon Mennonite traditions that they felt stood in the way of their following Biblical teachings.

“The biggest difference between us and other Mennonites may be that we do not thing being Mennonite is very important. It does not define us,” George told me.

Another big difference is that the Mennonites are generally educated to the same level as their Costa Rican neighbors. This is interesting, as in most cases Mennonite colonies shun education beyond the basics and therefore must rely on non-Mennonites to handle more sophisticated work such as accounting, etc. Here, education is encouraged, including sciences, social studies, etc (Many Mennonites leave school once they can read, write, do basic maths and recite parts of the Bible.)

They are still deeply conservative: no TVs, no radio, women wear long simple dresses and head coverings, no competitive sports are allowed, men must wear collared shirts and not T-shirts, etc. However, they have set themselves apart from other Mennonites in a radical way.

Thanks to those in the community who took the time to discuss their ideas with me. I’ll elaborate more on this place, and their ideas, in my book.

Costa Rica

Posted on September 10, 2012 by CAMERONDUECK

A quick update from Costa Rica…

We crossed the border from Nicaragua on Thursday, hoping to find a beach with Greenback Turtles arriving to lay their eggs. We drove down the coast, on the Nicoya Peninusula. We were told we’d find them at Playa de Ostional…however, the person didn’t tell us that it was down a 40km dirt track, nor that it would get dark and start raining cats and dogs before we got there. It was an exciting ride, off road riding in the rain in the dark with a heavily loaded bike, but all turned out well. And the next morning we got to see our turtles. Pretty amazing stuff. Spent several hours watching them come up the beach, dig their holes, lay eggs, and then crawl back into the sea. Lots of vultures, dogs and humans digging the eggs up to eat them…all part of nature I guess. I joined in when one of the Costa Rican Nico natives offered me a freshly laid egg, right there on the beach. They have permits to dig them. So I had to eat it…tasted like egg. Later, back at the guesthouse, the owner was cooking up eggs in his special broth, so I got to try cooked turtle eggs as well.

Yesterday I rode about 300km, nearly crossing the entire country. Thanks to the bikers I met at the petrol station on the Pan-American, it was fun to meet some local bikers, and get some local riding advice.

I’m now staying with the Mennonites in the San Carlos area of Costa Rica (thanks to those who sent me names, tips). I’m staying with the Clarence Dueck’s, and have already met their family here. It’s an interesting place, as it’s one of the rare cases when Swiss and Russian Mennonites have combined to create a community. The Russian Mennonites came here from Spanish Lookout about 35 years ago and got together with the Beachey Amish. It’s not an official colony, but there is a fairly large (15-20 families) community of Mennonites.

I’ll be here for a few days, and then off to Panama, where we’re hoping to join a weekend biker party. I’ll be spending at least a week in Panama to get visas, work on the bike, etc.