RTW on a thumper...KTM - LC4 Round the World ADVenturization

[Throttlemeister]

Way to go Paul! You got on some of the really good stuff to Granada



I thought that above picture looked familiar, your starting to think like me, good swimming hole
I took my friend Valentina with me on a two day loop out of Medellin, I gave her my camera and she was taking pictures from pillon as we went along.
Here's the shot she took of the same area on the back:

I didn't get off the bike either as I had Valentina with me and we needed to finish our loop back to Medellin that day after being gone for two,


It's too funny, you and her must have the same eye for photos, I just noticed she shot the same little roadside creek as you
Yours:

Her's:

Didn't hit me until I looked at the biggest rock and then the one just up from it with the moss and vegetation.


You got lucky with the nice dry conditions, we rode those roads after a good rain and rode through a lot of mudholes. We had a nice lunch in Granada, yep the chicken buses from that area are some of the sharpest looking in Colombia.

Great write up, glad you got another good Colombian countryside crossing in before Bogota

[Benny73]

Where is " Juan, the BellMaker"........

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Benny73

Where is " Juan, the BellMaker"........

it was kind of like that once i got a few blocks off the main track

[Dazzer]

Originally Posted by rtwpaul

there are two crossings from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, the main one is on the Pan American, i'll cover this one in this post

but first a word about the other i just got from two riders who used it but don't post on ADV, so it is very current,

it crosses San Carlos (nica) to Los Chiles (CR), it is a boat crossing, if you are heading from south to north and going into Nica yes you need insurance but they are not too concerned and will let you ride to the next town and pick it up along the way and not have to return to prove it

Going into CR not the same, you need insurance, it is mandatory for your bike to leave the customs area, they may or may not be someone there selling insurance, most of the time not, if this is the case then you need to get a bus $5 for about a 3-4 trip to the next town to get it, if you miss that bus for some reason you either have to stay the night or pay a taxi $100 to take you

so if you are going to use this head to the NICA/ CR on the pan am, get it there and the ride around the lake about 300 km +/- and load your bike then you'll have no problems if you have that much time

OK, on to the pan am crossing, i was kind of dreading this, last year i spent nearly 14 here mainly because of the BS that is getting into NICA - (i have used Dan and Lisas photos again as there was to much traffic blocking good views of the buildings, thanks again guys)

i read a suggestion of coming here on a Sunday would be a lot easier, less traffic...no such luck on that count but the rest is positive

as you approach the frontera the road splits, to the right is a lot of shacks, to the left is a barrier and that where you go, hand over your import papers and passport to be checked, they will sign your paper and hand it back to you, now head straight and look for buildings on your left, ride around them and park behind this building



look for a policeman in a blue polo shirt that says tourista polica on it, he needs to stamp that paper as well, now or after you do migration, but before aduana

so head to the building to the right side as this photo shows, in an entrance way there is a both that charges a municipal fee of $1, pay this and go to the window for a form, if someone approaches you with one then they will expect money then or later, they are free from the window, if there is a line go to the front and ask for one then fill it in while you wait in line

hand in the paper and you passport and $2 to get stamped out of NICA

if you need dollars there is an ATM across the parking lot, look for a HUGE sign



now got thru the glass doors to export your bike, you need the import paper with the signature from the front gate and the cops stamp on it, then hand it over with your passport and drivers license - there is no fee for this

hop on your bike and ride back around the building to the left of it, at the T make a left and ride thru the area where they are spraying the trucks, you don't need to do this...head straight and pass the immigration building to your left and aduana on your right and park, i parked behind this white bus



so looking back immigration on your right (left as you ride past it) and aduana across the street

go to immigration and if there is people standing in line behind orange bollards thats where the line begins, if no one is there go inside, there should be a cop there handing out immigration papers to fill out. when you go inside hand over your passport and the form, i was asked how i was leaving the country, i showed my helmet and the officer smiled, and said OK, other people were showing bus/ plane tickets

now leave this building - DO NOT go to aduana, look across the street to your left as you exit the building and you will see a chain link fence, walk to the end of it where cops are probably standing and walk thru the gap on the very well worn path, trees with white bases should be on your left, follow this to the building, climb the steps and walk the far end of the building and look for a sign hanging above the walkway that says seguros (insurance) - this is the place



there is a window open to the outside, this is the first insurance step, you need your passport, DL, Title/ Reg and $17 or colones if you have them (500 to $1) she will fill out the forms for you and hand you all your stuff back.

from here take a right and go down to the copy place



you NEED copies of the insurance, your passport front and back pages, and the CR stamp page, your title and your DL

now go to Aduana, he will fill some papers out for you and hand you a paper to fill out as well, he will need all the copies and want to see the originals as well, when he is done he will hand everything back that is yours and keep the copies, he will also give you a small piece of paper with your plate number on it and a stamp DO NOT lose this

now go back to the insurance place, use the other door and go inside, this is where you get your insurance completed, once you leave here you are done, go get on your bike

have your papers and passport handy, you will need to hand in that little piece of paper before you leave and hand it in at the final barrier, also you may need to show you passport when you do this

you are now free to ride off into Costa Rica and pay a lot more for everythig that you did in NICA!!!

a word of advice of how i do these borders, is i find info, if i can print it off, if not then take a photo of the computer screen and i use my phone as a PDA, no helpers required

...and a final note, this last year was easily the worst border coming north from argentina and crossing multiple border, yesterday this was the most organized, a lot of walking around but it is now very organized heading south, total time at both borders one hour 20 minutes

Hi Paul.
if this help to keep things up to date. we crossed here today 15/01/2013. The cost for bike insurance now is $30
Dazzer and Leigh

[rtwpaul]

i stopped outside Bogota in a small town called La Vega, reason for that was finding somewhere in the city with secure bike parking, having been to Bogota before i know its kind of crazy with a population around 9 million, New York and Mexico City are the only two cities north of here with bigger populations. So a small town was an easy option

i head straight to the cargo airport and met up with Veronica from Lynn Cargo, she had all my paperwork prepped and ready, just a few signatures from me, my bike waited...BTW i had to get it steam cleaned before i brought it here US customs are getting difficult about dirty bikes being flown in i was told, not as bad as Australia but getting that way, you are warned



once i was cleared to go into the building i was told to ride thru a door to get the bike weighed, the room i rode into could have been the scene of a very low speed accident that would have caused a lot of damage. The whole floor was cover in rollers, as the tires went over them the bike slipped from side to side, putting my feet down i had no firm footing, and BTW it was a freezer so the floor was a little icy, because where i had to weigh the bike was where the flowers and fruit comes in and out of so its for storage too, about 50 yards long



you cross the yard to do custom clearance inside the building in the distance




and this is where the bike is held waiting for a police inspection that happened about 1 hour later, the cop that did it spoke good english and i stood there and watched him open my bags and smell everything, he didn't find the odor he was sniffing for he told me he can smell cocaine , closest i had was coco powder for hot chocolate



once he was done i paid my money over $880 for the bike to go to Miami (there's a $40 clearance fee at the other end) and hopped in a cab with one of Bogotas Mario Andretti cab drivers and was in the Candelaria section in about 10 minutes and to my new digs for a few days, Hostel Sue 2

Bogota isn't my favorite place in Colombia, big and dirty and the thing you notice around the downtown area is the amount of graffiti EVERYWHERE



but also there are murals everywhere too, does one breed the other and make them both acceptable????



has anyone thought about doing a RTW on an off road segway?



new architecture



old architecture




cops on horses controlling traffic



street performers



but after a few hours walkng around in the smog of downtown my throat was seriously hurting, every street vendor that i heard talk had a croaky voice and now i understood why, on the way back to the hostal i looked up to the church on the hill above the city and you could hardly see it for smog ...thats all for South America for now




.

[sonnyboy]

Thanks for sharing, what a beautiful place!

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by sonnyboy

Thanks for sharing, what a beautiful place!

[SS in Vzla.]

Originally Posted by rtwpaul

La Candelaria is not really the best part of town. Is like going to the Bronx and thinking "Well this isn't like the New York I've seen in the movies" (which is normally Manhattan). It's just the city's center.

Most moto overlanders stay in La Candelaria because of the cheap hostels, (or because it is the only place you normally find info for lodging, which mainly comes from the backpacking crowd, which IMO for the most part, are looking for CHEAP places to stay and drugs)... it is NOT a nice part of town. Yes, there are a lot of interesting things close by and there is a "certain vibe" about the place, but you could easily visit La Candelaria's "attractions" (like the colonial streets and left-over architecture, the Gold Museum, the Plaza Bolivar with the different governmental buildings around it) in one day while you return to your hotel in the posh part of town (the north of the city).

That being said, it is a BIG city and as with all big cities, if you don't know your way around, it is not easy finding the good places.

If you are still in Bogota, take a cab to the north of the city. (Or take the Transmilenio and get off at the Estacion Virrey).

For example, take a walk to the Parque El Virrey (Calle 87 carrera 15). Zona Rosa is within walking distance (calle 83 con carrera 12), get into the Bogota Beer Company around 5:00-6:00pm there and have a beer (or several) while you watch the local talent (which is plenty and top notch).... There's a nice Irish pub close by also, but the beer at the BBC is better IMO (and there's more variety).... If you walk to calle 93 con carrera 12 you'll find Parque de la 93 (all within easy walking distance of each other)... lot's of nice bars and restaurants and "people watching".... There are lots of other nice areas, with pretty homes, clean streets, very nice and expensive malls with everything you might need, etc but since you don't have much time left in the city (if you are still there, that is), a stroll around Zona Rosa and Parque de la 93 might show you a (very) little glimpse of the nicer Bogota.

Save travels amigo. Hope your problems are solved quickly and painlessly enough so that you can continue on your RTW asap!

[Merlin III]

Nice! If only the inventor of the paint spray can could see the unintended consequences of his invention.

[GRinCR]

Thank you por compartir this great AVD'er. Can't wait for the encore!

Standing O!

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by SS in Vzla.

La Candelaria is not really the best part of town. Is like going to the Bronx and thinking "Well this isn't like the New York I've seen in the movies" (which is normally Manhattan). It's just the city's center.

Save travels amigo. Hope your problems are solved quickly and painlessly enough so that you can continue on your RTW asap!

i agree with what you are saying, i know there is more to the place than i saw, i just think its a shame that a city founded in 1538 with so much history behind it that the people that live there don't sem to have any respect for the pace at all, i watched people throw trash on the ground, kids doing it with their parents watching and they do nothing, i even saw some guys graffitting a wall at night, and watched the cops just walk by, nice areas are nice but the worse areas need to be looked at as well

i think i just really didn't want to be there, i went by the Gold Museum each day and every day there was massive lines and something happening that i couldn't get in...i guess a few beers would have taken the edge off too late now though i'm already in Florida riding north

Originally Posted by Merlin III

Nice! If only the inventor of the paint spray can could see the unintended consequences of his invention.

looking at the graffitti it just made me think about Las Vegas' former mayor, i lived there for twelve years and it made me think about this - oscars opinion of what to do with graffiti artists click the link

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by GRinCR

Thank you por compartir this great AVD'er. Can't wait for the encore!

Standing O!

greg there's plenty more to come once i get my shit sorted out ASAP, stay subscribed

[dean10]

Hi Paul,


What happened about Cuba change of plan was there a change of Plan ?

Phill

Phillysbigtrip.wordpress.com

[SS in Vzla.]

Originally Posted by rtwpaul

i just think its a shame that a city founded in 1538 with so much history behind it that the people that live there don't sem to have any respect for the pace at all,y, nice areas are nice but the worse areas need to be looked at as well

TOTALLY agree.... Specially after seeing the hard work they put into cleaning Lima's city center, which just shows that it CAN be done. (and maintained)

Stay warm amigo and watch out for those icy patches!

[SS in Vzla.]

Originally Posted by dean10

Hi Paul,


What happened about Cuba change of plan was there a change of Plan ?

Phill

Phillysbigtrip.wordpress.com

"Forced" change of plans.

Check out his post # 767

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showp...&postcount=767