South America / On the road again
 

It was a long time since my last adventure , my first RTW seems now like a distant memory a dream or fantasy . But this is it , Bogota is my first destination ,my DL650 will be my ride of choice toward Terra Del Fuego . Photo and video to come . little thanks to my friends James and sanjoh for their help in preparing the bike , and many thanks to all that given me info and recommendation for this trip. Shipping was done by Gaston Miami , fellow rider and great help .
The airport info and pick up in Bogota ( a fellow rider Manuel from Chile gave me many info for this )
Here is the final instructions:

place 1: FEDEX building next to the DHL, there will be your AWB (guia area) take taxi from airport (3 mn)
Place 2: the first office to the left is your
place 3: DIAN building. this is the place where the colomnian officer
aprobe your papers
place 4: store where will be you bike
place 5: main door
process
1) go to place 2 to recover your origial AWB. you have to pay $100.000
pesos in the Popular Bank en de DIAN Building (place 3)

2) after pay, you have to ask to people in the AIR office (place 2) if
the bike was "inmobilizada" for the DIAN Officer. If it is yes, you have
to go to the second floor in the DIAN building (place 3) and ask for the
Cargo officer..with the Bike licence and your passport they release the
AWB. Probably the officer will go to check the VIN number. The officer are
not always in there desk...you have to wait until they appears

3) then go to the 3 floor to get the temporal importation permit. the
officer require original and photocopies of AWB, passport, bike licence
and SOAT (colombian vehicule insurance).

4) with the paper from step 3 (they will give you one of temporal
importation permit and 2 of check the bike), return to the place 2 (Third
windows to the left with Marta), She will give the paper and permit to
recover the bike. she will required photocopies of passport, AWB, bike
licence. The photocopy machine are in the first floor of DIAN Building
(place 3)

5) all the process in the DIAN building is free except the photocopies

6) To recover the Bike, go to the place 5 and pass the paper that Marta give you

7) The final time in the store for recover the bike is 17:30
You have to be sure that the plane departure (check in the centurion web
page) with your bike has been at least 24 hour until you go to the office
(place 2), because there is a lot of internal process before to release your AWB
that set....the people are very nice..except the DIAN officer

In my case it went well until I learned that my bike was immobilisado , so I had to wait 24 hours and fill enough paper to make you creasy and then go to a warehouse in the middle of nowhere

Bogota
 

Its was while ago since my last visit to Bogota and it was a great surprise to see that the city is now very safe and clean , the people are the same friendly and helpful people that I remember and the food is still delicious. I decided to stay in the Candeleria district as its very close to all that can be seen in Bogota , not cheap but walking distance to all that I like to see so why not. The hotel Platypus is great but a bit too busy for my taste but the employees where doing anything possible to help with my bike and were more than willing to even call to get info on my status before I even arrived in Colombia :thumbup1: , after few days of visiting the town it was about time to head to santa Marta but first stop will be the beautifull town of Chibarra .

Keep it coming Hendi! Colombia is beautiful, and I'm very jealous! Enjoy the ride!

nice pics, thanks for it!

on the road
 

The road to Santa Marta is in great shape and we can see everywhere the effort of the Colombian wanting to make the road and country safer and more attractive to the tourist of all sort.http://hendikaf.smugmug.com/Travel/S...DSCN0571-M.jpg

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on the road
 

Santa Marta itself is an OK town but for a more quiet stay you can stay just a few mile out and get a nice hotel on the sand for a better price and a lesser touristic feel.
I didn’t stay in Barranquilla even so it was on my road, the city itself is way modern and comfortable but not to my taste so Cartagena is next on my List.
Cartagena is the perfect place to stay for a little while fun and with some nice architecture and beaches all that you may want is there , prices are fair and from low to high you get what you pay for .
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On the road
 

ON the way to Medellin I discovered the city of Guatape , a great place for a rest , inexpensive and quiet this town will be a perfect stop for anyone wanting to chill out for few days ( only 1:30 mn from Medellin)
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