Archive for the ‘On the road’ Category

Van Gogh & Deelder (painter & poet, both Dutch)

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Van Gogh & Deelder  (painter & poet, both Dutch)

<!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

Medellin, july 22th 2010,

It’s dry when I ride up to Ken & Carol’s hostal. An Australian couple. Great people. Sold everything at home to travel. Ontheir BMW GS from 1982 they clocked more than 700.000 km. This is their second RTW (round the world) trip. We met through an common bike acquintance I met in Buenos Aires. They are not finished yet with their maintenance, so we go by taxi to Pueblito Paisa. This is something like a small open air museum. The location is spectacular. On a hill with a viewpoint where you can see almost the entire city. Especially at night time. The city laid out with milions of lights. The city growing from out of the valley onto both sides of the mountains.

That day I had a rather unpleasant police check. My first unpleasant one in Colombia. I mada a mistake. Made a u-turn where it’s not allowed. No excuse, just about everybody does it there, good point to do it. The police officer wants to see my papers. No problem. I carry a lot. He takes them with him. Says it’s gonna be a fine for me. He takes his time. I talk on the cellphone, like I’m calling my lawyer. He comes back. He want a souvernir from my country. Like some money. Aha. Souvenir a code word for a bribe? Don’t kno. I say I don’t have any. I pull out my wallet rather exagerated. Makes him nervous. The other cop looking? He backs off. Gives me my papers. I promise to not do it again.

This is in my head when I pull up to the hostal. Inside it’s quiet. The other guests are out. A quiet, relaxed family atmosphere place. Owner lives next door. It reminds me a bit to the hostal I got robbed at in Lima, Peru. When Carol asks if she can guard some things in her room I say no. Take it with me.

In the taxi I sit up front. I pay but the cabdriver hasn’t got any change. If you don’t pay almost exact it is you who has to find a solution. So I exchange some money here and there. Get distracted. Get out of the car. After a minute or so I realise my rugsack is still in the taxi. I run back but the txi has gone. I want to believe in honesty so I wait for him to return. I wait and I wait. Nothing happens. All my original papers are in it, my photocamera, some Traveller Cheques and a sweater. How stupid can you be?

The nex day I look through the video images of the guard station from the entrance. The taxi is still not identifiable. Too much glare on his license plates. The garbage cleaners haven’t found anything. There’s also an police camera there. We have to wait for permission to see those images. We, that is Diana and me, go back to the city center. To the Dutch consulate. Her phone rings. Somebody want to speak to Jan Gerben. That’s me, so I take the phone. The guy says he ha my papers. Found them. We agree to see each other nearby a metro station. We jump in a cab (hey, what else can you do, can’t shoot them all) and go the station. The guyis youngster. He found them when bicycling from his nighttime job. It feels a bit strange. But, all my papers are there. The camera is missing, but ALL my papers back! I pay the guy a finders fee. Happy as happy can be. On closer inspection I miss also half of my Traveller Cheques. Hen realization comes in. The guy found it, at night, on the side of the road. That night it thundered and rained like I’ve never seen before. All my papers and razorthin ultrcheap rugsack are very dry. The guy is probably a friend or nephew of the taxi driver. Well, that’s the way is. I got my stuff back.

The last coupleof weeks sharpened also my plans for the near future. I will be back in Holland probably mid september. I’m running out of money. Bills at home aren’t paid for. My visa and bike permit expires in september. Time to go back and hopefully make some money. In the meantime I’ll be working hard on my book. Been writing a lot. Like it. Now my credit card has been blocked and the company say’s it’s final I feel a little bit like a Van Gogh, very productive artistically but not a dime to spare. Talking about art. It’s annual international poetry festival of Medellin. I ride my bike almost into Jules Deelder. One of my hero poets. He’s here with Tom and Mike, camera and sound, to do a documentary on the festival and Pablo Escobar. What a coincidenc. I moved to the ‘barrio’ La Maerica. Didn’t have the money anymore for the apartment. Moved in with family. Nice part of town, closer to the enter, just a few blocks away from where Pablo was shot by the army. The house is still dead empty. With Jules, To & Mike I drink a beer. All around the table, a beer ans a smoke, talking life & music, man, it’s feels like I’m almost home.

So? How is it?

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
So? How is it?

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:”DejaVu Sans Condensed”; mso-font-alt:”Times New Roman”; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:none; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”DejaVu Sans Condensed”,”serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:”DejaVu Sans Condensed”; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:#00FF;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

Medellin, Colombia, april 22nd 2010

‘Look nurse, he’s alive’. I walk with the aluminum bowl towards nurse Fernanda. In it, a watery vowit that contains a 20 m long bleak eartworm alike. Her eyeballs shoot almost out of her head. Again a medical surprise this monday. First the surgeon looks for me after the operation of Diana and explains he’s also surprised by the 9 cm tumor he took out of her belly with a diameter of a tennis ball. And now this, vomiting after the anaesthesia and here’s a living parasite of more than 20 centimeters long (6-7 inches). So, its a good hospital day, like two results for the price of one treatment. Makes me happy as a health economist. Sad note tough is that the tumor was found after we decided to search for another therapy in january. I dare not ask the surgeon what would have happened if she would have continued going on with pain. Sad note also that the parasite wasn’t found altough extensive laboratory examinations (blood, urine, faeces), stomach examination and a gastroscopy. For now, we have to wait for the result of the pathalogy lab who examine the tumor whether it will be a maligne (bad) or benigne (good) cancer.

So, how is it after being five weeks in Medellin, Colombia? With Diana, things are going better. After losing her job and healt insurance we were able to repair the insurance (took a lot of time to go through a whole bunch of bureaucratic procedures). Also with a job she now has a small, parttime job working as an independent auditor (accountant) that can be combined with the final year of her university study (year ends here in december).

So on the whole good, but there’s also some side remarks for myself. On the whole, I’m happy being here. But after being a year and a half ‘on the road’ it sure also is a period of adaptation. Not knowing where to go next makes me feel restless, feels like waitint but I don’t know for what. For now I’m occupied with my finances such as taxes and bank arrangements in Holland. My plan is to be here some what more to write a little book about my travels. But, there are choices to be made, work, living such as my houseboat, Holland or Colombia? So there is a but to my feelings of happiness altough the feeling of living in freedom and having the liberty to make these choices is awesome!

My visa expires in may. That means either I have to pay for extensions (bike & me) or cross a border and come back. Panama would be closest but probably has limited customs facilities due to the Darien Gap, also this is a area with a lot of guerilla and drugs violence. Venezuela isat, I guess, three days distance but there are borer prolems due to the ongoing diplomatic rows between Colombia and Venezuela, the border is closed for Colombians. Ecuador would be easiest but is at five days distance. For now I haven’t made a choice yet, going to Venezuela would be the most probable.

Buenos Aires, BUENOS AIRES!

Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Buenos Aires, BUENOS AIRES!

<!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

February 28th, Buenos Aires, Argentina

It’s thursday night when I enter Buenos Aires. A 5 lane highway.It’s dark and it takes me a while to find Dakar Motos. When I knock on the door at 9pm it’s Marcus who opens the door. Marcus! Then I begin to realize, I am in Buenos Aires, coming from Alaska, more as 30,000km. i park the bike between the big off roads, all equiped for worls travel. this is a magical place. World travellers arrive, go back, start from here. And nowmy bike, 67 yearsold steel & iron is parked between all those beautiful hi tech bikes. It makes me feel shy and proud at the same time. The bike is a story apart, for now it’s sufficient to tell that even after 30,000 km she still runs everyday like she cameoutof the factory yesterday and always, always ready for a new day of adventures.

The last couple of weeksmy website has been off air due for some time due to viruses. Couldn’t write messagesat all, so I start here where I left from Santiago, Chile.

‘That’s when I get up, and nothing gets me down’ starts on the radio as I wait in line after the police check at the Argentina customs official for my temporarily import papers for the bike. This is ‘Jump’ from Van Halen. What a welcome, I couldn’t have imagined it better for a musical welcome. I am in Argentina! After Alaska via Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, now in Pataonia, Argentina. For all the accompanying emotions I coul jump in the air.

After Santiago I drove in two days to Pucon. I drove up with Brendan and his truck. He has a beautiful Scania truck which is prepared to go everywhere. Which he does with passengers on tours through South America and especially the south and other non hospitable places (see www.vivaexpeditions.com). The bike consumed excessiely oil, almost 2.5 liter on somewhat more than 700 km. Weird, genuine Harley oil that Hope found in a lone box at the Harley dealer in Santiago. Decided to stay a day and found the leak.The valve covers were loose. I was lucky to sleep in brendan’s truck since it rained at night.

Crossed the border and met up with Eric. Met him before on a BMW in Santiago, he’s setting up a motorcycle tour business. So we decideed to travel together. After San Martin de los Andes we took the 7 lakes route. beautiful, also some dirt road, not too bad but a lotof dust. Early eening rode into Bariloche, didn’t really like the town although it’s beautifully situated at the lake, ,probably great as winter destination but not for now for me. Camped a way out of town at a nice camping at the lake. Again another bike thing to fix, my front brake got very sticky. Decided to work on it. At the end of the day at 9 o’clock we stopped, an Argentina guy and me and the brake wasn’t functioning porperly at all! So that means another day of wrenching.

Also I have to make a decision about the final leg of my road trip. Originally I was destined to go as far as I could south, nobody knew how far I would get. When I rode into South America I thought, ‘well let’s go to Ushuaia’, being the most southern place to visit. But then I met Diana in Medellin. And now I know what my destination is, going back to her in Colombia. And then I went into Patagonia. When I was in Bariloche I got the message she’s been diagnosed with cancer and very porbably has to undergo chirurgy. So for now I know I go back to help her out as soon as possible. How, I don’t now yet. I hope to let you all know soon.

The long way home, for Diana

You know I love you baby
More than the whole wide world
You are my woman
I know you are my pearl

Forgive me pretty baby but I always take the long way home
And I love you pretty baby but I always take the long way home
Come with me and we can take the long way home
Come with me, together we can take the long way home


(Tom Waits – The long way home)

Patagonia

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Patagonia

Right now I am in Patagonia. Due to server updates I couldn’t write messages on my website. Since yesterday I again have access. Hope to write more soon.

From Esquel I will not g oto the south but east to the Atlantic coast all through Patagonia and from there on to Buenes Aires.

Hope

Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Hope

Santiago, Chile, february 8th 2010

Done a lot of work on the bike last two weeks. Could have been done in a week, but I was too upset to leave. Upset about all the emotions leaving my girl behind and then she got in all kinds of trouble which I don’t like happening to her. La Casa Roja is a excellent place to stay then. The staff treats me like the lost son who returned. Also I could do some wrenching at the Harley place. altough getting there took some time. The bike broke down in the middle of Santiago. Had no tools with me, had to pick them up by taxi. The spark coil was loose so the wires were broken. Fixed that with sheetmetal the guy from the littleshop who took intrest made for me and some iron wire to fasten the coil again.The bike started at first kick, yeah!

The two mecanics, Claudio-middlename-Hope and Miguel are just the sweetest guys I could have found to do my wrenching with. After they closed we rode three up trough the city, sweet & very cool! I try to realise every day but after returning from Hope’s birthday party late at night on saturday, it dawned so strong on me how fortunate I am. Diana waits for me to come home in Medellin, people who treat me so nice like the lost son, the bike running sweet through these wide streets as if she’s born here and acting like the little charmer she is, even at two o’ clock at night we have a chat with the cab drivers.

Tomorrow I’lll leave Santiago. On my own. August changed his plan. From here I’ll go to Pucon and then across the Andes, dirt roads, to Bariloche (Argentina). There I hope to meet up with Marcus. If I do, we’ll probably go -together again, yeah!- to Buenes Aires. If not’ll have to make a decision about going all the way south or not.