Final days of cycling

From Salta we planned to ride to the Northern Argentina town of Cafayate, a well known wine region. Once again we were greeted with a cool morning but a clear sky and the day quickly heated up as we left Salta. The first day of riding from Salta was the warmest we had experienced in weeks. After 70km we saw a sign indicating a camp ground next to a lake. We headed town a dirt road for a few km’s and found a great spot on the waterfront to spend the night. The facilities were very basic but the cheap beer and incredible sunset made up for that.

The third and final day of riding to Cafayate was one of the best days in terms of scenery we have had on our trip so far. The road continued to gradually climb but now the rocks around us took on incredible colours and formations. There were many tourists along this route although the traffic was never too busy.

"The Devils Throat"

We had a great tail wind for most of the day until the final 10kms when it changed direction and intensified. As a result we ended up being slammed by a sand storm just before Cafayate. It delayed our arrival but eventually made it to the central Plaza in one piece.

Sand storm

Some friendly French people directed us to the only budget hostal in town that allowed camping out back underneath the grape vines. We had five nights there relaxing and exploring some of the surrounding vineyards. The Germans met up with us again here after surviving the rest of their trip across the Salar de Uyuni and the Atacama desert of Chile.

Camping amongst the vines

Green parrots lining the vineyard

From Cafayate we rode with the Germans for a couple more days to Tafi del Valle. This was another very nice little town still high up in the mountains. On the way we had the last hill of our journey to conquer. After 32km of climbing and 3.5hrs later we coasted the rest of the way down to Tafi del Valle in time to watch the world cup final.

Rest stop on the final climb of our trip

The next day was always planned as a rest day for Ben’s birthday. As luck would have it the weather was absolutely horrible that day, wet and freezing cold. Terrible riding weather but great for sitting next to a fireplace and doing very little. That night we had an interesting birthday dinner at a very popular parrilla (bbq) restaurant. We were served a mountain of various meats including pork, lamb, chicken, liver and intestines!

Intestines and liver

From Tafi del Valle we only had three more days of cycling left on our trip before we planned to stop cycling. Thankfully the bad weather had passed by the morning and we headed off on the bikes again. We started at 2000m and 50km of downhill later we were 1600m lower on the plains of Argentina.

"End of the world"

A highlight of the final few days was a campground we stayed at near at the thermal town of Termas del Hondo. It had a large swimming pool filled with the 40 degree thermal water. Low lights were the headwinds (something we had very little of in the trip so far) on the last day to Santiago del Estero combined with an incredibly busy road with no shoulder to ride on which we had to escape by taking a 20km dirt/sand road that was only marginally ridable.

Terrible side road on our last day

Everyone had mixed emotions finishing on the last day of riding. It was one of the most challenging rides so we were stoked to get to the end although a bit disappointed that the biking was now finished for the trip. Having never been cycle touring prior to this trip we had no idea what to expect. It was definitely an adventure and better than either of us could have imagined. There were times when we wondered what the hell we were doing but so many more times when travelling by bike was unreal.

The rest of our trip will be via bus and train. We caught a bus to Cordoba where our friends Phoebe and Nico from NZ met up with us. We had our last couple of days with Carmen and Renate before saying goodbye as they were finishing their trip and heading back to Germany.

Our plans are very vague but at this stage but we will explore some of Cordoba's surrounding towns with Phoebe and Nico for the next little while. We have one month left in South America and plenty of things to do in that time.

Bolivia ends, Argentina begins...

We had our last complimentary pancake breakfast in the hostal in La Paz, and made our way to the bus terminal. We had planned to skip most of Bolivia’s roads between La Paz and Uyuni to save time, and avoid the painfully long gravel stretch. After 3 hours we arrived in Oruro to board the train for Uyuni. The daylight section of the train ride was great, we passed several small salty lakes, full of pink flamingos, and watched the sun from the train window. We made it to Uyuni at 10.30pm and disembarked to find ourselves in the freezing cold.

We spent a day looking around Uyuni and planning our mission out onto the Salar de Uyuni with Carman and Renate, who arrived there the same day. We had some awesome pizza for dinner, possibly the best so far, especially the spicy llama, mm mmmm.

The ride towards the Salar was bumpy and sandy, but thankfully only 25km. Then, the salt! The salares in Bolivia are the result of a huge dried up salt lake at 3653m altitude, which back in the day apparently covered most of southwest Bolivia. We rode about 30km out onto the Salar, surrounded by bright white. The salt is quite rough in places and forms large pentagon shapes on the surface. There are a few holes in the surface, and water underneath.

Renate, us and Carmen

The beginning of the Salar is a bit of a highway, with jeep after jeep of tourists heading out on the popular 3 day tour. The four of us veered off the main tracks later in the day to find a spot to camp for the night. After setting up camp, we had dinner and red wine while watching the beautiful sunset over the Salar. After the sunsets here, it gets really cold, really quickly. Some other German cycle tourists we met on our way to La Paz had stayed a month earlier on the Salar and recorded -15 degrees during the night. The morning was perhaps the coldest of all, but we managed hot porridge and coffee, while wrapped up in blankets until the sun warmed us up. Our friends then left, heading towards Chile, and we cycled back to Uyuni.

From Uyuni we caught the overnight train to the border town of Villazon. From the train station we set the bikes up and cycled across the border into Argentina in the freezing cold at 8am. After finding breakfast and stocking up on camping supplies we rode to our first camp spot in Argentina on one side of unused train tracks, well hidden from the road. The next day we had to get to a town to watch the All Whites play Paraguay, and found a television just as the game started. The next camp spot is worth a mention, as it was beautiful and sunny when we arrived, well hidden from the road, and in view of the sunset. Although because we were still at a bit over 3500m altitude, it got really cold, and we woke to find frost on our sleeping bags and on the inside on the tent, and a frozen contact lense! That was hopefully the last of that, as from there we made about 1000m descent through changing surroundings and past hundreds of tall cacti, to a town with a camp ground! A day off in Tilcara was relaxing, warm and sunny. A cute wee town, although a bit of a tourist hub and so a bit expensive.

Freezing cold border crossing into Argentina

Campspot next to unused rail tracks


Huge cacti

Lunch break in El Carmen

Breakfast with the dog that guarded our tent at night

We arrived in the first Argentine city, Jujuy, to find no cars on the road and most shops closed. We soon found Argentina had beaten Mexico in the football, and after the game, the streets exploded with partying Argentines. From Jujuy we rode and camped for another couple of days. This ride took us over rolling hills, through beautiful forest and past lakes. There is a lot more green vegetation around, a sign we are definitely off the altiplano and back to a reasonable altitude, although still a bit over 2000m.

Beautiful roads through forest

One of a few lakes

As we rode into Salta, quite a big city of half million people, we passed beautiful big houses on big sections with gardens, trees and grass. This is something we have not seen in Peru or Bolivia. The roads are good, the streets are really clean, there are malls and boutique shops and plenty of restaurants and cafes. The city has several plazas, with well looked after impressive historical buildings, monuments and statues. Today we explored one of he many museums, the main attraction at this one being the mummified children. In 1999, three frozen mummified children, from the Inca period, were found on the summit of a nearby volcano at 6700m. These children were sacrificed to the gods in Inca times surrounded with other sacrificial items including gold llama figurines, as part of religious rituals that took place on the top of significant mountains.

Plaza

We decided to stay in Salta relaxing and exploring until after Argentina played Germany, and have had a nice relaxing time. We watched the football while having our first Argentine barbeque with a bunch of people at the hostal. Unfortunately Argentina lost and the mood in Salta is evident of this. But it is a beautiful place, and would easily be able to spend more time here. But, tomorrow we start our ride towards the wine region of Cafayate…