We wake up and head down to the lobby to see if there has been any luck with the phone being returned. Nothing has been turned in. Next, we go up to the 10th floor for our included breakfast. Nothing spectacular but not bad. Fantastic view of the city though. Nice start to the day, and it is going to be a trick one. Buying a motorcycle in Latin America isn’t as easy as Canada.
Step one… get a RUNT. Basically, this is like a transit permit to be able to buy something. We trip off down a few blocks to find the office I had looked up online, but couldn’t find it anywhere. After a short while, we asked a couple locals and they recommended taking a taxi to Premium Plaza mall and find Secreteria de Movilidad office inside. A $3 cab ride later we are in the mall, at the right office, and in line to get the permit. We fill out the info, get fingerprinted and photographed, and then given a bill that we need to pay at a nearby bank and then return with the receipt. We pay or $4 bill, return and are quickly issued the RUNT. Only 11am, things are going well. Next, we cab across town to the motorcycle shop and arrange the purchase. By about 12:30 we are almost done but need to go exchange our US dollars for Colombian pesos. We find a Casa de cambio and I make my exchange. I leave there with 5 giant wads of pesos, adding up to 9 million in total. Chris gets slightly bigger bills and leaves with 2 wads. We get back to the dealer and pay for the bikes. All done and only 1:30. Off we cab back to our hotel. Bikes will be ready for pickup tomorrow afternoon we are told. They will already have license plates and insurance. This has all gone well despite not one of the people we dealt with speaking any English. We had mangled our way through.
Just after arriving at the hotel I get a WhatsApp message. Chris has unfortunately left the dealer with all the copies of paperwork for his bike, including the ones that they need to finalize the registration. Back in a taxi, we cruise back to the shop, literally drive by, hand papers out the window and continue full circle back to the hotel. Chris is at this point starting to feel like a comedy of errors, but everything is still working out, and we still hold some hope his phone will make it back (being worth 3-4 months of Colombian pay, it is seeming unlikely.
Now late afternoon, we wander around town for a few hours before having a decent dinner on a nice outdoor patio, people watching the crowds. As the evening ends, we both need to make up for lost sleep the night before.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 