November 28 - 05, 2002: Aduana Jail! - Quito

Odometer: 16,090

We arrived in Quito late Thursday evening without so much as a hiccup. The flight was nice and the passport shuffle was a breeze. Easiest border crossing yet...so far. That evening we decided to stay in the nearest, cheapest hotel we could find and then go and find The Crossroad Hostal and Restaraunt suggested by Ricardo Rocco Paz. I met Ricardo on the internet about 5 months ago and he was our contact in viajo to help us through the customs process for our bikes and to suggest a good motorcycle shop to get new tires and some mechanical work done.

Finding the hostal was not a problem at all as we took a taxi with the little luggage we kept off of the bikes. Once settled I called Ricardo and got the address of the Delta Services agent, Harry Ortiz, that would help us through the Aduana (Customs) process.

So, it's Friday and we are meeting with Harry to discuss the process. He no speaky english and we no speaky spanish too good, but I got that our bikes were not yet in Quito, they were in Bogata, Columbia! Wha...! Harry told us to come back around 5pm and the plane should have been landed by then and we would get the bikes.

So, we came back at the appointed time and walked over to the Aduana. I sensed almost immediately there were and would be problems. Harry conveyed that the bikes were there but there was a problem...no, mucho problemo is what he said. The afternoon ended with us all in the general secretary of the aduanas office and Harry pleading to let our bikes go.

In Ecuador, if you fly a vehicle into the country without a carnet de passages (a document garaunteeing you aren't going to sell it) it is assumed that you will pay some incredible import tax to receive your shipment. But wait, we are traveling 'through' Ecuador, we aren't here to sell the bikes. Harry finally convinced Senor Secratario that we would not, in fact, sell the bikes and got one of many important stamps and signatures to get our bikes out of Aduana jail. Problem was, he wouldn't let us do so on Friday. Come back Monday! Offices closed on Saturday and Sunday. Dang! Harry was very apologetic but what could we do? So here I am, stupidly only packing a change of shirt and no toiletries and, well, what could I do? Make the best of it that's what.

We went out and had a nice steak dinner ($5 with beer) and got really drunk! ;-)

On Satruday we met Mark from Australia. Mark started travelling via backpack and in Mexico City bought a Yamaha Seca, circa 1982 for $1,500. He plans to travel to Ushuaia, where we are headed if the bike makes it. Mark is a very cool guy, a lawyer in Perth, and he reminds me alot of Sean Sullivan (the MOFOs know Sean). He had a great attitude about the whole thing and, like us, ended up at The Crossroads after being contacted by Ricardo Rocco.

Ricardo showed up Friday evening for a planned night out for beers. He showed up with his friend and two very lovely Ecuadorian ladies. Hugh was nowhere around and Mark and I greeted him and his other guests at the Hostal. They were looking fine and ready to go out. We on the otherhand were looking nasty. Ricardo invited us to have dinner with him and his guests but we insisted that they go have dinner and come back for beers. He never did and I don't blame him a bit. ;-)

Saturday evening was a surprise and this accounting belongs in my "special events" page, but I didn't bring my damned camera! One of Ricardos associates (get the idea that Ricardo is the penultimate ecuadorian moto-maniac yet?) stopped by to pick us up, un-announced to head over to the Presidential (Plaza Independencia) plaza where over 100 local motorcyclists had gathered to help kick off the week of party in Quito. December 5th is the Foundation of Quito and is just one more reason to get out of hand in this town! Parties started on weekend before and get crazier and crazier.

Anyway Maurisio picked us up and took us down for meet and greet which really made me feel like I was home. It was a great turnout that ended up at Marios Motociclismo (motoshop where Hugh and I got our work done), full on with the standard must have Peavy concert speakers pointed into the street blasting at full volume, a great spread of food and of course a few beers. Hugh and I finally got beered out and headed back to the hostal, but not until heading over to a local pub.

The pub is run by an Ecuadorian by the name of Alphonso, great guy, and caters mostly to the UK set. We met the frequents and made friends with Kiv and Ian and a couple other names I forget now as we pretty much stayed up until 5:30am playing pool (british rules of course), drinking beer and keeping Al happy

All this partying Saturday night worked to our (my) advantage as Sunday drifted right on by and it's time to go back and see what Harry can do to get our bikes out of Aduana Jail.

We showed up at Delta Services at the appointed 9am to find that the bikes did NOT arrive on friday but they did on Saturday. Please come back at 2pm. All this back and forth was adding up in cab fares ($3 one way) but at least I knew how to get back to The Crossroads through the crazy network of roads. Now for the kick in the balls. Delta Services (Harrys boss) wanted $400 to cover the Aduana costs ($40), the costs of storing our bikes ($28/day each, even though there was NO FRIGGIN WAY TO GET THEM OUT AND THEY SHOULD"VE BEEN THERE FRIDAY) and, the cost of his services! RAPE!

A-hole! We didn't have it, or to the point we had enough to pay the Aduana and a marginal fee for Delta Services services. Fuckers! Hugh had $80 and I just happen to carry around $200 in my boot and helmet in case some bastard decides to rob me. I had another $50 in my wallet and offered $300 to settle this shit. He took it, grudgingly. Fuckstick! And we did get our bike back to the hostal around 6pm...finally.

I let Ricardo know what happened. He seemed genuinely upset and mentioned he would never work with them again. I'm hoping I hear more about why we were reamed like this from him

Anyway, it was nice to have the bikes back but the next day we gave them up again to the shop, which took nearly 2 days to complete some much needed work. The bikes would have been finished the day we brought them in, but the only tires they had to offer (in shop) were a 60/40 dirt/street combination. Great if you ride a lot of dirt. Not so great if you ride a lot of miles. So they shopped around for what they could find and we are now riding on 'Kings' (made in Taiwan) on the rear and Pirelli on the front! I'm still carrying that tire I bought in Mazatlan!

What fun. We got our bikes back on Wednseday the 4th of December. We also met Mika (German) at the Crossroads (Ricardos suggestion of course). Mika has been riding his bike all over the world for the past 3.5years, traversing Indonesia, Australia and South and Central America. He had just finished 2 months in Columbia and is heading to Ushuaia. Just like us! He plans to travel another 1.5 years through Africa after that. Wowa!

Mika and Mark left together this morning (the 5th) heading directly for the Peruvian border. Mark has to be out of the country this Sunday or he will lose money to the Ecuadorian Aduana. He brought his bike in by boat, but unlike us, he simply deposited a lot of money and promised to be gone within a certain timeframe. I hope we hook up with these guys on the road again.

We are in Otavala now as I write these words. Otavalas claim to fame is an intensely rich and assorted Inca artisan market. As born and bread consumers, we couldn't pass it up. Well I could've but it's only about 60 miles north of Quito. Heading into Otavala we stopped at the Mitad del Mundo, a marker of the equater. Pretting cool to be stradling the northern and southern hemisphere of the earth.

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