Move to Colombia and attach the license plate to the helmet.
I stayed in the town of Salcedo in Ecuador, which was a stopover point, and passed through Quito, heading for Colombia.
According to the news,
the Pan-American Highway in southern Colombia, which had been closed since May 30 due to a demonstration by the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), reopened today, June 13. That's good news. It's likely that there will be some confusion for a few days, but I hope that by the third day after I pass through, things will be relatively normal. Specifically, the area in the Cauca region of southern Colombia, where Popayan is located, was closed.
It seems that a certain level of agreement was reached at a meeting on June 12, but some participants have decided to continue the strike in northern Colombia. If the news is accurate, the areas I will be passing through should not be affected. Well then.
http://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/se-levanto-el-paro-en-el-cauca-con-el-compromiso-de-nuevas-reuniones-JY4375685
I have arrived in the town of Ibarra in northern Ecuador.
From here to the outskirts of Bogota, the influence of drug organizations and armed organizations is strong, so I will keep my daily driving distance limited and travel during daylight hours, just like when I traveled south. I will leave around 9 am and arrive at my destination by 3 pm. Basically, I will stay on the main roads.
And so, I entered Colombia.
This journey is almost over.
Colombia has the worst car exhaust emissions of all the South American countries I have visited, and there is a lot of black smoke.
In Colombia (especially Bogota?), you are required to put the same letters as on the license plate behind your helmet, so I had a motorcycle shop put on a sticker. Many people do not have the sticker, so I don't know how well it has been established, but I had it put on for 5000 pesos (180 yen).
It seems that this system was created because an important person was targeted by a motorcycle. Wow.
According to the news,
the Pan-American Highway in southern Colombia, which had been closed since May 30 due to a demonstration by the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), reopened today, June 13. That's good news. It's likely that there will be some confusion for a few days, but I hope that by the third day after I pass through, things will be relatively normal. Specifically, the area in the Cauca region of southern Colombia, where Popayan is located, was closed.
It seems that a certain level of agreement was reached at a meeting on June 12, but some participants have decided to continue the strike in northern Colombia. If the news is accurate, the areas I will be passing through should not be affected. Well then.
http://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/se-levanto-el-paro-en-el-cauca-con-el-compromiso-de-nuevas-reuniones-JY4375685
I have arrived in the town of Ibarra in northern Ecuador.
From here to the outskirts of Bogota, the influence of drug organizations and armed organizations is strong, so I will keep my daily driving distance limited and travel during daylight hours, just like when I traveled south. I will leave around 9 am and arrive at my destination by 3 pm. Basically, I will stay on the main roads.
And so, I entered Colombia.
This journey is almost over.
Colombia has the worst car exhaust emissions of all the South American countries I have visited, and there is a lot of black smoke.
In Colombia (especially Bogota?), you are required to put the same letters as on the license plate behind your helmet, so I had a motorcycle shop put on a sticker. Many people do not have the sticker, so I don't know how well it has been established, but I had it put on for 5000 pesos (180 yen).
It seems that this system was created because an important person was targeted by a motorcycle. Wow.
Punk.
Popayan had a flat tire.
Actually, I think it probably went flat while I was riding the other day, and I just didn't notice. This morning, when I woke up, it had lost about half of its air. Tubeless tires are wonderful because they don't go flat immediately.
This is the second flat tire on this trip.
I'm less than 1000km from the goal, and having a flat tire is bad luck, but it's good luck that it happened on a day with a short riding distance.
Furthermore, it's good luck that I'm in the city, because there's a tire repair shop just 500m away, which was a lifesaver.
However!
The tire repair shop tried to fix it without using a repair kit, by simply pushing a piece of rubber in with a Phillips head screwdriver and saying, "This will be okay." That's just a temporary fix... But, I learned that if I ever have to, I can do that myself, so maybe it was a good thing.
After that, I took it to the authorized dealer where I had the oil changed recently, and they properly repaired it at a shop nearby.
When I pinched the rubber that looked like a temporary fix with my finger, the rubber immediately broke and air came out forcefully, so I'm glad I went to get it properly repaired. Both were 4000 pesos (150 yen).
After that, we headed north, passing through an area designated as a level 3 risk zone by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and entered a level 2 risk zone.
As long as we stay on the main roads, there will be military security, so it seems safer to take a motorcycle rather than a bus. It seems that the area within the city of Cali, which is a level 2 risk zone, is more dangerous than the level 3 main road.
Then, we arrived in Ibagué, which is 250 km from Cali. It's 200 km to Bogotá, we're almost there.
The traffic is increasing, but I'm hoping it will be a little less crowded tomorrow since it's Sunday.
Tomorrow is Sunday, so the motorcycle shops will be closed, so I plan to take the motorcycle to a shop on Monday and finish the journey.
Actually, I think it probably went flat while I was riding the other day, and I just didn't notice. This morning, when I woke up, it had lost about half of its air. Tubeless tires are wonderful because they don't go flat immediately.
This is the second flat tire on this trip.
I'm less than 1000km from the goal, and having a flat tire is bad luck, but it's good luck that it happened on a day with a short riding distance.
Furthermore, it's good luck that I'm in the city, because there's a tire repair shop just 500m away, which was a lifesaver.
However!
The tire repair shop tried to fix it without using a repair kit, by simply pushing a piece of rubber in with a Phillips head screwdriver and saying, "This will be okay." That's just a temporary fix... But, I learned that if I ever have to, I can do that myself, so maybe it was a good thing.
After that, I took it to the authorized dealer where I had the oil changed recently, and they properly repaired it at a shop nearby.
When I pinched the rubber that looked like a temporary fix with my finger, the rubber immediately broke and air came out forcefully, so I'm glad I went to get it properly repaired. Both were 4000 pesos (150 yen).
After that, we headed north, passing through an area designated as a level 3 risk zone by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and entered a level 2 risk zone.
As long as we stay on the main roads, there will be military security, so it seems safer to take a motorcycle rather than a bus. It seems that the area within the city of Cali, which is a level 2 risk zone, is more dangerous than the level 3 main road.
Then, we arrived in Ibagué, which is 250 km from Cali. It's 200 km to Bogotá, we're almost there.
The traffic is increasing, but I'm hoping it will be a little less crowded tomorrow since it's Sunday.
Tomorrow is Sunday, so the motorcycle shops will be closed, so I plan to take the motorcycle to a shop on Monday and finish the journey.