I was told about this guy in September who planned to ride his dirt bike from mexico thru central america and south america. In his intenerary he planned to travel from Bogota to Medellin, this is the heart of FALN, ELN , Etc. territory. I have family in that area and pleaded with him that he should by pass this area, at best he would be hostage bait, at worse he would get killed. Well , he bragged about his cajones, said he was doing it for the victims of 9/11, etc. Could not pursuade him out of it, I asked him to at least contact the state dept, in Bogatoa of his plans and to tell them if they do not hear from him in a week he was in deep trouble. I hope he took my advice. because they got him, he has been documenting this on a web site his last entry sounds like they still have him , read it and you will see what i mean.  The site is

http://www.strikingviking.net/october-2001/

On to Meddelin topic all was well, then silence for 30 days, his post today sounds like he made it with a gun to his head. I have talked to a friend at the state dept. who is making some calls, hope he is okay.

[url]http://www.strikingviking.net/october-2001/[/url]

Yeah, nice folks...[IMG]http://www.theunholytrinity.org/cracks_smileys/contrib/aahmed/tongue.gif[/IMG]

Sounds like your boy ignored some sound advice that would have saved him some serious grief.

They call them "wars" for a reason![IMG]http://www.contrabandent.com/pez//contrib/aahmed/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

From the sound of that last post I would say that he is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

Has anyone seen my boots?

Too bad for your friend Rogerb, sounds like you more than tried to warn him, but being that he's okay I almost want to laugh at this statement made before his capture, I know a LOT of guys who talk like this. Hell I might even be one myself but...ya know hindsight n all that..

Central America and those cocaine cultivating areas in South America are lawless hellholes. Why anyone would want to travel there is beyond me. The war on drugs have turned all those countries into lawless "every man for themselves" battle zones. If the locals grab a hold of you, good luck. Being held hostage is least of your troubles. There was a retired couple that decided to ride their Harleys from North to South America. Lets just say that they never made it past Mexico. The Husband got off easy, they just cut his throat. The wife on the other hand...

Wow, what a story. I hope the best for your aquaintance. He sure had ample warning. That said, I have read most of his logs and must say that with his determination nothing could not have stopped from his journey.
Even in the current shitpile he is in I'm sure he'll be OK.
I wish I could see the eyes of his captors when he wheels that Kow 650 even further south instead of high tailing it back to the comfort of home up north.

(grammarfix)

Well it's a good thing they gave all the hostages Internet access so they could make web sites.

I don't know if that incident is true, but I have no sympathy for people who purposefully go into dangerous countries even after they ignore warnings by locals and State Dept. bulletins. Like those 2 women missionaries that were jailed in Afghanistan for teaching a banned religion. They were warned what the law was in that country but chose to ignore it and deserved what they got.

Just because you are American, don't think you are still protected by U.S. law and a call to the embassy will get you out of trouble.

What kind of moron would think that riding his dirt bike through Central America could in any way benefit the victims of 9/11?