11/5/2010 - Pasto, Colombia: Suck It, Lonely Planet

It's new country day! I'm super excited to be in Ecuador, I've heard nothing but good things about the country. Crossing the border was a total breeze, which after driving through Central America, I definitely don't take for granted. Almost instantly the scenery changed to an almost a California valley feel. Goodbye green green Colombia. There are a few stories to tell from that magical country, so I'll get to it.

Leaving San Agustín was a blast. I had some trouble the previous day fixing a broken clutch cable, but as always a solution usually arises. This time I fixed it with fire. Thank you high school chemistry for teaching me that the inside and outside of a metal ring will expand with heat. So after I busted out the camp stove and lit the metal cable tubing ablaze, I was able to easily slide my new cable through. Lesson learned: fire fixes everything. Anyhow, after my battle ended in the morning, BJ and I took off to see the biggest waterfall in Colombia. I can tell you we were not disappointed.

Relic statues near San Agustin

After about an hour ride on an old dusty horse trail, I finally get to the little hidden town of Salto. Now I'm kind of lost because it doesn't look like there's really a place for a giant waterfall. So I ask around and head in the wrong direction only to be stopped by a bunch of kids. Luckily for us they're happy to show us. It's a gorgeous two step waterfall, that has a good amount of water flowing down. Already impressed by the view and the politeness of the kids, I was even more taken aghast when a little nine year old girl went on a five minute well rehearsed explanation of the waterfall. Including heights, altitudes, flow, and history. Totally crazy, you can tell her parents are going to put her on the tourism bandwagon. It was very cool to see the future of the country. It was also cool playing with a dozen fun little kids. They loved taking pictures, putting on my enormous gloves and helmet, and asking questions about everything. It was quite fun, but of course I had to go, so I waved, beeped the horn, and revved the engine for them and took off towards Mocoa.

Highest waterfall in Colombia.

Somebody looks creepy...

The next day was some of the most intense motorcycling I've ever done. In order to get to the border from where I was, I had to ride about a hundred miles on twisty, unpaved, well used, mountainous roads. The first half was quite tough, as I was constantly trying to avoid large trucks on one lane dirt roads. It really made things interesting because my starter had also died. So when I stalled going uphill, trying to pass a truck coming the other way. I was pissed, so after a flurry of curse words. I had to roll back and squeeze to the outer edge of a very steep and very high drop, so the truck could pass and I could turn my bike around and jumpstart it back to life. It was nerve wracking to say the least. But that wasn't even the worst of it, later while riding I had probably the scariest moment I've ever had on a bike. I was cruising along an in order to miss a rut, I accidentally hit a large rock which then threw me left. No problem because usually, you just let the bike drop down a bit, then slightly guide it in the right direction. This time was different. I way over corrected and hit another good bump, which set me dead on course for a rather large cliff. The only thing I could do was hit the gas and make a hard left, hoping the front tire would catch again so I could get back on course. And as you probably guessed, it worked, but fuck was I relieved. At one point I pictured the last ditch effort of bailing, and hopefully landing on my feet maybe thirty feet below. Oh well, nothing to do but carry on like it never happened. Just like anything obstacle, sometimes you've just got to man the fuck up and deal with it. Later when I hit the asphalt I was about as high on life as a crack head with a fistful of rocks. Next stop Pasto.

Columbian death road.

More beautiful Colombian countryside.

Now according to the worlds leading travel guide, Lonely Planet, there's not much to do in Pasto. This is very peculiar because as I've found out with Lonely Planet, almost everything is a must see, spectacular, magnificent, or whatever other fantastic adjective you can imagine for wherever you happen to be. So when I got to Pasto, I didn't expect a whole lot, but how was I impressed. It was perfect for a day or two. BJ and I had a shit ton of work to do on our bikes, and in Pasto there is a long street with anything you'd ever need to fix a motorcycle. It was by far the most productive day of the trip. I was able to fix my starter, have one of my panniers welded shut, jimmy rig some new passenger foot pegs, get a haircut, change my oil, buy new inter tubes, and get my rear tire changed. Phew! What a day. Then randomly that evening while I was getting some street food, I started chatting with a local girl who wants to go out with BJ and I for a beer. Sounds good, so we all head to a bar / club and start enjoying some beers. A friend or hers shows up and after a nice time of dancing and drinking, BJ and I are beat. Dude, having to actually work is tiring. Sorry for you work force suckas! Anyhow, of course since BJ has had something to drink he's hungry, so the girls take us to the most magical street on the planet for drunks. There is about twenty food carts with everything from hamburgers and hot dogs, to pig intestine, to french fries, to sausage and even some kick ass shih kabob. Suck it, Lonely Planet! Put that in your overpriced book. So as any good overwhelmed Americans would do, BJ and chose hamburgers and we were not dissatisfied. It was greasy, messy, saucy and I think had a piece of ham on it. Perfect end to an unexpected night. Much better than the original plan of eating sausage (no pun) and watching a movie back in the hotel room. Nice couple of days in a totally untravelled and untouched location.

Hamburgers!

I'm going to miss Colombia. It's been so wonderful, that right now it and Mexico are the countries I desperately want to return to. I've written enough nice things about Colombia, and hope I can say the same about the rest of the countries on the way down. I'll just have to wait and see.