29/10/2013 Stage 52 Buta Ranquil - Chos Malal

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Stage 52 Buta Ranquil – Chos Malal

All tarmac and a reasonable distance of 100 kms, a good day ahead. The weather was slightly overcast but cool, good for cycling but poor light for taking photo's. As usual we had the road to ourselves most of the time and the contour undulated up and down. A nice Goldilocks day not too easy and not too hard. The only unknown was the extent of the straight climb which ended up being 500m with 1100m total climb , again, Goldilocks cycling.

Once we'd completed the climb there was a 15 kms downhill cruise into Chos Malal, regarded as the local big city but still with most of its roads made of mud and dust. We'd already had one woman stop us in the middle of nowhere to offer us help and then give us a bottle of water followed by a handful of sweets , then the typical Argentinian generosity continued as we entered Chos and firstly a youngster approached us to give directions , then a man led the way in his car for two kms and advised us to go to the campsite, after this another car driver stopped again offered help and was in fact the manager of the campsite. Finally when we got to the centre yet another man stopped to ask what he could do to help, when we said we were looking for a hotel he insisted that we could stay in his house , led us there and then left us alone in his house whilst he went back to work. Cynically my mind was telling me that he wasn't going to work at all but quickly popping to the hardware shop to get the plastic sheets and axe to finish us off. The reality is that they are really friendly helpful people and it's sad I suppose that I find it so unusual .

155 kms of nothingness tomorrow with substantial climbing so at this stage we're undecided but leaning towards camping tomorrow night. Argentina is very different than the other countries we've visited , the distances between villages is much bigger and there is usually absolutely nothing in between . We've been told that it gets even more sparsely populated as you head South.

Passed the 5000 kms cycled point today.

28/10/2013 Stage 51 Ranquil Norte - Buta Ranquil

28/10/2013 Stage 51 Ranquil Norte - Buta Ranquil
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Heading for the Volcano and cycling around it tomorrow

The air was still quite cool when we set off in the morning. We had the road to ourselves with barely any traffic as usual. The plan was to ride to Barancas on tarmac (about 30 km) and then continue another 94 on unpaved road passed the Tromen Volcano. But the locals informed us that this was not possible at the moment. The track was impassible as the smowmelt had washed parts of it away, so we were left with the long way round option which would make it a 150km day with 1500 meters of ascent. When a lovely hostal presented itself in Buta Ranquil we quickly decided to make a nice leisurely day of it. The last six days had been pretty tough after all with lots of hard off road and at times serious head wind. It is funny how there is always another challenge. To begin with it was all about the very sustained up hills which could take 5 or 6 hours, then there was altitude to cope with, or lack of decent food. The extreme conditions on the Alti Plano and the Salt flats, unmade roads whether they be hard packed earth, gravel sand or a mix of them all and now of course the major player is wind. The most unpredictable of them all.

27/10/2013 Stage 50 Bardas Blancas - Ranquil Norte

27/10/2013 Stage 50 Bardas Blancas - Ranquil Norte

2013-10-27click date for more

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The road headed South along the Rio Grande which at this stage consisted of a broad valley with lots of pampas grasses with the narrow river threading its way in between. The road surface was initially broken tarmac and with a strengthening tailwind the kms covered quickly clocked up. Other road users were a rarity and once again the scenery was fantastic. We had thought we would have to wild camp somewhere but with such rapid progress the thought of reaching a small village instead became more of a reality. It never pays to get to optimistic however as at the 40kms stage we crossed the river and the surface changed to thick gravelly ripio in which we began the usual slip sliding slow progress and the thought of reaching Ranquil Norte started to recede. We knew that there was a 600m climb to finish and it was going to be ripio and the type of ripio would determine our success or failure. Crossing the Rio Grande once again we started the climb on ripio again but this time it was manageable. We were in with a chance. Nearing the top of the climb Marjets' choice of descriptive words took on a predominantly expletive form as we kept thinking we'd finished the climb only to descend another 50 m before climbing again. We were both pretty dry at this stage and it was mainly the thought of a cold beer that kept us going. “ I'll cry if there's no beer” said Mrs P and guess what, it was election day during which it was illegal to sell alcohol! No tears but we looked so distraught that the lady ,whose front room was the shop, took pity on us and sold us the beer anyway. Too small a place for a hostel but the man across the road had a room he would let out, no sheets or pillows and one matress on the floor but it would do . Probably a day to not have pushed on but as there were few rewards but once again beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

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26/10/2013 Stage 49 El Sosneado - Bardas Blancas

2013-10-26 click date for more photo's

26/10/2013 Stage 49 El Sosneado - Bardas Blancas
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Well! After hesitating for a while WIND is definitely back in the number one spot of hates. Soft deep sand threatened to overtake head winds for a while but no longer! I hate head winds always have and always will. There just is no reward. One minute all is hunky-dory and the next you pretty much come to a standstill even though you are meant to be zooming down hill. At least if you are struggling up a big hill there is a reward in coming down hill. There is no compensation for head wind. The thing that upsets me most is the noise of the wind . It just spoils it for me, the noise of wind in my ears. But hey ho I think I had better get used to it because we are just about to enter Patagonia. The windiest place on earth. Having got my moans about wind out of the way, even though many more will follow I'm sure, it has been another wonderful day cycling. We both decided that a 600 meter climb is just perfect to distract from the boredom of flat terrain and the descent is well worth the effort getting up. The landscape has become even more enchanting again now that we are right in the Andes again. We passed Malargue a ski resort town earlier and you do empathise with the Argentinians who see themselves closer to Europeans then to other South American nations . It sure feels closer to any European country then to their neighbouring countries. The upside of it is that people can imagine your situation so we get lots of encouragements along the way. ( cheers, toots,bottles of cold water etc) I think in Peru and Bolivia we were considered from a different planet and little communication was possible but here there is more of a mutual understanding.

As always it seems that the last few miles into town seem the hardest. They seem to go on forever over very though terrain, into wind, uphill whatever! But we eventually found Bardas Blancas with one Hosteria which also had the only shop and restaurant found a place to stay and a cold beer was on offer. Few provisions and no bread but enough for the next 36 hrs as there's nothing until Barancas the day after tomorrow Looking at the bathroom facilities made me decide I would rather stay smelly than risk it. Who died of a smelly body anyway?? [ Your companion smelt of roses after his shower as I remember ]

typical hotel room chaos

25/10/2013 Stage 48 Bush camp routa 40 - El sosneado

2013-10-25 more photo's

25/10/2013 Stage 48 Bush camp Route 48 – El Sosneado
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Waking up was difficult despite 11 hrs in our sleeping bags and both of us had stiff legs. The ripio soon shook our muscles back into shape again as we climbed for about 200m on a very gentle slope. Once again there was a lot of sand so a lot of slow and high speed skidding but thankfully only one section that Marjet had to push. As yesterday the rare passer-by in a car would often stop and ask if we needed any help or wanted anything. The scenery remained beautiful with the snow capped mountains to our right and vast areas of nothingness in front and to our left.

After 40 kms we hit the tarmac road leading to El Sosneado which gently undulated heading West. We stopped for lunch and slowed the pace as progress was much more rapid now we were on lovely smooth tarmac. Until.

Riding down a slight incline led us into a headwind which initially we thought to be a strong thermal induced gust, but it persisted and got stronger , and stronger and then it picked up strength again to the point that the speed dropped from 16 to 3 mph and the danger was from constantly being blown off course and into the middle of the road. The last 20 kms were hard going and when we finally entered the city of El Sosneado we discovered it had one petrol station which sold sandwiches to toast and ,thank God, cold beer. Anyway we eventually found a comfortable cabin and began the usual beer drinking calorie stuffing routine. Suffering does have it rewards!

Ja knikker in Dutch  Don't know the English for this

24/10/2013 Stage 47 San Carlos- bush camp Route 40

2013-10-24 alotof nothingness

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24/10/2013 Stage 47 San Carlos – Bush camp Routa 40

Our panniers were bursting with provisions when we left this morning and to be on the safe side we stopped for breakfast in Paraditas the last little town before we hit the dirt road. We agonised for ages last night and spoke to lots of people regarding the route to take. As it happened fate decided for us because we missed all signs and ended up on the Neuva Ruta 40. Route 40 is the famous long distance route( over 3200 km) through Argentina as famously ridden by motorbike by Che Quevera in his youth and we will be travelling on it a fair bit.

There were lots of road works going on in the beginning all though very little sign of actual work in progress and the surface wasn't too bad. A bit of ripio (gravel with varying size stones) washboard and sand. Cycling ripio is harder by a long way but it is more rewarding just as cycling the bridleways in England is harder but more rewarding. It's a bit like riding a horse on Dartmoor in foul weather. It's how it should be. However! When the road changed to deep sand after about 60 km it didn't feel so good any more. We were beyond the point of no return despite there being another 90 km of desolation ahead of us I had to get of my bike so many times because the sand was too deep I got fed up getting on again with great effort only to come to a grinding halt 3 meters on. So I ended up pushing the bike with great difficulty at times. I didn't mind but there was this fear as to how long it would remain like that. There was another 90 km of off road to come and I couldn't walk it all! Luckily it only lasted 3 or 4 km before there was a mix of surface again that could mostly be cycled. We were very grateful for the tail wind. Not just because it made the cycling easier but also because we didn't have sand blown in our faces which was a definite bonus. There was a long down hill section and once again we were very glad to have such strong bikes. They took such a beating going fully laden down some very rough and bumpy stuff mixed in with unexpected sand patches. Numerous times I expected to fall of as the bike span under me at speed but it all went well. I still can't get my head around these vast landscapes where nothing changes for hours and hours on end. The same blue sky, the snow capped mountains and the same bushes where ever you look. It's a bit different in Holland. We found a lovely secluded spot to camp just after we crossed the dam and settled for the night. Actually at this point we switched the GPS on and realised weren't on the road we had expected to be on and would end up travelling further tomorrow but probably reach tarmac road slightly earlier.

23/10/2013 Stage 46 Mendoza - San Carlos

2013-10-23 dustdevil

23/10/2013 Stage 46 Mendoza - San Carlos by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

23/10/2013 Stage 46 Mendoza – San Carlos

The last thing we did last night was to change the Dollars that we had been carrying since Peru and exchange them on the legal? black market whereby £300 becomes £550 .Wow! That has to make anyone feel good.

As always leaving cities is never much fun. I'm not good with loads of traffic it makes me nervous. Today was worse then usual because we had about 25km on the hard shoulder of a busy dual carriage way. And we weren't even supposed to be there if you believe the sign although a policeman who stood on the hard shoulder took no notice of us. Luckily Malc found a quiet road witch took us past loads of Bodega's. It was fun to recognise some of the names you see on the wines in Sainsbury's. Wine is unbelievable cheap and tasty with Mendoza being THE wine region of Argentina. Almost as soon as we left the town we saw the snowcapped mountains of the Andes again. They stayed on our right all day and it was comforting to see them again after the digression to Iguazu. They might not have been quite as spectacular as some of the mountain tops we have seen but they still helped to make a nice ride. The immediate scenery in the morning could have made you believe you were in France. All the vineyards and tree clad roads. One thing that we didn't expect was the dust devils. Malc made me stand in one while he took the pictures. Mind we both had to wipe the sand of our teeth after that. We ended up in a friendly little hostal where I'm worrying about the days ahead. Not much in the way of food drink just lots of dirt road and possibly nasty spiders. Yippee!

17/10/2013 – 22/10/2013 Salta and Iguazu

2013-10-19

2013-10-20

17/10/2013 – 22/10/2013 Salta and Iguazu

After a relaxing day in Salta we cycled to the airport where we had the usual stress, that comes with airports no matter where in the world they are. Despite having been told differently when we booked the tickets the airline now wanted the bikes wrapped in plastic, fortunately the man whose job it was to wrap suitcases in plastic was helpful and despite our bikes not fitting his machine he did it by hand which took some effort. We were about 40 kg over the weight allowance but they let us through without charging for it . A 3 hr delay for departure .

Arrival in Iguazu was amazing though. We were driving off in the bus to the town centre with bikes and luggage within twelve minutes of touching down. That's what I call quick. Even though we arrived well after midnight we quickly found a cheap hostel and a twenty four hour shop opposite which offered some great hot food and the usual bottle of beer and wine. Argentina has some great cheap wine I'm pleased to say as well as massive portions of food. We have now seen the waterfalls. From the Brazilian side, the Argentinian side and at night time lit up by full moon. We took hundreds of pictures but none could capture it and we understand why it is one of the new 7 natural wonders in the world. The falls are overwhelming 3kms wide and 80 m high. A sight not to be missed. It was great fun to experience them from the boat even though we got absolutely drenched as the boat went into the falls, you couldn't see and we were both fearful the boat would fill up and sink . Not a dry stitch left. In fact we got drenched repeatedly over the last few days whenever we got too close to the falls the spray would just get you and soak you in minutes. We were very lucky to have arrived here whilst it was full moon and to have the opportunity to see the falls at night in moonlight. All though the camera wasn't up to capturing it, it is a memory we will treasure. Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies on both days we visited the falls and on the third day when we just planned to laze about we had a proper tropical storm with torrential rain. We are in the jungle after all! It is odd, after weeks of cycling in a great expanse of emptiness, no trees no birds, no animals and very dry and cold air we are now suddenly in such lush surroundings with night time temperatures in the high twenties and great humidity.

We flew out of Iguazu on the 22^nd and landed this time at Mendoza where we spent the night. Mendoza is beautiful and we had a lovely meal al fresco in one of the big open pedestrianised boulevards. A gorgeous setting to get slowly drunk.

Tempting to stay longer but we'll be back on the bikes tomorrow heading South again.

After a relaxing day in Salta we cycled to the airport where we had the usual stress, that comes with airports no matter where in the world they are. Despite having been told differently when we booked the tickets the airline now wanted the bikes wrapped in plastic, fortunately the man whose job it was to wrap suitcases in plastic was helpful and despite our bikes not fitting his machine he did it by hand which took some effort. We were about 40 kg over the weight allowance but they let us through without charging for it . A 3 hr delay for departure .

Arrival in Iguazu was amazing though. We were driving off in the bus to the town centre with bikes and luggage within twelve minutes of touching down. That's what I call quick. Even though we arrived well after midnight we quickly found a cheap hostel and a twenty four hour shop opposite which offered some great hot food and the usual bottle of beer and wine. Argentina has some great cheap wine I'm pleased to say as well as massive portions of food. We have now seen the waterfalls. From the Brazilian side, the Argentinian side and at night time lit up by full moon. We took hundreds of pictures but none could capture it and we understand why it is one of the new 7 natural wonders in the world. The falls are overwhelming 3kms wide and 80 m high. A sight not to be missed. It was great fun to experience them from the boat even though we got absolutely drenched as the boat went into the falls, you couldn't see and we were both fearful the boat would fill up and sink . Not a dry stitch left. In fact we got drenched repeatedly over the last few days whenever we got too close to the falls the spray would just get you and soak you in minutes. We were very lucky to have arrived here whilst it was full moon and to have the opportunity to see the falls at night in moonlight. All though the camera wasn't up to capturing it, it is a memory we will treasure. Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies on both days we visited the falls and on the third day when we just planned to laze about we had a proper tropical storm with torrential rain. We are in the jungle after all! It is odd, after weeks of cycling in a great expanse of emptiness, no trees no birds, no animals and very dry and cold air we are now suddenly in such lush surroundings with night time temperatures in the high twenties and great humidity.

We flew out of Iguazu on the 22^nd and landed this time at Mendoza where we spent the night. Mendoza is beautiful and we had a lovely meal al fresco in one of the big open pedestrianised boulevards. A gorgeous setting to get slowly drunk.

Tempting to stay longer but we'll be back on the bikes tomorrow heading South again.

16/10/2013 Stage 45 San Salvador de Jujuy - Salta

2013-10-16 click for more photo's

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16/10/2013 Stage 45 Juyuy to Salta

Getting out of Juyuy was the usual big city rush hour traffic madness with us on a three lane motorway trying to keep as close to the edge of the road as possible as there was no ridable hard shoulder. It didn't last long and we were quickly into the countryside again with such a sharp contrast from what we had experienced in the desert in Bolivia and entering into Argentina. It was green and lush in parts and the freshly fallen snow on the mountain tops reminded us of Scotland. The parrots flying overhead gave it away though . From Juyuy the main road joins a huge motorway all the way to Salta but we found a beautiful single track road over the mountains which was a 800 m gentle climb through forests and past some lakes. We met a French group of four cyclists, two of them on a tandem , who had started their journey of a month the day before and for once we felt that we were the experienced cyclists and not the newbies.

Into Salta was interesting as the 2 lane motorway quickly led to a busy road with “no cycles” signs along the road . There didn't seem to be anywhere else to go and we couldn't turn back. Two policemen on one moped passed us and ignored us and we then saw other cyclists similarly ignoring the signs. Can't imagine we would have got away with it in the UK.

Salta for me is probably the prettiest and most interesting city centre so far and we soon found a plush hotel with evening meal breakfast with air conditioning for not a lot [now that we had a grip on the exchange rate].

With a few hours to spare we explored and fortunately were able to find an Argentinian airline company office where we could plan the next stage which will entail a bit of a break and tourism time. A detour via Iguazu is on the cards. The falls are one of the South American wonders on the border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and we feel it would be a shame to miss them.

15/10/2013 Stage 44 Humahuaca - San Salvadar de Jujuy

2013-10-15

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15/10/2013 Stage 44 Huahuamaca – San Salvador the Jujuy

Today has been a wardrobe experience as in the Lion the witch and the wardrobe. Starting the day in one world and finishing in a completely different one. It was hard to comprehend that a day of cycling downhill can bring about such a change. No longer were we on the Alti Plano where there are no trees and no birds, and it's freezing as soon as the sun goes down and there is very little of anything. Suddenly we were in a major city, houses looked like they could be in Europe there was greenery and tons and tons of expensive shops and of course millions of people. We couldn't cope too well with the overwhelming amount of choice in anything. It suddenly made life quite complicated.

The other change today was in the weather. For the first time we woke up to the sound of rain so we delayed departure for a while. We did don our rain gear but we didn't need it for long. In fact Malc put on his trousers when we stopped for lunch under a tree but decided he didn't need them when we set off because the rain had already stopped. As we came over the summit the valley we were descending into what looked like very stormy weather but we never got wet again and the lightning finished quickly.

Today we crossed the Tropico Capricornio. It did make us realise we have come some considerable way since starting on the Equator.

We had decided to stretch the day out by making for Juyuy and in fact got there with time to spare which we then squandered by taking an hour and a half to find a cheap hotel . That night we checked out the exchange rate properly and realised we were getting 9.5 Argentinian pesos to the pound instead of 6 and all of a sudden everything became cheaper again. Phewww! 

Heading towards the storm

14/10/2013 stage 43 Border - Humahuaca

The daily chore of washing bike shorts

2013-10-14 click for more photo's

14/10/2013 stage 43 Border - Humahuaca by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details
First 85 km by bus then 85 km by bike

14/10/2013 stage 43 Border - Humahuaca

We were glad we followed Julien's advice and did the first 85 km by bus. It was a very flat road and uninspiring landscape. Starting in Abra Pampa we bought some more lip cream for our still sore lips after the Salar and were on our way. Soon the scenery changed for the better and it was amazing how relaxed we became. Cycling through beautiful scenery for hours on end is very soothing. We call our days off 'rest days' but actually our simple cycling days are more relaxing. We are now descending from the Alti plano and the ride would have been completely perfect if it hadn't been for a strong head wind which meant we were having to pedal down hill.That's not right. I had the lurgy this day and was struggling towards the end

and Marjet loyally took the lead and let me slipstream her for a change to help me in. It never ceases to amaze me how different the landscapes we have cycled through have been even though they are all part of the Andes. We ended up in a simple hostal in Humahuaca trying to get to grips with Argentinian prices getting it wrong completely and choosing an awful meal for £2 thinking it was £6.

We saw quite a few dead animals just left by the wayside in varying stages of decomposition

12/10/2013 + 13/10/2013 Rest day in Uyuni and bus trip to Villazon

2013-10-13 click for more

12/10/2013 + 13/10/2013 Rest day in Uyuni and bus trip to Villazon

A day of pigging out in various restaurants to make up for what we'd missed . Uyuni doesn't have much to see so we chilled out and checked the bus routes . A 5.30 a bus would take us through a notoriously difficult section of 100% ripio with lots of sand and not too much to see .

The bikes were quickly loaded into the luggage area under the double decker seating area at the back. You could probably have fitted a small car in the same space. I had loosened the handlebars to let them lay flat which prove to be completely unnecessary as the whole space was for our bikes.

The journey itself was initially as expected , a desert like landscape with sandy tracks and not too much to see , we stopped for a break at Atocha which was incredibly bleak and inhospitable and we were glad to move on again. Lots of climbing followed with some hairaising moments when the drivers assistant had to get out of the bus to check the bus wheels would remain on the track and not go over the edge and down the cliff .

Approaching Tupiza the scenery was awesome with amazing rock formations and lots of fluting and rock stacks. It was very reminiscent of the archetypal wild west scene which not too surprisingly is why they filmed “ Butch Cassidy and the Kid” here .

Eventually we got off the bus in Villazon which is the Bolivian border town which is linked by a bridge to Quiaca the Argentinian border town where we stayed the night.

Argentina was immediately very different. Newer cars , more wealth, better choice of food and not too surprisingly much much more expensive .

11/10/13 Stage 42 Salar Uyuni camp to Uyuni Town

Bikes are anchoring the tent down

2013-10-11 click for more

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11/10/13 Stage 42 Salar Uyuni camp to Uyuni

Another cold start to the day but rapidly warming up as the sun rose . After packing the tent we contiued heading East towards edge of the Salar which was 75 kms and then by road to Uyuni. The cycling was fairly easy and now that we were on one of the more commonly crossed parts of the Salar there was a track to follow. Lots of time spent taking silly photos until the battery ran out . The solar panel had been invaluable for charging the GPS and phones but we didn't have an adapter for it to charge the camera battery. Fortunately we had taken plenty of photo's and didn't feel we were missing anythingother than a professional photographer!

We were down to powdered milk and cereal by this stage and had a midday break to top up . The next opportunity to get food and drink would be Uyuni , but the progress was fairly rapid with a tailwind and flat surface and we arrived at 4 pm.

Uyuni looked dull when we were cycling in but it has a busy compact centre with a fair number of tourists and tour operators. We quickly found somewhere to eat but were disappointed to discover that yet again the internet connection was virtually non existent in the hotel .

To our horror we both look like we have had botox treatment to our lips. They are twice their normal size and quite painful. Despite lots of cream wearing hats and a buff (except during the photo shoot) the Salar has got to us.

Tomorrow will be a day off planning the next section which we understand to be very hard going with a lot of sandy sections and not that inspiring . We will probably bus to the Argentinian border but need to sort out where to leave from and when. We also have a lot of eating to do. Overall the last four days have been quite tough with only the most basics of food.

10/10/2013 Stage 41 Vulcano camp – Salar Uyuni camp

2013-10-10

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10/10/2013 Stage 41 Vulcano camp – Salar Uyuni camp

Malcolm down in the sand again. It was impossible sometimes

It was cold when we set off in the morning with the water bottles frozen again, but finishing the climb we soon caught our first glimpse of of the Salar. Back home we had looked at blogs and youtube clips about the Salar and now it was our turn. It was very exciting but also a bit scary. We decide we would cycle on to Tahua where most people enter the Salar from the north and there would be some tracks to follow. We very soon gave up on that idea! The track from Jariri to Tahua was impossibly hard. It was just so sandy we could barely push our bikes so we decided to turn back and enter the Salar from Jariri. We managed to pick up some much needed supplies ( tin of spam, eggs, water and even a bottle of wine which we promptly left behind!) and much to my relief met a man who was able to give us very useful information. He advised us to head for the middle of the mountain range in the distance and after 48 km we would hit Isla de Incahuasy an island in the middle of the salt flats where there would be food and water. It was really weird to cycle on the salt. It is a bit like frosty snow and makes a crunchy sound. Because we entered the Salar from such an unusual place we had it all to ourselves and ther were no tracks to follow just virginal salt. It was a very special feeling to be there. This sea of white with no one else about. We had fun taking pictures and then set off. The surface wasn't the same everywhere. Sometimes it was very smooth but at other times it was quite lumpy. Apparently it depends on how windy it is at the end of the rainy season. If I'm honest I was quite worried we wouldn't get to the island and that we would just be cycling in circles and I was quite relieved Malc had his gps and map. . Nothing changed as we cycled for four hours towards the island which we spotted for the first time after about 20 kms. It just very very very slowly got nearer. On the island we were very pleased to meet back up again with Thomas and Paul who we first met in Cusco and then again twice more after that. It was like meeting old friends again. It was tempting to stay on the island and spend the night with them in the hostal but we also very much wanted to camp on the Salar. I'm glad we did because it was absolutely magical. The memory of that will stay with me for a long time. We had to anchor the tent to the bikes because it got very windy and there was no way you could get a peg into the salt and there was a distinct lack of rocks or anything else. Salt flat only. Without a free standing tent we would not have been able to camp. Magic magic magic

09/10/13 Stage 40 Meteorite Crater to the East side of the Volcano Thupan (bush camping)

2013-10-09 click for more photo's

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09/10/13 Stage 40 Meteorite Crater to the East side of the Volcano Thupan (bush camping)

It's funny how some days are never quite what you expect the to be . We knew the whole day was going to be on ripio and that the afternoon was going to be mountainous with a 30 cm washboard surface, predicted to be the worst that we had encountered so far. As it turned out the morning was incredibly difficult with long sections of difficult washboard that slowed us down to 6 kms/hr on the flat. Teasingly the old road which was much smoother ran alongside but it frequently disappeared or was sandy. The final 15 kms into Salinas were very hard and we had a couple of occasions when it took both of us to push the bikes up the slope and through the sand.

Salinas de Garcia Mendoza was the halfway point and the last place to stock up with food and water before wild camping again. Fortunately there was a slightly better choice than in Quillacas and we even found some fruit and vegetables. We had intended to take the route around the west side of the volcano but the locals said that the eastern route was flatter and quicker if the mudflats were dry which they were. So unlike most cyclist we headed east. There were a few difficult sandy sections getting on and of the mudflats but essentially it was not too difficult and very pretty . So contrary to expectations the morning was hard but the feared afternoon section was not too bad.

Just starting the climb over the pass to Jariri we passed through a small hamlet where an old lady collared us and chatted . Very hard to understand but very keen to talk and give us her local drink made from guinoa. She was sorting them on the floor. It would have been rude to refuse her hospitality but it took all of our courage to drink it. It looked very dirty and suspicious and believe me we're not fussy. Still, we survived. I think guinoa is about the only crop that grows around here (between January and April at the moment there are just bare patches of land)

Legs were getting tired by this stage so we completed most of the climb and found a flat spot on the slopes of the smaller volcano to camp. Lots of Alpaca's came to investigate but then went further down the sloop where it looked like they were being fed. Fortunately it was very quiet and we only heard three vehicles the whole time we were there. Hoping the volcano remains just as quiet.

08/10/2013 Stage 39 Challapata- Meteorite crater bush camp

2013-10-08 click for more photo's

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08/10/2013 Stage 39 Challapata – Meteorite Crater

It was lovely riding on the flat paved road out of town. It was lovely and sunny but we needed gloves and jackets to keep warm. The road was very quiet and all we saw was nosey alpacas some vicuna (much shyer creatures) and some flamingo's. They supposedly herald the rainy season so we were glad not to see too many. We tried to pick up some supplies in Quillacas but the pickings were very poor. Two very stale bread rolls,pasta and some eggs was all we could get in the food line. No tomatoes no fruit not even an onion to be had. Luckily we did manage to buy some beers though.

We were presently surprised to find some paved road. There were very few workman around but there were loads of roadblocks (big heaps of soil and gravel right across the road) to keep the cars off the new road and on the old unpaved one. We could push our bikes over or around the roadblocks and then had the next newly tarmacked road to ourselves. There were dozens of sections like this going on for about 40 kms It was strange to eat our lunch sat in the middle of the road. On these dead flat roads with a landscape that doesn't change at all for hours it is difficult to pick a spot to stop. Normally you would look for a feature in the landscape to stop but that is not possible at present. The final 30 kms however was completely different. At times the soft sand or wash board surface combined with some steep climbs made me glad to stop when we did just past the crater. The crater is about 1km in diameter with a small lake at the bottom , the edges are very distinct and the whole thing is perfectly circular. We found a beautiful spot hidden from the road with a perfect natural wind break and we enjoyed the evening sun. One of the pleasures of camping in an isolated place is the night sky. With no light pollution at this altitude it is beautiful. The only problem is that you don't like to linger too long because it is well below freezing.

You can just see the dust devil. At any one time you can see at least three

07/10/2013 El Alto (LaPaz) - Challapata by bus

Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details (bus)

No link to photo's There was nothing much of interest today.

07/10/2013 El Alto/LaPaz - Challapata

We had been told that if you turned up at the bus station you wouldn't have to wait long for a bus to fill and leave , there are no time tables as such but it usually takes a half hour for the bus to fill and thats exactly what happened . We had decided to skip the exit from El Alto and also a lot of the flat predictable straight road altiplano . The first hour or more was very congested as we left the suburbs of El Alto/ La Paz which is huge , thereafter there were miles and miles of non to inspiring flat lands with lots of half finished properties . We were were glad to see that as previously thought this was definitely a section to skip . After three hours we arrived at Oruro and had to change bus for Challapata and again the wait was only a half hour. After Oruruo the scenery changed and despite being dead flat and straight there wasn't the built up ugliness as in the morning , nonetheless it was nice to cover some ground as we needed to catch up a few days if we want to be able to add a few different trips into the mix.

By the time we arrived at Challapata it was 5 pm and despite our plans it was too late to go further by bike so we found an nice hotel and stayed the night.

 

06/102013 Stage 38 copacabana - el alto by bike

06/10/2013 Stage 38 Copacabana - El Alto Two Parts

2013-10-06 click for more photo's

06/10/2013 Stage 38 Copacabana - El Alto Two Parts 

Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details Copacabana ElAlto part 1 by bike
Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details Copacabana el alto part 2 by van

Wow what a packed  day !

It started with a duff feeling on waking and on looking around at the empty bottles I realised why .

Never mind a good stiff climb will clear the head. We started the 450m climb out of Copacabana behind a tractor and over the next 75 kms we overtook each other eight or nine times and kept waving to each other . We never spoke but felt that we had at least bonded in some small way .

The climb was completed in one go by which time we were both feeling pretty good . The views had been good but became outstanding as we topped out at 4200m and undulated over 10kms of beautiful moorland before weaving along the shoreline of Lake Titicaca . We frequently cycled along arretes  with views of the lake to the right and to the left and it became difficult not to keep stopping to take more pictures. It was just breathtakingly beautiful. The blue of the sky and the lakes. The startlingly white snowy mountain tops, the smell of the eucalyptus trees combined with perfect cycling conditions made for a stunning ride. At San Pablos De Tiquina we stopped for lunch and had what is a typical roadside snack of what is essentially a pasty which can have a variety of fillings . I was really enjoying my postre of Gelatina [ jelly in a cup ] until I found three of the vendors hairs in it. Never mind  at least they were free. After the brief lunch break we caught one of the many ferries crossing the 800m stretch of water to continue following the lakeside on the east side  

We kept hearing music playing at several lakeside rest areas and eventually pulled into the noisiest one where we discovered they were  celebrating the Baptism of the Lake waters .Lots of dancing and and singing with about a hundred people gathered. All of a sudden we became centre stage and  everyone wanted a photo taken with us , wearing the  helmets and riding the bikes. Lots of hugs and kisses . 

Ten km further we met Olivier and Alina a Swiss couple  who had been travelling for 1 1/2 yrs but had only been in South America for 2 weeks. They were going to ride around Lake Titicaca and then head for Ushuaiai intending to get there by  March 2014 . We have to get there by mid December .Hmmm .Hopefully we'll see them on the road again somewhere .

At this stage there was a strong tailwind and we flew to our destination of Hotel Titicaca . It was however a four star hotel and in the middle of nowhere with no shops . A difficult decision but we decided to take advantage of the tailwind and push onto the next village, Huarina . Once in Huarina it was clear that it was fiesta time as everyone  was dressed up in fancy coordinated costumes. Lots of fireworks and noise but despite a warm welcome we were told that every hotel or equivalent would be full and in any case there would be no chance of sleeping with the festivities. Best advice was to push on again to the next village where there would definitely be a hotel . By this stage it was getting slightly more built up and closer and closer to La Paz which we'd decided would be too far [150ks].

Batallas the next village seemed dull but big enough but there was no hostel and we were advised to take a 7kms side road to  where there might be a hostel. That was until one of the men came and proposed that we jump in his van and let him drive us the remaining 40 kms to El Alto/La Paz. The cities of La Paz and El Alto are effectively one with El Alto having the highest commercial airport in the world .The size of two together however is enormous and the approach road is a six lane highway but no defined lanes and traffic weaves from left to right and vice versa , so we were pleased to have taken up the man's offer and pay £8 for the van ride. The 92 km we rode today I will never forget and the 40 km we covered in the van were best covered at speed because they had lost their magic with lots of traffic and becoming more and more built up.

Just outside the hotel they had blocked half the highway and about 200 people had gathered to dance and sing with a band . It was a very religious occasion with mainly indigenous people swaying and jumping to the music with  a lot  of the women crying with emotion. 

We hadn't planned to be in El Alto and not so soon and remain undecided about tomorrows plans. We'll see. Might catch a bus because the next stretch looks exceedingly boring before we hit the Salar de Uyuni.