Why you have to visit Colombia...plus some shots from Ecuador!

It wasn´t easy, but we finally had to depart Colombia to carry on with our trip. Colombia exceeded my expectations in every way possible, and it´s a place to which I will definitely return. My biggest fear entering this trip was what we would encounter in the Colombia. In our planning we even contemplated trying to divert ourselves around Colombia to avoid what everyone back home was telling us was an extremely dangerous place. Without sounding too much like a travel agency infomercial, I think anyone traveling to South America should make Colombia a definite stop on their itinerary....and here´s why:

1. The People: Kindest people as a group we´ve come across on our Slingshot South. More than anywhere else, it seemed that most people were happy to have us there as tourists. Kind of like, "Wait, you´ve come to visit Colombia? But hasn´t everyone back home told you how dangerous it is here? Well I´m glad you didn´t listen to it. Happy to have you here!" The women are beautiful if that´s what you´re into, and most of the men know how to dance a mean Salsa for you ladies out there. Everyone in Colombia also has more of a "can do" attitude and all seem to be busy with their own things, where as in other Central American countries we visited we were targeted much more by beggars, con-artists, etc.
2. The Cities: Cartagena, Medellin, and Cali were the 3 major cities we visited. They each have a completely different vibe and each is pretty amazing in it´s own right, not to mention the smaller towns in between we rode through were full of culture as well.
3. The Scenery: The entire country is loaded with crazy scenery, including mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches and whatever else you might be into. Colombia has the best motorcycle roads as a whole of anywhere I´ve ever seen. Everyday we rode in Colombia was the best day I´ve had riding. Plus there´s a huge motorcycle culture down here. My ideal trip through Colombia would probably be about 3-4 weeks long on a nice motorcycle to explore all the parts of the place.

Ok, enough of that. Now we´re in the town of Cuenca, Ecuador after spending a night in Quito 2 nights ago. I´m going to post some captions on all of the pictures below, but there´s a big footie game starting right now between Ecuador and Brazil and the town of Cuenca is going crazy. Gotta go find a good spot to watch it. I´ll finish this up tomorrow!!!

This shot was taken while we were still in Colombia on one of the epic roads winding through the country South of Cali. Of course I had to stick that big ugly retro green bike in the shot. I´m starting to become pretty attached to that thing, it´s taken me pretty far and all the while I´ve beaten it up pretty bad. Still going strong somehow...it´s a strange love affair we have going on, I beat the hell out of it and it keeps coming back for more.

This shot was taken while cruising through a huge street market in Cali, Colombia, on the way out of town. Not the most active part of the market, but you get the picture. Check out that huge rack of meat hanging in the background. They sell every last piece of the animal in these places, from the horses jaw to the pig´s tail. Not extremely appetizing, but also refreshing to see how non-wasteful these people are.

Another view shot from Colombia. I´ve got so many of these now, hard to pick one. The country is covered in pretty extreme mountainous terrain. They basically carve their highways into the sides of the cliffs, which makes for an incredible view coming around every turn.

This is what I was referring to in the roads throughout Colombia and their motorcycle prowess. Save a few straight highway sections, Colombia is covered in awesome twisties like this. Absolute motorcycle heaven...

Another reason to come to Colombia...cheap but delicious food. This entire meal, including mine and Kyle´s, and 2 refrescas cost us about $4 dollars US. Cant beat it...

Another scenery shot, I think you get the picture.

This is a pretty funny story, not for extreme animal lovers out there. I was riding behind Kyle when I saw something swoop in and collide with Kyle´s helmet. All I remember was a big puff of feathers and Kyle standing up to swat the bird out of his lap. About 2 hours later we pulled up to the border and realized it was still sitting there under his leg.

Colombia has gotten a ton safer in the past 10 years as the conservative based government has done a pretty great job in quelling much of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) activity. That´s not to say they´re not still out there. According to the Colombian government, as of 2008, FARC have an estimated 6,000-10,000 members, down from 16,000 in 2001, having lost about half their fighting force after President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002. The FARC´s largest concentrations have been pushed back into the southeastern parts of Colombia's jungle and in the plains at the base of the Andean mountains. The sign in the photo above was posted at the border, offering huge rewards for turning in any of these bad muthas.

After an hour or so of riding after passing into Ecuador, we were greeted by one of many snow capped peaks. It got pretty cold shortly after crossing the border.

This was taken on the way out of the Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Huge sprawling city. We´ve traveled the whole way without GPS, solely good old fashioned maps. We´ve gotten into the habit of hailing a cab to lead us to our destination when we pull into some of these larger cities. So much better than driving around the city for hours on end trying to find our hostel or whatever.

These women are part of Ecuador´s native indigenous population. Many of these people hail from the Incan Civilzations of the 15th Century. Yesterday´s ride took us through the heart of countryside where many of these people live. It sounds a bit cliche but a resounding theme of the trip for me has been the realization of how truly lucky we are to be born and raised in the US. It really makes you take a step back and realize how much we take for granted in our lives back home. Tired of driving that SUV everyday to work with the heated leather seats and DVD player? Try a donkey with your child strapped to your back in 50 degree weather. So crazy...

The beautiful countryside of Ecuador. It rains a lot here, making these hills a gorgeous green year round. Notice the crazy farming land on the side of the hill. I would have trouble walking up there let alone farming it. Check out that beautiful sweeping right turn in the road, like I said...motorcycle heaven.

More shots of the local people and their everyday lives. No big deal...just moving a herd of sheep up the highway with child in tow.

Sections of the road from yesterday turned quickly to dirt, and were filled with potholes. More reasons Kyle and I are happy we chose the bulletproof KLR´s for trip.

Got pretty muddy on the road through the mountains in Ecuador. There were mudslides all over the place that we had to ride through. The bike and I needed a bath pretty bad afterwards.

Ecuador truly is the home of the straw hat. Many of the locals and natives where these super cool hats called the Ecuadorian "Panama Hat". The Panama Hat is the traditional brimmed hat of Ecuadorian origin that´s made from the leaves of the toquilla straw plant. The 49ers picked up these hats in Panama, and when Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal construction, he too picked up the trend, which increased its popularity. Truman also ordered a few hand made Panamanian hats from the area.

This is our hotel we stayed at last night in Cuenca, Ecuador. We were having a hell of a time finding a place that had secure parking for the bikes, but we finally found the Hostal Posada del Angel. They literally had us wheel the bikes into the restaraunt eating area. Once again we were hesitant but they insisted it wasn´t the first time and were more than happy park them there.

Here´s a shot from the Old Town square in Cuenca. The town square is a resounding theme in many of the Latin American cities we´ve been to. It´s a very safe bet that every town will have 3 things: a town square, and Catholic Church, and a soccer field.

That´s all for now. We are starting to run a little low on time for our over all trip, which unfortunately means we will have to fly through some of the areas which I would have otherwise loved to spend more time. Okay I´m bending the truth a little. The real reason I have start putting on the miles is that I´ve got a date with this hot chick in Chile in 3 weeks that I would be crazy to miss. The word is that Kyle´s got a visitor as well. Time to start riding....til next time.

Clay