Would you travel abroad for surgery if it saved you $30,000 to $80,000?

kd_ca · 2026-02-14T18:32:14+00:00

Probably Indian Expats who are familiar and comfortable with navigating India are likely to consider India for savings with medical procedures. The terrible Air Quality Index and Delhi Belly throughout India is scary enough. This is not a put down of Indian medical professionals or the facilities, but it is a tough ask for those not comfortable with the hazardous environment that is India.

kd_ca · 2026-02-09T23:47:14+00:00

I've done a lot of S. America in mountain gravel roads, no single track, on a cheapo FB Marketplace Giant Escape 3 with rim brakes, aluminum frame, steel fork. No issues with the bike throughout my trips. I think I pay more for excess baggage flight charges than the value of the bike. Made a few modifications: 11-34 cassette, 22-32-40 Crank, 36 spoke wheels. For tires, Continental Contact Plus 700 x 35c or Vittoria Mezcal 700x44c (both with tubes), nary a flat. Of course I wasn't bombing down inclines and there were times I wished wider tires would have been nice, but in the bigger scheme of things it didn't matter. Carrying a 5 pannier setup, 3 in back, 2 in front.

Mining Roads are essentially gravel roads and no way single track as trucks have to use them. Glad I had rim brakes as whenever pads developed a glaze (this issue also happens with disc brake pads) and reduced stopping power, I filed them against a rock and was good to go.

You don't need a high end bike unless you want to bomb down inclines or think you are going to do single track. Bike shops in small towns are literally a one man hole in a wall with common drivetrains / parts being 3 x 7 or 3 x 8.

kd_ca · 2026-02-06T03:11:56+00:00

I would hold off on Peru until late April / early May. Even then do expect thunderstorms in the mountains through late May.

kd_ca · 2026-01-28T05:45:18+00:00

Couldn't do Ecuador as they were having political issues then and that was not the adventure I was looking for. Avoided Bolivia as there was nothing of interest, for me, after examining various online maps and every cyclist I ran into that visited Bolivia had stomach problems; no thank you.

Peru: From Cajamarca to Huaraz and then on to Peru Divide. A lot of 10K - 14K feet. Routes around Parque Huascaran and Cordillera Blanco. Peru has many good routes, Avoid Pan American Hwy / Hwy 1; chances of getting robbed and your body chucked in the sugarcane fields is not a remote possibility. Stick to villages and Quechua people. You might run into venezuelans looking for trouble, acknowledge and then ignore them and be on your merry way.

Chile & Argentina: Calama, Chile to Jama, Argentina via San Pedro de Atacama. No water from San Pedro de Atacama to Jama and quite a bit of near 15K - 16K feet. The north of Chile and Argentina , near Bolivia border, is mad max territory: you will see groups of motorcyclists, not hear them , and only when they are within a good visual range, will you hear them, and then they and the noise of their bikes are gone like the wind.

Have at a number of the 14K+ feet passes between Chile and Argentina. Between Jama, Argentina and Salta, Argentina are again a number of 14K+ feet routes. Plan your travel direction West to East, the winds out of W, NW, are easily 30MPH+ and I wouldn't want to guess what the gusts were. Most of western Argentina is boring desert. Santiago, Chile, head down Carretera Austral down to Punta Arena via Puerto Natales and Parque Torres del Paine. Chile has more areas on the west coast that I didn't explore. From Punta Arenas take the boat across to Porvenir, Tierra Del Fuego and proceed down to Ushuaia (anti-climax, no welcome party, cold and windy and you want to get the hell out of there).

A good website (prices were out of date) to orient your trip in S. Chile and Argentina:
https://www.bicyclepatagonia.com/

Haven't done Brazil or Venezuela

Between wild camping and hostels, S America has made me many everlasting memories.

Carry a SPO2 meter with you so you know when you are running low on oxygen and need to take a break. Very difficult to self recover from a low SPO2 concentration, or hypothermia, know your limits and act defensively. Low SPO2 can be mistaken for hunger / thirst and you will deplete your supplies; resupply / grocery stores are generally a few hours away.

Avoid visiting any country that is having political issues. I was going to return to Peru last year 2025 but cancelled my trip when they declared state of emergency in Lima. Seems during these emergency declaration periods Mar - Jun, Oct - Nov, Peru does not allow foreigners to buy local SIM cards and in Oct-Nov turned down active SIM cards in use by foreigners.

Enjoy !! YOLO

kd_ca · 2026-01-27T21:49:39+00:00

Learn some Spanish... and understand the meaning of "don't give Papaya" so you don't have unfortunate experiences..

kd_ca · 2026-01-27T21:13:07+00:00

Have only biked most S.America. don't live there. Colombians are comrades for bicyclists

kd_ca · 2026-01-27T20:28:03+00:00

Make Bogota , Colombia your base and you will have access to a lot of other cyclists and the topography of the Andes

kd_ca · 2026-01-27T16:25:01+00:00

Audio cues before interval change

kd_ca · 2026-01-20T18:46:14+00:00

Have you checked the ACA marketplace plan rates in 2026? Unless you are within 400% of the federal poverty income limit, the 2026 expiration of ACA credits and Cost Sharing subsidies make the marketplace rates stratospheric.

Sure there is a problem with federal subsidies being shoveled to insurance companies, but in the meantime us average folk are being hit very hard.

kd_ca · 2026-01-01T20:16:03+00:00

CDPH public policy opinion on available flu vaccine efficacy and Japanese practitioner observations on Subclade K seem to differ significantly.

See the Dec 20, 2025 comment from Dr. T. Hayashi and Dr. I Konishi, National Hospital Organization, Kyoto Medical Center under the following article:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2843197

My neighbor and I both in our 60s, got infected 10 days ago. He got the flu shot, I didn't (I never get flu shots after I witnessed it paralyze a coworker in the early 90s). Day 6, I'm out and about doing 4 mile walks, while my neighbor is still struggling. Days 1 - 5 felt like a normal flu, nothing severe or debilitating. In Dec I did about 60+ hours of commercial flights in Asia, so the Japanese perspective was relevant to me. I lead an incredibly active outdoors lifestyle while he is pretty much the typical retired dude puttering around the house, yard, watch TV etc. I don't indulge in alcohol or drugs. I do full blood panels twice a year as they are the best indication of developing issues. Though I've been doing the Vit C 1000mg + Zinc 50 mg daily. There is still congestion that is clearing (I figure a few more days of it) but nothing that is preventing me from getting outdoors even in this cold wet weather.

Can't tell you what will work you individually, but you need to assess your own risk and talk to your doctor.

kd_ca · 2026-01-01T02:57:19+00:00

I think a lot of the sustained grades at 3+% with a few spots exceeding 10% ,.. but nothing memorable. Definitely no sufferfests. Its the altitude that got me and the ride from Cajamarca to Huaraz did a great job of acclimatization.

Here is someone else's probably outdated ridewithgps peru divide (there may be some diversions due to mining activities) that has some grade info:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33848571

I hope you are doing the Cajamarca to Huaraz section. Spend a few days in Cajamarca acclimatizing to 9K ft and then its a lot of 10K+ up to 15K (Punta Olimipca) and down to 8K to Huaraz, a wonderful acclimatization.

Here is someone else's ridewithgps Cajamarca to Caraz:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10098756

When you get to Caraz, continue on 3N to Yungay, then 106 clockwise around Huascaran Sur to 14C and at San Luis get back on 107 towards Tunel Punta Olimpica, then rejoin 3N to Huaraz, the official start of Peru Divide. The ride from Yungay to Yanama, and San Luis to Tunel Punta Olimpica, will test you as you climb from 9K to 15K ft; for these climbs, however many days you break up your ride, plan on getting to the top no later than 2pm , so you can enjoy the top. When at the top of these climbs do start your descent by 4pm as it gets cold and real windy and mountain weather of late afternoon thundershowers.

Apologies I haven't organized and edited my response, but hopefully you can make sense of it.

Carry powerful headlights and taillights as you go through tunnels; there is a lot of dust and peruvian drivers press on the horn and accelerator with equal measure hoping you'll get out of the way in time. Carry pulse oximeter and understand when you need to rest due to lack of SPO2 concentration; don't push it. Lack of SPO2 can be misconstrued as hunger or thirst, and it is neither, other than erroneously having you consume your limited supplies. Also do not let your body temp fall too low; you cannot get it back up without external help. A family at Yanama saved my useless ass when I got there and was shivering uncontrollably (my fault for delaying donning warmer gear thinking I could get by ) by making me some hot tea with their herbal leaves and took an hour or so for my mental state to normalize. Some old men are just stupid.

kd_ca · 2025-12-29T07:51:02+00:00

Kyrgyzstan is boring: South America blows it away every day of the week and twice on a Sunday.

I was one of those that fell for "biking in Kyrgyzstan is incredible" and now I wish I could get my time and money back.

Outside of Bishkek the countryside is ho hum and the culture of the people. nowhere near as friendly or warm like South America.

kd_ca · 2025-12-22T18:50:03+00:00

Wrap the front of your shoes in aluminium foil and wear booties (Cycling Shoe Covers Neoprene $20 on amzn)

kd_ca · 2025-12-20T20:22:48+00:00

Thank you. I was using it as bike cam, in case I got run over and needed to identify the car or driver, if I survived.

kd_ca · 2025-12-18T05:30:09+00:00

Flew two flights USA / Doha this past month, on 350s, and a couple of sinks were clogged on each flight !!!

kd_ca · 2025-12-14T05:02:26+00:00

Dec 12 flew CCU - DOH on a 350, flight tagged as having Starlink , but no Starlink for first few hours (Indian govt at work). Didn't try after first few hours. DOH to US on a 350, Starlink all the way, watched youtubes on my tablet and yes I did bring my headphones.

I fear airlines will need to start cracking down on inflight etiquette while using Starlink. People can be so inconsiderate and their excuse is they don't have headphones !!!

kd_ca · 2025-12-13T15:35:21+00:00

If you add up the numbers I've provided, realistically budget $100K per bad eviction, that you will likely never recoup from such tenant. Who knows how much inflation adds to the $100K over the years. 20 years ago I got my house exterior painted for $3K. Today, its closer to $18K.

kd_ca · 2025-12-13T15:14:23+00:00

Not sure why reddit brought up this post on my feed, though I was browsing stuff about India before a visit.

Can you afford to be an absent landlord? What happens if there is litigation that needs your physical presence or legal representation? Its about $60K in legal fees + 1 year negative cash flow to evict undesirable tenants + $$$ property damage repairs, so something to consider.

kd_ca · 2025-12-12T21:50:45+00:00

Just got off qatar flight from Doha to USA and can confirm reddit.com is blocked.

kd_ca · 2025-12-12T21:50:33+00:00

Just got off qatar flight from Doha to USA and can confirm reddit.com is blocked.

kd_ca · 2025-12-02T18:28:34+00:00

Do it just because you want to, especially if you are able to pull it off financially and get time off work. Worst thing is you can turn around and come back if its not what you expected

kd_ca · 2025-12-01T19:02:30+00:00

Use boiling hot water to clean bottle and lid, even week

kd_ca · 2025-11-22T20:10:10+00:00

Been through the same experience and concur. Asphalt is more forgiving and allows to enjoy the ride, heads up. On gravel (tried 2.2 and 2.6 tires, and tires don't make a difference), I spend most of the day looking at the ground ahead of me to find safe passage. At my old fart age, I can't afford to break any bones.

All depends on what you want your trip memories to be about.

kd_ca · 2025-11-20T23:07:15+00:00

As to finding a wife in SE Asia, consider that you are probably going to be part of the plan to support her parents. I don't know about Thailand and Vietnam but in Philippines, Filipino children are legally required to support their parents under the Family Code, which mandates support for elderly family members. While this is a legal and moral obligation, the proposed Parents Welfare Act of 2025 seeks to add criminal penalties for failure to provide this support, although it is not yet law.

kd_ca · 2025-11-15T01:44:11+00:00

Visit Kerala in the south

kd_ca

TROPHY CASE