Ecuador and Colombia - Saying goodbye to South America

With Machupicchu ticked off the list I was so excited to get back towards the coast, one word: warmth! The Peruvian mountains were not only cold but also wet, not my favourite motorcycling weather. Alright, from Santa Teresa it took a whole day to ride 350 km to Abancay and the following day another 7 hours to Nazca (468 km). The desert city famous for the Nazca lines. Here I spent a few days seeing the ‘sights’ and fitted my spare tire at 59,900 km. Oh and I was riding solo again, my Venezuelan amigo Enrique was now in Bolivia.

The Peruvian mountains may be cold, but they are damn beautiful!

Slow going, but should I really be complaining?

If you need proof that they are insane behind the wheel here.

Above 4000 m and a storm in the distance, get me down from here!

Rain, hail, snow... BRRRRRRRR.

Getting the most out of this tire... disappointingly only 10,000 km.

I had heard many horrible stories of police pressuring tourists into paying bribes (if you’re travelling with your own vehicle). Luckily I had no bad experiences whilst riding my bike but got to know firsthand their attitude towards gringos and unfortunately Roy, our cool hostel owner paid the price. Having two of us foreigners in the car only made the experience more expensive for him. Honestly one of the worst feelings you can have is when the police is out to get you.

Chauchilla cemetery dating back... a long time.

Nazca lines from the view tower, pretty amazing that they drew these without any way of knowing what they'd look like from the sky.

Walking up the sand dune in the ridiculous heat for some sand-boarding.

"Success", haha or not... Roy and Marina. Now for some water!

Time to move on so I left Nazca after the sand boarding and stayed the night camping on a hotel’s lawn in a place called Barcelona Beach, just one hour South of Lima. On my way in to the capital city a guy threw rubbish out the car window and it got caught on my bike, so I gave it back to him through the window. He didn’t look too happy about that. Driving through Lima was horrendous, a large dirty city... personally I found no reason to stop. Straight on to Chimbote to complete another 500+ km day.

My tent was off to the right, would've probably been nice in that hotel!

People say the Panamericana in Peru is boring, I don't understand why...

Seriously though, the landscape doesn't really change for thousands of kilometers!

Oooooh green stuff!

Arrival in Huanchaco. This is a weird town. It’s on the Northern coast of Peru and the guide book will tell you it’s a small fishing village that has managed to maintain its charm. Yeah right! There were so many tourists I half expected to see a McDonald’s somewhere, why is everyone here? Easy, the surf! It’s a consistent beginner break with the world’s longest wave in Chiclayo only 40 minutes away. I was only going to stay one night but somehow got convinced to stay 4. Whilst teaching my friend Hana to ride my bike the starter switch broke again, luckily it was a cheap fix (even if only temporary).

Traditional boats taking local tourists out into the surf, beautiful weather here.

Felipe admiring my riding skills after I got stuck in an irrigation ditch.

Fun outings on the bike, see you again in every continent!

Warm nights on the coast watching some great soccer matches.

A new friend, that wouldn't let me read my book!

It was difficult to pull myself away from the beach but I knew if I didn’t now then I’d still be there a month later. After a huge day riding (600 km) I made it across the border into Ecuador, that way I couldn’t change my mind the next day and ride back. Close to the border it turned from the barren desert wasteland into lush green forests. On the Peruvian side one of the officials didn’t want to let me leave because he didn’t like the look of my documents... luckily the other guy was in love with my trip and after a short argument between the two I was through! I spent hours in no man’s land because the rookies in front of me had tried to smuggle 92 kg of plastic cutlery across the border... seriously guys? What a waste of my time listening to them try and bribe their way out of it... offering multiple sets of plastic spoons and the border guard (whilst laughing) repeating he wants 300 USD... for f***s sake. But eventually I was through, and then the rains began. Welcome to Ecuador!

Lush, beautiful plants. So nice after seeing sand and rocks for so many days.

Back into the mountains we go... Argh I have a feeling it's going to get wet and cold again.

And yep, it's raining!

Waking up in Ecuador, my rooftop view.

I had spent the whole previous day having this weird gut feeling, am I rushing out of Peru? Should I stay back and relax? What am I doing with my life? Deep stuff. Well today I found out it was just food poisoning, still not thinking straight but at least I knew why I felt this bad. 380 km to the old colonial city Cuenca through the foggy, cold mountains. Stopping every couple of kilometers to potentially throw up. The mountain roads combined with being sick was really taking its toll but eventually I limped into Cuenca exhausted. It may sound a bit bad but I was absolutely in love with Ecuador, the people had been so friendly! Children were sitting on the motorbike again and everyone wanted to know what I was doing and where I was going. Also petrol was cheap again, $1.40 per gallon! It’s the little things.

Slow going in the mountains with only a few meters visibility.

Sometimes the delays took hours as a crash blocks the road.

Ecuadorian farmer sitting above the village.

More rain in Cuenca, very difficult to get motivated for anything in this weather.

The following day I rode to Quito, had lunch and then continued to the small border city along the Panamericana. Smiles and friendly people everywhere. The border crossing into Colombia only took 2 hours and it was one of the best welcomes yet. “Enjoy my country and tell all your friends!” The first night I stumbled upon a grand looking hotel and it ended up being less than $10, love biker discounts!

More stunning views in Ecuador, nice spot for that town!

Crossing the equator v2.0 almost one year later than the first time in Indonesia.

The equator sign and this museum are actually a few hundred meters away from the real Equatorial line!

Love these roads, little traffic and in great condition!

Very close to Colombia now, my time in Ecuador was short but amazing.

470 km to Medellin the day after. Hot, exhausting, construction sites and lots of trucks. Beautiful mountain roads though, still everyone curious about the trip. Colombia is all about motorbikes, which is so awesome. However my starter switch stopped working again today – that’s what I get for doing a quick fix in Trujillo (since then I’ve been “hot wiring” my bike to start it each time). Medellin has a super interesting yet dark, recent history. From murder capitol of the world in 1991 to a model city today, it’s pretty amazing how dedicated the people are to change. I liked it here!

Buying water in these bags seems like a good idea at the time, until I tried to drink it.

Another country with free VIP lines for motorbikes at each toll. So awesome!

Keeps breaking... I think I have an electrical problem somewhere causing this.

In Medellin I got an oil change done, air filter cleaned and new front brake pads (at 63,500 km). After a couple of days I was anxious to get up to Cartagena and organise my ship to cross the Darien gap, if you didn’t already know... there is no road connecting South and Central America for about 100 km, only boats and planes (or dangerously on foot). The long ride to Cartagena I split into 2 days and I am now trying to figure out where I will ship to. After having written the above plan I am again totally unsure as to what will happen. My friends know that I change my mind/plan almost hourly (haha), but it will all sort itself out in the coming days... finally time to write again!

Almost every truck had cyclists hanging off the back to get up the steep hills.

The look this baby was giving me...

The last roughly 5,000 km.

Just one final note: Although I have absolutely loved Colombia and Ecuador, in both I was stopped many times by police and military to write my name into checkpoint books and the like. Sometimes even patted down and searched, there is obviously a reason for this so others may have a different experience here. Don’t let that stop you from coming here though, the people are amazing. Not sure what the next blog will entail, Panama? Costa Rica? Or maybe I’ll go directly to the USA. It’s all a matter of time and money.

The GPS tracker has been working well lately, lots more to come back to one day though!

I'll leave you with pizza, because well... pizza.