South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure

:eek1

Best f*ckin' answer! :dllama

GREG: Alajuela, Costa Rica????

My wife will be in Alajuela in two days, on Saturday! Small world...

Are you familiar with Hotel Trotamundos?
"Nos localizamos en la Av 5, entre las calles 2-4, o en la "manera Tica" una cuadra al norte y media cuadra al oeste del Museo Juan Santa María."

Then it's off to Parismina...

☮

I think we're there, Vin We're just itchin to be putzin around down there with our stellar representative Juan-boy.
Not puteando... or...

I hope he's not stuck being held for interrogation over his "carta de introducción"...

VENUZUELA ENTRY

When I first came to the U.S.A. in 1976 as a traveller these were the requirements:


1. Passport must be valid for 6 months beyond your intended return date.

2. Visa obtained from American Embassy in your Country of origin.

3. Copy of Itinerary. Round trip ticket. Hotel reservations.

4. Certification of Employment, Specifying the following: length of employment, type of employment, possibility of re-employment.

5. Assets you own, home, property and etc.

6. Proof of available funds for length of travel.

7. Visa is valid fo rmultiple entry for 180 days.

I got caught out with number 2 as I drove to Tijuana after my visa expired in hope of turning around and renewing and just coming back in the USA. I had left my girlfriend and clothes in Long Beach. I was refused entry and told to go to my Counrty of origin for a visa! I had to go back to the UK! Well first I did the smart thing and drove to Panama City, Panama!

So it's not entirely unprecidented, EXCEPT the bank account bit...I wouldn't want anyone to know I had a large stash in my Bank, and you couldn't just open a phony account because they want to know WHEN the account was opened.
When we head south on our epic journey I guess we won't be see-ing Venuzuela. Well, whatever, you can't see everything.

As an aside, when I married an American citizen (in the U.K.) it took me three years to get my green card and I couldn't have a visitor visa in the interim. We stayed in the U.K. for that three years.

Brazil you won't be seeing either then. When I applied for my Brazilian Visa in Bogota last year they wanted proof of funds. They accepted an ATM bank account balance so I guess you could fake one of those without too much trouble. I only had a few thousand dollars showing in mine that I gave them and they issued me a Visa for what that's worth.

Venezuela and Brazil should not be missed imo, the free gas is the best

We're seeing more and more Visa restrictions from countries all over the world ... It's simply reciprocity against restrictive and punitive US immigration policies ... which have been in place for years.

I'm frankly amazed Venezuela hasn't gone down this road sooner given the vitriolic political attacks from the US right wing. (But Hugo got even at the United Nations )
Maybe if Venezuela cut off our oil supply things would change?
(number two or three supplier of oil to USA) Talk about hypocrisy!

Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and now apparently Venezuela, all charge a sizable fee and require various paper hurdles to grant a Visa to US citizens and other nationals as well. This may be new to US citizens but its not new to those from other countries.

If you look at what foreign nationals applying for US Visas have to endure and the costs involved, it's easy to see where these latest policies come from. Its Tit for Tat.

Looks like more and more US citizens will be forced to show up in person at an embassy to apply for a Visa. Of course they'll require proof of funds, air ticket IN/OUT, sponsor or recommendation letter ... and God knows what else. But ask your foreign friends what they went through to get into the US ... you won't believe it. :eek1

In the past I've simply used a valid Credit Card as proof of funds ... and it was accepted. Now? Maybe not. They learned the game from us ... and now average tourists are paying the price.

Dang. We had better get our ducks in a row then. We want to ride to T del F end of this year or next year. Getting the DR650's ready even now!

"Aunque" or "pero" would work

Hola Juanito,

I've heard about this for Colombian Tourists... If it is the same thing, all you need is a letter from a local "inviting" you to the country. You have my e-mail, let me know your full name, passport number, etc and I'll write the letter for you.

I just called a buddy of mine who owns a Travel Agency and he said he has no idea (but he deals with people going out of the country not coming in)...

Can you give us details on what info is needed in the letter and who has to write it?

Also, Cucuta is a "swifter" border crossing... Maybe they won't ask for the letter there?

All they want to know is if you have enough money to fund your stay in-country. They don't care if the account was opened two months ago...
I even think it is not a bad idea to open a bank account where you do not keep your "large stash" and during your trip you take money out from that "small stash" account, in case your debit card gets lost, stolen or cloned...

It's just bureaucracy coming from highly inept governments, with a little bit of wit, you can easily navigate around the hurdles... If all border crossing where easy, then where is the adventure?

Hi Silviu,

I have been checking the internet and can't find anything about what exactly is required. This could be just one border crossing on one day. Who knows?

Doing a search of ADVrider I see that rtwpaul had no problems at this exact same border crossing two months ago, so I'm heading to Cucuta to see if this is some new requirement or not.

If it is I will find out what is needed and email you. These things all work out in the end. No way I'm skipping Venezuela.

Muchas gracias amigo,
Juan Extranjero

Highly entertaining to see epic riders debating spanish grammar and vocabulary, and doing it very well. Kudos

Flying to Medellin in june. I'll try to mimic the pic of crashmaster, throttlemeister and Adam at the good fuking ribs restaurant. That's as real as it will get for vicarious living

Que buen reporte!!

I'm sure you will figure it out one way or another...

Keep in mind RTWPaul has dual citizenship and might have entered as a Brit

Let me know if I can help

Seriously. I know about this firsthand. But this is the land of "golden opportunity" - everyone wants to come here - and we'd only want to go there temporarily... and leave a few almighty dollars there in the process...
If they only knew! Well, ok, maybe they are catching on. Looks like I need to start concentrating harder on getting my cedula Ecuatoriana before it becomes an insurmountable obstacle.

That's the spirit, John! If you want it, you'll make it work. That's very cool of SS to offer to sponsor you. Good times!

Hi John,

I think I understand you. There is sublime beauty in the solitude of pristine landscape untouched by civilization. My mother's parents lived in a very small village in Moldavia under Carpathian foothills, connected by an impassable dirt road (when it rained) to the rest of the world, with no electricity and just a battery powered radio my grandfather, who fought in the second world war, used to turn on on special days.
Most his time he used to work the corn land and vineyard, tend to sheep which the hand full of villagers living there put all together in a small herd. They lived all their life there, had 16 children which my grand mother gave birth without medical assistance except for a neighbor woman, and then raising them until they all left for the big cities. Now I understand how and why they were so much at peace with their lives until their last days. I loved going there although it wasn't often since it was far for our home. Evenings, my grandfather would drink the almost black, heavy red wine until he was warmed up, then start singing his shepherd flute, as we, his grandchildren, sat around him listening. Sleeping outside under the stars was my favorite, looking at the sky I felt could touch them with my hand, that''s how clear and close they looked.

I still dream of those places and simple time in my life.

Best,
Vic

That's a beautiful post, Vic. Thanks!

Silviu is right i used my UK passport not my US one to enter and exit Venzuela and didn't have any issues at all, major problems getting back into Columbia, accused of line jumping by an official but when i got 1000 columbians on my side shouting and chanting at the immigration guy he finally backed down...

but as a side not i entered VZ with a Canadian and two Americans (on US passports), and everyone got in, they actually opened the border crossing early for us in Paraguachón so we could wait in the AC until the officials arrived in the nice cool air...i exited at Cucuta, took a matter of minutes and was simple

VZ border officials were super friendly spoke good English and couldn't help us enough, no additional papers were requested, same as everywhere else, Passport/ title and normal copies

Bet you don't spend more than $1 on gas the whole time you're in the country

Indeed.

:)

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