South American tour

Where you've been and what you done
ErikGustav2
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Go big and ride small

Post by ErikGustav2 »

TV set, refrigerator, oven, motorcycles...
What is the main difference.
Just go into the store and buy a bike and ride away.

Service ??
Attachments
gsrb 02.jpg
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GSRB 01.jpg
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Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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Otavalo Market

Post by ErikGustav2 »

Godspeed wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:43 pm Sounds amazing and the photos are keeping us all inspired Erik.
What sort of things do they sell at the markets? Did you buy anything?

The main market sells hand made clothing. Of all kinds.
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Located in Imbabura Province of Ecuador, the Otavalo Market is home to the indigenous Otavaleño people, famous for weaving textiles of wool and selling them in the market, known to locals as the Plaza de los Ponchos
=

I have a poncho at home. And a sweater that I grow to big for. So I gave it to my well trained son.
Market 01.jpg
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I finally bought my thick sweater made of alpaca wool.
That I had planed to use during the trip.
To keep me warm in the cold southern Chile. But maybe it will be needed in Colombia ? Or a good souvenir
Market 2.jpg
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And also one of these that you wear around your neck. To keep some document safe.

Market 03.jpg
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From the plaza
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In the area around, each village has it own specialty, Otavalo is clothing,´. Other villages works with wood, steel or gold....
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:51 am, edited 4 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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Updated regardring my RE

Post by ErikGustav2 »

The person who sold me the Himalayan is the worst type of sells man you can meet,
He fixed everything and promised a lot. Support during the trip. All kind of help.
They made a video that should show that you can use RE as long distance travel bike.

But as soon as the money was on his bank account and I left the store, he did not want to have anything with me to do.
More than he asked me to send photos that he could share (commercial)
I wanted tyre tools and spare tubes added. No. Instead of saying, Of course, we do not have but I will fix.
The quality of the mounting job they did was of low quality, No washers used anywhere, Hand guards pointing everywhere except where they should. And so on.

I should have checked but..... I did not expect to have to check a new bike.
I had to redo this.

I wanted him to make a phone call to RE dealer in Mendoza. Because I needed brake pads. I had sent E-mails with no answer. And it is not easy to speak foreign language over phone, about things that you do not know what they are called, He sent en Email to RE in Argentina. To much work to make a phone call, That took one week before I was contacted via E-mail and they asked me where I were. I had been to Mendoza and fixed the problem a week earlier.

I wanted him to make phone call to a company to make sure they had tyres in stock when i arrived, No action.
The breaks were destroyed due to that they had mounted a protector wrong. So the break was always on. But they refused to accept the reason. They said that someone, sometime has changed. But it has never been touched. And I have restored bikes for 40 years, so I can make some conclusions,

But all this I can live with, But for me it was crystal clear that I should return the bike to his store, And that he should offer whatever he think is the value of the bike. So that he can make a decent profit. But he did not want to see the bike,
=
I'm sorry you have that perception, I don't share it at all because having bought the motorcycle here does not imply an obligation to buy it back
=
So I asked him if he could sell it for me. For a good profit. Never buying it. Selling direct to another person. Using his store and contact network for advertisement.'

=
The Royal Enfield brand prohibits us from having any used motorcycle in the showroom, it is prohibited and we can only exhibit new ones
=

I asked him using his contact network, community, Facebook groups or to try to find a person that wanted to buy it from me
But no answer.

He has stopped answering my Whatsapp messages, He has said no to all my proposals. But not made any proposal himself.

So the bad support I have had little problem with.
But now I need to find a way to sell the bike in Colombia.

One person that promised to help me will go on a 4 week trip to Ecuador. So if I wait until he is back, I have an alternative
Alone in a foreign country, Knowing the language fair, The procedures for changing owner ?
And to find a buyer, with no help from RE Colombia.
Advertisement ?

That is what is on my mind now.
Since the bike is Colombian, there is no temporary import. It can stay there forever.
If I find a safe and cheap parking, I probably leave it and come back for a new but shorter trip next year,.
I have two promising solutions for parking.
And I will be better prepared for selling it next time. Since I was counting in the RE dealer, I have not prepared anything.

Not much concrete. But this takes my brain capacity for now.

The company is Royal Enfield Zona T
Person: Luis Guillermo


==
So if there is anyone that wants a fully equipped RE Himalayan. With Colombian plates = the best you can have in South America, There is an opportunity for a really good deal.
=
Edit: It will be for sale early 2024
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:57 am, edited 4 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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Update on roads

Post by ErikGustav2 »

I got the message the the main road through Colombia is blocked,

O no. Not now again.
I saw roads full of rocks, steel wires, smashed bottles and burning tyres
Will this never end.

It took quite some time before I understood that Colombians with blocked roads mean roads that have been destroyed by land slides, After heavy rain. And take weeks to repair.

You see what Peru has done to me. Direct I saw burning tyres and piles of stones, steel wires and upset activists.

But anyhow. It will be a new adventure to find roads to Bogota.
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:58 am, edited 5 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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Road going north

Post by ErikGustav2 »

I have studied the map. And it will be a long detour to south east. Instead of going north.
Almost the same thing as on the way south. But then it was only an Ecuadorian road that were destroyed.
And that is still not possible to use.
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tonibe63
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Re: South American tour

Post by Tonibe63 »

Keep the Faith and the head straight Erik, things rarely turn out to be as bad as we first thought ;) .
You are keeping a very inspiring journal 8-) .
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
ErikGustav2
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Road going north

Post by ErikGustav2 »

I will make a large detour to the south east.
Else there is a risk that I have to use the trampolia del Diablo. Better with two extra days.

bild_2023-02-02_160219912.png
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The green line is the normal way. To the boarder crossing at Ipialez
After that you come to Pasto. And it is very unclear if the highway north is possible to use or not. Or when,
And the only detour available is Trampolino del Diablo (Or el trampolino de¨muerto)
https://www.dangerousroads.org/south-am ... cisco.html
https://carreteraspeligrosas.com/el-tra ... la-muerte/

I will not take that chance.
So I will go south east, when I am on the way north. But even Ecuador has had several lands slides. So it it not straight forward.

Since the main road going NW is not passable (red cross)
All traffic is forced into the small and windy road inside the red dots.
A road that not at all has the capacity to handle all this traffic.

Now I know the road. The actual story will come later

But on the plus side, This is the rain forest area. And everything is green and nice. I love this area. And I will enjoy large parts of the ride,
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 10:01 am, edited 7 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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Otavalo at day time

Post by ErikGustav2 »

Before leaving the subject I have two more items.
Some views from Otavalo during day time.

And a story about a fantastic Laguna

Here are some pictures from Otavalo a normal day
Attachments
Otavalo Day 03.jpg
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Otavalo Day 02.jpg
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Otavalo Day 01.jpg
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Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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La Laguna Cuicocha 1

Post by ErikGustav2 »

Here you have information about this wonderful place

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuicocha

It is special in several ways. The Vulcan is still active..
It has island in the crater that also are craters

You can view this Laguna in several ways.
From the nice view points around the arrival
From a boat tour on the lake
By hiking around 5 hours around the laguna.


Pictures from the view points:
View 00.jpg
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View from rather high up. Where the entrance to the area is.
View 01.jpg
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View along the coast. One of the islands is partly visible

View 03.jpg
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Here you see the islands
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 10:02 am, edited 3 times in total.
ErikGustav2
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La Laguna Cuicocha 2

Post by ErikGustav2 »

When I arrived we were 5 people that wanted to take a boat tour on the lake.
But they do not do boat tours with less than 8 people.
But we did not have to wait too long until we were 11 people.

The tour toke around 30 minutes. Including time for information.
It was a good tour.

Pictures from the boat tour...
Boat 00.jpg
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Here you can see the boats.
They have an restaurant with exceptional view over the Laguna.
They have even cabins that you can rent

Boat 01.jpg
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First island. The boat stopped close to land. And we could see bubbles coming from the bottom of the lake. As a result of the volcanic activities.

Boat 02.jpg
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Second Island. There were birds in the lake. But no fishes.

===
This is one of the most impressive places I have seen. And it means a lot for me for specific reasons.
I hope that you can appreciate pictures taken by the phone. The pictures taken with my Nikon camera are still on that memory card.

This was supposed to be the end of my time in Ecuador. But as mentioned, due to road conditions, I will do more time in Ecuador.
This is only appreciated. I love Ecuador.

What I have shown you are only small pieces that I have selected. But I hope that someone have got a new view of Ecuador.
It is not only Galapagos and Quito. It is one of the most beautiful countries I know. And it offers everything within a rather limited area..
(even fantastic beaches (Salinas west of Guayaquil) and green farming areas that I have not mentioned. Inca ruins in terms of Ingapirca. (Ecuadors version of Machu Pichu) And Quenca that is such a fine city.
It is safe and friendly (If you avoid some specific areas as always)

Maybe I stay here......
Last edited by ErikGustav2 on Sat Apr 01, 2023 10:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
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