The other side
Welcome to South America!
I completed the first step of my great journey of explorations through the Americas. I am on the other side of the famous Darien Gap, a gap of about a hundred kilometres through an almost uncrossable region in the jungle, between Panama and Colombia. I am ready for new adventures in this new even more fantastic region.
Before starting again, I stopped for a few days in Bogota in order to take care of the second most important piece of equipment I own; the motorbike (the camera is ranked #1). I left it for several days at a garage in order for a complete checkup to be done. I found a place where the boss himself owns a DR650; the same motorbike as me. Here is the list of what has been done:
| tuning + new timing chain | |
| valves tuning | |
| clutch tuning | |
| new gasket - clutch side | |
| new gasket - stator side | |
| carburetor: new float, new slide, new needle, tuning | |
| oil change of front and rear suspensions | |
| suspensions tuning | |
| new engine oil and filter | |
| air filter cleaning | |
| chain support | |
| new spark plugs | |
| new clutch lever | |
| misc. screws | |
| alignment of panniers and racks | |
| greasing | |
| alignment of front light |
While the motorbike was at the garage, I prepared a detailed route for Ecuador, and I also walked around the city. At the beginning, I wanted to visit a few of the highlights in the capital, but in the end, I have been more interested in the markets, restaurants, and parks. For once, I didn't bring a camera, I enjoyed some of the nice pleasure of the city, and I must admit that Bogota is really a nice place. In many restaurants and small bars, I enjoyed craft beers and many of them were excellent.
After my stay in the capital of Colombia, I drove across the country until Ecuador. As I said before, I will visit Colombia only when I am returning to Quebec. Thus, it's in Ecuador that my adventure will start once again.
To be continued!