Similar reasons as Colombia, and as I explained to you via PM there are also other restrictions to reduce traffic, shouldn't apply to Foreigners but still should double check prior to.
Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...
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Similar reasons as Colombia, and as I explained to you via PM there are also other restrictions to reduce traffic, shouldn't apply to Foreigners but still should double check prior to.
Allegedly those kuna Indians on the San blas islands used to make a little extra income from certain traders in the south stopping by with their white powdery cargo not so long ago. The islands are a popular tourist attraction but the sea trip at times could be interesting when the drug trafficking was more active. Panama is an interesting place to visit, tons to see in a small country. It's one of my favourite places in Central America as things are very accessible.
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/89.html
On the second day of travel, most of the passengers emerged from the hold of the ship feeling human again. We were landlubbers no more, and greedily shoveled down the hearty Stahlratte breakfast laid out on the top deck. For some of us, it was the first real meal we ate in over 24 hours!
Our newfound sealegs were not going to be put to use, as the skyline of Cartagena emerged on the horizon in the early afternoon. South America beckoned to us! For most of the passengers it was the first time on this continent. The Stahlratte anchored down a few hundred meters away from the shores of Manga Island, where the Aduana offices were located. Because it was expensive to rent a commercial pier to offload the bikes, we used a small public pier and dinghied the bikes to shore. It was a wild process to get the bikes on land and it's a testament to the crew's experience that we timed the offload to coincide with high tide as you can see in the video below:
[video=youtube_share;ga-IQhvz3Zo]http://youtu.be/ga-IQhvz3Zo[/video]
Couldn't believe how they got our bikes onto shore!
My bike needed a few extra pair of hands to haul up
Since we had just unloaded the bikes illegally onto Colombian shores without customs or insurance, we were quickly hurried to the Aduana building a few short blocks away. Ludwig had arranged everything with a local fixer to get us legal, and within a few hours, all 10 bikes had all the papers required to ride in the country. We have been really impressed with how well-oiled and efficient the Stahlratte experience has been, coupling plenty of Darien crossing experience with German efficiency and Caribbean good-humour.
Riding through the old town of Cartagena
Arriving at our neighbourhood for the next few days
We're staying in a part of town called Getsamani, a seedier district of Cartagena that recently has undergone a transformation from a past checkered with drugs and prostitution to a vibrant, hip neighbourhood of cafes, restaurants and nightclubs. We've booked a room with air-conditioning (very important) and we're initially a bit disappointed to learn that there is no hot water in the showers. Until we realize that the average temperature in Cartagena is 31C all year round. No one needs a hot water shower!
Performers at the Convention Centre in Cartagena
Found out later this is the Caribbean Arts Festival
Mornings and evenings are the best time to be out in the city, and our neighbourhood as well as the nearby historic centre is bustling with activity, both tourist and local. We both loved the colonial architecture, pretty balconies with flowers looking over cobblestone streets, and the ever present churches looming above the narrow alleyways.
Sun setting behind San Pedro Claver Church
Balconies everywhere!
The Cafe Del Mar is the best place in the city to watch a sunset
We hung out mostly with the Stahlratte club, meeting in the evenings for drinks and walking around the city. A friend put us in touch with Nick and Clara, who live in Toronto, but spend their winters in Cartagena. We spent a couple of days with them, and they spoiled us silly, ferrying us from swimming at luxury hotels, drinks overlooking the Cartagena shore and delicious seafood dinners.
Mojitos by the poolside! Heaven!
Nick and Clara live across the Sofitel Hotel in the centro and this is how he spends every afternoon!
Follow the nose, it always knows!
The hotel was renovated in an old convent, and the bar is built over a crypt. Spooky!
The party (and mojitos) continue at Nick and Clara's balcony across the street
Horse-drawn nights in the historic centre
On the second day of travel, most of the passengers emerged from the hold of the ship feeling human again. We were landlubbers no more, and greedily shoveled down the hearty Stahlratte breakfast laid out on the top deck. For some of us, it was the first real meal we ate in over 24 hours!
Our newfound sealegs were not going to be put to use, as the skyline of Cartagena emerged on the horizon in the early afternoon. South America beckoned to us! For most of the passengers it was the first time on this continent. The Stahlratte anchored down a few hundred meters away from the shores of Manga Island, where the Aduana offices were located. Because it was expensive to rent a commercial pier to offload the bikes, we used a small public pier and dinghied the bikes to shore. It was a wild process to get the bikes on land and it's a testament to the crew's experience that we timed the offload to coincide with high tide as you can see in the video below:
[video=youtube_share;ga-IQhvz3Zo]http://youtu.be/ga-IQhvz3Zo[/video]
Couldn't believe how they got our bikes onto shore!
My bike needed a few extra pair of hands to haul up
Since we had just unloaded the bikes illegally onto Colombian shores without customs or insurance, we were quickly hurried to the Aduana building a few short blocks away. Ludwig had arranged everything with a local fixer to get us legal, and within a few hours, all 10 bikes had all the papers required to ride in the country. We have been really impressed with how well-oiled and efficient the Stahlratte experience has been, coupling plenty of Darien crossing experience with German efficiency and Caribbean good-humour.
Riding through the old town of Cartagena
Arriving at our neighbourhood for the next few days
We're staying in a part of town called Getsamani, a seedier district of Cartagena that recently has undergone a transformation from a past checkered with drugs and prostitution to a vibrant, hip neighbourhood of cafes, restaurants and nightclubs. We've booked a room with air-conditioning (very important) and we're initially a bit disappointed to learn that there is no hot water in the showers. Until we realize that the average temperature in Cartagena is 31C all year round. No one needs a hot water shower!
Performers at the Convention Centre in Cartagena
Found out later this is the Caribbean Arts Festival
Mornings and evenings are the best time to be out in the city, and our neighbourhood as well as the nearby historic centre is bustling with activity, both tourist and local. We both loved the colonial architecture, pretty balconies with flowers looking over cobblestone streets, and the ever present churches looming above the narrow alleyways.
Sun setting behind San Pedro Claver Church
Balconies everywhere!
The Cafe Del Mar is the best place in the city to watch a sunset
We hung out mostly with the Stahlratte club, meeting in the evenings for drinks and walking around the city. A friend put us in touch with Nick and Clara, who live in Toronto, but spend their winters in Cartagena. We spent a couple of days with them, and they spoiled us silly, ferrying us from swimming at luxury hotels, drinks overlooking the Cartagena shore and delicious seafood dinners.
Mojitos by the poolside! Heaven!
Nick and Clara live across the Sofitel Hotel in the centro and this is how he spends every afternoon!
Follow the nose, it always knows!
The hotel was renovated in an old convent, and the bar is built over a crypt. Spooky!
The party (and mojitos) continue at Nick and Clara's balcony across the street
Horse-drawn nights in the historic centre
Neda celebrates her first birthday on the road
It's still a novelty celebrating anniversaries on the road, different than a trip or a vacation. First Christmas, first birthday, etc., not being tied to any place, knowing that the next anniversary the next year will be somewhere entirely different. We're loving the nomadic experience, I think mainly because there's so many new things to see and we're going at a pretty slow pace to appreciate everything.
Late night coffee in the plaza
Post-hangover lunch in Getsamani
After 3 days of non-stop drinking to celebrate Neda's birthday, we crawled out of our hostel to the heat haze of the Cartegena afternoon. We enjoyed pizza and spaghetti in a great Italian restaurant around the corner called I Balconi, watching the lazy weekend unfold below in the streets of our neighbourhood.
This outfit looks more Cuban than Colombian
Early morning bicycle ride
Cuban women selling fruits on the street
More balconies!
Walkng the streets of Cartagena
After a few days in Cartagena, the Stahlratte Motorcycle Club decided to split ways. One group was heading to the north to the beaches of Santa Marta, while another was headed south to Medellin. We rode with them out of the city, 8 adventure bikes zipping in and out of Colombian traffic, the Caribbean Sea blowing warm air on our already hot and humid group ride.
Typical group ride shots - gas stations and food stops
Charter member of the Stahlratte Motorcycle Club
Neda and I had different plans, so we accompanied them as far as Baranquilla, a couple of hours on the shore north of Cartagena. After a final breakfast together, we said goodbye and went our different ways. Apparently, the first item on our plan was to get rained on on the interior roads back to Cartagena. It was so hot that we didn't bother putting any rainsuits on, and our ride was made a bit more bearable as our mesh gear dried and evaporated our wet clothes underneath on the road back to the city.
If you head back into the old city check out the museum at the palace of the inquisition. They have some neat exhibits from inquisition times and a rack, witches chair etc. also the Juan Valdez coffee houses have free wifi I think along with good Colombian coffee of course.
Stumbled across your thread @ Sport-Touring.net. Sorry, hadn't looked at it here for a while. All caught up now. Anyway, got me to thinking, seeing how it's a fairly involved endeavour how does one know a partner is good for the long haul. How long after meeting Neda did you realize this type of trip was possible? How did you two meet? Hope that's not to weird to ask. I'm interested in the psychology of it.
Probably by dipping in one toe at a time. Check out their web site www.ridedot.com
But, of course. D'oh!
If you guys going to Venezuela, I am from there and can tell you all the places to go depending of what you are looking for, know the country like the back of my hand
I can tell you the best beaches to go, I can send you to see sand dunes, i can send you to the highest High cable in the world in the Andes, Some of the best scuba diving i have experienced, Angel falls, take the ferry to Margarita Island and so much more
Unfortunately stay away from Caracas
I can tell you the best beaches to go, I can send you to see sand dunes, i can send you to the highest High cable in the world in the Andes, Some of the best scuba diving i have experienced, Angel falls, take the ferry to Margarita Island and so much more
Unfortunately stay away from Caracas
In our case, I had to fill in a 5,000-answer questionnaire...
I read a great quote somewhere about this, can't find it, but the jist of it was that travel doesn't inherently make a relationship stronger or weaker, it just accelerates the direction it was heading towards in the first place.
We got our licenses 9 years ago and immediately started taking our vacations on two wheels. Our first overnight trip was up to Gravenhurst and by then we were hooked. Our travels got further and further away from Toronto, and longer and longer. It was obvious we both had similar goals of what we wanted to do and see on a motorcycle journey, as every trip tested our compatibility, patience, good-humour.
A few years ago, we spent 32 days roaming around Western Europe, and at the end of that trip, we were shipping our bikes back from Munich when we met another motorcycle traveller unpacking his bike at the cargo warehouse. He was flying back from Alaska, where he had just finished a 9-month trek from South America. We were intrigued. We always thought you needed to be movie stars, with sponsors and a TV crew following you in a support vehicle to do something like that.
I think it was that moment when we knew for sure we were going to do this trip. It just took another 5 years to work up the guts to tell my parents...
Awesome! I'll PM you when we get close!
Was messaging with him the a few days ago, lack of internet where they are right now.
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His wife is chewing him up for posting pics of her in a bikini
killerkeith
Well-known member
we need a beach/bike/bikini photo shoot to send this thread over the top.
You like the Mexican girls, dontcha?
P
Pearlzzzzz!
Guest
G & N, time to check in. Your people are waiting.
Went to the beginning again and the second time through, your adventures became hugely significant.
We want more, and the suspense is laced with worry for you both.
Went to the beginning again and the second time through, your adventures became hugely significant.
We want more, and the suspense is laced with worry for you both.
