We’ve spent the last few days here in Bogota, the capital city of Colombia. Bogota is an impressively modern city with a good infrastructure and friendly people. Before we came to Colombia, we were told by many travellers that it was one of their favourite countries, and that the people are exceptionally friendly. Our expectations were high. . . . . . . .

Shortly after our arrival at Cartagena, in the North of the country, we were disappointed as we did not meet the many friendly people we were told about. Instead, we were harassed by hawkers on the street trying to sell us all sorts of junk, even cocaine. The unhelpful custom officials that took the entire day to clear the bike just added to our negative first impression of Colombia. Cartagena and the surrounding area are also very poor in a similar way we experienced Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. The roads are crap and confusing too. It was also surprising to see that most of the Hostels are nearly full; this is by far the most tourists we’ve encountered so far in Latin America. We soon realised that a lot of the tourists that come to Colombia (Cartagena and Medellin in particular) come here to party, consume a lot of alcohol and experiment with cheap cocaine and other drugs. We had some unpleasant situations in the Hostel (Pitstop Hostel) we stayed at in Medellin, as guests partied right through the night and hang around drunk or sleep in the day. We were even told to be quite because people try to sleep at 11:00AM in the morning! But it is ok to play loud music and speak on the top of your voice at 2AM? That was the final straw for us and we packed up and moved to a more pleasant Hostel for about the same price. Hostels are not cheap in Medellin, as they are always near full, so the demand is high.

The 700km between Cartagena and Medellin took us two easy days, and was not interesting at all, nothing but poverty along the road. Military and Police everywhere. We were not bothered by them, and most of the time just been waved through. Medellin is a big, chaotic city that we did not enjoyed, mostly due to the troubled nights we had at the scumbag Hostel. After we moved to a nicer hostel in a better area, we got to see some nice things. The area was full of restaurants where wealthier people hang out with their nice big bikes (most bikes here are small) and fancy cars. We also got to replace the bike’s tires and broken spoke on the rear wheel. The friendly mechanics at the famous Ruta 40 (BMW dealer) noticed an oil leak on the dif, and wanted to check it out. I’m a tough customer, and did not want anyone to touch my dif, after all the troubles I had with it earlier on the journey, it is finally going really well. I also do not trust BMW mechanics anymore, the $350 rip-off service from Miami was still fresh in my mind too. He insisted, saying it will cause big problems later on, and if the seal needs to be replaced you need a special BMW tool. “Ok” I said, “but only if I stay with the bike and see exactly what the mechanic does, and first give me a quote that I don’t get surprises like in Miami” They agreed and it turned out to be a good thing, as the seal was completely gone, with half the oil leaked out of the diff. Note this was the seal to the shaft, and not the seal linked to the hub/ bearing. With the assembly I again was the difficult customer that made the final adjustments to the pivot bearings myself, as they left it with a great deal of play. I told them I don’t want any play, and will rather do the final adjustment myself using their tools, on which they reply it’s ok, but then there will not be any guarantee on the job. No problem mate, I’m leaving town anyway and will take the responsibility, besides, I’m the one that will be stuck if it breaks down in Peru!  

The owner and everyone was very friendly and provisional, the bill end up being 1.4 million pesos!  Sounds worse than what it is, as the exchange rate is 2500 : US$1.

James, our riding partner on his Honda Tornado, stayed at the Pitstop Hostel due to the fact that it was more suitable to his budget. The next morning at 7 we met up and drove out of the city in the direction of Bogota. The road turned into a biker’s paradise, from ugly concrete jungle to the loveliest road that winds its way up and down steep mountain sides. Scenery was breathtaking too, we finally got to experience the Colombia everyone was telling us about. The poverty also disappeared from our sights and we got to see a lot more wealthy looking people and houses. We spend a night in a lovely small colonial village, and hang around the main square till late.