A Lost Post From Entering Peru

After hitting the snooze on the alarm a record number of times, I still managed to be packed and ready to hit the road by 7am. However the hotel in Macara received many more guests since I arrived about 5pm last night. My bike was blocked in the small subterranean garage of the Hotel Katrina. […]

Desolate Peru.

Cruising the road into Peru put me into a dreamlike trance with visions of blue sky, warm weather and glorious roads. My eye is still killing me and I think of that doctor in Quito — absolutomente — well, he is wrong. There is something in my eye. Last night my the pain and irritation […]

Azogules to Macara. The Road To Peru.

This morning I surveyed the scene of last night’s accident. Scouring the mud, sidewalk and berm for a bolt, washer or other parts that fell off during the low speed crash, I found one extra part to the grip weight. In the daylight, I noticed that my right front signal light had snapped. The minor […]

Later Quito. Crashed & Ripped.

The plan was simple and hardly ambitious. Get an early start and take in the monument that marks the equator. Known as the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world), I figured why not spend a couple minutes in the Northern Hemisphere and then see how the Southern Hemisphere feels. I could even straddle the […]

An Eyeful of Quito

Quito fascinates me. The city is divided into two parts. The historic colonial center and the bustling energetic modern downtown. With my bike safely nestled into the narrow corridor off the lobby of my hotel I set off to explore Quito at night. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, Colonial Quito is a […]

Las Lajas, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador.

Santuario de Las Lajas, Colombia. Before kissing Colombia goodbye I had to make my pilgrimage to Las Lajas, just 10 miles northeast of Ipiales. Without a guidebook or any prior knowledge of anything but the primary tourist jaunts or major cities, Las Lajas was a mystery to me. But nearly each Colombians who I discussed […]

Popayán. Colonial Colombia.

The ride from Cali to Popayán is stunning. Blessed with good weather, decent roads and lush green jungle that crawls up the mountainous terrain. Glittering reflections off corrugated roofs that dot the hills in the distance catch my eye. I see no roads climbing the hillsides, but along this road young men ride horses or […]

Cali Come. Cali Go.

Coffee & Bananas Everywhere in the department of Quindio, Colombia Sprawling rooftops and homes of Montegregro, the heart of Colombian Coffee growing region. I loved getting lost and riding up and down the hills of Calarca, Colombia – also in the coffee growing region. Moving coffee and other goods is still done by horse drawn […]

Armenia, Colombia: Where is Juan Valdez?

A plan for an early start was foiled by early morning rainfall. I waited. But as the clock ticked, I got antsy. So I packed the bike and headed toward Manizales. Climbing through the mountains the temperature started to drop. Then I descended into a valley and out of the rain. It was in this […]

Making My Way To Manizales, Colombia

Getting out of Bogota was easy thanks to Mauricio’s map and the help of my friends at the Capital Hotel. I had noticed it earlier at the Girag office at the airport, but I finally figured out what was going on. In many of the Latin American countries I’ve been wandering through police officers are […]