South America
I'm in Quito, which means I'm in South America. Last time I e-mailed
I was in pretty bad shape, and thought about returning from Panama City.
Well, I didn't. I thought about this a lot, and I realised that my only
problem is Chloroquin. Now I take Lariam (=Mefloquine) which is supposed
to be stronger and create even more problems. At this time I am already
for about 10 days on Lariam, and I don't have any side effects. That's
good. Right? ... but let me continue my story where I left the other day:
San Jose, Costa Rica.
There were some very nice places in Costa Rica, that I really enjoyed,
but because of the country is so tourism-oriented, somehow the whole place
was kinda' unattractive to me. It was hard to find hotels in places where
tourists don't go, but in tourist areas all the places and eateries were
very expensive. The mountain roads on the other hand will take the motorcycle
rider to some very nice places. Maybe one day I'll return as a "real"
tourist, with gold credit cards and I'll enjoy the luxurious hotels and
the expensive services available. I didn't spend much time in Costa Rica,
and on Dec. 30th I crossed into Panama.
Panama
The border crossing was fairly smooth, although it took about 1 hour
on each side. I can't remember the fees I paid, and this morning I gave
my diary to a new friend, who will take it to Germany and mail it safely
home for me.
This means that this report will be totally based on memories, and might
be a little changed since I have not e-mailed for about 3 weeks.
Because it was about 5 PM when I was free to go anywhere in Panama,
first I looked for a hotel. I reached David, but still nothing available.
I turned towards the city-centre, and because it was already quite dark,
I stopped under a light to check my guidebook for a budget hotel address.
A guy walked next to me. Blond Rastafari hair, beard and a little weird
eyes. He spoke English. We talked for a while, and I learned, that he's
from Norway and currently waiting to get better after a hepatitis infection,
because he cannot ride his bicycle in this condition. ... and he lives
nearby in a hostel. $5/night. That's great! is there one more room for
me? We asked, and there was. To make a long story short enough not to
bore everybody to death on my e-mail dist. list: we became friends in
a very short time, and I decided to spend the new year's eve and day there
with this weird Viking fellow. At least neither of us will be alone in
this crowded universe.
Terje, I hope you are much better now. Drop me an e-mail, so I know
where are you, and what's up with you. Thanks!
I cleaned Csardas very thoroughly to prepare her for the next millennia.
I just realised, how nice green my bike is under 3 month of hardened dust
and whatever has deposited on her.
I visited Volcan Baru, too, at least as far I could go on that bad road.
Guess what? it started to rain, and ... this time we fell really hard
on the slippery muddy rocks. Okay, that's it! Looks like I have a real
talent for getting myself into trouble, so I just turned around and headed
towards Panama City. At that time I already made up my mind to continue
the trip in South America, so the first thing I did was to check out how
and when can I send Csardas and myself to Colombia. At the beginning I
didn't understand why everybody shakes his/her head, when I told them,
what do I plan. Copa Airlines would have shipped my bike to Medellin,
and I would have had to go with Avianca, because Copa doesn't sell one-way
tickets.
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Johnsons Trip
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