After 2 days there was work to be done. Because the next 2 days were hard work. We had to climb about 2200 meters (6600 ft) in about 55 kms (33 miles) and that was hard.

The first 40 kms (24 miles) from Salta were very nice, it went down a bit and it went up a bit but that was hardly noticeable. But then the climb started. The first 10 kms (6 miles) were still gradual, but then it got steeper. When we finally reached the top, the second day was half over already and we still had 60 kms (36 miles) to go to Cachi… We thought everything would go downhill from the top, but no. There was a long strait part which went up very gradually. Then downhill and after that another 11 kms (6 miles) of up and down. But then we were finally there and we stayed a day to rest.

After Cachi we went South, direction Cafayate. The tarmac ended outside Cachi, the road was pretty good in the beginning, but got very sandy at some point. And it got very hot, around 40˚C (100 F). But we were cycling through a desert with many cacti, so it wasn’t really a surprise. When we got to the little town of Molinos, we decided to stay there. The next town was another 40 kms (24 miles) away and we heard the road would only get more sandy that way. So we saved that for the next day.

And that was a good thing. The next day we left early to get as far as possible. We were hoping to be able to reach Cafayate, but that would depend entirely on the condition of the road. And the road turned out to be very sandy indeed. The scenery was beautiful; desert with cacti and beautiful rockformations and a valley with an almost dry river. So now and then a few houses and a church, but also large sections of totally nothing.

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It turned out to be a very long day, but we made it to Cafayate. After 85 kms (51 miles), the sandy road changed into tarmac, so then the last 28 kms (17 miles) were doable.  We arrived in Cafayate at 6:30 pm, just before dark and after 8,5 hours of cycling. We were tired, but glad we made it there. Another restday well deserved!

Cafayate is known for the special white wine that is produced there.  Indeed, there were a lot of vineyards in the area. We didn’t taste the wine because the first night it was late already and we were too tired to walk to town and the second night was the night before we had to cycle again and cycling and alcohol is not a good combination.

After that well deserved restday we got back on our bikes for the last 200 kms (120 miles) back to Salta. A few kms after Cafayate we entered a canyon (Valle de Lerma) which we left about 75 kms (51 miles) later. It was absolutely beautiful out there! Many beautiful shaped and colored rockformations and red soil, just like Arizona en Utah in the USA. The road went up and down, but fortunately more down than up. We weren’t very lucky with the wind. Normallly it comes from the south, so we should have had a tailwind. But no, especially for us the wind came from the north these days so we had a headwind. And it was a hard wind! Because of that, even going downhill was hard work.

After 1,5 days we were back at the campground in Salta where we pitched our tent in the same spot again. Another day of rest to buy some things we can’t buy anymore from here on, like peanut butter and nutella and then back into the mountains tomorrow. First to Jujuy and then on to Tilcara to get the stuff we left behind there. From Tilcara it’s another 200 kms (120 miles) to the Bolivian border.