Rural Columbia & Ecuador look exceptional and it would be great to tour around those Countries if you stay out of the larger urban areas,,. Seems quite safe and navigable however the boarders in and out by land are obviously impossible without being fluid in Spanish and even then they appear to be very challenging, obviously well beyond my skill set,.
Someone should send this most recent video to the Ministry Of Tourism for Panama, 100's of thousands of illegal's crossing through Panama every year and they make a legal tourist literally jump through hoops and risk life and limb for three days to make a boarder crossing,,.
Rural Columbia & Ecuador look exceptional and it would be great to tour around those Countries if you stay out of the larger urban areas,,. Seems quite safe and navigable however the boarders in and out by land are obviously impossible without being fluid in Spanish and even then they appear to be very challenging, obviously well beyond my skill set,.
Someone should send this most recent video to the Ministry Of Tourism for Panama, 100's of thousands of illegal's crossing through Panama every year and they make a legal tourist literally jump through hoops and risk life and limb for three days to make a boarder crossing,,.
That is a really good point. Apparently, if they think you have money you get hassled, but if you don't, they don't bother you. I believe that has been the case in most countries south of the U.S. at border crossings for many years to one extent or another. Likely due to the low pay of government officials.
When I was in the Air Force I was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone in 1966 and the first thing I did upon arriving at Howard AFB was to rush into Panama City and buy a Suzuki B100P motorcycle. For some odd reason, Panama had a 100% import tariff for all vehicles purchased in the country, even though they had no vehicle manufacturing industry in Panama. When I bought my bike it had to be "imported" from Panama into the Canal Zone (a few miles away) and then all import fees and taxes were waived. Needless to say I had to retain the shop's greaser to get me through the process, but it was for a modest fee so I didn't complain. It took a couple of hours to get through the local bureaucracy, which likely did this sort of thing a couple of times a week.
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
I was there in 1966 and things have sure changed a lot. As I recall there was no "New Panama City" and the town didn't look all that great. In particular, it was surrounded by awful smelling homes made out of sheet metal and sitting on stilts over a swamp with no sewage system. It looks like things have really improved since then. Attached are some photos that I took while stationed for 18 months at Howard AFB, long before the Canal was turned over to the Panama government.
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
This is an interesting Itchy Boots episode. In this 36-minute long clip she walks around the abandoned Mayan temples of Nakum in the Guatemalan jungle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDNWwgrVGc
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
The track into the Nakum site was pretty interesting as well (previous episode). She obviously has the production of her video as the top priority - setting up her cameras first so as to record the massive effort getting the bike out of the mud and taking the time to get superb drone footage, when lesser "adventure" riders would be hightailing it home. I hope she achieves all she is hoping for on this trip without injury or disaster, she does seem to tempt fate sometimes!
The track into the Nakum site was pretty interesting as well (previous episode). I hope she achieves all she is hoping for on this trip without injury or disaster, she does seem to tempt fate sometimes!
",,,tempt fate",,,Yes, I totally agree, not sure if its changed but I recall warnings to take precautions when visiting the more remote Mayan sites due to a propensity of heavily armed artifact robbers who like to practice there craft in solitude,,. & Jheszz, what happens if you break a chain or sink the bike in a mud hole and cant drag it out, I guise you can could always walk out and get help the next day,,!!
She is off to Mexico soon. I wonder how that ride will be going? After Mexico she will have to navigate through the U.S., Canada and the finally Alaska, where she will want to be before the weather turns ugly. I just hope she doesn't have any problems getting around Mexico, considering the nastiness that seems to be in the newspaper regularly lately.
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
Well, Mexico is long gone. Itchy Boots has now entered Alaska and is on her way to Skagway where she will be in Monday's episode.
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
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Originally Posted by Lag
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