Off course we made it!

After exactly 6 months and 17.500 miles on the road we are now in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. We still know jack shit and are a lot poorer. Nevertheless poor in money, but rich in experiences.

Mr. Shitman says: "A little bit heavier too, huh boys?!"

This is a short recap of all the countries we visited on this trip and our most memorable moments on the road:

Alaska

Bears on the road. Beautiful nature, nice open minded people, cold in winter, beautiful campgrounds, a lot of smoke from the forest fires and good riding. Greasy hair. Long days. Flying Mount McKinley and the landing on Elridge Glacier. Too bad we did not go up all the way to Prudhoe Bay, but all in all a very nice country with a lot of possibilities.

Canada

Lot's of trees and lakes. Indigenous experience and Jenny and Ryan. Fishing and toking in the boat is a good combination. Although Sander becomes a little bit quiet. Luckily Dirk compensates Sanders quietness by talking a lot. Canadians are more laid back than their North American neighbours. Carter Motorsports in Vancouver.

USA

Many highlights. Hamburgers!, tried all the different fastfood places we could find. Good drinking country. Too many beautiful sites and campgrounds. Friendly people. Pam and Glenn that took us in like lost children. Riding into San Francisco on the Golden Gate bridge in the afternoon sun. Sean dragging us around San Francisco. Riding the mopeds through Las Vegas. Avenue of the Giants. Hiking in Yosemite and participating in the nature programs (campfire songs!). The desert and Joshua Tree National Park. Lovin' Spoonfull concert in Bishop, California. What a píty we could only see this little of the US during our trip.

Mexico

Tiempo por relajar. Baja rocks! Especially when we met the Baja 1000 for classic cars. Chaos everywhere. Shithole towns where WE were the tourist attraction. Friendly people that don't miss a chance to party. Lot's of rubbish on the roads, not very environmentally aware. Dirks accident in Puerto Vallarte. Dirks camera that got stolen on the boat from La Paz to Mazatlan. The Bahia Angeles motorcycle club from Tijuana. Riding with Martin from Switzerland.

Guatemala

Indigenous people in colourful clothing. Coffee plantations. Bregje and friends in Antigua (waar we nooit meer wat van gehoord hebben!). Traditional market day in Chichicastenango. The smell of incense and cedar wood.

El Salvador

Pizza Hut, Burger King and friendly people (we only stayed one night).

Honduras

Corruption. Long wait at border crossing. Too bad we didn't see more of the country and its people to change our opinion about it. Hooking up with Rasmus.

Nicaragua

Riding with Rasmus. Turtles on the beach at Playa Flor. Granada, with its old colonial buildings. Posada Alfredo. Canopy tour and climbing Vulcano Mombacha. Doña Elba cigar factory. Flor de Caña rum. Finca Magdalena at Isla Ometepe. Sitting on the beach drinking beer and listening to CCR. Off roading too close to the Costa Rican border. Old little Hondas.

Costa Rica

Rolando and family. Partying with Rasmus. Taller Mechanica family that fixed Dirks rear wheel. Bad roads. Rain. Beautiful jungle. Gallo Pinto, mmm lekker! Banana plantations and coconut trees.

Panama

Expected heat that did not come. Exploring Panama City nightlife. The Panama Canal. National Championships of motorcross. Taxi's. Smoking cigars and looking at the Colombian hookers in the Cuban cigar lounge. Beer drinking Mike. Shipping the bikes.

Colombia

Nice landing.

Ecuador

Altitude. Meeting Mark, George and Mark 2. Five days in the jungle. Patchwork mountains. Visiting IngaPirca ruines with crazy Bill. Cheap. Almuerzo. First chickenbus experience. Old school drinking night in Cuenca. Saying goodbye to Rasmus in Quito.

Peru

Old American cars. Mangos. Lot's of desert. The ride to Huaraz. Motorcycle taxis. Friendly people. Altitude. Trying to climb the mountain. Busride to Cuzco. City tour with Karina and Yuliana. Trainride to Macchu Picchu. Pollo a la Brassa. Flying the Nasca lines. Hooking up with Mark to ride to Patagonia together. Friendly people. Cheap. New Year in Cusco. Llama's. Cool construction method used by Maya's. Conquistadores.

Chile

Atacama desert riding, driest place on earth. El Mano. No longer third world, everything is available. Claudio and Claudia in Santiago. Boat broken down in Puerto Montt. Good wine. Churasco, beef sandwich with avocado. Robert and Daniella, 18 months on the road, two up on a BMW. Yuk and smelly shoes. The German Health Spa. Expensive.

Argentina

Meat and wine. Friendly people. Cheap. Pampas and wind. Oil. Ushuaia, southernmost city in the world. Cold. Pinguins. Planning new trips....

Mr. Shitman says: "KING FOR A DAY, FOOL FOR A LIFETIME....!"

Yes, you thought we forgot about the contest! But because of lack of any female contestant with any answer we postponed the drawing of the winner of the www.honda50.cc contest.

Now we are on the end of our trip and we can not possibly wait any longer. The winner of the contest is:

Joeri Laanen

Who not only had the car answer right, but also saw the 2 (!) Hondas in the moped picture.

Gefeliciteerd Joeri. We komen bij je eten (Dinner at your place).

Ps. Too bad Marijn. Even with 6 posts on the website and 5 in our mailbox you could not come up with the proper combination....

After riding the beautiful circuito chico we tore ourselves away from the Hostel owner in Bariloche that kept giving us touristic tips to discover 'the real Bariloche'. There was a lot to discover but we had to go onwards. Tierra del Fuego was calling.

To the coast was a long day riding. We passed through the oilfields of Argentina. About 1/3 of all the crude oil produced in the world comes from Argentina! We saw a lot of Jack Hammers and Borretjes working while we rode by.

Mr. Shitman says: "The guys have not succeeded in losing Mark yet!"

Mr. Elephant says: "He sticks around even though the guys keep deflating his sissy seat about three times a day".

Mark is a very interesting guy to travel with. He always knows in advance that everything is going to be shitty. Food, the hotel, the people in the town, the weather; and especially the road is always too long.

Mr. Shitman says: "Mooie motorrijder die Mark".

Mr. Elephant says: "Zes lagen kleren aan, een sissy seat, handvatverwarming en dan toch nog de hele dag klagen".

In the morning Sander saddled up the Honda only to discover that his seat was gone. Mark had sneaked out in the middle of the night to unscrew the seat and hide it under Sanders bed! This was a revenge for all the times we deflated Marks sissy seat.

From Commodore Rivadavia it is one long straight haul to Ushuaia. The nearly 2000 kilometre long road is straight and windy. We rode through the pampas all day, with nothing more to see than grass and rocks. At least for Dirk who sees nothing at all when riding.

Sander saw:

- Parrots
- Fox (dead)
- Fox (alive running in front of Dirks' front wheel)
- Cows
- Sheep
- Alpaca's (Llama look alike)
- Ostriches (struisvogel look alike)
- Pink Flamingos
- Ducks and other endangered species of birds
- Armadillo's (dead)
- Very small bugs running on road (this was without using hallucinetic mushrooms!)
- Horses
- Seagull
- Swans

In Puerto San Julian Sanders dream came true and we rented a cabaña (cabin). It was very cozy and homey and it got even better when Scott and Pamela from Canada joined us.

Mr. Shitman says: "A girl on a bike, who knows how to cook and has a tattoo!"

Mr. Elephant says: "Too bad she had a bodyguard with her!"

This is a little piece of their website, we especially like the last bit :

So, from Ushuaia, we headed North as fast as possible. On the second night, we stopped in Puerto San Julian to sleep and while pulled over on the main drag, looking at the guidebook, a guy on a scooter pulled up and asked us in English if we needed a place to stay. The locals frequently do this and Scott hates being approached in this way (we’re Canadians, the high pressure pitch doesn’t work), but this guy isn’t a local- I look over at his scooter and ask – are you touring on that ??? Anyways, we end up sharing a cabana with Dirk and Sander and Mark. Dirk and Sander are travelling from Alaska to Ushuaia on Honda 50cc mopeds, retrofitted with 100cc engines. Mark is also Dutch and riding a huge BMW, having met up with the scoots in Chile. You can check out Dirk and Sander’s very funny weblog and photos at www.honda50.cc

www.zodomatica.com/ontheroad/archives/000165.html#more

The next morning before leaving Mark lit up his spirals to warm Sanders seat. What a friendly gesture! Check the pic.

To get to Ushuaia we had to cross into Chile and then back to Argentina. This meant four border crossings with paperwork at all of them! Chile treated us to more than 100 kilometres of schotterpiste, or ripio as it is called here.

Mr. Shitman says: "Chile really wants their piece of Patagonia, but treats it like shit".

Entering Argentina was once again more pleasant then entering Chile. Somehow the Chileans don't make you feel welcome in their country. Once back in Argentina it was only one more day to Ushuaia.

On the road to the southernmost city of the Americas we encountered two hot French chicks on bicycles. Adrienne and Maude. Check out the pictures and if you would like to contact them the e-mail adresses are for sale. They are hardy chicks that cycled all the way from Lima to Ushuaia.

Mr. Shitman says: "And I thought the boys had hard asses from riding all day...."

Mr. Elephant says: "It is obvious who are the girls here!"

Pop the champagne and celebrate the end of the road.

On our way to Argentina we just had to stop in Aguas Calientes Hot Spring Resort to rest our wary bones. After a few hours of relaxing in the hot pools we continued towards the border with Argentina.

The road from Osorno, Chile to Argentina is the prettiest we have ridden since Equador. Strawberry and raspberry fields, lakes and snow covered mountains make this piece of Chile look like Switzerland in summer. The German influence is noticeable when you stop for lunch: Sachertorte and Kuche are everywhere. A refreshing change from the boring desert roads that we have been riding for the last few weeks.

The border crossing into Argentina was easy and fast. Riding into Argentina we immediately noticed the difference. Argentina is a lot poorer than Chile so cars on the road are older and make a lot of noise (just the way we like it). Also the people look better than in Chile, we actually saw some good looking girls....

When we stopped in Bariloche we were surprised to find the people talkative and interested. You can even have a conversation with them!

Argentina is meat country. There are cows in the pastures everywhere. Meat is the traditional food as we discovered when we went out to eat. There are two kinds of meat dishes: Parilla and Asadero. The Asadero dish consists of grilled meats, and the Parilla adds all the rest of the animal to this. We had an interesting dinner of brains and grilled guts....

Off we go to the Pampa´s. Let´s see if the wind will blow us off the road....

We arrived in Puerto Montt full of anticipation. We were going to take the boatride of a lifetime (just like tousands of others). Mark promised us nothing could compare with the four days that we were about to spend on the boat from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Fjords, wildlife, incredible food, wonderful people on board and a spectacular scenery. To prepare Mark for his task as tourguide we let him pick the Hostal for the night before embarkment. This was not a succes, but trustfull as we are we thought things could only get better.

This is what happened: the boat did not go!

Thanks to Mark we are now riding all the way down to Ushuaia.

Mr. Shitman says: "The boys have to come up with a cunning plan to get rid of Mark...."

Mr. Elephant says: "They will lose him next time he stops for food (every 5 minutes)".

So, off to Argentina we are. But next stop: Bubbling in Aguas Calientes Hot Spring Resort.

Overland motorcycle riders psychology 1A

This is a psychological profile that seems to fit all of the overland motorcyclists that we have encountered on this trip so far....

Personality:

- Hyperactive
- Short attention span (very short, 20 second average)
- Obese
- Prone to addictions (drugs and liquor)
- Alpha males
- Like to hear themselves talk....
- and talk a lot
- Their bike is a substitute wife
- Hunters
- Carnivors
- Difficulty maintaining a conversation that they did not start themselves
- Ignorance (mostly the American riders)
- Very content with themselves

What do they bring:

- Bottles of single malt whiskey
- Cigars
- Peruvian hooker
- Self defense tool (ploertendoder, vlindermes, etc.)
- Rough Rider preservatives
- GPS with maps of wrong country
- GPS with incomplete maps
- Lot´s of pills and medicine
- Viagra
- Too much crap
- Lack of common sense
- Lust for life
- Unrest
- Butt protecting wuzzy seats (ja, MARK)
- Guts
- Lack of communication skills
- Lack of riding skills compensated by liquid courage
- Wife without license (for 18 months, around the world)

The average age of the overland motorcyclist is well in the forties. Which is interesting considering the fact that we thought we were old when we started this trip. Most of the travellers are single or act as if they are. See the 'what do they bring' section....

Fortunately we do not recognize any of the above in ourselves

From Antofagasta it was another 3 days on our saddle sore butts before we reached Santiago, capital of Chile.

The highlight of the trip through the desert was a visit to 'El Mano' (the hand). After urinating against the hand we were on our way for more mind blowing driving through the desert.

Right before Santiago we encountered Yuk, a Japanese traveller that is on his way from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego on a Yamaha 225cc four stroke cross bike. Yuk doesn't speak Spanish and very little English, making communication with him a little difficult.

Mr. Shitman says: "The smell of Yuk's shoes, combined with the odour of Mark's unwashed butt forced the boys to change rooms in the Hostel real quick".

In order to avoid riding the same stretch of road through Argentina twice to reach Ushuaia, we decided to book tickets for the tourist ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. The boat only leaves on monday, so we had some time to relax in Santiago. We found a nice Hostel and started perfecting the art of sleeping, eating and sleeping some more. Mark had his nails done by Claudia and now looks like a 'Khatoy' on a mission.

Mr. Shitman says: "Mahk look like ladyboy!"

The people in Chile are not the nicest we have encountered so far and in Santiago they seem to be even more unfriendly. Even in the Burger King, normally an oasis of customer friendlieness, we were treated like idiots. Also it is very hard to get a taxi in Santiago and if you do find one you can be sure the meter charges 'gringo fees'....

Mr. Shitman says: "The Southern part of Chile is full of old German immigrants".

Mr. Elephant says: "Maybe this explains some of the unfreundlichkeit the boys encountered...."

Another interesting phenomenon is the amount of ugly people in Chile. All of them are white, fat, Spanish looking and they don´t smile at all.

Mr. Shitman says: "The boys don´t mind an ugly man, but a country with only ugly women...."

When we left the Hostel in Santiago after a very relaxing week we were sent off by Claudia and Claudio, the Hostels´ helpfull staff. Mark who left late (as usual) has made an everlasting impression on Claudia. Bitter tears were shed when the BMW turned the corner and hit the road again....

We are off to Puerto Montt to catch the boat south!

Special update for believers....

Karina from Peru did some research on the internet for us and came up with the following:

Journeys of faith

We have adopted the image of a journey that each of us has embarked upon. How did this journey begin? We are left to wonder. It seems that one day we awoke and we were travelers on a road to nowhere. As we look around we see many roads to choose from as we sojourn ahead. We can go back the way we came, or attempt to. We can forge on, taking the most trodden path. Or we can appeal to our adventurous side and take the road less traveled, thinking that will make all the difference. Some of us search for the romantic road. You know the road, it is the one with sun shining through the trees and the gentle breeze. Yes, that is a good road to venture onto.
Each road brings with it a certain experience. Some experiences are quite wonderful, while others bring pain and fear. But whatever road we travel on, we are always left with questions.

I love meeting people. That is one of the primary reasons I do what I do. Just recently I met a couple of people on an interesting journey. They were driving Hondas from Anchorage to Chile. These were no ordinary motorcycles…at least for an adventure of this magnitude. These were mopeds…50cc’s of harnessed power. I was intrigued by their adventure…their personal journey. They have a website where they chronicle their experiences. There was a part of me that longed for that sort of freedom. You can follow the journey of Dirk and Sander at www.honda50.cc. These men are on this trip to find meaning. Dirk says, “without becoming too spiritual, the goal of this trip for me is to find out who I really am and what I really want to get out of life.”

Others have gone down the road that says, “Religion”…the one that promises the answers to all the questions the other roads lead to. Sadly, many have come from that road…with the same questions that Dirk is asking. You can chronicle the journeys of some of these people nowadays…you can journey with them via the cyber world…it’s called blogging. Posting your personal opinions and thoughts for the world to see, while hiding behind your screen name…it’s safer…you can get a taste of this journey by going to www.holyspot.blogspot.com .

As long as the road is nice, clear and free from pain. As long as I don’t come crashing to a halt at a dead end or discover a bridge out, I am content to toddle along not really concerned about where the road is taking me. But each road will bring us to the questions. It might be boredom that begs those questions.It might be the end, a change or the pain.

The questions: Why am I here? Where am I going? What should I do? We can learn from the lives of the moped guys. We can learn from the bloggers…we can learn from those who have gone before us. We can learn what they have discovered on their travels. So, won’t you join us this fall as we venture on together.

Neil @ www.newheart.com/journeys.htm

Frequent readers of our site will remember that we have prayed with father Bob in San Diego. We prayed for a save journey on the road and in life. What we did not expect was to be used as an example.

Mr. Shitman says: "To me it is obvious that the boys are looked upon as examples...."

Mr. Elephant says: "Examples of how not to be cool!?"

We would like to thank the New Heart Community Church for their support. May God be with us.

The north part of Chile is dessert, and a lot of it. To get to Santiago de Chile (Capital of the country and 3300 kilometres from Lima) we had to cross the Desierto de Atacama.

The Atacama Desert of Chile is a sparsely populated virtually rainless plateau, running from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains. The average width is less than 100 miles but it extends 600 miles south from the Peruvian border. The mountains nearest the ocean are the Pacific coastal range, with an average elevation of 2500 feet. The Cordillera Domeyko, a range of foothills of the Andes Mountains, lies east. The Atacama is made up of salt basins (salars) sand and lava flows. The landscape is so desolate it is sometimes described as "moon like". In fact the Atacama has been chosen as a good site to test the prototype of a future lunar rover. www.musc.edu/cando/geocam/atacama/atacama.html

Chile is a completely different country than other countries in South America that we have visited so far. It is a relatively rich country and the people have a close resemblance to Europeans, more specifically the Spanish that succesfully removed all of the native population of Chile during the conquests. Houses in Chile are finished, no iron sticking out of their roofs and the cars on the streets are newer.

After riding through the desert for 8 days in a row our butts resembled red monkey asses.

Mr. Shitman says: "Sander what happened to your seat?"

Mr. Elephant says: "Honda seats are designed for lightweight Japanese, not lard ass Dutch guys!"

Although Mark has a very big and comfortable BMW bike with a seat that is made of the finest materials resembling a recliner sofa and added to that an extra inflatable 'sissy' wheelchair riders seat (costing more than our complete bike) he complains all day about a sore butt. Well we can tell you that after a few 10 hour days on the Honda there is no sitting position in which your ass does not hurt. We have tried:

- Sitting on total butt
- Sitting on left butt cheek
- Sitting on right butt cheek
- Leaning forward sitting on front part of ass
- Leaning backward sitting on back part of ass
- Leaning left sitting on upper part of leg
- Leaning right sitting on upper part of other
leg
- Standing on footpegs, not sitting at all
- Stopping and drinking a coffee while standing next to bike

At last nothing works anymore and you just have to bear with it.

Mr. Shitman says: "The boys now sleep on their stomach".

Mr. Elephant says: "Eat this www.ironbutt.com ".

From Antofagasta we are going to ride to Santiago.

In Puqiuo we picked up the motorbikes at the Hostal where we left them. It felt good to be riding again after 5 days of hanging on busses, taxis and trains.

Back in Nazca we met up with Korporaal Mark. Mark is the Tattoo King of Almere and we have met him before in Quitto. Like all motorcycle travellers we met so far Mark is, unlike us, a very energetic, hyperactive, talkative, intense guy. He rides a big BMW R1150GS with 'koeieprint' paintwork. Mark is retired, but takes his instant travel tattoo kit everywhere....

Mr. Shitman says: "I think I saw a new butt tattoo!"

Mr. Elephant says: "But whose butt was it on?"

Again we have found a traveller with a big bike that likes to ride BEHIND the little loud Honda's.

Mr. Shitman says: "I think a 'titelverklaring' is coming up...."

Mr. Elephant says: "You meet the nicest people on a Honda!"

From Nazca to the border were long days of driving through the dessert of South Peru. Next up second to last country of this trip: Chile!