Journey to myself

Home, Sweet Home.. :)

2011-04-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yes.. so this is the last of my many blogs.. still having to get used to a slightly different keyboard layout, but it's just a matter of time ;) hehe ;)

the ride back was a pain in the ass.. long layovers, no board entertainment and aweful food, but I made it and even if flying isn't what it once was, it was simply necessairy to get here and hey, I made it alive! :D (all the nice TV doesn't help if you crash in the ocean ;) hehe ;)

what a feeling to be back home!! all the places and people you know, all experience new (because I'm new :) and very pleasant so far!!
..a lot to organize, but things come together quickly (in a certain way want to have it done all at once ;) hehe ;)

the reason to make this last blog is what I call "a trip in numbers" where I listed up some calculations from this trip..

I basically travelled from the 7.7.09 to the 11.4.11

thats 21 months or 640 days

I travelled 56 000km with my bike

at an average speed of 70km/h, this are 800 hours or 33 full days

thats 130 days of having a quite long good ride

means, I traveled every 5th day in average and only 90km/day

the engine did with 3200U/Min as many as 153600000 turns

I guesstimated the ammount of gas I used in average bz 4lt/100km, what makes it 2240lt to make to whole trip

at guesstimated 70ct/liter, this is approx. 1500USD in gasoline

I spent probably 2000USD on spares and service

4000USD amortization of the bike

changed 1 times sprockets, 2 times chains and max. 7 tyres en total (front and rear)

all in all, I'd calculate about 10'000USD to have the trip powered by a BMW 650 GS! :D

I would only change it for a 800 GS and only if I know, that's a very reliable one! :)

and last.. I catched hundreds of mosquitos in my eyes and the ones crushed on the bike must be in the 10'000.. (die suckers ;)

WIIIIIIIIIII... what a trip!!! :D

Uninvited guests and Bye-Bye-Bike..

2011-04-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

this is my second last entry.. sorry, I was just hanging around in the last 2 weeks and did some stuff, enjoyed a lot and had some relationship issues to solve (why does this always happen, when you know that you´re leaving soon..)

I´m here in Buenos Aires Airport, have a 5 hour overlay and everything is shitty expensive, even internet, but I´m so bored that I have to waste some bucks to distract my mind..

they told me there are NO screens in the seats, so the flight won´t be too interesting, I guess :´( *sniff* I REALLY love board entertainment..

so after getting the Job, I kinda overexagerated with my salery (didn´t seems to high to me ;) but as they can´t pay me what I´d like to earn, we gonna re-negociate the terms and let´s see what part of the cake I can get.. probably have to be a little bit more humble ;)
then I made some analysis about blood, urine, stool and and x-ray of my lungs ;) ..for I´m smoking already for a while, it´s not too concerning with my lungs.. but still, there are plans to stop over the next 2 years.. we´ll see how this also works with my new job that demands traveling a lot. then all the rest is fine, exept for I´m having Amoebas in my intestines :/ ..well, got the medication already and it´s not bothering me too much (wouldn´t have noted it and for sure didn´t expect that at all, but the few dollars to make a checkup were spent wisely and as soon as I´m back home, I start taking pills.. if I don´t get anything better in Switzerland it´s 3 times a day over 10 days and not too much drinking then ;)
Karen knew by heart what I need to take and how much and how long and I was pretty impressed by that!! :D

then for all people who want to sell their bike: do it in Bolivia! :D for the 3000 USD I wanted, I would have found a dozen of buyers and I could have probably asked for more, but I kinda made up this price already in my mind and finally I´m happy, I found a solution (don´t have to send it back home). So the amortization was 4000USD over 1.5 years and makes the km-price below than 20 cents (this includes gasoline and spares and everything). I came up with the price, because before making another 8000km I wanted 3500USD and for tyres were totally down and needed some spareparts, I lowered it for 500 USD. If Karen would not have bothered me for giving it that cheap, I would just have been happy.. but so I had to explain my friends, why I just sold it to another dude.
so all it needs is a paper signed by a loyer that he has all the rights to sell and nacionalize the bike. I got a contract where it´s written that he will pay the taxes (1500 USD) and nacionalize it, so I haven´t done anything illegal and even if the Bolivian government would stop me the next time when I return to Bolivia, I have nothing to fear ;) hehe ;) ..but as everybody says and as it seems to be, there will anyway nobody bother me ever even not having a paper like that.
but then I´m happy everything is done.. sent my last package back home.. 13kg and 120USD, but without I would have had overwight and would have needed another bag for my bike-gear.. this way I just have my backpack and nothing to care about.
I also didn´t spend a single dollar more on the bike.. I sold it unwashed and without replacing parts.. it´s probably another 500 USD, so to drive the bike with almost 90 000km it costs the guy 5000 USD and for that money I get the same bike with half the milage in Switzerland.. that´s why I´m happy to have the 3000 USD, even if this just pays my one-year-ticket for public transport in Switzerland :P

We had some nice roleplay sessions while I was in CBBA and all my friends (especially Karen ;) want me to be back and I´m pretty sure, this will happen over the next 2 years, if I have to work in South America.. all left open, but we will see :) ..no paintball and no paragliding this time.. were another 3 weeks of being in my apartment and chilling out ;)
yes.. it´s a lot of change that´s coming right now and in a certain way, it would be nice to still lie in Karen´s arms and forget about the rest of the world ;) ..but there were also some issues over the last days.. quite some fighting (I got really upset with Karen) and we broke up twice just to come together again :P well.. the main problem is a constant distrust I got from Karen.. I don´t blame her for revising my cellphone, but I blame her for not talking with me about messages (or in general about the thoughts and feeling arising in her). So then she blamed me for nothing and I got tired of answering the same question over and over again: do you have been with another girl? NO I HAVEN´T!! the conclusion is: she doesn´t trust me and trust is the very, very base of every relationship.. and then for taking too much stuff and drinking too much, she was talking SOOOO MUCH bullshit!! like "you don´t love me", "you don´t care about me" and "you hate me" and that´s just silly and ridiculous and I was, I´m not with a girl that talks shit, doesn´t think and hurts me and herself! ..so I came to the point that my influence is not what she needs and we are both better off to split up. I was really kicking her out of my house.. well, after she said that she is leaving now and didn´t leave.. I was "what the fuck!! get out now!". Yeah.. we had some rough times, but then in the end (talking about this morning ;) everything was settled and we were in peace and harmony and this was all I wanted for us.. to end this relationship with a positive feeling and gratefulness and not she being sad and angry at me and regretting that we ever met. ..future will tell what´s gonna happen with us, but for the moment both of us have enough to do in our lives and it´s fine the way it is.. also, staying longer in Bolivia without work would not have been satisfying for me and getting a job in Bolivia even less ;) hehe ;)

Then with the houselords everything is fine as well.. and that´s important! :) because if I go back for 2 weeks, taking some holidays after working in South America, I might just apply there again and stay at the same place (everything else would be a lot of circumstances.. especially if you want to bring your girlfriend to a hotel :( --> have to pay for two people if she isn´t leaving after a few hours ;)

what more.. got a haircut, got my teeth cleaned and got a wart removed (I hope it´s all gone.. probably have to put some more cream on it back home).
my 2nd Interview will be on the 13.4. and the same day I will visit my friends from the living community I stayed the year before and checking if there is a room and the vibe to move in again :) it would be by far the most interesting and exiting place to live!! but let´s see.. I got a bit more than 2 weeks to get an apartment and say hello to friends and family and then working life kicks in ;) hehe ;)
will buy an Alienware laptop once I know, I´ll be abroad a lot.. so I can play games while spending lonely nights in hotel rooms ;)
probably buy a this one-year-transport-ticket, but it´s gonna be expensive and I don´t know how much I´ll use it, but then on the other hand it will make me more visiting friends and that´s what I really should do, if I stay another two years in Switzerland.. I´m also looking forwart to write messages to my friends that I said good-bye two years ago.. I took time to visit them all personally and the same thing I want to do again! :D

so what more.. still got 25 minutes of internet time ;) and then another hourish to wait for boarding.. ahh.. it´s a pain in the ass to travel around the world and it cost´s me more than 1300 USD.. but at least I´m not doing that too frequently ;) hehe ;) or then I will be paid and can go wait in the business lounge! HARR HARR! ;D

oh.. unfortunately I deleted the last pictures of my trip :´( *SUPERSNIFF* needed space to make a porn (that hasn´t been shot in the end) and deleted the last pics instead of the first ones.. but anyway.. I got a lot of them and I´m not too much of a collector to really have to upload them to my picasa-web-album. also deleted some movies, but they should be in Facebook already (hope so!!)

my next and last entry will be some numbers about this trip.. have been quite some kilometers, quite a bit of gasoline and an incredible ammount of awesome, amazing experiences!!

yes.. I was pretty busy over the last days.. a lot to organize and even more in my head.. I don´t know what the experience is out of it.. maybe to learn that I don´t have to stress me out.. that there is always a solution and things work always out.. just can´t plan it in advance.. the same as getting up this morning and going to the airport, doing check-in, waiting a long time, talking to people and then starting the trip back home.. it all can be done and has been done, but days before I was stirred up about it and even if I wrote it all down on plans, I couldn´t not just let go of it. But now, the only thing I need is the blessing of the winged gods that the steel bird stays in the sky and next week I will continue to organize stuff, meeting friends and setting up my life back home.. IT´S ABOUT TIME!!! :D haha :D

okay.. you, fellow reader and follower of my blog! write me a message if you see that and I´ll see you soon! :D

be blessed and smile!

..that went fairly well!!! :D

2011-03-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

phew.. first Skype-Interview to get a job and it actually was going really well! :D

first I wasn´t sure if the Bolivian internet is fast enough to have such an interview and then I struggled with non-working headsets, but one of the ladies organized me a brand new one and everything worked just in time! :)

so I talked to the HR-manager and my future boss and it looks, as I would get that job!!! :D haha!! :D ..the only open point is my salary (I´m still reaching for the stars with having an exorbitant sum in my mind ;) but I think this will not be the NO-GO of the deal.. but let´s see what they propose me ;)
and one little bitter pill is the ammount of time abroad.. it´s about 70% :/ that´s on the upper limit.. means that I probably wont have a long term relationship :´( and also my apartment should be cheap and will not be so important (living in hotels around the world I guess ;) ..but hey, the job description is like AWESOME!! and I want to do something special! so I might just have to handle the fact that I won´t spend too much time in Switzerland.. instead of buying a computer to play games, buying a powerful laptop that keeps me connected to the world while being abroad.

I really studied some papers and knew a lot more about GMD and the business that they asked me.. so I feel, I´m having a good start! :D

so until end of the week, I got the last details and then let´s make that happen!! :D means, I´ll be back in Switzerland before mid of April and praying to the weather-gods: let it be nice back home!! ;D haha ;)

that was point 1 of 2 here in Bolivia.. during the week, I´ll check my bike-selling task and then have to send home some gear and soon leaving the continent (for a little while ;) ..GMDs are installed in South America, Australia, Asia and North America.. all destinations I gladly travel to!!! :D

then to catch up with the last day.. I had one really, incredible, wonderful riding day from Tupiza to Potosi.. just the last 40 minutes got a bit wet and cold.. so I got an "expensive" hotel in Potosi, where I could store my bike (the city is horrible to drive in.. all one-way roads, very narrow and steep). The city is built on a slope of a mountain and wouldn´t it be that cold and would not the whole ambient be dominated by big mining industry, it would be a nice place.. but like this it was not really worth to spend time there.. furthermore the main attraction, going into the mine, is not as spectacular as other trips I made into mines.. another payed tour that I left out!! ;)
so just chilled out and warmed my frozen bones in Potosi and the next day made it to Cochabamba.. 2 hours of super-freezing cold in the morning, then some rain (not too bad) and then hitting the road between Cochabamba and LaPaz.. there was a landslide, so I had to wait for 30 min and then there was another landslide that made me take a dirtroad along the slope of the mountain..
they said, it just happened and there was a X-tons heavy rock in the middle of the road, taller than a man and no space to drive around.. no idea how they solved that. Also thought, if I´d have had a bad timing, then this would have been the end of me and my bike.. but that is why I have so much confidence in life.. feel safely guided by the universe! :)
then the road along was nice, but narrow and there were trucks coming from both sides and it´s just not possible to cross.. so while I just barely made it and went on the asphalted road again, the line of busses and trucks got bigger (they can´t turn around where the landslide was and from both sides big vehicules started to taking the alternative road, what has to lead to a total chaos up there.. because the stretch is about 2km and I want to see a truck driving backwards 1km on this narrow road (and all cars behind). I was SOOOOOO happy to continue my ride and getting closer to my final destination..
so pretty much an appropriate final riding day! ;)

got my apartment back (just for 3 weeks as it looks) and hooked up with Karen again!! :) ..well, yesterday it was a disastreous night where many things have been said that really impacted on both of us.. my point is that I´m leaving very soon to come back home and that´s my 1st priority (and it sucks to say it like that :( makes it sound as I would not really appreciate being with Karen or at least, I´m not willed to make any commitment for it..
BUT.. I was so distracted and concerned while riding back to CBBA, meeting Karen again really grounded me and brought us back to the wonderful time we had before!! that was truely magic!! to feel all these special vibes, all the love and even more sexual desires!! ;) haha ;) ..I guess, you just have to make it with the right girl ;) ..so I really enjoy my last stop here in CBBA and this week, I get the bike-stuff done and want to get my teeth cleaned here (as long it´s so super cheap ;)
then as soon as I arrived, there was a lot of rain again in CBBA.. but as long I can stay in bed with my beloved one, it´s no big deal ;)
on Saturday there was also Eli´s monthly full-moon party and I really enjoyed it!!! was pretty trippy ;) and the moon was big and shiny as it´s only every 20 years (so even more special the event ;)
then a lot of chilling out on Sunday and recovered again until today (yes.. was my big day with the job interview).
Okay.. I guess that´s it from me.. will hear more in a few days.. and they will be the last entries in my travel-journal! :)

I´m happy this is coming to an end.. it has been the biggest and most epic thing I´ve ever done and as everything in life, had it´s timespam :)

..getting to an end..

2011-03-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

..so that´s it.. two more days of riding and then chilling out for a little while in Cochabamba and hopefully having a job waiting back home.. we will see.. :)

so after 1 1/2 year, I met my friend Renzo along the way!! :D that was really cool!!! took forever until he catched me up, but hey.. I got a headstart of almost a year ;)
there were local elections in town and everybody was partying.. gave us a nice background to have some beers ;) ..funny, they get money to vote.. and it´s not even called corruption ;)
we also exchanged bikes for a ride and since then I enjoy my BMW even more ;) the KTM is probably better Off-Road, but makes a lot of noise and vibration and compared to it, I got a real couch under my ass ;) couldn´t be more comfy! and having put a sheep skin on top of it, I could ride forever, would not my back stress me from time to time :( ..got a bit better, but never really healed.. and it´s two weeks ago, I guess since that started.. ahh.. whatever, being a badass traveler and biker, I can live with that little flaw ;)
..with some 97 octane gasoline and probably the height or RPM I´m riding, the consumption of my bike turned out 3lt/100km.. can you believe that!?!? then even at 4000m.a.s.l. it runs fine with it´s fuel injection. Met a guy today on a BMW 1200 and he told me, the 800 GS was also giving some issues (as his 1200) and that the 650 GS would be the perfect bike for the trip.. I actually believe him! :) the 800 is very young, so might still have some issues, but the 650 is well proven.. so I`m more convinced than ever :) has about the same power and speed as the KTM (not surprising, they´re both 650 ;) but was really worth to feel another bike as well!

So I drove out of Mendoza and along the Route 40.. after 54 000km, it was my final exam and I mastered it flawlessly! :D I took rivers as they wouldn´t be there, had lot´s of technical driving, along steep slopes, lot´s of dirtroads.. sandy parts that made me slide from one side to another and I had some close calls (and some super-duper-close-calls ;) but I just got that bike on it´s wheels and I couldn´t even say how I did it.. must be mussle memory! :D ..I feel, I know more than 10 years riding bikes in Switzerland :)
The road is really beautiful.. crossed some people on bikes, and even push-bikes (must be a lot of shaking on these roads ;) even for me it was pretty bumpy, but the bike and I made it! :D even hit a deeper bump and almost threw me off (it actually did in Alaska, in my first weeks ;) but this time, I stayed on it ;)
..then I got rewarded by quite some fauna along the way.. even an armadillo was running across the road in front of me :) hundreds of Llamas (eat one of it with some patatoes.. tasted good, almost as cow ;) --> sorry, had to try how they taste.. I know, they look super cute!
there are also wild donkeys and horses .. dropped down through a sea of clouds (that was pretty freezing ;) and this morning, where it was very clouded where I was.. I just rode up the mountain and got blue sky until Bolivia :) ..here it´s not too bad, but got cloudy and some rain drops. Still.. the rainy season is supposed to be over. I hope for 2 nice days at least to reach shelter in CBBA.
..yes.. can´t complain.. have been blessed by many, many hours of sunshine and nice temperatures (well.. got colder further north, but still.. nothing to what I experienced along this trip ;) hehehe ;)
then I had to clean out one of my boxes, because a bottle of wine broke :( ..was not the 2 USD of the wine, but the work to clean it and .. oh boy.. the home made peach jam I got gifted broke as well :´( this really *sniff* ..I wanted to tell at the boarder about the wine, but they didn´t ask and I forgot.. so I assume, it´s no big deal to bring some wine from Argentina :)
Yesterday was a pretty long day, because after seeing some train-bridge and looking for hotsprings (they were so small, you couldn´t take a bath ;) there was no hostal where I thought to find one and it took me over an hour more to find a place to stay.. and was getting dark and cold :/ and I have to admit, my eyesense sucks at night :P so I was happy to have found a place and eating some Llama and veggie-soup ;) to lower my stress-level.
the place, don´t even know how it´s called, is very, very, very touristy, but I was happy to have a bed (even without sheets ;) but also no bedbugs ;)
tonight I´m the big spender and stay in the biggest hotel in Tupiza.. it´s 20 USD and I gladly pay the price, because you don´t get so much in Argentina.. in fact, I payed more many times having less.
also had great food here and all in all was 2.50 USD and even cheaper than CBBA.. also lot´s of tourists here.. another printed-in-bold-place of the lonely planet. Well.. can´t blame them.. it´s beautiful around here!! just don´t have time or energy to talk a lot to these folks ;)
..hmm.. had quite some riding days lately and made also some pictures.. will upload them in CBBA, once I have more time to do it..
my tyres are completely down, but I´m pretty sure that I´ll make it to CBBA.. would have been way easier and more relaxed driving on the Route 40 with off-road tyres ;) hehe ;) but with improved bike-handling skill, I can still ride it that way..
there is anyway some things that have to be done, so I´ll find a lower price to sell it.. ..that´s also an open point.. have to see, what happens if you sell it and leave the country and for how long you can´t go back.. :/ or let´s see.. there will be a solution (and praying to the gods that my job may come through!! :D
what more.. hmm.. sorry.. that was all crazy random the way I listed the events. Was quite a while for not writing stuff down and keeping it all in my mind ;) but had lot´s of hours of epic riding! I guess that was what the last days were about.. just hit it and enjoy the ride!! :D haha! ;D

..I had a lot of thoughts along this trip.. about me, about life and the universe.. I can say, I came quite to some ideas about it! ;) ..once you realized that there is no objective reality, that it all depends on the observer (you) and that you activly create your reality, then better start to create it in a beneficial way! :D (beneficial for all of us)

okay.. cu all soon! (let´s see what Switzerland holds for me! :D

..Ready to go home..

2011-03-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

..it seems the Epilogue of my trip has come :)

so the biggest news is my Jobsearch.. I found an incredible offer at (how could it be different) the ABB and I´m willed to do whatever it takes to get that job!! (well, if it doesn´t include dead bodies ;) ..but when I was looking through job offers in Santiago, I figured out that the ABB has the most jobs that could fit me.. big company, something with rectifiers and internationality. A place where they look after their employees and where you can find a good ambient.. so simly ABB :D

I don´t want to get to crazy about it, before I have it, but I´m really concerned at the moment to make this happen and next week, there will be a Skype-Interview and I hope we can carve it in stone from then on. ..the job I want to get is Teamleader for electrical maintenance of Gearless Mill Drives (GMD).
GMDs are totally the shit!! :D you should google that up.. that are huuuuuge grinders, directly connected to a huuuuuge synchroneous motor and use up to 20 MW .. that´s quite some power that´s used to crush stones and ore. Reading the job description its exactly what I want to do and demands for lots of special skills that I actually can provide, such as handling an international team, conflict management and having Hands-on-mentality with lots of self initiative and flexibility..
so the details of all this will be talked about next week, but so far I informed myself in the internet about it and I´m trying to get a guy from ABB Argentina on the phone to ask for some further explanations about GMDs, so next week I got an idea about how it works ;)
I checked a schematic and I really like the complexity of the plant.. there is even an excitation system, but now it´s just one of several modules. In other words, the technology is interesting and will challenge me for sure :)
so if the how much and when is clarified, I get my ticket back home and you see me probably very soon!! :D

Then I had another fun week-end in Santiago with lots of other crazy experiences I´m glad I made ;) not too much to mention next to swingers and meeting people in the city ;)
played more magic with Cyrill and had great conversations (Swiss German is a wonderful and funny language!! ;D was concerned with finding a job and could finally wash my clothes.
my back still hurts and it´s not really getting better, but I´m also doing fancy Kung-Fu and somehow was irritating more nerves doing that :P well.. if I get to pissed by it, I take some anti-inflamatory medicine, but I´m still trying to avoid that :)

then it took me quite a while to get out of Santiago and while the weather was nice, there was SOOOO much smog in the air.. haven´t seen that very often. The mountains closeby appeared very whitish and just by crossing the boarder to Argentina, it cleared up and the colors of the Andes were shining clearly.. so poor Chileans.. it´s quite hard to live in so much pollution I guess (to mention, haven´t seen Mexico city).

crossing the boarder was easy again.. I´m really getting into that ;) haha ;) but was the second last time with my bike I guess.. from here on just straight to Bolivia and hanging out with Karen for some more time and organizing my trip home. For none of the people answered I wrote in Rio Cuarto y Cordoba, it made it even easier not to bail out to see anybody.. and going to Cordoba would have been 700km flat.. 2 days of being bored on the bike.
So I decided to just follow the Andes up to Bolivia and can do it in 5 days of riding + making some stops along the way. But not interested to do lot´s of stuff here in Argentina..

I´m trying to see my friend Renzo along the way.. he´s kinda close, but decided not to drive to Ushuaya, but going home instead (well, it´s anyway already too cold down there..) got some rain in Bolivia and I hope it might be over when I´m getting there again. once more.. it´s incredibly HOT here in Mendoza.. tomorrow will be better, having the wind in my face :)

then I had a really crazy encounter yesterday.. since that psychopatic woman from Isreal that I met in Canada, I haven´t met another psycho, but there are still some around.. so when I went to pick up my stuff, I asked for the way and the lady freaked out, yelling at me she could not read the map with her eyes, while I was telling her, she doesn´t have to, but I need to see it to know where to go.. then she asked me 30 pesos for having my boxes during 6 days under her stairs. I said.. "you didn´t say anything about that, but what about 20 pesos?" (offering 5 USD instead of 7.5 USD seemed fair to me, especially because I asked her a favor and she agreed). So she was so mean to me that I fired back and said: why are you so bitter? ..and then she really exploded and ended up kicking my metal boxes outside.. well, nothing that could brake anyway, but what behaviour is that?! people outside were asking if they should call the police and I was just.. "never mind". but I got to my limits as well.. so she yells at me, kicks my boxes and then takes my didgeridoo and my fireswords (they are all plastic tubes) and throws it outside past my left side.. and for Jedi Knights presence the future, I grabbed all of them right away out of the air with my left hand and was so suprised by it, that for a second, I was just looking at her, wanting to tell her: "have you seen that!?!?! I just grabbed them all in the air!" but of course wasn´t saying that, because she got even more angry and when she tried to pick up my stuff to damage it, I shouted "STOP IT!!" and sent her inside.. I got REALLY mad for a second.. I hate if this happens, but she had to do quite some work to get me there.. I feel sorry for somebody having such a fucked up life! maybe she couldn´t read or I don´t know what was the matter.. but I guess it took her another few days of her miserable life by getting that angry.. it took me then almost 10 minutes talking to some other nice guys to calm myself down and I was happy for feeling some good vibes after that unexpected interaction picking up my boxes..

then I met two Swiss guys at the gas station with also 650 BMW, but rentals from Chile and riding just one month around Chile and Argentina.. well, a bit late in my opionion and must be crazy expensive getting bikes in Chile. and furthermore there are not many places you want to drive down here.. as I´m trying to get the nice roads, it´s not for riding all over the place.. it´s the Rute 40 and some smaller roads through the mountains, but there are other countries more recommendable for riding (well, then you should spead Spanish ;) ..they didn´t and they were not really enthuiastic hearing about my trip ;) maybe they envied me a little for it..

but then the really good news: had many Km of beautiful road and fun riding while getting here from Santiago.. first the Andes with all their different shapes and colors, topped with blue sky and bearable temperatures (more hot than cold) ..then the guys showed me another way from Uspallata to Mendoza than I took.. a gravelroad that leads over some more mountains.. the guy was: it´s pretty steep and narrow and you have to be careful (what I really did), but turns out it´s a bad-ass trip to Mendoza.. many, many curves and stunning views! I think, I´ve even seen two Condors!! :D ..the guy told me I could see some if I´m lucky and then I´ve seen to birds in the very far and while I ran on top of a hill, they came so close that I didn´t see them any more in the far and when I spotted one, it was passing by much closer, but against the sun.. so no confirmed sighting. then by turning my head further, I noticed that the other one must have flewn almost directly above me, but I just gasped the view from behind.. would have been the first Condors I´ve seen as wildlife! :)

Then there were some kilometers of loose gravel.. almost sandy.. or at least deep enough to sink in and drive in 1st gear, while sliding on the road.. no steep slopes on that part, but tyring in my arms for holding the bike upright. Managed that without dropping it and passed even a few cars that confirmed to me that I´m on the right path ;)
I took some pictures.. hope they turned out good.. was driving down a very steep and curvy road with an incredible view!!! ..honked a lot, a lot.. after I hit that car in Peru, I rather honk 10000 times too much than 1 time to less ;)
made it then to the airport and asked the information desk about a place to stay.. they couldn´t really help me out, put pointed a direction.. for I was just 5 minutes, the dude at the exit left me out without charging me the 1 USD I would have to pay and I really appreciated that!
then I drove into Mendoza.. this time from north and it was way less stressful than the first time. Stopped twice to ask for the way and then finally in some corner, somebody told me about a hostal.. just 1/2 block away, cheap styaying in a dorm, having parking lot for my bike and a super cute dog!! it´s a Scooby-Doo-type and white/grey with black spots.. a blue and a brown eye and the size of a small calf :) have to love it!! :D
they did some checkings about skydive and paragliding here.. but skydiving is expensive (rather wait until being home) and paraglide I got no answer, but I may just leave that out.. would take me 2-3 extra days, would need good conditions and good site instruction, for it´s more technical here.. all in all, I feel like going to Bolivia (and flying there if it´s possible again).
So I had an easy day today.. just relaxing and studying GMDs (it´s a while I read about technical stuff, but still get it and still find it interesting!! :D ..putting it out a 100% into the Universe that I want to get that job! :D
now I´m going to bed.. sweet dreams and gonna hear from me! :)

-=30th Anniversary Special=-

2011-03-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

so here we go.. reached 30.. lived already 3 decades (from my point of view a veeeery long time already!) and in this post, I'll write down the things I remembered, just looking 10 years back.. 10 years is a nice number for a timespam and I did quite some things..

I did 100 days of army, studied 3 years (luckily didn't have to repeat one!), then 6 month thesis, while playing an awesome roleplay with a good friend (hundreds of hours!!), then going to South America, finish my duties for my country, learning Spanish and having a whole bunch of incredible experiences!!! :D
coming back, starting working at the ABB, saving money, doing my OpenWater and Advanced diving certification, riding a horse in Argentina and quitting my job to travel in South East Asia.. more countries and experiences and finally buying a bicycle and cycling almost 6000km through S.E.A., where I realalized: I need a motor attached to this two wheels! :D ..so I found a bike in Google, bought it with my Visa card and then had to go back a year, because I missed out that I'm actually not allowed to ride this bike :P ..getting a job in the ABB again within 3 days (of yelling out loudly my needs to the universe! ;) and having the best year ever in Switzerland, living in an alternative dumpsterdiving living community and doing a lot of cool stuff as Life-Roleplay and Psytrance parties! :D (another big smile!)
then picking up my bike finally about 21 month ago and starting this epic, epic, awesome trip down to Argentina! :D ..it has been SOOOOOOOO long!! time moves differently if you're traveling and I had tons of special experiences and changed (as I'd say from myself) quite a lot! :)

so I have been a Tank-Commander, -gunner and -pilot, fired a 20mm cannon, drove a 20 ton vehicle On- and Offroad, watched the stars with nightvision goggles, I learned about chemistry, physics, about the micro and the macrocosm, economy, history, a shit lot of math (so much you could never imagine these things exist.. as third dimension deferencial equations to calculate magnetic fields around a conductor.. crazy shit! ..and I never used it again ;) haha ;) but I'm glad I heard about.. balances out my esotherical part :)
during this time I also learned to play the guitar, play didgeridoo and jaw-harp (not too complicated ;). I became quite a roleplayer (good fun!) and had my first trip on my own in India.. (also changed my life a lot! :)
I drove ATVs and longboards (don't like skateboards and inline skates.. they are too dangerous to me! ;)
..then I had a good time off in Bolivia.. my other home now (not that I would want to live there, but was also wonderful to go back and always had great times! :D
I managed to get an internship in the worlds biggest powerplant (at the time.. now it's no.2 ;) that was a lot of shaking hands and going out to eat with my new pals there! got a ass-kicking letter of reference (wrote it myself ;) and got a good job back home in no-time. ..then during my first job in the ABB, I lived in Bern, was a lot with my friends that decided to not leave the canton, Shakti the Shaman, a LARP Character came to life that I still love to play and I was in love quite some of that time! :D
then a spontaneous trip in South East Asia that made my Alaska-Argentina that great! wouldn't have done it on a motorbike befor having the push-bike experience ;)
the year I came back to make my drivers license has been the best one in Switzerland I've ever had and it would not have been possible to make this trip in the form I was doing it.. in fact, more than 50% of my funds came from that year!! I probably would have had to stop or to life cheap (no fun, because saving that couple of dollars doesn't make any sense in these countries.. rather make use of the price differences and do something real!)
furthermore I restored and improved my position in the ABB and had a great, great job that made me know, what I want to do in life (the next years at least ;) and where I'm good at!
So I have seen Angkor What, Tikal, Palenque, Machu Picchu, the Grand Canyon, Salar Uyuni, Lago Titicaca, the Rockies to the Andies, was at Iguazu-Falls, Niagara-Falls (and lots of other falls ;), caressed the sea, whenever I was passing it, I did some snowboarding, longboard, ATV, small and big motorcycles (one especially lot ;), can drive cars, even tanks. I certificated myself up to Divemaster, where I now everything that includes recreational diving (equipment, physics, physiology) and have more than 100 dives, some with big manta rays or hammerhead sharks, others into sunken ships, have seen thousands of corals and colorful fish, turtles, squids and so many other things, I can't even remember how they're called ;)
Then I learned how to jump out of a plane safely and how to attach yourself to a kite that big, it takes you up in the air.. I'm a paragliding pilot and a novice skydiver (with a good set of skills).
As I do contact juggling for more than then years and started with staff, double stick and meteor, did a year of Thai Chi and a year of Aikido (never liked Karate ;) I got some movement-skills.. too bad my back is kinda fucked up, so I'm in pain while writing these lines and I hope it gets better over the next days (its a bit on and off and did a lot of activities lately.. seems has to rest a bit)
I flew even a looping with a two-winged-plane! that was unforgettable!! :D
..also seen a lot of wildlife.. not just big cockroaches, but also bears, moose, sat next to a big eagle, held a tarantula on my hand (loved it! :), was holding snakes (also love it!! ;), have seen dolphins jumping in front of the boat.. so close, could almost touch them! have seen a whale and it's fin coming out of the water, have swum with a 10m long whaleshark out in the blue! (also unforgettable!!!), have seen the strangest insects and plants on my travels.. have climbed so many mountains and volcanos.. some even active! and put a wooden stick in a lava-stream (probably have to go to Guatemala to do that! ;)

and that are just the things that popped out of my mind, when I was thinking back to the last 10 years.. there are so many more, that are just found in private journeys of mine or unpublished blogs ;) special experiences that are mine and not to share with the world in an unfiltered version, but as special and as deep and changing as they can be.. and beautiful! :D

so I can't complain about my life at all! ;)

so what will the next 5 years be then? ..easy: going back home, getting a great job, save a lot more of money ;) Roleplay, Psytrance Parties and enjoying life in Switzerland, having a train pass that I can use all public transports :)
want to do more skydiving and take some diving holidays in the red sea! :D there are some divespots, going there for 2 weeks is enough.. because you can dive a lot and enjoy the sport intensively where it's best to do it! :)
then hopefully I will share my apartment with my soulmate (the one for the rest of my life ;) and going traveling again together, other side of the world :) let's see how and when and everything.. lies veeeeeeery far in the future! ..but if she would have a bike-license, it could be handy, then we could make the trip with two BMW 800 GS (bought cheap in Switzerland) and drive from home to Australia (final destination of my next trip ;) ..the 800 GS is awesome!! bigger brother of mine and would really want to ride such a bike.. and then.. why not traveling again on 2 wheels.. will figure it out. For this trip, it's end has come and my little baby (dragon ;) did a great job bringing my down here!
..if we survive that trip, probably children ;) HAHAHA :D

so here is what I would call my real-life-character sheet:

as an introduction: in Life-Roleplay, I'm always a good character and playing someone else than me, try to be better than me in real life (roleplaying gives you the perfect oportunity to learn about yourself!). And because of in Life-Role-Play you interact with other players and fight the villans, I prefer to have to other players all my friends.

in a table Roleplay, where you have your character on a sheet and you belong to a party of other players to survive the story of the gamemaster, it's a different story! here my characters lack completely of Intelligence and Charisma to get extra points for Dexterity (aiming, defense) and Strength (melee attack and damage) to make some really bad, but superstrong "heros" that are best fighting and killing. Sorry, but I love this type of guy! ;D the thing is.. even if I'm a really bad guy, I just fight nonplayer characters that the gamemaster invents.. so I'm not really hurting anybody, not even offending the gamemaster, because he sends you orks that you chop off their heads! :D MUHAHA ;))
then I also like the "powergaming", where you make your char as good as the rules allow.. without bending the rules, you can become the most superior at your level, if you contribute skillpoints right and buy the right feats.

so the chars I use to play are very different.. my barbarian doesn't need to read or write or have any other knowledge than about weapon and killing, while in real life it's totally the other way round! :) so I wanted to make my own character sheet, where 1 is poor, 5 avarage and 10 good (note: you can get more than 10 if you're really excellent at something ;)

==> sorry the formatting got messed up and I don't want to put it in order.. have to read it like that :P

Name: Markus Hirsig
Age: 30
Race: Human
Eyes/Hair: blue/dark brown
Height: 1m77
Weight: 70kg

Level: 10 (composed as followed)

3 levels of Scientist (my studies obviously ;)
5 levels of Planeshifter (travel, work, life..changing through awareness)
2 levels of Dragonrider (especially proud of ;)

Strength: 4 not especially strong
Dexterity: 4 would be better without ostechondrosis :P
Constitution: 7 hey, I ran a Marathon! :D
Intelligence: 6 made my bachelor of science
Wisdom: 8 runs pretty smoothly my life :)
Charisma: 7 not that beautiful, but know how to talk ;)

Balance 5 no slacklining ;)
Bluff 3 can be seen playing poker ;)
Climb 5 up to a 5a (not too hard)
Computer Use 7 not really good for an ingeneer ;)
Concentration 7 did some meditation too
Chemistry 6 no chemist..
Electronics 8 better.. :)
Mechanics 6 no mechanic neither ;)
Diplomacy 9 we got better at that ;)
Disguise 7 LifeRolePlay :D
Drive 8 50 000km help
Gamble - I never do that!
Gather Info 7 because of languages
Handle Animal 7 animal-lover! :)
Hide 5 dont use that too often ;)
Intimidate - also not used in my life..
Jump 5 very average
Listen 5 "
Move Silently 5 "
Dance 7 best to Psy-Trance! :)
Pilot 1 hey, it's activated! :)
diving 8 almost as a fish ;)
Read/Write Language 9 5 languages spoken/written! :D
Repair 8 little McGyver ..mostly :P
Research 7 internet rulez! ;)
Ride 7 owned a horse once :)
Search 5 could never find the Lego parts ;)
Sense Motive 6 people don't lie to me very often..
Spot 4 had sharper eyes before 20..
Survival civilization 9 ..I'm still alive after all! ;)
Survivel in nature 3 would probably not make it.. Orientation 7 my inner compass
Swim 7 still, better not fall off a cruiser ;)
Treat Injury 6 I'm EFR.. but that's it.
Juggling 8 contact with 1 and 2 balls :)
Melee Weapons 7 my fancy-kung-fu style ;)
Ranged Weapons 6 fired handguns, riffles, shotguns

Feats: Indominable will (willpower +2), Daredevil,

Weakness: bad back (dex -1),

..if there's something coming to my mind, I absolutely have to add, I will do it ;)

..the legendary Ruta 40..

2011-03-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

oh my god.. for so long I want to write stuff down and I didn`t find time to do it. finally!

So I rode back to the Andes.. through some not very stunning landscape, but then turning more and more pretty when getting closer to San Martin. I found an acceptable priced place to stay, but had to take a dorm, because the place is really touristy and expensive.. probably more things going on in Wintertime, but met some nice people and we played a cardgame that Karen taught me :) was good fun! :) ..then because Karen wrote me, I realized that my birthday would be on Sunday and not on Monday (sorry, I have no track of the current date or weekday while traveling :P ..so don`t blame me for forgetting birthdays :)
so the plan was riding from San Martin to Copahue, where there are hotsprings.. didn`t feel like "celebrating" my birthday in a special way.. was a great ride (lot`s of dirtroad and lots of shaking, but the bike runs fine!! :D
beautiful scenery and I stopped plenty of times to relax and enjoy! :)
I needed my goggles lately quite some times when 1.lots of mosquitos in the air 2.setting sun directly shining in my face 3.pollums in the air :/ glad to have them (after I lost my sunglasses :P
then I got an expensive room (but didn`t want a dorm on my birthday ;) and eat a piece of meat that was tasty, but not compearable to the first bife-chorizo I had (hasn`t been beaten yet..). There is a medical complex where the only free thing is the hot pool.. so I get registered the night before, but then figured out the next day, that there is a free and in the nature suited pool with mud-bath :D
and I saw a not about hiking a volcano.. so the dude from the Hostel explained me really, really good how to get there and drew a Map of it.. on the way there I checked an abandonned hotel and power-house.. love abandonned things!! :D haha! :) took some pictures.. then riding up half the way, while having twice problems to keep my bike on the wheels going up and down a very steep slope.. but made it after all and saved quite some hiking (having an Enduro is great!!! my favorite type of bike I figured out :)
so I hiked this volcano.. met a guy who was also born on a 27.2. ;) and enjoyed a gorgeous view over surrounding volcanos and mountains! on top you can see down in a crator lake, where sulfur-vapors are araising (if you breath it, you think it has to be toxic, but it`s not really). Also tasted pure volcano-water (dipping my tounge in it) and it`s really acidic.. but people drink it less concentrated. Contains a lot of minerals..
then I ran down the soft slope of the volcano (it`s always fun! :D and went to that nature pool.. lying in hot water and rubbing my body in mud :) ..met also the other guy from the hike again (he told me about the place) and another funny Argentinien guy who asked a lot, but a lot of questions ;) hehe ;) but we had a nice discussion round out there :)

made it then the same day to Chos Malal.. was further than I thought, but also very scenic and nice to ride!!
there are really helpful tourist informacions at smaller places (where there are hotels and restaurants) and within 3 minutes I knew which is the cheapest place that offers what I need and where to find it with a map of the city! :) who needs lonely planet?! :)
this night I wanted also to eat in a Grill-Restaurant, but the one I found was all-you-can-eat and was a bit confusing and while I just wanted and ordered a little bit, I got to pay the whole price (well.. 15 dollars ;). Was a bit unhappy, but they had a good salad bar.. so I was filled up anyway :)
great to watch the Simpsons after a long riding day and drink a beer! ;D

the next day was from Chos Malas to San Rafael.. also longer than I expected, but pretty nice to ride (exept the last part)
on the way I`ve seen a Coyote! (at least I think it was one ;) too big for a fox and not really looking like a dog ;) and a group of very stubborn wild donkeys who were blocking the road :) ..for I didn`t eat during the day and had just two coffees for breakfast, I was starving to death and no bigger place with food about to come.. but then checking closed places, I ended up in a school (very rural) and the teacher said: "I still got something left" :) and it took me 3 minutes to realize that I should take that offer (already drove away to check another place he told me might be open). So I got home-made bread and some tasty plate of meet, cooked with tomatoes and other stuff.. yummi!! :D and he didn`t even charge me for it.. we were just talking about the trip and bikes and riding horses and I was so happy to meet this helpful person!!
then yesterday (damn.. I feel, I`m leaving out a lot, but it`s killing me.. was doing so many things over the last days and need to write that down ;)
so yesterday I ended up in the tourist info of San Rafael and would have found a 22-USD place with all I need (cheapest option in town as alway ;) but then a guy outside was advertising the apartments of his uncle just three blocks donw.. I got it for 25-USD and even had a kitchen (just used it for breakfast as the people invited me coffee and bread and jam :) ..these guys were also awesome!! :) an older couple offering all the help they could give!! ..scared of their grandson from his computer, so I could do my internet stuff (I really felt bad when I realized that) and this morning, the lady gave me a jar of home-made jam on the way!!! :D isn`t that truely awesome!! ..that`s why I always say: the human nature is good!!

to mention, it`s really hot here! :) but riding evens it out.. so it becomes really nice while riding! :) then blue sky and sun all day long! just a few drops today, but they dried on the visor right away (still, have to close the visor if it rains and you drive at 80km/h .. was making some calculation about the impact-forces and seems very small, but hurts actually very much ;)
then the safety-breaker of the kick-stand of the bike got loose, what made turn it off, as soon I put a gear.. for the fault-pattern was very clear, I found in in no-time and fixed it with some wire (should hold for a while ;) never really looked for that part, but now know how it works ;)

the ride today was not really enjoyable.. lot`s of dust and dirt, lot`s of traffic.. didn`t check the map and drove into Mendoza instead of crossing further down.. so not a lot of scenic stuff! the mountains just in the very, very far.. and I could have taken the Rute 40 earlier, but I would have delayed more and bumps and shaking again.. but would have been a bit nicer I guess!
yes.. I really like driving on asphalt! it`s SOOO smooth! and you have more time to watch the surroundings.. because if there`s loose gravel and you hit a little wall of it with 60km/h you might fall (or feel the adrenaline kicking in, while you slide with the bike from one side to the other, balancing it out and back to normal). ..but yes, a lot of beautiful stuff demands driving on such roads, because roads tend to be built where it`s flat and you can build straight.. especially in countries as big as Argentina.
So maybe it`s the fact that I rode already 50 000km, that going to Cordoba kinda frightens me of being bored during many hours of flat Pampa.. I really want beautiful stuff to drive through! :D in the mountains, after every curve you get to see something new and you never know what`s coming next (that`s also why you drive carefully! ;) ..on the highway today, people drive very fast and overtake dangerously.. well.. I still can drive more right if it has to be, but a car should not approuch me on my lane, because taking too long to pass a truck :P

hey.. and then I`ve seen.. no spotted! :) one of this walking-sticks-insects, that look like a small branche.. amongst thousands of grasshoppers (a dead one dragged by lots of small ants to their hive, where it got stock in the entry ;) hehe ;)

tonight I sleep next to Chilean cops.. they rented out the apartment next to me and have a car with black windows in the back that says: Policia de Investigacion (sounds like the CIA to me ;) hehe ;) just make sure they don`t bust me! HAHA ;D
then I`m leaving my two metal panniers here in this little town (I will come back the same way from Chile) and pick them up later.. but not taking them twice along the boarder and having 25kg less luggage attached to the bike will help a lot! :)
still have to go 120km to the boarder, but will start early tomorrow.. having a good piece of meat this night again I guess ;) too bad I don`t have company while eating :( really enjoyed this in Bolivia and in Santiago! totally get`s lost by traveling on your own...

oh.. almost forgot.. the bike is running so much better now! :D probably was the airfilter that dude from the lubricant-shop that borrowed me some tools and cleaned it for me did a great job! :) was probably all sticky and full of dust.. so now I actually reach 160km/h! ;) hehe ;) but that was just a test on a straight and flat road with no traffic at all! ..got pretty scary with 160km/h and all the bags attached ;) even 110km/h is fast to me here.. lot`s of wind in my face.. so driving between 80-100km/h is just fine! makes it a bit more relaxed (even if it takes a bit more time.. )

and I found after 3 years of being out of Argentina, my beloved "vino patero".. artesanal wine, that`s a bit sweeter than normal and you just find it around Mendoza.. so drank some when I was riding in Argentina 3 years ago and now enjoying full this speciality again!! :) (wine is too heavy to send it around the world)

..hmm.. still feel I missed some things out.. but my back is hurting and I need a break from the Internet.. still want to write my 30-year-special-blog.. probably in an hour or so..

hear from me soon! :)

..back in the race! :D

2011-02-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

well.. first things first.. I just got the good news, that my bike is running fine again and it completely makes my day! (going out tonight might be a surplus ;) hehe ;) the only thing about is.. was not BMW to blame but me :P ..when I asked, what was the problem, he hold me my improvised battery cable in front of my face and I was not too surprised.. good it was just that.. bad, I could have fixed it by myself (having caused the error anyway in first place), by checking the battery.. but just checked the panel, because I thought that the alternator would close the electric circuit while running, so the battery can`t be the problem.. well.. seems it was, but so in just 10-20% of the time, I was actually worrying about the problem, it has been fixed and inclusive washing and checking tyres and brakes and chaintension, was just about 65 bucks.. not too much for a BMW dealership ;) now I have to change oil and filter, but this better on my own, because a lot cheaper not buying the original BMW oil and so on.. will do that tomorrow.
and for having passed by at the shop, I got now a ride-worthy track from here to Bolivia, while the helpful girl (also biker) working there was telling me, what NOT to miss in Argentina ;) :) ..it`s quite a lot, so I can have another 14 full days of riding (guesstimated) and for making some stops, will be busy for another little while here ;) ..and if it`s true and bike working fine as before, I will enjoy all the dirtroads and little tracks and being the dragonrider again! :D

so much about my bike..

then I really went hiking.. managed to make that 3-day hike in just 2 days with going to all sightseeing spots ;) I was destroyed afterwards!! and still feel the challenge, but enjoyed!! it`s not scenic all the way, but nice forests to walk through and quite some climp to the glacier! :) ..also had a bottle of wine for each day and had great fun!!! ;D (..my mom taught me: "wasser macht weise und froehlich der wein, drum trinke sie beide um beides zu sein!".. I call it walk`n`wine ;) there will be some pictures of that hike! :)
meeting people here, some think, I`m from chile (what makes me proud of my appearently not too strong accent ;) and others congratulate me to my bad-ass trip :) ..but actually, I was not too much in talking about that.. I don`t know.. if you travel for so long, you really do it for yourself. So what else than "holy shit" would I expect to hear, if I tell somebody that I made it from Alaska to here on two wheels? ;) (it`s also what I say to myself, but I`m facing now another turn around of this trip.. that it`s ending soon :( so I need new ideas and destinies (probably Brazil with backpack ;) to not just give up my traveling spirit! ;)

by the way, the sleepy was well worth the 10 USD, because it held me perfectly comfy and warm! and I met some nice poeple at the mountain-refuge.. life is pretty simple there, but the owners make home made bread and artesanal beer and I was happy to find shelter and food after a very long day of walking!
down in town I went to some magical-garden, where the Merlin and the Unicorn were the most impressive things, while the fairies should have looked cuter and most of the critters were some kind of goblin, but more hobbit and I missed a Minotour and a Griffin in an epic battle! ;) hehe ;) ..so don`t go.. not really worth the 5 USD entry.

then there is a big market with hand-made stuff.. really beautiful things!! but for not having space and even less purpose for that stuff, I didn`t get anything. Probably not the cheapest place to buy it anyway ;)
met some other jewelry-selling travelers from Argentina and even if I say, I could also travel with selling this stuff, I actually think I really don`t want to do that! :/ I`ve chosen my path.. but living with nothing on the street is not the experience, I want to make soon. Some people may just see the world and live a humble life, but others may get pretty much oportunists and when I gave more than 50% of the money he needed for a beer and he asked me for more, I didn`t have a lot of compassion and felt pitty for his miserable life, where he can`t even drink a beer when he desires.. but anyway.. it`s interesting to make different experiences with different people and in the end, I wasn`t better, because also got pretty bored being around these folks..

then a beautiful ride from El Bolson to Piedra de los Aguilas.. and because I started late, got the nice sunset-light for riding, but got also pretty cold and was soooo happy to have found a place to stay for the night. Had a super tasty, exquisit piece of meet and half a jar of house made red wine and it was the very taste, I was missing, since I left Argentina years ago! :)
then today there were 300km not very spectacular scenery.. and could have saved it by connecting that battery cable in the first place ;) but now I know bike is all fine and got ideas where to drive through.. so taking off from here very soon with lots of desires for riding!!! :D

okay.. heading out for party! :)

..end of the road..

2011-02-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

at least for me ;)

..I reached "El Bolson" and from here, I will turn around and make my way back to Bolivia..

well.. today was such an awesome, incredible day.. I felt, I could continue for another while ;) hehe ;) yes, I know, lot`s of changes.. but when I started this morning, it was cold and foggy in Chile and I had another time the idea, it could clear up on the other side (seemed improbable), and it actually did!!! :D just after passing the Chilean part and climbing a bit higher in the mountains (there are 40km between the two control posts), it cleared up and blue sky got visible and I had a great ride with just perfect temperatures!! :D I`ve also seen as many motorbike-travelers as on the whole way down (friendly greeting each other) and it made me feel real good again!! while there are many (hundreds every year crossing that pass I bet), I was the one that was riding on my own.. :D it went all through my mind again.. the whole trip, so long, so epic, so many kilometers driven and so many things seen and done and felt and experienced.. yes, truely the best two years of my life! (up to now ;) hehe ;) then also the landscape turned into that, what I expected when I wanted to drive through Patagonia.. down here the nature and the smells remind me Alaska and Canada again :) ..the whole ambient turned less hostile here in Argentina ;) not only the weather, but also no pollums in the air.. makes riding even more pleasant!! :D

then had still some problems today with the bike, but made it down here and got a dealership adress on the way up.. I`ve seen so many BMWs today, there must be some shops around ;) hehe ;)
also seen many bicycle riders.. tough guys.. it`s good exercise, but since I started in Alaska, I`d never have changed my BMW for a pushbike ;) just takes forever and I needed the time to make some stops and accomplish some projects.

getting into Argentina was a piece of cake! :) there are so many bikes crossing that boarder, it was more than routine for the guy.. didn`t even check my frame number ;)
So I want to take some pictures riding north.. I passed mountains, forests, lakes.. very Swiss-like ;) I hope I get many more of these days (well.. can`t complain.. even having had some rough hours, I also had plenty of nice riding hours! :)

so then getting here found a place for 20 USD with breakfast (bearable) and got plans for the next 2-3 days.. will be hiking in the mountains and stay in mountain-shelters (hostals), so don`t need so much water and food and tent.. the good thing is, they charge just 12.5 USD a night (so really cheep), but the sleepy rental of the outdoor shop here is 10 USD a day :( so it`s not so cheap in the end.. I thought, should have just taken sheets and blankets from my hostal down here (they have matress to sleep on) would have been cheaper :P but anyway.. payable. the very one expense for doing such things without having them planned out (and I don`t regret I haven`t brought my camping gear from Honduras down to save the 20 bucks ;) but I`m sure after 5 days buying it is cheaper ;) ..if it would be astronaut-space-super-small-and-light.. but nah.. just a regular sleepy :P
so well.. tomorrow hiking action and then 2000km north. Bought a good map here.. gas is cheaper (still.. a bit more than 1USD/ltr) and food seems also to be very tasty (and loooooots of meat!! :D HARR!! looking forward to that!
that`s it.. getting my shopping done and packing for tomorrow and then into the nature again! :D
hear from me soon!

..climbing volcanos and dealing with technical issues..

2011-02-20T14:06:00.001-08:00

okay.. In the meantime, I already got close to the boarder to Argentina and here is why:

so I made my way towards that volcano..landscape is quite pretty down here! :) there are plains with cows on it, trees, and lots of yellow, dry weed, that gives me the worst hay-fever since I can´t imagine ;) ..riding with 80km/h I get 10 times the ammount of stuff in my eyes and nose and they are tearing and running.. but anyway.. survived and when it got too bad, I still put my skydiving goggles on, they seal around. (and driving with open viser just has to be! ;)
got sidetracked in Temuco (wanted to drive around, but who does understand streetsigns? ;) I also made it there nicely and found a place to stay for 20 dollars a night, breakfast included (I think they had homemade bread and jam and was tasty food! :) ..in general, I eat really good lately! the trick is to go for a menu they have, that´s mostly cheap and is way healthier than a hot-dog or a burger ;)
so I got everything ready for the next day (big day! ;) and got a good sleep.. got up early and when I was on the way to the volcano, I got problems with the bike :( ..well.. since my fan-failure, this is the nastiest bug I´m fighting with, but I´ll handle it as usual..
so the problem is that bumps (shaking) makes the engine turn off :( restarts quickly, but then the RPM are displayed wrongly.. was pretty stressful to get out of there (well.. I decided to drive all the way in anyway and not let go of my plan to climb the volcano ;)
so this is very I stand.. had a stressful drive out of that national park yesterday, took then some things apart in the late afternoon and couldn´t find anything.. there must be a loose contact or a broken print or something creating a short-circuit for a milisecond.. no idea what it is and for it´s sporadically, it´s hard to say..
so a message to all emails of BMW-dealerships I got on this continent has been sent out and I´m ready for whatever it takes to get back to Bolivia.. fix the bike and sell it there.
This morning I decided to drive down to Osorno and a bit further to the Argentinian boarder. driving to Santiago to the dealership would have taken longer than taking the only paved pass down here. So my wondering about where to go and what rout to take has been ended.. I simply can´t drive any unpaved roads having the bike with this issue and I also feel that I got to the end of my trip..
yes.. that´s another thought I had lately.. soon, I´ll have ridden over 50´000km on that bike and it´s a good stretch.. if it´s not 24 month, I can live with that :) ..I´m not a hardcore-fullon-biker and for being a traveler in this world, was pretty amazing what I´ve done, even if it was just from almost the top to almost the bottom ;)
so tomorrow Argentina.. if bike does (and Route 40 paved down here ;) then going to El Bolson and then driving up to Mendoza, where I can switch to Santiago, if I need urgent repairs (bike failed about 12 times today on the way down here.. so it might just work a bit longer.. *touchingwood*
otherwise I can drive to Buenos Aires or organizing getting it transported to some place..
ahh.. well.. in the end, it will be anecdotes and even if I don´t ask for these experiences, it´s was makes you stronger and better in life ;)

..so there are some thoughts I had lately.. also the plans to stay for another month in NY with my friend have been cancled, because stuff happened also in her life and the universe changes and it seems in the end, that these special gifts of life, these jewels of experiences just come once in your life and better make use of them!! :D
so trying to make my way up, slowly and steadily and make some more holidays in Cochabamba and then simply see, where the wind takes me.. one option is that I get a job and have a date to be back home or then I don´t find a job right away (gives me time) and I check my money and end up finally in Brazil after all, to get my Portugiese better :) was planned, then cancled, no back on table, but not really thinking about it now :)

I´m also finally uploading all my pictures of Chile.. and then maybe later also naming them ;) but for I don´t have been too picky (end of my trip and opening new web-album), it will be a few comments to write :P

..before I forget.. my sunburn is getting better.. just right in time, then carrying a backpack with 5lt of fluid yesterday was not too pleasant ;) but crab-red is changing to something less scary and still no skin fallen off ;)

then my reward for the bike-issues: climbing up that volcano LLaiman.. well.. at lest I tried ;) because first I got into some canyon that didn´t have any exit.. I ended up in a place where constant winds break out stones of the wall (blowing sand away until rocks fall out of the wall). Every five minutes a chunk comes down that would know you out :P so I was careful and also left the place quickly, climbing back to where I came and cutting over somewhere, where there were little flags to mark the path ;)
it was still enough challenging to find a way and stay on track. went then up to the hill next to the volcano (was higher than all the mountains around --> the view from the volcano must be INCREDIBLE!!! :D but anyway.. would have taken more equipment and a helmet and some more experience that I have to climb the peak (this became clear to me when the parkrangers instructed me about reaching the top).
but I couldn´t complain about the view I had from this outpost.. then saw a group of people going down another way and decided to persuade them ;) to also go back on another way.. I felt like walking a long distance, but when I´ve seen the path on a map, it was so super small.. one of the shortest hikes you could make probably ;) and there would be some really good long day hikes with wonderful panoramic view! :)
well.. for having had my hiking day and having enough trouble with my bike, I didn´t spend too much time there. ..might have been worth to pass closer the volcano in Villarica, but in the morning I had fog and it was pretty cold until almost noon.. could change clothes, but then I´m too lazy for it and hope for a sudden change! ;)

..changing weather this season down here is also a reason for not going until Punta Arenas all the way down ;) I´m sure it´s super beautiful down there, but it´s not too accessible and stranding with my bike out in nowhere is not what I´m looking for ;) hehe ;)

so I would gladly change a mountain of Switzerland for a volcano (inactive one of course ;) hehe ;) because was really nice to hike it! it´s as it would be a snowy surface, but you have more grip, but it´s soft and makes the same noise walking on it (about as eating choco-pops ;) and depending on the steepness you chose, you walk on two or four legs :)
then you can run down the slope and even if there are just rocks laying around, they have different colors and are all lighter than normal rocks, because of all the air inside.
So I enjoyed the day!! hiking up to some high look-out point and then going down to where the forest starts and walking through the trees (own flora down here/around volcano) and no people to meet during the whole day! (as I love it!!!! :D just some small points moving in the very far distant.. much better than being with a guide and a group on the volcano in Villarica.. it´s more touristy as I heard, so I think I made the right pick! :)

okay.. pic-upload is done and I´m logging out after more than 2 hours internet :P ..well, had some things to do and will enjoy a easy night in my little room with TV and cable and private bath for just 25 USD :) ..everything is cheaper down here.. even beer just costs half the price as in Santiago..

..FUCK virginity! ;)

2011-02-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

okay.. before going to Melipeuco and climbing a volcano, I´d like to write down the happenings of the last days..

so one thing keeping my mind busy these days was my future job.. I finished my CV and sent it out to some headhunters that hopefully find the perfect job for me. I don´t just want any job, I want THE job that I really can do for 2 years. But many offers are "from now on" and I´ve seen that I have to make decisions (flight back and rest of my trip), before I have a signed contract. I thought that getting a job would define that, but I just have to risk it.. let there be a job for me when I come back!!

then I´m trying to get back into the LifeRolePlay-scene in Switzerland and so about 4-5 month before the game actually happens, I have to talk to organisators and subscribe for the event. One of the events that really sounded good has been booked fully while I was writing the first email.. so I still hope they can get me in, but after being so happy to have a positive answer, the game was full and they had to turn me down :( ..let´s see if they get me in anyway.. I hope for it SOOOO much!!

while driving I lost my hippy-hat and my glasses from my bike-journey in Thailand. Stupid me, dind´t close the bag (thought about and then forgot). but yes.. stuff can be replaced and was not in too much use anyway.. just another reminder that things don´t last forever and some more stuff I lost along the way.

Then I should have proabaly taken the coastal road and not the Highway from Santiago to Chillan. Because the highway was pretty boring and the Andes were too far away to appreciate them.. they kinda got lost in the smog or fog at the horizon. But then maybe I would not have enden in the Chillan hotsprings... a wonderful experience and if I wouldn´t have gotten a bad sunburn, it would have been the perfect day! :)
yes.. really sucks! I care a lot about my skin and luckily can´t even remember when this happened to me the last time. But at the moment it even hurts to wear my jacket (not mentioning how it is to take it on and off). I put sunscreen on my face and shoulders, but maybe didn´t wait long enough before going into the warm water or just stayed for too long (approx 4 hours talking to somebody in the pool) and the sun burned my shoulders and breast :( forgot about the time and even if the water was sulfuric and silted, the sun got through anyway. Well.. now it´s Aloe Vera and getting another cream to heal my skin. Glad this doesn`t happen too often to me!

so I went to the Chillan hotsprings.. it´s kinda like St.Moritz, but off-season.. so I could get a room for 16USD and the place was not too crowded with tourists (it´s for skying in winter.. I was for walking in summer! :)
there were almost no restaurants open, but the one that was open had incredible tasty food!!! so I eat like a king!! :D also had a 20 USD breakfast buffet in a 5-star hotel that was best buffet I´ve ever had! ..I didn´t find something in the village down and when I checked up in the hill, there were only these fancy hotels, so I spent the money, but also grabbed some fruits and made a little sandwich that was my lunch later on (so I could compensate the expenses ;) hehe ;)
so was talking 4 hours in the hot pools and then walking up to some steam-wholes, where sulfuric vapour comes out of the mountain. Got nice view and was a nice hike to smell like sulfur afterwards! ;)
the cheapest option is 9 USD all day long and you can hike in the park as well.. so I was totally fine with that!! otherwise it´s 30-40 USD to use the pool of the hotel and that was WAAAAY to much. I can´t enjoy the fancy expensive hotels.. it´s spending too much money!

I also had more time lately to practise my kung-fu-stuff and it´s looking better and better ;) hehe ;) ..just at the moment can´t move my arms without being in pain :-/ so probably have to wait a day or two, until picking up my toys again.

then at this point I have to mention, that all the people I meet in Chile are REALLY, REALLY nice!! :) ..the country itself is not too stunning.. they got 2000km of desert, then 1000km of nice landscape and then 1500km of also nice landscape, but pretty much unaccessible :P but got a lot of Earthquakes and Tsunamis.. so changing it for Switzerland? NEVER!! :D not even for having 3500km coast! ;) hehe ;)

so the guy yesterday installed my cable TV in my room.. they just had 1 decoder, so he transferred the signal to my room, putting me a TV there and even taking my bike inside over night (I was already sleeping and would have let it outside.. small town in Chile, nothing would happen), but he and 3 other men took it inside and I really appreciate that!! he was also going to buy vinagre for me, so I could make compresses on my red skin. I guess it helped a bit :)
then this morning I had to mention things they forgot to charge me, but it was still very cheap!! the room was 10USD without TV and for all the circumstances he asked for 12 USD finally (my cheapest TV-Room was 30 USD I got in Chile so far). and I was SOOOO happy to watch the Simpson for 2 hours and go to sleep! :) ..really wanted to watch TV and turn off my mind.. and mostly in places, I went to sleep very early, because nothing to do and no TV.. so I appreciated that he installed my a TV! :D

So I had quite some up and downs since I left Santiago.. passed a lot of great moments, but also worried about job, got sunburn, and thinking in general about this trip and my future..
this morning, riding on a dirtroad, I got a stone hitting my foot.. never happened before and hurt a lot!! so I consider just to go to Osorro and then over to Bariloche (where I will NOT stay for long because very expensive) and then going up the Argentinian side.. I know, the most beautiful part of Chile is Puerto Montt and further down.. but all unpaved and then if the waether is cold or covered sky or even raining, then it´s a NO-GO (especially because I knew, will be just 3 weeks of Chile and not too far down, because I´ve already delayed too much with the climate). ..So maybe just another few days in Chile and a few 100km more and then Argentina and all the way up to Bolivia (because that is Fix! -> going to Bolivia, selling the bike and then stop a month in NY and being back home.. actually.. I know already the ending of my trip).

then something that I was also thinking about lately.. well.. have to research it a bit more, but seems to be a tendency:

Virginity seems to be waaay overvalued here in Chile!! So some individuals I talked with, really shocked me with their actitude!! you might find a 28 year old woman that is still virgin, because not married yet.. thats HORRIBLE!!!
first of all.. I think it´s wise to try someone in bed before marrying and living together before marrying.. so you know, if you can stand it and you don´t get divorced right away!
here in Chile, there were more divorces last year than marriages.. wonder why? if they just had 1 person in their life, so they might want to try more.. and: if you are the very, single one that ever got my pussy, so you are MINE and ONLY MINE! and this leads to jalousy (a feeling as useful as hatred, fear or anger) and through jalousy and distrusting each other, people start to cheat on each other. ..so I can say, I will NEVER marry a virgin! ..someone who doesn´t know shit in bed.. can´t surprise me, but has to be taught everything by me.. can´t even show me something new. AND: if they waited for so long.. what meaning has sexuality to you? you never wanted it and now you enjoy it fully? I don´t think so.. I think you let it starve already. I was.. the next step is to prohibit sex and making babies in vials or cutting off their clitoris, because sexual pleasure is anyway denied by society. ..but then talking in double-sense all the time and dancing stupid Reaggeton, practically having sex on the dancefloor, but then being so conservative.. doesn´t make sense to me.. so if somebody said, Chilean women are one of the 3 worst things of South America, he probably had this behaviour in mind (want to be virgin Maria, then being hyper-jalous and cheating on their husband/wife).

well... you don´t know, what you are missing!! ;) haha :D

also thought about how it would be to marry somebody with a child.. not impossible to fall in love with somebody like that (and the child), but I think, I´ll meet somebody, make a lot of party, move together, travel together for long time and then having kids.. so in my plans, it´s hard somebody enters with a child. I might also want to be my first child being her first child.. so going through it together. ..but no worries.. won´t happen in the next 4-5 years ;) hehe ;) life is long and beautiful and I try to enjoy it fully!!

okay.. that´s it.. back on the bike.. want to get to that volcano and tomorrow climbing it.. will be good! :)

..Visiting an old friend..

2011-02-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

it's Sunday afternoon, I'm packing up again after staying a few days at Cyrils place (and Caliope, his wife). I really enjoyed my stay in Santiago!! well, were some strange days with even rain in Summer in Santiago, while they say it's more probable to get an earthquake than rain in this season ;) (never felt an earthquake and eager to experience one..)
then there was a bright mix of different stuff that I was doing.. a bit of swinging, going out with friends on Saturday, having a great night dancing, a yummi BBQ yesterday and drinking some good wine (drank a lot the last days, so my digestion is still kinda weak and I will detox during the week.. then I'll have to reason for drinking anyway ;) and we also played a lot of Magic (Cyril has great decks and was pure fun!!!), playing some board games and a Roleplay with his group.. playing Kuthulu the dark age and also this was very fun! (we all died in the end as it mostly happens in Kuthulu games ;) hehehe ;)
I walked from the center of the city to here.. bought a new sweater and lazy-pants (well.. they were second hand and very cheap.. exactly what I wanted! and I like the colors!! (red)), have a roadmap, today try to get a new visor and information what roads to take and where to stay.
I didn't feel like museums or taking pictures of the city.. not my style! ;)
then what more.. I'm really happy they have a guestroom here!! gives me privacy, because living on the couch is very tyring and the cats would take my stuff apart and I feel less intrusing their married-life ;)
they are but super welcoming me (from the first moment) and not kicking me out at all.. really appreciate that vibe too!! :) seems, they somehow want to hook me up with her sister, but as I'm really passing by and not staying or wanting to get married as Cyrill, better not to try to get too much hold on me ;)

..hmm.. that's it more or less.. stay tuned, gonna hear from me! :)

..there`s nothing to see.. =!

2011-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

..actually takes me just 3 days to get to Santiago, for there is an event I want to assist on Thursday and for speeding up a little bit, I`ll make it tomorrow Wednesday already. That`s not too bad, because you easily pay 20USD for a room :/

so on Saturday we went flying in the evening and the winds were REALLY strong, so two Swiss mates help me a good deal to get into the air (kite flew so many times around, dragging us behind :P and could stay in the air for some minutes and then while kinda being hovering in front of the edge and people turning above, I made the (wrong) decision to turn inwards and got pushed behind the edge, where I toplanded smoothly behind some flagpoles.. will not try that again ;) but then after another start 30 min more flying and landing close to the hostel.. learned something (especially not to launch in winds of 25km/h :P
then on Sunday another great 1h30min flight, thermaling up to 600m.a.s.l. and flying over the city, landing on the beach, all by myself!! YEEPPIIII! :D that was FANTASTIC! ..some white russians in the afternoon and a yummi BBQ in the evening (watching Superbowl.. a very wierd sport! ;)
then I cancelled the rental and nights.. they told me 1 full day and 2 half days = 2 full days (what made it really cheap and super fair!!) and 5 nights of 16USD.. I lived really cheap! :) glad I stayed for some days, because after this, places are not that relaxed as the fly-hostel.. (lot`s of space around for camping and green area and out of the city with splendid view! :)
I easily spend 30-40USD on gas a day when riding a lot (as the last two days) and sleeping also 20USD (for just room tonight) and yesterday 30USD to have nice bed and private bath and TV (to watch holy monday night MTV animations ;) that was also good! anyway.. drove both days over 600km, so I`ll have a good sleep ;) driving itself not too hard.. just lot`s of desert. I like a zillion times more Switzerland for it`s such a compact beauty! :D you can get everywhere so easily and beautiful Landscape.. even the Balsthal offers more than the last 1500km.. well, lot`s of coast, but since the war for the bird-shit is over, just few people spend their holidays camping on the beach.. not too spectacular and smelling quite a bit after the seeweed, drying or rotting in the sun.
then it seems that further down and the more to the sea, the vegetations changes from nothing to dry bushes and other plants that managed to survive in this dryness (it`s one of the or the driest place in the world I think :P ..at least feels like this to my nose and my lips, driving through the endless desert (no way to walk through it and I`ve seen some people doing it on a bike.. they must have too much time ;) hehe ;) it`s OK to have it seen and nice to say, "I crossed it" but I`ve seen more spectacular things in less time (Guatemala e.g.) and I really hope that below Santiago, it changes to something more that reminds Patagonia..
with the wind from the sea, I still needed a pullover and my nose is wether closed or running from the constant wind in my face (just from driving, but still 100km/h). I wish for a 6th gear and if I could drive 150km/h with that bike then I would do it.. the endlessly long, straight and in very good shape being roads, are easily to drive.. but yes.. tomorrow making a stop for a couple of days in Santiago to rest and relax and spend some time sozializing :) from there on I`ll see..
as the room tonight is utterly simple, I might just go out, see if I can get the the beach (or rocks at the sea) and have dinner and some drinks, before bedtime :)
well.. have to mention.. that yesterday when I hit the coast, 50km above Taltal (I nice and small, cute town as I imagined Iquique would be it.. lovely at the sea, perfect so spend a weekend with your girlfriend! :) ..so the last stretch was an oasis for my eyes, after a lot of dust and sandy hills! the last mountains falling off to 300m wide flat part and over an edge down to the cliffs and a road winding smoothly through it (driven in the light of the late afternoon :)
okay.. for my nose bothering me and shower needed, I logout and hear from me when in the capital of this country..
ahh.. haven`t seen too much of good local cuisine, as lots of restaurant sell hotdogs and sandwiches ;) hehe ;) they must be found along the whole 3500km down south ;)

..flying over the dunes.. :)

2011-02-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Iquique, after driving the last part with a German guy that is also traveling with his bike down :)
the ride was really nice, through desert (probably already the Atacama-desert). Nice because special from other landscapes I´ve seen.. I just really hoped, no overtemp. lamp is going on and no flat tire along the way, but everything went fine! :)
there is an old Sulfate-mining-town along the way (ghosttown now and UNESCO world heritage). and I´m glad, I stopped along the way.. there were 3700 people living at it´s peak and has been built in 1870 and closed finally in 1960. So many old buildings with rusty metal roofs, that are making great authentic noises in the wind ;) since I´ve been in this ghost town in Cambodia, this was the second really nice ghost town in my life that I´ve seen (too bad there are not more ;) so I hung out for a while, checking the old factory buildings, climbing on a hill and going through the community buildings as Theater, doctors office and some nice expositions of mining tools and daily things they used many decades ago.. you´ll see some pictures of it online later (have to be some good shots amongst the many I took ;)
then the German guy caught up with me (he had a flat tire in the morning) and we drove the last part together, after checking out another ruins just in front of Humberstone. He also has a paragliding license and was looking for the same place, so together with him, we found the place pretty quickly :) ..but he is finally not taking off, because it´s 5 years ago since his last flight.. well.. it´s not too bad flying here (easy compared to other places).
So getting here.. getting off the bike, I felt a bit lonely and empty.. while driving, I felt really good, having a purpose, but then unloading my things here, I didn´t feel to euphoric.. but then everything changed.. the people here are super totally awesome (young flying community) and I had on the first day a 2-hrs flight (longest in my paragliding history ;) and was great flying over the dunes here in Iquique. Then in the night even better, a super tasty BBQ.. SUPER-SUPER-TASTY!! :) everything soooo good! :) great vibes with the people, invited them what I got with me and we made good friends! ..then yesterday I went up again early in the morning and we had to wait for quite a while until the wind picked up.. and then finally when there would have been wind, I couldn´t take off.. wind too strong, glider flying all over the place, tearing me along on the strings.. maybe it would have worked out.. but the car was leaving, there was nobody to give me a hand, wing folding over and being dragged along the ground.. I gave up. Maybe better because enforcing it could have ended in an accident or me even more frustrated going down with public transport (even spending more time on the failed attempt). Then I´m sure with a little bit more of experience and ground-handling-practice, it would have worked (but I always left out ground handling and I just got today more tips for launching in strong winds). So yesterday was not too stunning.. I ended up walking along the beach and going to early drinking beer and not doing splendid stuff..) then they were flying in the evening and I didn´t know (they normally don´t, but did this very night). So I missed my other flying opportunity and got more sad, going to bed early.. :/

but then today a brand new day and going up again with the folks, launching again (after 1 failed attempt), having a nice start and catching good thermals.. was one of the highest pilots :) while others tried to get more height, I was with another two pilots waaay above :D
then I headed over to the point where they fly over the city and land on the beach, didn´t want to fly over straight away and didn´t know if it would work and wanted to fly anyway a bit longer than just beach and landing.. but then unfortunately on my way back, I lost a lot of height, couldn´t find any more thermals or upwind and landed behind a dune, quite a bit away from the hostel (where you can land as well.. as I did the first day) and had to walk for 20 minutes in the sun with all the gear.. but made it (I guess, it´s called exercises ;) hehehe ;)
but had a good flight over an hour and I´m pretty content with myself that (restoring my self esteem after yesterday ;) ..it´s a bit windy at the start, but not taking a long time, without bothering other pilots and having a smooth take-off gives me confidence! :) (otherwise the other pilots may not like you too much, if you suck already on the ground ;)

what more.. so tomorrow is Superbowl and other big BBQ here (that´s why I want to stay until Monday) and will try to fly this afternoon and tomorrow at noon and then chilling Sunday afternoon and taking off early Monday morning.

I´ve seen, it´s gonna take me 6 days to Santiago (it´s a really looong way down) and then staying a few days with my friend Cyrill from Switzerland (Expat married with Chilean girl ;) and then another 4-5 days further down in Chile (because it´s supposed to be nice there) and then over to Argentina and all the way up on the other side of the Andes (because going over to Buenos Aires would be a lot of boring flat country). so about 2 weeks straight down in Chile, then 2 weeks straight up in Argentina and then as foretold, going back to Bolivia for 1 month, have fun, sell bike and see when I have to be back (should have more idea by then). finishing my job-documents and will be happy having a signed contract in Switzerland for July/August :)

okey.. that´s it.. you´ll hear from me soon! :)

..back on track again.. ;)

2011-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

time to catch up with my blog.. I`m here in Arica, Chile.. it`s 1.30am and I passed out watching TV (musst have been pretty exhausted again ;) but as long the internet isn`t occupied at the hostal, I write down some lines..

first of all: Mom, if you see this: My internetaccount is blocked and I can`t send you any mails (GMX should fix me that soon!) if you don`t extended my insurance, wait with it.. will write you back in the next days.

So I finished all my tasks in CBBA: sending my last packet with clothes and roleplay stuff, giving back the TV and DVD and saying good bye to my friends (to some of them playing paintball, what totally rocked!!! haha! :) got two bruises, but had a lot of fun! :) was "action-jackson" again on the court ;)
then I had the last minute idea to get some bodypart lasered ;) but disappointingly found out that this is an over a year progress, that takes many sessions.. well, it would have been such a badass move ;) hehehe ;)

last Saturday when we woke up, Karen was not in a really good mood.. sad that I`m leaving and bailing out from paintball and finally getting sick, so I haven`t seen her all day long :(
therefore I changed my plans to leave on Sunday, but doing this on Monday instead, having another full day with Karen. I`m so happy I did it!! :) Karen cooked for me in the night.. DELICIOUS!! :D she brought a little table grill and we made some meat, russian salad, fried yucca, rice, sauce.. it touched me so much that she made all that tasty food for me!! I love that girl so much!! :*

then finally Monday morning, after the last sex, I headed out to the wide, wide world again. when I woke up first in the morning, it was clouded (Sunday would have been the perfect day to take off), but then cleared up and when I was starting in CBBA, I just wore a T-Shirt, because it was so hot! :)
but then going up to 4500m.a.s.l. it became much more freezing and I also got some rain (was OK to have Karen NOT with me, she would have suffered so much ;) (P.S. and the bike would not have liked it at all).
so on the way I had to put much more clothes on to not be frozen all the way through ;) ..was a pretty rough ride.. along the way to El Alto and then the turn off to Tambo Quemado that I actually reached, by passing a nasty storm at 5000m.a.s.l. :P really.. while rain was pouring down onto me, there were lightnings so close to me, as I`ve rarely seen them (because I`m mostly in a warm, dry bed if things like this come down ;) hehe ;)
before I could answer myself the question, how probable it would be to be hit by a lighting, I already passed that storm and was close to get to the frontier. There was snow lying next to me (and it was so cold that I wondered why it`s still drops of rain and not snow falling down..

when I got to the place, there was not much to do.. a few huts that mark the Bolivian boarder. Got myself a 7USD room with not much in it and ended up drinking tee and falling asleep at 18.30, watching some non-sense-local-TV-channel. Slept then about 12 hours, until they opened the boarder in the morning. (even started raining, when I was lying in my bed.. and COOOOOLD)
so at 8.30am I passed the Bolivian boarder and about an hour later, I also did all the paperwork on the Chilenian side.. for the first time in my riding-history, I`ve been searched.. had to take all the stuff off the bike and a guy in white plastic gloves went through it. Hey, what do you exept to find: a kg of coke?! ;) don`t think any backbacker is in the big drug dealing business.. but anyway, they probably did what they had to do. didn`t comment a lot on the bag of sextoys and the other personal items I had in my luggage ;) hehe ;)
well.. didn`t find anything and sent me on the way again, after I collected half a dozen of stamps. Well.. leaving the bike in Chile is not what I`m going to do, so I pretty much figured out that I`ll sell it in Bolivia in about 3 months. But then driving down to Santiago de Chile brings me pretty much down and I`d have to climb up again in Argentina.. we`ll see :) but saying good bye in CBBA, there were so many people (above all Karen) that make me wanting to go back!!
so then today (wow, that was just today :) I dropped 5000m down to the beach (where I`m now :) it cleared up and while I was driving through a snowy landscape with beautiful mountains, the road was leading constantly down, bringing warmer and warmer weather to me! :)
Yes, it was a beautiful ride over the Andes after all! :) big canyons and colorfull rocks (the red ones I liked most.. gave me some Mars ambient ;)
then after just 180km I arrived at Arica.. what can I tell you about Chile so far: first of all.. gasoline is of better quality (93/95/97 Octane) but also muuuuuch more expensive.. I think, I`ve never payed as much as 1.50USD outside of Switzerland :P but anyway, I hope they do something useful with these taxes ;) then the food is really tasty, but ended up always paying around 8USD for a meal.. can probably optimize that, but the beers I grabbed today were also pretty costly. I think I have to check some more ways to obtain daily goods (as drinking water).

Then I got here and took a room for 24USD (breakfast included at least) to stay until tomorrow (where I head down to Iquiqe and do some paragliding there! :D
was not too bad today (besides missing Karen a lot and having such a big change in my life again). changed my money (1USD = 500Pesos) so you easily have thousands of Pesos on you ;)
and made a little trip with my bike to the end of the beach road, checking some caves and doing quite some fancy-kung-fu stuff to move my body and fight my back pain (and having fun doing this stuff on the cliffs, while the surge was hitting the rocks below :D
then for having my bike unloaded, rode up to some antennas (above the lookout-point-with-Jesus where everybody goes ;) Arica is the driest town in the earth they say, so the terrain was perfect to drive a heavy bike without studded tyres up and down the hill! :D
..passed then the Jesus, filled my tank and my stomach and got even a haircut here (yes, was about time ;) and even when I doubted during the process, the guy did good work for 4USD :)

So tomorrow entering more into the heart of Chile.. living is more expensive here, but I think, I can handle it ;) still fit`s into the budget! :)
haven`t talked to a lot of people so far.. will connect myself more to the world again, but after being in CBBA with Karen, having this other life, it is a really, really big change to what I`m having now! but then it`s also OK.. traveling on your own doesn`t mean you`re always super entertained, but on the long run you get so much more out of it that it`s worth to pass through the other moments as well.
Then was doing pretty cool stuff today, I wouldn`t have done otherwise and I got a bit of my style back.. my wild, wild, adventureous spirit that brought me so far! :)

OK.. hope I didn`t leave out too much on this one ;) I`m pretty sure, I`ll have something to tell over the next days.. happening a lot, while being out there ;) hehe ;)
have fun and hear from me soon! ..just got that old spirit back of conquering the world ;)

..running into walls ;)

2011-01-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

would better have been a "wall-running" ;) but even after 2 months, I subestimated the size of my apartment and turned in too fast in the dark (after going out ;) so hit my head with the wall.. no big deal, it`s a "Berner Dickschaedel" so nothing real happened ;)

..yesterday my friends made a BBQ in my name and I enjoyed seeing them all again!! the plan is going for a last Paintball next Saturday and then Sunday early morning, I`m taking off.. anyway.. last day paid of my apartment and Visa`s running out as well.
Friday is another good-bye party of mine organized by Eliane.. I`m looking forward to be there!! :) and there are about 4 days left of finishing my things here.. (above all: enjoying time with Karen!!!)
last Thursday I came up with the idea to travel together, but I don`t like it after all.. bike would be too heavy loaded and she didn`t ask her Dad.. so she having such a catastrophic situation with her parents, I don`t want to take her along.. she has to get that things straight before.
Met her Dad, but he didn`t even say his name and was in no talking mood.. so I guess, I give a shit about him as well :P

tried to get my bikepapers today and they told me, the bike already left the country ;) hehe ;) NO IT DIDN`T!! but no idea how and why they signed it out at the boarder.. the funny thing is: if I would want to sell it, would be the best moment.. officially it`s not even in the country ;) hehe ;)

what more.. had some more hanging around time in bed watching movies with my beloved Karen and some messed-up moments, because I was stressed out about the ending here.. might come back the vibe, but I really try to live day by day and not being worried about leaving all this here back behind..

getting some cow-horns now and then I got everything for my package ;)

hear from me soon! ..big hug to all of you!! :)

..two more weeks to be here..

2011-01-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

hmm.. really.. there`s not a lot to write.. I`m kinda having holidays from traveling and enjoying my time here!! ..then on the other hand, I feel, I have to move.. to see Chile and Argentina and hanging around many weeks in a row is not what fulfills me. So Feb/Mar will be on the road and let`s see what happens :)

I`m close to have my CV ready and sending it out to all the people that agreed to help with finding me a job! :) once this rolls, I`ll figure out when I have to be back in Switzerland and the end of the trip will be planned (before that, impossible to carve my track in stone already).

what more.. we went for a weekend to Villa Tunari.. jungle and hot and nice and a really good change after being in my apartment for so long! ..then down there in the jungle, I got problems with my bike. Battery failed and I had to find a new one and charge and change.. were some tasks, but Karen stayed calm (she`s just great!!! :) and finally everything got fixed.. unfortunately on the way back I got the same problem and when I first thought vibrations damaged my battery, I`d say now theres a loose contact and it short-circuited my old battery. For the problem occured on the top of a mountain, I could start the bike up again, but it left me in uncertainty about the bike.. anyway.. in the last days everything was fine and if it takes me to Chile, then I`m more positive about it again! ;) hehe ;)

then there`s the usual stuff going on.. waiting for the last role-play-pieces to send another package back home, renewing my bike-insurance, saying good-bye to the people here..

okay.. time to get some breakfast in my starving tummi ;)

..extending another time.. ;)

2011-01-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

hey there! :)

..no real news here.. celbrated new year, but I was kinda too tired and had too many parties lately to go wild ;) I guess, it`s time for some detox or slowing down a bit.. but hey.. what will you do, if there are so many oportunities to have a glass or two ;) anyway.. had some ups and downs, not knowing what I should do and thought about going traveling for 3 weeks with Karen, going to Chile and then over to Argentina and back to CBBA until the 25th, when classes start again. I really felt like moving and getting some adventures after staying 6 weeks in CBBA.. but then it would be too far to make the trip and probably no crossing over the Andes, so coming back same way.. and then I let go this plan again. Another issue would be my apartment.. don`t want to loose it. but for the asking and not knowing, the people above lowered the rent 50USD, so it was actually good to be confused and talk to people ;)
the newest plan is staying until end of January.. then making it to Iquiqe in Chile, paraglide and visit Cyril who exiled to Chile :) then over to Argentina over the Andes (further down) and spending 2 month instead of 3 weeks for the whole thing. will be Feb and March, then April eventually back to CBBA or just see what happens with the last 3 months of my trip (also looking for a job back home.. might just have to be flexible).
after spending a lot of time and having so many worries about selling the bike, I know I won`t do that in the next 3-4 month and stopped worrying for a while ;) hehe ;)
what more.. having great times with Karen, breakfast in bed, ordering food from restaurants, zapping TV, watching movies and giving a lot of massages! :) we have been so unseparated lately.. what could I do ;) hehe ;) just living the moment and enjoying!!

so yes.. hear from me soon and have a great time back home!!! :) ..this trip has been incredibly diverse!!! so many different stages in live..

..and a happy new year! :)

2010-12-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

hmm.. just got a minute, but should use it to write some lines..

I spent x-mas with Alin and his family. Was really nice to meet his mom, aunts, uncles and sister! had good food, took part in the x-mas-picture with tree ;) and cheered at midnight, wishing all the best for the coming year (they seem to do that twice here ;) later I met Karen at her place and I stayed until 5am, when I had to leave to not be seen by her dad ;) hehe ;)
then Saturday was going out, meeting people, listening to good music and having some beers until not too early in the morning. We went back home, had a very exhausting night talking about different things (mostly about the tense situation in her family) and went to sleep tired as hell to wake up Sunday in the afternoon and preparing my house-warming party. Yes.. there were some tough moments through the week-end, but I`m happy we can talk about just everything (she told me more than to her Dad in the last five years.. because her Dad isn`t listening and has very few understanding for his Indigo daughter :( so over just very few days, we grew together as we would have a relationship of a year.
the party was awesome.. there were probably 25 friends showing up, even bringing soundsystem and laser and heard great music and had great, great times, being houselord and having this party!!!! :D ..even the people above stayed out until everybody was gone, so they didn`t even notice that I had more people in my house than usual.
they invited me to their house 1 hour from here at a lake, but we didn`t find time over the weekend.. but I appreciate their nice x-mas card and the invitation! :D ..best vibes with the people who rent me the place.

then yesterday I got 30 days more visa and can get another 90 days by going to Peru, if it has to be :D ..PERFECT!!!! can stay as long as I want and let`s see what happens to Karen and me and what`s the solution of their family situation (their Dad was about to throw her out..) but there is always a solution and we don`t worry too much about that (where is love, there is a way! ;D

today I got some things done.. fixing my pants and checking out the armor.. weeeeee.. what a great piece of decoration!! the griffins just leave no question that I`m a gryphon-warrior and I`m looking forward to try it out in Switzerland ;) hehe ;)
hmm.. that`s about it.. I`m on my way to pick up my love and then let`s cuddle at my place ;)
wishing you a happy new year and hear from me soon..

MERRY X-MAS!! :D

2010-12-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

weeeee.. must have reached another level of many Karma-Points to be blessed so much in my life!! :D

where do I start.. well.. I´m in love as never before!! :D since I flew around the world to meet the parents, I haven´t felt so much taken by a human being.

so last Friday I went to some small hip-hop event where Alin was filming and met this girl.. didn´t really think to much in that moment, because I was still in a relationship and I was not in the best mood (I wonder how I left such an impression on her ;) but anyway.. the next day I invited her to the full-moon party and we had BEST TIMES EVER!!! :D haha! :D ..the party was great! lot´s of good music as I heard, but I was not dancing, was not juggling, not playing with my toys, not even using my fireswords.. I was just talking and listening a lot to this lovely and energetic being! she is 26, studying medicine (finishes in one year) and she is Indigo too!!!! can you believe that?!? haven´t been thinking a lot about indigo over the last years, but when she came up with that, how much indigo she is, it all makes sense to me :)
well.. when I felt myself falling so much in love with her, I told her about the relationship I still have and that I should have stopped 10 days ago already.. but because my Ex didn´t want to let me go and for convenience I stayed. So meeting Karen, we didn´t sleep together until I finished my old relationship.. I really hate switching and probably never happened in my life but was inevitable.. even Karen forgave me for that "switch". ..but I told my Ex before that I don´t love her that I just will be here until end of the year and that I DONT WANT to meet her family.. I sucked being in that relationship.
Never be with somebody that you don´t love!

with Karen it´s so much different.. I enjoy being gentlemen and will meet her family tomorrow (I really want to meet her family and get along well, so they don´t worry if she spends a lot of time with me).
we were basically non-stop together since we met on Saturday and I enjoyed so much to forget about the world for a moment, because walking on clouds.. yes.. matched in heaven is what I would say! :)
so I explained everything my Ex (I was happy when that meeting was over) and we ended in good terms (anyway.. I´d be gone in 3 days if I wouldn´t have met Karen).
I feel having got the most amazing x-mas present ever and I´m so happy as haven´t been in a long time (means, REALLY, REALLY happy! :D
and yesterday we bought ourselves presents by spending 100 USD in a sex-shop getting a very nice choice of sensual things that I´m looking forward to try out!! hahaha :D yes..not only on the spiritual and on the mental plane we match perfectly, also in bed I´m super satisfied, as she unleashes her little nymph ;) hehehe ;) dude.. best sex ever!! and most incredible girl I´ve ever met!! looking at the story of her life and the things she does and the things we live together she´s surprising me more and more every day! :D

so.. I´ll be here in January. Have to see that I get 2 month more for me and the bike (task for Monday) and get my stuff together to send back home.. last days I was just not in this world, so it all had to wait ;) hehe ;)
the people who rent me the apartment are super, super nice and they let me stay more time and even being loud sometimes, they didn´t hear anything and didn´t feel bothered.. everything is just PERFECT! :D
so this afternoon I don´t have any plans.. enjoying the sun and the 25°C in Cochabamba :) glad to be here ;) hehe ;)
that´s it.. lately have been ordering a lot of food (lazy cook ;) and for example 10 USD you get "lomo" (good piece of meet), mixed salad, fried yucca (similar french fries) and a big bottle of Fanta delivered to your house.. we ate both enough and couldn´t finish and was super tasty!!! :D therefore lazy me, ordering food, spending my money here in Bolivia as it´s worth much more and having best times of my life!! :D ..imposible to leave soon ;) hehe ;)

that´s probably it.. will hear more from me as mentionable things happen here ;)
sending you the best wishes you there, accompanied of lot´s of love that´s present in my life!!

be well and be happy! :)

..a little update..

2010-12-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

hmm.. haven´t much plans for today. Have been playing a lot with my friends, spent wonderful times with Veronica, watching movies, cooking, going out and having great sex ;) what more could I ask for ;) hehe ;)
this week-end is another full-moon and I´ll be there.. Friday and Saturday I want to go play paintball again. We were playing the last week-end and it was SO MUCH FUN!! :D I finally really got into it! ..unfortunately running around being hangover and without warming up really messed me up completely.. so Saturday night I went to bed early and Sunday I was still in agony ;) then twitched a nerf what didn´t make it better :P and my back hurts terribly.. but whatever.. life has to go on ;)
trying here to get some stuff done in the internet, but wether the insurance guy nor headhunters or the diving-people answer.. not even Liz.. what´s going on out there!?!? you guys have no time to keep in touch with me??!
haven`t been paragliding in a while.. conditions were not good and I hope there will be another flight or two until end of the year.
the BMW shop washed my bike and changed oil.. was payable all in all, but they didn´t to any wonder tricks as I asked about some strange noises that I don´t know if they are normal.. they guys have no idea at all about that as it seems. but anyway.. it´s running fine and I plan to sell it in two month anyway, so I won´t invest a lot of money in it. Talked to some guy at the customs and it would be 1500USD to import it and some circumstances or selling it without papers to someone here and he´ll wait until "amnesty of vehicules" that they do here in Bolivia. Probably gonna do it like that.. really feel that I don´t want to sell it in this very instant. Riding bike is just sweet!! and I have the longing to be on the road again.. maybe I´ll do a little trip from CBBA to Chapare/Villa Tunari. Should take her out for a ride ;)

what more.. hmm... life has been a joyful mix between girlfriend, roleplaying with friends, watching movies, paintball and trying to get my armor complete and some other open items in town (that take forever to be sorted out).

yeah.. sorry.. empty mind. trying to keep my busy today ;) gonna hear from me soon :)

..tons of things going on.. :)

2010-12-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

Phew.. time to update my blog :)
life´s still beautiful and I´m pretty busy here :) ..my leather armor is progressing (it´s gonna be gooooood! ;) hehe :) then I talked to the people from the BMW shop before and they will help me doing some tasks on my bike. Will be next monday. Still haven´t met the Saya-people, but also doing this next week (and then comes another full moon party here ;)
this afternoon back to Paintball.. had a session with Boris and friends (and his doughters ;) and exept for the fact that I would have needed more bullets, it was super fun! :D well.. in the end got probably more tagged than I tagged (why can´t I be superior in this sport ;) hehe ;)
so I want to invest a 30USD in 500 rounds and paint the arene colorful ;) the field is sweet!! barrels, car wrecks and lot´s of apocalyptic-looking stuff.. perfect to have a good match. could be broader, so you can outrun the enemy.. but it´s good for what it is! :)
I´ve seen Karol again and was nice to talk! she looks still super cute, but not that I felt we would have to be together again.
I´m still with my "girlfriend" from Taquiña party. She really wants to stay with me and I can´t complain. It´s nice to share many things (above all the bed ;) hehe ;) but then I was also a bit insecure about all this. is it the different of our age, missing experience in life from her side.. or do I want to be free and single? talked to her and was pretty messy in the end (should have shut up, but can´t .. that´s not me. I have to talk these issues out). Well.. at the moment I feel better! it´s good not to see each other every day (what she´d like to do). But we had a lot of incredible moments and I´m sure there will be lot more. I´m just way more crazy doing stuff in life (of course, I´m in my saturn return ;)
were watching TV yesterday.. finally got all the cables, rented a TV for 20USD until end of the year and bought already the newest copied movies and had a nice session yesterday :) saw some really good titles!! :D
We keep roleplaying and it rocks! having a campain with Alin and Carlos (guided by Cesar) and Alin gave us a little Cyberpunk, where I play a very, very bad but ass-kicking cop ;) I hope we can continue this afternoon!!
Wednesday I invited Veronica (GF) to see oriental dances.. very enjoyable! cute kids dancing arabian dances and other riper girls, doing sexy belly dance ;) hehe ;) yes, a good piece of culture!!
Then I´m planning things as selling my bike, getting to dive again in Costa Rica and above all, to get a good job in Switzerland. Translated my CV in German with many improvements in structure and design. Next week, I´ll have a final PDF version and then let´s see what kind of job I´ll get ;) ..I want to do something in international project management (it´s nice to have a clear idea of what you want ;) hehe ;) for sure not sale, development or simple engineering.
hmm.. that´s all I guess ;) hehe ;) the weather is nice.. somewhere between 20ºC and 30ºC, dry and lovely with the sun and long days :)
have a great time back home!! :)

..living as a King!! :D

2010-12-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

hmm.. the week has passed and I was busy with seeing friends and having good times!! :D ..if there´s a moment I´d call surfing on the top, it would be one like that! :D

still having lot´s of things on my list.. yesterday we started a campain roleplaying in my apartment. I gladly invite food, drinks, beer and the place (cleaning up ;) for having such great times with friends!! seems to be OK with the people living above, having frequent visits in my place (everybody tells me to invite him to any party I´ll having up there ;) hehe ;) I know why.. it´s just awesome to be in such an apartment!! :D I made a little movie and try to upload it to Facebook to tell the world about my decadent place I own here in CBBA ;) (well.. I won´t get spoiled because of that.. never have and never will be in a place like this again, I guess ;)
So I have quite a few friends that call me (or I call them) to go out and have fun.. also my new girlfriend that I met at a party last Sunday. She is pretty young, but really wants to stay with me (and really wants to do awesome things with me ;) so I couldn´t turn her down.. just too strong female energies around here ;)
so I´m her second boyfriend she gets intime with (and the first one left out many things ;) so basically 90% of what I´m showing to her is completely new in her life, but she´s a fast learner and will be a a great lover and sensual seducer soon ;) hehe ;)
bought food and drinks for about 100 USD and now my fridge and minibar are full with lots of tasty stuff ;) really feel home as I haven´t felt for quite a while. It´s good to have a kitchen and a fridge.. and Adriana my ex-girlfriend here borrowed me a DVD player and I´m organizing a bigger TV now.. then it will be PERFECT!!! MUHAHAHA ;D ..ah dude.. life is just GREAT!!
then I was paragliding twice already (did I tell you that?). It´s pretty rough here with flying in thin air, but the place is nice (and as long I can afford 50 USD for equipment rental, I´ll be flying here in CBBA). Furthermore Skydiving is not recommendable.. small plane, expensive, just few seconds fall, long time for the place to climb and above all: old equipment. So I focus on paragliding here and check skydiving in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
so I had a flight last week.. a short one of 10 minutes and a bit a longer one of 25 minutes, showing the people here that I know, what I´m doing! ;) two nice landings.. one on my ass, but the instructor was applauding anyway ;) hehe ;) he says, as long you don´t get hurt, it´s fine! :D
so then two days ago I had a 1hour 10minutes flight.. quite some while thermaling (without having variometer or seeing birds.. just feeling the upwinds and downwinds and circeling whereever there was good lift.
then I had my first frontal collapse.. weeee.. scary stuff, but these new equipments know how to recover themselves. frontal collapse happens when you fly through an upwind and hitting a downwind at the end of it. Your wing folds along your side-axis, depressurizes (looses it´s stability) and you start falling down with your seat (the scary part ;) and doing so, you give tension on the lines again and it re-inflates, swinging back and forth (this pendulum movement is stopped with the correct handling of the controls). then I got a lot of sink and headed for the LZ, but instead of landing, I found a new thermal that brought me up again. Was a great experience (as falling into the rope while climbing). Gave me a lot more confidence into paragliding (and self-recovering canopies ;)
the landing was with 0 wind, what made it the roughest landing ever, but was fine.. just came a bit fast and the straps of the seat squished a bit my balls, but was not too bad ;) hehe ;)
then I got a list of things I have to do with my bike.. from oilchange to importation questions I have to ask at the customs here.. will be done on monday :)
still haven´t gone to all the nice places around CBBA.. but haven´t been bored so far ;) hehe ;)
a master craftsman is creating my leather armor.. will take until the end of the year, but will be super BADASS!! :D haha :D looking forward to play "griffin, the gryphon warrior" ;)
I´m happy Alin has so much time (and an open itenerary), so we´re spending quite some time together (it´s my best friend here in town! :)

got also some feedback from headhunters in Switzerland.. well.. my time back home will be defined by this cause (cause = job). So I´ll see in what city I end up and where and with whom I´ll live with and what kind of new friends I´ll find in the region.. it´s probably illusionary to think about going back to the very same place (because I had just the BEST TIME EVER!! in Switzerland). For having so, I left my friends in Bern.. so maybe accepting a job means, leaving these great people in Switzerland, I lived with... ah.. gonna all find it out. But there are great jobs out there, waiting for me, and I will grab the most fitting of them! :D

well.. once more have to mention it: I live in a mansion here in town.. even the picture of the phone book has been taking from this place! ;) haha ;)
Tomorrow I´ll see my ex-girlfriend Karol again (were together quite some time here) and on Monday I connect again to the people from my traditional Saya-Caporales-Dancing, I was doing here as well five years ago :) ..so no time to get bored so far ;)

hope didn´t leave out too much.. will hear from me soon! :)

best wishes and some of the nice weather we´re having here in CBBA! :)

..ready for December :)

2010-11-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

..tomorrow my "Month in CBBA" starts.. no idea what I´ll do here, but I´m pretty sure won´t get too bored ;) hope the weather stays nice and warm :)

I finally got my own place (moving there tomorrow). Took me two days of running around and asking in lots of Real Estate companies to find this place.. got one real nice apartment (executive style) with plasma-TV and all the stuff I needed.. would have been 350USD a month (same my little room back home ;) but he wanted me to sign for two month.. I got SOOOO angry!! because told the guys I just need it for one month and that he wouldn´t give it to me for 6 weeks really upset me (especially because he called me back to talk about the contract.. I was like "fuck you!!" (not saying it of course ;) but I already fell in love with the place and his stubbornness pissed me off. ..the main issue was that it`s only for a month and not longer.. and I´ve seen some furnitured places, but mostly without cable TV (sorry, for 400USD I want to have it ALL ;) and one of them was so big, was a football field with walls and doors ;) three bedrooms and three bathrooms was just a bit too much for me alone ;) ..so after all the Real Estate companies turning me down, I found one that seemed to be really promising. Checked out some places and finally went to a condominium up the mountains.. well.. I don´t tell you too much about the place, but will make a little movie of it and upload on Facebook for it´s the most decadent place I´ve ever owned in my whole life!!! :D haha :D ..yes.. super nice view, very, very exclusive and hopefully getting along well with the owners (an older German couple) that lives just above. I haven´t clarified it, but I wanted an other place to meet with my friends without the owner yelling at me in front of my friends (what happened at my old place). Therefore no furnitured room, but an own place (has a stunning view and is really big..) the girlfriend-thing is in work and then I´m almost 100% set to have great times here in CBBA ;) hehe ;)
so the place will be between 400-500 USD (500USD my upper, upper limit). and of course it didn´t go as smoothly as expected.. finally when I they found the place for me, they were.. it´s gonna be 500USD and we have 50% commission of the 1st month (would make the rent 750USD). I was.. "WHAT?!?¿!?¿!" where in your chain of thoughts you forgot to mention this little detail?! I thought, you guys gonna ask for a higher rent (that´s why I pay 500 or 450 instead of 400) but to me, this is not the first, but the only and last month and I for sure don´t stuff my money up your ass for showing me quickly this place up the hill. ...weeeee.. this lady was shouting at me.. as you should never do with customers. I said.. lower your voice or I´m outta here and she kept yelling.. so I turned around, went to my bike.. got off again, went back, told them: for you know, I didn´t sigh ANYTHING with you people. back to the bike (assistent comes running, begging me to come in again to talk), I started up the engine and took off.. driving back to the place I just saw (glad I found it again ;) and talked to this German lady again.. explaining my situation and why I´m being so confused.. and she was: no problem young man, we just don´t tell the Real Estate company.. they´re thieves anyway. MUAHAHAHAA YESSSS!! even better.. no commission, helping hand and good vibes before I´ve even entered this place. Tomorrow I move, then drinking tea with the owners and making good friends. Maybe they have a computer to take care off or can make use of having "a man in house" :)
okay.. have to take care of my armor and then drinking a coffee with Alin :)

by the way.. yesterday I sent my package away. There is no more sea mail, so the airmail cost me 150 USD, but it´s almost 16kg and holds my guitar (sending back home second time from here ;) ..another 50 bucks invested in my guitar. but don´t want to have it here anymore (especially if I sell the bike in the next months) and shipping from here is cheaper I guess than Argentina ;) ..where I will have to send my helmet and gear. ..takes quite a while to wrap it in paper at the post office and took me also some hikes to find a big box (that I customized to the desired shape ;)
so x-mas present are on the way, together with some cool LARP stuff.. hope it makes it safe and sound back home, but it always did.. so no worries about that :)

okay.. hear more from me soon :)

..long days in Cochabamba..

2010-11-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

hmm.. was quite busy so far here.. at the moment, I try desperately to find another place to live, after it turned out I got no TV, no fridge and worst of all, I can´t have friends at my place!!! well.. I´m not so delicate, but Blanca shouting at me in front of my friends that I´m not allowed to have meetings is a bit too much for me. This lady has no sense for being nice and is sooooo incredible anxious and bitter.. probably missing sex for over 5 years! ;)
so I tried all possible things.. ended up with real estate companies and for one and a half day I´m talking to people, checking out apartments and still haven´t gotten one :`( ..yesterday I got pretty angry as I had the very perfect one and then the manager told me, minimum 2 month (and I just need 5-6 weeks, couldn´t even longer because of my Visa). So I was pissed to hear that there is no understanding vibe and no exeptions can be made (the real estate guys told me, I can have it for less than two months). so lot´s of frustration and a shit lot of walking in this town :P well.. I call it good fitness ;) should be able to take my bike out.. would be a bit quicker, but it´s obstructed by a car.. I WANT TO CHANGE MY PLACE!! I´m willed to pay 500USD a month or a bit more if it´s a super wicked place (out of desperation). So I´ll see 2-3 more options today and then hopefully I got what I need. I´m pretty effective in organizing, but it still takes time then to see apartments (if you get them fully furnitured as I demand it). ..and I just would want to live in one.. not wasting time looking for them. Anyway.. the whole trip is a lot about planning.. surely helps me in my life later on ;) hehehe ;)

then I try to figure out how to sell my bike.. it´s about a 100-times more complicate than to buy it!!!! but maybe illegally in Chile or half-illegal to another traveler if somebody tells me how to do it (it´s a HASSLE with the paper work :((( so I got some positive feedbacks to hear later on that it´s not possible (or strictly forbidden) to do so.. many up and downs over the last days. but yes.. there will be a solution. Shipping it home is not really an option, as I will never be able to sell it (they go around 5000 USD with half the milage). so shipping and importing it to sell it back home not.. well.. could ride it back home and would take it at least to Brazil (maybe sell super cheap with big loss in Paraguay on the black market). but there is always the question how I get out of the country if entered with bike :P ..if I´ll have to bring it home, I´ll ride it for sure through east Europe and eventually down to Africa (visiting Israel on the way :)

then I made a HIV-test and it´s negative (phew ;) nahh.. not that I would have been risky along the way, but 16 month of changing sexual partners left me in uncertainty.. happy I´m still clean.. gonna have a lot more sex here hopefully ;) hehe ;) ..but this is truely GOOD news! :D

in the meantime I got pretty much all of my stuff together.. shamanic staff with skull and snake on it, spare mask and really, really nice outfit for my shaman.. was 100USD all in all, material and work. Three pieces, pants, long-sleaved shirt and a jacket without sleaves.. Waaahhh.. BADASS I say!! :D
yesterday I met my friend the leather-expert and we took measurments of my body for my armor. the goal is 100USD but I think I´ll get a 200USD version (with leather-forged bird helmet and bracers :D ..having time until next year, this will be a great piece of work, helping me a lot in Roleplaying :)
oh.. yes.. of course, forgot to tell.. with the decision to rent an apartment until end of year, I´ll pass x-mas and new year in Cochabamba (better than on the road).

the decision was very clear after the last week-end.. there was a fullmoon party a bit outside of CBBA in the hills with beautiful view on the city!! great full moon! special night.. lot´s of good music (even some incredible wonderful psy-trance and progressive!!!! :D I was dancing, juggling, firespinning.. just very few people, but and incredible trip!!! HAHA :D met lot´s of good people and I´m looking forward to go to the next full-moon on 18th of December.
the people even made a San Pedro soup and some of us were tripping strong! ;) haha ;) I like the idea of taking a local plant and preparing it and cooking it for hours.. doesn´t cost anything and it´s super natural (or supernatural ;) hehe ;) was a colorful night..
the place itself is perfect.. a resort that isn´t used over years, but having a swimming pool, little river flowing by and being sited on the slope of the hills of Tunari National Park. So I want to be there again!! was about 24hrs the party and one of the best I´ve ever had (sure: psy-trance parties outside of Switzerland are always special!! :)

then tonight I meet a Paraglide instructor.. so I will finally be able to fly here :) ..yes.. met quite some people over the last days.. turned out that my friend didn´t brake up with me (as I first thought) but now she is in a terribly distant vibe that pisses me off spending time with her.. she is playing too much around with me, without letting me have anything :(( we went to the sauna together and was really nice, but on the long run, she fucks me up to much.. desgraciada!!
but then I met a friend of Alin (roleplay friend from long ago) and let´s see what happens.. I want a bit more than just sex.. but should be able to open my heart over the next weeks ;)

Then with work I had the same up and downs.. if nothing turns out, I will update my CV and write all in German (once I had it so nice internationally in English ;) and will try sending them out beginning of next year.. sounds to be a bit early at the moment, but other places are already given and I should have started even earlier. Ah.. well, I´ll see.. keep contacting people and some headhunter already know about my existence, so I will make more pressure in January if no contract signed yet ;) but at the moment I have time to research and see what´s out there.. hey Renzo: nice one, you got a job waiting for you back home! :)
but yes.. job, apartment, bike sell.. quite some projects that keep me busy here. (as other people just make holidays on the beach ;)

oh.. and my insurance policy guy wrote me that they will help me with the accident.. I still don´t believe that there will be money on my account for that. It´s already long ago and way back for me.. glad to have such experiences, to realize or to know how things change in life and that there´s never eternal night (even if it seems so in the moment ;)

aaahh.. and now comes the best part!! I got hold on Alin (finally reached him with my new phone) and we met on last Monday, went out to eat (met his friend at lunch ;) and in the evening there was also Boris and Cesar passing by at my house. had some beers, even played a bit D´n´D and hey.. Cesar is a GREATGREAT dungeonmaster and Alin played a russian ex-military that pumped with drugs beats the shit out of everybody with his vibro-blade.. Muhahaha.. haven´t seen such excessive powergaming over years... it´s just great!! hahaha :D
so there are plans for BBQ and paintball with these people and hopefully some more roleplay! the vibe was extraordinary, outstanding!! just wonderfully special good after so many years (these people are all in their own things, but it was: "Markus!! nice to see you!!!" so after I almost couldn´t reach them, I saw that everything is in best conditions! :) that´s why I want a place where my friends are welcome, even if I pay tripple of my old room..

so.. now heading back to my place and keep organizing stuff during the day (I got really good at this! ;)

..everything all right here! :)

2010-11-19T12:40:00.001-08:00

hmm.. I probably used a lot of time to buy all the stuff I sent back home five years ago ;) at least, it´s taking me some time now to get all my things together.. I got really good exercises walking arond today :)

I don´t know if you care about this stuff, but I feel anyway writing it down ;) hehe ;) ..so I realized that my patchwork-fur-cloathing is exorbitantly expensive and nobody has time to make it, because it´s high season here.. lot´s of people seem to be very busy. But then I found accidentally some synthetic leopard fur jacket and pants that just look totally wicked! :) so I´ll just buy them, after adding a little modification :) ..because the only thing that my Shaman lacks is nice clothing.. the ones I ordered five years ago kinda suck :P
then I changed my whole idea of a dragon-warrior to a griffin-warrior, because there are no molds to make a dragon mask ;) hehe ;) after I had so many ideas about the dragon story, I changed all of it in a jiffy, to make it fit with the items that can be purchased here in Cochabamba.. so I´ll have a cool eagle-helmet and found some artesanal clothing that should fit well in the picture :) it´s a mix between buddhist monk and yellow (symbolizing the lion body).
then I really wanted an armor for my new char.. tried to get it from hard leather, but it all comes from the countryside and nobody knows fabricating this here in town. So I checked the places where they sell manequins to get a fibre-glas upper body part to be covered with leather. But didn´t work out, because they would have to make a negative in the shape of my body (standard models don´t fit). Too expensive and lot´s of circumstances.. then I got hold on an expert that makes all kind of things out of leather. Got a nice picture of an armor from the internet and he´s now making an offer how much it would cost.. probably too much :-/ I intented to spend up to 100 USD for something suitable, but it could cost up to 350USD (with griffin picture of course ;) and I´m not sure if I want to spend so much money for occasionally going to LARPs in Switzerland :P (well, it´s the budget of three days, so I could afford it ;) the one in the internet costs about 600USD (and I thought, just metal armors are so expensive).
there would be a 25-USD-Version of a metallic breast plate in roman style.. gonna check it out on Tuesday and maybe just buy this one to save some money. I anyway want to make a turtle-shielded-backpack with a huge turtle shell I´m having back home ;) ..but in any case I´ll have underarm protectors and need my eagle-helmet to be completed with leather. ..so getting all this together took some time and miles to walk ;) but it´s nice to see the market here.. it´s sooooo huge!!! takes you forever to get in or out and you shouldn´t be afraid of masses of people.. there are thousands of them!! :)
In half a day I shopped all my ponchos, gloves, hats, sweaters and lot´s of other things that will be shipped back home soon (together with x-mas presents for my family! :)
I lost my cellphone just half a day before I wanted to buy a chip here :P ..strange story, no idea where it went.. but got a new one for 30 USD that covers the same functions (just the mini-game is different ;) so I got over it.. just a shame, because it was a present of my Mom :`(

it´s really hard to get a grip on my friends here, but visited the Co-Cafe (gringo-place where I used to be ;) and the was a very warm welcome! :) met a friend I didn´t even know he existed, but we had great times yesterday! :) and there is a party at his apartment tonight and tomorrow night.. tomorrow eventually a full-moon-party around here!!!! WAAAAAAHHHH would just be AWESOME!!! :D haha :D
I met Adri, my ex-ex-girlfriend from here.. had a drink and talked together and very good vibes! :) she is married and has a daughter now :)
still haven´t heard from Karol (ex-girlfriend) and finally got the number of Alin, a good role-play-friend of mine.. gonna call him straight after this. Other cellphones seem to be turned off all the time :P but keep trying ;)
met a female friend I spent a few hot days together ;) but this time it´s kinda wierd.. was very intense and very amusing to get together again, but after a night I couldn´t reach her anymore and her older brother seems to answer the phone, but doesn´t pass me on.. all very strange, but well.. that´s life.
then I went to the 3-dollar-sauna that´s just 3 blocks away from my apartment! they got a jaccuzzi now and I´ll be back for sure! :D
then the other way 3 blocks you get two glasses of vitamin-mix-juice in the morning (great breakfast) for less than 1 dollar! ..and tried some other food I really liked back then (and still like it! :)
there are so many small things that are so familiar to me.. even the street names and orientating in the city. ..haven´t visited my work yet, but will have time. I´m happy if all the planning and shopping has been done ;) takes quite some energy, but I´ll be super happy having all these things back home!! ;) haha :D

then another super marvellous thing is about my job-search. I added myself to three online headhunter portals and I got already four answers to it.. one sounds very interesting.. international project manager.. well, if I like the company and place and the project and the salery is un-rejectable ;) I might take it!! :D haha ;D it´s for next year.. so I´m happy I´m already asking around and people can also plan 8 months ahead :) ..now updated my CV and documents (prepared it all before I left Switzerland for this very moment ;)
so shortly said: I´m not worried anymore I couldn´t get a job in Switzerland :) lucky me will probably be blessed again by the universe and just get another super wicked job when arriving back home! :D MUHAHAHA!!! shall anybody say I don´t rock ;) (then it´s even bearable that the lady yesterday kissed another guy instead of me ;)

so yes.. that´s it.. still waiting for TV and fridge, but having a 20-lt water dispenser next to my bed! that´s a really wonderful thing of not being thirsty all the time! ;D

..finally back in Cochabamba!!

2010-11-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

five years ago, I told the people that I will be back and here I am! :)
In fact, it really drew me back to this place.. without stopping in LaPaz or doing any activities on the way I ended up here.

so after my last entry, I went the next day to Isla del Sol and hiked it again (as I did 5 years ago with Adri ;) didn´t talk a lot on the boat.. lots of foreigners and somehow would have been nice to make some friends, but somehow I didn´t feel like connecting too much.
the best thing was being on the outer end of the island (where some people even were camping out! :) and practising with my toys.. had my contact ball, sticks and meteor with me and even made a little movie with nice background, just too big to upload it at the moment :P
was a beautiful sunny day and so look the pictures, that I´m uploading at Picasa at the moment ;) hehe ;) just underestimated a little bit the distance.. so I left so late, I had to walk (and climb the ridge) quite quickly (still felt my legs after M.P. :P but made it in time back to the boat.. I really wanted to chill out at Copacabana and watch Cable-TV ;) so I had to search the whole place to satisfy my needs, because an international bike race was on (South America I guess). but found a place, got a good pizza for take away and a trout-ceviche (first time I ordered a ceviche on my own and I could even finish it ;) hehe ;) especially nice, because trout from Lago Titicaca.
got up early then and met Tom, another bike-rider that goes frequently back to the States, having his own business and family there but still being on the trip ;) ..eventually I visit him in June in Ohio.. he gots lots of bikes, especially a BMW 800 and 1150 (and I would want to ride them both!! :D haha :D I hope, this happens and Tom takes me out on some more powerful bikes (after I´ll have sold mine long ago :`(
so we rode together to El Alto, where he went to LaPaz and I went direction Cochabamba. Had a big plate of food (that I couldn´t finish) and some cute kids were asking, if they could take home the leftovers (aaahh!! couldn´t be better!! so happy, food doesn´t get wasted and making people happy! :D
then a long ride to CBBA.. wanted to stop along the way, but there was nothing to make a stop (yes, I wanted Cable-TV again ;) hehe ;) so after riding through the altiplano and over some high mountain chain, it dropped down to altitude of CBBA (I think it´s 2400m.a.s.l. and therefore a lot warmer here at the moment! :) picked probably the best time (just don´t come in Jan/Feb or you´ll get wet ;)
didn´t stop to make pictures for being a bit late (and thinking, it´s anyway better to just enjoy it! this is what this trip is about and what stays is the essence.. having a much, much more ample vision of the world! not only landscape, but people, cultures and zillions of experiences! :D
but a nice ride.. you got big flats with hills at the horizon and then red and brown rock formations and riding along exciting roads through the mountains!! :) (bikes are not made for the beach ;) hehe ;)

wow.. I´m uploading my M.P. pictures (after having sorted them out..and still having a lot :P takes a lot of work.. horrible! but yes.. then it´s not all that bad to have some visual memories and my Mom get´s another picture of me ;) but I was laughing to see all the "I´m-here-take-a-picture-of-me" situations ;)
(but at least I can use the bandwith in the background ;) hehe ;)
I got the 1GB almost full.. if it costs money to extend storage, I have to register my second Email as well ;) hehe ;)

so I found a suitable place for the night.. chilled at my room and fell asleep pretty early. But above all, being euphorically happy to be back in CBBA (even if I couldn´t contact my friends yet and just lost my cellphone yesterday at that hotel.. has officially not been found, but tomorrow morning I´ll pass personally again and ask the cleaning lady.. I guess, she found the battery but not the rest O_o so not all hope is lost. Need it back! present from my mom! ;) and furthermore need a chip here to get and stay in contact with my friends.

so the best thing comes now.. I got my old apartment back!!! :D it´s just so incredible wonderful!! :D haha :) Blanca, the owner was super nice and they organized a bed (the whole place was empty) and soon I get a fridge and maybe even TV with cable ;) I got a huge terraze, can make BBQ with friends, the kitchen doesn´t work anymore but luckily I anyway suck cooking ;) so making Muesli and having cold beer and ice for drinks will do ;)
so many memories coming back!!!
I pay about 7 USD a day and have my bike stored at the same building at ground level (I live in the 4th floor ;) there is still the same building manager (being at the reception), lovely Don Hugo, a wonderful person that reconized me on the spot! :D
so I occupied my old room again and will soon make some shopping and being home-based for 2-4 weeks here in CBBA :)
checked already for skydiving and paragliding and checked the artesania-market and found the right guy to make my customized stuff.. it´s gonna be SOOOO BADASS!!! :D haha! :D I´ll get a cloting upgrade for my Shaman and a spare-mask (the character is strongly powered by his wolf-mask, so if I´d loose it, my Shaman would suffer a lot of credits.. this way I get a "spare-life", just in case ;)
..things are soooo cheap here!
then I found some nice Ponchos and all kind of wicked clothing for Psy-Trance parties and my new LARP-Char: kinda asian monk style with probably griffin mythology involved (mainly because one of the available masks next to wolf is eagle ;) hehe ;) so yes.. using my fantasy, this is gonna be another very special character that I will play back home (and also deeply rooted with my philosophies and theories of life! ;)
Yes.. still know pretty well the city. It´s just kinda sad that not much changed in their economy! :( Evo Moralis seems to be very corrupt and spends money for fancy stuff like expensive airplanes and suits, instead of building schools with bathrooms and hospitals with medical supplies. I heard, he gives money to farmers, so of course, they will vote again for him, while there should be more invested in the country.. he´s even about to change a law that he can remain more than two periods (sounds very suspicious to me :P
so I´ll get more into all that over time.. it´s my first day here and I already know what I will buy and send home and what things have to been fabricated for me.. hope I don´t get bored after a week ;) hehe ;) naah.. there are still some nice places to go around here (visit again with company) and visit my old work.. can still help out there if it has to be ;)
so I´m finer than usual and hope you´re being happy as well! :D

..from Machu Picchu to Copacabana..

2010-11-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

hey there :) finally I got time to catch up with my blog :)

..where to start.. well.. Machu Picchu was just INCREDIBLE!! got up at 3am to be at the bus station at 4am to be on the first buses on 5.30am and to get in at 6am having a stamp that allowed me to climb Waynchu Picchu (Machu = Old, Waynchu = Young)
I think, if you´re half an hour later, you´ll still make it.. but anyway, just wanted to do it all! ;) ..in the morning there was mist in the ruins, what made the whole place really mystic! :) then with the sun coming up, the heat was turned on and the sky got in motion :) at 7am they opened Waynchu and at 8am I entered the path. It´s really, really incredibly steep!! instead of food, I just had a lot of water in a big bottle that occupied constantly one hand, but made it pretty good.. I wonder that not more people die going up there ;) (they just allow 400 people a day, but it´s really a thrilling hike!! if you´re there, on the top, surrounded by other steep mountains, you just ask yourself how you made it here without mountain gear and how you ever get down ;D
didn´t stay for too long up there (no food :/ but saw another hike to the "sun gate" (puerta del sol). Compared to Waynchu it was just a lazy hike ;) but really enjoyed being away from all the other tourists! this time I took my whole backpack with me and had plenty of food and water.. on the hike, I met somebody who told me about Machu Picchu Mountain, another 3hour hike to the very peak of the mountain.. well.. took me less than an hour to get up ;) haha ;) could basically always cut the times in half that people were telling me..
also walked a bit through the ruins itself, but no tour and no idea what the things were made for ;) (as I said, it´s not the most cultural trip ever ;) I enjoyed the hot springs the night before, even if they were at the lower level of being hot.. sure it helped me to be more recovered the Machu Picchu day ;)
it´s hard (or simply impossible) NOT to be impressed by M.P. I have seen some ruins in my life, but I think they are just the most incredible ones! especially, how they are sited in these steep mountains with a river running around down in the valley.
so I went to every possible extreme of the place and walked A LOT! sometimes you make more distance vertically than horizontally, because it´s so steep! the hight of 2400m.a.s.l. needs some fitness to do that ;) especially if you climb then to the peak of 3600m and all the way down to the river again at 2000m. When I started on the peak (I heard just about 50 ppl a day do that ;) my knees were shaking.. but then I made it all the way down and another 13km along the railway back to Hydroelectric, where I luckily got picked up by a passing collective-taxi (would never have made it before dawn..) didn´t feel my feet anymore ;)
I had a lot of thoughts during this day.. one thing was about Paula.. that even if our ways part forever, she would not regret what happened between us. I hoped it would be something beneficial for both, so both can learn and grow and not somebody being attached then forever.. thought also about taking care of my open bill and hoped, the people are not freaking out about all that and hoped my Mom is fine, after I left the message that I scratched a car :)
and then in the end, things ran even smoother than I visualized them.. making friends with Paula, wishing each other all the best for the future (even if I know that letting go can be so hard and had still many (painful) experiences to made, when I was her age..). The people were super relaxed and the final solution proposed from then didn´t even occur me.. paying the 250 USD in Cuzco at a bank.. so nobody has to drive 4 hours with me to pick up the money. My pannier got fixed for about 17USD (cheap and good work). Well, doesn´t close as good as before, but was already pretty used.. so it´s almost no difference at all. The other guy got his car fixed (had to wait there I guess) and the bike was still where I left it (thought, they made put it away, so I would not just leave). But actually they would have guarded it well for me, just locked accidentally the weel, so they could not move it.. but took everything off that could get lost (I was too careless leaving it behind, but they took good care of it). Chained it on a pole and even let their dog sleep next to my bike to protect it! :D these people are just AWESOME!!! :D
so talked a bit to the driver and had to wait and find the owner to get the receipts and bank account. When I left (as early as I could), the police followed me and catched up when I had to stop at a construction site.. they heard about the accident and were asking for my datas and asked some questions, but I got the feeling they were more protecting me or being sure that not the other guy has to pay and not me ;)
but told them that everything already handled :) ..I learned that sometimes you have to pick your cheque book and make things right. Felt doing the right thing, showing greatness and being winning again ;) (haha, how could it be different ;)
really noted that I wrongly estimated this road.. was small and not all weather (while the other big dirtroads are all-year). So I´ll adapt speed better the next time! being back on the unpaved but good drivable road, felt a lot of difference (how you can break and change direction) and then being back on asphalt, the bike was just glued on the surface! (I´m very used to drive like that.. most of my experience comes out of this, so I´m already very confident againg of my driving, especially on asphalt).
then I had to wait for an hour, because they have some road work and just open up at noon.. I really tried to negociate, so they would let me pass (a bike always passes ;) but they had their orders.. and then, when I was at the start an hour later, there was actually a worker hurt by a falling rock and I thought, the guys were so right to not let me pass ;)
when I started in the morning, it was really hot, but when I reached the top of the mountain, it was pretty chilly.. getting into the clouds that are sweeping over the crest and down again to Ollan... there are people booking a tour to drive down a bicycle this mountain, but I figured out, it´s waaaaaay better on a motorbike!! haha :D
got all my stuff together in Ollan and drove on until Cuzco. Stayed in a Lonely Planet place with a lot of other travelers and in a stinky dorm, but met a cool guy this evening and we talked a lot, had some beers, played pool and I was really happy, I made this happen (pay more for less but have good company).
Payed the bill the next morning at a bank and took off direction Bolivia.. thought, it would take me tree days to do that, but actually not.. was cloudy when I started, then opened up and got sunny and then covered again with some raindrops.. shortly some hail grains at 4000m.a.s.l. but bearable to ride. you can drive around a mountain and it changes until the next mountain.. enjoyed the ride throught the Altiplano! (looks like in Bolivia around LaPaz :) I´ve seen some dogs along the road, unfortunately half of them were roadkill already :( the road is so flat and straight that people drive fast.
my idea was to stop in Juliaca, but when I made it there, I just lost half an hour in the traffic, to figure out that all places are fully booked :(( (and I thought, it must be cheaper and less busy than Puno).
So I was forced to drive on to Puno.. another half an hour, getting cold and dark and I was less forgiving to chaotic drivers after my issue.. honking (what I did a lot more on the way out ;) and light-signal and showing them my finger, if I had to bail out right, because they were passing a car and haven´t turned in again.. :-/ there are some horrible drivers around here!
I finally found a place for 10 bucks, where they helped me to park the bike in the foyer and had all the facilities I wanted :) ..just in time, because little later a storm came up with lots of rain and lightnings..
I was tough so tired of the long riding day (especially the extra part) that I just stayed in my room and watched TV :P was happy to have some chips and an energy bar from hiking before.. so I didn´t fall asleep with completely empty stomach ;)
then today in the morning I woke up early, had early breakfast in my room watchin Tom&Jerry ;) and was in notime at the Bolivian boarder.
Was super, super easy and relaxed to pass.. even if they were a busy with a bunch of cars (and the owners ;) that participate in some kinda Rally from Brazil around South America. Never got searched on this trip.. never bothered at a boarder. Just nice and friendly people who help you to get the paper work done ;)
then I asked for 60 days instead of 30 and got them!! :D that´s exactly what I need! (a month too short, three month too long). I´m happy I don´t have to go out after 30 days. When I was here five years ago, I had to pay some days extra, because they delayed so much with my one-year-visa. I wonder, if I could have asked for 60 days too then.. they told me, it´s just an issue if you go out and come in again (then I think it are 30 days only).
the last time I didn´t realize that Copacabana has a road going to Pero (thought it´s on an island ;) but the only ferry I´ll have to take it to get to LaPaz.
So the plan is.. tomorrow Isla del Sol and then straight to Cochabamba (2 days riding) and then being there for about three weeks.. eventually get my tattoo extended, but above all buying cloth and things for roleplaying back home ;) I´m looking forward to get cheap customized things from local artesania people!! :D
contacted my friends and I´m sure will have a great time in CBBA! :D then I have time to plan other things I want to do in Bolivia and eventually going back to LaPaz, taking another road passing the Yungas. But first throw myself into living a more local life than just doing the traveler-stuff ;)
I really love to be back in Bolivia!! I hike two hills here in Copacabana in the afternoon (the hight almost knocks me out ;) that I climbed five years ago, when I was here for a weekend.. yes, lot´s of memories came up and I enjoy to re-visit the place! :) ..took some pictures with my 10MP cam, after I never looked at the same pictures five years ago with my 5MPixel cam :P --> that´s why I don´t take too many pictures ;) I´ll be back before I look at them! ;D haha ;D
Bolivia seems still to be very cheap.. my hotel is 7USD a night and I´m sure you would find a cheaper one here.. just had dinner for 2 USD (but the Papaya-juice costed almost 1.5 USD ;) so it´s really strange how this differs, but I think, I can live here very cheap and getting cheap things/clothes from the market in CBBA and I will have a lot of money to buy Roleplay equipment, as I live a lot under my daily budget ;)
hmmmm.. is that it? probably.. had so many thoughts in the last days and was "I have to write that down" :) so that should do it..
oh.. someone said, the people in Bolivia are not THAT nice, because not too much used to tourism, but when I got here, I realized in my case, it just depends on a smile and a positive vibe and people treat you as good as in other places.. I´m happy to be back in Bolivia!!! :D passed all the difficulties from the last days and flying high above through the clouds again! :D

..all not too bad.. :)

2010-11-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

well.. here I am again ;) still felt expressing some random thoughts, squeezing out my mind (and watching "the walking dead" and "Simpsons" tonight having Pizza at my place ;) hehe :)

just came back from the hot springs.. not veeery hot, but just OK. Met some people and random chitchat.. is OK, but as long I have pending things with my bike, I´m more reserved than usual. Yes, this is one thing amongst many to learn: being patient. There is nothing that I can do here and now, but things will be done easily, when it´s time.
the town "Aguas Caliente" is incredibly nice sited in the mountains!! next to a river and unfortunately swarmed with turists and even more souvenir shops. I really don´t like these places!! ..if it wouldn´t be Machu Picchu (by the way written with "cc" as I noted ;) I wouldn´t be here, but yes.. want to have seen it in my life, as all the other turists in Peru too ;) hehe ;) I think, what I dislike most about it, that I´m just the same as they are.. just another turist here ;)
whenever I walk through those artesania places, I just think of one thing only: how could this stuff be used to Roleplay in the Swiss mountains?! :D ..I want to stock up in Bolivia, while staying three weeks in Cochabamba, visiting friends and work and having a good time :)
but at the moment I don´t want to buy clothes (poncho, pants..). Have to carry them around and no cash anyway ;) hehe ;) ah.. no worries.. it´s not too bad.. got 40 USD for food tonight and tomorrow and that´s a lot!
what more.. yes.. got today the room number 13 and recalled that yesterday I was also in the room number 13 ;) hehe ;) but it takes more than that to make me supersticious.. I call it irony and it´s my favorite humor ;)
thinking about, it was so much of a design flaw to mount that box on the outer side of my bike.. believe me, in the future traveling with one box, it will be on the right side ;)
when I was walking around in town, I felt pretty alone.. to me it seem´s, the more people wander around in such places, the less personal it is and the lonelier you are. but if I look forward.. then there is paragliding if it matches in Cuzco and then there are at least four days on my own (and I will enjoy them! ;) just relax and focus.. no escapades, just a good ammount of miles every day :)
ah.. yes.. I don´t want to doubt too much in my driving skills ;) will be happy if every thing fine and bike checked for running smoothly and just bringing some more km between me and my failure :P (same when I broke my mirrors and frontlight in Nicaragua.. was happy when it was fixed again ;)
should use my horn a bit more.. as it´s finally working again ;)
so.. that should add it up.. it´s good to put that all down..
ahh.. have to hear that: when I walked along the railways, there was a dog barking in front of me.. I´m normally really good with dogs and was talking calmly and was about just to pass by, when he showed me his teeth and prepared to jump at me! was really scary!! just a split second, I shouted at him and reached out for a stone and he disappeared.. but I tell you, never had a wild stray dog being so aggressive.. :P well, glad nothing happened.. just thought that there´s always a lot coming into my life.. (keeping it up all the times ;)
while riding, I´m having my thoughts about the world and mankind, about my life and future, about many things that happen in this world. To lot´s of things, I found my distance.. still spinning on these thoughts, it´s that I more react to things on the peripheral on my life (that acutally touch my life) and those things inside my circle around the center "my life". Seems not too bad to me.. works out at the moment at least :)
OK.. time to grab some food.. I´m starving! :)

..finally got to Machu Pichu..

2010-11-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

so here we are.. at the world famous Machu Pichu :)

turned out that my headache came from the altitude change.. more than 3000m a day is too much without chewing coca-leaves (what I should do the next time).
was beautiful to ride out of the valley (left very early) and listened to some psy-trance mix I found that really rocks! :D curvy road up the mountains and down on the other side to Urubamba.. actually to ?Oyatullataytambu? (very complicated name that I still don´t know).
along the way you get quite an impression of Peru.. different styles of houses.. starting with bamboo-mats over adobe to brickstone and finally painted with windows :) see a lot of farming animals along the way and thought a lot about mankind.. how we live, how we evolved and how we survived and still survive. I made up my mind pretty much about this :)
The plan was to leave the bike and take the train from there, but very, very expensive.. 40USD one way and reservation and going in the middle of the night.. it´s super over-turisty here, but whatever..it´s Machu Pichu ;)
so when I figured this out, I already unloaded my bike and stored it in a parking.. changed then my plans and left the bike at the police station while walking up a hill at the above mentioned place :) on the other side you could see hundreds of tourists walking up the palace ruins, but was way nicer on the lonely side :) met a teacher from Lima and told me about how the Inka lived at the place, about their leader and what the buildings we visited were used for.. drying corn and grains.
some raindrops fell, but not really raining.. went down, picked up the bike and went out of town to fill up the tank to make the way to Santa Theresa (that´s drivable) and to enter Machu Pichu from there..
one thing to mention here is.. the distance is always 3km (some kinda magical number here I guess ;) but then it varies between 5km and 10km in the end :P so got my gas, found a place to stay in town. Got sandwich and food for the next day and got up today at 4.20am to ride to St.Theresa and take a train that´s cheaper from the other side and walk up Machu Pichu today.. but then I had a lot of changes.. (it´s probably the essence of this trip: to learn to adapt to changes.. what is also what makes us survive! ;)
so far so good.. left at 4.40am and after 20min I could turn off the lights (got bright pretty quickly). The road was asphalted to my surprise and it was easy to get to the almost snowy top of the pass that leads down to jungle then. since I passed the devils spine, I haven´t had so many curves.. lot´s of 180ª and more.. wearing a lot of stuff and my new alpaca-scarf, I was just fine! :) on the top a beautiful view over a sea of clouds.. piercing down through them until the paved road ended. Had to ask for the way and took me more than the 2.50hrs I´ve been told :P
went then through jungle and along a steep mountain ridge, had to wait for 20min at a construction side and almost made it to St.Theresa, when while driving in the middle of the road a car showed up and the mix of speed, surface of the road and my tyres made it just happen, that I hit the front part of the car with my side pannier :( ..too bad, just had one and should have put it on the right side.. but anyway.. I was thinking about what would happen, if this happens.. now I know.. well, tore off that pannier in an ugly way and damaged the front of the car. But nobody got hurt and my bike still runs (as it seems.. drove then into some loose dirt of the hill side.. for my Mom again: I have NO scratch and the bike is OK. The pannier gets fixed right now and is hopefully not more than 30USD, because I´m running out of cash here in Aguas Calientes :P (entry Machu Pichu 40USD and bus one way 7USD). No worries.. I gonna make it ;)
so to fix the car it could be around 250USD :((( after 40.000km the first 3rd person damage.. I don´t know if my insurance is gonna pay. To be on the safe side, I don´t expect it, but then I would also have to ask myself, why I have an insurance anyway ;)
finally I got a ride to the trainstation outside of St.Theresa, where I started to hike here.. well.. a few years ago I would have flipped in such a situation ;) but I handle it way better now. I had some close calls in my life (who had not?) ..fell off a chair while playing with a knife, when I was a child.. the wicked looking scar is visible up to the very day.. sat in sissors.. could have pierced my balls or worse ;) (..never thought about that.. what could have happened). and then while knitting to show a row, I had a little race with my friend that ended in a bodycheck, me almost taking out an eye with a needle.. learned something that day: "running with knitting needles" is a bad idea ;) so yeah.. as long you don´t drive off a cliff (there were quite a lot of such spots today ;) you are fine! :)
I mean it sucks to loose.. to mess it up. To cause expenses (as I try to save money on my trip here) and circumstances.. as I left my credit cards with my stuff, I can´t get any money here.. will have to pay him (or somebody he knows) when picking up the rest of my stuff. I´ll be happy, if it´s done.. debts paid and no karmic loss ;) hehe.. really! even if it sucks to lose money that way, I could never ever run away of that and leave somebody upset, cursing and hating me and wasting his precious time on this planet being in such a mood. So even if we have never met and will never meet again, let´s keep things the right way and seperate as friends.
so in the end these costs don´t matter.. it´s more the experience and what I can take out of it (drive safe and take the consequences of your actions).

so then on the way while hiking along the railroad (figured out, there is no train until 3pm :P I met some people that gave me informations about Machu Pichu and told me, I should be at the busstation at 4am in the morning to be on the first buses at 5.30am (another crazyness here!!!!) to be amongst the people who can get on the top of the area.. and to have the whole day to explore.. I would have arrived at noon today or later and that´s just not wort to spend the 40 bucks. So I got a room here and will do the early-bird-thing tomorrow again ;) and then after it, walking back to St.Theresa (hopefully get a ride from the station into town) and get the stuff done with my bike.. box OK, checking receipt from car repairs, stay a night, leave early, pay debts and drive to Cuzco, where there is paragliding hopefully :)

that´s it :) freed my mind.. tonight hot springs here, if it´s in the budget ;)

..the lines of Nazca..

2010-11-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Ohhh my god... it´s 1hr40min since I entered internet to write some blog and I still haven´t begun :P

well.. had to take care of lots of planning.. paraglide in Cuzco? got some people interested in my bike and figuring out how to transfer title. Uploading a lot of pictures (well.. not in the houndreds, but more than with my old cam ;) takes all quite some time to sort and name.. but I feel, I want have it done that way! ;)
then thinking about my future job.. will have an updated CV soon and send out my minions (a.k.a. emails ;) hehe ;) to sense the universe! ;)

So I had a nice ride to Nazca (or "Nasca" as even the street signs contradict each other ;) .. of course took a while to clear up when getting out of Lima, but then finally blue sky! :) took my through deserts and mountains to the famous Nazca-Lines. Got a picture from the Mirador but to pay around 100 USD for a 30min flight seemed too much to me (especially because 30min are the way back and forth and probably time cut in half, because the plane makes left and right circles (so you just get nice view half of the time ;) hehe ;)
but I touched one of the lines (one you can officially get close to ;) and did quite some other stuff around Nazca :)
At the mirador I asked some people for a hotel and they gave me a card of the place where they stay and when I finally found it, I was not too impressed but thought, for a night it´s OK. Then they asked me, if I can share my private room with someone (I said sure, no problem :) and then it turned out that this someone is a very beautiful and fascinating young girl from the jungle of Peru ;D yes.. I can´t complain how the universe treats me ;) hehe ;)
I tried to rent a helmet for her but was not possible :( ..but as the new ones cost about 17 USD, I just bought one (not that I would use it on long distance trips :P but better than nothing ;) so we went to some aqueducts close to the city and hiked on some hill.. the next day went to some sunken ruins in the desert that are still excavated. Just a few walls.. but was an adventure to ride to the place (few signs, few people to ask.. ) and luckily when we arrived the guard didn´t see us and just catched us when we were climbing illegally on the walls ;) ..sorry.. the official sign does not let you even get close.. so we had to get there to see something! ;) they are still excavating it and next year they make an entrance-office where they charge and let guides take people closer (glad I was there before ;)
there are a lot of ceramic fragments lying around (as in Guatemala) but the real cool stuff was a human bone of the upper part of a leg (I´m pretty sure it was human, because on the cemetery we saw the same ones ;) ..we found this and other bones a bit away from the walls (where no digging goes on). I wonder how it made it there, but must have had houndreds of years already! :)
then we tried to get to the ancient cemetery but didn´t make it because was getting cold already (after 5 o`clock it got super chilly in Nazca.. brrrr). Need to buy some Alpaca-clothes! ;D
We talked a lot, Paula and me and on the third night, she told me a lot about her past and childhood.. was really, really touched!! for receiving so much confidance and for feeling with her all the things she told me. I haven´t been with someone that has been treated like that! ..never knew her real father, missing love from her mother and violated when 14 years old :`( many wounds are still closing.. lot´s of nightmares and tears. Nobody to go to or talk to.. wow.. incredibly painful years of growing up. But then she survived her four attemps of suicide and for just being 20 years old, she is an incredibly experienced and strong person! Earns my highest respect for still walking on this planet!! and impressed me a lot with her being! (even if there were still troublesome moments where she took her distance..)
last night and this morning, when we seperated, there were some tears.. of course, how could it be otherwise. But still, I highly thank the universe for this precious gift I received!! she gave and tought me a lot and I hope for her as well, it was an non regrettable experience.

..during my time in Nazca, made friends with some locals, went playing football (totally sucked ;), eat delicious food and broaster-chicken (yummi!! :) --> still haven´t tried Cuy, but maybe won´t try it.. you don´t have to eat everything ;)

on our last day together (I extended my stay for one day ;) and we went to the cemetery.. this time being there early enough. Was quite interesting to see all these mummies and bones ;) they took out the guts and the brain and sometimes stuffed the body-hull with earth and wooden sticks (that´s all so super groce to me!!!) I wonder how they did that.. it´s like preparing a stuffed animal (not even this I would want to do ;)
and there was also a guy who met VonDaeniken in Person in the year 1974 :D haha ;) we talked about the wired alien-fanatic and why the Nazca-Lines not necessarely are a space-port :) haha ;)
there are nice little tornados (sand devils) forming in the desert during the day.. looks like mini-twister ;)
and I lit my flaming swords and they are AWESOME!!! :D burning about 2 minutes and being fun to play! just need a set of PVC tubes to store them in (in work, happens the next days as soon I find the materials ;)
about the lines: they are made from 300b.c. to 600 after Christ.. so over 900 years through many generations (they probably didn´t have anything else to do than drawing lines, combing their 2m50 long hair and mummificate their deads ;) hehe ;)
anyway.. through the special mix of minerals of this part of the desert, the lines don´t disappear (silicium..e.t.c.) and because of few rain and some thermal effect, they lasted for that incredibly long!! :)

..thought about of bringing Paula along to Cuzco (she would have come along..) but glad I didn´t.. many curves, long ride and got pretty freezing on the top of the mountains today.. so glad to be here on my own and reflect, process and update my blog.. (frees my mind as well).
in the beginning it´s all very brown/yellowish getting from Cuzco into the mountains (but looks nice with all the mountains and valleys) and then it turns into the Altiplano-Landscape that I know from Bolivia :) no trees, wide open view, not hundreds, but THOUSANDS of Alpacas along the road (looks like Lama, but smaller ;) feeding on some dry looking bushes of gras.. few cows, appearently no chicken, but lots of sheep. made about 330km today to Chalhuanca, where it´s a good place to stop between Nazca and Cuzco.

I decided out that I don´t want to enter Cuzco, but go directly to the town where the trains starts to Machu Pichu and figure out what is the most adventurous way to get to Machu Pichu and the cheapest way to do some hiking around there..

well.. 2hr30min in the internet.. got slight headache and logging out to get some food.. tonight just some TV and relax. Will hear soon from me.. probably randomly fill up the gaps tomorrow when I arrive at my destination ;)

..beyond just everything!!!

2010-11-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

tomorrow early morning I want to load the bike and take off direction Nazca. I hope for a beautiful day, because I will be riding some hours ;)

my experience here in Lima was incredibly intense and special!! the only drop of bitterness is that I "have" to leave and some experiences can´t be repeated the next moments.. just know, living here, I would have really, really good times!! :D haha ;)

so the paragliding didn´t work out :( not the right conditions over 5 days.. but well, at least tried ;) got my own cellphone number here, so it´s easy to get in touch :)

changing my break pads and fixing my horn improved a lot driving safety! :) ..now it´s actually braking for real ;) hehe ;) took my quite a while to get there and back and this for bringing and getting back, but they made a good job! it´s also washed and if the BMW parts would not be that expensive, would have been even better ;) hehe ;) but about 300 USD and I should be fine for the rest (remember, I don´t brake a lot ;) hehe ;) but nice people and got an idea about crossing the town on a motorbike! :)

had here for about 15 USD a nice room with bath tub (took at least three times a hot bath ;) hehe ;) and really comfi! :) have been going out, met some people, had good conversations (but no good music to be found ;) I had some of the craziest experiences ever here and it will take a moment (a day or two ;) to process these things.. but yes, I´m very happy! happy for making new experiences all the time! for surprising myself and changing my mind, opening it even more.. yes.. thats probably also because I don´t care about museums, churches, history, politics and all the other stuff I could learn with my head.. much more fun to learn with your heart and intuition! :)

so yes.. three wild nights and two relaxed ones to meditate :) so my halloweenparty was a swinger event that I found over internet and it was just once more beyond everything ever lived.. in the place itself not too much happened, but met three nice couples and were talking to these guys and enjoying a respectful and special vibe as felt on Burning Man (this is another place where people treat each other like that and are suuuper openminded! :) so yeah.. I wish there could be more of that! but don´t complain.. was an incredible experience to meet people like that! instead of super jalous boyfriends, they ask you if you´d like to kiss his girlfriend and animates her to kiss me... wow, is this still real? :) all these moments let me feel really good.. you know that you have been there.. you lived it all! things, that other people never thought of, you just lived them, experienced them and learned from them! so yes.. in the end (we were the last ones leaving the place), I stayed with a couple I met there and took the driver job to bring us back to their place safely (did pretty well ;) and being there, he was just.. this is my room, here is my bed, have fun you guys and went sleeping outside on the couch.. I´m deeply moved and touched by all these special people I just met. I lived so many things in just a few days.. have reach new planes of consciousness and think, life if just great!! :D getting more and more whole ever day..

so hear from me soon and know that I´m having most wonderful and magical times! :)
thank you so much universe!!! :)

..blowing with the wind.. :)

2010-10-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

hmmm.. that were quite some changing days :)
I spent the last night with my friends, chilling in Christians room and this almost until 5am :P ;) and we talked about a lot of stuff.. was a nice evening (better than just watching TV ;) and talked about making fire-toys and kiting the next day, so I really was about to stay a day more! :)
then the next day at noon, when we were supposed to meet up, Christian told me that tired and hangover and so on, but I already checked out the hardware store and would have been quite pissed, if he would not have sold me some kevlar-rope, I needed for my creation. Funny.. after I lost my other ones after almost never using them, I already got something new heavy with me to carry around (and to present time not even lit yet ;P ..so with a bit of genious, I made the first version of my fireswords :) they turned out a bit heavy and unbalanced and maybe won´t burn very long (just thin kevlar jacket), but they will to for a start (version 2 is already in mind and will be realized in Switzerland :D
then I learned to make a monkey knot (picture in the internet and youtube tutorial! :) haha :D just memorized it and can now transform every rope in a waepon, by tying such a knot in the end. Looks like a ball and is perfect to make a fire-meteor! :D ..but unfortunately, I don´t have any non-burning-rope and the one I made with normal rope is so hard, it would be dangerous to practice just for fun with it ;) I rather use my soft meteor and can go crazy with it! :D ..got quite better at it!! :D new moves and more precise handling :)
then the night I felt not hanging out with these people again, because would have been the same thing and I thought, may be good to move further down. Still 1100km to go to Lima. So packed all my stuff, got all my goods ready :) and had a good sleep and breakfast the next day to move further South.
the first 140km I already knew from coming up, but then it turned into a different world! :) reminded me of Tattooine and I was flying on my Pod-Racer through the desert. No Sandpeople tough trying to snipe me and no second sun in the sky ;) but it´s fun to drive through the desert! ..nomans land.. wasteland.. hahaha ;)) :D
could also be out of Mad Max.. destroyed cars off the road and simple dirt hutts along the way, especially as I almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere :P ..for being very flat and straight and no curves, was going up to 110km/h, what uses a LOT more of gas, together with strong winds that make me my viser have closed. I stopped and asked some police patrol in the desert and they would have gladly helped me out, but some system in their car prohibits to take gasoline out (I guess why ;) hehe ;) but then luckily a lady along the way sold gas, poured in a one-gallon-plastic-cup and into my tank :)
if sand, wind and terrain match, then incredible things get born.. there were dozens of horse-shoe-formed sand dunes moving over a flat plane. Streets don´t get flooded here, they get sanded :) looks also very wicked, when sand particles are blown over the road, dancing on the asphalt :)
I started with blue sky and then it turned grey at noon and opened up later in the afternoon.. it´s so much nicer to drive with blue sky!! :)
but then at about 4pm, when the sun stands lower, it becomes incredibly chilly!! handgrip-heaters on lvl 2 and every zipper closed and still having cold wearing a pull-over. There is so much cold air blown in from the sea, that even at the beach it get´s cold in the night (looking forward to Cuzco ;) well, gonna buy some warm clothing here and a poncho! :) haha :D and after this, I will put two more layers in my gear, then I should be fine. ..it´s just cold ;) can handle that :)
I first thought to stop at a place along the way, but when I saw the city, I felt like moving on.. then staying two nights at this other place and checking out the ruins. So in the end I was really happy to arrive at this place and asked for the hostal, that my friend recommended me. ..was OK for a night, but for almost nobody staying there (just a few couples), I missed cable TV in the end, read then but something nice from the Dalai Lama :) but same.. going out.. don´t expect too much (especially not an overkill as in Mancora), but a bit of a vibe would have been nice.. yeah.. Mancora: there are for sure precious jewels of wonderful people amongst the masses, but also a lot of tourits, ignorants and idiots :P one of the places where people rope-tear for money :P nahh.. was really time to make a move!
so I figured out that even for somebody a place was best in a country, for somebody else probably isn´t.. because everything changes and we are all living different things. Had dinner by myself :P and the lasagna was not even veggie as ordered :/ but I just thought: you guys can be happy I´m no veggie and I would not want to complain and wait again ;) very easy going ;)
then the ruins this morning did also not super-stun me.. some walls in the sand with other walls and places inside. A lot of work to restore, but not as nice as stone built temples in the jungle.. would be good for paintball tough! ;) haha ;) but OK.. people I ran randomly into were very nice and friendly! :)
Then I had another covered and pretty chill start at 11am until 2pm in the afternoon, when it opened up.. I really like riding in the desert! just see that I get enough gas ;) hehe ;) but the bike runs fine, very reliable and fun to ride! :) just a lot of sand (what makes me my viser have closed most of the time) and cold winds.. need a scarf! :) this is gonna be a good investment! :D
but all the wide open space and mountains, covered partly with sand, leaving trippy textures everywhere! :) ..figured also out, that I will continue South from Lima to Nazca, because I want to see the Nazca-Lines! :D so probably more desert along the way! ;) hehe ;)
then there was a lot of roadwork along the way, sometimes waited and sometimes just asked to let me pass (as I got a bike and can bail out and go through the barriers ;) and yes, they let me go.. everything super nice!
gas costs 50% more than in Ecuador and for using about 25% more gas, it makes it a 62.5% more costly to ride through Peru, but it´s still not too much of a deal.. but probably spending more here on gas than accomodation ;)
so I almost, almost made it to safety, when I learned a very important thing: Police has nasty radar-devices here :P
so having cold and wanting nothing more than arrive, I get stopped by the police.. on the highway. But they told me there is a sign telling 60km/h (nobody anyway cares about speed limits here :P and I was probably 80km/h
so stop, show papers and licence and he asks me, where I´m from.. me: Switzerland and he says: "Oh, Switzerland.. " and I think, once more saved by the bell (because it´s mostly good to be from Switzerland ;) ..but he says: I have to confiscate your papers and send them to the embassy.. :P yaya.. super complicate.. of course, must happen along the Panamericana. So I tell to show me written how much the fine will be and because he couldn´t do that, I was.. "you know, let´s go to the police station and I´ll explain my case and we talk it out" .. so finally I said: Option Number 1: you let me go and I apologize and drive slower .. Option Number 2.. and here he already turned around to talk to his friend, while I was shouting "I´d appreciate!" :) and coming back, handing me out my documents and let me go.. phew.. that was really close. I don´t think they should (or have to) send my documents anywhere and I´m not so easy to rip off on the road. Would have faced to pay a fine, but once it was probably anyway not about a fine (paperwork) more some extra non-factory cash ;)
I´ll spend the week-end (and halloween :) in Lima and then ride down and into the mountains to Cuzco, do some more-day-trek and check out ruins (getting in for free if possible ;) and then to Bolivia.. but even not delaying along the way, it will take 2-3 weeks..
hear soon from me! :)

..I like Peru! :)

2010-10-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

so before I leave my first destination in Peru, I´ll post a few lines here..

riding along the coast is pretty nice! Well, took until noon to have clear sky, but the blue above and the blue of the see, touching at the horizon do give a nice contrast to the yellow sand and stone of the dry stretch along the coast.
I´ll have about three days of riding to get to Lima and will stay a few more nights on the beach, before hitting the mountains again :)

Peru is really nice! Policemen are waving friendly along the road and even getting in this country was super chill! didn´t cost a single dollar, they even made the copies themself (normally I have to go to a copy-shop ;)
The food here is very good and even if more expensive than non-touristy places, it doesn´t ruin me ;) for 7 dollar you fill your stomach with lot´s of tasty things! :)
then on the other hand, I´m already done with the place.. was awake for 36 hours then slept for 12 hours and repeated the whole thing again, because there was a lot of party and after party and so on.. :) these places are predestined to be lived this way. It´s OK, normally start a country this way by going to a place like that and resupplying for the rest. Then I´m fine and the continuation is more quiet.
I met some good people that are helping me out here and we spent quite a while together, having lots of fun! :)
didn´t meet anybody super special though, so not too much hold me back here.. jumping on my bike and riding on, for there are many more places I want to see Peru :)
I guess, I missed out on kite-surfing :-/ would have been payable, but for I just was going out with friends, I missed the oportunity. Looks really fun!! :) but then it would also be a very local thing and along my trip would not have lot´s of oportunities to practice and especially not being back in Switzerland. So it´s Ok.. another day! ;) hehe ;)
then going on this full moon party, I took my fire-fans and two silver contact balls with me and managed to get it stolen in the night :`( *sniff*
well.. got the small ball back, but the big one is gone and I´m on my last set of balls (brought a lot of spare stuff with me) and can´t afford to lose one anymore (or getting it too scratched or broken). Probably will get bags for them and find a system I can take care of them! :)
the fire-fans though are not really easy to replace.. they were 100 USD each and even if they were pretty old, they still served well. I guess, I´ll have to get new ones in Switzerland or even make them myself (so no more practice for the next 9 month). but also have to say that I didn´t use them too much, not even that very night (that´s why their treachery is almost justified). One less thing to carry around and if I´ll get new ones, I´ll use them for sure more (or don´t get them in the first place). ..glad I got all the rest of my (more used) stuff :)
hmm.. so the roads are good here (motorbikes don´t pay! =D just the gas is waaay more expensive in Peru (probably double price?) but still cheap compared to Switzerland ;)
living in general is cheap and I´m sure I will spend about only half of what I spend normally squandering along my trip ;) hehe ;)
here a lot of dead animals are brought to the beach with the tides.. I´ve seen three Pelicans and a Sea-bear (pretty big animal), without teeth, because those have been scavenged already by a local artesania-guy ;) hehe ;) heard also a Dolphin was found a few days ago. So if you do handycraft, then you can get cheap raw-materials here from local people :)
had a Ceviche here (raw fish with lots of lemon and onion and spicy) and really liked it! (the last one, when I tried that the first time, I swore to never enter a Cevicheria again ;) but was really good! like to taste local food, especially when it´s fresh sea-food while being at the beach :)
so met a few random people and can tell you that I would not get old in a place like that.. even to sell bracelets and jewelry seems a pain in the ass to me (because you have to sell where there are a lot of tourists and lots of competition). Aaaahh.. really appreciate to get my paycheck by end of the month for doing some 8 hours office job! :D haha ;)
OK.. going out to be in the sun again! :) have not been bathing in the sea yet, but made some excercises on the beach. More like to be at the water then jumping in by myself (even if playing with the waves can be fun for a moment ;)
the typical Peruanian dogs here are super ugly (look like big rats ;) because having just a few single hair on their skin :P eventually get a picture of one ;)
so I´m fine.. recovering from the week-end and soon being back on the road again :)
hear from me further down..

..leaving Ecuador after all..

2010-10-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

first of all, I totally forgot to mention that I also visited the local waterfall close to Baños and spent an hour there practicing martial arts :) ..it´s a fun way to keep yourself (a bit) fit and flexible and I found that over time I got quite a bit better at it ;) listening psy-trance and swinging sticks and balls around! =)
after that visited the zoo on the way back.. didn´t take any pictures.. feel sorry for the animals, but then I think, what do we know? and too many aspects on both sides in Pro and Contra.. so I´ve seen some Condors and big cats and was thinking about Zoos and how they impact on both sides..
getting out, I was shocked when I didn´t find my helmet and gloves (another bike that was parked next to mine was gone) and got sad for two minutes (beeing betrayed in my faith into people), before I figured out that the lady took it that owns the parking.. didn´t realize that I have to pay a dollar for the parking, but was happy to have my stuff back ;) ..jaja.. should never worry too early ;) hehe ;)

this is my last entry in Ecuador, tomorrow early morning I cross the boarder to Peru. They said my, it´s kinda similar, so I´ll see ;) hehe ;) but got already spots along the way to stop on my map (finally I hit the area of one of my maps that I brought from home ;) hehe ;)

so the jungle thingy was not too stunning.. made it close to Tela and just spent a night in a hotel, being pretty much the only guest there. Nice were the little monkeys on the beach, hanging out on branches and bothering each other ;)
Some people go on jungle tours, but they are pretty expensive (has to be group) and then I didn´t feel in the mood.. almost did a auto guided hike in a botanical garden, but left it out, instead drove a long day to Cuenca. Felt as moving on south and felt good to hit the road! :) ..just took me very long to get over a mountain with lots of unpaved road and road construction! got lately some drops of rain while driving, but then I always outrun then, just small grey clouds, dripping locally.. nothing that would make me stop ;) hehe ;)
dogs can be pretty annoying.. not that they would bite, it´s just unnecessary that they run after you and bark, because when I stop they stop too (don´t come too close) and when I turn around and chase them on the bike, they run.. cowards!!! ;)
was probably also because I got a bit tense after riding for hours. Always helps to make a little stop, drink something and take a deep breath ;)
was getting dark though when I arrived in Cuenca and was glad to find quickly (after driving through half the town :P a nice play to crash for a night (breakfast included and great parking! :)
..eat probably a lot of dust during this ride, but got fantastic views and nice temperatures! :) ..that´s not always the case here in the mountains, but I think for future rides I get the thermo layers inside my gear :)
so from Cuenca, just passing Loja, short stop in and out and going to Vilcabamba, a small town in the mountains with great hiking opportunities! :)
this is also what I did three days in a row.. different hiking routes, where the hosteria-place where I stayed offered nice hiking maps with good descriptions on marked trails! outstanding!! :) I had four to six hours self guided hikes with lots of water and a bottle (box) of wine and it was really fun! :D (my so called wine-walks ;) ..my mother had a saying sticked to the fridge: "Wasser macht Weise und froehlich der Wein, darum trinke sie beide um Beides zu sein!" :D ..haha.. how true! :) the first of my hikes was the most thrilling one.. quite a long part along a ridge with steep slopes on both sides! :) but seems that after many experiences like that, I handle it quite easier than I did in the beginning ;) hehe ;)
..once more: it´s all mental!
a wonderful experience, to go back to the nature and connect for a few moments. Was daydreaming a lot (seems to be part of my vivid fantasy ;) hihi ;) was thinking about life and the universe and all kind of stuff.. just letting my mind flow, making breaks to enjoy the moment and the view and doing some excercices with my fancy kung-fu-weaponry out in nowhere along the way! :) ..ahh.. what a life!! :D
met quite some German speaking people (must go with the fact, that the owners of the place are Germans), but was a really nice place to stay, was in a dorm (supportable) for 10USD with breakfast and had all in all great times!! :D didn´t really go out at night, but very active days, a massage inbetween (to recover my back and legs) and got my plans ready for Peru :)

oh.. and break pads seem to be more expensive than expected (as almost always with BMW parts ;) hehe ;) but keep negotiating with the guys in Lima.. they ordered it for me and it´s gonna be up to 100 USD more expensive than in Colombia :P but it´s definitively not the part you want to save ;) and even if I could make it in one day to some place here in Ecuador, the time (and money I spend for a day back and fourth) evens it out.. same with getting a parcel from Colombia or so.. too stressful to get it done and probably still with delays. So I´ll bite "in the sour apple" ;) hehe ;) and get the parts changed in Lima, where hopefully also some paragliding can be done! :)
it´s one of the usual organizing-stuff-tasks that have to be done along the way :) some phone calls, some emails, nice words and things are happening! :) it´s just amazing how we influence our life! :D
..so, it has been done. Just wrote to my friends in Bolivia and let´s see who´s still alive and who I gonna see again after five years :) (I´m looking forward to that!! :D
oky.. hear from me out of Peru :)

Beach - Mountains - Jungle

2010-10-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

so yes.. leaving the mountains again and heading to a jungle lodge to spend a night or two in the very green ;)

yesterday I had a real low-energy-phase of not knowing what to do and how long this trip will be.. for once I missed out paragliding in Crucita and appaerently skydiving in Salinas and why not going to Galapagos to get some real good dives?
many thoughts in my head and thinking about making the trip bigger.. but then it would mean to return in the cold months of Switzerland and this definitively would SUCK! :P
so then this morning I got it all pretty straight, when I got the update (thanks Mom! :) of my finances and after swallowing empty, it became quiet clear that Galapagos is not an option at the moment. Would calculate to spend about 2000 USD in 10 days and for having been big spender over some time, this would cut too much into my budget :(
I actually am (with all my expensive projects ;) just in what I planned to spend over time.. (probably because I knew I got that much ;) hehe ;) so 100USD/day for 450 traveling days and another 260 days remain (9 Month.. 9 + 15 = 24 = 2 years). A good time for being away. Should not be longer (not until spring 2012 ;) hehe ;)
so it´s still half a year more than if I would have done it directly after South East Asia. and there are moments, where I´m daydreaming about things I want to do in Switzerland, coming up with new LARP projects ;) and thinking back to things I did, people I know, places.. so I think two years is very OK ;)
it´s probably just the first time that I realized that more than half of my trip is over (3 month delayed ;) ..but no reason to panik, there are still 9 month to be filled with incredible adventures ;) hehe ;) And then I don´t even know, if I can get a job next Summer.. but should apply for 1.8.2011 (starting with the national holiday ;) and being back in July to get things settled.

but well.. it´s a warm and sunny day and I´m riding off to new adventures, after having decided to let go of some additional projects in Ecuador :) ..could easily spend a month+ here in Ecuador :) beautiful!! :D

I was the last four days in Baños, having a hot bath every night in the public hot springs (very relaxing! ;) and doing pretty much everything you can do in that place :D haha ;) ..arrived in the afternoon and got some ideas and as always, made a plan for the next days ;) hehe ;)
starting with jumping off a bridge in a pendulum swing (movie will be in FB soon ;)
it´s 100m deep and you fall 40m (about one second ;) and the rope is 60m.. very smooth, great experience of standing on the edge and jumping down! :D
then going horseback riding on my own for 1 1/2 hour :) ..I talked directly to the lady with the horses and she would not let me go on my own. So I paid the 7USD/hour for having horse and guide on horse to do a 2 hour trip.. but the horses were not ready, then with other group that wanted to go 3 hours other direction and with people that never were on horses (FREAKS ME OUT!!) and this after I very, very well explained myself to the lady.. so said them I won´t be on this one. ..then the guy from the agency brought me to another place where a lot of horses were ready and within 3 minutes I was riding on my own on a pretty nice horse up the mountain :)
there was just one moment where I had to get down and lead the horse (maybe scared by the dog, but didn´t show it), because it just stopped and was not to animate again ;P but the ride was awesome.. run on the way back where it was flat and got a cool movie of it (uploaded soon in FB, but here the upload is suuuuuper slow 0.01kB/sec or so :P
and went for a two hour hike to both lookout points and down to town again :) ..doing some active stuff as well ;) hehe :)
hot bath in the evening and going out for a moment.. didn´t really go out in that place. It´s nice to know people to go out together, but meeting people going out was a bit exhausting..
the next day I made a ride on my bike on the other side of the mountain (dirt road, but nice scenery :) and captured some movies.. will soon make a helmet-cam upgrade, so I can take a short movie of stunning places while riding! :D ..so this movies also soon in FB :)
tried over four days to go paragliding (would have been SOOOOO nice!!) but didn´t happen :`( ..mostly because the weather was not good enough. Too bad, I would have LOVED it!!
went then climbing for a couple of hours (until my arms were hurting too much -> missing experience and technique makes me climbing too much with my arms instead of legs.. so I made barely a 5A (highest I´ve ever done), so could say I suck climbing, because for every climber this would be piece of cake ;) hehe ;) but also a good experience.. 25m climbing up and not freaking out.. just fall two times on a more complicated route that would not let me advance at a certain point ;)
so complete the package I went also canyoning! (what I´ve never done before) and had a lot of fun with my private guide (took him along on my bike ;) with no waiting and doing the more crazy stuff as grappling down face forward! :D Muhahaha!! :D as in the movies and I did not too bad for the first time ;) ..even of this I got a movie I want to show the world! ;) hehe ;)
yes.. like to capture short movies of special stuff.. it´s kinda more fun than taking just pictures. So I want to make a small Action-Man-Series of stuff I´ve done in my life (accompanying the skydive and paraglide movie ;) hehe ;)
next to all these activities, I had some good food, met some people (not too many though) and watched finally some of the DVDs, I bought earlier (there was no DVD-player available before..). So I´ve seen Tekken movie that surprised me for being more than expected, the Mercenaries, a masterpiece of Stallone (how can this be?! ;) but really liked it! as many stars as Ocean 11, but more action! hahaha! ;)
the Machete from Roberto Rodriguez (super style, cult, must see! :D and some other less mentionable titles ;P ..had some rain during these days, so was a perfect solution to spend these hours inside :)

now I´m already left the mountains and I´m in the flat jungle region, going to Tena and finding a suitable place to spend a day or two :)

oh.. almost forgot.. met a great dude, that gave me a lot of information about paragliding!! :) too bad we didn´t fly in these days, but still he helped me out with many things, up to a friend who was bike mechanic who helped my to fix my loose chain problem (missed a day flying because having technical problems on the way up :P so we changed after 35 000km the sprockets and chain (is the 3rd chain already) and the old parts were really worn off! was good to change it, even if it took 2 hours and taking the rear part of the bike apart because the chain had no lock :P but now running fine, no more noise as the old chain and sprockets made :)
so believe me.. the last days were full-on! :) just missed out on a massage.. would have been around 20USD for an hour and I just hoped to meet a nice girl for a backrub session, what never happened ;)

hear from me.. heading down South, not speeding up, but not troddling and delaying for once ;) hehe ;)

..thin air..

2010-10-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

..so yesterday I made it to the Chimborazo..

was not really raining when I drove to Guayaquil, but small particles of water in the air hurted my eyes, so for once I drove with my viser closed. Not too spectacular of a ride (but also not very long). still flat and then with covered sky.. glad I could listen to some music ;)
when I arrived in town, I decided to change oil and filter (just about time) and stopped at a service place of some car brand and the guys were INCREDIBLY helpful! :) while I had a burger, someone washed my bike shiningly clean and then I changed the oil and got the air pressure checked and adjusted the chain (it´s pretty strange that it loosens up so much..). Gave some tip for the help and looked for a cheap place in town to stay for a night. Tried some tasty aguardiente with flavor, but then passed out and missed dinner :P but a nice and calm night in town.. didn´t really feel as journeying out for wild adventures..
after a good sleep, started early direction Chimborazo.. people told me everything between 3 and 7 hours.. made it it about 4 hours with lunchbreak :)
beautiful ride!! first covered sky, but then opening up in the mountains.. gaining a lot of altitude and having a relaxing and fun ride into the "Sierra". Good cheap food along the way and many breath taking views.. a safe ride to Riobamba, where I got money and asked for some info about hiking the mountain and then a few km back to the turnoff to the volcano. For being at 5000 m.a.s.l. it´s not really cold (nice for reading wearing a sweater below the jacket :)
so I made it to the basecamp, saw some Lamas along the way and lucky me, didn´t have to pay the 10 USD entry fee, because kinda just went to "check it out" ;) so drove to basecamp 1 at 4800m and walked then to basecamp 2 at 5000m.. super streneous! :P had to catch breath a few times, for the air being really thin and me not used to it :P ..touched some snow tough! :) and figured out, that I won´t climb that mountain.. for one.. it´s climbing and not hiking. The guide charges 150USD (expensive, isn´t it?) and need to rent a lot of equipment, would have to stay 1-2 days to get used to the hight and don´t even have thermo-pants or a sleeping bag. So it would be a lot of circumstances and quite expensive. But then walking down to my bike, I met some guys that climbed it over night.. you start at 11pm and arrive at 7pm in the morning. Ice axes and good shoes with spikes and harness and rope.. a bit too much for me (at least the guys climbed some mountains before and planned it a bit longer, so I don´t feel so bad, not doing this one ;) hehe ;) it would be for sure hell of an experience and VERY, VERY mental (ice climbing). So the 1300m from basecamp 2 to the top are about 8 hours of getting there :P ..I will try to make some nice hiking (with clearly marked paths) in Vilcabamba and Peru and will figure out where to make a nice trekking or a good climbing (matching my level).
but beautiful landscape up here! (and wasteland ;) ..got finally my pics online.. still from Colombia up to now :)
yesterday ordered yummi food to my room in this very nice 20 USD hotel in Riobamba :D suffered a little headache yesterday night.. might be because of dehydration (didn´t drink too much) and for sure because of the hight. Feeling muuuuch better today and after this post heading on to Baño and the hot springs :)
posted my bike on horizonsulimited.com and let´s see if someone wants to buy it off, when I get there ;)
the roads are not stunningly nice, but mostly in good shape, even tough with a lot of road construction.. but not a lot of traffic, what makes it pretty sweet for riding! :D

..heading on for some nature experience..

2010-10-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

hmm.. after 4 days of being in this little party town, I feel already like moving on.. had the experience of such a place in Zipulite, San Pedro and Bocas del Torro, so figured out I rather use my time for doing something else than just partying and as I heard here from travelers about some beautiful spots in Ecuador, I decided to make a move and check out Chimborazo, a volcano with possible hiking options and then going to baño, jungle, waterfalls, hot springs, maybe see some lagoons on the way and then going further south to Vilcabamba, where also lots of mountains and hiking options.. I think that´s exactly what I should do :) had lot´s of party and city lately and don´t feel like doing more tours and extreme sports at the moment. So learning about the scenic nature part of Ecuador seems best :)

was not too bad tough here in the last days.. met quite a few local people and artesanas and had some good party ;) found finally time to practice with my toys on the beach (was good fun and feel that I´m getting better ;) was walking up and down the beach and for a small hike outside of town. Watched the waves crushing on "la punta", end of the beach.. had also two days of recovering after going out (that´s why I figured, a break partying makes sense ;)
played some guitar and didgeridoo.. haven´t done it for a while but it´s still fun. Wish there would be more of a jam than just me.
Then going to Galapagos would be sweet, but will ask my friend when she´s back how it was and how much it was ;) would be a nice touch for this trip, but maybe I just save the money (would not want to afford more than 200USD/day all in all, including flight.. but let´s see. Will have some low-cost-days in the nature and then I´ll know :) ..will miss the good food here!! had some chicken breast in wine sauce with pesto rice and salad and was just super-super-yummi! :D
now heading off for a big breakfast and I hope the sky opens up (should accordingly to forecast :P
hear soon from me! :) and be well!

..a deep breath in Montañita! :D

2010-10-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

made quite a distance since my last entry.. somewhere between 700km and 800km in two days, what is a lot compared to my last.. hmm.. many weeks ;)

when I woke up in Quito and saw the news of what happened during the night, I thought could not travel at all.. people emptying shops and a lot of chaos. but then the police appologized and started working again.. everything calms down here, exept for it´s still in the state of emergency, but is not really noted where I drive ;) When I was having and awesome breakfast in a restaurant, I talked to some people about recent events and got the precious information, where to go in this country: Montañita! a place on the beach, two day rides away, where it´s chill and relax and where you don´t want to leave too soon ;) hehe ;)
so I saddled my dragon and took off heading south.. well, took me an hour to get out of town (always the same with capitals :P ;) and then with some sweeeet goa-trance tickeling my ear, over mountains with steep slopes into deep canyons, where I was amazed that people found ways to build roads, serpents winding through the mountains to infinity! yes.. a really nice ride.. quite some construction going on and a lot of dirt (did I mention it.. it´s really bad here :P but all in all a nice ride, thinking about life and figuering out some plans for my future.. they call it the saturn return and I say they are damn right! ;) hehe ;) ..so if you ask me, I´ll be back in 2011 working for two years, doing some great things and safe money to see the other side of the world. being back home, I´ll party on with my elvish friends in the forest and full-moon-parties and will show up with a new LARP char ;) hehe ;) yess! got some Pen´n´Paper friends and FreeForm-People and will not live alone in a house.. some skydiving close to my work and of course the usual stuff that you enjoy.. BBQ, jumping into rivers, seeing friends, enjoying beautiful natre.. :D
then the other side of the world for 1-2 years, hopefully not alone ;) hehe ;)
no rush for family before 35, but then.. hmmm.. ? we gonna see.. would be a 20+ years project and in the end, building a simple, but nice house somewhere in a faraway place in probably South America :D hehe ;) ..yeah.. let´s see.. I´m looking really forward to persuive this road! :D haha! :D

ahh.. where were we.. this ride out of town.. had a tasty piece of meat (lomo) with fried yucca and yummi salad! :) worth it´s high price ;) hehe ;) then in the afternoon out of mountains to some no-view-roads, my Ipod was out of battery and the sky turned clouded :P then into some more scenic (but dirty) parts, onto a 4-lane highway for just a second and into some town.. from there another hour and a half to some beachplace (my goal: pedernales was out of reach). on the way I got stopped by some police (was joking about they kidnapped the president ;) and one of them wanted to buy my bike ;) was hard to explain that even if I would want to, it wouldn´t be legal ;) hehe ;) ..I go mostly with 80km/h what seems quite fast to me ;) if good road up to 100km/h but that´s what the bike is made for.. but if you ask the police, how long it´s gonna take to get there, they will say: "whit this bike.." ..and you think: "hey, do you tell me I can go as fast you think this bike goes?!¿ ;) they all overestimate it in speed, but I´m well better off with a climbing factor and considering my load, it´s doing a great job! :D
so yes.. crushed in this "Mumpicho" beach-place, where the ride to was super-duper-muddy (glad I didn´t fall ;) hehe ;) and found a nice place to play some guitar, have a drink, dinner and watch some TV. They were so kind to give me a 6 people room with huge terrace ;) hehe ;) super quite and chilly and super small, nothing would ever get lost in a place like that! :)
woke up today at 5.30 and started driving at 6.30 ..found at 8.30 finally some breakfast with coffee with milk and juice ;) and fought on the way some nasty sensation in my left eye (couldn´t get rid of it, even washing out.. as it disappeard finally after 30 min of worrying me ;) ..the way south on their "Interstate" E-35 is quite a rough ride for the first part.. road mostly not finished and just one lane for both directions :P and well.. in a few years, it will be nice, I guess ;) but at least my Enduro pays off ;) haha :D
I really enjoy riding with psy-trance.. makes everything even nicer ;) must be some connectedness between senses that gives wings to my being ;) enjoyed the ride today (after getting out of the mud, back on the road ;) ..first through hilly green jungle forest and then through dry wasteland, back to green nature.. :D (sorry, no pics ;( was a fun day! arrived pretty early, have two reservations for nice and cheap places (8 USD with breakfast) and want to stay a week or so.. really LOVE it here! :) so tonight Saturday and going out.. hopefully some electro music somewhere ;) hihi ;)
on the way I got stung in my cheek by something.. :P I think I hit the beast with the soft side of my helmet or it got stock and panicked :P hurted like hell for a moment!! now almost invisible (for my standards ;) ..instead of being allergic to stuff, my body seems to process toxics quite good :D JUHUII! :D haha ;)
and !SHOCK! ..when I filled my tank, I saw a pannier dripping and in a milisecond I knew that the half gallon of water was leaking inside.. hmm.. now drying stuff in my room :P lost 4 packets of precious rolling papers (well, still can use them to roll forward with a new obtained skill of mine ;) but it´s kinda siffy.. so I was cursing when I saw that. But then tonight.. the real damage: my dive logbook.. more than 50 looged dives (half of them with ink and al the ink of the stamps :( well.. hope I can still open it. Doubt I will need as proof for Dive-Instructer (goes to far for me) but might have been nice to check your earlier dives.. same with skydives.. but then on the other hand, I might have never done it anyways.. was just careless of mine to leave that log in the pannier and not safe with my other logs and to not re-seal the plastic bag with the delicate papers.. and then assuming the container would stay closed (didn´t put pressure on it) ..but anyway, I guess, it´s called learning ;)
still a great day! quite some distance and now stay and rest and chill and enjoy, before heading on to Peru.. I found my place here! ;) (know this, after being here for a couple of hours ;)
ehhmm.. I guess that´s all for now.. don´t expect too much in the next days.. probably be busy with other stuff..
and hey! just before getting here, I made an incredible breakthrough with juggling with 2 balls!!! :D haven´t tried for a long time, but just juggled with one ball and somehow I got it really synchronized between my both hands with two different balls and it just felt AWESOME!!! :D haha :) ..sorry, thought I want to let you know ;)
so.. no worries.. I´m totally safe and sound and more than fine! :D ;)

P.S. this has been written in less than 40min ;)

..Coup dEtat.. live in Ecuador :)

2010-09-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

wellwellwell.. at laest I made it before they closed the boarder (I think getting out of Ecuador should not be a problem, but as Peru and Colombia closed the boarder to back up the Ecuadorian president, I could not have entered.

then on the other hand.. it didn´t have to be this very day, when I arrived at Quito (capital) as they started the riots :P got some nice picture of people manifesting and burning tyres to block the road ;) ..found the place where I wanted to go to, where all the bars and discos are, but unfortunately it´s the meeting point of the supporters of the president that is hold "hostage" by the police in a hospital :P
so I got myself a nice place close to the airport.. cheap, with cable TV (probably smart to watch TV and not go shopping in the center ;) and a closed parking lot (just in case people start looting ;) hehe ;) ..nah.. actually five banks have been robbed (or they tried) and most of the shops are closed because of no police force is present in the streets.
so as far as I could figure out, they wanted to cut the salaries of the police and their answer is a strike and local people manifest against corruption and their president. ..as always it´s hard to say who are the bad guys.. I heard the president made things better but also favored the rich people and the economy stayed the same over the last years (very bad).
So my plan of partying this weekend have probably been canceled and I will be moving on soon (probably tomorrow, if the situation consists). But no worries.. no shooting in the street, no burning cars or people lynched on street lights ;) hehe ;) just better not to throw myself into that debate ;)

so about Ecuador.. mentionable is the scent of Eucalyptus over the last two days. There are millions of Eucalyptus trees here in the Andes and it reminds me of Sauna all day long (aaaahh.. would be devine to take a steam bath! ;)
still haven´t tried "cuy" but I remembered the english name: it´s chipmonk, if I´m not wrong ;) ..had some good cheese today and I LOVE their milk coffee.. it´s hot milk with instant coffee and suger and I haven´t had it for years.. in fact, I´ve totally forgotten that I used to make this myself back home ;)
drove to some lagoone in the mountains (pretty high up) and found myself alone there.. normally you would pay a dollar entry, but there was nobody around. Restaurant closed.. totally abandoned. I wonder when high season is of the place.. took though some nice pictures and will upload them soon in my Picasa.
..yes.. they have dollar here as local currency, but their economy is so low, that you deal with 5 cents. A full meal in a restaurant can be as expensive as 1.50USD :P
so they have dollar, but mostly it´s handling cents (I like more paper money.. less heavy and doesn´t make noise in your pocket ;)
it´s pretty chilly here in the mountains (will soon head to the beach ;) but closing all my air-pockets and waering jeans and sweater under my bike gear helps a lot. In fact, I felt a lot of different temperatures.. between freezing and melting and can handle quite a spectrum of it :)
Haven`t learned too much of Ecuadorian history so far.. just Simon Bolivar (national hero) wanted to unify Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru but somehow failed and Colombia took a big part of Ecuador, so now it´s pretty small ;)
hmmmm.. that´s it I guess.. sometimes my mind is pretty blank and don´t know a lot to write.. as over the last 2 weeks I lived a zillion things and most of them can´t be given in a blog (or are not adequate to be posted here ;) hehe ;)

oh.. yes.. should see that I can capture some impressions with my new camera :) the people are pretty traditional and wearing hats and clothes, it reminds me a lot of Peru (like the foretaste of Peru ;) doesn´t have a lot in common with Colombia, as it seems to me..
today I´ve seen some snowy mountain tops :) (while closing my jacket ;) the landscape is really nice! Even if it doesn´t change a lot.. must the the Andine region ;)

how could I forgot this¿?!¡ ..I just made it over the Ecuator today!!! :D haha!! YESSS!! 0`0"0 latitude (or longitude? :P ..got some pictures of the place as well. so I´m half way down ;) hehe ;) naaahh.. I guess that the distance from Fairbanks to the Ecuator is more than from the Ecuator to Ushuaia (well, I won´t reach Ushuaia anyway, but I tell you.. I´ve driven a veeeeery long way down to here and hopefully it´s not the same ammount of km left ;)
made by the way 35 000 km so far.. :D weeeha!!

..finally could leave Colombia..

2010-09-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

ah.. it was just WAY TOO GOOD!!! :D I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!! and it´s with Brazil definitively amongst my favorites! :D (I´ll be back)

hmm.. didn´t find time to update my blog in the last ten days.. just too much party and sex ;) hehe ;)
I made that flight in Armenia.. cost me 25USD and lastet 25min, but could make some circles (had a Variometer with me) and made it just fine to the football court to land (came in pretty low, but just made it ;) hehe ;) that´s the issue if you don´t know the place or the landing zone.. but yes, it was fun and it was a big milestone for me! :D ..driving up the hill with my friend and the glider cost me my clunch lever breaking off again and I got it glued with some epoxy, before I continued my trip to Pereira. Stayed a night there in a nice Hotel and drove then to Cali, to spend the weekend there.. but guess what.. it was just too good to leave quickly and I stayed a whole week in that place! :D want to know why? ;) met a girl in a bar and we spent some really intense and crazy times together.. she showed me some wicked places in town and now I´m officially a Swinger! :D MUHAHAHA!!! YESSS!! it was totally awesome having orgies and trying out new stuff.. now I could say: what ever you have seen in a porn, I´ve done it! ;) hihi ;) ahhh... good times!
also partied in a place called Eliptica, that´s a covered outdoor place that plays a lot of electronic music and I was contact juggling and entertaining the people ;)

what more.. had a nice ride to Popayan and the next day to Ipiales. Was twice nice in the morning and raining in the afternoon. So I got wet and was freezing one more time when I arrived at the hotel. Had some very quite nights.. just watching TV (cartoons ;) and ordering some food to my room. No drinking. No partying. Just relaxing in a warm bed and recovering (processing) from the last week..

to cross the boarder was really easy and didn´t cost any money. Just one offical confused my with another guy and thought I left Ecuador the last time too late (but never been in Ecuador), so when this was settled, I got my papers and could drive into the country.
the food is not really stunning.. was better in Colombia, but maybe there are some hidden jewels here in Ecuador as well. Will figure out.. what is sure that the people here eat "cuy" (cute animal, looks like a grilled rat tough). Will for sure upload a picture, if I see them roasted on a grill :-/
the landscape looks really nice (I´m at 3600m.a.s.l. here and it´s pretty cold in the night!). Mountains with soft slopes, covered with bushes and gras. Deep canyons with small rivers in it and really good roads that I have to pay for (it´s 20 cents every 100km, not much but was free in Colombia for motorcycles).
I arrived in the early afternoon at Ibarra and got an idea where to travel to in Ecuador.. for being less party-vibe and less relaxed-easy-going than Colombia, I won´t spend too much time here. (well, let´s see what happens). But I heard Peru is really cool, so I don´t want to spend too much time here, rather go on and stay in Bolivia a bit longer ;) If the countries are very regulated, they are kinda boring (let´s see how Chile and Argentina will be).
but I don´t want to judge about Ecuador too early.. took me also some time to get into Colombia and finally I was so connected to it, almost turned into Colombian ;) hehe :)
hmm.. I feel there´s stuff missing, but some will be written into a censored entry ;)
so wish you all the best and hear from me soon! :)

P.S. Note for me: read the special entry (not published)

..partied as hard as never.. :P

2010-09-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

phew... finally I got time (and energy) to update my blog.. tons of things happened in the last days and before this day ends, it shall be all added here ;)

first of all.. the ride out of Villa de Leyva was really nice! a bit cloudy in the beginning and freezing along the way, but then changing to blue sky and and warm weather. I haven´t used my map in a while.. there are street signs and not that many roads to get lost (and can always ask people ;)

on the way to Bogota, I stopped at the Salt Cathedral to check it out. The name is very misleading, as it sounds it would be a Cathedral built of Salt, but it are actually tunnels in a Salt mine with some crosses and biblical statues.. I would call the place "Mines of Moria" and put a Gandalf fighting with a Balrog in it.. it would be a hundred times more awesome ;) hehe ;) but was impressed to walk around in these HUUUGE chambers and corridors, up and down stairs, being 170m below the surface. They even show you a sweet 3D-Movie and you can pickax your own salt ;) ..I was quite licking some stone and walls down there, being fascinated of the 85% pure salt stone :) ..just got a bit worried in the end, if it might be raining outside (bike in the open), but instead it was sunnier than before :D
continued into Bogota, found the BWM store and left my bike there.. had to wait tough 1.5hours because the guy had other customers.. having had a very empty stomach, this cost a bit to me :P but then finally.. after some coffees, all done and getting a courtesy ride to the city center.

then the chapter Bogota.. I normally don´t write about parties (it´s just too private and anyway, only my mom and few friends read this ;) hehe ;) but for the whole weekend just consisted out of partying and sleeping, I should write it down here ;) hehe ;) was tough very hard on my body and just today felt recovered from the hard work of going out Thursday, Friday and Saturday ;)
so first of all.. got some ideas about selling my bike down in Argentina.. it will NOT be possible in Brazil, so I think my roadtrip might end in Buenos Aires. There´s a internet page of bike travelers and I will put it online there early enough. Met actually another young guy who rides his 650 up to ?? but started in Argentina and made the part, that I´m still missing :) looking forward to it!!! :D haha :D

then about going out in Bogota.. I´ve NEVER spent that much money going out.. but for making part of the very high society (people who can buy a bottle of licor for 90USD (the same people whose girlfriends get a boob job being 18 years old ;) so I couldn´t tell you exactly how it came that it was soooo incredibly expensive, but I spent probably 700USD in 3 days :P
well.. now I´m living cheap again.. you get a nice room in a good hotel here (outside of big towns) for 15 USD and can eat tasty food for 5 USD.. so some people would live a month of what I squandered in such a short time ;)
there was a lot, but a very lot of drinking involved and well.. partying until forever ;) hehe ;) So I left on Thursday to the Zona Rosa, where most of the big clubs are. Found some nice electronic music and was contact juggling until 3am, when the place closed (by law). But then another place called Ibiza around the corner opened, where they let you in if you buy half a liter of Whisky for 50 USD. For being the only place open and me still in the mood of partying, I ended up there and talked to one of the girls attending the customers (there were not a lot of people there, but still electronic music ;) --> to mention: most of all they play "Crossover" what is a wild mix of stuff that I don´t like ;))
so when this place closed I went with this girl and her brother to another place that opens until ?? (at least noon Friday.. or actually.. somebody told me, it´s open from Thursday midnight to Sunday midnight.. could be true, because I´ve never seen it closing ;) hehe ;) must go together with some payments to the police.. but whatever.. it´s the after-after-pary-place ;) so we where there until ?? and ended up resting for a while in a Motel place and I just made it back at 14pm to my Hostal to get a bit of rest (was sooo fucked up!). Got up at 7pm, eat some BBQ and then from 9pm to 11pm I had to rest again because still everything floating :P
going out at 11pm to have a mellow night and ended up in the same club with electronic music (there was no alternative and I really like it, exept for 7USD-beers :((( got a free entry for having good Karma ;) then at 3am when they closed, I went with some friends (one is DJ) to another club called Radio Berlin, where also electronic music and open until 6 or 7am. Got in for free with my friend and had good times too ;) hehe :) went back to the Hostal, slept from 11am to 6pm with some wake-ups and left with friends to eat a Sandwich and get some money (don´t have any more money with you than you want to spend!! ;) ..I got about 1 meal in 24hrs and more booze than (I thought) a human being can process ;) drinking Gatorade to hydrate again and going out early.. around 9pm to the Zona Rosa again (after I checked other places that were closed or didn´t have any even this week-end). Rode quite some taxi, for it´s a big city and I wouldn´t go out with my bike.. yeah.. totally missed to check for my bike, missed out a lot of things ;)
so getting in again for free in three different clubs (dude.. I made some friends in few days ;) and partied, partied, partied.. more than you could ever imagine!!! Bogota is the party-heart of Colombia and I thought, I need a break after Bucaramanga ;) until 3am in the same club, then to the club where I met this girl on Thursday.. another very long time (and very good party) and from there to the after party that never stops.. until about 3pm in the afternoon Sunday.. then we got a Motel and slept for about 16hrs!!! haha ;) super, super crazy!! but yes.. I´m glad to have lived all this. Now.. I´m a bit more relaxing and I would not want to spend that much money in so few days again, neither being so hard on my body (dude, this was pretty devastating!)

..to be continued..

..continuation..

..but there is of course way more than I want to post here (I'm glad my Mom just read the part above, while sometimes she is three blogs behind but not this time ;)

the story with the BMW-center.. well.. I couldn't reach the guy at the shop, so I was surprised when everything was done on Monday. Went there to pick up most of my stuff, load the bike and make it to some Hotel not too expensive to spend a last night in town.
first of all.. it was never that clean and that shiny!! incredible!!! don't know what the guys did (probably cleant it with toothbrush ;) but it looks way better being waxed and polished! :D they fixed somewhat the button to start it (almost didn't start anymore.. and now it's way better again). There was some maneuverability issue and seems to be better (today got a little "jam" again) but all in all, it rolls just fine and makes a beautiful noise, sweet to listen to! :D
changed the back tyre and checked some stuff for me.. very good work and all in all 110USD :) 40USD were 6 lamps for display illumination (it's just a small thing, but nice to have in tunnels). So can't complain about that.. just.. when I drove it about 15 minutes.. it died!!!! never happened before.. just stopped and was impossible to start again :((((( was a little bit stressed at this point and then quite more stressed :P ..but well.. a call and they sent a pickup to get my bike. Just took 15 minutes and bike was back on the way to the shop. I ended up then, because I looked for a place not too far away, in the redlight district and got offered two live-fuck-show-flyers when just walking down one block ;) hehe ;) a place where you don't want to walk around alone at night.. and well, always wanted to see that, but lived by far enough crazyness for the moment, so I had a very relaxing night with watching TV and going to the movies before with my friend Marly. we went for Resident Evil 3D and this movie is just THE SHIT!!! in 3D one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever had in a Movie-Theater! :D haha :) Zombie-Splatter and a storyline that goes under my tongue!! :D ahhh.. what a beautiful peace of Art!!
..so then the issue with my bike was, that because of disconnecting the electronic unit of the display, it messed up with the electronic of the motor (thank you BMW). Then the evening before they told me, they could start it easily and didn't find anything.. that's the worst!! if you have sporadic errors whose source can't be found!!!! but anyway.. then the next day they knew more and explained it to me and see.. no problems since then! :) (imagine having a technical problem that only can be solved by BMW in Bogota and you're just 500km away from there :P

hmm.. so I made it out of town on Thursday noon (lost some more hours and spent the night in the dirtiest hole of the town :P ..Marly stayed over night, but this time it was just sleeping in each others arms, for my part just enough.. could not really share a lot of love with somebody else after Myle. Probably takes some more time.. (what doesn't mean that flings are a bad thing ;)
took me an hour to get out of that town!! never ends and a lot of traffic!! the landscape tough turns quickly into something very beautiful and was a blue and sunny day with just some Cumulus in the far (now I know their names again ;). Problem was that soon I hit these Cumulus for driving up in the mountains.. :/ got a bit freezy and foggy, as the clouds were swept over the road (looks pretty cool! :) and made it over the top and down on the other edge, where it gets warmer and you get a pretty look down into the canyons that went all over the place :) have no pictures of my last two days.. should make some before leaving this place called "Armenia" :) again: pictures would not give back what I experience by riding through this magical country! but at least giving you an impression. I'm sure, Switzerland has as well many of such beautiful and magical places to offer, but we tend to appreciate more when far away ;) hehe :)

so it took me about 6 hours to get to a small town in the mountains (where sunlight vanishes quickly), where I got a cozy room with TV and private bath for 10 USD (payed a 3 USD upgrade for a hot shower version ;) and got some streetfood and watched TV and relaxed (finally!!) just mellow, no more input.. just processing ;)
on the way there I realized that passing cars in this roads don't really matter.. it's just dangerous! seems more a hobby and entertainment than saving you time.. after 45 minutes on the road (everybody passing me for driving slowely), I got them ALL at a stop at a construction site, where I just passed by on the side when there was no incoming traffic ;) that's the way to get the pole position! :) then still this morning, I climbed my way ahead to not be behind slow trucks, that are slower than my first gear! :P had a great (and still safe) ride! :) over more mountains, into some more clouds, but heated handle bars and closed jacked prevented most of it :) was just riding a little bit today.. the place Armenia is very close to where I started (especially compared to the ride of yesterday ;)
lately.. since I got the new helmet and with my again-working Ipod headphones, I can listen music while riding without having my ears in pain ;) hehe ;) I totally like it!! totally like Psy-Trance! and it's just awesome to fly through these worlds, listening to some pumping beatZ! ;)
here I got my panniers fixed (another 20 USD invested.. I hope I don't fall soon.. they are still in bad shape since many thousand Km ago.. so I should be able to prevent their shape until all the way down.. feeling saver and saver on that lil' dragon! ;) and got something organized to Paraglide tomorrow.. let's see how's the day, the conditions.. will still be around 50 USD to rent equipment, but hey.. if I can fly in this site by organizing it on my own, it's a new Milestone!! :D then let's see.. option 1: end early for some reason and head for the hot springs for a night and then to Cali. Version 2: flying for too long, stay another night here and go to Cali the day after from Armenia.
today I made a little tour to Salento.. just 35 minutes away and BEAUTIFULLY sited!!! it lies on a crest, overlooking a nice little town (damn, and I forgot my camera :P and on the other side you look down into a 300m large valley that has been a stream once (today just a little river with lots of rocks inside.. makes it look really beautiful with all the white rapids :) and the valley flat with soft green fields and trees.. in the sunlight shining in eye-feeding tones!! just so damn pretty!!! :D the crest on the other side has many side arms, as veins coming towards the river, being soft green and having trees in the deeper levels.. yeah.. too bad, no pictures of the scene! :(
met lot's of nice people (they don't see travelers like me every day ;) and played some jaw-harp, refreshing my skills. and then.. just before this blog, I finally took my double-sticks and my rope-dart in my hands and made some fancy excercises ;) good to move your body! ..being in Solento, I could see the rain in the far over Armenia, but just was at the right spot for the right time.. stayed dry and had a fun ride back into town! :) the place here is not too big, not too small.. really like it!! if not for the sake to be on Friday and Saturday in Cali to make one more last time party here in Colombia, then I'd stay more I guess :)

well.. that's probably it.. too bad, things go through my head and finally their lost when I'm in the point of writing my blog. As the experience changes over time and things are written sometimes completely different, because just one day passed (but well.. then maybe it had to be filtered in a certain way).
so yes.. the epic trip continues! it's mostly warm and sunny and the landscape is STUNNING!!! :D good to ride a bike! ;)

you too may have a great time out there!! be blessed and take care! :)

..back on track..

2010-09-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

phew.. so many things can happen in so short time?!?!

first of all.. the good bye with Myle was wonderful! went to a nice Hotel for 24hrs, having best treat and giving us best treat as well ;) hehe ;)) YESSS!! was totally unforgettable! :D there was a steambath and a swimming pool, lots of tasty food and even more alcohol that we brought along ;) hehe ;) *sigh* what wonderful times these were!!! ..then on Saturday we made it uphill to some party (I really loved it, after I was almost not to motivate to go there.. but thank you Myle!! :) sharing bed for a last night and then leaving on Sunday noon. It was really hard (as you could expect such a good bye after so many incredible times.. :`(
she begged me in tears to stay another day, but I really couldn´t.. wouldn´t have changed anything, but still had moments the next day, where I wished, I would have.
so I drove four hours to San Gil and looked for Shawns place that has been recommended by Myle (well.. he has been recommended). The place is not too impressive (and expensive) but popular because of Lonely Planet :P didn´t really feel as meeting people, but enjoyed the nice backyard terrace, where you can see the city and the circling birds in the sunset.. made some music (haven´t done this in a while) and enjoyed myself.. well.. no mostly missed Myle and went to bed very early. Felt emptyness through absence of this beautiful love and care.. but yes.. no Yin without Yang ;)
the ride by the way was very nice!!! sunny and through the Chicamocha canyon.. climbing up mountains with beautiful view, passing the National Park and over the tops of the mountains :) don´t have any pics of it, because I found just riding is worth it! :) ..and once more I got the impression, I know how to ride that bike after about 35 000km doing it! :) haha ;) had so many different situations and cargo on it.. so I got pretty much a feeling for it, since I mounted it first time in Anchorage ;)

the next day I went rafting.. was totally AWESOME!!! :) and worth the bucks it cost. We went down a level 4 and 5 river (maximum you can do with rafts) and it was really thrilling!! :D almost got swept out of the boat ;) but managed to stay inside for the whole ride (not all of us ;) and got the sweetest spot in the front, where you get it ALL! :) ..there are plenty of pics online in my picasa (sorry, put them all in, once I paid for pics to be in a boat with my friends, what finally wasn´t the case anyway ;) hehe ;)
haven´t done rafting before in my life and glad I started with the upper limit ;) all you need is a guy that nows what to do and screams loud enough: "left backward" "forward" "inside" "forwardforwardFORWARD" ..and some pawns that can row ;) hehe ;) got a crashcourse about rescueing people and how not to fall out or how to behave in the water.. what to do when trapped under the boat and so on.. ;) but went all pretty smoothly! :)
then I changed to another cheaper hotel with parking and TV and had a chill night in my private room.. got up the next morning early and went to explore a cave.. very, very wet and a lot of mud! ;)
the most thrilling thing is that you have to dive in and out.. through the more or less cold water, pulling you along a rope. all the light comes from small helmet lamps and you have to crawl a lot, sometimes through water that high that only 20 cm rest to breath :) some nice stalagmites and stalactites and the usual halls.. not the most impressive cave that I´ve seen, but dirtiest one ;) hehe ;) was a fun excursion for the morning.. it´s nice to go inside the earth from time to time :)
then I picked up my stuff and took off to Villa de Leyva, where you can do Canyoning, as I read somewhere.. it´s super beautiful to ride through the mountains of Colombia!! :) got to the highlands here and am staying in a nice Finca-Guesthouse with lots of space around close to the small colonial town but out in the green :) super peaceful here! :) once more.. looks like Switzerland.. so pretty ;) hehe ;)
well.. at the moment I´m freezing my toes off, because my shoes got wet through all my activities and it´s pretty chilly up here at 2300m.a.s.l. but got a nice private room for me with big bed and private bathroom with hot shower for about 20 USD a night (good treat ;)

oh yeah.. another story was that local kid that was bothering me in San Gil to give hime 2.50 USD (good ammount of money here) and I didn´t really like his vibe so didn´t want to give him cash (could even run off with more), but he kept following me and hasseling me until I felt really unconfortable.. not too many people in the street and the guy getting angry. But then passed some busses luckily and I stopped one of them and hopped on :) the guy was cursing me, but I was safe.. the driver didn´t even charge me for bringing me a few blocks down, where I walked back on another way to my hostal. Well.. this is what you can find in touristy places (where in Bucaramange, I was just fine!). and thought about to take my pepperspray along when being in such places.. just for the case :P

then today I went for grappling down 38 meters into a big hole and exploring a small cave.. then climbing up on a tree! :P was pretty exciting!! grappel down is easy.. learned that in Nicaragua, but climbing is still pretty tough for me :/ got better at it over the last years (through other trips) but at a certain point, the guy on the edge was more pulling me up than I could give force into it ;) but not that much fear of hights as I used to have ;)
then we went for a hike along a crest.. falling on both sides down to a river.. a really wicked hike!! there´s the "paso del angel" where it´s just very small and steep down on both sides.. a real leap of faith ;) hehe :) then checking out a waterfall from above and walking upstream one of the rivers.. really, really beautiful place!! (I hope the pictures show a little bit of it ;)
on the way back passed in a winery, but unfortunately they didn´t let my test their wine ;) ..the funny thing about the trip today was that I would have had to pay more, because of just me (and the boss of the agency coming with me and a helper for the grappling and climbing), but because I have a own ride, I got it for the same price.. but then I had to bring the along to the place ;) hehe ;) didn´t think that.. thought they would have their bike (instead of taking a car), but then I was the driver and at a certain point, there were to other men on my bike with grappling gear ;) (highest load I probably ever had.. prefer definitively girls ;)

well.. might add some other stuff later.. HAVE to go!! need food and moving my body away from this computer.. it´s almost 2 hours already updating online stuff and mails :P ..finally got my skydiving movie online in Facebook.. should check it out ;)

..Roundup..

2010-09-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

..just packed all my bags and boxes.. glad to have it done!

during the last week, I accomplished quite a few tasks.. bought a new camera for 130USD and really like it! :D the result can be seen in the album "Colombia" in picasa.. remember that the old one already made problems in the states :P was about time to get a new one!! :D
then my Ipod failed completely and when the guy told me, takes a week and a complete formatting, I begged him to try another charger and see.. works better than ever!! so with a 8 USD charger I solved all my Ipod issues and now it even plays when charging ;) I should never have used that crappy asian USB charger :P
then I let a dentist clean my teeth.. was pretty painfull (poor gums) and charged me 50USD!!! as I think is too much for the job.. but anyway.. he told me I got some small caries :((( and I finally went to another guy who checked my teeth and told me 5 teeth, he does it for 75USD and takes an hour. So I got my date the day after and let the torture pass. It didn´t actually really hurt (just once for a second) but I generally don´t like blank metal on my teeth (the very reason, why I don´t play the traditional jaw-harp.. *sniff*). So he drilled a bit around, scratched some stuff off and put new things on and put them in shape, so I can bite again as before :)
took him nearly two hours and I think, he fixed about 8 teeth and did a really good job (as it feels/seems to me). ..so yeah.. this is done.. keeping yourself working as supposed ;) hehe :)
was thinking about a tattoo again last week, but didn´t have time now finally.. but got the idea.. would be my dragon tattoo and of one side enters a leaping tiger or lion in fire colors and tribal style and on the other side a hammerhead shark in water colors and tribal swims out.. :D hehe ;) yes.. let´s hope this comes true one day, if I meet a talented artist.
I´ve seen some cool 3D-movies lately for not too much money and they really rock!! looking forward to Resident Evil 4 in 3D!!! :D muhahahaa!!
it´s nice to go out to drink something, go to the movies and dinner with my lovely Myle or to watch a movie together and cook at home in the peaceful mountain hotel on Ruitoque! :) in half an hour I gonna pick her up and we go to a nice Hotel with Jacuzzi, Sauna and Swimming pool ;) hehe :) ah.. dude.. best times ever!! :D

..still.. there is upcoming pain of saying good-bye. In love, you get first the sweet part and then the bitterness ;) hehe :) but hey.. I HAVE to move on and I´m sure everything will be all right. Giving myself time to think and feel, to process the last weeks, to appreciate and to be grateful for my life!
there lies quite some road ahead of me and I should get my ass back on the seat! ;) I got lazy with all my projects, but glad I took time to do them! :D haha! :D now there is nothing left, that I would stay and do in a few weeks.. more like short adventures diving, flying or falling ;) hehe :)

all in all I truely can claim having an intense and magical time!! that a human being can pass through live in such a marvellous way.. isn´t it amazing!! :D haha! :)
so wishing all your dreams come true and following my way, embracing every single part of it! :)

cu soon and namaste! :)

..going into overtime..

2010-08-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

..a good bye should always be a blast! this time, it was so incredibly wonderful that it was no real good bye. Seems that I´m staying a couple of days more, before I head (really speeded up) to Ecuador ;)

I´ve seen, it´s some days ago that I made my last entry.. I remember having good times, more flights (even if mostly connected to a good ammount of waiting) and being together with Myle above all! :D
now I have 42 flights with about 14 hours of airtime :D made a movie high up in the air and uploaded it into my Facebook ;) had after a stunning flight (I was the first one getting into the thermal and just three of us made it). Going high up, being the last back on ground but during the toplanding in the weak morning winds, I blew it and ended up in the cafeteria :P bummer! would have been a flawless victory, but after that dramatic action, I can´t say that any more ;) hehe :) so what happened was that I ran out of ground in front of me and didn´t pump right, also failed to take the right decision and abort the landing. Instead used my legs to stop my flight into a roof ;) and didn´t get a single scratch of that adventure!! ;D was a good experience.. toplandings are tricky ;)
during full moon, Myle and I sat outside in the grass and enjoyed the changing night sky of Bucaramanga.. yes, really wonderful and magic times!!
we went out on Saturday, eat going to Richies house in the mountains, going back to town to party, staying over night in Richies house again and then leaving the next day to Mesa de los Santos, a beautiful (Swiss like ;) landscape 2000 m.a.s.l. with stunning views into the vallies.. went to the deunde falls and had just greatest (and craziest ;) times ever!!!! :D
..so, what should I do.. I feel, that another few days here are so precious and special that I shouldn´t miss this opportunity. On the other hand, the real good bye will be even more painful, after passing another strongly unifying week together.. but love has it´s own ways and keep going with the flow.
I still have some projects in mind here that I will work on while not being able to fly. But having some extra days of flying isn´t the worst thing after all ;) hehe :)
so Richy drove us back and forth, up and down all in a safe manner, took us to the lake and to the property of his sister where we were driving around with ATVs at night ;) hehe :) I´m feeling very connected to these people! and I´m happy to have found such friends along my way!! Myle is just incredible! surprises me with many things and has so much love for me.. we´re having the best times ever!! :D this is for sure one of the deeper and more important experiences in my life!
hmm.. what more.. I´ll keep you posted ;)

..the end is nigh..

2010-08-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

..the thought brings a bitter taste of melancholy, but in one week from now on, I will continue my way down South. Yes.. good-byes are always hard, but they bring room for other growth. I think, I´ll need at least seven riding days to get to Ecuador and stopping a bit along the way will delay me until mid of September to cross the boarder. But I will enjoy the time here in Colombia.. shouldn´t be sad, if I don´t stop in a place for longer; had this just enough. Maybe I shouldn´t think too much about the schedule of my trip ;) Maybe I´ll be late to get all the way down, but I don´t intend to do that anyway.. it could be too cold or snowy, if I get there, but I´ll see.. I´ll figure it all out, but living here in the present and letting the future come :) Was all very Epic on this trip.. and it´s starts getting better and better.. I´m a skydiver and paragliding pilot ;) and have all the reason to be truely happy (or to keep heading at least direction true happiness ;) I had, have and will have incredible times on this trip.. seeing, experiencing and living things, I´ve never dreamed off, I never new they existed or they could be achieved along the way. Well.. glad, I took off, headed out and went exploring this world! Even if it was just for making groceries or going to town, I was happy to have a ride and made it safely with my passenger through the streets of Bucaramanga! :) (already got some sense for driving in this town :)

this morning we went over to another site.. finally a lot of hassle for a 10 minute flight (others flew even less) because just weak thermals and (as I can say now) much more of a Pro site. But anyway.. next to the folding up twice the canopy, it was a more spectacular launch and the fun of flying along new mountains with the special pleasure to land in a football stadium! :D that I have to admit, is pretty wicked! :)) ..now at the basecamp again, waiting for the gas, so I can make some pasta and hoping for some nice ridge soaring and top landing in the afternoon. I feel still super newbie, exept for they give me a paper now that should let me fly in other places ;) but no worries.. I´ll pick my sites for sure carefully.. some fun soaring along ridges, where wind is constant and given at a certain hour.. just the easy and fun stuff.. because otherwise you end up packing your glider in a very remote place with a long hike :/ even weak and disappearing thermals can shorten the fun to a few minutes. But let´s see what sites are there in South America :) I heard about some good dune soaring in Chile.. will for sure check it out! :)
here my friend had some tree and bush landings (it´s more forgiving than you think, exept the time and effort it takes to free the canopy and the 1001 lines ;) haha ;))
so better head for the landing zone, even if you´re doomed there to go down because of no upwind than getting too greedy and finally loosing too much altitude to make it there (and then maybe take the wrong decision to try it..) all about making the right decision at the right moment (what needs a lot of experience). But I now feel I mastered the Earth, the Sea and the Air ;) ..for fire there didn´t come a lot to my mind yet ;) hehe :) but yes.. nice to feel comfortable with these elements, as my Dad is as well.. even flew sailing planes and can drive trucks and steer boats :)

Ok.. the gas arrived! :D
will later on update my pictures online (my cam is so broken, made me trouble to access it :( having a new one soon..

..higher and higher..

2010-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

hell yeah!!! what a great morning this was! :)

yesterday I got pretty pissed in the morning.. no thermals, just some glides down to the landind zone and a lot, a lot of waiting! :( improved my patiance to the max and over stretched it :P they call it also parawaiting and there´s a lot of it!!
then in the afternoon, after I picked up Myle my girlfriend, I had some exciting ridge soaring, where you fly along the ridge here in front of the house, together with three top landings (landing on the same spot where you took off). There´s not a lot of space and strong winds, so you need the right technics, but with some help over the radio, it was possible.. well.. also landed two times on my ass, but you get this huge, soft harness with an airbag that protects you from getting a sore ass or a spinal injury.. so glad to have that ;) hehe :)
then I had a wonder, wonderful evening with my love here!!! giving massages, watching Sweeny Todd and drinking Rum and Coke :D haha :))) oh yeah.. it was GREAT!! best times ever! :D

I also got some moments where I felt more "down" and low energy, because there are so many moments that are just EPIC! where I couldn´t be any happier than I am and I feel like this is the place and the moment to be.. for example, laying in Myles arms and feeling her hand caressing my neck.. watching some good movie together or being too distracted by our hot kisses ;) hehe :) yes.. really good times!
but then there are moments where she has to stay home (with her Mom) and I´m just having a rainy no-fly day here, being along and missing my sweetheart.. so a bit of ups and downs, but the ups are "very strong lifts", as you would call it in the Paragliding language ;) hehe :)

so then this morning, waking up late in Myle´s arms, having short breakfast and getting my stuff out on the field, waiting for about half an hour, before some nice thermals showed up. My Dutch friends took off but didn´t catch any upwind and when I started a bit later I got really good lifts.. I went up about 1000m above the landing zone and it really looked high!!! ..got a bit scared up there.. it´s so mental to fly with an inflatable wing attached to some fabric chair ;) haha ;)) yes.. glad it was not too shaky up there.. so I hit one thermal after the other, was turning in left circles until my abdomen and my neck were hurting and then switching to right circles until it got too painful ;) was up there for more than an hour and finally decided then to go landing because I couldn´t stand it anymore :P I heard, it´s all about being relaxed in that chair up there, but your body tends to tension up if you´re in high altitudes.. so probably have to get used to that more.. but really, really f**king awesome cool! :D ..you have to love it!! haha ;)
I mean, this is not like a tandem flight.. it´s just you up there and my good buddy Russell down on the ground, giving me some radio instruction (really helps at the moment ;)
it´s just.. if you´re flying, you have to be present and aware all the time. Feel the lifts and the sinks in the air, see that you don´t get kicked out of the thermal because you don´t turn fast enough. keep the right ammount of pressure on your breaks, lean as far out as you can (as you dare ;) to have a good wight shift and don´t let it throw you around in the chair too much. Sometimes I get thrown to one side, loosing balance in the chair and messing up with the controls, because you can´t hold on to anything exept for your breaking handles up there (that you´re not supposed to mess up with ;) hehe :)
and then the birds.. beautiful black vultures that are marking the circle of the thermal for you and accompanying you on your way up (or me accompanying them ;) hehe :) they are so close.. sometimes taking evading actions to not fly into you or just playing with each other hundreds of meters above ground.. I LOVE IT!!!! :D haha :)
once landed, I felt my sore body and just needed to relax.. still wanting to go back up there.. once you´re getting high, it makes it all so much easier.. you have plenty of altitude to burn to find another lift. You can fly whereever you see birds circling and "land" on top of the hot air.. sometimes you have to wait until you get further down, where the thermal is developing and taking you up again into the sky!

then it becomes also clear why we just get a P2 beginner licence here and it´s not valid in Switzerland.. there is so much more to know about and to practice that we could do here in such a short time! if there are no birds, I would not now where to fly.. and there are so many different fly sites with different conditions.. I´ll feel confortable to get a glider somewhere and go with people who know flying and then circle with them in the thermals.. we just get the basics here.. how it works, starting, landing, more experience of feeling wind movement and circeling in the air (with wight shift and the right break pressure). So it´s a nice way to get into it and a lot of fun (next to the waiting ;) hehe :) but it would take way more to be able to do all this on my own.. still, I´m glad to be here and learning something about it, having the opportunity to fly on my own through the skies and getting another unforgettable experience! ;) haha :D and hey.. after all it´s flying!! can´t expect all the airodynamics and meterology to be that simple ;) and then you need a loooot of practise to be able to handle all kind of situations.. as snowboarding, as surfing as almost every sport that takes time to learn and get a deeper understanding for it. But I´d like to do the special maneuver course to become more confident and then to fly on my way down to Patagonia.. heard there´s a nice place in Chile, where you can fly over dunes along the beach.. sound´s pretty sweet to me! ;) hehe :)
OK.. I gonna rest for a while and soon we might be on the field again for some dynamic flights in the afternoon.. :D weeeehaaa!! :D

..time´s flying by..

2010-08-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

phew.. that were quite some take offs and landing I had here in the last seven days, and I´m not only taking about paragliding ;) hehe :)
the weather seems to have changed for good and I hope I can spend a good ammount of time in the air during the next days. Having 14 flights and about 3hrs of airtime now (could be more, but was also a lot of partying ;) and some days where we couldn´t fly.
Here was a very nice electro party on the weekend, just around the corner.. was AWESOME!!! haha! :D having best times ever here (a good thing to say, because "best times" can only result out of the present moment.. means I´m keeping it up with my joy of life ;) :)) We met a Dj from Argentina in the street the day before and made friends. So when we showed up, he was just about to get in and took us in for free! :D even with access to the VIP area that totally rocked by being in front of the stage and having more space for dancing :) so it were wonderful moments spent together with a wonderful girl and enjoying most beautiful energies! :)

hmm.. yes.. that´s probably it. I wouldn´t know what more to tell you, exept I´m having best times ever here and learn how to paraglide ;) hehe :)
so I guess I will hit Patagonia on January and not in December and will have to speed up a little bit along the way. Here I will start in about 10 days to two weeks. ..it´s hard to say (even harder to think about :/ but the trip continues)
so no worries about me ;) safe and sound on a mystic mountain in the middle of mountains :)

wishing you all the best and life on! :)

P.S. oh yeah.. about flying through the skies ;) to me the most tricky thing is to manage your "fuel" (the altitude) while flying around. Turns slow you down, letting you loose altitude, so just turn when you feel the upwind from a thermal. But because you don´t see them and accumulations of birds (indication for thermals) suddenly disappear, you have to make it still back to the LZ (Landing Zone). But then the landing and putting your feet back on the ground is not so hard.. just wait for the right timing and make a flare (or pumpy flare) and slow down your speed. Then flying in the air is also tricky.. can get a bit shaky up there and your supposed to lean in a direction and maintain the controls. It might also happen that a wingtip collapses for a short moment.. it´s auto recovery and you can anticipate it and react to it.. so it´s a lot of flying experience you have to get. But then I heard about an SIV course in Ecuador, where they show you how to recover and throw an emergency chute and all that stuff over water in a safe environment. Kinda like these courses for driving cars where you learn how to slide and recover. So I´d like to go for it and get some expercience about what to do if you have a collapse in the air. ..ok.. now of for lunch :D

-=AIRBORNE=-

2010-08-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

YESSSS!!! ..finally my first solo flights with a paraglider.. do I have to tell you that this totally rocks!! :D ;) haha ;))

"those who know how it is to fly will walk upon the earth, looking up in the skies, wanting to go back there" - da vinci -

if you enjoyed kiting when you were a child, then you should try this! :) ..you run downhill, bringing up your glider and then run and run, off the edge, feeling how the wing is pulling you up in the air. You swiftly glide back into the seat and keep slight pressure on the breaks. You pass some air bubbles, making you swing back and forth, but you quickly compensate with the breaks. Seeing vultures circeling on the left and pull over to join their thermal, saying "hello" to your brother birds and feeling the wind pulling you gentle upwards..

man, I LOVE paragliding!! the only thing is that I never now how much I might gain or loose altitude on my path, because thermals and sinks are invisible :P just have to know the terrain and keep watching the birds.
I think that because of the correolis effect, thermals turn wether left or right, depending the hemisphere. This would also mean, that every single bird making circles on the sky turns the same direction (depending hemisphere) to turn upwind and now downwind.. have you ever thought about that? ;D

oh.. and here is a link to pictures of the lost-city-trek. A friend from France uploaded quite some of them and did a really good job! :) (haven´t uploaded mine)

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http://picasaweb.google.fr/denis.mouthon/CiudadPerdidad?authkey=Gv1sRgCODG4sD3wa3T0gE&feat=directlink
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today is a really beautiful, sunny day and I hope to get some more flights in the afternoon (did four short flights this morning for landing practise.. and works already pretty well! :D
got some rain over the weekend (didn´t bother for being in a honeymoon castle ;) and yesterday from midday to the late afternoon. Was really tired at night and crashed already at 8.30pm but then got woken up by my sweetheart at 10.30pm and got very special treat! ;D ..can it get any better??? hahaha :D
now I gonna make a soup and watch the rest of the learning DVDs.. as it looks, I got company tonight ;) hihi :D *biiiig smile*

..from falling to flying.. :)

2010-08-09T06:50:00.001-07:00

yes.. some days have been passed and I was just too busy to update my blog :D
so here I am, in the mountains of Bucaramanga (the hostel and fly site have a stunning view onto the city.. beautiful day and night! :)

so the ride back here was pretty long (another 15 hours in a bus) and then there was still this blocked road and we had to walk a good 40 minutes, before an army truck picked us up to bring us to the end of the waiting line of cars. I heard, they didn´t fix it, because some people got money (bribes) by letting trucks pass through the night :P would make sense and would be a shame, because so many people getting delayed and economy loosing money just because somebody wants to make some profit. So yes.. this landslide consisted over two weeks..
then lucky me, on the other side, there was a guy making some money by bringing people directly to Cucuta.. (no extra bus and public transportation). Paid the exit-fee for Venezuela ;) and got a new stamp from Colombia. Changed my money and got my bike (everything was still there! :) now having a new helmet that I got in Caracas.. better this way, the old one was sitting too loose. Well.. actually, I think helmets are cheaper here in Colombia :-/ but who could know that :P

then I had a 4-5 hour ride over this big mountain, back to Bucaramanga.. was a nice ride, exept at a certain point I drove into clouds and got a bit of rain (and had to activate my heated handle grips ;) hehe :) the view tough was very beautiful and I enjoyed the ride.. having some chicken rice soup and a coffee along the way for one dollar :)
with a bit searching, I found the hostel of Richi (the guy with the paragliding school) and stayed there for a night. I finally found out that this licence I´m making here is NOT valid in Switzerland, but as it brings me skill and experience, as it´s a lot of fun and can be used further down on this trip and maybe another time in another place (that´s not CH ;) ..and then above all, I met Myle again, a girl that I know from Taganga.. we just met a night going out and shared some incredible, electrifying kisses together! ;) changed emails and yes.. found ourselves again here in Bucaramange. This wonderful, breath taking beauty gives me so much love and care that I don´t think of leaving this place very soon ;) hehe :) well.. I´m still on my trip, but it could not be better than learning about paragliding, enjoying wonderful Colombia and being in love with a girl that could be miss Colombia! ;) I must get spoiled by being with her, but as a good friend once told me: never reject what universe offers you! :D
so since I´m here I got the rest of my stuff from the other hotel and moved to the mountains (20 min outside from the city place) and started to learn about paragliding.. handling of the glider, inflation, meteorology.. and I´m doing quite well! :D today I think, I gonna fly and learn how to land (I´m very confident about this, because I know landing with a parachute.. so flaring shouldn´t be a problem to me :) Looks like a lot of fun being up there on your own, crusing through the skies! I now also get the picture of this sport.. instead of hanging in a harness, you´re sitting in a comfy chair having way more sophisticated controls than a parachute has. It´s really interesting to learn about all this.. what your gear consists of, how you have to check the equipment and a lot of muscle-memory things you have to learn. I can also grasp now the vibe of kite surfing.. and it remembers me my childhood, when I used to have a kite. But this is by far the greatest application of a kite.. a kite that big that you can hang on to it and it takes you up in the skies!! :D HAHAHA!!! I LOVE IT!! ..once you´re into these light flying devices, you might also hear about delta gliders.. they are much faster and more dangerous (as it seems to me ;) it´s the adrenaline version of paragliding.. but I think, I won´t get that far.. it´s not that I have to be able to maneuvre every device mankind invented ;) but to be able to fly and land a paraglider is a "must" for me :)
then there was the birthday party of Richi the last friday.. lot´s of people came.. good party!!! :) made some firespinning, met local artists and had a great time with my girlfriend!! :))) well.. at a certain point her ex showed up and we had to displace (they were together for quite a while and he isn´t completely over it.. but they had the deal she goes out on Friday and he on Saturday.. so kinda lame he showed up :( anyway.. we made a move and ended up in the mountains on the other side of the valley. Some honeymoon castle close to a waterfall and natural swimming pools (with cooool water ;) but being a very nice place with kind people giving us a good treat. What more could you want than spending 24hrs with miss Colombia in such a place ;) hehe :) aaahh.. lucky me!!
the ride there and back was a bit challenging.. two people on the bike and some muddy, sliding parts, but we didn´t fall and the bike didn´t fail (my cooling systems finally works fine again! :D and it was waaaaay better than walking there and back (lazy me ;) ..maybe you´ll find a tagged picture of me and her on FB :) it´s totally perfect here.. as I told you.. being in love and flying through the clouds (not just literally, but for real! :D hahaha!! yes.. LIFE IS GREAT!! best times ever in Colombia! (just for those who think, traveling could bet boring after a year ;) hehe :)

now I´m getting ready for my flight today.. hear from me soon..

I conquered the Skies!!! :D

2010-08-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

hi out there! :)

I just got my FAI (international sport skydiving license) yesterday on our national holiday ;) hehe :)

had a good time here in Venezuela!! no pics (just me skydiving on FB) because my camera seems to be definitively broken now.. no idea what I should do. Maybe just make some pics with my cell phone (then getting a new camera seems not that necessary to me). furthermore I´m spending 200 USD today to get a new helmet :( ..but it´s a thing I don´t want to save money on.. it´s my mission of today and then straight to the terminal and a last long busride to my bike :)

spent Thursday in Higuerote, drinking beer at the beach with some people I met there. was good fun! :) then going out on Friday, ending with a very crazy story.. same the day before. Was just too much me by myself being in Higuerote :P ..well, survived it all and then the Saturday I was "safe" with people from the dropzone :) had lot´s of fun playing scrabble and taboo, drinking rum and coke and talking until early morning (well.. at a certain point I had to retire to get some rest for more skydiving ;)

and then about skydiving.. I really got into it.. after graduation, you know how to stabilize and turn and make front and backflips but since then I learned (and taught myself some more things ;) there are a lot of fun exits out of a plane.. diving out forward, letting fall backward, jumping out with a tripple frontflip and my favourite, making a step forward and then a backflip :D I´ve seen my friend jumping of a bridge like that, but would never dare it if there´s water to hit on. but in the air, there is nothing that can hurt you ;) heheh :)
once opening the chute, I got more practice in landing smoothly and on the spot you want to land and making radicals (turning hard left or right). Just have to be careful that there is nobody close to you.. but it´s fun!! :D you face down and got a lot of speed and physical forces working onto you :)
while falling, there are lots of things you can do.. for example the FreeFall, where you sit upright or fall head down (this is very hard to enter, but managed it for 2 seconds :D then the air catched me again and threw me around.. but once you go into box position (making an arc with your body) you´re stable again.
then there is a thing that´s called "tunnel". You take an arm in make a turn along the body-axis. keeping both arms in and make your body firm let´s you spin as you´re piercing through the air (I call this one "screwdriver" ;). Then I had the pleasure to jump three times with somebody else.. grabbing somebody´s arm and turning around or crossing arms and make a roll together or just varying with your relative hight and distance to each other (careful not to smash into each other.. can be super dangerous, if somebody can´t control himself in the air).
my craziest jump was with a friend that jumps for 25 years, having done base jumps at the Angel Falls and in Caracas (if seen a video.. crazycrazycrazy :) really good vibes with him and when we jumped together, he pulled me out of the plane and we "hold hands" the whole fall down, making crazy spins and turns, entering freefall head down and shouting out loudly for so much fun it was!!! :D :D gave me an idea, what skydiving can be ;) I really feel having this in my blood.. born without wings, but a flyer in my heart ;) hehe :) it´s all body-mind.. as Tai-Chi or my martial art stuff or contact juggling.. I´m stable even while turning one handed.. things just worked out for me as I tried them the first time! :)
asked a lot of stuff (as always curious I am in my life ;) about different parachutes, techniques, the whole mechanics of skydiving and the equipment. There is still a lot to try and whenever I get a chance, I´ll dive with a smile! :D hahaha :D
what more about that.. got a little movie that I want to upload on Facebook and changed my profile picture ;) there not too many of crazy people jumping out of planes ;) ..but no worries.. it´s actually really safe (just stay with a big cannopy until you know how to land with different wind). But there´s a safety device that activates if you would pass out in the air for some reason. There are safety margins to open your chute and if you get an emergency (will happen in a certain moment), then you know how to liberate the primary chute and land with the reserve. I´ve seen that two days ago and people were just: "someone opened the reserve" without lot´s of excitement.. seems just to happen from time to time ;) but it´s very rare.. the equipment has improved a lot over the last years! (as diving).

so.. now I have to go.. next time writing I´ll be in Colombia and if something more occurs to my mind, I´ll let you know ;) haha ;))

Blue Sky!

Markus

Bye-Bye Dreaddies...

2010-07-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

well.. was a black day in the history of dreadlocks, but actually was a welcomed change in the end ;)

it was just hopeless to win the battle against lice in such a thick and lush jungle of hairs on my head. Nits (eggs) hidden in big stems and dozens (probably not hundreds ;) of small little animals, feeding on my scalp.
another issue was that through very few maintenance over the last four months, my dreads got really, really out of shape. Once more, depends a lot of your hairtype how your dreaddies grow and how much maintenance you have to give.. but straight, fine hair is not the easiest way to go ;)
what happens is that if you don´t roll them daily (or every couple of days), to stretch them out, hairs get pulled back, what produces thin parts in the tips where they break, is messing up your tips by pulling them to "clumps" and the pulled back hair forms knots along your dreads :-/
so afterwards I can say, at a certain point, my hair was looking pretty awesome! (after I was investing dozens of hours of work to make them ;) but on long term, I can´t keep up with that. I´m just not the person who spends a lot of time to fix me up ;) hehe :) ..I mean, shower and shave and maybe some gel on my hair, but everything that passes this slight ammount of time is like ironing clothes ;) hehe :)
then I thought, it might be shocking after such a long time having long hair and having dreads, to get it cut shortly.. but no, actually it´s not! :) in fact, looks pretty awesome! :D went back to the old and known style of cut I had for a long time in Switzerland and after the dread-lady opened me my stumps (that hurt quite a bit), I got the best treatment ever from a hairdresser! :D including massage and two washes.. was three years ago that I went to a hair stylist ;) hihi :)
the only thing that sucks a bit is that I sent back home my streetfighter helmet (that would now fit perfectly again and looks a hundred times more badass than the one I use here.. will see if I need a new one.. maybe buy even in Venezuela, because everything so cheap ;) took probably 1.5 hours to cut and undo and was 10 bucks and then 8 bucks for the wash, cut, wash and massage :)
furthermore I appreciate the "filthy" work they did.. I´m sure the dread-lady had to get rid of more than a lice under her finger nails :-/ some fell on the floor, others were climbing on the dead rastas, looking for my scalp (bastard will sufficate or die starving in this plastic bag). Still got them sealed up, but will probably not do a lot with them.. maybe keep the nicest one as a souvenir, but what stays is the experience and some crazy pictures to show my kids ;) hihi :)
life is change
now once cleared the battle field, the little suckers on my head are probably already gone or will be soon.. now the pesticide actually reaches them and the nits can be picked out easily.. after the whole procedure and cutting off 97% of my hair, I still found five lice scratching me and took out more than 20 nits with my bare hands :-/ so having rasta takes the problem to a whole new level.. people soak their hair in petroleum jelly and use vinagre, tea tree oil, showercaps and repeat the procedure over 2-3 weeks to break the spawning cycle.. that´s way too much work to me and especially not traveling and moving from place to place. And as I´m not Samson, I don´t loose my super powers by cutting off my hair ;) hahaha :D ;)

I made my way back to Higuerote yesterday and will have a day for myself today.. my friend asked me to go on the beach with her and her friends, but I´m not too much of a beach person and after being dragged along the last days, I enjoy to be a bit more independent again :)

you will hear from me soon...

..ready..set..GO!!!

2010-07-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

where to start? where to start??

first of all, I´m still alive ;) and I´m now qualified to jump out of a plane by myself ;) hehe :) ..it´s soooo totally AWESOME!!! like sex, just different ;) hihi ;))

well.. I´ll have to edit this entry, because just 5 min left, but let´s use the time :)

so I got up early on Saturday morning and got briefed about parachutes, emergency procedures and some other stuff you have to know if you want to jump out of planes ;)
skipped the second Tandem jump and jumped with two instructors instead, having a radio, so they can advise me if I have any problems landing.. but it´s easier than it looks ;) hihi :) just have to wait long enough to flare (full breaking, just 2m above the ground, to land softly on the grass :)
only thing was that we were getting into a cloud and didn´t react quick enough on the "pull-chute-now" sign, so one of the instructors did this for me (felt a bit dramatic ;) but let me pass to the next level.. anyway, broke the school record with making six AFF jumps within one day and get the graduation :D :D haha ;) seems I got a little skydiver in me ;) just needed seven jumps to complete the whole program and was mostly a step ahead, already practising some exercises of the next jump.. because the big planes they have take you to 13 500 feet and this gives you a good 55seconds of free falling, before reaching the 5500ft mark, where you pull the chute as a student.

..to be continued soon..

so here we are again :) ..I´m in the middle of figuring out, how far I want to go with my license.. it´s a messy thing, because ever country handles it differently and Switzerland doesn´t give me credits for the US-License and so on :P

so the six jumps of the day bring you from stabilizing, over horizontal turns to front- and backflip to the delta (as they do it in the movies to dive down faster and to deplace horizontally :) was really fun to practise and to jump with Luis, a real nice instructor! just should have eaten a little bit more during the day, made the whole program on a coffe, a juice and an "Arepa" (tasty corn puffer with cheese and ham). So I got pretty low on blood suger in the end ;) and was starving when I finally eat a sandwich after graduation :)

I changed my mind to stay for another weekend to continue my course, but as they tell me in Switzerland, doesn´t make sense to make the A-License here.. just have to figure out how to conserve my skydive-booklet as a proof that I made the AFF course. But it´s a really good dropzone, good planes and above all, really skilled people that help you out with whatever you need and can answer every question you have.. so I really try to get back on the week-end and have some more fun in the air :)

I had then on Sunday another six jumps.. number one was my first solo-jump.. step out of the plane and feel free, just you and the sky :D haha ;) it´s not that you´d be flying, but falling with style! ;) haha :D
I´m telling you, it still freaks me kinda out to stand up in the plane and walk to the door (it´s the back of the plane, that´s completely open, showing you how high up you are or how far down it goes, if you fall over the edge ;) and my brain instinctively wants to protect me from falling to death ;) hihi :) then walking to the edge, looking down and jumping out into the element of air :D
had then three couch jumps, where I learned to fall faster and slower (to adjust your relative position to other skydivers to make figures later on in the air) and to move forward (by stretching out your legs and taking your hands a little bit back). after this I made one jump that´s called: Hop´n´Pop, where you jump at 5000ft and pull your chute immediately after being stabilized. For once, I was the first guy leaving the plane ;) passed this level as well and had a last "fun-dive" where I jumped out of the plane with a tripple front-flip, stabilezed, then backflip, the some spinnings and a delta in the end, pulling the chute later at 4500ft (with some more jumps, I lower the hight to 3500ft, the normal hight for pulling a chute.. but as newbie, it´s a little bit higher, so you got more time in there´s an emergency.. well.. I know the drill to liberate the primary chute and pull the secondary chute if it has to be (and they always work :).
I actually had a low-speed incidenct on my 3rd jump :P a little line twist (the strings are twisted up above your head.. so the chute is not controllable, but it´s easy resolvable. You pull the strings apart with your hand and turn your body to untwist the lines and then you make the standard check if your chute is maneuvrable. Glad they told me how to do that before my first jump on my own ;) hihi :)
but even in this situation, I remained calm and solved the problem :)

then another reason to go back on the weekend was the good treat I had from the people of the dropzone.. one guy made a little movie for me and burned it on a DVD, another invited me at his place (a really luxury, super stylish appartment he has ;) and had good times there! then I got a ride to Caracas on Sunday night and spent yesterday with a girl that I met at the drop zone.. gonna call her later on and let´s see what we´re doing today :) unfortunately she lifes with other people and can´t have me staying at her place, but she showed me the center of the city yesterday and it was good fun! :D learned something about Simon Bolivar, their liberator and national hero and ended up in a luxury hotel that costs me 25 bucks the night ;)

I will try to find somebody who can fix my dreads today and got some more strong pesticide to kill remaining bugs on my head (I really hate such strong stuff, but gonna make a last effort to get rid of them.. itchy feeling on your head sucks ;) hehe :)
then I have to call a friend to sell him my dollars (changing in a bank sucks) and have to think about how many more jumps I gonna make at the week-end. It´s all pretty costly (for not being accepted in Switzerland anyway) but on the other hand, really don´t like the idea to not being registered anywhere :-/

so yes.. one more time being totally undecided ;) and just going with the flow.. let´s see what the day holds for me (and worst case, there is a bike waiting for me in Colombia ;) hihi :) :D ahhhhh.. LIFE IS JUST GREAT!!!!
hope can upload my movie to facebook, so you guys can have a look at it how I´m falling downward with 220km/h ;)

be well and be happy! over and out :)

HOLY COW!!! ..it´s happening!!

2010-07-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

oh my f**king god.. you wouldn´t belive what crazy experience it is to jump out of a plane at 13500ft hight.. *MUHAHAHA*

so well.. first I was waiting for 5 hours until they started sending people and sent me up with the last flight.. but had some nice conversations and checked out the skydiving school.. I really like it! :D well.. Giancarlo, the big man on the place is not the type of "you´re my super best friend" but he complies with what we were talking about and I was jumping anyway with one of his instructors.. awesome guy!!

so let me tell you about this.. first of all, the bad news is that they only work on weekends, but the good news is that I can make the whole course this weekend! :D ;) so for once I had a really good timing to arrive on Thursday and have my first tandem jump on Friday to make the rest of the nine jumps on Saturday and Sunday :D

first I was a bit overwhelmed.. it´s my first jump ever and you´re supposed to make a lot of stuff in the air and pull the chute by yourself, but was REALLY cool!

so guess what.. it was not perfect, but it was remarkably good what I did in the air, so tomorrow instead of a second tandem jump I got my own chute and two instructors holding me in the air ;) was an anxious feeling standing in the plane, backdoor open, plane in an upward angle and you not attached to anything.. but then sit on the instructors lap ;) and get attached to the guy with the chute ;) walking together to the door, facing inside the plane then it starts:
Instructor ready? "ready", strech your legs, then bend your knees and jump backward, making the "arc" (pushing your pelvis down to be stabilized in the air).
then I was for a few seconds just "holy fuck.. you´re freefalling over the beach", but didn´t take long to get my thougths straight and the drill kicked in: checking altimeter - make three theoretical pulls of the chute (just touching the instructors hand on the activation ball) - check altimeter - make 360° turn left - check altimeter - make 360° turn right - check altimeter - wait for 6000ft - continously watching altimeter until 5500ft then sign activation of parachute and grap the ball for real and "weeeeeeee!" hanging in the air - check parachute correctly open - watch left - turn left to check maneuvrabilty - same right side - then pull both lines to break - chute working fine, heading direction dropzone and maintain correct hights and positions (all pretty easy to learn ;) just some number and marks.

it was so fantastically super thrilling!!!! that I felt so happy, to already have started this course! :D MUHAHAHAHA!!! jajaja.. badass Markus.. another expensive hobby to spend money on ;) hihihih :)
but yes.. it´s really, really cool! and I´m pretty pround on my first performance.. didn´t even know how it feels to fall (your cheeks are looking funny in the wind ;) and this is why I can do so many things in my life: willpower, focus and concentration! to react on new situations.
I beg this would be a fantastic manager-training (better than swimming with sharks ;) to test and improve your mental abilities.

compared to paragliding you don´t stay for a long time in the air but you jump out of a plane (sweeeeeeet!). So for both sports being so totally different, I want to make the paraglide license as well ;) skydiving is the adrenaline junkie sport! :D then steering your chute is not really complicated and for equipment got so much better over the years it´s just your cockyness that can kill you (so always keep the respect for it!).
but then it´s as diving.. you get a license in 2-3 days, but then you have to practise. I mean, it´s no rocket science and you can learn all you have to know easily, but then you have to practise to gain experience.

so this is definitively a WOW-thing of my trip! :D just a shame, that it will cost me a lot of money if I want to get to the 200 jump mark to start with wingsuits ;) hihihihi :) jajaja..leveling up over time I guess ;)

that´s it for now.. gonna let you know how the next two days are.. looking forward to tomorrow. it´s gonna be FULL ON! :D

hear from me soon.. "weeeeeeeeeee!" ;)

..here we are..

2010-07-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

oh boy.. finally found an internet place and glad to write down some stuff, before I met my skydive instructor..

so I "catapulted" myself deeply into Venezuela, a socialist country that is still in pretty bad shape (30 millions living here and I´ve seen A LOT of brick houses, strongly looking like slums). The president and lots of citizens are not huge fans of foreigners or are just not used to tourism (so you are not very good received compared to other countries I visited.. actually, almost every country I visited exept for Vietnam ;) hehe :) well.. the experience might change or I might be back in Colombia soon.. always worth to take a breath of different air ;)

I had a beautiful ride over the mountains from Bucaramanga to Cucuta, just started 30 minutes too early. So I got into heavy rain and was wet (and freezing!!) while riding to the top of the mountain (3700 m.a.s.l.). But then finally the sun came out and I got dried and enjoyed the breath taking view over mountains and hills. I managed to change some money and find (finally) a place to leave my bike for 14 days. It´s an expensive hotel, where I got a good feeling to leave the bike. First I tried different parking lots and motels, but didn´t find a satisfying vibe or an enough attended place to leave my bike behind.. so I was driving back and forth until I completed my mission ;) would have been easier, if I would have known, that the bus I have to take to Caracas leaves in Venezuela and not Colombia. I almost passed the frontier without knowing ;) so I took a taxi from the hotel over the boarder to get all my stamps and end up at a place, where public transport leaves to the next bigger city (where the night buses leave). The taxi was 15 USD because still Colombia.. then here in Venezuela, traveling costs are super low! :) was 1 USD to get to San Cristobal (1.5 hrs) and then 10 USD to get to Caracas (15 hrs) where the biggest challenge was sleeping in the not too comfortable seats :-/
then I got checked by the police, had to get out and they wanted to see my backpack (was so deeply burried that they didn´t get it out ;) but were asking nasty questions about how much money I carry and what type of bills I have. Got somewhat upset.. never happened to me and I hope I don´t get bothered any more by the police. I think, it was a good idea to leave the bike in Colombia.. here they call it "matracar" and means, they`re looking hard to find something to get money of you :(((
then I had to take another local bus in Caracas to change terminal and another 2hr bus to get to Higuerote.. all in all like 15 USD ;) hehe :) then the taxi here in town charged me 2 USD for just some blocks.. next time I´ll be walking here.
I thought I will take some Ibuprofan 200mg to get rid of my back pain (feeling it since starting the trip into the jungle), but it`s a lot of drugs and so far I can stand the pain. So I keep the pill for another moment ;) in the morning I can´t even tie my shoes without warming up my back and finding some way to bend down :( but yeah.. don´t want to complain too much here ;) hehe :)

another nasty, nasty thing is lices in my hair :((( yes, somebody told me this 10 days ago, but I didn´t have time to take care of it, instead was scratching my hair like a lousy dog :( well.. another experience with dreads. No idea where I got those little suckers, but I started already the chemical warfare on my head and hope they will be extinct soon!! (yesterday in the bus I scratched out 2 eggs and 3 lices.. eggs are black small spots with a little tail that pop when squished between the finger nails and lice you don´t wanna see ;)
well.. that´s not all of it.. for not having taken care of my dreads for the last 3 months (too much work), they got in pretty bad shape and the lice-cure makes it even worse :( furthermore there are thin parts along the dreads because hair got probably pulled back, leaving weak parts. I lost a few centimeters in 3 dreads lately, but looks as there would be some bigger parts to fall off in the next weeks.. AAAARGH!!! yes, that what you get if you make dreads with a type of hair as mine (thin and pretty straight). So now I´m thinking about to make a last big effort (killing bugs and fixing it up.. means, going to a hairdresser to get the roots crochet together and the loose hair taken in). Yes.. the roots look also ugly, because if you don´t roll them from time to time and crochet them together, they get kinda entangled, but in a squished form.. so yes, having nice looking dreads takes a lot of time :-/
I really wanted to keep them until the end of this trip.. furthermore I just sent the bad-ass looking street fighter helmet home, because couldn´t waer it with dreads and I fear if I cut them off, the helmet I`m wearing now will be sitting very loose on my head :-//
so the plan is to make a last big effort to save my hair and then if this doesn´t work, cut them off and go back to easy-style ;) hehe :)

what more to tell.. so Venezuela is not the friendliest country, but met already really awesome people! (very helpful ones). Haven´t seen tough lots of pretty women. There are some, but very, very few and no really stunning ones ;) (and I thought there was a miss universe from Venezuela). Well.. gonna figure out more this week-end, how the ladies are here in Venezuela ;)
but the country is very conservative and yes.. socialist. Lot´s of police and control and because they don´t get their paychecks always at the end of the month, it´s even worse (they might try to get the money from somewhere else..).
the food isn´t especially tasty neither, but you get around.. the big coffees are small and the small ones are almost invisible ;) hehe :) it´s because I heard they drink a lot of coffee, but just very little at the time. (about the food: liked it much more in Asia.. I think Asian food is great!! :D

so yes.. up up and away to the airport and then I got an update for how long I will stay (have to stay) in Venezuela before I can get my bike and my stuff (left a lot in Bucaramanga, so I didn´t have to cross the mountains with all my luggage). Still missing Colombia, but I guess, it´s getting better here in Venezuela.. it´s always the same if you come into a new country you´ve never been before: it takes you some time to get used to it and start loving it. But then it´s also a great thing!! ..for you out there not knowing these countries yet, you still can experience the same thing, while for me it would be going back to a place that´s already connected to some experience and impressions.

ah yes.. changing money is an issue here.. apparently banks don´t sell dollars and change them to a very bad exchange rate (1:4/1:5 instead of 1:8) but there are some people interested buying dolars, so I should be fine to change some more money (of course still loosing a little bit in the exchange). And I heard if you get money from the ATM, they charge you a lot, but a lot of taxes on it, if you´re a foreigner.. so I don´t even want to try, to not have a bad experience checking my expenses online later..

thank you Mom for being back home and helping me with online payments for courses!! :D

ok.. hear from me soon.. live out of Venezuela ;) hehe :)
big hug to all of you and missing you!!

-=The Lost City=-

2010-07-20T13:20:00.001-07:00

well.. maybe I shouldn´t make so many small entries, but I´m paranoid, I would loose it if there´s a power down ;)

so this trip takes you five days through the jungle, over mountains and across rivers (many!) to get to the lost city that founded the center of the Tyrona tribe 500 years ago. There are so many things I want to tell about that adventure.. first of all, there were wonderful people in our group! we had fantastic vibes and I haven´t heard people complaining or being grumpy (and it was a really tough hike). Then the people guiding us were incredible lovely and always giving a helping hand! their engagement can easily measure with a high end place as an expensive life-aboard.. and they spreaded mighty good vibes!! heard a lot about the Indian culture, the jungle and even the situation of the cocaine production.
I´ll upload some pictures of the hike later on.. there are some really good ones :) So we got broad to the "end of the road" somewhere in the mountains and started then hiking uphill :) of course we got a pouring, but really pouring rain for a good while, so everybody got soaked and muddy. Was wonderful to get to the camp (shelter, hammocks, food) and get a hot chocolate and change to dry clothes (some people got even those wet :-/ but stayed calm :) I had one set for walking that never dried in the wet ambient and a dry set for sleeping with long pants (still got some nasty flee bites at my legs :-/
so the people guiding us, also cook and serve food and it was super tasty, what we eat throughout the whole trip! the hiking was mostly dry but there were also some river crossing, where you had to fight against the current, holding on to a rope to not be taken by the strong river! :) to go back, we even took the high route.. an Indiana Jones platform on a rope (see pictures later on ;)
We met one of the Shamans along the way.. the Kogi (native people) live still very simple and survive with agriculture and farming in the mountainous area further away from the beach.
500 years ago, they fought the Spanish people but lost then over 100 years too many people to illness and fled further up to the mountains (where today still "virgin-villages" exist).
Then at the second morning you can get a little introduction how to make cocaine :) well.. just to the "pasta", the first 2 of 3 steps. They charge you 15 USD and then they take you to a small tent in the jungle, the "laboratory" ;)
it´s all pretty simple.. you take 12kg of coca leaves and grind it with 2.5kg of salt. Then you add 1.5kg Sodium to it to get the juice out. The juice stays in a barrel for 24hrs, together with 20lt of gasoline, 2lt of water and some sulfuric acid. Later on neutralizing acid with base and add another liquid to it (highly illegal in Colombia). they get it from a plant, KaliumMagnesiumOxid (something like that). You mix it, until it get´s a crust.. filtrate it through a sheet and get some clear liquid. This one get´s mixed once more with sodium and filtrated another time.. voila: what you get is the "pasta", that will be further refined by the guerilla and brought abroad (loosing 20% of weight in the process).
so a gram of good cocaine costs in Colombia about 15 USD (85% pure) but the guy who makes it, sells the pasta for 1200 USD, gaining about 500 USD for his work (rest is cost of materials). There are the Paramilitar and the Guerillias still producing cocaine in huge quantities (must be HUUUGE quantities).
These camps I heard can be as 6 day hikes inside the jungle and the work is very risky. Food has to be brought in with mules, pasta taken out for refining. Men and Women working there, never leaving the place, living in fear of an attack of the government or an enemy group! really hard life :( it´s amazing how this can exist.. it´s all so clandestine, but still pretty big set up.. and of course, a lot of corruption!

the way out is the toughest part, because it takes you 3 1/2 days to get there and then 1 1/2 day to get out :P but we all made it! was sometimes really meditative to walk through the jungle :)

the city itself consist only out of terraces, because this is where they put their wooden huts on ;) hehe :) it´s said that still a lot of treasure can be found, but it´s forbidden to search for it anymore (legacy of the Kogi).
We´ve seen some beautiful butterflies, moths and a big spider :) and had (when not just pouring) good view over the hills and vallies.. was a wonderful hike, challenging and fulfilling, interesting and inspiring! :D

Once back in Taganga, I prepared my bike and went out for a while.. just a mellow night ;) but still.. can´t complain about absence of being interesting to other people ;) don´t know if this is Colombia or a South American thing, but I really enjoy being here on my own ;) hehehe :)))
was just a bit hangovery the next morning and drove from Taganga to Aquachica, where I spent last night (finally watching cartoons on cable again ;) hihi :)
oh.. and I met also a guy who teaches Paragliding.. it´s as cheap as 800 USD and includes accommodation. I really HAVE TO DO IT!! :D let´s check if it´s valid in Switzerland and then it´s better than just go for once Paragliding.. get the license :)) so but one thing at the time.. I finally reached this morning the other guy in Venezuela with the skydiving.

So the plan is as followed (incredible how easy it turns always out when it´s time):
I made it today to Bucaramanga, but the buses leave from Cucutan that lies another 4-5 hours from here. So I want to start early morning tomorrow and leave some stuff here (travel light over the mountains, coming back here anyway). Then find over there a place to store the bike for 10 days and get a bus to Caracas, where I should be picked up by the dropzone people. Making my AFF in Higuerote and maybe some extra jumps. Then coming back to Cucutan, picking up bike, coming back here to Bucaramanga, picking up stuff and then go for the Paraglide license (that´s also just right here, so why not just do it ;) hehe :) seems, there will be a few weeks flying high!! :D

the ride here was really beautiful! goes up in the mountains and Bucaramanga is just built in the hills (or mountains, referring the temperatures of the shower ;), lying over them as a patchworked blanked.. lots of curves (fun driving, but careful). and other curves that are less dangerous and belong to the Colombianas ;) hehe :) ..you just have to LOVE Colombia!!!
met also a quite high concentration of Swiss people here (why?? coke? ;) and some of them were traveling in groups and appeared almost as Isreali people do.. closed to the rest of the world and speaking some rare, rough language ;)

The people here are really friendly and I got even accompanied by a police force on bikes to get down to the city :D haha :)) was really fun! they advised me rather to stay here in town for the night and I drove down with them.. they had their flashing lights on and were signing cars to slow down or signing the back man when to follow and when not (in the dangerous passing maneuvers they did ;) I wouldn´t have driven that way next to cops if I would not had to follow them ;)
Colombia is a really nice country (enjoying also the fruit juices! :) only toilet seats and shower heads are not developed here ;)

hmm.. now I´m sure I left out a lot, but I´m done for the moment with writing.. most of all what I want to say is: I´M HAVING A BLAST DOWN HERE!!!! :D hahaha :D

..continuation..

2010-07-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

and drove into the park to the parking lot (they charge you quite some extra, but better than walking ;). I caught up with my friends and we arrived at the second (of two) campsites just after getting dark. The hammocks and tents were expensive, as the food that wasn´t spectacular neither, but the place is really nice (and a lot of walking) and later on, when we all together went chilling on the beach, we heard a noise from behind us and as somebody shines light to that direction, we saw a man tall alligator lying on the beach!!! :D we were just "holy shit! ..so glad this is happening!" :D of course, nobody had a cam, but we stared at it for a minute before it turned around and left in the small river and the mangroves :)
then the next day, without having a plan (because I´m not the beach person) I just wandered around and met a girl from Switzerland :) we spent then 3 days together, whereof one day I was looking after her, while she had some issues with her stomach and then she spent a day looking after me, while I had the same thing ;) but I´m really happy, we met!! was a wonderful time! (very mixed with languages ;) hehe :) there was also a BBQ at a friends place.. a guy that has the same name as I do, plays guitar and has dreads and I met him the first day I arrived and helped me out a great deal! :) so I was happy to return a bit of the favor by paying some chicken and veggies and beer ;) (food actually really cheap!)
I´m eating really yummi here! :) and everything not too fancy is also pretty cheap (you get a good meal for 5 USD or less).
then, just getting better, I managed to hop on a tour to the lost city..

Full On! :D

2010-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

phew.. I´d wish I would have had time earlier to write some of my stories down, but well, let´s see if I can still wrap it up somehow ;) hehe :)

the castillo is a really impressive fortress, that hold about 2000 men and 74 cannons.. would have loved to have seen this in action ;) of course my cam died after I took the first two pictures, so there won´t be too many of it ;) hehe :) it`s still an incredible lookout- and sniper position :D and parts of it are connected with tunnels. So really worth to check it out!

in the afternoon I went to the mud volcano to have a mud bath for as cheap as 2.50 USD. It´s good for the skin they say and it´s most of all a lot of fun to float in fine sucky mud ;) hehe :) met even there nice people and had good conversations!

then at night was this special bus that locals take to see the city and drink :P well.. I just made it one station to the old town and escaped then walking back home to the hostal and it´s bar *phew* couldn´t stand the loud music anymore and to listen to the animator in front :P but yeah.. the way locals party in their holidays ;)

so I started the next day to go to Taganga, a little village at the beach, surrounded by mountains. Friends of mine were heading there with a bus and I enjoyed a fantastic ride (finally on the road again!!!) through Colombia. The streets are in good shape (few holes), there is not too much traffic (so you can easily pass other cars and trucks) and the landscape is really pretty! :D
along the coast to Taganga, after asking a few times for the way ;) our supposed meeting point was fully booked, so I ended up at another place with totally awesome people working there! :) had all to be like that! haha ;)
the place is so small, I met all my friends and we had a little party in the backyard of their hotel. Left the group later to go out, just to find myself dancing Raegeton with a Colombian hotty ;) (it´s basically screwing on the dancefloor :P but yeah.. thought why not.. despite HATING that music ;) so we ended up after some adventurous journeys in my room that we didn´t leave for 24hrs, together with other fine Colombian goods ;)) definitively one of my crazier experiences ;) we spend another morning together having yummi food and walking along the beach on some mountain hill. Then having lunch I met my friends again and they were about to go to Tyrona National Park (beautiful beaches). So I spontaneously decided to tag along and bought water and food..

..on the road again :D

2010-07-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

hey there! :)

..I got an idea of Colombia already and I´m getting back to my adventurous spirit, ready to see much more of the world! :))
I had to get my bike off the boat and then go to customs and get some paperwork done.. took us two hours (a German fellow named Manfred was helping me for 35 dollars and I was happy this has been done so many times :) because loading off the bike on a peer is kind of illegal, but it´s waaay easier than getting it out of the harbor (harbor fees etc..). Then I needed another insurance (after Colombia finally the one is running that I bought month ago! :P ..met just today another Swiss guy on a R1200 and he never had one.. seems it´s possible as well. Because you don´t want to use it anyway and if you use it, you just can hope they pay and they pay a fair ammount.. so I don´t intend to figure out ;)
in Cartagena I checked out the "castillo" a fort that was used to defend the city from attacks over land..

..to be continued.. going for dinner *hungry*

..pass the Darian into Colombia.. :)

2010-07-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

dear friends and family! :)

this morning I set my foot onto South American ground and started so the third part of my trip.. I`m still a bit organizing stuff here and getting ideas where to go in Colombia, but I´m happy that I made it and tomorrow morning I`ll get the bike off the boat, showing it to customs and then I`ll be on the road again! :)

well.. for my skydive project in Venezuela it seems that I have to take a flight to Caracas and back, leaving the bike in Colombia. As I heard, Venezuela is not really safe and I don´t want to get into troubles with corrupt policemen on the road and even going there by bus seems to be a hassle (even if bus is safe, it still would be 30hrs of Busride.. if this is true, I rather pay some dollars to get there and back smoothly :) but because it´s a national holiday today, I have to wait until tomorrow to set this up.

so I got my bike early in the morning and made it without problems to the caribbean coast. There were some mountains, but the fan started and seemed to work well.. so no overheating so far. It will still take some more hundreds of kilometers to regain my full confidance into it.. I was then a bit early and went over to a small Kuna island, having lunch and a beer and spent the rest of the time waiting on the peer, playing guitar and singing :D
at around 5 o`clock Fritz and his crew arrived and some local Kuna helped to load the bike and I had dinner with the people on board, waiting for the rest to arrive the next morning. We expected another 10 people but instead there were 15 and we were pretty packed on that boat (well, it was OK in the end, but the mix of passengers could have been different.. there were all guys exept for one girl from Switzerland (the most reserved girl I`ve ever met :P and so the level of testosteron was on the upper limit ;) hehe :)
Fritz himself is also quite a special guy.. there is not a single day where he wouldn`t curse his employee Luis (a really awesome Colombian guy!!) yelling at him for not much of a reason :-/ I don`t share his ideas about life.. he got bitter over time, is getting divorced from his wife and has another life partner on boat (where he probably has many girls in his life for convenience that he buys for little money down here in South America :-/ yeah.. not really my world.. but hey, he also let us guests have our way and you can party and do whatever you want on that boat, as long you don´t set it on fire ;)

the trip was really nice! ..OK, there was no wind to sail down to Cartagena, so the engines were running for 36 hours, while driving down, but we had a good time (and lots of rum ;) hehe :) we stopped at some of the San Blas islands (see pictures) and went snorkeling there.. I´ve seen a shark, two rays, walking sea stars and did some apnoe-diving.. it´s always fun!! :D especially being 10m below surface and looking up through all the water masses! :D
we also caught a shark over night.. not really sure if this is allowed and I had my remorses eating it, but the shark curry on the second day was really tasty! so I take this as a once-in-my-lifetime-experience and yes, it was pretty exciting to get it out (just for them being in extinction I can´t really stand for it). Furthermore really pretty animals, gliding through the sea.. so they should be admired instead of hunted!
I met cool people along the way.. was tough a bit upset the second morning, when I figured out that some half-baked moron threw my mask over board (well, wasn´t around any more and I bet somebody knows more about it).. too bad, I made my Open Water with it and it was 80 USD.. money I´d like to save, especially because it was not my fault and the duchebag who did it didn´t have the balls to tell me! :P and then I´ve also seen that somebody just took of my tabacco and supplies.. this really pissed me off for ruining all the thrust I had into this bunch of people! but then I had to sort it out in my head, speak it out loudly (let them know about my frustration! :) and then letting it go, because there is nothing else you can do about and you don´t want to let it ruin your day.. so another experience that let´s me grow in life! :)
I first suspected a guy who was really, really drunk, making a lot of noise and trouble at night and then the next morning firing an emergency flare gun out of a window (stupid-stupid-stupid) and I avoided the guy for the rest of the trip.. but then the last night we talked together about all this stuff and I´m not sure if he has something to do with the things happened.. at least he gave me a lot of credits for who I am and for what I do :) so I felt I was kinda putting him back and judging more than I should on this very first day.. but yes, at least we had some deep talk in the end ;) hehe :) on certain discussions I just didn´t want to participate for being too much "macho" but I had a great time on the boat.. lying around in the "trampolin" (a net inbetween the two bodies of the ship) and listening to some sweet psy trance tunes, doing some contact juggling and talking to people :) poeple enjoyed me playing didgeridoo and we had some nice jams on that boat. (no reading books.. it´s not really my thing. I don´t have to be traveling for doing this..)

what more.. that`s about it.. was walking around in the old town today, making some pictures and just uploaded them in Picasa. So I will add some comments to them and log out.. eventually completing the boat trip the next day, if write-worthy things come to my mind ;) hehe :)

be well out there and my best blessings from South America!!!

the Panama Canal

2010-06-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

hey.. it's still the same session as my last blog, but I wrote so much that I wanted to publish it before loosing it in a silly way ;) hehe ;)

so yes.. about the Panama Canal.. I didn't really know anything about it, but for me as engineer it's a totally fascinating construction! :) they have several gates to bring ships up and down from sea-level to the level of the lake. It's all super simple.. gravity and water does the job.. no pumps, just a huge discharge of water into the ocean, every time a ship passes. But it seems, that their Eco system holds that much water and with a lot of supervision, planning, artificial lakes they make it happen..
so in short (my Mom wanted to know this ;) hehe ;) the French tried it in 1880 and made quite some work but didn't finish, because of yellow fever and huge losses of workers. Then the Americans picked it up 1904 and finished 1914, blowing through a huge, massive rock and with a lot of vehicles and ships and trains to make such a construction happen (e.g. making the lake deep enough for the vessels).
then there are some interesting facts as it just was giving to Panama at the end of 1999. Since then this country is growing extremely! they built a lot of skyscrapers since then and if you look at the city skyline, every second one is just being built right now.. so I heard improved education and the infrastructure of the country. They are growing a lot these days.. also making an other gate for bigger ships to keep up with globalization and the demand for bigger ships and loads.
the new gates will operate with three pools that hold 60% of the water while operating the locks (ahh.. that was the word.. locks! not gates :P ;)
all simple but nice and needs a lot of engineering work, people thinking and afterward even a lot more people maintaining it. Reminded me my time in Itaipu, a big hydro power plant where also water and massive constructions come together..
will upload some pictures of it.. was watching from the viewing platform as a big ship came in.. and they have a nice museum that shows also some wildlife of the region and a obviously very old movie about the Canal.. a very impressive construction! ..and even more impressing that it provides more of 50% of the income of the country.. so Panama can't complain. You can even drink the tab water here in the city :D
this year the 1 000 000st ship will pass (I thought, you should just wait in the queue with a small boat and then make it happen that you're the one ;) hehe :)
so the operation is simple.. ship comes in, gate closes, water level gets equalized through gravitation with the other part of the lock and then gate opens, ship moves on and the procedure get's repeated for the difference of height is too much for just one lock (that's what I'd say why they have several..)
I'm glad I made it happen to see it! :) was tough 14 dollars more expensive, because I did go by myself with a taxi, because putting in to the last day without coordinating with other travelers here.. but was good anyway! :) meeting taxi drivers is always interesting ;) hehe :)

well.. I guess that's it.. my wrist is already hurting and I'm more that ready to go to bed.. was a great time here in Panama city and I thought back to the moment in Honduras where I thought.. Nicaragua, Costa Rica.. and then Panama still to go, and I kinda wanted to be in South America for Panama was so far away and I didn't know what experience it will hold (was actually about to cross it very quickly.. but sooo happy I enjoyed it in the same deep profound way as the other countries of Central America! :D ..so never anticipate. PARTICIPATE! :)

all the best and hear from me when I arrive in Colombia! :))))

..continuation ;)

2010-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

wellwell.. sorry, I just met this guy from Bocas and they were 3 guys in a dorm with 2 double beds, so for me being on the waiting list, he invited me to crush in their place what sounded waaaay better than the couch or cinema room ;)
what followed was one of the more crazy experiences, because after half an hour trying to sleep he came upstairs with a friend and we had some after hour !P
I got then finally a couple hours of sleep and organized some stuff in the afternoon. Made a bag with things that I didn't really use and sent it home for 100 bucks :P was 12 kg and I shouldn't complain, but once more it are material things that incapacitate us and take so much effort and money to maintain. Was tough an interesting experience, because they had to wrap it into parcel paper (what was done in a flower store around the corner) and then putting the 20 5-dollar stamps on, together with paperwork and a sticker with a barcode.. I'm sure it will arrive :D haha ;)

then lucky me figured out this Friday that on Saturday is this Psy-Trance party on the beach, two hours outside of Panama city (was the girl from the reception at the hostel I'm staying that was telling me, when I asked for electronic music to go out ;) what good Karma!! and good timing! :D there are just very few parties of that kind and it took her an hour to figure out, chatting with friends, where it was.

I went out for a little warm up on Friday and finally got to bed at 9am after a lot of party, meeting cool people, contact juggling and even more crazy, experimenting stuff ;) was REALLY good! so I didn't get too much sleep before I packed a small bag with contact ball and my fire-fans, buying water, booze and fruits (to survive the night ;) and went to the terminal and on my journey. tried to sleep in the bus but didn't really work :P was then walking to this mystical place and figured out, it's on a asphalted place of an abandoned hotel with view on the beach :D arrived there early, met the people and then got smoothly into this very beautiful, small, familiar party! :)) here it's as Switzerland was 10 years ago.. just very small, but rising, the vibe of this scene and special, heartful and spiritual people! :D I was spinning fire and despite of the music was a bit hard for my taste during the night, I was dancing a lot and hat LOOOOOOTS of fun! :D met awesome people, hanging out on the beach, enjoying this blistering moment of being at a party that reminds me back home :))
went back to the city to chill out with a friend I met and had the best treat you could wish for! :) after I felt so much for a change, I really got it and I mean TOTALLY! life embraces you, gives you everything you could ever ask for and things happen without having to exhaust yourself.. WOW! what an experience!! I'm so glad I made it to this place! HAHA :D
so I was a night in Lunas Castle, a very popular hostel in the old town of Panama. I really love it for having such a good atmosphere as lots of beautiful painting (freaky art! ;) and sculptures out of scrap metal. There are a lot of people and if you don't have a reservation, you end up on the waiting list.. but hey.. PingPong table, cinema room, bar attached to the hostel and lots of common living space to hang out, including the "Fort Krishna" a crows nest between the two livings, accessed by a almost invisible ladder.. you may just guess, what was going on up there ;) hihihi ;))
ahhh.. good times!

next to this I was organizing my motorcycle stuff.. I was there already three times and finally today I got everything done the way I wanted.. the fan seems to work (lets touch wood, because tomorrow it will have it's field test) and it seems to be in a good state (even if I missed the BMW factory sheet that tells you all the data.. it's not North America anymore ;) they fixed mirrors, lights and some small stuff, made a service and I bought spare sprockets and chain, because I will have to change it before Patagonia. There is another small part that can be fixed for cheaper and a 200 dollar tire, that has to fit on the back (sending a bag home and getting a tire in exchange :P well, won't be for very long..
I had to push pretty hard (calling a lot, going there, talking to people..) to get all this done but yes, it's possible.. just don't expect it happens by itself ;) hehe :) so the spares were actually pretty expensive.. then all the other items.. factory test did cost (of course, I should know.. we sold them very expensive at my former employer ;) hehe :) the valves were to tightened, what made a strange sound when I first started it after they told me it's ready.. so I thought this problem would be fixed on their behalf but actually not :P well.. got a good deal after all and I think the work isn't overpriced.. it's still BMW. but original parts are the killer.. and I heard that further down they have higher import taxes, so things could be even more expensive. Therefore I bought some stuff here to not repeat the story in Mexico ;) will see if I'm right ;) hehe :)
so yeah.. bill paid, bike packed, tomorrow early morning I go with a bus to the store and then up-up-and-away :D finally riding again!!
so the all-in-all including trip down on a sailboat, bike fixed, spare parts and bag sent home is probably 2.5 grand, what is still for me a lot of money.. buy hey, I guess it fits somewhere in and you shouldn't be to delicate about money in life ;) hehe :)
I met at the BMW shop a guy from Mazedonia that travels all over the world.. really impressive! he's riding a lot tough.. couldn't do that.. rather stay and get know the place. but OK.. he made it also down on the east side of Africa (seems to be the safer side), but they tried to kill him anyway three times.. a Masai in the desert and a Machete-Guy who gave him a scare over his left eye (as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars 3.. I tell you guys.. if I would have a scare in my face, it should be one like this.. it looked sooooo badass! HAHA :)))
so the conclusion of the story: don't do Africa by yourself! (So I probably won't push my luck with doing something more than just this continent at this moment.. :)

..busrides suck! :P

2010-06-25T02:49:00.001-07:00

phew.. made it to Panama city.. in a night bus :P it's kinda good, because you don't "loose" a whole day, but then my back hurts so much and can't really sleep well. Was waking up all the time, sliding down on the seat that couldn't be put horizontal.. at least I'm here and will pick up my stuff soon and spend the weekend going out in Panama city.
I really, really, REALLY felt as I have to leave on Bocas. The last two days I was not truly happy anymore and even small things ruined my mood, so I figured out it's time for a change ;) hehe :)
on the other hand, with all the people I said good bye (including the diveshop I was working for a couple of days) were very good vibes! it's so funny.. seems that every traveler knows that feeling and when I said how urgent I feel to make a move, they all understood :) hehe :)
so a week is OK, 10 days is doable but more than that is simply too much hanging out for me.. I'm an adventurer and I like to face challenges every day and being filled up with things that happen in my life and places as Bocas just don't do that.
It was nevertheless a wonderful time I had in this place. Hold it's challenges anyway and I met a lot of cool people (and some really ennoying ones :P

..to be continued..

..Murky Waters..

2010-06-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi there :)

well.. being in the shop at a sunny, warm day and having time to write a few lines in my blog :) was diving this morning and was fun! :) even tough there was not too much to see and many people were just beginners (so it´s mostly not a pure fun dive ;). I made up my plans.. I´ll stay here for the weekend and will start partying hard soon ;) I arranged everything for further down and hence I can´t pick up my bike on Sunday, it will be Monday and Saturday will be a wild night, a thrilling ride, ending Bocas with a big BLAST! :D haha ;) then I guess it will be a bit more mellow.. chilling.. relaxing.. recovering.. regenerating and detoxicating ;)
at the moment I´m not doing too much here in the shop and I feel I don´t want to spend the whole day here (for I don´t earn any money anyway ;) hihi :) but the people are nice and it´s a good spot for meeting people! I´m suffering today, because the little restaurant/cafe that goes with the shop is closed and I´m craving for good food and yummi milkshakes ;) hehe :) so tomorrow I guess..
hmm.. well.. not too much to say (as always if you´re for too long in a place where there`s just drinking and partying ;) and sorry.. laying on the beach, but that doesn´t count for me.. don´t like doing that for too much (couple of days a year is OK ;) ..tonight I should get a first shot for my tattoo-extension.. yes, right.. I want to get something new on this trip and met this awesome tattoo-guy (his name is also "Guy" ;) hehe :) and he´s really talented. So for those who know my tattoo, a tribal dragon, forming a Yin-Yang and holding a ball in his claw, I´d like to have the white part of the Yin-Yang filled out with some colors, giving it a background. As a firing ball or sun, eclipsing behind the ball and touching the sea.. so I expect many beautiful colors arising out of the union of fire and water :D reflecting as well my starsign and ascendent ;) ..it will be painful :´-/ but looking forward to get it! :)
I keep meeting a lot of people (and forgetting their name :P and I really enjoy being in such a vibe! :D ..yesterday was just a mellow, slow night.. so I think about to stay up a lil´ bit longer tonight ;) hehe :)
sending you my best blessings and hear soon from me! :)

Bocas del Toro.. partying without end :P

2010-06-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

hey fellow pilgrims and interested readers ;) hehe :)

it`s quite a while, I haven`t been posting anymore.. well.. most of the things happened are just not the things I`d write in a blog.. as the insane ammount of parties, booze and substances experienced here ;)

I spent just a full day at Boquete, hiking a little bit but then moved on.. it`s too rainy at the moment, otherwise would be beautiful to spend some days hiking in the mountains :)

I´m glad I took the decision to move on.. it was a 6-7hr trip and I was happy to arrive sometime before it got dark here. I anchored in this hostal called "Mondo Taitu" that I`ve been mentioned in a Lonely Planet before. It`s really popular, lot`s of people staying there and it holds one of the four bars of this island.. so it`s kinda having a bed in a dorm, attached to the bar where you get drunk at night ;) hehe :) yes.. it was almost a full week of lots of partying.. and then recovering for some days, changing to a lower gear to save some energy for the rest of my time here ;) hehe :)

so after one week here I know shit lot of people! :D I hear my name whenever I walk down a street (me on the other side really suck with keeping all their names in my memory :P but I appreciate the vibe! :) I like these people and it seems, they do like me ;) hehe :) so I`m enjoying a certain popularity that unfortunately didn`t prevent of me being single.. but hey.. whatever.. I guess that`s the price I pay for doing the stuff I want to do and going the way I want to go. So it`s somehow less likely to meet people on the same plane.. but if it happens, then it`s really great (ask my ex-girlfriends ;) hihi :)
here is every night somewhere ladies night and lots of party (well.. many times it`s awful sound! :P like Raeggeton :((( but there are nice tracks of electronic music amongst them, where I juggle on with my ball.. just for pure fun! :D

I went to some beaches.. was practicing with stick and balls, was playing didgeridoo with other people, having nice jams here! :) rented out a bycicle and was cycling a bit on the island and one day, I went with friends on a remote island, where I was walking around the island and having a great trip! ;)
so all in all, can`t complain.. was just that living for the night life after a while get`s tyring and not all that fulfilling..

so I got myself here a job as divemaster :D well.. it`s for so short time, it`s more for the purpose to give me something to do and get some free diving over the next days :) but hey, it`s a nice activity! :)
yesterday I went for two dives out.. well, the guys were finishing their courses, so wasn´t just pure fundiving. the visibility is just 10m, but it`s nice to dive anyway (just not the spot where I would stay forever to dive ;) but I hope to see the wreck and the wall they have here soon. At the very moment, the boss just left me in charge of the shop, what is actually pretty cool.. well, not that cool as going out to dive with the other people, but still.. why not :) (I assume though he left me here in charge that he can go with the others and surf :P hehe ;) ;)
was cleaning up their docks underwater.. got four bags of trash, broken glass and other stuff out that was making the confined diving sessions for new students less enjoyable (was really needed).

and then I was of course planning for my trip further down.. that`s the reason, why I`m still here in Bocas.. next possible transport is the 1st of July and this gives me another week here, before I take a night bus to Panama, pick up bike, send packet home, see Panama canal and write to my mom how it is ;) and get to the shipping place, where I´m gonna "seaborne" my bike :D ;) hehe :)
so they should be able to fix my bike.. it`s gonna be a bit costly but as long it`s perfectly fine then, I`m happy :) so I await a final confirmation.. should be ready tomorrow, but I`d like to have new tyres on it as well and they should anyway keep it until I get to Panama city. After I was calling so many times to speed up the process, finally it`s the shipping date that delays my trip.
best option I have is 800USD for me and the bike, a 5 day sailing trip from San Blas to Cartagena.. it`s for sure the most fun way to get down! :) there are some cheaper options, but require more time and are less safe (cheap boat from some harbor in Panama). Shipping in a container is also costly.. I heard 500 USD and I just got more expensive offers when I tried to find a cargo company. If it would just be me, I could get a flight for 140 USD I heard.. but yeah.. traveling with a motorcycle can be more complicated.. luckily there is only 1 Darian Gap.. HAHA :D
so everything can be organized and arranged.. the price for service will be around 1600 USD I guess.. pretty expensive, but it`s mostly because of pricy original BMW parts and not for the work. So there is no negotiating about discount and for having had the experience, better change it now than post-poning it to further down. The parts are really hard to get, depending on what you need :-/ therefore probably new tyres as well (not asking around in Colombia to figure out that they might be unavailable or more expensive..)
price includes also new sprockets and chain (chain I´m gonna think about to buy it right away.. it`s 180 USD :P
what more.. so I´m sitting here at the computer of this diveshop, planning my trip down.. making some phone calls and writing emails and next to it, partying to a certain extent and enjoying Bocas del Toro :)
it´s a really good feeling to know so many people here!! I feel having good Karma and feel so loved by life that it`s easy to love back! :D
so also sending out my love to you!! :)
..and hey Renzo: NICE ONE!! I`ve seen pictures of your trip and got almost homesick, wanting go back to Alaska and Canada, riding these wonderful roads again! :D haha! :)

..Panama by bus..

2010-06-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

yes, you read right.. how is this possible¡?¿

well.. of course it was already too late yesterday to evade the rain :P if I used the words "soaked" and "wet" before, then I´m sorry, because it set a new limit on the scale yesterday :P
I just kept going, felt if I sit out the rain, I might never arrive (and it kept raining the whole afternoon indeed). So I faced all the rain, shouted out loudly and finally gave up, because it was too strong.. actually, I was riding up this mountain on a dirt road that almost turned into a river, when it started to rain really, really hard and how could it be different, the overheating lamp went on :( I stopped the bike, slided 10m backwards because it was too steep to stop and finally it tipped over into the mud.. I had to release my frustration with a loud scream and then I unfolded the tarp and waited 15 min under the tarp, covering me and the bike.. didn´t stop raining of course, but went a bit back. I continued and had to stop another time, pouring water over my engine and finally riding down on the other side, I´ve seen a sign of the place I wanted to visit.
Finca Bella Vista.. treehouse community (actually, I don´t know how many tree houses they have, but I´ve visited one of them and it was really cool! :D
so getting there I couldn´t do anything else than paying the 40 USD for the cabin they offered me. Was also a nice one.. cozy bed, on the river, everything really nicely set up! they have a pretty big piece of land, kinda rainforest with a lot of trails and a river flowing through. I was happy to get into some dry things and luckily one of the owners was there, so I could actually check in (would have sucked to get there and nobody is around :P
hmm... then on the other hand, there were no tourists anyway. I feel it doesn´t matter what I do, I end up by myself because it´s off-season and these places you best visit with your mate or friends. So I hiked a bit on their land (many jungle trails) and got to this super wicked tree house. Two levels with sight on the river with a waterfall. Downstairs there´s a small kitchen corner and a couch forming a living room and upstairs is a veranda and a king size bed (have to go back for honeymoon! :) and a sit on toilet and a shower.. really super, super cool! :D must cost a bit though to stay there and it´s really remote (carrying all your food to this place and some bottles of wine ;) but I enjoyed the view from the top floor and spent a little while there, before I walked back. There would been other cabins (other tree houses?) and I think if it´s high season, you might meet cool people hanging out there! :)
in the evening I had dinner with the owners (young couple) and a guy who just moved down to this place (why not.. if you live somewhere out in nowhere, then it´s a good call! :) was a nice evening.. having a few shots and talking a bit before going to bed (being tired again ;)
got up as normal lately at 5.30am and made my bike ready.. made it to the boarder crossing and it just costed time (and 16 USD for another insurance) but no other costs and I was pretty relaxed. I get more used to it, I guess ;) had to wait in line on both sides but at least it was a small place, so I could watch over my bike and was talking to a guy from Bolivia :)

then driving into Panama I got really bad overheating problems.. had to drive at least 100km/h to cool the bike down and I figured out quickly that I won´t make 600km with that condition. hmm... so I stayed calm and looked for a solution (after I made up my mind to drive straigt and fast to Panama city to get my bike fixed). There were not too many options but in no time I got a place where I could send my bike to Panama.. it´s 50 dollars (cheap if you ask me) and 60 dollars to get it delivered to the BMW shop. I could finally make the deposit of 200USD, so they would order my spare part. it happens with DHL now and they pay the additional cost (thank you so much, after I try to get this done for four weeks). So my bike should be at the shop tomorrow, the fan in 7-10 days and soon I should have a price what it will cost all in all. I will show up in Panama city in about 7-10 days, shipping some stuff home that I don´t want to carry any more, figuring out how and where to ship my bike down to Colombia (or Venezuela?) and getting my bike, hopefully 100% fixed up and ready for the rest of my trip.
after sending all my stuff in the afternoon, I got a bus to Boquete and will spend a few days here, eventually hiking another volcano ;) (I love volcanos! :D
the weather is changing.. raining at the moment in the later afternoon, but hopefully I will have some more sunny days (at least I don´t have to drive in the rain ;)
after here I will go to Bocas de Toro, where I heard is a lot of party and I think, I can easily stay a few days there before going to Panama.
so in the end, the plan came up very spontaneously and it´s very OK like that (maybe I should live cheap to cover my repair costs ;) but it´s good to see Boquete and Bocas del Toro, they have been quite recommended to me after all (and I wouldn´t have done it with driving my crippled bike to the shop).

Panama is really nice (first impression). Nice people and way more affordable than Costa Rica.. let´s see what experiences are waiting for me here :)
gonna keep you posted! :D cu all and have a great time!!

..busy days..

2010-06-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

phew.. here we are.. was quite busy the last days and finally I get to a computer to update the world ;) hehe :)

glad I made it here.. I got quite some problems with my bike. Changed oil yesterday after I checked it since a long time and figured out that it looks quite old already (then having bad feeling in my stomach riding further). Didn't take too long (but I had to push me anyway a bit to do it), costed though 25USD for the 2.5lt oil I needed.. quite expensive but hey, at least the engine runs smoother again. Point is, I will have it changed anyway (and the filter) in Panama city, where I kinda urge to get to. The guys have hopefully ordered my spare part fan after I called twice and wrote a bunch of emails. It's really annoying but I hope the order has been made, because otherwise I will be waiting a long time in the city to get my bike fixed.. I should have changed that fan long time ago. I'm now riding in the flat, along the cost.. going through the mountains was cooking my engine and I had to stop several times, pouring water over it to cool it down a bit. Was racing uphill with 50km/h on this unpaved, bumpy, stony road, but I had to get as much natural air cooling as possible. was a bit crazy to be honest.. Then the rear brake failed because was overheated :P damn.. luckily nothing happened, was also good luck. Used then the gears to break.. I think, there's something not good adjusted with the break disc and pads, but didn't have the place or energy to look at. it's just getting very hot now but still works.. another item for the fix-my-bike-list for Panama. Yes.. it really, really needs to get into a BMW bike hospital and even if it will cost between 1000 and 2000 USD, I will have it done (I'm more prepared now, since I know it will be expensive ;)

I had a busy day in Fortuna.. went to the volcano and hiked all the trails they got (they don't let you go up too far) and enjoyed having a bit of head space (even if I was worried with some things at the moment). Saw some stones rolling down the volcano (reason why you don't hike to close ;) and had a beautiful walk through rainforest. On my way back I stopped at a hot river and chilled in the water :D ..there are many resots with pools, but they cost some USD and the river is free and beautiful for being more natural!
went back to the hotel and was ready to spend the afternoon updating blog because it looked a lot like rain. to mention.. the day before getting there was a nice ride, but the last 5km it started raining (no, it was POURING!!) and I got soaked within minutes what ended in a drying session at this backpacker place. I got rooms offered until 55USD but found one with private bathroom for 8 bucks! :) so stayed gladly two nights there.
The afternoon was sunny then and a guy called "captain Bob" invited me to drive around and go for a cool down in a nearby river. He makes these trips with people if there's high season. So we got a couple of rum-coke and he brought me to this beautiful place on the river with small waterfall and a badass ropeswing!!! :D that I of course tried out twice without hurting myself ;) hehe :) really, really cool!!
and then we checked the lava flow at night of the volcano.. well, just saw some glowing rocks rolling down, but was nice to hang out a bit away from where all the tourist stand, having chairs and privacy. (I was so tired at this point, couldn't keep my eyes open ;) then we went back to the hot river a second time. It was night already and Bob got a flashlight to provide some ambiental light :) he took us to a place maybe 50m up the river, where it was even nicer to hang out and where a cold river joins the warm water flow (so you get a special hot-cold experience bathing at this place! :) there was also a friend of his along and in the end we had another beer at his fancy hotel place before I finally got a good sleep in my big bed ;)

the next morning I started early and went to the Venado Caves.. another hour ride from there, where I planned to play some didgeridoo in a closed space ;)
the guide charged me 15 dollars, but it would not have been possible to enter without one.. was super crazy!! :D haha :) needed the helmet and rubber boots that they provided and we were walking through water, crawling through the smallest imaginable spaces and I figured out that I'm don't have claustrophobia at all (otherwise you find it out in these small passages ;) hehe :) was BADASS cave!! really, really adventurous! at a point you had to go feet first, then pass your left arm and pull yourself through! (going to the limits! ;) and climbing up 7 meters in a place where you don't want to fall. oh my god.. just with the guides instructions I could make it, but reached the place where I was playing 15 minutes in total pitch black on my didge and it sounded AMAZING!! :D was blowing your mind to hear to these vibes! ;) I would have gotten lost a hundred times in this cave and was happy to have a guide.. that's really a cool experience! was in some caves but this one was really good! :D there are biiiiig spiders.. one species is called scorpion-spider and has clamps like a scorpion and the other one is a water spider that eats small fish. Then there were thousands of bats in this cave feeding on the small insects that live in this special eco system. We've seen some fossils.. like a small turtle shell sticking out of a stone. no pictures of that, but hell yes! what an experience!! :)

then I drove through the mountains to a place called Heredia, a bit further to a bar where there was a psy trance party at night. Well.. I don't know how long it lasted.. probably 3 or 4 oclock in the morning. the sound was just aweful!! but the party was good! :) met cool people and had fun! :) in the morning when I walked back home with somebody (I didn't dare to take my bike at this point), I completely blew it by not finding my place again.. we were really close, but I didn't know.. so she left me at a certain point being upset (what I can understand ;) and I walked all the way back, got my bike and found my place in no time (but too late for not going to bed alone :P ;P well.. that's life I guess.
slept from 6am to 12am, got up with a headache and made my way down to the next place where I could change oil. Oilchange and a greasy (yucci) breakfast and with asking many times for the way I managed to get to San Ignacio.. a dot on my map, where I thought might be nice to stay for a night. Well.. not too much going on there, but barely found a small room to stay (overpriced) and eat some dinner before going to bed at 6pm (very short day). Wasn't really in the mood to talk a lot to people and a guy was asking me one million questions.. was happy to sleep later on ;) here at this point I have to mention how friendly Costa Ricans are!! they really give a lot about to be friendly (as Buddhists ;) hehe :) this morning I was talking to a police man while waiting for the people from the Red Cross to show up (they stored my bike for free at their place :)
then came that ride through the mountains where I boiled almost my bike (and my nerves ;) ..was really nice through the mountains, but couldn't enjoy it too much.. had to have my eyes on the road and on the warning lamp for overheating :P hmm.. not too much more from here on. No ideas for Panama, but maybe get to the capital and do the service and then drive back up again if I want to see something more from this country.

hey.. I didn't mention that I learned how to free dive at Cocos Island. That was awesome!!! :D I was really afraid to go down deep without air, because you don't make it up in time again.. but the guys convinced me to try it (I don't like not to try things ;) hehe :) so I relaxed my body, took a few deep, enforced breaths and tried to get to the bottom.. took me three times to touch the ground and pick up a stone. The trick is also not to kick to much, but slow, pushing fin strikes that bring you down, equalizing your ears all the time! I think, it was about 15 meter! :D haha! was really a thrilling experience!!

OK.. here it started to rain slightly and I want to get another 50km further.. so I start before it gets too late ;) cu soon!

..back on the mainland again :D

2010-06-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

phew.. what a trip! was not exactly the way I thought it would be, but I don't regret a single second of it!!

in the end, there were not many things left on the boat that could fail because kinda everything broke.. finally the compressor was the killer to stop the trip in the middle (well.. not the middle of the time, but middle of dives), but also there were issues with one of the dinghis, the sweet water system had a problem on the way home, the engines were not powerful enough and the diesel was bad quality, so they had to change filters 3 times. even the washing machine broke and flooded our room ;) well.. at least the ship didn't sink ;) *lol* ..nah, was not too bad.. though on the way I had some challenging moments. especially because the trip costed me some money and I wasn't really satisfied at this point. Also has to be mentioned that at the moment is the time of "El Nino" and the water temperature is waaay to high for big schools swimming around. So I've seen some of the hammerheads (what actually is very exciting if you haven't seen any at all before ;) hehe ;) but there were maybe 10 instead of 80.. so the next time I make sure the conditions are better for diving (means, much colder, so you freeze your ass off diving ;)
getting there was a pain in the ass.. 60 hours took the journey and mostly it was so wavy that everybody got seasick. I was mostly sleeping, laying flat in my bed and twice feeding fish over board :P but survived! just know, the next time I got plenty of seasick tablets with me! when I finally wanted some, they already run out (in no time they were all gone! :( so it was pretty tough.. it's kinda the feeling you get, when you're getting out of a rollercoaster.. but steady for 24 hours a day :P
the way back was much, much better.. and when you get off the boat after days of waving, you still feel waving because your center of equilibrium has somehow adapted to it ;)
the food was awesome (once we arrived I managed also to eat again ;) I got also really excited about the diving.. it's hard to not see a shark, when you jump into the water. Mostly whitetips that are about 1m50 but look pretty (well, I like bigger ones ;) during the night dives they were following a jackfish for the hunt and it was exciting to watch them.. was also the only thing to see next to some psychadelic looking sea cucumbers ;) then I saw a big manta ray passing for a few seconds (thank you dive buddy for pulling on my fin and pointing it out.. I would have totally missed it! ;) then on a couple occasions the hammerheads showed up! I hope that some people will upload on facebook and that I actually get their contacts in the end.. but we will see.. would be nice to point out a shark that I swam with! ;)
on the way back we got some dolphins swimming with the boat for a while (always nice!! :D so I had the best dives of my life out there even with compareble bad conditions and just have the dives.. and well.. a long trip there and back. next time I'd be more prepared to do things ;)
I had my guitar, didge and jews-harp with me and entertained people during the trip ;) they enjoyed! I heard a lot, but A LOT jokes about me, that came kinda out of a form of sympathy that sometimes still cost me a bit to not get too "spiky" about it. but yes.. I mean, I'm an accessible person and got really good connections with everybody and it was alone on the plane to meet all these people incredible fruitful! and a lot of us thought this.. so it was priceless to meet and know all these people a little better (because this is what you do if you stay 10 days on a small boat together ;) but yes.. five people from the states and seven Costa Ricans.. called "ticos" ;) and was fun with all of them! :D ..well.. OK, one guy from Holland that lives here for 18 years had a hard time.. he has quite an ego and is fighting with it plenty of moments. So in the end he couldn't take his car out because the old truck of Luciano (boss) broke down and he was about to sue the company because so pissed off (instead of taking things easier). So murphys law stroke him hard and for some reason also Luciano had to pay his share. Being on a boat with twelve disappointed, much paying customers and nothing he could do about (last leaving the scene ;)
but I met a lot of wonderful people on this trip!! there are people working on that boat that inspired me deeply with their selfless kind of being, their committment and their everlasting smile! and they did not only inspire me, but many! (that's the way it works in this world ;)
so during the trip and at our good bye party in a restaurant, drinking beer and having shots, many beautiful word has been spoken and people showed more of their feelings and gratefulness for each other! was just a wonderful moment under the influence of alcohol!! ;) hehe :)
well.. I'm sure I will add some more lines, but for the moment I have a break.. my inbox was flooded with spam and shit and I'm glad I could clean up a little ;)
so it was a bit costly, but in the end it's just money and I'm sure it won't be missing on the long run.. I got now an own divecomputer and well.. payed 100 USD for days I haven't spent on the island. but you never now if something is a curse or a blessing.. if Luciano stays in business (what I strongly hope) then I might have another chance to go out in October, November.. so let's see if this happens when the time comes (and El Nino is over hopefully).
I feel, I'm not done with Cocos Islands.. there is more to see and knowing one of the companies owner seems to help for future activities there ;)
went hiking on the island.. it's beautiful, but a very small place to stay there for a month, what volunteer people actually do..
so yeah.. hear from me soon! :)

..day "X" has come..

2010-05-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

BUYA!! :D

tomorrow we leave for 10 days out in the Pacific Ocean.. haven´t been out that long in my life ever! ;) hehe :) will be so AWESOME!
today I got my staff uniform and I´m looking forward to meet the passengers tomorrow morning. In last second they make the Nitrox compressor work and we put in some new refridgerators to store food. The crew is the Captain, Machinist, Chief of decks, Assistant, 3 Divemaster a Chef and me :D haha :) it´s gonna be soooo good! eating nice food and checking out some of the best diving in this world!
I spent just 290 bucks today to get a divecomputer that´s mandatory to have but actually was about time to get one and it´s a pretty good offer (they go to 600 USD ;) and will do really good! On my level it kinda sucks to relay on the computer of your buddy (what you can´t really do, because of different dive profiles). So it´s good to have my own one :) the rest of the stuff I´m borrowing from the boat. I´m not sure if Luciano knew this all the time but I´m glad it works this way now (after I asked for BCD and Regulator ;) hehe :) I mean, I just don´t have the space to carry all this stuff along for just some short moments as this (as incredible and special they are ;)
after tonight I won´t party for 10 days and I think that´s also very nicely timed after the last days I had in Santa Theresa ;) hehe :)
what more.. got a nice bed with my own personal life jacket, I´m good friend of the Captain already and everybody seems to be really awesome! well.. the DMs I might to earn my respect first as I have no idea how diving out there will be.. might have strong currents and high waves, but yeah.. nothing too hard for me ;)
hear from me when I´m back, showing hopefully some stunning pictures (taken from the rest of the passengers that have cameras ;)

one more wish delivered by the universe! :)

2010-05-21T15:24:00.001-07:00

Pura Vida!! (they say it all the time and it means "pure life") and represents the great attitude the people have here in Costa Rica! :)

now listen to this:

it´s totally the shit!! :D I was about to take the 11am ferry and make another loop through Costa Rica, because I felt so much turned down by life.. but then I talked to the owner of one of the three companies that go out to the Islas de Coco and the guy tells me that he finds me sympathetic and gives me the opportunity to go out and dive on the trip next week!!!! HAHAHAHA :D isn´t that just super great!! well, I still pay for my costs, that´s a hundred dollars a day (still my budget ;) and some park fees.. but hey.. diving with hammerheads! there´s no price for that! ;) I´ll also be helping on the boat with what I can.. I´m sure the experience will be unforgettable!! while being out I don´t have to take care of staying, food, going out.. so I save a good amount of money by being unable to spend ;) therefore I´m making a lot of party here in Santa Theresa ;) waves are not really good at the moment and it happened, that I went to bed the last days when the sun was rising ;) tonight won´t be different and tomorrow Saturday will also be a blast! ;)
met some fire spinners here and we will perform tonight (what hopefully provides me free drinks at the bar ;) and it´s always nice to make a little show! :)

so yes.. Sunday back to Puntarenas, Monday introduction of the boat and rules, getting my wetsuit and probably loading cargo. Then we drive 2 days out, will spend 6 days there, diving 4 times a day on Nitrox (I´m glad I have the license ;) hehe :) and then 2 days back (it´s about 500km out in the ocean). I think, I haven´t been out for so long on sea ever.. will be really cool! it´s a big, quite luxury boat and I´m looking forward to meet the passengers! :) there are just three companies who have the permits and boats to go out and the trips are very, very limited (so are the people who have seen this spot) ah dude, how blessed I am! ;) I´ll see that I get some good pictures of the dive to upload on Facebook ;)

so yeah.. here in Santa Catarina I feel good vibes! there is not a single bite of food I had that was not extraordinary delicious!! :) and I have a room with big bed, TV, fridge (fridge rules!! :) haha :D and private bathroom for 10 USD a day.. really cozy nice place to spend the next days until I leave the firm ground ;)
I met lots of nice people here and looking forward to go out again tonight! ;) comes all in phases, I guess.. sometimes I feel not like going out and doing all this stuff, but then sometimes I do and then I do it full-on! ;) haha :)

it´s really beautiful around here.. the roads leading to this place are not paved and it´s all a bit more rural and chill (even if it changed a lot over the last 15 years). It just has a good size for me now ;) haven´t taken a lot of pictures lately though. I think was more processing inner things and didn´t feel like taking pictures.. no worries, there will be some in the end ;) hehe :)

my friend Renzo from my former employer is waiting for his bike in Anchorage, after being inspired and just made it happen! Badass!! :) I´m sure he´ll have also a great time! :) won´t catch up with me probably ;)

yes.. that´s for you out there: JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN! because there is nobody else creating your life than you and the more you become aware of it, the better work things out. I felt almost my channeling efforts having been in vane, but then was the right time in the right spot and got a place on the boat :)
have a great time and hear from me! :)

..and all seemed to look that well..

2010-05-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

heyhey :)

hmm.. before even more things happen (sorry, before I make them happen ;) I write some lines. So I was surfing and it was SOOO much fun!! :) in fact, will go again here in Costa Rica (anyway nothing else to do on a beach). Figured out that the first time I tried, I had a really bad board. So this time it was even easier and more fun! ;) living on the beach (or sailing), I will for sure ride some waves!! :)
met a guy from along the way and we hanged out together.. was nice to see a familiar face and we had a good time! :)
Then I crossed the boarder without having too much trouble. Spent though on both sides 10 dollars (a price I can accept, once it´s clear from the beginning). And yes, things run smoother if somebody get´s you through the paper work (I mean, I need anyway somebody to ask how all this works) ..furthermore they wouldn´t let you do it by yourself ;) took my about 2 hours and I was in Costa Rica. Got a free tourist travel map that´s just good enough to bring me across the country.

my first stop was in Tamarindo, where I was supposed to meet somebody.. wasn´t there then in the end, but I got a piercing in my lip ;) (no worries Mom, 1st) you can always take it out and 2nd) I just wanted the experience ;). But it will take some time to heal and I have still to get used to it (like it already a lot! :) now I have always something to play around with my tongue ;)
Tamarindo is pretty touristy but then also nice to run into some people and share stories.. I´ll be for sure back on the peninsula.
Left then Tamarindo and went to Puntarenas to find work as a divemaster. Well.. I might just round it up here. First it looked all good and I got really excited when the assistants where telling me that his boss is looking for somebody, but then when I talked to the person in charge, it´s not about to happen.
One thing is that I need a work Visa.. no visa, no work. But also no visa without a contract (so it´s a dog biting it´s tail). Then yes.. I have no experience with that job and with the environment. So I would have to be trained and so on and the other guy said, there would be again ships in September.. but that´s WAAAAAAY too far away for me. I would have to help with repairs on the boat at the dock and I think it would not be, what I expect. (I know, can´t expect to just get the cream ;) but then I rather pay for this trip any time in my life than sacrificing half a year of my life. Anyway.. going to speak personally to these people tomorrow, but gave up hope to get work here. If I would be retired in my country I could get residential papers or marrying a girl or having a baby with one ;) haha ;)) no worries, not real options to me ;)
I will also try further down, where there is another port where boat are.. then I have a couple of almost non-existent-chances, where I´m asking as well, just to have tried anything. Otherwise the plan B is made. It´s a ride (making a loop, because I´m all over the place) connecting some beaches, volcano, hot springs, tree house community and then to Panama.

I was at a Psy Trance Party on Saturday and it was just a BLAST! :) really super, super cool! beautiful spot! sky full of stars! lovely people, great sound, lot´s of party! met cool people from this community, got invited stuff and inspired a lot with my contact ball!
I´d wish to find work here, so I could be more on these parties! :) they have a small, but really nice community! was about time to shake my ass off at a party like that! :) and good to have your own ride, so I could just drive there and tarp my bike. got a pretty sunset and it the morning arrived mystical fog ;) It was dry the whole night, but when the people left and we started afterhour, it was rainy (what was not too bad, cooled a bit down and the place was the veranda of a house.
Only the end got as chaotic as it can.. I assumed I could stay over night, but the guy renting the place was not allowing it, so I had to leave the place when it was getting dark already and my light is broken at the moment.. so I ended up heading out, without knowing where there´s a place to stay close (there was none really close), getting dark, no light, no mirrors (broke off once more :P and it started to rain.. was really a leap of faith!
but then when I stopped to ask for the way, a couple on a motorcicle stopped and they escorted me to the next city, leaving me in a good spot with parking close by. My Saviours!! :D like angels, providing a helping hand from the universe! :)
so I could recover from being awake and partying for 36 hours and this morning I tried to get interviews for the job, just figuring out, that I was too excited about all this. Well.. I´m used to quick changes and I think it´s just another experience more, that helps increasing the quality of my life over time ;)
While this horror ride on my bike, I was so 100% sure to fix just everything in San Jose.. there are some minor things to fix, things to look at, adjust, just make it run a bit smoother.. But then when I saw the price of a simple service here, I almost passed out. You really don´t want to fix your bike in Costa Rica! the cooling fan is 200 USD more expensive than in Mexico (almost double price) and I think I could have payed up to 2000 USD for all the things I wanted to fix. I should have gotten than fan in Mexico (thought it will be cheaper further down), when it was 230 USD .. now they order one to Panama, that will be 330 USD and don´t dare to wait any longer to Colombia.. I mean, it will be anyway expensive, it´s just more expensive now than it was before. This is because Costa Rica has a lot of import taxes. So having a BMW is more than luxury! I heard, should be about half the price to do the things down in Panama.. well.. the parts will be costly anyway, but I got not much of a choice. So I calculate a bit more money to get it fixed and it will happen in about 3 weeks. There are not too many more riding days until I get down and I´ll make sure to not drive anymore when it´s dark and will probably super-glue a mirror back on, until I get it done properly. Too bad.. was looking forward to renew my bike, but CR is not an option.

hmm.. what more.. broken dreams of being divemaster here, bike that could not been fixed.. but then there are a lot of bright, shiny moments in my life and it´s interesting.. at least I´m not just drifting along, but trying to get things done and having a purpose in the day.

day by day.. will all be good! ;)

..Ometepe, Volcano Island..

2010-05-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there :)

I´m here in San Juan del Sur, after I took the ferry over to the island of Ometepe (looks really nice with it´s two volcanos) and drove around to the more remote side close to a place called "Balague" where I stayed two nights at a coffee farm with accommodations. I hoped to run into a friend that I met Saturday night and even if she was in other things, we still felt our deep connection as when we met the first time in Semuk Champai, Guatemala. She and her companion just showed up after two days when I was about to leave and so only the stars know, if our paths will cross again (I really hope so!! sending out secret wishes to the universe)
I had to sort many things out in my head and didn´t feel too connected to the few other people that were around, but I guess, sometimes you have phases like that to process past experiences.
I hiked on the volcano Madera and did so in about half the time most people need to climb it ;) also didn´t take a guide along, because I really just wanted to be with myself, no guide, no big groups.. just me and the volcano ;) after half the way, you get into the cloud that forms around the top during the day.. so it becomes wet and a bit slippery, bigger rocks instead of a earth and roots. then you descend from the crest into the crater, where there is a small lagoon with about 200m diameter. It first was so foggy that I couldn´t see 20m out in the water, but then opened up a bit to take a picture showing the other side of it and it was all in all a really good hike, helping me solving some stuff and good excercise! :)
in the evening I tagged along with a multinational guy and two girls from Montreal to have a nocturne swim in the lake! :) was really nice! it´s pretty warm (because of it´s green-brownish color and the stars were shining lovely above :)
I realized in these days that some past things should remain past and that I should focus more on the way before me. I wished, I would have realized this long ago, but I guess it just takes time mostly to do so and I hope I advanced finally having freed myself from these things.

was riding then to the port, getting on the ferry again (it takes 1 hour to get to the mainland and it was cheap to bring the bike along and they attached it as well really good on the boat :)
yesterday I arrived in San Juan del Sur, checked a surfing beach (want to go surfing today! :) and drove to the boarder, walking over to Costa Rica to ask about a work visa and checked with Nicaragua about my resting days (won´t be a problem to leave the country.. can pay a dollar per day overstayed and won´t be many).
In fact, I´m leaving tomorrow, because there is a Psy Trance party in Costa Rica and I started my project to get a divemaster job there.. if there´s a way, I´ll make it! :D

Nicaragua is really small compared to other countries and the same is for Costa Rica.. I will probably drive all over the place trying to get my things done and it´s not too bad, because nothing is more than a day of riding.. :)
hear from me soon..

..last day in Granada..

2010-05-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

not always the things work out the way you want and so I end up here with broken dreams and burning pain in my chest, that´s about to vanish as smoke in the wind..

still haven´t any pictures of this nice, colorful town and it´s churches.. somehow don´t feel as running around and capturing in with my cam just to upload in the internet. Was all in all very nice here.. interesting and intense times!!
I went to the Santiago Volcano close to Masaya, where sulfuric gases come out of a huge crater and where you can hike around the crater, enjoying a spectacular view (I hope the pics worked out) and I was also on the Mombacho Volcano close to here, where there is a rain forest on this 1000m high peak growing. It´s a nice clima up there.. not too hot and humid as rainforest is supposed to be ;) after big plans, I ended up there by myself and did the forbidden Puma trail (forbidden, because I didn´t have a 15USD guide with me ;) and basically run the 4km in half the time they calculate. Was a good workout and gave me some headspace. Mostly you are on jungle trails without having a lot of view or seeing wildlife, but there are some nice lookouts where´s it´s worth to stop for a while. Beautiful to watch over the flat country and seeing the beginning hills in the distance.

a reason to stay another day is the local fire spinning group that I met yesterday. Want to perform tonight as well and make some sound with my didge (they have flute and djembe). Otherwise I was busy with heart issues until yesterday.. so today I might just trip around the city and start drinking early ;) having a party Saturday and going to Ometepe Island tomorrow. Already packed up my stuff, but a day more or less never really mattered and here is for sure more going on to go out in the night.

fixing my bike was pretty easy.. I met this guy here that is just the pure Nicaraguan McGyver :) he was maybe not always as careful as I hoped, but he actually made a good job.. wielded my mirrors back on the screws (so no expensive screws, just a bit working time to pay :) and riveted my side case, painted the bike new (he was about to paint all of the metal frames, but I stopped him at a certain point.. ;) even if I have to admit, that the new hand painting looks better than before :)
I´m glad I could give some money to local people for such a great (and very much needed) service. I took the front cover apart and attached the lamp again and now I know how the beam can be adjusted to the street ;)
most impressing was his backyard, where it´s not adviced to enter without having a Tetanus shot ;) hehe :) there is rusty metal crap lying around all over the place but he got all the parts we needed out of it ;) yes.. glad I met this guy.. now I´m ready to roll again! :D
have to stop though in Costa Rica to get a new fan and fix my cooling system.. had to stop twice in the last days because the lamp came on :( hope this is not going to happen anymore.. especially not while riding with all my stuff through the mountains or having someone else on the bike.

well yes.. I think this is mostly what I´ve done here in the last days ;) there is of course always a lot more going on, but I wouldn´t want to have this blog too detailed.. just the most important things ;)

have a blissfull day and hear from me!

..lucky fools day..

2010-05-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! ..exept for being blissed by love, I really experience everything down here! :)
I went to the "Black Hill", a volcano where you can run (or slide) down a sandy slope. Getting there I obviously used my bike and saved 23 dollars, having way more fun driving there, then changing my 50hp for 1 horse power and riding for 2km :) the guy had some BMW 650 experience and I galoped smiling past houses and families on the country side ;) after enjoying the nice view on the volcano I ran down in full speed (up: 25min, down:1.5min ;) and it happened that a short but strong rain started, so there were raindrops hitting the slope in a 90degree angle, what made a real good ambience for the thrilling way down :D
driving back to town was a bit more challenging by having different conditions after a bit of rain, but was still fun.. just sliding with the 200kg bike (and not dropping it once!! :D
spent time with friends in Leon and met some people from earlier on the trip. Was nice to say hello again! :) then I managed to get exiled from a hotel place.. long story.. stayed a night and needed more privacy, but still had friends and my bike there and the guy was, it´s OK you can be here but then behind my back advising people to kick me out and I just ignored this silly behaviour what brought it to the point where they didn´t like me too much anymore ;) but well.. it´s not too bad.. doesn´t mean to be exiled from a country ;)
after some other wild (and censored ;) adventures, I continued to Somoto, where I heard is a really nice canyon. On the way I stopped for a cheap and very tasty breakfast, having a deeply spiritual conversation with a 72 year old local man. It´s wunderful what set of mind some people have here!! :D
took then some dirt roads to Somoto (instead of going directly to Granada) and ended up taking a tour through the canyon with some local young guides. Normally I don´t like tours, but hearing about the development of their area, I really like to help them out with some money.. and you´d probably die doing it on your own ;) hehe :) I still felt kinda bad that they charged so few money.. I paid 10 bucks to go down this canyon.. swimming, climbing, jumping from a rock and another 10 to grapple three times from a 30-40m rock.. that was thrilling!! :D got better and better, but still not as in the movies ;) it´s a really beautiful peace of land, unfortunately not having pictures of it, because my battery died :P but there were 2 kids involved carrying the equipment forth and back and 2 other guides who came down with me the canyon, having a float with them to transport a dry box (with my dead cam ;P )
you have to go with feet first for not hitting rocks and at certain points you just lay on the back, see the steep walls, the blue sky above, clouds passing by and vultures making their circles. There are many wholes in the walls and bats fly close over the water, hunting insects. The area consists of two rivers flowing together and many beautiful hills, shining in fresh green, now as rain is falling over night (sometimes day ;) ..I heard, it started about 20 days ago and it´s waaaaay more beautiful than just having everything brownish dry. So from this aspect, being here in the rainy season isn´t all that bad.
I stayed then with a family, had simple but tasty food and learned about cultivating beans and rice and guess what, everything is just natural.. every egg, every single bean. Nothing has ever seen a can. It´s a very poor country, but people living mostly self sustaining and more natural than we city people do..
I went to bed early (what happened mostly in the last days.. also for having some inner issues to fix :-/ ) and the next morning we went riding, this time on top of the canyon, to three view points (miradores). The horse was just WONDERFUL!! well, at a certain point it tried to kick me, but missed or I was too quickly, so luckily it didn´t get me ;) but it was one of the most amazing horses I rode and if I wouldn´t have a bike, I think, I would have bought it!! :D haha! :D yes, we were running through these hills and stopped at some relativs place from the guide. They were working with a wooden plug and two oxes and I tried to manage that for a line, but it´s really hard work and the oxes have to be quite a bit animated.. otherwise they just stand around or run across the field ;)

so yes.. you out there.. if you like horses and want a special experience (maybe a future project of mine), come to Nicaragua, buy a really good horse for 300USD and a saddle for 100USD, put a fur of a sheep on top for being more comfi and then ride a month through Nicaragua on unpaved roads, through mountains, even into small towns and cities, because lots of people do here. everybody knows about horses and you get a vet in every small place, helping you out if it has to be. The country is very safe, people super friendly, food simple but good and for 2-4 weeks I could easily imagine to make an experience like that.. if I wouldn´t take off for diving on my next few holidays, then I would do the riding thing.. as I tried in Argentina ;) here it´s way more the place to do it! eventually you could even cross boarder to Costa Rica! :D yes.. this is another trip that I might do one day if I get bored over there.. just about my level of adventure ;)

then yesterday I had a super long day of riding.. first I managed to break both my mirrors off again (didn´t happen since Alaska) and some other stuff.. well, nothing that hasn´t fallen off already once on this trip, exept for the head light that is out of it´s socket.. will try to fix that here tomorrow in town. I don´t have a single scratch of it, thanks to my leather gloves (well, my palm hurts a bit from the impact, but really nothing to be worried about). It hurts a bit, because I know the adapter screw of the mirrors are 20 USD each and I probably have to see a dealership in Costa Rica, where it´s more expensive than in Colombia. Took then 50km to regain confidence in me and the bike and I´m happy the front fork isn´t bent, this would be a loooot of troubles!! so it was just one more experience and reminded me a bit to drive extra cautious, maybe applying some different technics on the road in the traffic.
then there was a police guy stopping me, telling me something about missing papers and fine and I was telling them that I paid for everything at the boarder and I don´t like to pay extra fine that is not necessary. Well, they let me go.. but you know, Panamericana.. the road where many bikers drive down and cops get some extra income. Hmmm.. let´s see how I handle it in the future. I´m not willed to pay, but might just ask for their boss in such a case.. because another tactic is not to speak spanish anymore or maybe just noting down their name and number and telling them to speak with their official :)
to get some more of Nicaragua and having a few kilometers more to ride, I made a little detour and wanted to reach Granada on a dirt road along the lake, but then when I crossed the first river, the local chief of police told me, that there are biiig mud holes and I will have a hard time to reach Granada.. too bad, thought it was all rocks and stones, not loose earth that becomes a swamp if it rains. The guy was really awesome.. helped me carrying my cargo over the river (unloaded the bike to cross), just to figure out on the other side, that I better turn around.. was then an extra 140km to take the other paved road, that I left despite of recommendations earlier. Well.. then in the end managed to arrive here in Granada. Probably going on a volcano today (because so nice weather) and doing repairs tomorrow.. might stay for another 2-3 nights here and then going to the island Ometepe and climb another volcano.. it´s fun!! :D
yes.. that´s probably most of it.. there are so many things that are not written down here, but still end up as being part of myself. All the people I met along the way, all the wonderful, inspiring conversations and blissful moments (when not freaked out by missing love :´( ..no worries, still a lot of pleasure in my life. It´s really nice if you have nothing to do but to be and to learn about the world. Everything is really cheap here, so I can go out and eat tasty or afford any other pleasure the world holds ;) you should check it out!!
Ok.. I´m off to see the area around.. hear soon from me! :)