Colombia: Bottom to top on two wheels

Local Pasto Newspaper
Adios!

Would you like some more bread with your sugar Paul?

Carlos Alberto....brother in law
Paul Dumont....world cyclist

Near Medellin




Lots of beautifully shaded Colombian roads

Mud volcano near Cartagena
Buga pequena
Fried plantain

Rio Cauca

The goal! Cartagena

Cartagena
Botero Sculpture Cartagena
Steak and Patacon

Buenos Dias!Another fine bike ride has come to and end here in Santa Marta,Colombia; one that I´d been dreaming of doing for the last 12 yearssince my first visit to this amazing country. The idea for this trip,aside from getting to know more about Colombia, was to "join some ofthe dots" in my goal to cycle the entire length of Latin America, fromTijuana to Tierra Del Fuego. All that I am missing now is Argentina!

The 3 of us set off from Maria´s hometown of Pasto in southernColombia on July 15th. For my brother in law, Carlos, it was his 1sttime cycle touring and with a new bike and 2 saddlebags, his goal wasto reach Cali, 400km north, which he did. Paul Dumont, a 63 year oldBelgian cyclist, who I met through a friend in Dubai, had the goal of making it to Medellin, some 870km from Pasto. He did that and more,making it all the way to Cartagena with a little help from Steve´sstyle of riding; up at 5am, ride every day and rest on the down hills:)14 days and 1500kms later on Aug 28th, we arrived in Cartagena. Paulstayed a few days and flew back to Belgium to do a tour of Poland andinto Russia. I took a rest day, exploring the historic centre andthen carried on through Barranquilla and Santa Marta in 2 days.

Some notes:-Congrats to Carlos on his 1st tour. I hope he is inspired to do moreafter his butt heals :)

-Paul, a retired engineer, has done 346,000kms through 51 countries,which I can´t even begin to fathom! He has also cycled through everytown in Belgium (5800) and 57 cities of over 1 million people....so Colombia was just a drop in the bucket for him. An excellent travel companion who fuels himself every morning with a few cups of coffeeand handfuls of sugar; likes to stay in the best hotel in town and who will ride until dark if necessary.

-An incredible range of climatic zones; from the spring like Vancouver type weather at 3000m to the dripping humidity of Cartagena and alongthe Caribbean coast.

-The amazing lush green vegetation from start to end with passionfruit, tangerines, papaya and many other strange and wonderful fruit in season.

-Excellent hi ways, with a lot of new pavement, wide shoulders and courteous truck drivers.

-No security issues; plenty of military and hi-way police checkpoints,and we were never asked to show ID.

Met a number of cyclists en route:

-2 Brits cycling from TDF to Cartagena. wwwsouthamericacycle.co.uk

-A Frenchman cycling around the world having done 28,000 of hisintended 48,000kms. http://www.unautretour.com/ ....in French and English.

-A deaf, mute Ecuadorian kid on a 1 speed, with a note asking formonetary assistance on route.

-A Colombian with a mid size dog on the back, cycling from Medellin toPasto and back.

-A Brit on a Tandem! Cycling from Alaska to TDF, picking up riders tohelp him along the way. wwwtakeaseat.org"Cada loco con su tema!"

-Flat tires? Paul 0, Carlos 0, Steve 9 Much to the amusement of mycompanions!

-And of course, friendly people offering us cold water or fruit andstopping to chat or riding along on their bike, scooter, motorcycle orcar and chatting!

We arrived in Bogota last night. I´ll be teaching year 3 and Mariawill teach PE part time, both at the same British school in Bogota.http://www.cgb.edu.co/

Next tours:-

More in Colombia....so much more to explore!

-Venezuela next door

-Indian Himalaya - July 2008LMK if you´re interested.

Next tour will include some rest days :).....didn´t I say that after East Africa? :)

Booboo and Sister Nury in Libya

Mother's day

Cycling from Istanbul to Greece, Bulgaria and back

http://www.wwwalk.org/FrameSet_an.html
Check out his website. Jean, from Montreal, has been walking around the world for 8 years....to promote "Peace and non-violence for the children of the world". He has two more years to go.

Damned if I remember how to say hello in Turkish, Greek or Bulgarian! Howdy.
Mom didn't want to take Ramon to Alexandria or Istanbul for a hotelholiday and dad needed his endorphin fix, so I left Maria to deal withthe offspring, as is only right and just; someone's got to maintaintradition and teach them what a million years of obligation are allabout :) (That ought to get few replies!)
After a delayed flight and no sleep, I headed straight out of theIstanbul airport and 70 kms down the road, I ran into Jean Beliveaufrom Montreal who has been pushing a baby jogger (sans bambino) aroundthe world since 2000 and plans to finish in the year 2112! He walksabout 30km a day and just passed the 40,000km mark. I've beensubscribing to his quarterly email update for the last couple ofyears, but hadn't realized that I would be crossing paths with him!Check out wwwalk.org to see his route or contribute to his charitykids fund.
Two days riding got me to the Greek border, where I pedaled upwardsinto the Evros mountains, amidst the continuous ringing of churchbells during the Easter weekend.
Two days later and I crossed into Bulgaria. More quiet roads andplenty of ghost towns, as the younger generation seemed to have fledto greener pastures upon Bulgaria's recent entry into the EU.
Three days through Bulgaria got me to the Black Sea, back into Turkey,down to the Bosphorus and back to Istanbul. Courteous drivers, coolearly spring weather, great wild camping and warm hospitality (freemeals and lodging) all helped dad to recharge his batteries. 1100kmsin 10 days and only 3 flats.
Upon return, it took Ramon a full minute of curious looks before hesmiled and recognized his dad! Now guess who's turn it is to do thenightly feedings! What was that bit about teaching obligation? :)
Check jpeg titles on photos for brief explanations.
Steve

Amaan Jordon to Eliat Israel

Petra Jordan....a rose-red city as half as old as time.......and home of India Jones I guess.










Notice the cops sleeping under the billboard


Mt. Nebo....where moses 1st saw the holy land....so they say

Sure don't want to turn right!

Armed soldiers in McDonalds Isreal

Vegas type resorts in Eliat Isreal

They are joking aren't they?

Salam Alekum,
Just a short trip report for a short, 500km cycling trip, from The Airport 35km south of Aman to Elat, Israel on the Red Sea.

This was a 1 week, midterm getaway on a direct flight to Amman from Benghazi. I as out of the airport in a little over an hour and biked to the Moses monument for some some great views over to Jerusulum and the West bank, with the Dead Sea down below. The next few days I rode south along the King's highway, a twisted, mountainous road along the East Bank, with a couple of deep plunges down into the Wadi's. Very little traffic during Eid, especially in the morning and mostly doggie free. Further along to the ancient stone town of Dana and then on down to Petra, the rock-carved, rose-red city. On the 5th day I left the East bank and enjoyed a 2,000m+ drop down past Wadi Rum to the Red Sea. At 1:30 I'd done 140km and decided to see if I could get into Israel. This is normally not a problem for Canadians, except for the fact that the Libyans get a wee bit irate upon seeing an Israeli stamp in one's passport, in which case I would not be allowed to re-enter the country. Fortunately this is not a problem for the Jordanians or the Israelis, exept for the thorough 1/2 hour security check on the Isreali side and a phone call to the ministry of something or rather, to grant permission to pass without a stamp in my passport. And so I found myself in Elat, Israel and into a 1st world country, with all the usual material trappings; malls, fast food and glitzy hotels. From 2 bikes in all of Jordan to Tri-athlon bikes everywhere! I soon found out that there was an ITU triathlon the next day and considered it for a brief nono-second, but after 500km from Amman, I don't think it would have been a very pleasant experience (even for the cool t-shirt:) Spent the night at a youth hostel and took in the sights. Next day rode 10km to the Egyptian border but didn't push my luck any further. (The Israeli coast is only about 20km long) Watched the triathlon, bought some bike parts and clothes (things I can't get in Jordan or Libya) and rode back to Jordan and turned around just a few km from the Saudi Border. Bused it back to Amaan the next morning, stayed with a Jordanian Collegue and flew back the next day.
Note: Of course, the Libyans will be recieving an abrevieted version of this trip report, or we will be heading off to Colombia a bit sooner than expected :)
Now the next endorphin adventure is Christmas in Libya with Baby Bean due Dec 14th or so!
Steve