Los Angeles, CA, USA, 28-29/12-06

Since I had not gotten the old title I used the day on watering flowers, fed the cat and the fishes and walking around in the neighbour hood of Erlend and Beth's place in Los Angeles. Eitan left late for work so we spent some time talking before he left. It is nice neighbour hood and since I also spent some time on cleaning Scotty, I got to know some of the neighbours.

The old title was shipped to me by FedEx and arrived around 10.30 today, the 29'th. I got down to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by using public transportation. The queues down there was enormous and finally got registrated Scotty in my name. Then it starts to go wrong. There are not issued any temporary titles and to get the title it takes two to three weeks. This means basicly that I can not leave US with the bike before the middle of January. This is not corresponding with the information I got when I called the DMV a month ago. Then I was told that I would get a temporary title that would be walid the first three months. I now can not understand why I could not fix this in advance, since I did not need to sign anything down there.

I then get home again and calls the insurance brooker I have talked with before I left Norway to get the bike insured. The brooker is closed, and I can not get an insurance before the 2'nd of January. It is a serious understatement that I am very dissapointed now, but it is nothing else to do than to wait till the 2'nd of January and see if it can be fixed then.

So Erlend and Beth: What will we have for dinner New Years Eve?

Pictures added

Finally I have added pictures to my web album. It is around 160 pictures there now. The web album is found here Pictures and a link is found to the right.

Going to Los Angeles, CA, USA, 27/12-06

I was recommended to be at the Havanna airport three hours before my flight was leaving. That was also my plan, which stranded after a 30 minutes outcheck from the hotel. The next interesting thing was the taxi that was going to take me to the airport. He could not drive at once, he had to wait 5 minutes, becourse he was waiting for a phone call. After a little back and forward and I told him that I was already late, we finally got started and got to the airport one hour later than planned. Another hour went at waiting in the check in, and paying the airport tax. Then I left Cuba.

I then flew back to Bahamas and the plan was that I should enter Bahamas and dump all traces that could tell the American imigration that I had been visiting Cuba. Well, even dough I had asked the Bahamian imigration on my first arrivel that I was going to visit Cuba and I did not want the American imigration to know, those incomptent wankers had managed to stamp that I was only staying in Bahamas 3 days, which ment that I had to get a new migration stamp which said I was arriving today. That meant that it would be quite obvious that I had been on Cuba. Another negative thing that was the queue for passing the imigration to Bahamas. We had to wait more than 30 minutes in queue before getting through. I can not say that I was very happy there and then.

Then I checked in my luggage and went to the American imigration. The officer opend my passport and more told me than asked me that I had been in Cuba. There was no reason for trying to lie, so I told him that that was correct and hoped for the best. It turned out that this did not give my any problems other than some questions about what I had bought in Cuba, which was noting. I guess that this means that I can now not become a citizen of the US, but since I have no plans of becomming one it does not concern me much.

The plane from Bahamas to Miami left 1 hour and 15 minutes to late, so I had a sneaking suspicion that I would not be able to make the next plane to Los Angeles that were leaving 1 hour and 40 minutes after the planned arrival. However it turned out that that was no problem and I got on the plane to Los Angeles. On the plane I was seated beside a beautiful girl from Colombia. We spoke for some hours about this and that and suddenly we had arrived Los Angeles. 5 hours flight is not that bad when you are in good company.
The baggage claim in Los Angeles is one of the worst I have experienced. None information at all. After waiting for a long while, I asked one of the officers that were located there when the baggage from Miami would arrive. He could tell me that that luggage had already arrived and was on the luggage belt marked New York? Can not say that that would have been the first place I would have looked for my luggage, but finally I had it and could get a cab and go to Erlends place.

At Erlends place I met Eitan that is house sitting the house while Erlend and Beth are in Norway. We sat a little while talking before it was time to go to bed.

Havanna 24-26/12-06

At Christmas Eve there was a big buffet at the Comodoro hotel. Lots of cubanian dishes were served. The food was very good, but the santa never arrived. But I am a big boy now, and someone have told me that the santa does not exist!

The next day I relaxed in the pool and continued studying Spanish. Not much to tell actually from that day, except that it started raining heavily when I was relaxing in the swimming pool and it started to pour down for an hour or so. Since the weather was not to good I decided to stay at the hotel. It also started to blow and it continued to blow also the next day (26'th) but then it was not raining.

The 26'th I had ordered a city trip to Havanna in the morning. However, nobody came to pick me up so I had to do the trip in the afternoon instead. It was a very interesting trip, even though it was basicly showing us the best of town, and I think some of the information was a bit uncorrect at times. During the trip we visited one of the places that makes rum in Havanna. Free tasting was a part of the program. That should have been in Norway!

The public transportation in Cuba is a very interesting sight. One of the most famous public transportation is the so called Camel that is trailer remade to transport people instead of goods. I think the guide said that this way of transporting was not that old, maybe from the around 1994 or something, without I am totally sure about it. However, this transportation was ment to transport 100 passengers, which is almost the double of a ordinary bus, but the people are very crammed in those Camels and they take at least three times the number of passangers that was intended for.

On the guided tour we visited the Cathedral square. In this area Cuba have recieved money for restoring the buildings and it was a very nice area to walk in, even dough it is not representative for the general areas in Havanna, which basicly looks as if a war have been taking place there the latest 10 years.

For those that are planning to go to Cuba, I have some word of advice. The first one you have heard before, buy a travel guide and do some basic study before getting there. When it comes to Havanna I really will recommend to take one of those city tours one of the first days to get to know the city a little bit and to know where the different things are. If you plan to live in the central parts of Havanna I would suggest to go for an area invicinity to the Cathedral square. It might be a bit more expencive to go for a Casa Particular or a hotel in this area, but you do not need to travel by a taxi to get anywhere, so you save a little bit there.
Another thing that you will notice are that when you are in a shop and pay, what you recive back is not always what you are expecting. In the beginning I thought it was a kind of touris tax or something, becourse I always got less than I was expecting. But after I while I understood that this was a easy way for the locals to earn some extra, and most of the tourist do not care much if they are getting a dollar less than what you were supposed to.

As a last comment I would like to thank Ernestro and his crew on the Holiday Place for a great stay at the Comodoro Hotel.

Havanna (Cuba) 23-24/12-06

The 23'rd I left Vinales. I am no going to stay at the Comodoro Hotel in Havanna until I go back to USA. The bustrip was nice. I used the Viazul bus company, which have bus routes for turists between the biggest cities in Cuba. They also have a shuttle service when you arrive the bus station in Havanna.

When I arrived the hotel it was almost no guests here, and Comodoro is a big hotel. I was told that most of the turists would arrive during the night, and that was right. Today it is lots of turists here having a nice sunny day and enjoining the swimming pools.

Today it is Chrismas Eve! I have no Chrismas feeling since it is so warm here, but I got a text message today saying that it was raining in Bergen, so I guess they have not the Chrismas feeling eighter.

Merry Christmas to you from Cuba!!

Vinales (Cuba) 19-23/12-06

The weather at my stay in Vinales have been very nice. It have been some showers, but they have not lasted long. However, if you are out walking on the red fine grained soil that most of the tracks consists of, the track will turn into a slide if it rains a little bit.

At the Casa Particular that I stayed the food was really good, but I always got way to much. The 19'th I decided to see if I had a chance to clear the plates. That was absolutely not possible for me, and I ended up going early to bed unable to move due to the dinner. The next day I was up early studying, before I went for a walk east of Vinales. The area I walked would be great for dirt riding, eighter with a motorbike or a bicycle. In the afternoon and evening I continued studying Spanish and just ate some bread for supper.

In the middle of the night I woke up and my stomacke felt a bit odd. Instead of waiting for more information arriving my half asleep brain, I just rocketed into the bathroom and it turned out that that was a very vice decision. This put a stopper for further explorations of the country side surrounding Vinales, but I had some small trips around in town and did my Spanish studying morning and evening the next days.

I usually never have problems with what I have consumed, but it seems as if the bacteria flora here is in a totally other league compeared to what I am used to. I am still not sure what made me a victim of the toilet god, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a home made fruit drink I drank for dinner the 19'th is the guilty one for my stomacke problems.

Another interesting topic about visiting the toilets here are that the toilet paper is put in a basket beside the toilet and not flushed down. The reason for this is that the pipes gets blocked quite easly I have heard. In the beginning this was a very odd thing I thought, but now it is totally normal. So do not keep your laundry basket to clost to the toilet next time I am visiting.

In warmer countries it is very common to have a shower just before going to bed. This is very refreshing after a sunny and sweaty day. The temperature have in Vinales been around 30 degrees Celcius during the days. And with some showers that do not last to long the humidity is quite high here. For instance the paper is very soft and to dry clotes out of direct sunlight is not possible.

I still struggle with falling asleep with only those thin sheets as a blanket. I usually use an extra blanket for falling asleep, and throw it away sometime during night.

Everything is so loud here in Cuba. At night the sounds from the insects is overwhelming. At day the sounds from dogs, pigs, hens, veachels and the population is just enormous. People often stand on different sides of the streets and shouts to each other. And if you are in a rush and meet a person that you would like to have a chat with, it is just to start talking before you meet, and continue after you have passed each others.

I have not in my entire life seen so many strange veacheles as I have seen during one afternoon in Vinales. Here everything from brand new lorries from USA (!) to fifty years old motorcycles from Germany is on the roads. It is almost no limits for what can be put together and used for transportation.

Some of the old american cars are just beautiful, and looks as if they just have been transported here by use of a time machine. Others are a ugly mix of a nostalgic old car and new popular things like flashing light in different colors and car horns that sound like the sirena of the police or some strange bird. And green neon light mounted under the car have also arrived Cuba. It seems like there are no limitations of what can be mounted on cars here.

I was told that motorcyclists three months ago did not need to wear a helmet, and that it is still no law saying that the passanger need one. -Or how they should sit on a motorbike.

Also the smells here are much stronger than what I am used to from Norway. I totally understand people that travel to Norway and say that nothing smells there now.

In Vinales all houses have a porch which have a roof where people sit and relax and looks at the people that are passing and shout 'Hola' to each other. I think this is a great way of meeting your neighbours, but no option for Norway due to the climate and the mosquitos.

Vinales (Cuba) 18/12-06

I left Havanna the 17'th and to be honest, did not exactly know where I was going. I went on a guided tour to Vinales and here I am. The city is everything you look for when experiencing Cuba, except too many tourists.

The guided tour was great. Met two Norwegian girls (Hanne and Susanne, hello!) on the tour. On the tour we was visiting a tobaco factory. Can not say that the working conditions there is satisfying the Norwegina HES regulations. It was not allowed to take any photoes there, so I have none from the factory, but I have loads of photoes from Cuba now. Unfortunantly, it is not possible to upload pictures on the computers here, but I will upload them as soon as I have a posebillity.

Vinales if famous for the landscape. It is a flat valley with some mountain peaks sticking up. It is really beautiful and the people here are friendly and helpful.

Yesterday I went for a walk in the souroundings from where I live. It is loads of caves here, and they often lead from one part of the valley through a mountain to another part of the valley. I went through one of those yesterday. It was not a long cave, maybe 50m, but with no light it is exciting enough.

In the small mountains it is a lot of nice crags (bolted climbing routes), and a part of the tourists here are climbers. I went to one of the crags yesterday and it looked very nice.

The last couple of days it have been a carneval here. Loud musik and people dancing. I have to mention that some of the girls here are really stunning. It is nice to see that here it is not common to see a old white fart with a dark twenty yeary beauty, as is not uncommon in Havanna.

Today I also have been walking here. Have been looking at the farmland surounding Vinales. On the way back again I passed through the same cave as yesterday without even planning it. The farmers are supposed to be poor people, but they do not seem to be in lack of anything. Naturally when comparing with our standard of living, they do not have anything, but I think it is not fair to always compare other people with us.

Their livestock, however, seems to need more food. At the fields and for some transports they often use oxes. Horses are more for transportation of people at the roads. In the beginning it wa very strange to see chickens and pigs outside the houses, but after a while you get used to it, and it is very natural. Doges are also all over the streets, and most of them seems to be without an owner and looks that way too.

I am staying at a Casa Particular very close to the center of the town. The family is very nice and I really enjoy staying there. Yesterday I had dinner at their place too. It was really good and one of the people living there speak English.

I really regret that I did not learn more Spanish before leaving here. I can speak a little, as asking for direction, order food and other basic things. But that is not enough for comunicating with the locals, and that would bring a total other dimention into the trip. When I am in Vinales I am studying Spanish every morning and afternoon, but I can see that it is a long way to go before I kind of can use my Spanish for more than the basic things.

As a curiosity I thought that I shoud mention that one hour using the internet here, and it takes almost 15 minutes to log in, cost 6 Pesos Convertible. That is approximatly half a month vages for people here.

Cuba 15/12-06

The flight to Cuba with Cubana Air was a whole new experience. First we were waiting an hour to check in, even dough it was not many people there. Maybe ten or something. When it was my turn at to check in it turned out the I had to have an new ticket, which I had to pay 45 dollar to get. After waiting at the airport in Nassau the plane was going to leave a hour to late. That was before they found out that one of the passengers had an mental condition, thinking that someone on the plane was going to kill him. -And, no, it was not me. Anyhow, we all had to leave the plane and get back into the terminal so the guy with the psychic condition could be leaving the plane, before we could board again.

At Havanna Airport, naturally my luggage did not show up. And it took very long time before we got the luggage. Maybe almost an hour. After not getting the luggage and it was the custom. Since a lot of Cuban people that live in Miami and going home to Christmas to visit relatives and uses the Bahamas as a transfer, the customs had a big controle. And now we are talking big. Everything got examined, and after waiting another couple of hour I was recognized as not an Cubanian and could go through.

I took a taxi to the Casa Particular that I were going to stay. It was a nice place and it was very obvious that this was a very rich family in Havanna. Another Norwegian was staying there. He is a Norwegian writer and planned to finish a book when he was in Cuba.

The next day I went to see Havanna. It is almost not belevable that people can live under such conditions. When walking in Havanna I tried to find the bus station, since I was planning to go traveling. A very helpful person that worked there helped me out and told me that it was a holiday in Cuba now and that I needed to book the bus the same day, and also change money.
To make a a long story short, it was all a scam and my helpful friend managed to dissapear with some of my money before I understood the plot. So no I think I have learned a lesson.

Today I left my casa particular and when to Comodoro Hotel. One of my friends from Cuba knew some of the employees here, and I am going to stay the night here, before I am going to Rio Pinjales tomorrow. Plan to stay there almost a week and travel a bit around in the area.

When it comes to public transportation in Cuba, you can just forget about it if your Spanish is not very good. There are some busses for turists that take you between the bigger cities, but it is very difficult to travel without renting a car here.

It has not been possible to upload photos lately, but they will come sooner or later.

Bahamas 12-13/12-06

My plane to Bahamas was leaving Miami early and I was told that I should be on the airport three hours prior to departure. The taxi driver raced to the airport and it was then lots of waiting. It is also obvious that it is easier to get out of USA then in.

The view from the flight was beautiful. Blue ocean, white seabottom and small islands with white beaces and palms.

The heat was like a wall when we left the airplane. It must have been close to 30 degrees. The imigration and custom in Bahamas was very serviced minded. Have you got a return ticket? Yes, then go right through.

The ride with the taxi to the hotel took 20 minutes. It was first when I got to the hotel and read some information about Bahamas i noticed that they are driving on the left side of the road here. I think the reason for not noticing was that the car has the steering wheel on the left side, which is very common here. I think it is maybe 50-50 percent with right or left steering wheel on the cars here.

I have been walking in Nassau today and yesterday. The traffic is very heavy. I am not very impressed by Nassau. One of the reasons for my dissapointment is that Nassau is very influenced by the cruise tourism. Shops for buying diamonds and limosines is everywhere. Another big dissapointment is the Paradise Island. If that is paradise I am going yo book a ticket to hell. Everything on the Paradise Island is private proporty. If you do not stay on one of the hotels there, just forget about the place. And if you have chosen to stay at one of the hotels there, good luck. Everything is so turistic and none of the local culture is left.

Yesterday I was eating Jerk Chicken and drinking Soursup. An strong and interesting experience. If that is how the local food is here, that means that the food is spicy1

Going to Cuba today. I have not had time to rehears my Spanish, so I better start studying the most important words at the airport when I am waiting for the plane.

Miami 11/12-2006

Also today it have been a bit windy in Miami. It also were some showers earlier today but not enough to get wet. Have been on the beach and walking in the South Beach areas. It is an nice area for walking and a very clean city. They even have free doggybags for dog droppings hanging on poles in the streets.



Since it was so windy today it was not people that played volleyball on the beach. But met and marked courts where there.


Tomorrow I am going to Bahamas. The plane is leaving 8.40 so I got to get up early. However, since I am a bit jet laged, it will probably not be a problem to get up early. The problem will be going through the passport control I think.

It was a Christmas tree in one of the street. When you are from Norway you usually connect a Christmas three with snow, so it looked a bit strange, but it was very nice.

Miami 10/12-06

I am now in Miami. I live at the Clay Hotel in the Washington avenue. The hotel standard is not the best, but I do not plan to stay much at the hotel room. Today it was actually raining a bit here in Miami. Not much, compared to Bergen (Norwegian) standard. It was a litle shower that lasted 5 minutes, and that was it. It have been blowing quite heavily here today. But I spoke to one of the locals and he said that it was supposed to be calm tomorrow. When the plane landed it was 24 degrees here. Now it is dark but still quite warm. People are wearing shorts and t-skirts.

I left my sisters place at 4.30 this morning. My sisters boyfriend gave me a lift down to the railway station. My plane was leaving at 6.40 so I had plenty of time, well I had plenty of time untill the train stopped due to ice on the electric conducting wires. Therefore I got to the airport in Oslo quite late and after checking in I think we had 15 minuts untill the plane left. I meet a very nice girl from Canada at the railway station that I traveled to Frankfurt together with. I therefore did not fall asleep, which I usually do when I go by plane, especially this early in the morning.

From Frankfurt the plane to Miami took 10 hours. I slept a lot so I would not be so effected by the jet lag. I will try to stay up a couple of hours more so I go to bed around 11 o'clock Miami time. I also was luckey to meet an other travel companion, a girl from Frankfurt, on the plane to Miami. Her parents lived in Fort Launderdale so she was used to going through the imigration/custom in US and warned me that I should fill in the forms that we got on the plane without any errors. I did my best and did not have any real problems at the imigration, but those imigration officers are very strict, asking all kind of questions.

I got to the hotel by bus. It is very cheap going by bus here in Miami. I only payed 2$, but the bus ride was not very comfortable and I had to change the bus once on the way. I met a nice guy at the bus stop when I changed bus that helped me getting off the bus right outside my hotel. The hotel has a good location, only 2 blocks from the Miami Beach. I am going there tomorrow and will get some photos then.

Last day in Bergen

Today I am traveling to Oslo. My plane to USA will leave tomorrow early from Oslo, so I will stay the night at my sisters place. It have been hailing and raining heavily today, so I am looking forward to go traveling. A friend called me yesterday and told me that it was 20-25 degrees in Cuba, so it will be great to get some warmth in my bones again. Have packed my biggest backpack. I am bringing some Christmas gifts to Oslo, so when I leave Norway I will have lots of extra space in the backpack. The mortorbike equipment the I bring (jacket, trouser, gloves and helmet) also takes much space. I plan to bring it to Havanna, and find a place there to store it when I travel in Cuba. That means that I basicly have more than half my backpack empty when I am backpacking in Cuba. My ride to the airport is soon here.

Bike specifications

Kawasaki, KLR650, 2006, Green.
6400 milles.

Upgrades:
K9 fork brace (Happy Trails), bars (Pro Taper se high), bar riesers,guards (Acerbis pro rally), radiator/water guard (Happy Trails), aluminium skid plate (Happy Trails), heavy duty shifter (Happy Trails), foot pegs (IMS), front break line (Gaffner stainless steel), panniers (Pelican 1530), SU rack (Happy Trails), led tail light

Fixed:
New break pads, new rear shock, doohickey will be upgraded end of December 2006

Tyres:
Continental TKC 80

Damages/defects:
Scratches from crash left plastic, dent in tank right side, slightly dented radiator

Bike contract signed

Today I got the signed contract back, so now most of the bike issue is solved. I have been looking forward to this, so now I just need to get the insurance that I need for riding the bike in the USA, Mexico and Central America. The only thing that I need to fix on the bike is to do the doohickey, or the idler shaft lever. This is a relatively simple process and I have gotten someone to help me to do it.

It have been a bit complicated to fix things mainly on email from Norway. In retrorespect it would be a smart idea and start with this work earlier. However, in the beginning I was not alone on the project and it was one of the others travelers that later backed out that had been assigned to fix the bikes.

A comple of days ago I ordered maps and travel guides. I have got them shipped to my hotel in Miami, so I basicly have not started planning the trip yet. That does not bother me. It is supposed to be an adventure, and would it really be an adveture if everything were planned?
However, I have thought a bit of the destination of the motorbike journey. I think that it would be fun to visit Panama. This means that I eighter need to go back and forth through the Central America or I can go to Panama and leave the bike there or ship it back to Los Angeles. I will check up on this tomorrow.