Will update when in Mexico 2 June

Hi!
Will update when in Mexico 3 June.

Internet desperately slow and a battle.

All well and very interesting.

Ricky

La Habana

26 May 2006
Havana
Cuba

Yess! This is where I am right now. At a slow internet.

This place is quite something. Right now I have mixed thoughts as to whether or not to rave about it or not.

Bad Picture first: The whole place is run down and poor. When I say poor I mean people live in desperate conditions. The most amazingly beautiful old buildings but falling appart almost beyond repair and people live in them. This Fidel boytjie makes Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe look like a saint.
Today I went on a tour of Havana which was very interesting especially chatting to the guide about deatils of living here. Can you believe officially cell phones and internet is illegal here. In this day and age. The hotels have internet at USD$2.00 per 15min.

An interesting dynamic is that education is free here and most people study to beyond school level. At one of the street market stalls there was a man selling books who spoke English very well. It was fascinating to hear him trying to sell books to the tourists. He is obviously very well read and had Tom Sawyer, Kipling etc books that he was punting. They were originals first printed in 19 voetsek.
How does a man of such high intelect land up on the side of a streets begging tourists to buy books. This is Cuba.

Good Picture: The old buildings and cars and motorbikes are absolutely amazingly beautiful. It is another one of those places that gives one the feeling of taking a side corridor in the passage of time.
It's like walking around on some movie set. Zoom ... past comes a 1950's car billowing smoke then and old motorbike with a side car.
There is an huge mixture of culture here. It's like being back in Cape Town. A lot of people speak English.

I have to run the internet is closing.

Adios
Ricky
PS I will smoke a cigar for you.


Money seperation anxiety attacks

Pony all wrapped up and parked for a week

24 May 2006
Mexico City
Mexico

Pony all wrapped up and parked for a week

Today started off with a visit to the embassy and then a travel agent to arrange flights and details.

The rest of the day was spent at the most amazing museum of Archiology here in Mexico city. I am into this sort of stuff incase you havent noticed.

Will be off tomorrow to the Land of Che Guevara.

Hopefully there is internet there.

Adios
Ricky

PS. A little travel tip I picked up today. If in a foreign city and need a travel agent head for the 5 star hotels. If they don't have one in their lobby they will recommend a reputable one.

Pigs seem to have an affinity for me.
Maybe my ex-girlfriend had a point.





This must be the only animal that looks better well cooked on a plate

Find place to eat

It is not always possible to find a place to stop and eat where I can keep an eye on the pony at the same time.

Buenos Dias from Mexico City

23 May 2006
Mexico City
Mexico

Buenos Dias.
My Spanish is coming along well but not yet good enough to test on another hair cut.

Left Tapachula and rode about 600km to a small villiage Tuxtepec, near Veracruz which is on the Caribean side of Mexico. The mission for getting there was to visit Manual Fernandes whom we stayed with when Martin and I flew through here on the microlighting expedition. I stayed over and took a rest day from riding. Also got a chance to repair a broken side mirror and windscreen.
It was a pleasure to spend the day with Manuel and his family.
Kinda makes me mushy and home sick being in such a cosy enviroment.
This morning I bid them farewell and rode to Mexico City. It is a massive city with a population close to 20 million people. It is apparently the third largest city in the world.

Driving around the city was a nightmare because there is so much traffic and all the &%$(" roads are one way only. To turn back and crossing roads is almost impossible but I was rewarded with finding a nice hotel in a great area with parking for the bike.
( For bikers it is called Hotel Del Principado, http://www.hoteldelprincipado.com.mx/ )

You may have noticed me riding long and hard. Well it was not without reason. I have time constriants (and budget) to get back to South Africa and desperately wanted to fit in a special sideline trip. Did my homework on it and it seems I can do it so it's all systems go. Hopefully fly out of here on the 25th and will email you from ................
To give you an idea I am going to discover more of Che Guevara´s turf.

Until the next destination
Adios
Ricky

A quick run down on stats

Lolo, the Red Cross Children's Hospital mascot is still leading us from it's cosy spot behind the bug splattered windscreen. This is not just a silly little doll. It has a history of note. It has been around the world on the back of the microlight.
You should see what it's passport looks like.


20 May 2006
Tapachula
Mexico

The pony is running like it is chasing a fresh bunch of carrots.
IE. It is running very well.
The range of the fuel tank has increased substantially since new. It now gets 280km to a full tank of fuel. (11 litres )
With this I must add that availability of fuel stations has not been a problem. Only once did I nearly run out of fuel and that was in the Atacama desert in Chile. Generally not a good spot to run dry.

The motor bike already has over 15000km and touch wood to date has not given any serious problems. I am really surprised and pleased with its performance.
The fastest I have been able to ride it has been 125km/hr on the flat road. It now happily cruises at 110 to 115 km/hr although it is rare that I have been riding at those speeds because of the winding roads or the trucks and busses.
Add a softer seat and it is a good bike for this trip.

There have been several scary moments of close calls with bad drivers and an occasional dog. The bad drivers have been the biggest safety issue.

A bit of useless info: I have found it entertaining that in each country people warned me to be careful in the next country and the next country turns out to be very similar to the previous one. The people are in many ways similar, warm and welcoming. At times I have felt like I am the bad one in the country.

In Guatemala, a gentleman who hardly spoke English started a conversation with me in a restaurant. We conversed for a while and afterwards he paid my bill. It is difficult for me to accept but I have come to rather accept gracefully and do the same for others.

Ciao
Ricky

Unconventional transport in El Salvador

Don´t find too many of these still operating. Notice the solid wodden wheels

The route through Central America

Taxis are as bad as in Africa

Tried to play chicken but I lost.

The taxis are just as bad as back home in Africa.
These people are hanging on because the inside is jamb packed.

Three guesses where I am

Asking truck drivers for advise

19 May 2006
Guatamala

Asking truck drivers for advise.

I have been following the coast roads where possible all the way from Nicaragua,El Salvador and I am now in a town called Escuintla in Guatamala. I am still trying to get hijacked but nobody wants me.
Maybe it´s time to wash my clothes

Adios
Ricky

El Salvador

El Salvador

It started raining so I turned into someones shed along the road. Out came Victor (whiskey breath and all) who spoke English in a fashion. He was an illegal worker in USA for 4 years.

Checking out the surf

Checking out the surf over a little breakfast in El Salvador.
Good surf along this coast

Don´t see much of this anymore

El Salvadoran Lady carrying goods to the market

Internet &%$"/(&%

In Guatamala and having internet problems.
Will try a bit more and see what happens.

The whole world is trying to buy here

The whole world is trying to buy here

It seems that Central America is for sale. The road side of the Panamericana is property sales bill boards like you can't believe. Damn it! I came here to tempt being hijacked by hooligans not by sales reps. I am in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, riding my little bike inbetween all the state of the art four wheel drive motor cars. What has happened to the wild image of this place? Let me rather go and try to be hijacked next door in Honduras. Adios Ricky

Traffic jamb in the jungle

17 May 2006
Costa Rica

Traffic jamb in the jungle

A side road I took along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica turned out to be a bad dirt road that the entire nation was using on the same day.

It was dirty fun.

Ricky

The Panama Canal

Waiting under the shelter of a local store for the rain to pass. Riding over the Panama Canal


16th May 2006
Somewhere in the Costa Rican jungle
10) Cost Rica

Hi from the land of `Pura Vida` (pure life)

Today was a day of continuously getting lost and then coincidently being on the right road.
Headed out of Panama City wanting to find a good place from which to view the Panama Canal en-route. I rode and asked and asked and got lost and then found a perfect bridge to ride over and view the canal. It turned out to be the road I needed to ride on to get to Costa Rica. Bonus.
Did my photo session while riding and cruised on with the plan of making it as close as possible to the border. The road was good and in no time I was there. Oh well! May as well cross the border and get the &?%$*” paperwork done.
All went smoothly and off I headed for the nearest town because the afternoon rain clouds were looking very pregnant. The nearest town never appeared and after consultation with the locals I found out that I had missed it. The town must have been so small it got hidden behind a bush.
Off to the next town being Cortes. The waters broke and I pulled over, undercover of a local store roof and waited for the rain to stop. The big down pour was over in twenty minutes and I continued. Stopped several times after that for the rain and eventually missed that town too and the next one. Eventually I was besides myself looking for a place to stay and followed some signs promising accommodation, which took me down some dirt roads and then up a huge muddy hill. There was no way of riding back down without the bike sliding and me falling on my &??%$/ so I continued and came out at a bed and breakfast stuck away in the jungle that is run by a French Canadian couple. I have no idea where I am but it is a fantastic spot with the most amazing variety of colourful birds, frogs and interesting goggas.
It is now raining big time and hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow but if it doesn`t …………

Adios
Ricky

Got the pony and ready to roll

15 May 2006

Panama City

Panama

Hi.

I picked up the motor bike from the air freighters today. All worked out very efficiently and I was ready to leave within an hour.

Well that was until Armando arrived. He has ridden from Mexico City and was airfreighting in the opposite direction, to Bogota in Colombia. We had stacks to chat about and exchange advice and talk of the experiences etc. I helped him get ready and we took the fuel out of his bike into mine, swopped maps etc. Generally the boys played nicely with their toys. At the end of it all I gave him a lift to the main airport building and said our Adios.

From there it was off to fit a new front tyre and replace the broken windshield. The windsheild is a big bonus. I only noticed how great it is when it was not there.

Tomorrow I will head towards Costa Rica.

Adios

Ricky

I was a good boy! Went to Sunday church and didn´t take too much change out of the collection plate.

One of the best childrens hospitals I have seen so far

Sunday afternoon band practice

Sulking because we cant play in the band with dad!

14 May 2006

Panama City

10) Panama

Central America

Wow! What a great city.

Will be here probably until Wednesday getting ready to ride on North.

Off to visit the Panama canal.

Adios

Ricky

13 May 2006

Bogota

Colombia

The one day dash around Bogota was a rush but I got a fair idea of its old buildings and both the central area and the upmarket northern area of the city. The articles I read on the city certainly does not do it justice. It is a great modern city with big shopping centres and all the facilities.

There have been TV reports of major flooding in the Southern poorer side of town. Can´t say the rain has been too much of a problem along the road. I have had good weather most of the time. The rain is the typical afternoon thunder showers and when it does come down it lets rip in a big way.

Yesterday I rode into Bogota and went directly to the cargo section of the airport. Within an hour the motorbike was cleared and ready to air freight to Panama City. I have opted for the air freighting option is primarily because of time. Also other motorcyclists have advised me to go this route as it is the safest, most efficient alternative and a similar price to shipping it across to Panama which can take a week or more.

The narcotics police made me take the bike apart to check absolutley everything. Do I look like a drug smuggler? Please don´t reply.

Got to rush boarding the plane to Panama now.

Adios

Ricky

Getting to school

Grabbing a ride

Its a common sight to see locals on their bicycles hanging on to the back of trucks going up the mountain passes. It looks hellish dangerous when the truck speeds up or goes around a corner and the cyclist is hanging on the outside of the turn.

Talking of cyclists, there has been a lot of racing cycliests training up the passes. It is serouis training because the passes are up to 6000 feet high and they are peddling up there.

Rock falls

Rock falls around corners are part of the need to ride slowly.

11 May 2006
Almenia
Colombia

Colombia is an amazingly beautiful place. The scenery could so easily be mistaken for Alps regions of France or part of Switzerland in the summer.

I have been riding long hours because the more I ride the more I realise what a long time it will take to get to the USA. I seem to average between 40 to 50km/hr since Peru. The slowsness is due to a blend of the high mountain passes, many, many trucks and the roads passing through every village. There are also other wondeful delays like local farmers drying their crops on the road, rock falls and the police doing body searhes. Today I got to a que of trucks more than a kilometre long. Weaved to the front to find the police were body searching the truck drivers. One driver was so mad, he was close to assualting the policeman.

I have been enjoying winding around the corners of all these mountains and passes.
So far Colombia is going onto my list of countries to come back to a revisit with more time.

I am now at a town called Almenia which is about 8 hours ride from Bogota. Hope to make it there tomorrow.

Adios
Ricky on a mission.

There is always space in a reception area.

I make sure the pony is well stabled in the evenings.

Crossed the Equator today

10 May 2006

Pasto

9) Colombia

Look at the sign in the back ground. 0 0´00´´. That means down Hill.

Also note, I got rid of the kak that was stuck on the pony´s tail and am now down to only the back pack. If it continues like this by the time I get to USA I will be down to a tooth brush and riding naked.

Left Santo Domingo in a bit of as drizzle with the locals assuring me that it would clear up and also adviced me to take an alternative route to following the Pan Americana ¨Highway¨. The route took me to La Concordia, Los Bancos and Mid Del Mundo (Middle of the World) a town on the equator and then joined on Pan American, North of Quito .

The rain stopped , the sun shone and it was a magical route through the jungle with hardly any traffic. Northern Equador is a far cry from its poorer Southern half. Everything is modern and up to speed with the modern world.

I crossed the border into Colombia with zero hassles and rode to a town called Pasto. It was a day of winding up and down mountain passes. Landed up riding into the night because I misjudged how long these distances through mountain passes can take.

The evening ended with two new beer labels being added to our Freedom Flight beer label collection.

Adios

Ricky

Tropical Ecuador

9 May 2006
Santo Domingo del las Colorados
8) Ecuador
Day 52

Yesterday was gripe day so I will try and make amends today.

The terrain in Ecuador is a big change from riding through the Atacama desert. Here it is tropical and lush green. The desert has the advantage of predictable rain patterns. As I am writing it is raining outside. I have been very lucky with the weather. Only had one day of about 1 hour rain so far. Hold thumbs it continues like that.

Today I left Machala and rode slowly most of the day amongst banana plantations and palm trees. A pleasant change. The road was generally good but every town seems to have the characteristic donkey size potholes.
Other motor cyclists have warned that progress is slow through these parts and Central America but it is not a problem if the riding is amongst such tranquil scenery. Plantations and jungle covered mountains and judging by my visor there are lots of flying gogges around.

The plan is to ride to Quito (the capital of Ecuador) tomorrow which is trough beautiful mountains passes and takes about three hours to ride 200 km. The mountains usually get clouded in, in the afternoons so I chose to wait until tomorrow morning to get the full view of the scenery. Ecuador is renowned for it´s major eco-biodiversity (hope those are the right words).

I am 29 km south of the equator and will cross it tomorrow which traditionally means it is down hill for the rest of the way.

Adios
Ricky

Pity it was not a border post

8 May 2006
Machala
8) Ecuador
Day +-50 (loosing count)



Pity this building wasn´t at a border post with the officials standing underneath.

I don´t want to leave you with the impression that maybe I hate border officials, so let me tell you in no uncertain terms that I &%$"/&%$ hate them with all humanly possible emotions and today´s experience was yet another reason why.

I arrived late yesterday (after the 900km ride) at the border post and got on with the process of crossing into Ecuador. It was a struggle to find the customs and immigration posts amoungst the chaos but all the paper work eventually got completed and last was the Ecuador immigration where I diligantly presented my passport with all the necessary ´please oh great sir´gestures. He paged through the passport and then gave me a dirty look and in a loud stern voice said, `What are you doing here? You need a visa´. I appologised and said I had asked at the consulate and was told that it was not necessary. He proceeded to tell me I should know I needed a visa and must get out of the country before he locks me up. I felt it best not to tell him he was a &%$"& and smelt bad so I went back to undo all the customs and paperwork to get back into Peru.

This morning I was at the Ecuador emabssy, all bright and bushytailed asking for a visa to be told that it was not required. When the mixed emotions dissapated I explained the situation and was told `sit, wait´ (something Alan and I heard way too many times on the microlight trip). A mere four hours later I was given the name of the Immigration officer, Sorgent Torrenus, who they had spoken to and was expecting me.
Off I went and rode 110 km back to the border and entered the paper generating processor. Two hours later I was spewed out with all necessary documents and ready to undertake the immigration process once again. This time I walked in and loudly asked for ¨Sorgent Torrenus¨. One man lifted his head quickly making it obvious that it was him but he refused to acknowledge it was infact him. (spineless &%$"/). When I said the embassy had sent me to see him, he took my passport and stamped it and I was sent on my way, leaving a muff faced Sorgent behind.

After 200km and a long day of ´sit wait´I only got as far as next town Machala.

I don´t suppose I should write about this stuff but it makes me feel better.
Ricky
(Grumpy)

7 May 26

Tumes

Peru

Day 49

Been out there riding hard and long. Got in 900km today. Am on the border with Ecaudor. Hope to get a visa and enter tomorrow.

Visiting Macchu Piccho and Lake Titicaca was a big highlight. It was an area I have been looking forward to visiting for years. Now that is done I am going on a mission to try and catch up some distance to get to USA by mid June. This is the best area for me to do the racing because it is all desert so the weather is favourable and from other motor cyclists I understand that Central America is a lot more congested, slower and the dog problem is infintely worse.

Stray dogs along the road is a serious danger. I have already hit two. The second one nearly had me off the bike.

The ride today was along the Pacific coast and all desert. Came across two little surfing villages which looked very inviting to stop at for a decade or two. There were a few ¨Casitas¨ built on the beach waiting to be moved into and a hamock hung between the patio posts. Best of all the beach is smooth and hard and looking very much like a perfect microlight landing strip. Anyone care to join me?

Ciao

Ricky

My Spanish is clearly useless

6 May 2006

Tujillo

Peru

Day 49

I have been spending a long time in the saddle lately and I am going to have to get used to it. From here on I will need to race to get to USA.

Lima was planned to get a few much needed chores done. One of which was to have a haircut. I simply asked for a haircut in Spanish and closed my eyes. Guess my Spanish is up to &%$"/.

The pony went for a much needed service and got a bill of excellent health. It has even had a shampoo and is looking pretty again. I replaced the back tyre and that was about as major as it got. The bike now already has over 10 000km.

While at the motor bike shop I met up with and went to dinner with a few other bikers. It was all stacks of fun.

Lima also has its ruins, Huacana Pullacana, to attract us tourists. I must admit I am now cathederalled out and ruined out as well.

This morning I left Lima and have ridden to Trujillo en-route to Ecuador which I am being over ambitious about getting to tomorrow.

Ciao

Ricky

Cusco to Lima

5 May 2006
Lima
Peru
Day 48

Something I have had to learn (the hard way) over the last few days is that when I ask a local the distance to the next destination and they answer X hours, I had better listen. I used to insist on knowing the distance and did my own calculation of the time but now I understand that distance and time are completely unassociated.
The mountain passes wind on forever and 500km can take 14 hours to ride and nothing will change that. Each corner can only be ridden at 30km/hr and each town, with it´s multitude of street crossing inhabitants and dogs (minus one) will take X time to pass through. Enough of this. It took two days to get to Nasca.

Nasca is world famous, for its centuries old lines marked in the Atacama desert. The lines are massive and can only really be appreciated from the air so off I went to the local airport to seek a charter flight. There are many flying operators promising better prices and tourist agencies guaranteeing scheduled flights etc. Basically regaurdless of price, they are all Deigo operations. When there are enough people to fill a plane is when Dei Go.
It all turned out to be worth it. The lines are as magical as they are made out to be.
The desert floor is covered in a multitude of lines, shapes and designs all made by men who could not possibly ever see what their hard labour had created. The spider in this photo is one of about 20 figures, would cover several football fields and is not visible from the ground.
There are many theories as to why they did these designs but none are confirmed.

Got to run
Ricky

Not all of Lake Titicaca is blue

Not all of Lake Titicaca is blue.

local Ladies

Local Ladies with their traditional bowler hats that would have Charlie Chaplin green with envy.

Machu Picchu

1 May 2006
Cusco
Peru
Day 44

Getting to Machu Picchu and back to Cusco is a 14 hour day of bus and train rides. The option I would have preferred, if time allowed, was to do the 4 day hike through the jungle and mountains.
I was really excited to get to the ruins as it has been an ambition for a long time to visit it. There are stacks of tourists but there is so much space that it is not really a problem. Everything about the trip is great. From the train ride along the river and between the mountains to the last hike up to the top.
The ruins were started in 1500 and took 40 years and 20 000 people to complete. How the Incas built it was through a taxation system where instead of people paying taxes they worked for the state for a period of time. (interesting concept).
It was an area of worship for the Incas and was inhabited by about 700 people and vacated when the Spaniards invaded the nearby towns and killed the Inca ruler.

Nasca lines next
Its Chow for now.

Ricky