(Mexico, Central+South America 250 Days, 19 countries Nov 2010- July 2011)
Summary / Highlights!
(Most videos are shot using my tripod invention [camera on a stick] giving a unique and fascinating perspective)
The highlights: (click on link for full blog entry with more pictures and videos!)
The highlights: (click on link for full blog entry with more pictures and videos!)
*OUT OF THIS WORLD! AWARD* - Have you ever felt like you were on another planet? I did with my visit to the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia
*MOST DANGEROUS ROAD IN THE WORLD* - The Yungas Road in Bolivia is named the most dangerous road in the world from all the accidental deaths that occur each year. In my opinion it was actually quite a moderate drive on a motorcycle and instead is one of the most scenic roads I encountered.
*10 MINUTES OF FAME AWARD* - I appeared on the front page of the National Newspaper in the country of Nicaragua. I was recognized on the streets of Managua as the “motorcycle guy from the newspaper” and asked for autographs and pictures with random strangers.
-Besides countless local and national TV interviews around South America this one from the Stanton Magazine started it all. Click here!~
-Besides countless local and national TV interviews around South America this one from the Stanton Magazine started it all. Click here!~
*COOLEST SOUNDING EXPERIENCE AWARD* - Volcano Sand Boarding down an active Volcano in Leon Nicaragua
*BEST MOMENT OF SPONTANEITY* - When your very bored in Peru, driving long hours on straight roads for days on end with redundant scenery, you tend to go a bit nuts, and you create the new internet video sensation of Motorcycle Dancing!
*CHEAPEST GASOLINE AWARD* - I paid 7 cents U.S. for a gallon of gas in Venezuela. I filled up one time, and all I had was a large bill and no change, to which the guy said “don’t worry about paying”. The gas was cheaper than the water and beer combined!
*I HOPE THIS BRIDGE DOESN’T BREAK!* - I’ve crossed many dangerous bridges, but crossing a bridge made entirely of twigs over a river was a bit nerve racking in the Bolivian altiplano
*I HOPE THIS BRIDGE DOESN’T BREAK!* - I’ve crossed many dangerous bridges, but crossing a bridge made entirely of twigs over a river was a bit nerve racking in the Bolivian altiplano
*MOMENTS OF TRIUMPH!* - I felt like king of the world when I reached the southernmost tip of South America in Ushuaia after 148 days of travel on the motor bike.
-Surviving 3 days of being stranded with no food and a broken motorcycle in the Patagonia and finally being rescued on the 4th day.
*DIRTIEST MOMENT AWARD* - taking a volcanic mud bath in el Tutumo in Colombia left me covered head to toe in volcanic mud.
*EXTREME PHYSICAL CHALLENGE AWARD* - One of the toughest physical challenges I faced was climbing Cotopaxi, a 6000 meter( 20,000 ft) tall active volcano, the tallest in the world. I almost didn’t make it.
*MOST UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT* - Having a passenger for 7 days from Buenos Aires Argentina to Paraguay left my spine and man parts sore and beaten up.
*MOMENTS OF OH SH*@!* - Crossing Bolivia during the rainy season was a nightmare to say the least and an extreme challenge as proven when I had to cross flooded rivers that looked like a lakes, cross bridges that would crack and move when I drove over them and almost lost the bike to the strong current of a river in Bolivia.
*EXTREME MOMENTS OF ADRENALINE RUSH* - Crashing my motorcycle various times in Bolivia left me flying through the air like a bird and happy to be alive.
*SITE FOR SORE EYES* - While driving through the endless desert sands of Chile, a hand protruding itself from the earth was quite the sight for sore eyes.
*AMAZING LAKE AWARD* - Driving up to 16,000 ft in altitude through the Andes Mountains above the clouds to reach the turquoise lake of El Paron was unreal.
*COLOR CONTRAST AWARD* - As soon as you hit the top of the white sand dunes of Lencois de Maranhenses N.P. in Brazil, the turquoise lakes of water that fill up during the rainy season will blow you away
*JAW DROPPING MOMENT* - I was beauty struck when I laid eyes upon the amazing sight of Torres de Paine Nation Park in Chile.
*WORST SPOT TO PUT UP A TENT* - laying down my tent for the night in the darkness led me to involuntarily wake up to a pile of dead sheep carcasses decaying in the middle of an open field. Not the nicest of sights or smells. Patagonia Argentina
*MOMENT OF STUPIDITY AWARD* - In Copan Honduras I jumped on the back of a semi truck passing by to hitch a free ride to save some walking but it turned out to be a life threatening situation when it hit high speeds.
*LONELIEST EXPERIENCE* - Stranded in the Patagonia alone for 3 days with a broken motorcycle hundreds of miles from civilization.
*EXTREME WEATHER AWARD* - While going up and down the Andes Mountains I encountered Summer, Spring, Autumn, Winter, Sun shine, clouds, hail, rain, ice, and fog all within an 6 hour time frame.
*MOMENT OF DISSAPOINMENT* - I engineered a pretty awesome spear with my camera tripod and knife while in the San Blas Islands where I failed miserably at trying to catch a lobster.
*DUMBEST EXCUSE FOR A BRIBE AWARD* - The flimsiest excuse I was given by a police officer trying to get a bribe out of me was in Peru when the guy said that it was illegal to drive on the Pan American Highway after 6pm. I almost couldn’t contain my laughter when he said it.
*UNLUCKY MOMENT AWARD* - What’s more unlucky than driving along and having a bee fly up your jacket only to sting you repeatedly inside your jacket while you’re driving.
*WORST SICKNESS AWARD* - This is a three way tie between being sick 5 days on a boat Crossing from Panama to Colombia suffering from sea sickness and food poisoning at the same time.
-Suffering from E.Coli food poisoning while driving through the desert completely dehydrated left me huddled in the fetal position in a ditch in Peru.
-In the Amazonas I suffered from a severe bacterial infection to my digestive tract, which caused a moment of panic trying to figure out which of the 1,000 exotic Amazon diseases I was infected with. This included a Hospital visit at 2am.
*RIDICULOUS PARKING SPACE AWARD* - While in Oyllantambo Peru I drove my bike through a maze of bushes to park in the middle of a court yard also included was parking in the lobby of a hotel in Belize.
*MOST STRESSFUL MOMENT* - Trying to drive across the world’s largest salt flat north to south left me, stuck, stranded, crossing rivers, lakes, getting lost, frustrated, ending up on the border of another country, losing 10 days and getting nowhere, and unable to complete my goal in my journey from Sevaruyo to Uyuni Bolivia.
*CHEAPEST HOSTEL AWARD* - Besides couch surfing for free, and being taken in by various people into their home for not charge, I paid a mere $3 U.S. dollars for a hostel in San Cristobal Bolivia
*THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE! AWARD* - Driving through one way narrow rock tunnels in Peru led me to face head on traffic with large vehicles that wouldn’t stop to let me pass through and would clip the motorcycle and my legs various times.
*TOUGHEST OLD LADY AWARD* - I observed an elderly woman transporting a propane tank up the Andes Mountains in Ecuador.
*ESTROGEN OVERLOAD AWARD* - When left stranded in the Patagonia I was rescued by an Argentinean family of 4 women that allowed me to stay with them for an entire month.
*COLDEST MOMENTS* - Besides driving through, hail, snow and ice storms, one night in the middle of the Patagonia I spent the coldest night of the year in a metal shed outside, where it was so cold my boogers froze and I couldn’t even sleep because of the sheer cold.
*REGRETS* - No regrets all together- but I do wish I could have physically shared some of these experiences with someone; the internet can only do so much. I would also like to have had a GPS guidance system. The amount of money I spent on gas lost, would have paid for a GPS unit altogether.
*CRAZIEST PEOPLE MET* - Everywhere!
*CRAZIEST PEOPLE MET* - Everywhere!
*MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN AWARD* - there are beautiful women all over this world. But in vast quantity I must say that Brazil wins. Honorable mention is Colombia especially in Medellin and Venezuela as having some of the more attractive looking women I’ve seen on this journey.
*CLEANIST MOMENT* - Never!
*MOST RELAXING MOMENT* - Floating down the entire length of the Amazon river in Brazil for 2 weeks was the most relaxing and boring part of my entire trip.
*ROAD RAGE MOMENT* - When visiting the Valdez Peninsula in Argentina I was confronted by a man over taken by road rage that attempted to kick me off my motorcycle.
*FUNNIEST THINGS STOLEN FROM ME* - For some reason while in Cuenca Ecuador someone at a hostel decided they liked my underwear and socks so much they would just take them.
Also stolen in other places was my soap, gas containers, bungee straps and food off the motor bike.
*I WANT TO PUNCH THIS GUY IN THE FACE MOMENT* - Upon entering the country of Belize I was opted to get a mandatory fumigation with liquid poisons for the bike. The officer thought it would be quicker if he sprayed the bike while I was still on it with poisons that burned my skin, irritated my eyes and caused discoloration on my clothes.
Also stolen in other places was my soap, gas containers, bungee straps and food off the motor bike.
*I WANT TO PUNCH THIS GUY IN THE FACE MOMENT* - Upon entering the country of Belize I was opted to get a mandatory fumigation with liquid poisons for the bike. The officer thought it would be quicker if he sprayed the bike while I was still on it with poisons that burned my skin, irritated my eyes and caused discoloration on my clothes.
*NASTIEST DRINK* - I failed in trying to take more than a sip of a Pisco Sour in Cuzco Peru. Ingredients included the mixing of a raw egg yolk.
*MOMENTS THAT MAKE YOU THINK* - Observing the engineering marvel of Machu Pichu, Wondering how the Nazca Lines of Peru came to be, and Looking at the ruins of the oldest civilization in the Western hemisphere of Caral in Peru.
*MOST EXPENSIVE GAS* - The most I paid for a gallon of gas was in Chile, close to$7 US dollars a gallon. Brazil has a higher price, but I sold the motorcycle at the border so I did not purchase gas from Brazil.
*MOST POLLUTED CITY AWARD* - The entire country of Venezuela was pretty bad, but Mexico City and Buenos Aires are up there along with the winner of the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras as you can see my face covered in black soot.
*MOST INTERESTING FOODS* - The best exotic food I had was the fruit of Acai in Brazil. Honorable mention is: Guinea Pig, Llama, Alpaca, and my creation of Dulce de Leche with Baby Food meal.
*COOLEST KIDS AWARD* - I was fortunate to have a conversation with two kids in Belize in English, Spanish and Chinese all at the same time.
*THAT WASN’T COOL MOMENT* - Driving through the desert in Peru, some kids thought it entertaining to thrown rocks at passing motorists aka at my face!
*MIRACLE OF NATURE AWARD* - Sitting at the beach in San Juan Nicaragua observing turtles coming to shore and laying their eggs was an amazing experience.
*HERO AWARD* - While in the Amazon jungle I had a “Super-Guide” that grabbed crocodiles out of the water with his bare hands, killed a fish with a machete, mimicked the sounds of animals and even climbed a 12 meter tall tree in the flooded forests to retrieve a sloth from the top branch.
*IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING OR AM I DREAMING?* - While deathly ill in my hotel room in Peru dehydrated and hallucinating, I was woken up by a random hooker knocking at my door offering her services to me. She ultimately understood she was given the wrong room number.
*SPEEDY GONZALES SIGHT SEEING AWARD* - Nothing quite like driving through and conquering the entire country of Belize in less than 6 hours to make you feel like Alexander the Great!
*DANGER SECLUSION AWARD* - Be sure to take plenty of water when driving down the Austral Trail to O’Higgins in Chile, as you’ll be island jumping from ferry to ferry to places so remote you’ll go days without seeing a single person or vehicle, and an accident here could mean the end.
*AWKWARD MOMENT* - While working out at a gym in Bogota Colombia, I was oblivious to the wandering eyes of 15 gay men, until I kindly declined a date with one of them.
*MOMENT OF ROMANCE* - While learning to tango in Buenos Aires, a 5 foot tall 70 year old Russian woman asked me to dance (I’m over 6 ft tall). To which I must say was the best Tango partner I’ve ever had.
*END OF THE WORLD SUNSET/MOON RISE* - Being so far south and close to the south pole while in the Patagonia, I was able to observe an amazing sunset on one side of the sky while watching the moon rise in the other in darkness.
*I DON’T THINK SO MOMENT* - While in Tabatinga Brazil I was approached by a drunk moto taxi driver offering me a free ride. Ummm yea, I don’t think so!
*POWER OF THE INTERNET AWARD* - A few months after my entry on my experience in Portobello Panama at the hostel of Captain Jacks, a huge email battle of accusations and questions pertaining to my writings arose from the blog entry creating a fiasco of international attention.
*BEST AROMATIC SMELL AWARD* - Besides the countless pine wood, strawberry farm, grape fields, orange farms and other amazing smelling areas, my visit to a Cigar factory in Honduras provided so many different and pleasant odors it was amazing.
*WORST BORDER CROSSINGS* - The majority if not all central America countries are dogs at making border crossing on a motorcycle as painful and expensive as possible. Fumigations, 20 copies of passport, title, ownership referral etc. Mandatory insurance, 8 official signatures and much more made my time in Central America stressful.
*PARTY ANIMAL AWARD* - I have never seen a man drink so much until I met Shane from Australia aboard my 5 day ocean boat cruise where he proceeded to party all 5 days through rough seas, no sleep and downing 20 beers per day on average.
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*WORST DRUG EXPERIENCE* - Being rudely woken up at 5am in Rio de Janeiro Brazil by panic from a fellow backpacker asking for $700 US dollars to pay off a drug dealer not to kill him tops the chart on the involuntary drug experience award.
*MOST CHALLENGING TIME TO GO TO THE BATHROOM* - Trying to urinate in darkness and at a 45 degree angle while being slammed back and forth in a small bathroom during rough seas aboard Wild Card while in the Atlantic Ocean wins this one.
*FRIENDLIST PEOPLE* - There’s friendly people all over this world. But I must commend the people in Colombia and in the Patagonia in Argentina for going far and beyond extraordinary.
*UNINTENTIONAL SIGHT AWARD* - While visiting Iguaçu Falls in Argentina, I was admiring the beauty of the falls when a French woman decides to stand in front of my eyes, takes off her pants, strips out of her underwear, is completely naked, bends over and puts on her bathing suit to go for a swim. Now I question if all French women don’t shave.
*MOMENT OF EXTREME LUXURY* - I was able to attend a cousins wedding in Nicaragua, which was the biggest, most elaborate wedding in the history of the country.
*AMAZING GENEROSITY AWARD* - While in the Patagonia with a broken engine, I was lent a dirt bike to join an off-road adventure with a mechanic and his friends, which also serviced my motorcycle for free!
-Also the money and support given to me through my web site through donations and encouragement by family, friends and complete strangers.
*BREAKING THE LAW* - Besides countless illegal U-turns in more countries than I can count, crossing 6 international boarders and missing the immigration offices, aka illegal immigration and entrance, was completely unintentional and a hassle to deal with.
*MOST EXPENSIVE FOOD* - As beautiful as Costa Rica is, the prices on their food is the highest I paid on the journey, worse was the quantity they served you was also the smallest of any country.
*MOST EXPENSIVE FOOD* - As beautiful as Costa Rica is, the prices on their food is the highest I paid on the journey, worse was the quantity they served you was also the smallest of any country.
*BEST EXCUSE FOR A BRIBE AWARD* - When taking my motorcycle to be serviced in Bogota Colombia I was stopped for having a burnt out head light, which proceeded me to bribe an official after being threatened to impound my vehicle, take me to jail and asked for all importation papers, mandatory insurance, title of vehicle, registration and personal identification, passport, which I realized I left all of them back at the hostel many miles away.
*RACISM AWARD* - The first question I was asked when arriving at a hostel on the Austral Trail in Chile was if I was Israeli, which determined if there was availability or not at the place.
**Most Frequently Asked Questions**
1. How big is the engine on your motorcycle.
1. How big is the engine on your motorcycle.
2. Where are you from?
3. Where are you coming from?
4. Why can you speak Spanish so well?
5. Where are you going?
*WORST MOMENT OF POLITICAL TENSION* - While in La Paz Bolivia, I was leaving the city when that day all public transportion on strike and there was no traffic on the streets what so ever. This included dodging barriers in the middle of the road put down by the protesters.
Be sure to visit the Blog Archive to see the entire adventure! As this is a small sample of this Modern Motorcycle Diaries!
*WORST MOMENT OF POLITICAL TENSION* - While in La Paz Bolivia, I was leaving the city when that day all public transportion on strike and there was no traffic on the streets what so ever. This included dodging barriers in the middle of the road put down by the protesters.
Be sure to visit the Blog Archive to see the entire adventure! As this is a small sample of this Modern Motorcycle Diaries!
