It doesn’t take much to get dirty in Colombia as long as there is plenty of rain and you are on the road. You see, day-long rain often causes landslides in the mountains. Here is how we did it. (If you cannot see the video link, click here.)
For me, pushing Casa forward was hugely rewarding – it’s amazing how great it feels to be of so little power help!
This following question came from a friend through Facebook, and once I started writing, it grew and grew, so I decided to make a separate post on it. I do like my gadgets, and this trip is no exception.
The post contains lots of links to product pages and Wikipedia-pages for reference.
WARNING: Nerd alert!
What technology do you use, what do you miss – Edwin
The center of our computing world at the moment is our trusty Sony VAIO-P788K in gold (a demo model we bought on eBay, so couldn’t be too picky ‘bout the color). 
Yup, it’s that tiny
(picture courtesy of SonyInsider.com)
I love it over a Netbook since it’s smaller, has much better screen resolution (1600x768 on an 8” screen vs. a meager 1024x600 (10”) on most Netbooks) and has a Solid State Drive, which is less prone to physical errors on its drive. But since the HD is ‘only’ 64Gb, and also because we need a good place to backup all our photos. And don’t forget all our TV series:
Boston Legal, Scrubs, The Inbetweeners,
Dexter, House M.D. and Mythbusters
(pictures courtesy of IMDB.com)
and movies:
The World’s Fastest Indian Little Miss Sunshine, Delicatessen,
Kick-Ass, How To Train Your Dragon, and The Cove
(pictures courtesy of IMDB.com)
which we watch while on the road, To store all those we have a tiny Western Digital My Passport SE of 1Tb (which is almost full…).
We carry two cameras (not counting the one in the laptop and three in our two cellphones) with us. For those who know me a little, I love my cameras and usually carry more camera stuff with me on a trip than other stuff (my camera bag usually weighs in around 6-10kg). But since we had to weigh every gram for this trip, I forewent bringing my Canon 5D with either my 24mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2 or 24-105mm f/4 lens, I also left my Hasselblad at ‘home’. Instead we have two camera’s, the first is a Panasonic DMC-LX3 (from an online review: ‘The LX3 is a compact camera that photographers can get excited about’), with a wonderful 24mm f/2.0 wide angle lens, it’ll shoot RAW and you can tweak just about every setting that you can on a big DSLR. 
Our Panasonic DMC-LX3
(picture courtesy of dcresource.com)
Then we also carry a Panasonic DMC-TS2, which is water-, dust- and shock-proof, which comes in handy on the back of the bike!
Panasonic DMC-TS2 – dustproof
(picture courtesy of ces-show.com)
We used to communicate on the bike through our Sena Bluetooth Communication headset SMH10, and loved it. It’s all we wanted from a comm-set, easy to use (2 buttons only), charged through USB, versatile (we can both listen to our own (Bluetooth) MP3-music).
Sena SMH10 Bluetooth communication headset
(picture courtesy of SenaBluetooth.com)
But unfortunately my helmet got nicked one day in Ushuaia, so were minus one. We also had a problem with the other headset, so that one is somewhere in the world waiting for repairs under warranty. So in the meantime we have to shout at each other and we’re also perfecting our hand signals and taps-on-my-shoulder techniques :)
I left my fancy cell phone in storage with the rest of the stuff of our house, partly because running less risk of being robbed when people see a fancy phone, and partly because it’s quite chunky. So instead I bought a ‘chinese’ phone instead. Cheaper, runs on a regular Nokia battery, can take 2 (!) sim cards, even has Bluetooth so I can use it with the comm-set on the bike and the speakers on the phone are LOUD! Puts the ones in the laptop to shame (really, I love the laptop, but the speakers are cr*p)!
Our other phone is almost dead, unfortunately. It’s a Nokia E71 we bought in China in 2009 after the original one was stolen.
Cellphones used as public phones, securely attached with a wire to a fixed object, I guess you can’t call it ‘mobile’ any more
We use our trusty Garmin GPS 60Csx, our second one, since the first ran out of steam earlier in our trip. The model is from 2006, so quite old, but she does the job just fine, is small, handy, and the screen is readable under direct sunlight. No fancy stuff on it, no touch screen, can’t play MP3’s on it, nor can I connect my cell phone. It doesn’t even say the direction, just points them on the screen, but that’s just fine.
Our GPS in Bolivia, showing an altitude of 4112m (~13,490ft) above sea level, we went over 4500m (~14,760ft) that day!
We also purchased two e-book readers, highly, highly recommended! It saves us from bringing tons of books with us. I purchased mine from the get-go, a Sony PRS-300, a very simple and cheap model, but it does the job: I can read books on it, the battery lasts forever, and it’s light. I got Shu hers (with the wonderful product name of 4FFF N618) in The Netherlands when the discount store Aldi had them on special, it’s fancier than mine, it has a touch screen, can play MP3’s, it even has Wi-Fi. But the battery life is on the short side (she charges every few days, I can do weeks without a recharge, and that’s not just because she reads more than I do…), and browsing the internet is not really recommended, let alone writing emails with it.
Sony PRS-300 e-book reader is nice and compact
(picture courtesy of pocket-lint.com)
What do I/we miss? We miss our comm-set right now. That was really convenient, being able to talk on the bike driving at any speed at the press of a button. I also loved using it to listen to music, Dance Department podcast especially (‘The Best Beats On The Go!’).
What else? A cable to hook up our laptop to a TV so we can watch our favorite TV shows and movies on the big screen (add to that a projector! So far we stayed with 4 friends on this trip who had projectors to show movies on, we are HOOKED!).
And maybe a second laptop, or even just a smartphone so we can check our emails at the same time. Now we have to ‘share’ the laptop!
So now you know, this is the tech-side of our trip!
Speaking of technology, during the first part of our trip from UAE to The Netherlands, on top of our regular motorcycle gear, we wore Hit-Air Airbags.
How the airbag system works (click for large version)
(picture courtesy of Hit-Air)
Nope, not kidding, actual airbags that you can wear like a jacket, or in our case a vest on top of our jacket.
In Iran wearing our (bright yellow!) airbag jackets
Due to the change in conditions in South America, we decided not to wear them here. But I will continue to wear them when back.
….Well, it is one of the reasons! The Colombian delicacy is called hormiga culona, a fat-bottomed ant that is fried and eaten as snack or cooked with food. I was told that the ants grow for over a year before being picked from the earth.
In case you are curious about the taste, well, let me tell you, the head bit is quite crunchy and the bottom more meaty, so a nice mix. And it tastes quite earthy and woody – not that I had eaten either. Delicious and addictive. I can see why it’s a local favorite.
More on Colombia to follow… Yes, just like Brazil, we are finding it hard to move on from this amazing country.
(if you receive this post through our mailing list or Facebook, then unfortunately it will not show the way it’s supposed to –> please visit our blog to view it!)
Our trip through Iran was short in time, but quite a bit in distance. We started of from Bandar Abbas, drove via Shiraz, visited Persepolis, bypassed both Esfehan and Tehran since we visited them in 2008 already! Then up to the Caspian Sea, almost hit Azerbaijan, headed west again, via Tabriz to the border with Turkey, close to Mount Ararat.
Click this link to view the route plus the photos full screen.
(if you read the Trip Stats in the map above, it says we drove it in 2 days and 3 hours, that’s a wee bit optimistic, although maybe it’s counting actual driving time, not real time. the 2715km total distance seems correct)
Click here for the full screen slideshow of the just photos without the map.
Up until Colombia, we had happily survived six months of driving in South America. Then a week ago we hit the country, and then I realized all the time we were just prepped for Colombian driving – it is so refreshingly dangerous that it is truly an attraction in its own right.
They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So by the same logic, when in Colombia, drive as the Colombians do, I guess? This is Q safely executing one of my personal favorites of Colombian driving techniques.
In case you cannot tell, it was double-overtaking on the left shoulder. Yes, they drive on the right in Colombia. …at least it was done over a dotted central line!
Got these two recipes when we celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with friends in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. The combination of the first recipe didn’t sound too appealing to me, but I tried it, and I had to admit, it is just amazing! Try it yourself (make sure you have a nice, ripe, preferably Filippino;), mango)!
Rucola, blue cheese and mango salad
Mix
Rucola spread
Blend
(or add garlic to the mix instead and serve on bread or toast)
Enjoy those!
This piece of music was played in a salsa club in Cali, Colombia. The whole place shouted and sang with this song, very cool! The title ‘De Donde Vengo Yo’ roughly translates to ‘from where I come’, and it is a local Colombian song, celebrating their ‘Colombianism’ and the diversity of the Colombian people.
De Donde Vengo Yo - Choc Quib Town on Vimeo.
(if you are subscribed to our mailinglist, you won’t see the video above, click here to open it in your browser!)
If one day an extra-terrestrial life-form comes to me and asks for direction to the one natural site on this planet, I would most definitely point it to the Grand Canyon in the United States. For those of you who have been there, you can relate to the tremendous shock and awe power it had on me when I first cast my sight on it.
However if the alien asks for the one cultural site on earth, I wouldn’t know where to point it to, until a few days ago when I came across this place unexpectedly - “La Capilla del Hombre” (The Temple of Man) in Quito, Ecuador. The masterpiece is built to house paintings and sculptures created by Oswaldo GuayasamÃn.
The center of GuayasamÃn’s work is about the pain and sufferings of indigenous people, but he also draws attention to the warmth and hope for the families and loved ones. His work and words touched me deeply:
For the children that death took while playing,
For the men that weaken while working,
For the poor that fail while loving,
I will paint with the gun scream,
With the thunder potency and
With the eagerness of battle.
(Disclaimer: The above photos are results from google image search.)
I guess the Great Wall in China makes a pretty close competition too, but I feel that the Wall is like us humans flexing our muscles and making ourselves look bigger, whereas the Temple was like that Mona Lisa smile – if you really look into her eyes, the complexity and sincerity will instantly touch your soul and draw you in.
The site is beautifully set against the mountain range of Quito and GuayasamÃn’s house and burial site.
Not to mention that while in Quito, in addition to the Temple, the aliens can also sample some of the most delicious and rich hot chocolate! Yum, what a treat. You are welcome, E.T.!
(if you receive this post through our mailing list (same for FaceBook probably), then unfortunately it will not show the way it’s supposed to –> please click here and visit the website to view it!)
We’ve had numerous requests to show you the route we have taken. We also received just as many requests to show more pictures of our trip! Here you are, combined into one! I’ve used the website Everytrail.com to upload our GPS tracks and photos, it has linked the both together and it shows you which route we’ve taken and shows the pictures that go with it!
We started our trip from our former home, the United Arab Emirates, we drove from Abu Dhabi via Dubai to Sharjah, where we took the ferry to cross to Iran. This particular post is quite small, future posts will include more routes and more pictures!
Click this link to view the route plus the photos full screen.
Click here for the full screen slideshow of the just photos without the map.
(seeing that I’m testing this, please let me know your feedback! any problems, suggestions, etc. are most welcome!)
Thank you all for posting all your questions, we were swamped with them, both through our blog, mailing list (if you want to receive automatic updates when blog, mail us on this address) and through Facebook!
Tell us about the ARCHITECTURE... - Anne-Marie & Thijs-Jan
A lot of the architecture in South America is colonial, especially in Argentina what we noticed was the lay-out of the cities, all rectangular, with a square (typically called Plaza de Armas) in the middle. The east coast of Uruguay was quite different, it seemed to be this place where a lot of (Argentinian, it would seem, lots of expensive cars with Argentinian license plates driving around) money was. A lot of modern villa’s with a view of the ocean.
What's the average km you do on a day (and of course also curious to the max you did and the minimum) - Mike
We’ve been traveling for just over 9 months right now, we’ve done 41.000k, which roughly makes 150km on average a day. But of course we don’t drive every day, far from it. We spent 1 month in The Netherlands and Germany waiting for our flight to South America, did 3 weeks in Buenos Aires to learn Spanish, 2 weeks in China to visit a wedding.
I would say we do an average of 400km per day, max around 800km, least, dunno, 0, I guess!
Best and worst CouchSurfing experience – Kun
As you might know, we’re quite avid CouchSurfers, and we surf during this trip as well! One of the best experiences we had was a completely unexpected one in Iran! We had a flat tire in the middle of Iran and we ended up trying to find a new inner tube on a Friday, their rest day, ie all shops were closed and it took us quite a while. It also didn’t help that we didn’t speak any Farsi, but the very helpful and resourceful locals managed to find just about the only guy in town who spoke English, and he was able to help us find what we were looking for. In the end, he invited us to stay with him and we met every member of his family over a wonderful evening barbecue! 
Worst? Dirty places, like, really really dirty. Don’t like those… it happened 4 times so far that Shu felt the place so dirty that she started to clean the place, that never happened in our house before!!
Best and worst foods – Kun
Talk about a difficult question, seeing that you *know* that we’re Chowhounds!
Off the top of my head… 
Lahmacun in Turkey, wow!
Asado in Argentina. Rodizio in Brazil
Ceviche in Peru
(or know as Kinilaw in The Philippines)
Worst? Any food that makes either of us sick or go to the toilet in rapid succession several times a day. So far it only has happened twice, once to either of us.
Shu answers: “When we were in Greece, we stayed with a self-sufficient family with their own garden and animals and cheese and bread. We picked up some sardines and crabs from town. Together we had such an unique and delicious meal. Also I have discovered that homemade food are better than bought.”
Place where you would go back in a heart beat, and a place where you will not go back unless you were clubbed over the head and dragged back forcibly – Kun
Eastern Turkey was amazing! Italy has been and always be a favorite. I loved driving Carreterra Austral in Chile, several roads in Bolivia and Cuzco to Nazca in Peru. Too many to describe! The unpaved parts of Ruta 40 in Argentina were among the worst… 
Shu answers: “Brazil and eastern Turkey. Oh, just day-dreaming about them brings big silly smiles to my face. And a few friends´ homes as well: a lovely renovated house in Germany, and a self-built house in Tucuman, Argentina. I would not want to go to the Caspian Sea coastline of Iran. The area was poorly developed and traffic was terrible and dangerous. Come to think about it. I find it such a turnoff to see bad development which are quickly and poorly done, and abandoned soon after. Such a waste of resources.”
Can you please relate for us 3 of the stupidest arguments you've had while on this epic trip of yours? Please also share any interesting injuries or afflictions – Sonya
Hehe… yeah, we’ve had our fair share of arguments… the ride’s not always smooth when you’re spending 24/7 with each other. One specific one that comes to mind is an argument we had whether or not to laminate copies of our passports… yup. We sink that low… I argued we should do it, Shu argued that the ZipLoc bags that we’re using work quite fine. By now, we have one set that’s still in a ZipLoc bag (which, ironically enough, I carry), and Shu carries the laminated one after hers got wet in the rain!
Injuries. I took it to try out Enduro riding with the son of friends of us in Argentina. I made a spectacular crash trying to go down a hill. The bike was fine, I really hurt my knee, was limping for 2 weeks.
Enduro riding in Argentina
Tell us more about bed bugs!! Did the person who infected you know they were infected? Do they hurt? How can we save ourselves from them? – Sonya
No bed bugs for me! Luckily! But Shu has had them thrice so far, once during a CouchSurfing experience and twice in a ‘hotel’. We would not know who gave it to us, Shu says they do hurt. How to save yourself from them? If you know, let us know, cos we obviously haven’t learnt how to know. The obvious: make sure the room you’re staying in is clean, if it looks dirty, all the bigger the chance of getting them.
What have you discovered on this trip that you didn't know about yourself or your partner? Good or bad – Sonya
Good: I had been thinking of doing a motorcycle trip like this, but one of the things that held me back was that I have zero technical knowledge. ‘What would I do if I have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere?’, was the question that held me back. But I learned to accept whatever happens, and that things will sort themselves out, with the creativity that I have, and that others have. That, and I did take it upon myself to learn at least a few technical things about the bike.
Replacing the front tire
Knowing what you know about what's involved with a trip like this, would you do it again? I guess you're doing it right now so that answers that... – Sonya
Yup, would do it again in a heartbeat. And if you’re thinking of doing it: JUST DO IT! It’s you who’s stopping yourself from going, no one else. It’s scary to do the first few steps, but it is SO worth it!!!
The rain, so worth it…
More answers to your questions will come soon! Keep sending us your questions!
Quite honestly South America is a bit like most parts of Asia, with all sorts of toilet facilities that one can imagine. So every time when the nature calls while outside a touristy area, I often find myself debating whether I am ready for another possible surprise.
Today’s surprise came after a delicious lunch at a roadside food shed in a small Peruvian town. While Q paid for the bill, which was a whopping USD$ 6 for two complete lunches including soups and meat dishes - outrageous I know -my eyes quickly scanned the little roadside restaurant for any indication of a bathroom facility.
Definitely nothing obvious that I could see, but maybe in the back behind the shed? Hmm… I wonder if I should just cut my losses and go straight for the Shu-Pee device. Oh wait, but that’s at the motorcycle and I didn’t feel like running across a busy street just to get it. And holding out for a better spot isn’t an option either. Q already gave me heads-up on a long ride ahead. Hmm.
A couple minutes of cost-and-benefit analysis later, I find myself walking up to the lunch crew ladies by the big pots, and asked them if they had a bathroom. I was certain a small part of me was hoping the answer would be “no”.
Surprisingly somehow my question generated quite a bit of reaction from the ladies - I may even use the word “excitement”. Maybe it was because I was one of the few women who have lunch there? Just about all the diners were men when I was there except for me. Anyway, so one lady nodded “yes yes” so enthusiastically it was as if they have been waiting for this question the whole time! She gestured to the second lady who heard my question and was already acting on it. She quickly picked up a big bucket from somewhere, and scooped up some water from somewhere else with it. Then she signaled me to follow her to the back of the shed. Here it goes.
Aha, so there was a area shielded by a couple of weaved bamboo sheets. I was signaled to wait while the lady went in first.
I made out from the small cracks in the sheets that she first dumped the bucket of kitchen water down a what-looked-like a bare toilet seat, then she bent down and proceeded to wipe the seat’s rim clean with her bare hand!
At the moment I simply couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I called her that it was okay. She looked through the sheets and pointed up at the sky trying to tell me - what I believed was – that the toilet got dirty from rain.
It was such a humbling moment. All the time when I looked down on the lunch ladies for what little they had, I didn’t realize how they offer it all with all their hands with outmost kindness. For once in my life, I was grateful for a bare toilet seat.
Back on the road, the question did cross my sanitized mind whether the lady would wash her hands before tending to lunch duties. Then I told myself not to worry since there is no point. Well, at least until the next stop.
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