I am back in the USA for now.

On December 30th I piled into a BMW 5-series with my brother and we made an agreement to make it to Los Angeles, CA from Barrington, New Hampshire as fast as possible. We stopped for nothing but fuel and made our destination about 43 hours after departure. We took a more southern route through Tennessee to avoid any possible bad weather. This detour extended our route to 3,586 miles, giving us an average speed for the entire trip of 82.4 mph, including all stops. We only received one speeding ticket which was better than we were expecting. A steady supply of Rockstar energy drinks kept the driver alert while the passenger slept. 6 hours shifts at the wheel can be tiring. It was nice to drive through two sunsets and two sunrises in different parts of the country. We drove through New Years in New Mexico and were lucky enough to see plenty of fireworks from the road (at speed).

For now, it is off to explore what Northern CA has to offer.

I went to Parque Explora the other day. They had a dinosaur exhibit, aquarium, and a big Einstein exhibit, among other things. The park was great and I highly recommend it. It is a little expensive at 17.000COP ($8.50USD) but you can easily spend an entire day there. Bring a bagged lunch so that you don’t have to buy food there or leave and come back.

Parque Explora

Einstein

The aquarium was fantastic. It was a couple stories high and had fish of all sizes, salt water and fresh.

Finding Nemo

And, as promised, a view off of the balcony during the day. The weather here has been decent for the past few days. I am crossing my fingers that rainy season is over with.

View

I have been terrible with updates. I apologize.

For now, some quick shots. We decorated the bar in Bogota for Christmas.

Decorations

Flag

Working

I just moved into an apartment here in Medellin for the month, in the El Poblado neighborhood. Baller for sure!

Some views out the window at night. I will grab some daytime shots eventually.

Bedroom Window

Balcony

Other side of Balcony

A short post just to let people know that I am in Bogota and will be for a little bit longer. Things are going well here and Colombia is still my favorite country! I hope to have pictures up again sometime soon.

Entering Bogota was crazy. After a nightmare of city traffic and endless construction, I gave up on trying to drive all the way to a recommended hostel. I drove past a private parking lot and left the truck with the attendants for the night. It looked pretty secure and the two workers were there 24/7. I grabbed my bag and followed my GPS the rest of the way to the hostel. Bogota sits at about 2700 meters (8600ft) and because of this, it gets rather chilly at night. I did not plan for this and the 9C weather was not a good match for my shorts and t-shirt. After a couple of very cold miles I found the hostel and got booked into a dorm room. Dorms are always cheaper than private rooms and this one was 20.000 pesos/night ($10USD). The place was very nice and was filled with backpackers. I rarely find myself in backpacker locations since I don’t often consult a guidebook. I usually stop at whatever place comes first after the sun starts to set. This time was a welcome change. There were several people mulling about and we quickly exchanged names and a brief summary of our travels. Usually we save the details for dinner conversation or late night reminiscing and story exchange.

One of the guys, Monish from Australia, had mentioned that he wanted to go to a place called Villa de Leyva, about 5 hours north of Bogota. This was enough, apparently, to convince everyone else in the hostel to go as well. I offered to give him a ride up and plans were made for us to take off the next morning. By the morning, plans had changed and now Monish was going to meet me up there but Mark and The Germans would take a ride up. We all crammed into the Defender and made our way north.

A rough ride

There was a cool Suzuki in the parking lot when we left. I like the American Army paint job.

Suzuki

There really wasn’t much for scenery on the way up. We passed through some small towns and a lot of mountains. It was pretty rainy the whole way so there wasn’t much for photos. Right now is the rainy season in Colombia. I think it ends near the end of December. This year has been particularly bad for Colombia. There have been several lives lost and thousands of people affected by mudslides and burst riverbanks. I’ll have to be careful to not camp near any hills. One of the towns we passed through had nothing but stores for tractor trailers. There must be a port or shipping hub or something near here.

Shipping town?

We arrived into Villa de Leyva in the afternoon. It was quite rainy and dark. Our GPS took us down a shortcut that was 3.4km of very poorly maintained dirt road. I later read a guidebook recommendation to avoid this shortcut if you are traveling in your own car as the potholes and washboard can be too much for a car with worn suspension parts. The truck made it just fine and after being bounced around (I refused to travel slowly) for a while, we made it to the entrance of the town. The roads were all cobblestone and this was possibly worse than the dirt road.

Villa de Leyva

The place we stayed at was another favorite for backpackers and the place was pretty much booked solid. There was a good place in the yard to set up the tent and camp so that is what happened. It is always cheaper to camp. I really enjoyed the luxury of having nice bathrooms and hot water showers available while camping though. This was a rare treat. Cold water showers are the norm. The view from the hostel was pretty nice.

Scenery

Entrance

The town was nice but very touristy.

Town square

After a couple of days, it was time to leave. One of the people I had met in Bogota, Mark, mentioned he was going to Peru next. I was hoping that our schedules would align so that he could drive down with me. That didn’t work out for now but it still may. For the immediate future, I am solo once again. Plans are up in the air, but it looks like the next stop is Ecuador!

I think I have mentioned here that Honduras was the worst country for getting pulled over and being asked for bribes. Well, it looks like things may be heading for a change in Honduras. I imagine this will take a very long time to clean up the police force and an even longer time to clean up their tarnished image.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15586060

“Honduras arrests 176 police in corruption purge”

“A total of 176 Honduran police officers have been arrested in a purge against corruption and organised crime, the authorities there say.”

Police

These officers were arrested on suspicion of much bigger charges than just demanding bribes at traffic stops but this signals the start of a new effort to clean up the force. Hopefully in a few years travelers will have better luck than us. We never actually paid a fine but the stops take time and are quite annoying. Corrupt police can really change your opinion about an entire country.

After the dent two transmissions put into our budget we are looking to be as economical as possible while on the road. One of the biggest ways to minimize expenses is to buy food at local markets or grocery stores and cook for yourself. Even though food is relatively cheap in Colombia it is still cheaper to cook for yourself. Breakfasts at a restaurant run about 6.000 pesos ($3USD) for a good sized meal and dinners are about 10.000 pesos ($5USD) for a really good traditional meal where the locals eat. You can spend more than this at some of the fancier establishments. I arrived to Bogota late last night and decided to get food delivered. The total cost was 11.800 pesos for grilled chicken in a mushroom sauce, arepa, and some baked potatoes, delivered. The portion was large enough to fill me up before getting to the arepa.

Another great way to save money is to camp out as much as possible. Lodging so far has been fairly reasonable with camping being free. The hostel I am at tonight is 20.000 pesos/night ($10usd) in a dorm room. The cheapest I have paid for a room is 17.000 pesos for a private room. Most places seem to stay in the range of 17.000-20.000. Paul, Helen, and I have been alternating between hostels and camping to save some money but still stay showered and responsive to emails. We mostly stay at gas stations or truck park type places. A lot of these places have 24/7 bathroom and shower access and most are staffed by a full time attendant who provides a small amount of security or at the very least acts as a deterrent.

Camping

The toll roads are killing us. You can easily spend over $100USD getting from Cartagena to Bogota and there is little you can do to get out of the tolls. Not only are the tolls expensive, they are a bit difficult in a RHD vehicle with no passenger. Pull up to the toll, put the truck in neutral, e-brake up, undo seat belt, lean over and roll down manual passenger window, hand out money, wait for receipt and change and reverse the process to take off again. The toll workers so far have all been surprised and amused at the right hand drive and always make comments about it, sometimes calling over the other workers to take a look. I always take this opportunity to ask if they will let me through the tolls for free but so far, no one has. I will keep trying! They say that I need to keep the receipt in case I get pulled over because the police ask for it and there is a big fine if you don’t have it. At this point we have spent more on tolls than lodging in Colombia and almost as much as we have spent on fuel. Diesel is roughly $3.75/gal here (7.500 pesos/gal).

To avoid some tolls and have some fun we decided to venture out into some dirt tracks that were shown on our map. We had little idea if they were actual roads or not so we asked around to a couple of locals. I have learned to never trust a single person but group wisdom is usually correct. In Panama everyone wanted to help and no one wanted to let you down so they would give an answer even if they had no idea. My strategy for finding my way now is to get directions, drive for about 3 minutes, and stop and ask again. Ill keep doing this until I feel like everyone’s story matches or I reach my destination. It stinks to drive for 20 minutes only to be told to turn around the way you came because the first directions were wrong. We used this strategy to find the road from Puerto Triunfo to La Dorada. We would not have found it otherwise. We made our way into a tiny village, through the village, and at the very end, there was what appeared to be a wide walking path that was actually the road. There was no where to go but down the path and a group of elderly men assured us that it was the way so off we went. It turned out to be a fantastic ride through some farmlands and some very scenic hills. We spent several hours on the road and the trucks definitely got a workout.

Dirt Road

We encountered lots of farm animals on the way. The cows didn’t mind us one bit and seemed pretty curious about what we were doing there. They didn’t budge an inch and we had to weave our way around a bull taking a nap in the middle of the road and the rest of the herd, munching grass on the sides. We also encountered some horses that had no concept of sharing the road with other traffic. They just wanted to trot along in front of our trucks and refused to pull over.

Moo

The roads were great. I am guessing that the road is maintained by the farmers and I use the word “maintained” lightly. This road required something with ground clearance to traverse. 4wd was probably not necessary but the height was.

Splash

Arch of trees

The road opened up to run along a river for a little bit. This is where we met one of two cars we passed on the road all day. This one was a pretty new Toyota Hilux filled with farm workers who were really excited to see our trucks. Thumbs up were exchanged and they were on their way. The other vehicle was an older Jeep of some sort. It had a YJ style front end but had a long wheelbase. I’m not a Jeep person but I have seen a lot of these in Colombia and no where else. It could very well be a knockoff made by some Chinese company.

Water

Splash

Bumpy

We see these Daihatsus everywhere. These and super old Nissan Patrols are everywhere. I don’t want to say they are the most common but they certainly seem plentiful. Maybe it is just because I notice every single one we pass. Very cool rigs.

Daihatsu

We made it about half way down our dirt track before we landed in a small town called San Miguel. This town obviously sees VERY little traffic. Everyone came outside when we drove through and quickly surrounded us when we stopped to ask directions from a local in the road. On our way into town we passed two policemen standing watch near the road. After 5 minutes or so of talking with the locals we hear a dirt bike coming up pretty quickly. It turns out to be the police who wanted to shake our hands, look at the trucks, and help us out with anything we needed. Another 5 minutes of talking and they had us follow them the remaining 300 meters to a ferry that would take us across the river. We were certainly not expecting this. While waiting for the ferry we continued to talk with all the locals and the kids were having a blast playing around the trucks. The ferry was actually a legit ferry and not a cobbled together, floating mass of wood, barrels, and other scrap materials. The river current was very strong and the ferry had a clever propulsion method to help it across. There was a cable strung from one side of the river to the other and the ferry was hooked to it on a roller. Under the ferry was a rudder that was turned from one side to the other, depending on which was it needed to cross. Everything was powered by just the flow of the water underneath the boat. The ferry cost us 4.000 pesos ($2USD) for each vehicle. This is about half the cost of a single toll on the main road to Bogota so we were ok with paying it, especially since it went into the hands of a resident of a small village and not into a big government pot of funds.

Ferry

The police and military in Colombia are insanely friendly. A large part of this is due to a recent push to get the police and military on the same side as the people. The strategy worked well for the drug cartels, so it should work with the police. I think they are trained to give thumbs up as unique or obviously foreign vehicles drive by. The first thing they do when approaching you is to shake your hand.

Scenery

The scenery on these dirt roads was pretty impressive and it really felt like we were in an area that is not seen by too many travelers. I like to get off of the gringo trail as much as possible.

Scenery

Old Landy

We maintained a good speed down the roads. Both of our trucks have a fair amount of body roll but they handled great on these roads at speed. We were going well over any reasonable speed for this type of terrain. Definitely lifted tires over bumps a few times. The trucks are now absolutely filthy and neither of us having working windscreen washer fluid sprayer things. Mine was destroyed by a quick oil change place (why they had to move the washer bottle is beyond me). For the most part there were enough puddles that the wipers were pretty much on constantly.

Cruising

Scenery

Tilted horizon

Sweet Patrol

Highway to Bogota

Highway

We camped at this truck stop/hospedaje place for a night and awoke to a crowd of people gathered around the trucks. This is a pretty common sight here in Colombia. People are really interested in the trucks and very friendly. We talked for a while and when it was apparent that we were leaving everyone rushed off to get their cameras. We took a bunch of photos with everyone at the hospedaje, shook hands, and departed back towards Espinal.

Breakfast

We were warned by many people that Espinal was a very dangerous place and that we were almost certain to be robbed of our wallets and cell phones and we should never go with less than 3 people in our group. The trouble was that the only ATM for miles and miles was in Espinal. We decided to check it out. We had driven through the night before and it didn’t really seem that bad. We found the only ATM in town without much incident and after parking, I took everything out of my pockets except for my debit card, just in case. Helen and I walked the 200meters to the machine while Paul stayed behind to guard the trucks. We retrieved our money without incident but on our way out of the bank we could see Paul surrounded by people. We got a little nervous and as we got closer we realized that the three old men and the crowd behind them were probably not robbing him. Again, we spent 10 minutes or so talking with what seemed like everyone from the town. A very nice gentleman named Carlos invited us to his place to stay if we were ever back in his town and another fellow gave us his phone numbers and address and told us to call if we need anything while in Colombia. As usual, we had nothing but great experiences.

Dirty truck

A lot of vehicles here are propane powered. I mentioned this in another post. I saw a vehicle yesterday that for one, I didn’t expect to see at all in Colombia (and now I have seen two!) and second, i did not expect for it to be propane powered. You can see the propane tank under the truck held up by the blue straps.

Chevy

Random forklift

This is sort of a “catch-up post” since I haven’t had much of a chance to upload photos and write for the past week or so. I apologize for the brevity and scattered nature of the text and photos.

At this point, I am traveling with Paul and Helen of

They are completing a circumnavigation of the world and we have been traveling together since Panama. Right now the plan is to break off from each other in Bogota. I will stay behind while they press forward. We may meet again in the future since we have similar plans and routes.

The first few days in Colombia were spent getting the truck out of the port. Everyone we talked to was really friendly and helpful, a far cry from the process in Panama. It took us two days to get 4 vehicles freed, but it wasn’t too stressful of a procedure.

The first thing we did once we got the trucks back was to make our way towards a place to get some mandatory Colombian insurance. We were hoping that we wouldn’t get pulled over on the way. So, of course, we miss our turn and end up in a market of some sort with very tiny streets and tons of cars. Oh well. Nothing new for us and after a couple of three point turns we make our way out of the market and onto a main street. The driving style here is a lot more aggressive than Panama, especially with regards to taxi drivers.

Cartagena

Typical driving

At the insurance office we were served free coffee and treated very well. We were all surprised by the contrast between Panama and Colombia and were enjoying the experience quite a bit. After we had acquired the necessary insurance and paid our 86.000 Colombian pesos ($43USD) we decided to drive through the walled city of Cartagena. We had walked through it the day before and were really impressed by all of the architecture. The streets were insanely tight for our trucks and we had to back up and re-position a couple of times in order to make our way around some of the tighter corners.

Cartagena

Cartagena

People were everywhere and the little carts were hard to navigate around. I was picturing a high speed chase running through here and smashing into all of the carts, sending fruits and grains flying everywhere.

Tight fit

Beautiful buildings

Outside the walled city

It had rained a bit the night before and there was water everywhere. The town is essentially at sea level so the water really has no where to go. We had to drive slow to keep from soaking pedestrians.

Wet

After Cartagena we made our way to a town on the Caribbean coast called Tolu. It seemed to be a vacation spot for Colombians although it was definitely the off-season. The scenery along the way was fantastic even though we weren’t anywhere near the mountains. The highest elevation here was only 100-200 meters.

Scenery

Scenery

Tolu

Smallish town

Paul and Helen were pulled over the next day on our way towards Medellin. The stop was routine and the guys were very friendly and professional. So far, out of the handful of times we have been pulled over, we have had great luck with all but one of the stops. The police have been very friendly and more interested in our trucks than our paperwork. The one bad police stop happened on a road that we were warned about. Eventually we were let go, just like all of the other times we have been solicited for a bribe but bribe stops do take time and are quite annoying.

Policia

We drove most of the day through on and off rain. It was a fantastic drive through some curvy mountain roads. The scenery was absolutely amazing. The roads were hit or miss. We would have some great sections of pretty smooth, clean roads, and then it would turn to massive potholes and first gear crawls. The worst roads were probably up in the mountains where it seems like they were destroyed by heavy rains.

Leaning

The roads here are all toll roads for the most part and they are quite expensive. Each toll is about $3USD and there are a ton of them. At this point, I think we have spent more on tolls than on lodging in Colombia.

Scenery

Hilly

Foggy

So far, the people have all been super friendly and very helpful.

Scenery

I think a lot of people have an expectation that Colombia is just a free for all land and is very third world. While I am certain that there are parts of Colombia that this is true, for the most part the country is well developed. We followed a newer Mercedes wagon from Tolu almost all the way to Medellin. On these roads we also passed car carriers full of brand new cars. A lot of the cars here are natural gas powered and there is a huge infrastructure in place to handle the filling needs. A lot of gas stations have diesel, gasoline, and natural gas. A lot of filling stations also have bio-diesel available.

Mercedes

In the mountains, passing is sort of a “do it when and where you can” type of situation. Trucks would be struggling up the grades and would flash a left blinker when it was safe for you to pass them.

Passing

Passing

Scenery

Scenery

I had a chance to go through some photos of Panama and wanted to share them before I got too far into Colombia.

We had to get the trucks inspected at the police station in Panama City. It wasn’t the most picturesque part of town but everything went well. The Chevy 2500 is Tarquino’s truck. He is driving from Canada to Ecuador. I never thought I would ride in a newer Chevy pickup in Central or South America. Kobi and I can be seen discussing the process in the background and Kobi’s truck is the one with the hood open all the way to the back.

Inspeccion

Later that night we all ended up around the kitchen table booking flights and figuring out plans to get to Colombia. There are always lots of computers around.

Computering

From the house

Moon

At the beginning of this trip Argentina was the goal and the country that intrigued me the most. As I have made my way down though, my thoughts have wandered. Each day I find that Colombia is working it’s way up my list of most desirable countries. Eventually, it became a primary goal for the trip and rarely went far from my thoughts.

Panama was great to me. I met a lot of people and had a lot of great experiences. It was hard to leave so many friends behind but I couldn’t be any more excited to be in Colombia. I know that those friends will be friends for life and everyone is a phone call or Skype chat away. Technology has really made the world a small(er) place. Colombia has lived up to my expectations so far and I can’t wait to get out and explore. We are going to the port today to try and get the truck but we are expecting it to take up to two days.