Embraced by Andies

2010-07-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

Yeah!

This is happening again, I'm updating the blog! There has been so much going on since we left South America, that it would take months to sort out.

Here are some photos around Chile, where we spend couple months. We met loads of good friends and nice people, and saw amazing things on the coast and in the mountains. Chile is yet another beautiful and friendly country.

Photos from northern Chile

2010-07-16T01:06:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Chile

Thousands of Chilenos spending their holiday on the beach around Arica

Idigenous people dancing on the streets of Iquique

Beautiful houses in Iquique

Old man fishing on the northern coast

Cold waters, warm wetsuits

Wetsuits drying after a surf session on a unknown wave somewhere on the coast south from Iquique.

Thermal pools of Puritama, near San Pedro De Atacama

Puritama is a small oasis in the middle of the desert

Vizcacho

Scenes on the way to El Tatio

Lonely Vicuna in the desert

Scene from El Tatio

Geyser going off

Strange apparatus

Iitu boiling herself in a hot pool

My turn

Lunchtime

Dogs hanging on the street of San Pedro de Atacama

Reijo, Finnish restaurant keeper who has been living in the desert for more than 10 years

Scenes from Salar de Atacama

Last weeks in Peru

2010-04-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

We are stuck in Brazil because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, haha, what a misery. Well its a good time to do some updating to the blog which is pretty delayed. After Bolivia, on the way to Arequipa the bus broke down and in the end of the day we got to get a glimpse of the Fiesta de Candelaria in Puno. The city was full of dancers who had come from all around Peru to take part of the festival.

Next day we continued to original destination Arequipa. The old town was very beautiful and well maintained.

Because of the rain and the lack of tourists these tourist buses were taking local people around the town.

Central cathedral was illuminated and impressive.

Monasterio ( monastery) de Santa Catalina was place of its own. It occupies a whole quarter and is like a city of its own inside the thick masonry. The history of the monastery is quite interesting as it was founded in 1580 by a rich widow, Maria de Guzman, whose idea of monastery was somewhat different than the tradicion: "Each nun at Santa Catalina had between one and four servants or slaves, and the nuns invited musicians to perform in the convent, gave parties and generally lived a lavish lifestyle."

They lived this fun life for more than 300 years but in 1871 to end this frivolous lifestyle Pope Pius IX sent Sister Josefa Cadena, a strict nun to regenerate the monastery. End of fun! Interested, read more in wiki.

The convent as a construction was peaceful and beautiful. Narrow alleys and stairs that ended up nowhere. Squares and alleys, homes and kitchens of the nuns and the slaves who have been separated from the outer world strolling around these pathways. Its been damaged by several earthquakes during its history but it still had its charm and character.

The kitchens were our favorite. Big masonry ovens and cooking in fire. We got lots of ideas for our new home-to be built-someday-somewhere.

All the alleys were decorated with flowers.

Here the nuns washed their clothes. The water was run in the small canal in the middle and the huge crocks served as washing basins. I could feel the whiz of the old days.

After Arequipa we wanted to rest and headed to the peaceful countryside of Cañon de Colca. We accommodated to Yanque to a nice hotel with sauna. A strange sauna but served us when the air got cold outside.

In the village there was also a thermal bath we we spent nice time soaking in the hot waters.

The landscape was big and fascinating.

We did some biking around...

...to the ruins of a village of normal Inca people...

..where the people were skinny and tall, at least if you looked at the doorways.

The normal day routine of the villagers started early before dawn as they took their animals and kids and went up to the mountain to work on their cultivations. In the evening they returned to the village with their days harvest.

Grandma with her only donkey.

Donkeys and sheep.

This alpaca went shopping to the kiosk.

We made a day trip deeper into the canyon and climbed up this mountain (hill?). I'm proud of my mama and Esko, they did it too.

The view was big and deep.

There was also a small fortress on top of the hill. Well located, to see both directions of the valley.

We met these ancestors too but they didn't talk much.

Posing.

And we ate some sandwiches.

From Colca we took a morning bus to Arequipa airport. Back to Lima.

Last night in Lima. Esko took us to the probably most elegant restaurant I've been to. Old and built over the ocean.

The dinner was delicious and the vine as well.

Night view to the coastline of Lima.

Morning and goodbye. We started the trip towards Chile.

Jihau was our dog in the beach of Jihau. Run after us uphill downhill and barked and guarded us from the invisible strangers.

The mountain was cut like a cake to make the highway straight.

Quick visit to Bolivia

2010-03-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

From Lake Titicaca we took a bus to La Paz. The spectacular bus ride from Puno to La Paz takes about five hours. The road follows the coastline of Titicaca and it is very beautiful indeed. Blue sky, blue water, mountains around.

We crossed the border on foot.

The bus was loaded to a scary looking flatboat on the way to La Paz. The load capacity was so low that passengers had to use another boat to cross the canal.

Snow topped mountains.

Above La Paz. It is big.

Valle de la Luna. Incredible formations of earth.

Turbaanimies

By time and a lot of water these high pillars have been formed.

The heavy hailstorm was so local that we could follow its movements from above.

This witch doctor is taking a nap.

The witch market had a cure and medicine for all sorts of issues.

Also the variety of offering figures was impressive.

But the real REAL offerings were creepy, alpaca and llama fetuses. Hanging from the ceiling, piled in the shelf.

Sunset colored the city.

Some remains of Tiwanaku temple.

This stone block was and still is a efficient loudspeaker.

Its secret was that the microphone hole through it was carved to same form as human ear. You spoke to one end and the hole amplified the sound so it reached the whole village.

Heads.

Small detail in a fence.

The supplier and retailers.

On Saturdays the streets of center became a big market. This was half past five in the morning.

Puno and Lago Titicaca

2010-03-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

From Cuzco we took a bus to Puno. The Peruvian tourist buses are generally cheap, comfortable and quite reliable. The bus stopped many times and allowed passengers to marvel many pre-Inca, Inca and colonial monuments and there was even a guide explaining things. That way the long trip didn’t feel boring at all.

This structure is a part of the Wiracocha temple in Raqchi. And the beautiful flowers.

Lamas, my friends.

Puno is a bleak city, but the location is excellent. The fantastic Lake Titicaca glimmers right in front of it. Many tourists explore the lake and have Puno as their base. From there it is very easy to arrange any kind of tour. We arranged a two day tour straight away and went to the lake.

Floating Uros islands were our first etape on Lake Titicaca. The history of those strange floating heaps of canes is interesting.

A basic stove in Uros islands, fire is a serious problem in the islands as the cane burns easily and the islands are made of it.

This is the Rolls Royce of Uros, made for carrying tourists. The cane boats locals normally use for fishing are smaller. Tourism is the main source of income in Uros as tourism increases and fish population decreases.

From Uros our trip continued to Isla Amantani where we spend some time with local community. There we spend a night in a village president’s house because there were no hotels.

The main plaza de armas of the island. Even the smallest villages have a handsome plaza. This was quite lifeless though.

Our host served us typical Titicacan food that is quinoa soup and omelet with fresh cheese.

Kids playing on the plaza.

After the chilly Cuzco weather the ladies enjoyed the warmth of the Titicacan sun.

On the island in between every community there was built these arches to show the limits.

We walked up to the hill to see the mountain peak temples of Pachamama, Mother Earth, 4100m.s.l. (in the pic) and Pachatata, Father Earth. The first just a bit higher than the other.

We found a windless spot to see the big landscape and the beautiful sunset. It is incredible how big the lake actually is.

From Isla Amantani we took again a boat to another island,Taquile, we wandered up the hill to the main village and around. There we had a brief about the village’s culture and headdresses. It opened our eyes! Straight from the type or the position of your woolen hat, pipo, the others can tell if you are a local authority, are you married, single or if you have sutinaa, something going on. Also the men never shake hands when they meet, they swap coca leaves, not hand to hand but to their little coca bags which they carry always on their hips.

Small cemetery.

Mama, Esko and Pärnäsen Mari taking a break.

Local married men.

One of these boats took us back to Puno across the big, impressive Lago Titicaca.

Cuzco and around

2010-03-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

As the country is wide, we decided to make it easy and take a flight from Lima to Cuzco. Karma we left in Lima to a guarded parking lot. For our misfortune the area of Cuzco had been attacked by heavy rains which probably you heard about. Machu Picchu was closed and many tourists were trapped behind floods and broken roads. The helicopters were flying constantly between Cuzco and Aguas Calientes, bringing them back to town. The rural areas by the rivers were in catastrophic state. All the churches and other charity organizations were gathering water, clothes, food and of course money for the people. Not for the tourists but for the local people who had lost their homes. It was sad to see.

Some small villages were completely destroyed.

The Cuzco town itself was beautiful with its small cobblestone alleys and indigenous people with their donkeys and alpacas.

Plaza de Armas in Cuzco. Full of tourists and indigenous people selling craftwork and coca products.

Drinking a delicious morning juice in Cuzco market hall.

Interesting, though very touristy, indigenous dance performance that we went to see one night.

One of towns plazas gave us good laughs as its name was Kusipata, Pot of piss in Finnish, hahaha! In quechua language it meant plaza of happiness.

As we were tourists we tried to see other ruins and places around although Machu Picchu was closed. We took an exhausting 4 hours tour to see most of the surroundings destinations, including Saqsaywaman, Q’enqo, Pukapukara, Tambomachay and more. It was incredible to see the stone work so precise. And the structures have lasted for ages and the destruction of the Spaniards.

Saqsaywaman

Ikuisen nuoruuden vesi

Lima and family

2010-03-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

From Huanchaco we head to Lima to pick up Iitu’s folks and godmother. We were going to travel with them next three weeks. Lima is a huge city with more than eight million inhabitants. The hotel where we were supposed to meet Iitu’s family was right in the downtown. The traffic jam started 12 km before the Lima district, but finally it only took us two hours to get to the downtown with Karma. The traffic was crazy but we had one advantage, the Karma was already so full of dents and scratch that the possible hit with other cars didn’t matter, so we took it easy.

First dinner with the family and godmother. Every day we enjoyed delicious Peruvian food. They fed us very well.

The hotel Gran Bolivar we stayed at was a historical sight itself, built in 1928. It was nearly at its original state, waiting for the renovation. It was way above what we had gotten used to so we enjoyed with full hearts. We had a living room, bedroom, walk-in closet and a huge bathroom. Luxury!

In Lima we stayed for four days, walking around and admiring its beautiful buildings and getting to know its life.

The old town was specially known for its carved wooden balconies.

The “new” town, Miraflores, located in the seaside cliffs, was more modern, full of shops and restaurants.

One night we went to this fountain park. Sounds bit stupid but it actually was quite impressive.

Wandering around the fountain park, Esko filming as usual.

It was Sunday and the park was packed, when many Limeños entertained their families by bringing the in to the park. In a city which habitats around 8 million people it’s not so easy to get out of town for the holidays.

Many parks were full of these Cow parade cows spreading the joy of art. Here Pixa and Mari marvel some of them. I guess the parks are an important air-hole for city people. I felt the pressure of millions of people around so when we decided to move on to Cuzco it felt good.

Beautiful Plaza San Martin at night

There are plenty of nice waves in front of the city and the water quality was better than expected.

For sale/ Se vende VW -71 Kombi en Chile

2010-03-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

How about a road trip in South America with a good old classic VW bus? Now there is a perfect opportunity to make it, as our beloved old Karma is for sale with plenty of gear. The van is still couple of weeks in Peru and after that in Chile. Karma is a tough veteran; it has climbed to 4500 meters altitude with no problem and has reached many places where you normally go only with 4x4. Old VW is like a donkey, slow, stubborn and trustworthy. The van is a moving home ready to hit the road, check out the comprehensive list of gear included.

VW bus -71 1600cc, made in Germany, air cooled rear engine, rear wheel drive. Fuel; gasoline. Front disc brakes. Travelling speed 90km/h. Fuel consumption 10l/100km, oil consumption 0,5l/1000km.
Equipment:
- Spacious bed that sleeps comfortably 3, foam mattress.
- 2 big sleeping bags which are warm enough to sleep in -10 Celsius.
- Pillows, sheets, towels, curtains
- Gas stove with two burners, grill, gridiron
- Pots, pans, utensils
- Machete
- Table for cooking, 2 chairs
- Tarpaulin with poles
- Good stereos with CD, radio, input, 4 speakers
- Surf board rack on the roof inside, 2 good surfboards by appointment
- Storm lantern with plenty of fuel
- Tools, spare parts, “how to keep your VW alive forever” –book.
- Extintor
- Inverter

Renewed on the way: Starter motor, brake pads- and shoes, front brake fluid tubes, brake servo, wheel bearings, steering terminals, electronic ignition, spark plugs, tires, speedometer cable, front seats, clutch, vipers. Oil changed every 5000km or less.
Karma the van is bought from Frank Zappa’s drummer Vic Mortenson about 14 months ago in California by two Norwegian surfer dudes. We hook up with them in El Salvador, travelled together some time, and finally in Costa Rica we bought the van from them. Since then the trip has continued towards south, and at the moment the van is in Peru. During the last year it has created plenty of good vibes in all Central American countries and in the countries of South American Pacific coast. We have mainly used the car for surfing, climbing and filming nature stuff. Karma is very talented for creating social relations. People will always come and have a chat with you when you stop somewhere with it.
As our beloved van is not new anymore, the price we ask is reasonably 1600€ without the surfboards, 2000€ with them.
Contact: tomexei(at)hotmail.com or itust(at)hotmail.com
For more photos and stories search the blog.

Se vende Volkswagen Combi Alemana -71 Este viejito “Karma” nos ha acarreado por todo Centro-América y Sud-América en lado Pacifico. Es duro como un burro, lento, obstinado y de confianza. Nos ha llevado a lugares donde dicen que puede ir solo con 4x4:s. Tiene cama queen size y mucho equipo para su bienestar. Se vende este viajero con todo, está listo para conquistar el mundo, otra vez.

VW-combi -71 Alemana , 1600cc con carburador simple, motor y tracción trasero. Combustible gasolina. Frenos de disco delanteros. Consumo: gasolina 10l/100km, aceite circa 0,5l/1000km.

Equipo:
- Cama ancha donde duerme bien 3 personas, colchón.
- 2 sacos para dormir, bien calientitos, probado en montañas -10˚C 2
- Almohadas nuevas, sabanas, toallas, cortinas
- Estufa de gas con 2 quemadores, rejilla de barbacoa, parilla doble
- Recipientes: olla, sarten, cafetera, platos, tazas, cucharas etc.
- Machete
- Mesa para cocinar y dos sillas
- Toldo sobre la puerta del lado
- Buen sistema audio, CD-mp3, radio, input, 4 altavoces
- Rejilla para tablas de surf en techo interior y a solicitud 2 tablas de surf en buena condición.
- Farol y mucho aceite (citronella)
- Herramientas, repuestos y un buen libro para reparaciones, en ingles ( John Muir, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive)
- Extintor
- Inverter

Reparado y renovado en el camino: Motor de arranque, fibras de frenos traseros y delanteros, tubos de liquido de frenos delanteros, servo freno, balineras delanteras, terminales de dirección, ignición eléctrico, bujías, llantas, cable de velocímetro, embrague, limpiaparabrisas, aceite cambiado cada 5000 km o menos.

“Karma” fue comprado de baterista de Frank Zappa, Vic Mortenson, (quien lo ha nombrado) más o menos 14 meses atrás por unos surfistas noruegas. Encontramos con ellos en El Salvador y después de viajar con ellos hasta Costa Rica compramos este carrito de ellos. Desde entonces hemos viajado con el. Nos ha traido mucha alegria y ha dado muchas sonrisas a otra gente también. Ahorita nos toca a volver a Finlandia y lo tenemos que vender.

Contact: tomexei(at)hotmail.com o itust(at)hotmail.com

Precio 2000$US o 1.000.000 pesos chilenos

Desert

2010-02-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the desert that started after we crossed the border from Ecuador to Peru. It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changes after the border. Suddenly there is only brown sand with poor brown villages and nothing else. Even the ocean looks pale.

Good bye Ecuador. We crossed the border from Macara, which is a small and sleepy town with very little traffic. We chose Macara just because of that, as the other border crossing place near Machala is said to be busy and full of hustlers. Macara, instead of that, was very mellow and everything went well with the paperwork of the van.

Soon the desert started. There is hundreds of kilometers of straight road with just sand around. Felt like in Sahara.

There are villages in the middle of nowhere.

The sand is eating the road. I guess they have to use plough to keep the road clear.

Poor sand and wind beaten houses. Some of them don’t have a roof at all. The dump of the village is usually the highway passing through. All the banks of the road are full of garbage. Sad sight.

Here we slept. Ol’ Karma was our shelter against the sand that was flying everywhere. In the morning the car didn’t start. For a while we were having some serious thoughts about how much water we had with us and what to do. Luckily the problem was only a loose battery cable and soon we were doing miles again.

Fishing fleet. The small villages by the sea make their living fishing and building boats. There is usually a stinky fish factory nearby.

The northern Peruvian coast is full of empty surf breaks. Nevertheless we didn’t want to spend too much time there. Quite hostile place generally. Once we tried to get to one remote surf spot, but it was conquered by Petro Peru, and the access was prohibited.

Rugged mountain on a horizon.

More rock climbing in Ecuador

2010-01-29T04:48:00.000-08:00

Paute is another crag near Cuenca. It's got about 70 bolted sport routes. We spend couple of days there enjoying sunny weather and climbing many nice routes with our Colombian friends.

Nice 15 minutes walk from the parking area to the crag.

Again we were surrounded by remote countryside. The altitude of this place is lower than the other climbing places we have visited, so the weather is milder and warmer.

Only our crew climbing. The crags in Ecuador aren't busy places, very few climbers around, so we could happily scatter our stuff everywhere.

Iitu flashing La Primera 6a+

Struggling on the crux.

Caro on a Roba Bolts 6b+

Me on a crux of Roba Bolts, doing it hard way as usual.

King Arthur of Colombia climbing La Primera. He had been climbing only 7 months, but flashed alredy 6b routes. Pretty good progress.

Juan leading easily the route Complemento 6b+.

Ileana climbing the strenuous La Faraona 7a+. Tensión, tensión!

Iitu climbing the cactus route. There was a very spiky cactus growing above the crux as you can see...

...she fell on the crux. It took some time to pick all the spikes up from her knees. Nasty route, poor brave girl.

Gabriel climbing the classic overhanging Dona Pili 7b.

Our kid Malik.

Mateo smoking and Ile passed out. Common view.

And after some tobacco Mateo climbed very easily Arista del Haztelo 7c.

I tried to flash it too. Didn't quite make it.

Ile on a route Don Polla 7a+

Caro enjoying the day

One day Chiva and Juan Gabriel invited us their for a dinner. Guess what we ate? Guinea Pigs off course. Delicious!

Rock climbing in Cojitambo, Ecuador

2010-01-25T20:53:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of good climbing spots around Cuenca. The biggest one is Cojitambo with about hundred routes, and approximately 200 routes more are still waiting to be opened. We found a climbing store from Cuenca, it was again Monodedo, as it had been in Colombia too. Again they gave us all the information and gear we needed. From the store they told us that there is a very nice climber dude living near the crack and we should contact him. And so we did.

The Cliff is very visible from it's surroundings. Nice crag with all sorts of routes from short sport climbs to five pitch traditional ones. Below the cliff there is a small rural village of Cojitambo. The type of rock is volcanic, but it is solid and feels a lot like limestone. Never before have I climbed rock like this. photo by Malik

This is the house of Juan Gabriel Carrasco. He is the only climber who has a house near the spot. Outerior of the house looks big and fancy, but interior is not finished yet, and so there are rock climbers camping inside. We conquered the parking place as usual and Malik put up his tent in the front yard.

Juan Gabriel and Javier who is the owner of local Monodedo, telling thrilling climbing stories. Those guys have opened most of the routes in Cojitambo.

From the house we also found six colombian climbers, all great guys. Here we are having a feast with 3 whole chickens after a long day of climbing.

Cheers Caro and Juan!

The center of the Village viewed from the cliff. There was a party going on and everybody was very drunk dancing on the streets.

One classic route we climbed was Chillin', Iitu was resting and spending family sunday with Juans parents and family so I climbed with Malik. Here Malik is starting the first pitch, which was a sensitive 6c+ slab.

Malik slowly but surely making it for the first achor, fingers bleeding, but his smile never vanished. It never does. Malik hasn't been rock climbing for 4 years, but he's still in a good shape. He started climbing 7 years old at school, like most French do.

Fourth pitch of the route Chillin'. Slab still continues and toes are sore.

Is this never going to end?

Finally We did get to the top. There you can find small Inca ruins.

Another cool route was Quapac Ñan. Iitu, me and Malik climbed it together with one 60m rope so it included some simultaneous climbing. Here I'm belaying on the first belay point.

When Iitu got to the first belay she looked like this. The first pitch had an overhang crux and she fell couple of times and fingers hurt and she wanted down. We didn't let her go.

On the 3rd belay point everybody was happy again. It was easy for them to smile as they didn't have to lead the last two 6b trad pitches...

...which was my task. Very nice climbing though, especially the last 80 meters. Two long pitches with variable techniques, including a long section of layback.

Suomiurpo vuorella.

The last belay point was hanging and very limited. Luckily there was a good crack to put many camalots.

The long, last pitch of Quapac Ñan. High up I'm negotiating the last crux. Iitu and Malik had to climb this one simultaneously. They were about 10m lenght to each other. Apparently it was an exiting experience as there was plenty of hard sections where other had to wait when the other was solving the next part.

When we finally got to the top it got dark very quickly. We just made it. Maybe we should have started a bit earlier as the Columbianos were climbing the same route above us and we had to wait quite a lot in some anchors.

Cojitambo was nice place with super friendly atmosphere. It felt good to be welcomed by hospitable, smiling and warmhearted couple as Juan and Chiva was. One could easily spend there months and open many new routes...

Muchas gracias Juan Gabriel and Chiva, Hasta Pronto!

Las Cajas national park

2010-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Near Cuenca, up in the mountains is a beautiful national park Las Cajas. We decided to go there and refresh ourselves after the new years party. So we packed the van and slowly climbed to 4000 meters where the ranger station was located. The parking area was suitable for us to camp couple of nights and the guards were friendly. From the ranger station we quickly found us a new dog and with it we head to the wilderness.

The refugio at 4000m. We used the kitchen but slept in a van. Photo by Malik.

Is there any better cure for a hangover than to go hiking to the beautiful place like this. Our temporary new dog followed me closely like a shadow.

Soon we realized that the park was full off rocks which looked suitable for climbing. There was actually some routes established allready. The rock was volkanic but quite solid. The grass covered higland is called Paramo here in Ecuador.

Some areas were covered with these tangling guinea? trees. This was first time we saw trees like that. The bark was similar to pines in Finland, but there was no needles, and the trunks were all twisted.

Iitu chilling with Pikkarainen.

This cliff had about ten bolted routes on it. We climbed couple of them. The rock was sharp and the routes had plenty of delicate moves.The sector was called Toreadora.

In this picture taken from the refugio you can see two developed climbing sectores. By the lake is Toreadora and behind the hill is a Chica Toreadora.

Hundreds of small ponds and lakes everywhere. The view got broader as the second day we climbed up to 4400m.

Iitu taking care of navigation, as usual.

On the top. No snow this time, but the wind was very strong.

In Las Cajas there was real Hattiwattis growing in many places. A lot of them. How cool it was to see them in reality!

We found this happy but tired French kid from the national park and adopted him. He's Malik. Photo by Malik.

Llamas, and the trip continues.

Los viejos

2010-01-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

So these are Los Viejos that are burned on new years eve to get rid of the last year and start the new one tabula rasa. The past year's cases and people are a tradition. You could see that Michael Jackson and many comic heroes were presented. The olds were made of paper. Think about hundreds of thousands of these dudes burning on the streets simultaneously.

Paloliitto suosittelee.

New years eve in Cuenca, Ecuador

2010-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

We decided to take off Guyagil pretty quickly, as it was an over sized chaotic half slum of a city. The natural choice to spend new years eve was Cuenca, because it was on the way to Peru and there was quite a lot of rocks to climb around it. It is also one of the best preserved colonial town in Ecuador. Now afterwards I must say that leaving Guyagil was a right choice as I was scared enough in Cuenca which is about ten times smaller than Guyagil.

On the way we got stopped many times by grieving widows who were collecting money to buy gasoline to burn their old men. Such a strange customs they have in these Latino countries. Luckily they didn't ask too much money. I guess you don't need much gasoline to burn your man.

In Cuenca the craziness had already started. Totally wasted guys were dressed women and stopped cars with their wild performances. Others were watching and laughing. Some of the drivers didn't laugh...

In every district there was a scene full of paper dudes and other things that got finally burned.

Last dinner of the year 2009.

When we got out from the restaurant, some old men were already burning. Sad looking poor fellows turning to ashes.

In no time the whole city was full of big bonfires made out of olds. This could never happen in Europe I think. Some cars must have burned too.

People were very drunk and randomly fired their bombs and rockets everywhere. I must say that I was afraid of losing my eyes. I saw couple of times when a powerful rocket hit somebody. People also had really big bombs which they threw towards each other. Huh.

People gathered to the streets and danced around the bonfires and got drunk. We did it too. I had to drink quite a lot to calm my nerves as the bombs were blasting around us.

Of all the places in the world in one street corner party we saw Gabriela, Dutch chick we hung around with in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, almost a year ago. How small can this world be?

Con la familia en la playa

2010-01-13T12:34:00.001-08:00

After spending some relaxed time up on the Andes and soaking in the Amazon basin, we headed west to the Pacific coast. We had two bamboo cabins waiting for us in Montanita, where we had planned to spend the christmas. We were all excited for the fact that this country has it all in a very compact package. In a few days you can experience high Andean mountains, pure Amazon jungle and a hot Pacific coast. Not a bad destination for a few weeks holiday trip...

Iitu sorting out the situation with the police. Normally it's routine, but this time all the documents were lost for a while. Mum was stoked.

On the way to Montanita we stopped to give some old veggies to this one eared donkey. He seemed to be a happy fellow in spite of the missing ear.

How nice it was to be on the coast again. It had been many months since we had seen Pacific ocean last time. There it was, waiting for us with its brilliant waves!

Montanita is full of restaurants, hippies, surfers and freaks. Odd but relaxed place.

Karma fitted there perfectly.

The Birds!!! Every cable and light pole in the village was full of them. Creepy as Hitchcock's movie.

Iitu getting ready for the first surf session in Montanita. Behind are the bamboo cabins where we stayed and behind them is a good old Karma converting some more salty air to corrosion.

The compulsory dog friend who lived in a same area, Rauno Jr.

They also lived there, and the mother dog was very seriously trying to get rid of the puppys fleas.

Artisan dude making a hair thing for Iitu. He was native from Peruvian amazon. Montanita was full of artisans trying to make their living and the selection was so huge that it was hard to buy anything.

Henri going to the water. He fighted boldly the waves and finally managed to stand up few seconds.

Mum surfing without waves. She went surfing every morning and actually managed to stand up for a few seconds too. Not bad!

Im trying to proof that you can make a hang five with 6'8" funboard.

Christmas atmosphere was almost absent in Montanita...

...but not fully as the local kids came to sing their christmas songs.

We started our christmas eve with delicious and strong fruity drinks on the street.

Henri and I had Mango Coladas, Lea and Iitu Maracaibos. The drinks are good in these countries because the fruits are so fresh.

Christmas dinner served. Delicious sea food off course.

And after the dinner came "santa" with presents.

This was the third christmas in a row that Iitu and me spend away from Finland, and we promised ourselves that the next year we will be home.

After long enough time spent in bamboo cabins we moved to an interesting ecological lodge called Alandaluz. It was a small "village" build taking care that the impact for environment is minimized. We stayed in this funny blue house.

The place looked like an Oasis from the beach. It was good to see that somebody took seriously the environmental issues. In the lodge they recycled everything, used composts, and build with bamboo. They also grew their own veggies for the restaurant.

The restaurant had many specialities, like this pumpkin stuffed with delicious prawns.

We probably ate too many pumpkins...

In Alandaluz we did some horse riding on the beach, and our butts were sore many days afterwards. Note my arms orthodoxly high.

There was also a billiard table so Henkka got a chance to humiliate us many times. It's quite hard to loose every game against your little brother.

At night we had a cool bonfire. Bamboo burns well.

Finally it was time to head to Guyagil where Henkka and Lea had their flight back home. Everybody was happy as the three weeks had been interesting and relaxing.

In Guyagil which is quite an awful place generally, we visited a strange park in the center of the city. The small park was full of big iguanas who liked patting. There were hundreds of them.

Thanks a lot Lea and Henkka, we had a really good 3 weeks holiday from our routinized travelling. Hugs!

Con la Familia Quito-Oriente

2010-01-13T11:14:00.001-08:00

Finally in the mid December it was time to go and pick up Lea and Henri from the Quito airport. It was so nice to see them again after being more than one year separated. They were going to spend three weeks with us cruising around Ecuador. Nice break from cold and hectic Finnish routine.

Happy family together again in Quito airport.

The first stop after airport. Soaking away the tiredness of travelling in the thermal pools of Papallacta. 26 different sized and temperatured pools of bienestar with mountain view and fresh breath. You see, when you have a home on wheels you can have the 26 jacuzzis in your backyard.

The basket behind is full of salmiakki and the water is hot, not so bad!

When the eastern slopes of Andies become even the Amazonia starts.

The nice hotel we slept while staying in Tena. As Tena is one of the best kayaking and rafting base, you can only guess what was coming next. In there we did some organizing for upcoming action days. Weehee!

Ready for the action! I'm proud of my mom who had the courage to crab the paddle and hit the rapids of Rio Napo!

Rapid rapids! We did a grade 3 river and went down 27 kilometers. It took a whole day.

While we had a stop for lunch the local jungle kids had also a pause of their tubing session.

Jungle princess with her alga bearded friend.

The thrilling view from the Shangrila hostel. The bamboo hostel was built on the 150 m edge by the river. These beginnings of the Amazonia river look wide but did you know that at its best River Amazonia has 60km of width. That is wide indeed!

The meal times we shared with other people living in the peaceful hostel. This American lady was studying intensively with her local spanish teacher.

Inspiring view of pure jungle. In this place I could write a book if I was a writer.

Rubber boots drying after jungle hikes.

This jungle house accommodates a lot of people.

Rodrigo, our jungle guide, was native Quitchua. He told us about the plants and traditions. This

palm tree headdress they use for celebrations.

Palma de pene, penis palmtree, penispalmu. Tuliks selväks?

Fly.

A break after uphill.

Flower.

This long legged friend was hiding behind the house. It was hard to fit it in the photo because its even longer antennas. All in all about 30 cm. In the jungle you find all kinds of creatures.

Mama feliz...

enjoying the river view.

A stop by the river.

Mountain views on the way from Tena to Baños.

We followed the river back up to sierra. The way from Amazon back to Andes is spectacular.

The volcano Tungurahua has been very active in late years. The people of the villages was evacuated for a long period but got frustrated and moved back. This month we read that it has become active again. Exiting.

Tommi made a friend.

Baños by night.

The smallest grandma I have ever seen. She was almost to my hips. Please Tommi, can I take her home with me? (iitu)

And on the other day i saw her again.

Baños is famous of its holy waters. The holy saint of the waters have saved many lives during history. These stories are immortalized in the frescos of the Cathedral de la Virgen deAgua Santa. Iitu was soaking in the hot baths every morning and every evening. The closest and most visited bath was under the waterfall right in the city.

We got to the city on the day of the anniversary and of course we joined the dance and the candelazo.

The next day we continued the trip with our brave Karma. He was strong. For your knowledge, before the valuable family visit we fixed the brakes and direction terminals. Safe touring.

All sorts of pots and pans. And the indigenous woman taking a break.

All good in Ecuador

2009-12-27T12:13:00.000-08:00

Tommis mum and brother came for Christmas so we have been spending some quality family time in quality accomodations :) and enjoying doing some action followed by doing some nothing by the sea! All good, luxury vacation from the normal camper vacation! Peace!

Cotopaxi

2009-12-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

Couple of days ago we climbed Cotopaxi. It was the highest mountain we have ascended (Iitus first real mountain ever), and it felt great! Before the climb we spent quite a lot of time in high altitudes to get acclimatized. Then we rented crampons, axes and gaiters, and finally after a strong discussion we also hired a guide.

Cotopaxi 5897m, beautiful volcano in the central highlands of Ecuador. It is the world’s highest active volcano. Looks like a snowy nipple.

While we were getting ready, Iitu made me these nice and warm mittens. She’s a magic woman!

The first part of the climb we made with Karma. It is such a tough old van. It had no problems to climb a steep dirt road to 4500m altitude. On the way up we saw many new looking(Chinese?)4X4 cars engine hoods open and steam rising, but old Karma kept climbing solidly. The parking area at 4500m was our base camp. There was a refugio at 4800m, but we decided to save some money and not to go there.

Not a bad place to cook some pasta and get ready for the climb.

At midnight we were ready to start the ascend. One have to start the climb at midnight as then there is enough time to ascend and descend before the sun makes the snow conditions too dangerous. Sun is strong here at the equator!

Going up slowly on the moon light with our guide Francisco.

The atmosphere was magical with all the icy shapes and beautiful stars.

Some parts were a bit steeper, but most of the climb was technically fairly easy.

The sun started to light the horizon when we were almost on the top.

Nice soft snow everywhere, and there we were without skis and snowboards.

Finally on the top! After 6 hours of floundering on the glacier short of breath. While we were ascending and jumping over the cracks Iitu said that she will NEVER do stuff like this again, but on the top everything was good again!

The crater was huge and strange. There was a small cloud of smoke rising from the bottom. Apparently the volcano is quite peaceful at the moment.

Soon we had to start the descend. It was nice to be able to see the route we had climbed. Some poor fellows still tried slowly to get to the top. We were happy that our preparing had been careful and tried to encourage the guys. From their eyes you could see a message: shut up and f#*k off.

There were many beautiful big cracks on our way.

Ice formations

Some more ice art.

Back in the parking area after 8 hours of struggling, dead tired.

Weavings and one conquest in Ecuador

2009-12-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

After we recovered the shock of leaving Colombia we realized that something new and fun was ahead, Ecuador. We drove straight from the border to a town called Otavalo. The name gave me a cozy feeling of the starry northern sky in the winter. We parked the car along the main road just to clear our heads when a smiling man, Hernan, came to talk to us. He told about his trips around Europe in a van with his band and how after the chinese came and brought down the wholesale prices of the weavings he had to change his business to churros. He introduced his wife and offered us a place to stay at their home. First touch with local people fulfilled our hearts with love.

Hernán with his wife at their front door.

Otavalo is known of the textile market on saturdays, when the weavers and artisans of the villages around gather to sell their artifacts. It is one of the biggest in all South America. The athmosphere was nice and the traditional dresses of the women were beautiful. I was so abashed about the fact that while the young women wore the traditional dresses when most of their husbands and boyfriends wore western style that I didn´t even get one foto. I feel stupid. Almost only the old men wore their traditional outfit. Best of all, the men had a long thick braid! Kids, teens, men, seniors, no matter the age! Well seniors had thinner...

From Otavalo we drove to Laguna Mojanda, up in the mountains. Around there were other smaller lakes too but to get to this one we didn´t need to struggle in the mud. The weather changed so many times during a day, from rainy to foggy to sunny etc. Landscape was beautiful and peaceful. During the day, Sunday, there was people enjoying their day off but when they left and we were left all alone it was complete silence.

The refugio had seen its best days so we slept in the car.

The view from inside the van gave me a similar feeling as sleeping in the sauna hut of Laulusaari, so close to the shoreline. The water was clean and clear so we filled our cistern with it.

As we had decided to conquer the volcano Cotopaxi, this place was good for acclimatization. Well, specially the climbing to the extinct volcano beside the lake, Fuya Fuya, 4290 meters.

Midpoint pönötys, from there we came....

...and up there we were heading.

And we reached the top. Toppen!

This lonely horse was wondering around the hills all by himself.

Neighing for longing. Where dissappeared his friends from the refugio foto?

Fare well Colombia!

2009-11-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Colombia went straight to our hearts. We have never met so friendly people than we did in that infamous country. There was no single problem with anything. Even police and military were nice and helpful for us. Quite a surprise. Colombians are civilized and warm hearted people. At the moment they live in a country that is more peaceful and nonviolent than it has been in many decades. The contrast between poor and rich is huge, but we met many poor families who were quite happy with their simple life. Compared to many Central-American countries, Colombia feels modern, clean and developed. Tourists are relatively new phenomenon there and they are warmly and curiously welcomed. Hopefully mass tourism will not spoil the country in the future as has happened elsewhere. Here are some random pictures from our last weeks in this lovely country.

The city center of medellin was full of Boteros fine art. Naturally as Botero is from there.

Hombre stripping on top of the car in Medellin

Young students having little fun and throwing bottles and other stuff against riot police in Medellin.

Cool Clouds in Coffee country

Coffee country view. Early morning in Salento

Friends

Mompox and up to the mountains

2009-11-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

I got Mompos into my head when I heard of it being the location of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' book Chronicle of a death foretold. I'm a big lover of his imaginative writing and wanted to see it, to live it. It wasn't easy to get there, as the area is covered with crisscrossing rivers and thick flora. Some guidebooks recommended a 4WD for the roads but as it hadn't been raining lately we took the chance with Karma and made it, although the roads were bumpy and muddy. We also had to take a ferry and a flat boat along the way. Mompos is a village along Rio Magdalena and was a major port town until the shipping was diverted to other branches of the river in the end of 19th century and much haven't changed since then. And you feel it.

The view from the ferry. The river was wide.

Sunset colors

The locals use canoes for the crossing.

A 30 year old bite, the bench was dated 1970. The tree didn't tell his age though I asked.

Around we went with a mototaxi and in a cross road this band was playing.

In the afternoons the villagers take out to the street their village made rocking chairs.

Silent and calm.

As the town is from colonial era, the inner yards are the gathering places of a house. They were so beautiful.

In one I found this curious big tree.

A peak from our rooms window which was the size of a post card.

Having a beer with a park bench.

Another beautiful inner yard.

Peaceful cemetery.

Even the direction arrows of the streets were a piece of blacksmiths art.

I was fascinated about the shelves of the small grocery stores. Every product had its own neat square.

Coffee time by the river.

Park.

"La vida es tan corta como vivir odiando."

Life is too short for living it with hatred.

This house has already seen its best days.

As in anywhere in Colombia, the donkey was a hard worker.

A street name sign.

The river bank street.

Luckily we got to continue our trip on the other side of the swamp so we needn't go back the same way as we came. The roads were bit more muddy and crowded by cows but scenery was new and refreshing.

This cute donkey child was on the road all alone.

Country side.

Washing day.

These field cones we assumed to be homes for famous ants. (Not sure though)

Famous ant of Bucaramanga. Roasted and salted.

And into the mouth it goes. Tasted good!

When getting up to the mountains the roads got winding and the face concentrated.

Tolú and Isla Mucura

2009-11-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

After long time spent in Cartagena, sorting out things, we finally continued our trip. The next stop was a funny place called Tolu. (On the way there the police stopped us many times though). Tolu is a place where Colombians spend their holidays, but not many foreign tourists end up there. Its specialty is hundreds of bicycles which are used instead of motor vehicles. The missing noise of motors was honey for the ears, even though the place was nothing but quiet.

This was the most normal way of transportation in the town, bicycle with a cart for two passangers, third could sit back to back with the driver on a smaller seat.

Juice stall where we spent many nights. The owner was a charming old man, he had a grumpy expression on his face but you could see that in his eyes he was smiling. His juices were delicious, specially with a drop of rum. The juices are one of the best things in Colombia, drinking wise. You can get them everywhere and they are freshly made from fresh fruits. Favorite one is passion fruit, can't get enough of it.

This bicycar fits three people and a driver. All four have pedals so exercise is part of the ride. This is almost a form of art in this village. There are three builders in town and they produce incredible creations. The biggest one, probably used only special occasions, fits sixteen people on. Even the smallest ones have their own sound systems so you can only imagine the variety of vallenatas boasting around the town. The reason for not-so-silent-environment.

This is the size of ideal Colombian woman, I assume. In the coastal towns the manikins I've seen have had big bosom, in inlands I haven't noticed the same phenomenon. Colombia is known for its high quality and quantity of plastic surgery and you can see it all around you.

From Tolu we took a boat towards Isla Mucura. We drove around the islands of San Bernardo, including Isleta, one of the worlds most densely populated island. It looked very sad and dirty. Isla Mucura was much nicer with its white beaches and small palapas. The reality is that rich tourists go to fancy hotels in the western side of the island, the normal tourists go there for a day trip on the southern point and somewhere in between lives the poor local islanders. Naturally we went to live with the local fishermen in the village.

The small "campground" where we stayed was hosted by Manuel and his wife.

Some more delicious lobsters. We just can't get enough of them.

There was lots of kids in the island. Some of them looked quite special.
"Hola, Como estas? Me llamo mi dulce amor."

Paul knew how to make the kids laugh.

And plenty of dogs too. This puppy was so weak that it had hard time to follow it's parents. it was close that she would have continued the trip with us.

Iitu holding still the mama, forcing her to feed.

An over water restaurant, hehe. One more place where we saw water level rising high.

The homes were very simple and small.

The older kids of the family were taking care of the young ones.

The sky and the sea and the same.shades of blue

After couple days in Isla Mucura we were back in Tolú. We camped on the beach, in front of hotel where Michelle, Paul, and Teemu were staying. Kevin, from New York, had stayed in Cartagena after we left, brought with him Tommis international driving licence that we were too frustrated to wait. We were very thankful.

Paul was going to Canada to recieve an award, Michelle was planning on staying in Tolú for a while and Kevin was getting married in Cartagena :) ! It was time to say goodbye and continue the trip.

Bouldering in Sutatausa, Colombia

2009-11-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

There is a good bouldering area near the village of Sutatausa. We spend there a nice day opening many new routes. It is very easy there, as you don't have to do cleaning at all. There where nice clean problems everywhere waiting for somebody to climb them. There would be plenty of work for the Finnish boulder monsters.

My new climbing pants which I'm very proud of.

Rock climbing in Suesca, Colombia.

2009-11-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

After too long break we finally got to the cliffs again. The Central-America is not very good place for rock climbing as the tropical conditions are generally too hot and humid. This trip has caused the longest break I’ve ever had since I started climbing. Fortunately the surfing has compensated the lack of climbing well. Still we were very happy to change the continent as South-America is full of good climbing.

Suesca is a nice crag with more than 300 routes and some good boulders. The rock is very solid sandstone. The place is 2800 meters above the sea level so the temperature is nice and fresh. People are extremely friendly and the locals are proud of their beautiful cliffs. Climbers are welcomed and many comes from Bogota to spend their weekends climbing. During the week the place is empty. Only cows, dogs, chickens and horses are wandering under the cliffs.

There are many splendid traditional multpitches and some great bolted sport routes. Many climbs have mixed protection with bolts where placements are not possible. When we left Finland about year ago, we had to make some difficult choices what stuff not to take with, and sadly we then left all our trad gear home. Bad mistake. Now we have a small rack with 9 nuts and 4 friends, all bought on this trip. With that rack you can climb most of the routes in Suesca, sometimes a bit sparingly though, as you have to save gear for the reunions.

We got to Suesca after two long days of driving. The first stop was a climbing store, we needed a new rope and some other stuff. Off course it was closed, only open on weekends, and it was Monday. Luckily there was a phone number and the owner, Hernan, appeared shortly after the call. He happily sold us all we needed. He also find us a place for our camp. There is a nice camping place in front of the rocks, but we couldn’t use that as you can’t get there with a van. So we went to Sebastian’s back yard.

Sebastian is a cool climbing guide who lives near the rocks with his wife Sandra and their young son Elias. He's a full on life style climber who spend most of his time on the cliffs. He let us camp on his front yard and use his shower and toilet with affordable prize. As a keen guy he was climbing with us most of the days showing us tens of beautiful routes. And there is so many nice routes in Suesca. There are plenty of gigantic roofs, long exhausting fissures and crazy overhangs. More than 300 routes, and most of them worth climbing. We spend three weeks there climbing as much as our bodies could handle.

The rock has got a lot of character. You can see dramatic shapes everywhere and there is strong vibe of passed millenias on the rock.

On weekends there was many people from Bogota, relaxing and climbing. The place never got too crowded as there are so many routes to climb. There was also Dona Maria selling delicious empanadas, so you didn't have to care too much about the lunch.

Virgin Mary is taking care that now one gets hurt while climbing. So very Catholic. Under the saint there was strenuous 5.12 traverse called Heroes never Die.

The crag is at least a kilometer long and it has got more than ten sectors. The railroad makes approaches very easy.

View from the top of the cliff. Colombian countryside with plenty of cows. People are camping on the pasture.

Our place on Sebastian's front yard. Six o clock in the morning.

Iitu enjoying good friction of Sebastian's route called Payaso

Over the small roof and that's about it!

Teemu flashing the same route

Me resting after the slab and getting ready for the roof on a route No lloren Princesas.

Iitu leading boldly the first pitch of a beautiful route called LP. She has developed really good nerves for trad climbing with a small rack.

Me on the beginning of the second pitch of LP. Nice and airy!

Iitu starting the third pitch of LP. Pretty cool ledge under the roof.

The top anchors are easy to build using the natural squires that the rock forms.

Sebastian also has a small boulder wall on his front yard.

And a "slack line" made out of eucalyptus tree. Sebastian teaching some balance for Elias . The little guy is four years old and already climbing eagerly.

Iitu leading the bit sketchy first pitch of El Vivac. The rock looks and sounds loose on some parts of the route, but it's still fantastic route and the roofs are spectacular.

Teemu trying to solve the crux of second pitch of El Vivac

The second pitch ends to a nice airy traverse under the huge roof.

Iitu on a nice route called Vuelo Nocturno. Note the huge gray beards that are growing on a rock. You find those pretty much from every sector. There are legends that the beards are hiding some ancient caves used by indians.

Me negotiating the crux of El Acrobata.

Teemu -setä having fun with Elias under the cliff.

Enjoying the warmth of a campfire. The nights were quite chilly in Suesca.

Me arms pumped on a overhanging sport route Haztelo Panchito.

Suesca was one of the nicest rock climbing spots I've ever visited, and it was for sure the friendliest. Thanks a lot Sebastian, Sandra and Elias for taking such a good care of us and showing us great routes! We will definitely come back one day!

Cartagena and Playa Blanca

2009-11-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Cartagena is very beautiful colonial city with small alleys and hidden squares. Sadly the old barrio is very touristic with its emerald shops and fancy restaurants. It's so overpriced that no ordinary people could eat in it's restaurants. The place felt more like a scenery made for rich tourists and celebrities. The mercado was more truthful about the living. Lots of people, hassle, stalls, shops and also poverty.

At the hostel we spent quite a lot of time, thanks to its friendly staff and air-conditioned dorm. The weather in the city is humid and hot, almost too hot to bear on some days. The sea brings a bit of breeze but still it was uncomfortable. After visiting perfect beaches around central america, taking a dip in front of the big city didn't fascinate too much.

The place was full of beautiful balconies and flowering wines.

Rainy afternoon. In the evenings this place was crowded with salsa and beer lovers.

Nice VW Variant for the collection

With Michelle from Switzerland and Teemu from Paukkaja we headed to Playa Blanca to have some rest from the hectic city life.

Crossing the Pasacaballos. The flatboat was moved around by a canoe with a small motor.

Playa Blanca, white sand, turquoise sea and too many people. We managed to find a peaceful place at Rodrigos.

On the first night Rodrigo took us to his friends birthday party and we danced...

...and so danced the wife of the hero of the day.

Some fresh lobsters for a dinner, yum!

Heading back to Cartagena.

Dona Cecilias kitchen at the mercado in Cartagena.

View from a high building.

One night we were supposed to go out for rumba, but it rained like hell and the whole city was flooded up to knees.

Now we now why the hostel was called Casa Venecia. Surprisingly we didn't see any boats around.

Shipping a car from Panama to Colombia 2009

2009-10-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

It was fairly easy after all, and there are plenty of people doing it nowadays. The paper work just took quite a lot of time, and it would have been much harder without Iitu's very good Spanish skills, even though surprisingly many official did speak at least little English. Generally speaking the people in Central America do speak way better English than Spanish people. So many Gringos around I guess.

In Costa Rica we randomly met an Argentinian couple, Carlos and Samanta, who had just arrived from Colombia with their old Renault 12. They had spend a month sorting out the best and cheapest option and they happily told us everything they knew. Actually all we needed was the email address of Vicente Vargas, who is working in a shipping company called Wallenius Wilhelmsen logistics in Colon, Panama.

We needed to visit many different officials in different places in Panama City and Colon but

eventually paperwork was ready and only karma needed some extra care for its trip without us.

We packed everything under the bed and "sealed" it with plywood boards. The valuables for life we took with us, on the plane. Just in timberlake the boat sinks or other dreadful things occur. Occasion makes the thief and stevedores are rascals, haha.

Ready to go. Two dogs visited the van but didn't find any explosives or drugs. So there we left the van, alone in the big sketchy port of Colon and headed back to Panama City. Our part was done, we thought.

Well well, next morning we got a mail from the port that gas cylinder had to be removed from the car and only we were allowed to enter the van. So we headed back to Colon to remove the bloody cylinder, gasoline canister and lamp petrol. No burning liquids were allowed on board, now we know. We should have been smarter and hid the stuff deeper under the bed. From port to taxi ( who we made happy with these presents) , taxi to bus to taxi... we barely made it to the airport on time. Fortunately we found liquorice in the duty free, what a delicious end for a speedy frustrating day!!

In Cartagena, Colombia, every office was very much apart from each other. Stephanie from the Naves office was very helpful and so we got everything sorted out. And it took a lot of time but we had patience! In the end, with the shipping and all port payments we ended up paying 700$ for the whole thing. Not cheap, but bearable. Many people who struggled with same kind of transportation project paid much more.

Only major setback was that when the stevedore finally drove the van to us, there was only third and forth gear left. Somebody had changed the gear with extreme force and the shift stick was dislocated. Great. It was dark but with a lighter and a couple of tools we fixed it in two hours. Wasn't easy but we made it, Karma was back with us!

Panama

2009-10-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Panama is nice country as have all the countries been this far. Panamanians still have strong national identity with ladies wearing traditional clothes and guys riding their beautiful horses in some areas. We haven't seen so many hoses in any other Central American country. Panama gets quite a lot of money from the canal and you can see that it's richer than other countries around. The canal is amazing. It has been a huge project that took 35 years to finish and killed almost 30000 workmen while in construction. At the moment the Panamanians are digging a new channel to get even bigger boats to get through. Panama city is modern and fancy on some parts, and slum on the others. The are plenty of skyscrapers and casinos. We tried our luck one night and walked out from the casino 300$ richer. Buena suerte! The beaches are nice and still quite unspoiled, but sadly everything is for sale and investors are building bigger and bigger resorts to make some money. That seem to be happening pretty much everywhere in Central America, so if you want to enjoy the pristine beauty of the tropical beaches go before it's too late.

Panama, the city of contrasts. The central has it's banks, malls and casinos, and the surroundings are poor, slums in some parts. We were staying in Casco Viejo, which is the old town that has been restored.

Colonial buildings in Casco Viejo, which has recently been dangerous slum, but is now getting popular area among young and trendy. Contrast can be seen as the poor and the elite are living side by side. Unfortunately many of the poor are getting kicked out of the way. The area is heavily guarded by police and private guards.

Very old fire truck in Panama city.

Tugboats in front of the Panama city

The Panama Canal is big indeed. The channel uses fresh water only to first lift the ships 26 meters above sea level and then lower them again 26 meters on the other side.

Miraflores locks. There hundreds of tourists are hooraying for the passing ship crews. Big locks anyway. The biggest ships that can fit in the canal can have 13 containers side by side. Many ships are built just to fit the canal. They are called Panamax.

I might be able to jump...

We spent most of our time in Panama surfing, fixing the van and trying to find the cheapest way to get to Colombia. Our luck with surf varied. In Las Lajas we got small but nice waves, but Santa Catalina was flat all the time we spent there. The surf was good in Playa Venao and first time on this trip I got to surf some bigger waves with no many guys out. The paddling out was really difficult, but after 10 months of quite regular surfing I managed to do it and it was worth it! Of course we have no pictures of those big days at all. I'm really hating myself being so lazy taking surfing pics. It must change now, surfing is after all what we have been doing most on this trip. The problem is that when I'm not surfing I'm laying somewhere trying to recover from the last session with no power left for anything. (or fixing the van).

The average day in Playa Venao, weird (maybe mad) guy from Israel surfing. The wave is fun, fast and hollow.

Iitu coming out after long session in Playa Venao.

In Playa Venao we also had a little spare time to paint the van.

Panama was easy and fairly safe place to randomly camp and sleep in a car. The nature was beautiful, but pristine places where hard to find. The Costa Rican Osa-peninsula was so amazing, that it's hard to get same kicks from other places anymore, jungle wise. Anyway we enjoyed our time camping everywhere, and people were very friendly and hospitable.

In Playa Venao we got many dog friends, as always. This one we called Turnipsi. This doesn't look like our kind of dog but it was so cool that we wanted to take him along. But for sure he's happier living his life in the beach than in the colds of Finland.

Karavaanari karavaanari on kaikkien kaveri.

The view to El valle de Anton, a quiet village built in a crater of a volcano. It was full of big empty houses of retired gringos. We also played retired and soaked in hot springs and took a hard 2km walk into the forest.

In the park was a nice waterfall where we took a swim after the hard walk.

Iitu waking up for the coffee. I'm the breakfast master while Iitu tries to gather herself from the bed, hehe.

View near the Playa Venao.

Keijo Karma, the van, was making our life quite difficult in Panama. The reason that everything started to fall apart was those crazy roads in Osa-peninsula, Costa Rica, with too deep river crossings and potholes and rocks. We were actually quite famous there because we managed to drive the old van to such a difficult places. First the front brake tubes got blogged and the brakes were on all the time causing serious overheating problems. We got that fixed while we were still in Costa Rica. When we got to Panama, in the beginning we had to change front bearings and front tires and tighten up all the possible bolts. Then the speedometer broke and after that the starter motor broke. Then broke the handbrake. Some parts of the handbrake got loose inside the rear brake drum and the noise was horrible. Then the exhaust pipe got really loose and joined the choir. And that was not enough. The motor was running with three cylinders only. And some of the windows were leaking again. There was moments of serious madness in my head. I was ready to find out how well the bloody car would burn. Fortunately Iitu seemed to be fixing the van happily and not stressing at all. She is such a good mechanic nowadays! So finally we managed to fix everything and the last weeks in Panama Karma was running like an angel again.

Cigarruista working on the starter.

Me fixing the exhaust pipe. Taking advantage of the good selection of Cigarruistas tools.

The crew of VW beans having a break with raspado, snow cone with flavor of your own choice.

Life without the starter, and how Karma found itself a new one

2009-09-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

The starter of Karma was dead more than two weeks, but it didn’t bother us too much. Still it did affect our life quite a bit. The criteria for camping places changed, as well as for restaurants and other stops. You started liking hills and hating narrow holes.

Fortunately people thought it was fun to push start the old Karma, so we got easily help when we were in the civilization. We thought it was better to fix the starter before the shipping to Columbia so the stevedores don’t have to toe it. Didn’t stress too much though.J

We sent an inquiry to a Volkswagen spare part store who gave us a price that even after bargaining didn´t satisfy us. So we did nothing about that and waited for another solution to appear and pushed. Finally we got lucky;

While driving one day we started wondering should we stop for a meal or not. The slope in the parking place was optimal so that was the decision. Soon came charming Al Pacino-like Jaime to adore the van, he had one himself. As soon as he heard the starter trouble he started to call around his trusted mechanics for a new used one. After half an hour and many calls he located the missed spare part for Karma. And so he sent us on our way with a good dealt price, telephone number and directions how to find the Magic Mechanic.

Next day we find our way to the guy, and he appears to be a real VW bean with shop full of old classics.. In an hour we have new starter and all the other parts we asked for. Nice. The oldies VW people really are some sort of family so we have a new meeting with Samuel and his gang tomorrow, beer included.

Thank you Jaime and Samuel Cigarruista from Panama City for helping us out!

Is it dangerous here?

2009-09-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

We have now visited every country and spend 9 months in this continent. There haven’t really been any problems with theft or violence this far (knock on wood). Even the police have been friendly and no bribes have been paid. These countries have reputation of being violent and dangerous, but surely majority of travelers have no problems at all.

While El Salvador is supposed to be the most dangerous country around here, the locals where saying that it is nice and safe place to live, and so it felt. On the other hand the Costa Ricans seemed to be quite afraid of criminals. They where warning us all the times how risky it is to be camping out there. In Nicaragua the police told us to take our camping stuff and spare tire down from the roof rack for the night and we obeyed. Somebody then stole our hubcaps. Well, who needs those anyway? The bandits seemed to be the biggest problem in Guatemala, and going alone to the mountains were not recommended. The worst place this far has been Belize City, which I recommend everybody to skip. There we made the mistake of going to the streets when it was getting dark, and without one friendly local who hooked up with us, at least two big scary guys would have attacked us.

All in all my opinion is that you don’t have to be afraid of travelling in Central America. We have had great time here in the middle of snakes, swine flu, earthquakes, coup d’état, and drug cartel wars. J

El Niño

2009-09-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

It´s quite interesting what El Niño is doing here in Central America. The rainy season hasn´t really started at all, when normally this time there should be pouring rain every day. For us it is nice to have a good weather but for the environment and for the locals it’s not. The level of ground water is really low now, and if there is not going to be enough rain, the summertime will be fight against drought. So hopefully it starts raining a lot after we get out of here…

Costa Rica part two

2009-09-06T14:40:00.001-07:00

After quick visit to Panama we headed to Puerto Viejo where Teemu was waitiing for us and drying and cleaning his molded cameras. Couple of days we were hanging around there and surfing the Caribean waves.

Riikka, Gabriel and Vida were moving back to pacific coast, Playa Hermosa so we packed their belongings in and top of the van and hit the road. In San Jose Riikkas friend was kind and accomodated us for one night on the way.

From San Jose we took the NEW faster and straighter highway towards the coast. The other road would have been longer, winding and crowded. Well the highway was so new that it wasn´t yet paved but we took it anyway. Nor was it faster but definitely more adventurous and that´s what we like.

Not crowded, only us using the highway!

Gabriel and Riikka... and Teemu of course enjoying the spacevagon.

Eventually we got to Playa Hermosa and made our camp in front of the beach.

Vida, lovely lady in heat got laid many times. The father candidates were plenty, milling around her. Interesting to hear how the puppies will look like, if any.

Finnish representatives got to present only on the beach in the world championship of surf.

I guess there´s no necessity for owning a dog, one will always find the place in front of "the porch" just as soon as you turn off the engine.

Back in Matapalo, this was the view from our queen size bed. (bigger than back home)

Nice or not? hahahahaha!

The front yard with monkeys and macaws.

The back yard to the left....

....and to the right.

Tommi, german birdwatcher nerd on the beginning of the hike towards Sirena ranger station in Corcovado. That national park is one of the most biodiverse rainforests on earth.

First waypoint in La Leona. Some porridge for breakfast and ointment for injuries.

Impressive leaf wall. The 20 km hike went partly on the beach and partly in the forest. The forest paths were easier and cooler than the soft and sunny beach.

Sketchy spider the size of palm.

This tree has taken its first step.

Mushrooms.

On the rocks we found this old boat engine.

In the bush we found our first danta, a baird´s tapir.

A beautifully shaped drift wood.

The brave walkers.

Sirena ranger station, in the end of an airstrip in the middle of nowhere.

The nasty bullsharks come to the rivrmouth to feast on. No crossing on high tide. Just look close enough, you´ll see the fin.

Cute coati posing in the tree.

In the rain in the rainforest.

Original home of monstera deliciosa, my favourite plant.

In green.

On one hike we popped up into this fellows resting nest. Looking at his peculiar fisical state, there must have been some wet dreams we woke him from.

Tapirs went straight to the top favourite animals. After a while he turned his back to us, laid back on the ground and continued his sleep.

Friend in the neighbour tree.

Spider monkey. We saw many many monkeys: squirrel, howler, capuchin and spider monkeys. They were hard to photograph with my skills. The light in the sky gave just silhouettes.

On the last day, on the way back with all the packbacks and so, we took the path we hadn´t walked before. Of course it was one of those with steep hills. Whatta hell, it was good exercise and had the best views.

Big fallen tree.

Roots.

River Rio Claro.

Hermit crab and his smaller hermit crab fellow.

White collared peccary.

After the hike and the heavy rains it was time to dry everything at the Carate airstrip.

This Polly was wild but wanted to taste the van.

And to sing to the microphone.

A patallion of leafcutter ants. They have an amazing lifestyle and community. The link is definitely worth the info. Thanks to Teemu for all the hehkutus ;) !

The birthday pancake cake is about to be ready!

This wonderful tree is found on the way from Matapalo to Puerto Jimenez.

This lazy fat croco ( wild though) is just waiting for the people to feed him.

It is a shame that we didn´t take any fotos of the nice people we met in Puerto Jimenez, we weren´t just thinking at all. Well thanks for the great time to Rayner of course and his friends. And also to the great peculiar Mango posse, Stephen, Judy, Claire and the maestro himself Emilio. We had a great time in Osa Peninsula.

Speed dating with Panama

2009-08-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

After all the hassle of Paso Canoas we were on our way to Puerto Viejo on Caribean side via Panama. On our way we stopped at Bocas del Toro archipelago. Karma we left in main land and took a water taxi. As the main island was too much tourist trap for us, we headed to Bastimentos island hoping to camp on the beach and surf.

As there were no roads on the island, only dirt paths, you can only imagine how they were after heavy rain. You couldn't get to the beach without having mud up to your knees and the police would not let you camp on the beach because nasty robberies. So we stayed one night in a hostel and did some walks around the island. It was dissapointing to find the shore of the paradise island so full of crap. Seems that on the caribean side the people don´t care much about their surroundings or nature.

The main square of the Bastimentos village was lively in the evening.

The border crossing from Panama back to Costa Rica was exiting. Narrow one-way bridge served people, bikes, cars and trucks. The on who got first on the bridge was first to go. The other had to reverse.

I have never been too much into cars but now I know what I want for my 50 years birthday! These jovial moustache of Karmann Ghia makes me smile.

Keijo Karma and the custom of Paso Canoas

2009-08-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

First idea was to put the Karma van in Costa Rican plates so Thomas and Alex could take the Californian plates with them as souvenir. In the bordertown Paso Canoas we started the procedure and the car was taken to the custom area. Sooner or later we figured out that getting the new plates would take about three months. We decided to cancel the whole plate thing. The custom area was pretty well equipped, there was toilets, bathrooms and a big living room area so our gipsy crew moved in.

This was the view every morning, truck drivers coming for their morning washing.

The cancellation took around five days to become valid and they wouldn´t let us leave the custom area before it. Norre crew continued their trip towards Colombia and we, for preventing not to get bored, emptied the van.

Did some deep profound cleaning...

...and fixing. A beer can makes a decent patch for corroded floor.

Took out the front seats. Looks comfortable, huh?

And did bit of remodelling. The spare camping matresses made a fit filling and new seat covers finalized it all. After this all was done we were ready to hit the road again. Though without our hilarious norwegian friends :( ! Miss ya!

Costa Rica part one

2009-08-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Thomas and Alex were in hurry, so we drove all the way through Costa Rica to get to the Osa peninsula which was supposed to be a paradise. Matapalo was our first stop, and after some crazy rivercrossings we got there.

Wave in Matapalo in a small day when the locals wouldn´t even bother to paddle out. For us it was perfectness.

Chilling out.

After couple of hungry days in Matapalo (we only ate coconuts) we went to see Rayner, a tico guy, friend of norre boys (and now ours too).

Indiana Teemu watching Alex`s sunglasses floating away in Corcovado. The trekking tour to Los Patos station was amazing experience.

The making of Luonnon ystävälliset kasvot.

Thomas, the professional model from Norway. Cute eh?

Alex and snake.

Rayner, our perfect guide out there in Corcovado. He know`s everything about rainforests.

After crawling hours in a mud it was nice to find a refreshing waterfall pool where to swim.

Alex cooking a delicious pasta sauce for hungry trekkers.

The swetty and wetty crew.

Thomas wandering should he lick the frog on the window or not.

Lobsters in Las Penitas

2009-08-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

When we got to Las Penitas the first thing was to search for a good place to stay. There was many nice looking hostels but we spotted a plot in front of the ocean. The house there was about to collapse but the garden was just perfect for our purposes. The kid hanging around told us that the housekeeper was coming back later afternoon. So we waited. The housekeeper was fine with the idea that we´d camp in the garden so we started to fit the van through the collapsing house towards the backyard. Good try but only the last arch was too small and fragile and we didn´t dare to take the chance. So we had to content ourselves with the idea of putting the van into the garage and hanging around in the garden. Good enough.

One night a local guy, Lenin, who had a small bar in the beach, made us a delicious dinner of lobsters. The price of the whole meal for 5 people would cover a lobster meal for one in a restaurant. We made a pretty good deal. And even better the next day. A friend of the norreboys, Dan, was coming to town with Jackie and would be celebrating his birthday the same day so we decided to redo the dinner for his surprise.
We bought lots of lobsters, potatoes rice, ingredients for the secret sauce and of course rum. Lenin borrowed us tables and pots and pans and we made coconut cups for everybody. While we we preparing everything for the night Teemu appeared out of nowhere with Andy, American fellow. So in the end there was a reason why we bought too much food. We even made a pancake cake for the birthday boy ;) !

Trip to Nicaragua

2009-07-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

So we jumped in the old vw bus the boys had and started aiming to Nicaragua via Honduras. On the road we had to fill air to one of the tyres and the guy in a petrol station blasted it with too much pressure. It took quite a while to get them to pay us a new tyre, but finally they did. In the beginning they blamed us for the accident, because we had let the worker to fill the tyre. Here in Central-America it feels that many locals try to fool gringos as much as possible and apparently they succeed too. You can see the influence of turists from USA, unfortunately. The police stopped us couple of times before the border, propably because Alex was travelling on the roof.

It was exciting to cross the border to Honduras, as the country is pretty unstable nowadays, with coup d´état going on. We didn´t even know if the borders were closed. Everything went fine. The whole way through Honduras had a police check-up almost every 10 km. It took time and patience but they always let us go in the end.

First stop in Nicaragua was Chinandega. Money, gasoline and food. There´s not much to tell about it except that the pancakes, filled with cheese, we ate there were so delicious. After dinner we tried to buy the rest of them for take away but a local girl got first. Evenly we divide one for us five people. Ever since we have been trying to search for a kind experience of pancake flavor but haven´t found that yet.

The aim was to get to the coast, Las Penitas, by that evening but getting a bit lost in Leon, home town of Ruben Dario, led us to the meeting of Sandinist party. 30 years had passed since the revolution and they were preparing for next days parade by looking film strips and photos from the years of action. Warmly they welcomed us among them. The event was interesting but one by one we dropped to the ocean of dreams. It was time to move on, still aiming to the beach.

Well, when we were packing ourselves into the van one local dude made a quick visit to say goodbye and snatch a small video camera of the boys´. Shit! Others were too sleepy to react

and Tommi was stuck with the front door so the bad man got away. Alex ran after him but he was gone. Luckily the people around us recognized him as Camilo, known neighborhood thief, and the police shack was just around the corner. How stupid thief can you be? The cops went with their moto and machine guns for the search, Alex and Mika hung around with he cops and the rest of us fell asleep in the van. By dawn the old mother of Camilo came with the camera apologizing her sons bad behavior. After breakfast we were on the move again.

El Salvador

2009-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

El Salvador is a lively small country with almost six million inhabitants. Volcanoes are everywhere and nature is fertile and green. Population is dense and original forests are rare. We didn´t have many expectations about the country, just that there are lot of crimes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. From the beginning we were planning to skip the place and go straight to Nicaragua, but there we were anyway.

Tommi coming back from the afternoon wave

El Tunco is a small coastal village popular among surfers. It´s surrounded by many excellent surf breaks that are easy to reach walking or with a bus. We decided to check the place out. Other surfers have noticed the possibilities of the place too, so the crowds were sometimes unbearable. Generally the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and we met many cool surfers and travellers there. I think the best surf spots around El Tunco were Punta Roca with it´s fast and hollow right hand wave, and El Zonte with good left and righ points. The playa Zunzal was mellow, fat wave, with too many guys surfing it. Water is not very clean in El Salvador. Countless small rivers bring nasty water from many villages to the sea. Cleaning sewage waters seem to be uncommon there. We were living in a cool hostel called Papaya´s. He was a local shaper and a legendary surfer. There was some mad parties in a hostel which it took couple of days to recover afterwards.

Sunset in El Tunco beach

One week around El Tunco flew quickly and it was time to move on, next stop playa Las Flores in El Cuco. There was hardly any information available about the place but those are often the best and less crowded spots, so we were excited to get there. After four different colorful bus rides we jumped off in the crossroads in El Cuco. While the sun was setting we asked locals the best way to get to Las Flores. Only 15 minutes walk does not normally sound too bad, but with 30 extra kilos in the packbag plus 2 surfboards it did. Luckily a passing van offered a ride. We chose a very simple room right in front of the surf break. Other options would have been further away, or a gringo hotel near by with 175 dollars per night.

Colorful back of El Cuco bus

Our little shack

As Mama Cata offered the same rice with beans and chicken meal every day, we built up our own little kitchen in the room.

Las Flores appeared to be very beautiful surfspot. The beach was long and empty and surrounded with volcanoes. The wave was a nice right hand point break with exciting rocky take off area and two sectors, the first fast and barreling and the second a bit mellower. Not too many surfers were trying to catch waves, so it was easy for Iitu too to get good rides.

Las Flores beach

The high tide waves were almost on our toes

Terry, Cristian, Thomas, Alex and Tommi

Cristian, El Argentino, doing artesania with all his fans. All the argentinians we have met on this trip have been making their living by artesania.

Our new hilarious Norwegian friends, Thomas and Alex, showed up after couple of days. They came with a japanese beauty called Mika and with Carma, a volkswagen with grin. With them we had good surf sessions, hangouts and big feasts on the beach. It is such a luxury to be able to buy fresh fish and shrimps straight from the boats. It´s hard to imagine how good and cheap the seafood is here in pacific coast.

Mika and the crab

The fresh fish we bought straight from the boats. Now the men are on break.

We had such a good time together with the Norwegians that they asked us to join them on their ride down south, and we agreed.

On the road... Tommi driving

East coast to the west coast

2009-07-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Scubadiving is fun, but after eight days it started to feel that there is not much more to see, and our bank accounts started to look quite sad for it´s not very cheap hobby after all. We have still long way to go and with that thought it was easy to decide to hit the road again. We both had the same feeling that the Pacific coast is the place to be. El Salvador is a brilliant place to surf and the people are friendly, according to many traveller we have met along the road. We knew nothing about the country furthermore, but next day we started the long trip across Central-America, from the east coast to the west coast, from Ceiba to La Libertad.

In Central-America the transportation is commonly dealt with old school buses from the USA. There are other options as well, but the prices are higher and air condition makes the modern buses horrible freecers. We think that it´s better to use the old buses, as most of the local people do. Travelling with them is always a lively experience. Music is hectic latino sound or reggaetone and it´s usually very loud. Drivers have lost it completely, they drive like madmen and thick black smoke comes from the tailpipe. The buses are covered with religious stickers and painted with psychedelic designs. It seems that the drivers are working with commission, so the faster they drive and the more customers they can get, the more money they earn. There is a big rush. The aide tears new people in and kicks others out while the bus is still moving. Stands do not exist, so the bus picks up people anywhere. Therefor the ride makes progress slowly. Tens of vendors are selling their products in the bus. Some sell incredible health pills, while others sell chicken meals, fruits, tools, drinks or bibles. In Finland it´s hardly allowed even to eat in a bus.

So it took couple of days to get to the El Salvador. The trip was extremely cheap, it costed less than eight dollars. Everything went well, except that I get a food poisoning from the chicken bought in the bus. I never learn it seems, this was a second time that I had bought some random food in a bus and gotten sick. Luckily it only took a day to heal.

I will add some photos of the buses when I find computer good enough.

Quick visit to 27 meters

2009-06-20T09:12:00.000-07:00